Positive Impact of Video Games
Population-based studies have revealed that, on average, adolescents and children spend 13 and 7 hours gaming per week, respectively (Curcio & Peracchia, 2019). For many years, studies have largely focused on the negative implications of playing video games when it comes to promoting violence, triggering addiction, and exposing people to a wide range of physical and psychological health outcomes. This literature review argues that video games have positive effects on motor skills, well-being, brain, hand-eye coordination, and visual-partial, problem-solving, and social skills.
Video Games and Motor Skills
According to Halbrook, O’Donnell, and Msetfi (2019), video games, such as Just Dance, XBOX Kinect TM and Wii TM encourage players to engage in some level of physical activity. As such, these games have positive effects on a person’s physical outcomes, which include cardiovascular health and levels of balance. The positive effects of some exergames on physical health outcomes may include heart rate, flexibility, lower limb muscle strength, braking force, and maximum oxygen levels (Halbrook et al., 2019). This is because a person has to engage his or her motor skills when gaming as he or she tries to control on-screen characters.
Video Games and Wellbeing
Gaming may have potential benefits on a person’s personality. According to Quwaider, Alabed, and Duwairi (2019), “Most of popular video games change in-game environment dynamically which means that the behaviors of the players in-game may change with changes in the game itself” (p. 579). These changes may encourage players to be less rigid. For example, a group of researchers examined the effects of playing Halo II game as a team (Quwaider et al., 2019). Halo II is a relatively violent video. However, the study in question revealed that playing Halo II game as a team was associated with an increase in participants’ feeling of cohesion, cooperative engaging, and subsequent cooperation (Quwaider et al., 2019). These positive feelings enhance one’s sense of wellbeing.
Besides, Lim, Cheong, and Saw (2016) argue that video games, specifically Bejeweled II, can decrease a person’s stress level and improve his or her mood. Video games may enhance a person’s state of flow. Flow is defined as “A positive psychological state where an individual experiences optimal and pleasurable experience when engaging an activity with full concentration to the extent that sense of time is distorted” (Lim et al., 2016, p. 13). As such, gaming has potential benefits on a person’s wellbeing.
The changes in the brain as a result of gaming are not all positives. For example, gaming addicts suffer from structural and functional alterations in their neural reward systems (Nicols, 2017). This explains why video gaming is a very addictive behavior. On the other hand, changes in the structural and functional of the neural reward system are associated with feelings of motivation, pleasure, and learning (Nicols, 2017). These changes demonstrate that gaming may enhance one’s general health, for example, when it comes to a person’s mood and energy levels.
The Positive Effects of Gaming on the Brain
Pallavicini, Ferrari, and Mantovani (2018) conducted a systematic review of studies that have been performed on the implications of gaming on healthy adults. More specifically, the study aimed at identifying what other peer-reviewed studies have found when it comes to the implications of video games training on the emotional and cognitive skills of healthy adults. The study searched for peer-reviewed articles in databases, such as PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus. The researchers settled for 35 studies that met the inclusion criteria. After analyzing these studies, the team concluded that gaming has positive implications on the emotional and cognitive skills of the healthy adult population, particularly when young adults are concerned. Complex strategy games video games can make a person flexible cognitively (Pallavicini et al., 2018).
Besides, video games can result in cognitive stimulation. Kyriazis and Kiourti (2018) argue that “Video games are complex digi-social microcosms which are constructed by social conventions and rules that may be different from actual world rules” (p. 2). For instance, a video game may be played with rules that do not adhere to the principles of gravity. As such, a player must have an in-depth knowledge of these rules, which differ from one game to another. Thus, video game players develop cognitive capabilities that may be beneficial in their day-to-day lives. Examples of video games that may achieve cognitive stimulation include Ikariam, Minecraft, World of Warcraft, and League of legends (Kyriazis & Kiourti, 2018). These games engage the player’s brain fully, enhancing his or her cognition in several ways. At the same time, Nicols (2017) reports of a study published in Nature which shows that specifically designed 3-D game could enhance cognitive performances among older adults and mitigate against the negative effects associated with aging. The outcomes of this study further support the argument that gaming has positive effects on player’s cognitive capabilities.
