Video Games and their Benefits: A Research Proposal
Zachary Silverman
English 102
Merrill Goldin
5 May. 2023
Video games have been a popular debate for a long time on how they can affect the players. Some say that they are unhealthy, and some argue the opposite. Because of this video games have been vilified in the past by large groups of people. From parents to politicians, video games can never seem to catch a break. Video games provide a list of benefits that can range from getting exercise to helping kids with dyslexia perform better academically. Video games can improve your medical health and your physical health. By playing video games you can help keep yourself in shape and improve your cognitive skills, and even meet new friends to socialize with over long distances.
One possible event that can come from playing video games is an improvement in your reaction time. An experiment was performed back in 2014 to compare the reaction speeds of people who play video games regularly, to those who do not. According to the results, those who play video games regularly had a faster reaction time, regardless of gender. The study showed that male non video gamers have an average reaction time of about 350 milliseconds, whilst female non video gamers had a quicker reaction time of around 335 milliseconds. When moving on to the subjects who do play video games, the reaction times were at least 50% shorter. Male video gamers had an extremely high reaction time of around 297 milliseconds. Female video gamers were almost exactly the same with a high reaction time of around 300 milliseconds. The female non gamers had quicker reaction time than male non gamers, however female video gamers had a slightly slower reaction time as opposed to male video gamers. (RIchardson 49) The reason why this is important is because having faster reaction times may just save your life. An example of this is when you are driving a car. If someone were to start running onto the road, your reaction time could be the difference in whether or not that person gets hit by you.
Another physical benefit that can stem from playing video games is keeping yourself in shape. Not having enough physical exercise can lead to problems such as being overweight or even getting diabetes.The reason is that most exercises do not have a lot of fun built into it, which can push people away from exercising. A solution to this is using virtual reality for exercise. Depending on the type of video games you play you can gain a good amount of exercise, eventually leading to performing workouts in your own home as opposed to the gym. Virtual reality (VR) games are a healthy alternative to desktop and console based games, as they require more movement input. Desktop and console games require the use of a controller or keyboard and mouse to perform actions in the game. These actions can range from running, jumping, looking around, and basic actions like picking something up or using a weapon. In contrast to this virtual reality provides a more physical experience by having the player use their body as the controller. Virtual reality is still evolving as we speak but right now the normal use of virtual reality is having one motion controller in each hand while the HMD (Head Mounted Device) rests on your face. By using the controllers you can stretch your arm and grab and use items instead of a simple button press. The HMD also provides a major role as you control your vision by simply looking around. For example looking to your right would be just like in real life, your vision moves with you. As for the controllers they are used as a set of virtual arms. However the legs don't work while you move around the room. Leg tracking is a very popular addition that provides a more immersive experience by allowing you to use your entire body to be more expressive in game. Depending on how much money you have you can purchase an accessory called a virtual reality treadmill. Virtual reality treadmills will lock you in place on the treadmill and allow you to walk around like you would in real life. Combining all of these with Your choice of VR game can yield great results. Games can range from action packed shooters, to medieval sword fights with magic spells, or a bone chilling horror survival game. By providing more options for motion, VR games allow us to give ourselves a workout while having fun. With VR the possibilities are endless. If you don't exercise you can put yourself at risk. You might encounter issues like being overweight, which can drastically affect your view on yourself. By using virtual reality as a substitute for your workout routine you are able to reap the benefits of `being healthy, which can both reduce depression and reduce your weight. (Tate 49-50)
Video games are starting to be seen as not just a one note program, but as an evolution of how new kids start to learn. Educational video games have been more and more frequent as technology continues to evolve. Author Kurt Squire said that "many educators have taken an interest in how games affect the players, and how some of the motivating aspects of video games could encourage learning." (1) By providing students with a fun alternative way to learn, they may be more interested to learn about various things all through a video game designed for it. Video games have been shown to provide "thrilling digital environments'' and how motivation can help the players learn. (Squire 1) Educational video games are not just for students in school or college as many careers provide simulated environments. The careers that educational video games can target can range from military personnel, to learning how to fly a jet, or even just learning how to make food for a fast food company. (Green 17) Educational video games have been integrated into society faster than most people realize. The benefit of this is that it can help those from every single job and occupation to get the information they need, without the hassle and boredom from just sitting down and watching instructions on a screen. (Gee 15) Websites such as coolmathgames.com, brainpop.com, or pbskids.com all provide the user with education while still keeping the player's attention to the screen. One other positive benefit is that video games can be used as a form of treatment for learning disorders, such as dyslexia. After a group of scientists performed an experiment on two groups of kids with dyslexia, while only one of the two groups played video games. The experiment revealed that the reading speed and accuracy of the group who played video games improved after simply playing for just 80 minutes a day for a total of 9 days. (Franceschini et al. 426).
