Benefits of Video Games

What Does A Person Acquire By Playing Games? 

This is an Ironical question asked by every parents to their children who play Video games all the time. You would be thinking that why did i said ironical. Because even if parents ask this question to their children, on other hand they already know the answer as they had also gone through childhood stage. Playing games never does any harm to anyone till a limit is maintained. There are parents who play games even in their adulthood and supports their child to a certain limit. 

What is the purpose of playing games?

 

Everyone knows that video games are never going to do any good to anyone physicaly but mentally, yes it has some positive effect if played at a limit and also has a tremendous negative effect if limit is crossed. Most of the children acquires knowledge of games either from their friends, brother, sister etc. No one is born with idea of gaming. They start entering into tech world by playing video games first even if they don't have any knowledge about internet. True or not ? 

I remember my childhood when I played video game first time in old computer with a box type monitor at my cousin's house. It was a game called Dave, a 2D game. Then he upgraded his PC with Intel pentium in which we played Prince Of Persia Two Thrones and it had far better 3D graphics than its previous 2D version. At that time I had a CPU with 56 mb of GPU and I played 2D games like Dave, Mario etc. I also tried to run GTA vice city which was launched at that time and was first game to have free roam experience. But my system was not sufficient to run that game. So I always headed to my cousin's home for playing that game. After a year my father bought a new PC which had Intel pentium with 256 Mb of GPU. And yes, it ran GTA vice city and Prince Of Persia without any lag. I was so happy about playing 3D games like POP and Vice City in my own PC. Then higher graphic games like spiderman web of shadows and shattered dimension were released which didn't ran in my PC but it did ran in my cousin's. I was really confused as at that time I had no idea about CPU or GPU. Then I came to know that he had modified his PC with a dedicated graphic card. After that I became curious to know more about PC components and operations. So here what I want to tell you is that playing games doesn't mean to play games all the time. It may also help us to learn more about advancement in technology and computer science field. 

Pros of Gaming :-

• Gaming relaxes mind - If you're working for long hours of time and stressed then you can spend some time in playing games with your friends or cousins which may refresh your mind. And yes there are people who this. 
• Connect people - Games like PUBG and Free fire are not only a shooting game but also a platform where players meet and chat with new players from different states and country. Also many AAA titled games support multiplayer mode through which they can play with their colleagues. 
• Improves Imagination - Games like Assassin's Creed and Rome Rise Of Empire gives an idea about civilization and lifestyle of people of ancient era. You can study subjects like History with more ease by comparing visuals that you see in games with that of the text. For e.g. you would have read about American Revolution which happened with help of George Washington. Assassin's Creed 3 game is based on American Revolution. So if you have played that game then you could easily visualise situation of people and society when you read about it in History. 
• Experience of extreme situations - There are many games which sends players mentally into extreme situations. For e.g. Outlast is one of a most scary and violent game which sends a person mentally into that world. This game is designed in such a way that it gives freaky experience to players, who may even forget that its a game and play it with so caution like they are living it. 
• Earning Platform - Many people earn their livelihood through gaming. There are many youtubers who upload their gameplay and earn lot of money in YouTube. For e.g. PUBG is a RPG game which has been played and uploaded by many people in YouTube. Many championships and contests are held by various competitive games like Clash Of Clans, Clash Royals, PUBG etc. in which pro players from different countries participate and winners will be awarded with large amount of money and popularity. 
• Knowledge about modern technology - Many games provides information about latest technologies that has been invented. Some of them may be imagined one. For e.g. games like Batman Arkham Origins, Watch Dogs, Cyberpunk visualises many technological devices which is present in modern world and provides information about it even though some of them may be imagination. Because of games like PUBG and Call Of Duty, people know names and information about various guns and weapon technologies. 
• Experince imaginative world - Anyone can experience life of spiderman, batman, iron-man etc. Even games like Call Of Duty and Medal Of Honour gives an idea about how soldiers lead a dangerous and riskful life during wars to protect their country. They are the real heroes who sacrifice everything for their country. It also encourage people to join army and sacrifice everything for their country. 
• Learn about programs - For a game to run in PC, various programs like Net Framework, DirectX, Nvidia Physics, Microsoft C++ are required to be installed in it. So a person playing in PC also gains knowledge about various programs related to gaming. 
• Self repair ability - A person who grown up playing games in PC always have idea about troubleshooting any problems occured to PC. This is only limited to PC gamers as they are the one who suffers incompatibility and various other problems while running a game. This problem is not seen in playstations. Every PC gamers must have encountered issues like incompatibility, lagging, blackscreen problems, cracking, etc. And yes, they must have done whatever they can to overcome that problem. This way that person becomes an expert in recognising problems when they encounter it next time. 