In their article, Brilliant, Nouchi, and Kawashima (2019) examined the findings of other studies when it comes to the effects of gaming on the brain. The researchers searched for relevant randomized controlled trials from Google Scholar and PubMed databases. 9 articles met the established criteria. The study revealed that gaming has beneficial effects on the brain. The beneficial effects associated with video games include grey matter changes, functional connectivity change, and brain activity change (Brilliant et al., 2019).
Video Games and Visual-Spatial Skills
At the same time, video games may enhance participants’ visual-spatial skills. Video games can increase the competence levels and size of the parts of the brain that deals with visual-spatial skills (Nicols, 2017). These skills help a person to identify spatial and visual traits among objects. On this note, the volunteers who participated in the video game training plan had enlarged right hippocampus (Nicols, 2017). Other studies have supported the argument that playing video games may increase one’s visual-spatial skills. According to Subhashree, Bhanu, Lavanya, Bhuvaneshwari, and Aarthi (2019), experimental studies have revealed that playing videos for only 10 hours may result in a person experiencing improved spatial attention and mental rotation. Video games expect players to extract certain spatial details from the screen. Players use these details to locate targets and make faster decisions on how to maneuver and avoid being hit or accomplish a certain mission successfully.
Video Games and Pro-Social Behavior
The article by Baboo and Vasimalairaja (2017) revealed that playing video games has beneficial effects on positive social behavior. This experimental study recruited 90 participants, half of whom were girls. The participants were aged between 10 and 13 years old, and they were in the 5th and 7th grade (Baboo & Vasimalairaja, 2017). After data analysis, the study revealed that “There is a difference in the problem solving and pro social behaviour while playing the videogame than while watching and boys show more significant difference than girls in problem solving and vice versa for the pro social behaviour” (Baboo & Vasimalairaja, 2017, p. 11). Ordinarily, boys play more video games than girls. This may explain the gender-based differences in problem solving skills between boys and girls who play video games. In the gaming world, cheaters and those who violate the existing rules are punished (Poyhtari, 2016). The punishment may take many forms. For example, it may involve a person losing his or her friend. Games employ different techniques for punishing cheaters as well as other persons who violate the established rules. For instance, the game known as Steam uses the Valve Ant-Cheat (VAC) software (Poyhtari, 2016). This software flags players who have been identified as cheaters from joining the games.
Video Games and Hand-Eye Coordination
The other benefit associated with playing video games is that a person may experience improved hand-eye coordination. Some driving games require participants to be ready to take a sharp corner or stop suddenly. According to Markman (2016), several studies have revealed that gamers were better in driving a car in a straight line as compared to non-gamers. This suggests that gaming benefits hand-eye coordination. Games that involve first-person shooter or driving require a person to react accurately and quickly to events happening on the screen.
Video Games and Problem-Solving
In its webpage, BBC (2017) reports about a trial performed by researchers at the University of Glasgow that assessed the effects of video games have on the students’ adaptability, communication skills, and resourcefulness. According to one of the researchers behind the study in question, video games encourage reflective learning and critical thinking (BBC, 2017). These skills are pertinent for successful school performance. Besides skills, such as communication, adaptability, resourcefulness and problem solving are in high demand in workplaces. This means that gaming may help students in their academic endeavors as well as when they get jobs.
The story of Rocky Stoutenburgh demonstrates that video games not only entertain but also can be a source of income for some people. Rocky is a paralyzed young man who plays video games with his mouth (Rocky No Hands, 2018). He uploads videos about him playing various games on YouTube. In one of these videos, Rocky is playing a game known as Superhero. From this game, one learns to be creative. A person has to try to imagine where a potential enemy will come from and develop the best approach to unarm or destroy him or her. Also, the game helps a person acquire problem-solving skills. Video games teach people to find solutions to various problems they encounter and how to make good choices (Rocky No Hands, 2018). One wrong move translates to a person being eliminated from the game.