Video games can be viewed as an alternative to movies and tv shows as they allow you to interact with the virtual world and to take control of a character. While you just sit down and watch your movie play out, video games provide you with the tools to feel immersed in your game world. (Gee 5-6) You are not watching the movie, you are interacting with the movie. Author Kurt Squire made the statement that "video games can elicit powerful emotional reactions in their players, ranging from fear, to power, and aggression, wonder, and joy. Video game designers have the ability to create these emotions by working with a number of game components such as detailed characters and their traits, game rewards, challenging obstacles, a game's story, competition with other players, and opportunities to work together with other players." (Squire 1) Video games can also provide benefits involving how video games can help with your attentional abilities, allowing you to be more accurate when playing. (Chrysovalantis 51) According to the author Chrysovalantis Kefalis, "in the last few decades we have developed a body of research which supports that playing video games enhances a range of cognitive abilities such as improving attention spans." (51) The authors also performed a study in 2011 where they analyzed the effects of video-games on one's cognitive abilities. (Chrysovalantis 52) The study involved a total of 11 experienced gamers with a total of 7 or more hours on average a week, and 10 casual gamers who played less than an hour per week or less. The results concluded that "research showed that the experienced group have better basic cognitive skills compared to the casual gamers. (Chrysovalantis 52-53) Along with all of the benefits provided by playing video games, you can also find games that fit your niche easily. Genres can range from first person shooters where you step into the role of a soldier or a battle worn protagonist, role playing games where you can live in a fictional world with others, real time strategy as you play against rivals to see who has better tactics, horror to be given a good scare and keep you on your toes, platformers to test your precision and timing to the extremes, to even sandbox games which give you a massive amount of tools for you to create anything you want. For example if you want to play a horror game you could play stuff like Resident Evil or Amnesia: The Dark Descent. If you are more interested in sandbox games, you can play games like Garry's Mod or Minecraft. Any genre you can think of will have a video game perfectly suited towards your interests. Most of the video games that we emotionally attach ourselves to are able to connect to online servers and all of the positives they hold.The internet gave birth to a massive amount of information and possibilities. Without the internet, we would not have online multiplayer games. Multiplayer video games are extremely popular and have only grown in popularity. Online multiplayer games can be PVP (player versus player) , PVE (player versus environment) or CO-OP (cooperative games). PVP is simple, win against the enemy team, different games will different objectives ranging from King of the Hill, where two teams or lone individuals will fight over certain areas and try to get the most points, to TDM (team deathmatch) in which multiple teams battle each other to the death until the team with the most kills wins. PVE requires players to work together to survive the environment in the game. However in some cases players can turn on you and attack you, taking all of your stuff. CO-OP games have players work together to complete objectives and require good team composition in order to be successful. The thing that all online games have in common is the social aspect of playing with another player. A study performed by the ERIC Institute of Educational Services observed that according to most teens, gaming was a social activity and was a major component of their overall social lives. (Lenhart iii) Despite getting social interactions from playing online games with or without friends, social interaction via video games are a weaker form of social interaction as players do not interact directly" Talking to somebody over the internet can have various different types of social interaction. Using messaging apps you are able to text and upload photos and videos. However you are restricted to talk using typing only, the problem that causes is a lack of tone. Having a lack of tone makes it harder for people to understand your texts, and they can possibly be misinterpreted causing discourse or fights. Using an application such as Discord, you will still have the same problem with texts. But a feature included in Discord allows you to have the ability to make voice calls to friends or other people. The setback here is that voice calls have no video feed of yourself. Some people are able to use a webcam to show their face in the call. However not many people have access to webcams, creating another problem. Physical interaction is much more healthy as there are no roadblocks from just going outside with a friend. Instead of sitting in your room all day with friends over the internet, take a break and go outside once in a while with the people you love or those same friends you met online. Some experiences cannot be replicated by video games. But with video games we are able to
meet people you may never have had the chance to meet. We can play and communicate with anybody from around the world and make bonds with those other players.
Conclusion
Video games are not as evil as people say, the benefits they provide are immense. From being able to treat patients who have cerebral palsy, to being able to keep yourself fit with virtual reality, and even connecting and making friendships from all over the world. Video games are not a curse, they are a tool. We can easily train employees for companies and also help train the marines, the air force, and even the coast guard. Video games benefit people's lives and they will continue to evolve.
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