Positive Effects:
The most positive effect of Video Games in my opinion is that it naturally enhances your hand-eye-coordination immensely. I can vouch for this argument because I've noticed in my own experience that my reactions have improved from playing video games. Fast paced games such as Call of Duty are a strong example of a game needing quick reactions with the fast paced game-play. These games improve sensor-motor skills which is essentially relying on your eyes and muscles so they operate correctly, although everyone will start as a novice to these skills, activities such as fast-paced video games can enhance these skills to a expert level. Think of it like riding a bike or driving a car, at the beginning you are overwhelmed by all the things you have to think about; after time and practice you will be able to do all of these things without even thinking about it.
To support this I have found a interesting article that touches upon a recent study that proves that video games can help your hand eye coordination. The study found that surgeons who played video games for at least three hours a week made 37% fewer mistakes and performed the procedure 27% faster than those who did not play video games. Surgeons that play video games have a lot lower chance of making a mistake while performing a procedure. It is recommended that surgeons play a specially developed video game before surgery in order to 'warm up'.
Read the full article here:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/surgeons-play-video-games-to-prepare-for-surgery/
Another big advantage of Video Games is that playing them will especially on a Computer will give you experience using computers and general technology, this is handy to have in this day and age. If you are so inclined you could also take it one step forward and make your own computer which lots of people do, this will definitely increase your knowledge on how computers work and control, this can lead to many jobs such as IT Technicians if you would like to go down the route of fixing the hardware or software of a computer but in general could lead into jobs like Games Design, Web Designers and Software Designers just to name a few.
To support this I will actually use my own experience; I have played video games throughout my life, they have been one of biggest hobbies and always a go-to escapism. I have seen through this passion with learning to become a Games Designer. I have also built my own personal computer completely from scratch with little to no help except the odd YouTube video. Without my interest in video games I would not ever of pursued either of these things and this supports this advantage.
My support for this advantage is a direct paragraph from a website about using Video Games to teach English, this articles summaries my statement:
"When playing these kinds of adventure games, it is like you are watching a movie, but you are controlling the main character. This is excellent for your English because your character is going to interact with other characters in the game, and you have to understand to be able to pass all the missions. If that’s not a good enough way to practice your English, technology has made the game playing experience even better with online games. Some online games like Counter Strike or Warcraft can be played in teams with people from all around the world. With this technology, people are communicating with other teammates from different countries, strategizing their attacks, working together to complete the game, and practising a lot of English at the same time."
Full website here:
http://reallifeglobal.com/english-for-life-learn-english-with-video-games/
My final advantage for Video Games is that they can extremely benefit you learning a real life job, they do this through a genre of games called Simulation Games. These games can vary from Farming Simulator and Car Mechanic Simulator to Flying Simulator. There is absolutely thousands of these games out there that give a real life insight to these jobs. For example, Euro Truck Simulator; in this game you control a heavy goods vehicle, the aim of the game is to drive from place to place delivering goods. You will drive around first person in a truck, getting stuck in traffic, waiting to leave junctions and actually exploring real life places in real time. The amount of realism that goes into these games is immense and can lead some to pursue these jobs in real life.
My support for this also comes direct from a website called 'iPilot', their main aim is to overcome peoples fear of flying through Flying Simulations:
"Are you afraid of flying but you would like to fly on holiday or a business trip? Visit us at our iPILOT store! We would like to explain you how an aircraft works, which sounds you hear during the flight, the tasks of a pilot and consider also your individual fear of flying at the same time.
We can hopefully reduce your fear of flying in a simple way in our flight simulator. After a talk about your personal fear of flying and the explanations mentioned above our pilot will demonstrate different situations during a flight."