Cons Of Gaming :-

• No exercise or outdoor games - Playing video games for large hours leads to development of laziness. Most of the children nowadays have become so lazy that they have boycotted all outdoor games like football and cricket. Most of them are becoming couch potatoes and are falling prey to various diseases like obesity, blurred vision etc. Because of no exercise, various body pains are developed in children and may become serious in adult age. 
• Damage to eyes - Looking at computer or TV screen for long hour may lead to redness in eye, and further may decrease vision power. It may also cause itching of eyes and blurred vision. 
• 18+ Contents - Some of the high end games contains contents which may be inappropriate for children. For e.g. Prototype game contains massive killing and blood which may be inappropriate for children. Children should be kept away from games which are rated 18+. 
• Mental Health of children - Many of the modern games contain violence and killings which development of violent behaviour in children. They start becoming angry over small things and may also lead to serious cases like murder. They forget about the reality and start living in their own fantasy world due to which they start losing contact with the society and communication with their surrounding. They start feeling uncomfortable when are exposed to outer world. For e.g. In Kerala, recently two children murdered a child due to some arguments held inside PUBG game. People like this usually have low self confidence, low patience and become angry immediately over small disputes. 
• Wastage of Money - Many games often provides level up chance by spending money to buy necessary items to get levelled up fast. Games like Clash Of Clans and PUBG provides season pass which gives extra inventory items to players and helps them to level up fast. This is really a wastage of money. Many children spend money on these games behind the back of their parents. Most of the people start playing games for fun but slowly slowly as the level increases, competition among players also increases and to succeed among them children start buying items and royal passes to Rank up fast. Also in case of Playstation ot Xbox, you have to buy the game you want play which are really expensive. 
• Effect on Studies - Playing games for long hours diverts attention of students from studies. Their brain will be filled with thoughts about winning the match and levelling up in the game. After playing games for so long, students forget about studies and even if remember, they postpone it saying they will do it after playing a match and, thus, becomes night and they will be very sleepy due to looking at screen for long time and sleeps then continue same routine next day. After many days like this, there will be a time when they loss all contact with studies and will be difficult for them to return to their normal study schedule which will impact their academy results. 
• Decreased life span of device - Playing games for too long can cause generation of a lot of heat which can cause damage to the device. Laptops usually have poor ventilation system as they have small cooler fans and small space for exit of hot air, so playing high end games on these laptops for too long will result in damage to GPU and PROCESSOR. Similarly in case of phones, playing games for long hours fry the battery and decrease its life span. 

Measures you can take :-

• Don't do gaming for more than 4 hrs. If you are a youtuber and play games for earning then buy filter glasses which will filter the blue rays from screen and makes it less dangerous to eyes. 
• Never spend your parents money for in app purchases. If you really want to buy, then buy it with your own money. 
• If you are gaming in a laptop then it would be better to buy a cooling pad. While playing in phone give it a break to cool down. 
• Never sacrifice your studies for gaming. You will not achieve anything in your life unless you are serious and pro player in any game and earns from it. You should always have schedule for gaming and studies and most importantly must follw it. 
• Never provide children with full independence to gaming. Restrictions shall be kept to keep them away from inappropriate contents. Parents should keep a check on what games do they play and should check the age mark provided on game cover before buying. 
• Never compromise your health for gaming. Physical exercises should not be ignored as they are also important as studies. 
• Never take any game very serious. Don't become violent over not winning the match. If you think you are losing you mind then immediately stop playing it. 

Before ending this, I can only advise that don't waste your precious time on playing games only. Gaming is a necessary evil. You should play in a limit and also give importance to studies and exercise. Most importantly your parents spend money on your studies to make you a independent person who can depend on himself/herself to live his/her life.