As I sit in my dorm, beating my roommate badly in NHL 2015, I start to think about doing homework. The natural reaction to that thought is homework can wait because this is a must-win game for bragging rights. Then I start to think: do video games affect your brain? Or is it just something that side tracks you, so you do not do your homework. The common answer from most people would be video games are not good for you. Still, some say video games have a positive impact on the individual playing,

When we look for positives, there is no shortage. According to a study, video games provide emotional, cognitive, motivational, and social benefits. “Several studies have shown a causal relation between playing preferred video games and improved mood or increases in positive emotion” (American Psychologist). When I see this, it is hard to disagree with. What is better than beating a friend in an intense FIFA game? The answer to that: Absolutely nothing. Even if it is just a puzzle game, such as angry birds, winning is winning, and this improves the mood of the player.

One of these studies concluded that playing video games causes changes in brain waves consistent with improved moods. Obviously, how much mood improves varies depending on the game. This study appears very well done. It performs a very complex evaluation of each participant, which lead to the conclusion, using formulas and statistics. Assuming there were no confounding variables, it appears safe to say that there is a causal relationship between playing video games and an individual’s mood.

The cognitive benefits of video games is clearly present. Video games can not be good for your brain. This statement is false. Video games, especially shooting video games, promote a wide range of cognitive skills. “A recently published meta-analysis (Uttal et al., 2013) concluded that the spatial skills improvements derived from playing commercially available shooter video games are comparable to the effects of formal (high school and university-level) courses aimed at enhancing these same skills” (American Psychologist). I find this conclusion to be amazing, but also not an outrageous assumption. If you think about it, video games, especially shooting games, force the player to make hundreds of split-second decisions in just one game.

The most interesting positive benefit of video games in my eyes is the social aspect. When I think of video games, social skills is the last thing I would think about. In fact, I would assume that people who play video games too much do not have said social skills. With many games, such as World of Warcraft, Farmville, and even games such as FIFA or Madden, playing with a friend is necessary or simply more fun. Based on the statistics, 62% of gamers play games with others, whether that is online or in person. The research done by the ESA seems very well-done, which makes this statistic fairly reliable. I would definitely agree with this statistic because, from experience, video games are more fun when you play with or against someone. It is not nearly as fun to compete against the computer, when you could be playing, and talking to, another human being.

When one thinks about the effect of video games, it normally results in the negative connotation. These statistics and studies clearly show the opposite. Gaming provides benefits that are not clearly visible when one thinks about video games. Especially within recent years, smartphone games have greatly increased the number of individuals who play video games. It is the common notion that video games, and technology as a whole, are ruining our generation, but I would beg to differ and the evidence supports such a stance.