Reasons video games are right for you

Many parents shake their heads and click their teeth when they see children playing video games rather than being in the sun. However, there are positives in allowing your children to play them. Some of those reasons will be listed below. They might change your concept of video games, but remember, “everything in moderation”. These days more professional studies are focussed on the real effect of video games and will help to form a more educated opinion. Do they lead to violence, inhibit our learning abilities, and weaken us? The little evidence there is at the moment leans more towards the fact that they are suitable for our health.

They could slow down the ageing process

There are only a few things in life that are inevitable, and one of them is ageing. We are all going to get old, our skin is going to lose elasticity, and we will wrinkle. Playing video games exercises the mind. Studies have shown that 10 hours of a particular video game every week for an extended period can give you back years of life. They help you make better decisions Tests conducted included groups playing 50 hours of two types of video games, either action or strategy. The fast-paced games taught people to absorb sensory data and in turn, make better decisions.

They can help your eyesight

How many times did you hear your mother or father say, “You are sitting too close to the tv, you’ll go blind”? Another favourite was, “You have been playing that game, far too long, you’ll get square eyes”. We now know the square-eyes threat was not genuine, and it has been proved the blind warning was not true either. It has been determined that people who play first-person shooter games have better vision than others because these games improve contrast sensitivity.

They better your learning ability

Old-school teachers loved you to believe that video games gave you a lax daisy attitude towards your schoolwork. However, the United Kingdom-based researchers believe that certain games allow our brains more flexibility. Seventy-two volunteers played either a fast-paced game or a real-time strategy game for 40 hours a week. Again, it was proved that fast-paced games were better for us, as these require a lot of thinking and responses.

They could treat depression

There are a few games designed as therapeutic games to help teenagers with depression and anxiety. These are more enjoyable than sitting and answering probing questions in a sterile environment.

They can help your fitness levels

I bet you had already thought of this one. The Wii, Xbox connect, and PS4 eye is all examples of games that are controlled by motion. These consoles can be found in hospitals and retirement homes, who would have thought? Studies show that playing these motion-controlled games burnt the same number of calories as walking on a treadmill at 5.5km/h.