The danger of video games

This week humans around the world will spend about 3 billion hours playing video games; with 99% of boys and 95% of girls under the age of 18 playing “regularly” according to game designer and author Jane McGonigal. Video games provide a fun escape from reality. Although, they’re often portrayed as violent, lazy, or wastes of time by some. The debate of video games being a waste of time has raged on since the inception of pong. Now in 2019, video games are more mainstream, and widely accepted as a valid use of one’s time with many potential benefits.

Before I get ahead of myself, it’s important to note that too much of anything can be bad. So, if you binge and do nothing but play video games all day, the risks probably outweigh any benefits – namely the negative effects of not going outside and sitting for long periods. Having said that, many studies have shown increases in cognitive function after playing video games.

One study in particular had students play Super Mario for 30 minutes a day for two months. Afterward, the brains of the participants saw an increase in grey matter in areas associated with memory, strategic planning and fine motor skills of the hands, compared to those who had not played. Surprisingly, action games can also increase attention to detail in individuals. Studies have found the average person can track about 3-4 moving objects while practiced action gamers can track 6-7. Even in the elderly, improved memory and focus can be seen.

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Gaming has always been a social activity. In the infancy of gaming it may have been a group of buddies hanging around the local laundromat arcade machine, competing for the high score. Now it’s as easy as hopping onto Xbox Live from your living room couch to play with friends, each potentially in different a country. Some of my fondest memories as a child growing up in the late ’90s and early 2000swere centered around video games. As a kid I can remember my dad coming home with the latest edition of Resident Evil. The two of us sitting at the edge of the couch together for hours; solving puzzles and shooting pixelated zombies. Or huddled around a CRT television with my friends playing 007 GoldenEye on Nintendo 64. Not to mention a few of my best friends during my teen years were people whom I’d met in online games.

Older generations may be surprised to learn that video games are big money. These days, the game industry rakes in more cash than film and music combined. According to Polygon Magazine, global revenue for games was estimated at  $83.6 billion in 2014 alone. That same year, music and film only brought in about $15 billion and $36.4 billion that year respectively. There is money to be made in the video game industry – and it’s not just for game critics and creators of these multimillion-dollar works of entertainment.

Average joes like you and me are uploading their game-play to YouTube and earning ad revenue on their videos. Hell – anyone with a webcam and a decent computer can start live-streaming their gameplay on Twitch in hopes that something about their personality will be entertaining enough to get people to watch their streams. Ninja, who streams the popular game Fortnite, is worth a whopping $10 million according to  Forbes. Last year the gamer revealed that 70% of his income came from people watching his live streams of him simply playing Fortnite. Pretty good for a guy who, just a couple of years ago, was broadcasting from the bedroom in his parent’s suburban home.

If you’re truly talented, you might be able to land a spot on an e-sports team. Yes, many people in this world make their living as professional gamers; but only the gifted few are chosen for these elite teams of gamers competing for prizes and titles. Just like real athletes, with many individual games each having their leagues and hundreds of thousands of viewers spectating each event. E-sports are now even officially recognized by ESPN, pushing gaming even more into the mainstream.