Are you a real fan of video games who cannot imagine a day without playing your favourite video game? May be you are someone who on the contrary is absolutely ignoring the existence of games? Which attitude is the best one? Are video games really worth your attention and when you should give them less of it?
Why should you start playing video games?
Calling video games a senseless form of entertainment will be very unfair, especially if you look at other popular ways of killing time. There is nothing more sensible in constant scrolling of your social network posts or even compulsive reading news which is also rather widespread among the users of computers and smartphones.
Certainly, the majority of video games are switching your attention from your worries and everyday routine very effectively. For example, if you try to escape the reality while reading a classical literature book, this might cause severe struggle since your brain will need to perform active work to process such serious texts. Video games are giving you immediate gratification which means you will get satisfaction from the time you are spending on playing immediately. Unfortunately, this can cause addiction in some individuals, however, if you are a mentally stable person, you will be able to benefit from this feature of video games.
Having a short session of playing your favourite game is a great way of releasing your negative energy which is certainly healthier than getting indulged into substance abuse or bursting with aggression in front of your family. Yet, like with all other forms of entertainment, you should be careful and not let yourself develop a coping mechanism of playing.
Video games are certainly not senseless since many of them will let you develop useful skills. Some of them will help you to start planning better, whereas others will help you to develop good reaction. This is an experimentally proved fact. For instance, one of the experiments revealed that an average speed of taking decisions in the case of the fans of shooters was by 25% faster than it is the case of the people who are not playing in such games.
Needless to say, video games can enrich your world just like any other type of entertainment. Of course, they will not help you to become better at work or in your social life, they will not make you stronger or healthier, but they will brighten your world with new colours which are not available in other forms of entertainment. Everyone should have a space for being playful and enjoying games. Furthermore, many games are actually an extension of your favourite films and literature which will allow you to enjoy these pieces of art in a new dimension.
Still, you should not forget about multiple ways in which you can start generating profit while playing your favourite games including participation in competitions and streaming.
When can playing games become disruptive?
Actually playing video games is not senseless, albeit it can become disruptive if there is too much of this activity in one’s life. This does not making video games bad or good. It is just the nature of immediate gratification they are offering to players which might make some people addicted to them.
Just like with any other forms of entertainment with immediate gratification, video games will not be addicted to people who are just enjoying playing without a hidden urge of escaping the reality. For some people, the overwhelming problems of their daily life might be covered by hours spent on playing which is certainly not a healthy way of enjoying video games. In such a case, the symptoms of gaming addiction are the same as for other addictions. The need to spend more and more time playing, spending excessive amounts on this hobby, compulsive urges to play even when it is not a right time for it, missing other crucial events of your life because of playing, ignoring the dissatisfaction of your family members are only some of the most popular symptoms of gaming addiction.
Yet, it does not that you will necessarily get addicted to gaming if you start playing. It is just an issue of keeping a right balance.
Note that according to many scientists, video games can also be disruptive when it comes to young children who really need to engage their natural abilities imagining things. On the one hand, video games are extending the real world with an imaginary universe. On the other hand, they are not letting small children to explore their all imagination which is particularly strong in the childhood. Exposing small children to video games to early can impair their creativity, however some of other cognitive skills will be developed in them faster than in those children who are not playing video games.