The changes in gamers’ brains may result in these individuals having better decision-making capabilities. The broader cognitive benefits associated with gaming include encoding speed, attention flexibility, executive functioning, stimulus-response mapping, and visual acuity (Curcio & Peracchia, 2019). These benefits translate to gamers being able to make faster and better decisions. These benefits were identified in the study by Hilliard et al. (2018). In their study, Hilliard et al. (2018) found that children who played quandary exhibited greater depth when responding to interview questions. Quandary is an online educational game aimed at promoting moral decision-making skills among learners. As such, gamers are more capable of assessing the available options in specific situations and identifying the most suitable alternative.
Gaming and Social Skills
Gaming is a social activity. For example, the World of Gaming has approximately 8 million players and 5 million active subscriptions (Poyhtari, 2016). In this game, there are many different communities. The game’s primary goal is to encourage players to form a guild and fight powerful enemies. As such, gaming can help players to create new social contacts. Many games have a multiplayer mode. When using this mode, players have to form teams that comprise people with a common objective (Poyhtari, 2016). At the same time, communication skills are pertinent for participants of a multiplayer mode. Besides, Poyhtari (2016) argues that 74.7% of women and 76.2% of women have made good friends from their gaming communities. As such, the social contact a person gets while playing video games may extend into his or her real-life.
At the same time, modern-day video games have the same features as a play (Lobel et al., 2017). As such, video games may help meet the children’s psychosocial development needs. Some video games encourage children to engage in prosocial skills that they can use in real-life situations. These skills pertain to the ability to share, cooperate and forge positive connections with other persons (Halbrook, O’Donnell, & Msetfi, 2019). Video games may act as online social events which means that they serve similar purposes as in-person interactions. Gaming may have potential benefits on people’s prosocial behavior for individuals who live in remote locations. For example, some people with high attachment avoidance can attain secure attachment capabilities after engaging in online social games (Halbrook et al. 2019). These people use online social video games to fulfill their attachment needs. Some researchers consider gaming as having the ability to reward cooperation and communication and helping players resolve emotions (Lobel, Engels, Stone, Burk & Granic, 2017). Just like ordinary sports, some video games call for cooperation and teamwork. Besides, video games may have therapeutic effects since they can help a person release negative emotions, such as anger and frustrations. Once a person immerses him or herself in the world of a video game, he or she can forget the events that had made him or her to develop negative feelings.
In their study of the implications of gaming on psychosocial wellbeing of children, Lobel et al. (2017) recruited 194 children, 98 of whom were male and the remainders were females. The subjects reported their gaming frequencies and their likelihood of playing violent games. They were also asked if they could classify their gaming as either competitive or cooperative. The participants’ parents were requested to report their children’s status of psychological health. The researchers collected the same data twice (One year apart). The study did not identify a correlation between violent gaming and psychosocial changes. At the same time, the study revealed that cooperative gaming increased prosocial behavior among children who were avid gamers. The report of this study challenges the finds of some of the studies that have argued that violent gaming exposes children to aggressive tendencies and other behavior that do not conform to society’s norms (Lobel et al., 2017).
In their study, Alshehri and Mohamed (2019) examined the correlation between playing electronic video games and physical activity, health and social relationships among Saudi Arabian men aged between 16 years and 18 years. The researchers designed an online survey that comprised 60 items categorized into five sections. The participants came from 30 high schools, whereby each school availed 90 students. The study revealed that gaming has significant benefits on players’ social relationships, physical activity, and health (Alshehri & Mohamed, 2019).
Spinelli (2018) examined whether or not tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) have positive effects on social skills, creativity, and self-efficacy. The study recruited 85 participants aged between 18 and 25 years old. Data analysis revealed that there was a positive correlation between engaging in TTRPGs social skills and creativity, and self-efficacy and creativity, and social skills and self efficacy (Spinelli, 2018).
