Expert Opinion on VIdeo Games Advantages and Disadvantages

Video games can often be a stress reliever or how we enjoy spending our downtime, video games can be very good for you with working with your reflexes and brain stimulation, but video games can also be very addictive. Video game addiction is a major problem in the world currently and it even affects China so much to in November 2019 they recently passed a law that requires people under the age of 18 to less than 90 minutes of gaming on weekdays and only 3 hours on weekends. The way that they monitor this is because the game developers keep watch of the gamers times and inevitably kick them off when they reach their limit. Most people who are not addicted to video games can easily manage their time so that gaming doesn’t get affect their daily lives.

An addiction can be described in many ways, but addictions involve an unhealthy appeal to a substance or an activity that disrupts the action of somebody being able to get regular daily things done. Video game addiction is usually involved in playing games excessively for multiple hours at a time and only getting up or off the game for the most important jobs or tasks. Most people who are not addicted to Video games tend to play for around 2 to 4 hours at a time and people who are addicted play for up to 8 to 10 hours in one sitting or even more!

The common side effects of being addicted to video games is isolation or just not socializing with people around them since they only get up to maybe use the restroom or important jobs as stated as before. Most people who are addicted to video games will often hide inside their house or at a gaming café for hours on end. Another huge effect of being addicted to video games is not eating or even excessively eating, they also tend to not shower because why shower when you can just play video games for the entire day? It is often misunderstood that talking to people online can be considered the same as socializing in person, talking online may affect the way they communicate to the real world in general.

Some doctors think that video games can be very good for you and Doctor Asi Burak believes that video games will be prescribed over pills in certain cases, Asi is currently testing his theory on patients who have ADHD because according to Asi “contends that the right kind of games can make us smarter by training our brains. Indeed, a doctor might one day prescribe some screen time over pills.” He also said that “They’re no longer the exclusive domain of teenagers playing in their basement and shooting zombies surrounded by empty pizza boxes.” He is also using video games to identify the early stages of Alzheimer’s. “Burak notes that these neuro games will be backed by science. That makes them different from brain training or brain-drilling games now in the market, which he says aren’t backed by rigorous medical evidence.” Gamers also want their parents and people to understand that gaming isn’t a waste of time and can be very viable to your brain performance and a stress reliever. Burak had a comment on this certain subject saying, “The most common things I tend to hear are “playing video games is a waste of time” or “they are so violent” or “video games are addictive.” These opinions are often being held by parents or other people who do not play video games themselves. 

As such, they have a very hard time grasping the depth of the medium or following the incredible evolution that games have gone through in recent years, from the explosion of indie and artistic games to the idea that video games can be meaningful and deal with sociopolitical issues, to the communities of gamers around esports (competitive video gaming).” There is a game going around called “ICivics” that teachers are currently using to teach kids about history, they are mainly using this device because of the fact that it is free and that the court had approved this to be viable to students to make it easier for them to learn. Burak’s thoughts on this are “Teachers are treated as partners and the education system is researched, analyzed, and approached with great and engaging solutions. Over the years, the organization led the creation of 19 games, covering areas from the court system to the process of getting a law to approval by Congress. For kids, what could be more engaging than learning from a fun game that asks them to make real choices?” Burak and MW also knew as “Market Watch” commented and debated on violent games like “Call of Duty” and MW asked Burak “You say video games, even something as violent as “Call of Duty,” can make us smarter. Smarter in what way? Not just learning about the three branches of government but in the sense of more intelligent. Or just in learning skills that we can apply in real-life situations, like surgeons practicing skills they need?” Certain video games can have effects on your brain that stimulates you and the way you think and react to certain things in the outside world.