Benefits of Gaming: PC and Video Games

New PC games and video games are not only capable of bringing fun and excitement to everyone, but they can also bring certain benefits and advantages.

With the help of advanced technology and popularity, the gaming industry has advanced and expanded rapidly over the years.

If we look for a categorization of video games, they are roughly divided into eight main categories:

Values

These are fast-paced and can contain a lot of violence because of this. Action games are often unsuitable for children. These games are included in the category “M” (Rated for adults). Some examples are Halo, Star Wars, Jedi Knight, and Enter the Matrix.

Adventure and role-playing games

These are usually not as graphic as action games and can take the player into surrealism and fantasy. Although adventure and role-playing games often contain violence, it is not found to be as intense as the violence in action games. Examples of this category are Borderlands 2, Final Fantasy, Legend of Mana, and Billy Hatcher.

First person shooter games

As the name suggests, it is a game in which the player sees the action through the eyes of the character they represent and involves the use of pistols or rifles to kill the enemy. Due to the violence involved in this genre of games, they are not suitable for young children. Examples of these games are “Half-Life”, “Half-Life 2”, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare”, etc.

Construction and Management Simulation (CMS)

As the name suggests, in games belonging to this genre, players are expected to build, expand and manage imaginary projects and communities with very few resources. Examples of this genre include “SimCity” and “Harvest Moon”.

Strategy

The emphasis here is on strategy rather than violence and these games are slower-paced, giving the player time for strategic thinking, resource management, and planning to achieve victory. Most are based on war, so violence is not completely absent. These games are not suitable for children. Some examples are Advanced Wars I & II, Civilization V and Crusader Kings II.

Simulation

These are video or computer games that simulate real-world situations in game settings. In this category, the three most popular games are Racing Simulators, Flight Simulators and Sims. There are many games in this class to entertain the children. Some examples of simulation games are: Football Manager, Farming Simulator 2013, The Sims and Evil Genius.

platforms

The Platform Game or Platformer consists of jumping between suspended platforms of different heights or obstacles and sometimes both to advance in the game. Some examples of Platformer are 40 Winks, Abuse, Action 52, and Adventure Island.

PUZZLE

Puzzle video games are a class of games that require puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can involve many problem-solving skills, such as the use of logic, solving word sequences, strategy, and pattern recognition. Some examples of puzzle video games are Mario, Bejeweled 3, Cradle of Rome 2, and Hidden Objects.

While we’re on the subject, let’s not forget sports games like NHL 13 and FIFA Soccer 13 and arcade games like Chicken Shoot 1, Toy Story Mania, and Angry Birds, to name a few.

Today, video games are enjoyed by a wide cross-section of our society, from young children to grandparents, and all have accepted them as a good form of entertainment and are considered better than watching television as they require viewer participation and interaction .

The general feeling is that video games do not bring any benefit to the player and especially in the case of children.

Contrary to this belief, there are many benefits to allowing children to play certain types of games. The most important of these benefits is the development of:

Cognitive thinking skills

fine motor skills

Real-time decision-making skills.

hand-eye coordination

cooperative game skills

Keeping video games out of the reach of children can only deprive them of these benefits.

A child’s imagination can be stimulated through role-playing games and adventures. Even if some of these games may seem tasteless due to their graphic nature and violence, they can play a positive and important role in a child’s development by promoting teamwork, building confidence and improving motor skills. Playing such video games will only provide the child with a healthy means of expression.

Certain video games are believed to teach children higher-level thinking skills that they would benefit from in the future.

Now that we’ve looked at the benefits for kids, let’s see what benefits video games have for the rest of us.

Various agencies, including universities in some parts of the world, are conducting research on the pros and cons of video games and the result is that the pros outweigh the cons in terms of benefits.

When playing video games, you will need to react quickly and make split-second decisions to succeed in the assigned task. It is believed that this type of practice would bring benefits in real life, where you would be able to react quickly and make quick decisions.

Brain scientists have found that a certain driving video game, created by a research and development team at the University of California, San Francisco, could improve short-term memory and long-term focus in older adults.

Immersion in a game was found to take your mind off pain and discomfort. For this reason, some hospitals have begun to suggest that children and others undergo painful treatments and play games to reduce their distress and anxiety.

Some video games have provided improvements in “Cognitive Flexibility”, which is the ability to quickly switch from one task to another.

Researchers at North Carolina State University found a link between playing video games and mental well-being among the elderly. They found that those citizens who played video games, even occasionally, experienced a state of well-being and happiness.

Games can also improve family relationships, as some of these games can and should be played together.

According to some studies conducted at the University of Rochester, people who play certain video game titles have shown improvements in tests in the following areas:

• Multitasking

• Attention

• Precision

• Vision

The only thing a video game player or family needs to ensure is that it does not become addictive in any way. A video game player should not end up spending hours and hours playing games and losing track of time and place and neglecting his duties, personal tasks and responsibilities.

Another thing that parents of minors need to ensure is that their children only have access to educational or similar games that are suitable for their age group and the good news is that there is a huge selection of games available that are appropriate for all ages.

Video game content rating is a system available in many countries and they are used to classify video games into age groups related to suitability regarding their content which if followed will help limit the negative aspects of some of the games .

Finally, if gamers are able to play in moderation and stick only to age-appropriate game categories, they can reap a number of benefits, as mentioned above.