Sergeyeva, Tsareva, Zinoveva, and Kononova (2018) compared the social skills of MMORPG gamers with those of non-gamers. The study included 43 gamers and 29 non-gamers aged between 18 and 57 years. The study revealed that games exhibited many crucial social interaction skills, which include collaborating with others and striving to control one’s action. This study demonstrates that gamers may have enhanced social skills than non-gamers. Video games require a person to adhere to certain rules which constrain a player’s action and behavior (Sergeyeva et al., 2018).
To sum up, this paper has successfully shown that playing video games has numerous benefits. These benefits touch on every aspect of human beings in terms of physical, cognitive and social health. It is important for more studies to be done on specific types of video games than have more benefits than others.
References
Alshehri, A. G., & Mohamed, A. M. A. S. (2019). The relationship between electronic gaming and health, social relationships, and physical activity among males in Saudi Arabia. American Journal of Men’s Health, 13(4), 1557988319873512.
Baboo, S. & Vasimalairaja, D. (2017). Differential effects on playing and watching videogames on the problem solving and pro social behaviour of middle school students. International Journal of Education and Psychological Research, 6(3). 11-14.
BBC. (2017). Video games could boost university skills, study finds. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-40160100
Brilliant, T., Nouchi, R., & Kawashima, R. (2019). Does video gaming have impacts on the brain: Evidence from a systematic review. Brain Sciences, 9(10), 251.
Curcio, G., & Peracchia, S. (2019). Exposure to Video Games and Decision Making. In Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in Media and Communications (pp. 117-131). IGI Global.
Halbrook, Y. J., O’Donnell, A. T., & Msetfi, R. M. (2019). When and how video games can be good: A review of the positive effects of video games on well-Being. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(6), 1096-1104.
Hilliard, L. J., Buckingham, M. H., Geldhof, G. J., Gansert, P., Stack, C., Gelgoot, E. S., … & Lerner, R. M. (2018). Perspective taking and decision-making in educational game play: A mixed-methods study. Applied Developmental Science, 22(1), 1-13.
Kyriazis, M., & Kiourti, E. (2018). Video games and other online activities may improve health in ageing. Frontiers in Medicine, 5, 8.
Lim, Y. Q., Cheong, H. Q., & Saw, S. Q. (2016). The Correlation of Video Games with Positive Affect and Negative Affect Among UTAR (Perak Campus) Undergraduate Students (Doctoral dissertation, UTAR).
Lobel, A., Engels, R. C., Stone, L. L., Burk, W. J., & Granic, I. (2017). Video gaming and children’s psychosocial wellbeing: A longitudinal study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(4), 884-897.
Markman, A. (2016). Video game play benefits coordination. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ulterior-motives/201608/video-game-play-benefits-coordination
Pallavicini, F., Ferrari, A., & Mantovani, F. (2018). Video games for well-being: A systematic review on the application of computer games for cognitive and emotional training in the adult population. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2127.
Poyhtari, A. (2016). Social gaming in online games (master’s thesis). University of Oulu. Retrieved from http://jultika.oulu.fi/files/nbnfioulu-201605221858.pdf
Nicols, H. (2017). How video games affect the brain. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318345
Quwaider, M., Alabed, A., & Duwairi, R. (2019). The Impact of Video Games on the Players Behaviors: A Survey. Procedia Computer Science, 151, 575-582.
Rocky No Hands. (2018). Superhero. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQg_ZZ_BqJk
Spinelli, L. (2018). Tabletop role-playing games and social skills in young adults. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1199&context=honorscollege_theses
Subhashree, K., Bhanu, D., Lavanya, S., Bhuvaneshwari, K. S., & Aarthi, D. (2019). Analysis of human behavior using gaming effects and social factors in video games. International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering, 8(8S2).619-625.