Why video games are good for you

games have been accused of causing many acts of violence for decades. What the media doesn’t want to admit is that video games have many benefits we haven’t found in any other ways. Society should stop being so aggressive towards video games and instead start looking forward to how we can best use them to our benefit. Anyone who doesn’t understand why needs to take a look at ourselves. Surveys have shown that 90% of children in the United States play video games, and 70% of adults play them as well. Which leads to the average age of the gamer to be 33 years old. Society is changing and the media doesn’t want to admit that.
The graphics are incredibly realistic, games like Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands are action  packed, fast paced, and full of realistic scenery and characters. There are dozens of genres of video games, and almost all of them can be split into categories, the most controversial of which are “first be classified as first-person shooters”, also known as FPS. These games use the perspective of the character being played, pulling the gamer into third person. FPS games also have a focus on violent game play where the main objective is to shoot enemies. Today’s young adults play many of these genres, including FPS, and have gained skills from video games that never would’ve been guessed. Depending upon the type of games they play, they may have a greater ability to track visual objects, process and make quick decisions, focus and complete complex tasks.
Some of the most controversial video games are also the ones with the greatest potential benefits. Fast-paced, FPS like Halo, Doom, and Half  Life, have all been accused of being too violent, but the benefits we gain from playing them are amazing. Researchers like Daphne Bavelier have been able to demonstrate in multiple laboratory tests that playing these fast-paced games increase a person’s ability to track multiple pieces of visual information and decrease reaction time when it comes to figuring out what has happened, or is going to happen with the object.

Scientists have shown that fast action games also decrease decision-making time. Basically, these games have so much going on all the time that for someone not used to following and tracking so much information can easily overwhelmed. Gamers have no trouble keeping up with this information overload that’s constantly being hurled at them. The players are able to assess, make decisions and react quickly because they had to learn how to do so in order to play and advance in that certain game. If they are playing by themselves they may have to command their AI. If they are playing with other humans then they have to be able to communicate effectively with them while tracking all the other data while still being shot at.

The typical human brain is completely incapable of processing all this information. However, the brains of gamers adapt so that they can keep track of all the information they need to. Bavelier found that a video gamer’s brain physically changes so that the player can process all of this information, and, most importantly, use it. A video gamer is capable of making accurate, informed decisions faster than a non gamer with the same level of intelligence. Bavelier demonstrated that this benefit from fast action video games sticks around for at least six months after a test subject has played only 10 hours over the course of 2 weeks. This means that every person can gain this benefit without actually being a gamer, as long as he or she is willing to put in a few hours a week to train his brain. This is really good because many of these changes have immediate benefits, the most obvious is driving. When driving, your awareness is increased, the ability to track the many things going on around us and to make correct, fast decisions about the likely outcomes of movements which can prevent car accidents. Playing video games has a huge impact on somebody’s brain and as a result, has a direct impact on how gamers interact with the world.

Video games have become a part of our culture and a part of our lives in many ways. As a society we need to focus our energy and attention on is how to use them to make our lives better. We’ve already seen research that shows how videogames can be used to help with several tasks with real-world situations. We can use video games to increase our ability to track multiple objects and thus be able to monitor more of our surroundings while driving. They teach people how to be able to focus and maintain attention in situations where there is a lot of information to absorb in a very short period of time. Video games can help us to better analyze what is going on around us and make quick decisions about the best action to take in a variety of situations. Video games are here to stay for the better.