Victim of Culture

Five things that video games get right

While it is certainly easy to pick apart games and gaming culture, it is just as easy to note the things done right by games. If you have a friend who just can’t wrap their mind around the idea that gaming can be good, let them settle in for five points on why gaming is not all bad for you.

They bring people together.

Say what you will about video games keeping kids indoors and away from outdoor sports and activities, it’s hard to argue that playing video games is not a group activity. Classic multiplayer titles such as Contra to modern multiplayer legends like Super Smash Bros. show that gaming is something best done with others. While the recent push into online gaming may have made many worry that gaming was soon headed back under the rock of isolation, it also welcomed new party games such as Rock Band and Buzz: The Trivia Game.

Madden Football is a party game with its own unique atmosphere surrounding it. Step foot into any college dormitory across the nation and you are likely to find a group of young men playing Madden tournaments. Just like real sports, it even invites onlookers and fans who root for either team. While real football games are in no danger of being replaced, many other social activities such as playing cards seem like relics of the past to many young people.

They teach kids about mythology.

Yes, God of War isn’t very loosely based on some mythology, but that isn’t the game to look to. Instead, look to the Final Fantasy series which draws names for characters and spells from mythologies spanning the globe. How many young American children would ever learn Hindu mythology if not for Shiva being the name of a summon spell? While this may not strike you as exactly higher education, for many young people it is a foot in the door of a much bigger world to explore and learn about. Incitement to learning is never a bad thing.

Where do they get those wonderful names? As noted, Shiva originates in Hindu mythology and is generally viewed as one of the five states of the divine. Bahamut comes from Arabian mythology and has the head of a hippopotamus or elephant. Odin is the Norse god of war. Leviathan comes from the Old Testament and was a great sea creature. Many creationists argue that Leviathan is a reference to dinosaurs living during Biblical times.

They improve hand-eye coordination.

This one is sometimes overused, simply because it’s one of the oldest arguments for the benefits of gaming. Despite that, it is a valid argument and one of the easiest to observe. Kids who play video games in general have better hand-eye coordination than those who do not. Studies have even found that doctors who play video games are more successful surgeons than those who do not. That’s great news for all the young kids trying to convince their mothers that a new PlayStation is just as important as studying when it comes to getting into medical school.

Sometime watch someone who plays a lot of games and someone who does not work with their thumbs. One of the most amazing differences instantly noticeable between gamers and non-gamers is in thumb motor skills. From pressing a joystick to tapping buttons, video games are excellent trainers for the digit that separates man from monkey. This observation can also be observed when someone picks up a controller for the first time. Even the simplest controller seems unwieldy to someone who is not used to using their thumb independently of the rest of their hand.

They teach money management skills.

While the nation’s love affair with credit card debt makes it difficult to believe, people playing video games are getting a good lesson in financial management. Don’t believe it? Consider the financial setup for almost every game you have ever played. When you begin you accumulate a few small pieces of currency and are able to purchase perhaps a sword, or maybe a healing potion. Want something more? Go work to earn it. Save the princess or slay the dragon and get your 1,000 gold piece reward. Now you can finally buy that crystal armor you’ve had your eye on. It’s capitalism at its finest, and you’ll find the same setup in almost every game.

What you won’t find in most games is the ability to borrow money or buy on credit. Even titles that do let you borrow usually eventually punish you if the debt is not paid back in time. One of the stranger implementations is in Nintendo’s Animal Crossing series. In those games you can actually have your home expanded based entirely on credit. How do you pay back Tom Nook? You essentially subject yourself to indentured servitude spending the rest of the game trying to work off your debt. Yes, Nintendo truly is old school.

They are, for the most part, mindless entertainment.

Sure, video games are mindless entertainment, but so are most movies, music albums, television shows and even books. It may sound smart to say reading anything, no matter how bad, is better than playing a video game, it’s simply not true. While any reading is better than no reading, an entire media diet consisting of only Danielle Steel is about as unhealthy as listening only to Hanson records or playing only Pong. Playing a puzzle filled adventure such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is certainly just as mentally filling as the latest from Ms. Steel.

Additionally, assuming video games do nothing intellectually for the player, so what? As noted, Danielle Steel, Hanson and Michael Bay films do little for the intellect of their audience. It doesn’t have to be all Norman Mailer. There’s a reason even film critics enjoy Spider-Man 2. In moderation no video game is going to do lasting mental damage to the player (though some might try awfully hard). Instead, they offer a mild diversion that is easily forgotten at worst, or helpful as mentioned above at best. They’re media, and the rest of the media should welcome them with open arms.

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