
I am sure any one reading this knows what a video game is, just as I am sure many have played some kind of video game and could also pick out your favorite video game if I asked. Video games have become the primary source for entertainment for this generation which is estimated to be around 127+ million people (Zichermann), and this has caused significant changes in our society. A few examples of how video games have effected society is the unmistakable icon Mario no matter who you are, you can distinguish Nintendo’s classic icon at a glance. But with knowing the wider effects that video games have, the question is how do video games affect us as people and how we can use these effects? I believe that if we look at the effects of video games, we can see that they can be used as therapeutic tool, and similar devices like teaching utensils.

There are many ways that video games benefit us or affect us in positive ways. There are certain cognitive benefits for playing video games, like video games help to improve problem-solving skills, as well as enhanced creativity. Problem solving is a critical ability in all types of video games as there are many, ranging, problems presented in video games and you are usually given few details or instructions on how to solve these problems. So, to complete these tasks or solve the problems and/or puzzles you must use a vast amount of creativity, past experience, and intuition to find your own solution (Granic 4). There also are cognitive benefits for playing certain types video games such as, some shooter games have shown evidence of training visual processing and enhanced mental rotation abilities (Granic 3). Visual processing is the steps that visual information takes as it goes from your eyes to your brain and is processed (Riesenhuber). Mental rotation is the ability for your brain to be able to rotate an object inside of the mind and identify that it is still the same object (Bavelier). Increasing these mental processes can improve skills such as distinguishing different colors, different shapes, tracking of objects even in cluttered enviorments, and switching tasks on a moment notice (Riesenhuber). Certain types video games also have shown evidence of having emotional benefits puzzle game are an example of one of these types of video games. These benefits can be but are not limited to improved mood, intense pride for an accomplishment, and “practice controlling, or modulating, negative emotions” (Granic 7). All of these benefits can be also linked to warding off anxiety, increase in commitment to a task, and lower levels of depression. This claim is supported by examples of games like Portal 2, when it forces the player to forget everything they have previously learned from previously in the game and force you to learn all new mechanics to continue solving its complex puzzles. Because of this constant relearning, without proper management of your emotions anxiety, and frustration would flare up, but it also feels greatly rewarding to solve such puzzles, giving you pride, improving your mood, and causing you to want to commit to continue playing. 

Why care about these benefits, how are they of any use? With all these benefits video games could be put to use as tools, specifically therapeutic tools and possibly learning devises. It is well documented that a problem among therapeutic practices is a lack of motivation from the patient, as it highly affects the outcome of the therapy, especially physical therapy. Video games could be used as tools or alternative therapeutic workouts for patients like victims of strokes as lots of motion-controlled video games have the player do similar movement as those of current therapeutic workouts. The advantage to using video games is that they can engage the patient in ways normal therapeutic workouts and practices can not or do not. This engagement and video games emotional benefits help to get pass this lack of motivation thus allowing the patient to do their therapeutic workouts in a fun and engaging way while providing them with a goal (Lohse 8). Video games also have the added advantage of the cognitive benefits which could help to improve the rate at which a patient heals. Video game have also been shown to be effective teach tools as show by a teacher named Ananth Pai. Mr. Pai replaced his entire standard curriculum with a video game curriculum, giving all his student store bought games that taught math and reading. Within six weeks of this curriculum the students math and reading went up a grade level, Mr. Pai’s students went from a below third grade math and reading leve to a fourth grade reading level (Zichermann).

There are however possible negative effects of playing video games. One such effect is widely talked about and hotly debated is if violent video games cause players to become violent or cause an increase in violent tendencies in players. This has been a topic of debate for many years with many studies and debate with varying conclusions and biases making it difficult to find a definitive answer. But a group attempted a scientific study to find the answer. They found that violent video games do have an impact on its players because those players tested showed more aggression in a social setting. So, these types of video games can make us more aggressive but from this study, not more violent. The difference between aggression and violence is that they are different levels of anger, where aggression is intense anger and forceful, but violence is above aggression where the anger is too much and usually involve an attack of some sort. However, the study itself does mention that the actual increase is very notably small of an increase though there are other studies that have come up with very similar numbers (Greitemeyer). With this as a factor I believe that video games benefits outweigh this discovery and according to a study that tested the effect of video games on prosocial behavior and found that video games have a similar effect on those behaviors as it does aggression, it just depends on the type of game.

So, I think in order to help make it a reality one day that video games are used as these kinds of tools. Developers should be conducting research to try and find or create a type of video game that can combine all these positive effects and benefits from different types of games, like the increase in visual processing and improved mood, while limiting the negative effects that come from them as much as possible. Of course, the challenge is to make a game with all of that as its focus that still has that engagement, challenge, or hook to keep the people playing motivated and keep them playing. That is why I want to be a video game developer, is so one day I can make this generations number one source of entertainment into a source of healing for those they can help. Cause video games are around to stay a while and it would be a shame to not use them at their fullest potential. that is why I believe that with the effects of video games have on us that they can be used as therapeutic tools and teaching utensils.
herapy.” JNPT, Wolters Kluwer, Dec. 2013, journals.lww.com/jnpt/Fulltext/2013/12000/Video_Games_and_Rehabilitation___Using_Design.4.aspx. Accessed 1 Feb. 2017

