To many, especially the older generations, they perceive video games to be nothing more than a deviation from productive, career building and education based activites which in their eyes, make them a complete waste of time. They shun advancements in technology, where some judgements contain such extremity to the point which they view it as a cancer which provokes unhealthy addictions and violent behaviour and/or beliefs.
To be blunt, I don't blame some of them. Technology is something whose proliferation is inevitable. Like a supplementary unit, it prevails as one with mankind. However, to some, it progresses far too quickly. Newer and emergent concepts related to it continue to be opaque and unbenknownst to them. The same types of people gave birth to the generation that witnessed the age of digitalisation, the spread of computerisation like an alcohol-catalysed wildfire, and the metamorphosis of tasks that were once done manually. All of these reasons foster negative perspectives behind the distribution of video games, especially home consoles.
Sure, it has its disadvantages such as addiction and tendency to resort to violent behavior when forced to abstain for it either temporarily or permanently, but doesn't that depend on the person? The way in which they act around the presence or absence of video games is entirely up to them, and the blame cannot be put on the video games themselves. For example, if a person plays shooting and stealth games and indulges in unlawful activities in real life, the problem lies within him and not the game. The game in itself cannot harm people, however if the person playing it understands that it its just a video game and the actions performed in the game need to stay in the game, there's no necessity for any feelings of apprehension as long as you play video games with the correct mindset.
The way in which I see video games, which people who discourage the consumption of video games fail to see, mostly due to ignorance and narrow-mindedness, is that gaming is the door to a voyaging in a world outside ours, through an audiovisual medium, that, in my opinion, no book can take me to. Whether online or offline, we can be who we want to be and escape from reality at times when we need it the most through gaming. It is also a medium through which we can establish human connections from anywhere across the world. Therefore, in a way, it establishes itself as a facilitator of society's advancements in the digital world.
Now that we've asserted the benefactors of video games from my somewhat sociological perspective, we must also acknowledge their scientifically proven benefits. Cognitive benefits include faster reaction times, enhanced memory and increased attention and focus. Emotionally, video games can play a role as a stress reliever which can reduce anxiety and depression, enhanced social skills when participating in online gaming, and increased self esteem when achieving goals in games.
Video games aren't only limited to a leisure activity, they are humanity's most exhilarating, immersive digital space where everything beyond the limits of your imagination is right in front of you to be a part of. Whether you're a racedriver, a World War II soldier, a musician, all these roles are given as golden opportunities to you, and you are called upon to be the person for the role.
To be continued..
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