Better Living Through Video Games

By Megan Hoffman, Editorial Assistant

I am not ashamed to call myself a gamer.
I’m proud to say that whatever time my parents might have spent trying to suppress my desire to play video games came out in college, and I’m even prouder to say that I’m going into video games as a career after I’ve graduated from Chico State.

Despite much controversy, video games have become a major staple to American culture, and the benefits of playing video games are numerous. In fact, a survey in 2010 by the Entertainment Software Association showed the gaming industry made $25.1 billion in revenue that year alone.

Just think of how much that actually HELPS the economy.

Video games don’t just improve the economy, though. They help people improve themselves. According to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, 67 percent of U.S. households play video games, which means that more than half the people in the U.S. understand these personal benefits.

1. Video games help change your point of view of a situation.
The diversity in games means that there are many different types of logic games that you can play. For example, Minesweeper is a numbers game that teaches you to find all of the problems in a situation, whereas Portal puts you into a situation that you need to find your way out of. So if you’re stuck on one solution and would like to change your perspective, logic/puzzle games might be your solution to seeing all sides.

2. Video games teach you to work as a team.
Mass multi-player games are steadily rising in popularity. The benefit to these games, such as Modern Warfare or World of Warcraft, is that in order to do well, you have to work together as a team. In WoW especially, players of various skills must team together, utilizing all of their assets, in order to defeat a problem they would not be able to solve alone. These teams must use communication as well as trust in order to achieve success.

3. Video games can be used as a tool to exercise.
With many complaints about how video games are just a mindless activity, there are now consoles such as the Wii and Kinect that get gamers moving and losing those calories. The Wii Fit helps you keep track of your daily intake and pushes you to do more to lose that weight. My personal favorite, however, is Zumba for the Kinect, which works you out but leaves you entertained.

I might fall into the small percentage of gamers that are actually women, but, as a representative of my gender, I can say that my life has improved greatly from my gaming.

Yours might as well.