"The Positive Effects of Video Games on People's Health"

The Positive Effects of Video Games on People's Health

Video games have been getting a bad rap lately. Actually, that would not be an entirely correct assessment. Even way back in 1976 when Atari first released that classic Pong system there were those who complained about the negative effects of video games, and still today people complain about the negatives of Xbox 360 games.  But, are the games really as negative as most would attest? 

In short, the answer is a resounding no. If video games promoted the negative effect that many insist they caused such games would not survive in the commercial market place for very long. There are positive effects of video games on people's health.  The audience for the games would become turned off and sales would pummel. As such, there are a number of obvious positives to these video games that are sometimes overlooked. So, let's take a little look at some of the positive aspects then:

Video games can stimulate creativity and wonder. Video games generally present fantasy worlds and idealized images in the eyes of the person who plays the game. This can greatly instill creativity in the same way reading a wonderful novel can stimulate creative juices in a person's mind. Creativity and wonder can derive from pretty much any source so to dismiss the potential inspiration that a video game can provide is very shortsighted. This brings us to our next point…

Video games can lead to inspiration. For example, if a youngster plays a PS2 Playstation 2 video game version of baseball it may lead to stimulating an interest in the game on the player's part that he or she may decide to take up the sport. Who knows? Maybe the inspiration for the next Tiger Woods or Hank Aaron may originate from playing a sports video game! Some may be skeptical at this assessment because they assume that video games are inactive hobbies. But, this would assume that active and inactive hobbies are mutually exclusive. This is, of course, a false assumption based on stereotyping.

Video games help develop logic and critical thinking, not to mention improved hand/eye coordination. Video games of today are not the simple-minded games of the 1980's. In order to succeed with most video games, "pointing and shooting" will not get you very far. Instead, you will need to use wits and logic to devise a successful strategy. Many detective games are based on such a notion as are a multitude of simulation and strategy games. Even various horror games require a lot of thinking before acting. Remember, when you make a wrong decision when navigating a video game you end up losing so when you make a decision you must make it wisely. As such, regularly playing video games may even aid in the development of critical thinking skills.