There is a considerable divergence of views regarding the impact of video games on our life. Some people are of the opinion that gaming is an addictive and wasteful form of entertainment that has more negative than positive effects on the players. However, there are those who believe that playing video games can help us improve our cognitive skills and evenincrease the size of our brain.
However, the truth lies somewhere in between. The outcome of playing video games highly depends on the game type and the amount of time spent on gaming every day. Today, we will talk about how each game genre influences your overall development.
#1 Real-Time Strategy
Real-time strategies are a genre of video games that requires players to build, expand and defend a settlement. It also involves resource collection, in-game technological development, base defending and army control.
Since you play against human opponents, you can significantly increase your logical thinking skills and develop enhanced predictive abilities. And the best part is that it has a lot in common with real life.
You may actually be surprised but you do similar actions in your daily life. You gather resources (earn money), develop yourself (go to college or attend trainings) and fortify your base (invest in your house by buying required things). Overall, playing RTS games lets you boost your strategic planning and time-management skills.
Another important aspect of RTSs is that their story is frequently based on historical facts and events. For instance, the Age of Empires series is based on medieval history and provides the players with the chronology of important historical events. Indisputably, it has a positive impact on one`s all-round development.
#2 MMORPG
Being a combination of RPG (Role Playing Games) and MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online), MMORPG games feature a large number of players (sometimes up to 1 million people at a time) who interact with each other in a constantly changing virtual environment. In MMORPGs, the player controls a single unit in a fictional universe that includes elements of real-life, such as economics, social life, professions, etc. Character development is based on the completion of a series of tasks that lead the player through the main storyline.
Playing MMORPGs helps you improve yourself through self-development and cooperation with other players. You cannot complete an MMOPRG without the help of your fellow gamers, thus you have to maintain friendly relationships with them. In most games like this, each player has a distinct role to play in a team. It helps them develop their team-building skills and an ability to compromise on goals and resources.
Unfortunately, MMORPG is one of the most time-consuming game genres that requires the player to spend a lot of time on achieving better playing conditions. Since it is modeled on timing in the real world, all actions in the game take just as much time as they would in real life. According to a survey conducted by the South African Information Security, the majority of MMORPG players are males aged between 18 and 23 years. 40% of the respondents claimed they spend more than 5 hours per day on video games, while another 20% admitted to gaming more than 9 hours daily.
Compulsive computer game players usually suffer from procrastination and have poor time-management skills. Moreover, excessive playing negatively influences their learning results. Consequently, students addicted to MMORPGs can miss classes, postpone doing their home assignments and ask academic writing companies forwriting help. And though services like this can help you improve your grades, you shouldn’t forget that game addiction is a bad habit that should be gotten rid of as quickly as possible.
#3 First Person Shooter
First Person Shooter (FPS) is currently the most popular genre if video games. A typical FPS features a realistic first-person perspective three-dimensional environment in which the player is able to view the events of their gameplay through the eyes of the main character
Recent studies suggest that playing FPS games (shooters, in particular) can improve one’s learning skills and enhance memory capacity. According to research published by the Scientific American Mind, players improve their hand-eye coordination, long-term concentration, and assumption skills. The research also indicates that gamers who play FPS games on a regular basis are capable of making instant decisions. They also develop excellent spatial orientation skills and have better visual acuity than those who have never played first-person shooters before.
Another unexpected benefit of FPS games is that they can be curative. According toRoger W, Li and his colleague’s research, playing a shooter for 40 hours can help cure amblyopia, a disease characterized by a vision deficiency in an eye. Besides that, patients also observed improvement in their visual concentration and focusing abilities.
To sum up, for gaming to be beneficial it should be in moderation. The test subjects who took part in the said research were told to play FPS games regularly for a limited amount of time. Those who played excessively ended up developing an addiction and, consequently, felt less motivated and concentrated.