Video games can get a bad rep. According to the media, video games have caused rickets, dementia and even Robert Green’s terrible performance in England’s Euro 2008 qualifier. But, it’s unlikely that this $107 billion dollar industry is going away anytime soon. In fact, they’ve been embraced by a much wider demographic - your average ‘gamer’ isn’t a teenage boy sitting in a basement, swearing at his television, in fact it’s likely to be a thirty-something man or woman.
At this point, we can conclude that video games probably aren’t evil, but do they do any good?
Teamwork and Leadership
Part of the outdated stereotype of what gaming is suggests that it’s a very solitary practice, but the advent of live gaming means that that’s no longer the case at all. Thrusting players from all over the world into a team, means that the players will develop interpersonal skills and leadership skills. On top of this, as a team they will have to practice patience, perseverance and strategy. Team sports are a key part of our school curriculum because they allow children to practice these skills, so why do we deride video games for doing the same?
Responsibility
Unlike other media, like books and films, video games ask their players to make choices that have consequences. You’re not just following a character, you are the character and how you perform in the game has an effect on that character’s timeline. This means that video games require a certain level of responsibility and can consistently evoke sympathy from their players.
Physicality
Now I’m not going to argue that playing video games has the same effect on the body as other sports, but there is a level of physical skill at work here. To play games well, players have to have incredibly agile hands. When you watch professional gamers, they’re hands could be making up to 800 actions per minute. That’s pretty much equivalent to a master piano player!
Money
It seems as though society never deems anything worthwhile until you can make money doing it. Well, as it turns out, if you’re incredibly good at playing video games, you can make an awful lot of money from it. In 2016, Kuro Takhasomi earned in excess of $3 million playing video games in eSports competitions! Plus, conversations are already starting about including eSports in the 2024 Olympics.
Video games tend to be seen as a frivolous leisure activity, but perhaps there is more at play here. Gaming could redefine the way we look at work and play - not as two separate things, but maybe something in the middle.