Full website here:
http://www.flyipilot.co.uk/fear-of-flying/
Negative Effects:
I guess the main negative effect of video games is that some say it can make mainly children very violent towards others in real life, this is because of people seeing this violence in Video Games and trying to replicate it in real life which is obviously wrong. To support this negative I will be using a News story that I remember growing up, it is about a young teen who beat his friend to death with a hammer after supposedly seeing it in a game called Manhunt:
"It was also a heavy factor in a murder in Leicester after a 17 year old boy killed his 14 year old best friend after beating him to death with a hammer in the same way it was shown on the games, his friends had stated that the 17 year old murderer, Stefan Pakeerah was obsessed by this game and it played a huge part in the violent murder. A spokesman for the Entertainment Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) responded to the accusations by stating "We sympathise enormously with the family and parents of Stefan Pakeerah. However, we reject any suggestion or association between the tragic events and the sale of Manhunt. The game in question is classified 18 by the British Board of Film Classification and therefore should not be in possession of a juvenile. Simply being in someone's possession does not and should not lead to the conclusion that a game is responsible for these tragic events." During this event many retailers pulled the game off the shelves such as GAME and Dixons'. Rockstar were quoted as saying "We have always appreciated Dixons' as a retail partner, and we fully respect their actions. We are naturally very surprised and disappointed that any retailer would choose to pull any game. We reject any suggestion or association between the tragic events and the sale of Manhunt."
This comes from a Blog I actually wrote about the whole Manhunt series and the controversy around it.
Full Blog Here:
http://fr0gsblog.blogspot.com/2016/03/controversial-games-manhunt.html
My second Negative for Video games is that excessive playing of Video Games can make people, again specifically younger people quite isolated and socially awkward. This is of course not very good because you should communicate people in real life because it's healthy for you. Hibernating in your room for days on end isn't going to do you any favours in the long run.
To support this, I include this article'This measured the social skills of a child addicted to video games to one not addicted: The results showed that generally, there was a significant difference between the social skills of students addicted to computer games and normal students. The conclusion was: As the study results showed, addiction to computer games may affect the quality and quantity of social skills. In other words, the higher the addiction to computer games, the less the social skills.
“It’s important to know the long-term causal effects of violent video games, because so many young people regularly play these games” Bushman said. "Playing video games could be compared to smoking cigarettes. A single cigarette won't cause lung cancer, but smoking over weeks, months or years greatly increases the risk"'
Find the full article here:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/12/11/negative-effects-of-violent-video-games-may-build-over-time/48918.html
My final argument for Negative effects of Video Games is that fairly similar to the previous point but holds its own as a separate effect. That is (again children) can become very distracted due to playing Video Games. For instance if they have been playing Video Games the previous night then it could highly influence how well they concentrate in school the next day, especially if they haven't had a lot of sleep (again due to playing Video Games). This is of course bad because children need to study hard when growing up if they want to eventually be successful; daydreaming and not engaging yourself fully won't get you very far.
Although not entirely relevant to this but still shows that children can be highly influenced by video games which in turn has a part to play on their education: This article estimated how many children would cheat on a game that could win them free iPads.
"After played the game, the teens were asked to solve a 10 item logic test in which they could win one raffle ticket for each question they got right. The raffle tickets could be used to win cool prizes. The teens were told how many answers they got correct and had the opportunity to take the appropriate number of raffle tickets out of an envelope containing many tickets whilst not being watched. However, we knew how many tickets were in the envelope so we could determine if a player took more than he or she had earned. Results showed that teens who played a violent cheated more than those who played non-violent video games - over 8 times more."
Full article here:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/get-psyched/201401/violent-video-games-decrease-self-control
My Opinion and Summary:
My opinion is that Video Games are both negative and positive for different reasons and there is none and will never be any proof that solidifies either points but personally I think the Positives outweigh the Negatives; my opinion is of course bias because I play Video Games and even study to design them. The most solid proof for me is that it comes entirely down to the person you are; the majority of people who play video games understand what is right and wrong to take into the real world. There have been serial killers and psychopaths long before Video Games and Television, ultimately these two sources have become a scapegoat for uneducated people to place blame on, that is wrong.
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