Benifits of video games

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Children have been playing video games for a long time, from the release of Pong in 1972 to today’s more modern game systems such as the Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo consoles. Over the years there have been different debates whether games are punishing or helping children. In 1993 the Senate passed a law on games where every video game created and put on the market must have a rating system ranging from rated E for everyone to rated M for mature audience only.

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This allows the parents to monitor what games their children are playing According to researcher David Thomas “A lot of parents are unfamiliar with gaming and are afraid of the unknown," she says. "But games can be a huge positive for children, as long as you set reasonable limits. When my 3-year-old watches TV, he just passively zones out. But when he plays games, he's actively engaged, thinks about what's happening, talks to me about what's happening on-screen and takes away so much more from the experience.

Games offer parents enormous untapped potential. ”(CNN, July 28, 2010) The thought of a child sitting indoors in front of a TV for hours is just no good for a child, something heard often from concerned parents. Video games are played indoors and it’s true that children sit in one spot staring at the screen but unlike watching where it doesn’t call for any skill development at all. Video game causes a child to focus and make decision unlike an episode of sponge bob.

In 2007 there was a report with on NBC news about parents avoiding video games with their children believing it was a waste of time when the parents themselves have never took the time out of the day to try playing to them with their child to understand the mental challenge of the video game. Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo have put a wide range of games that challenges the minds of children and even adults. What’s often overlooked and not noticed by parents or people are the benefit of video games.

Games such as splinter cell, the legend Zelda, Pokemon and Mickey Mouse road rally three very different games for three different age groups all that promote problem solving skills and the ability to develop strategies in order solve task in the video. Learning the rules of what they can and cannot do in the game help understand the meaning of rules games such as Mickey Mouse road rally are directed to the younger age group two to five year olds. This game teaches children to recognize the difference in objects, counting and problem solving.

In one part of the game they ask the child to find the snow mickey the resembles mickey mouse giving the child three choices a mickey with one ear, two ears or three ears that just one example of problem solving taught through video games. Something expected from a game for that age group, so how about Pokemon? The game Pokemon has an E rating which means it’s suitable for everyone. The game of Pokemon is a RPG an abbreviation for Role Playing Game you take control of a character and it’s you goal to complete his mission defeat the bad guys easier said than done.

Every game is made to challenge you mentally Pokemon is another example of strategic video game that challenges children mentally and even adults. Pokemon uses a situational battles style to cause the player’s to think and strategies on different combinations of Pokemon’s in order to win a battles. The story line in Pokemon also helps with memory where in some parts of the story the players are required to previous run ins with AI (Artificial Intelligence) characters though out the in order to move forward in the story line. Pokemon is a game that many parents who have never played might think it’s a waste of time.

Zelda and Pokemon go hand in hand with the style of play a RPG that deals with solving many elaborate schemes. The finale game I would like to touch base on is Tom Clancy’s splinter cell a game that was turned into a book and has all the suspense captured by the game in a paperback form. Splinter cell is geared towards the young adults the game style is would very challenging for young children as the games is for adults. The game has violence in it from time to time but the game itself is based on stealth causing the player to think of creative ways to sneak pass guards without being seen.

It’s a very challenging for the players creativity and by creativity I mean the way the player strategizes to distract the guard to get pass. A few examples of ways used by the some levels the guards are on a timed rotation you can count how long it takes for the guard to make his rounds or break a window in a different area putting the AI guards into alert sending them to investigate the noise . In 2011 a research study was done by Linda Jackson a professor of psychology at Michigan State University.

The study was access the creativity of children that played video games this study used over 400 middle school students of both genders and different race. The way the children were assessed during the study was by drawing an exciting picture with a story to go with it. According Professor Linda Jackson addition, the study found that boys played video games more than girls, and that boys favored games of violence and sports while girls favored games involving interaction with others. Yet, regardless of gender, race or type of game played by the students, the study found a relation between video game playing and greater creativity.

Video games make your kids lazy! A true statement before November 19, 2006 the year the Nintendo Wii was released in the United States. A video game that requires physical activity, using motion sensors in the controllers to track the movements of the player. With the Wii console selling over 600,000 game consoles in 2006 making $190 million with in an eight time period the way games were played has changed. Later the Microsoft creatures of the XBOX released the Kinect using the same concept of a Nintendo Wii without controllers so how could you play a game without the controllers?

The Kinect slogan “you are the controller” mean what it stated no cutting corners to play the Kinect like the Wii where some people found it easier to sit on soft and move just their arms. The Kinect video games such as Kinect sports 1 &2 involve a lot physical activity. From running, jumping ducking and even throwing passes with a simulated football game. The XBOX Kinect even has reply at the end of every game to show how you looked while playing the game adding another level of fun to exercise.

Gaming system such as the Wii and the Kinetic has made playing to get exercise so popular that navy has inquired a plan that the Wii will be used as a fitness method for the boot camp fitness program. The Kinect has been used in work session by personal trainer such as Zambia fitness, children playing just dance Kinect sport, Wii fit ,Wii boxing and list goes on. In 2010 a 14 year old male name LeBaron Taylor loss 150lbs playing video games in 18 months he’s was 297 pound kid who played video and reaped the benefits of it and now happy being a 147lbs person.

( gamelife,2010) The benefits of video games almost always over looked because of the negativity that follow it such as a common statement “video games make you lazy”, “video games are waste of time” and even “video games make kids fat” to a certain extent this is true. Poor diets while playing video games causes children to be obese not the game. Sense games are addictive and meant to draw the player in so that they want to know what will happen next. Children tend to want to save time by grabbing a quick snack something or something they can carry back to the couch while playing video games.

In 2011 a study was conducted on whether video games make children eat more? The study was conducted by Jean-Philippe Chaput of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario used 22 normal weight teenage males to conduct the study. Which resulted in the teenage boys ate 163 more calories on the day they played games and then still ate a normal sized meal later in the day. (Daily mail, 2010) There is some truth in the myth that video games make children lazy or seem like they are lazy. Children tend to sit in front of video games for hours if allowed the losing track of time.

Because most games are meant to entertain the youth with a wide range of story lines which causes the game controller to be one of the hardest things to put down. The video games have become a modern day addiction children. The accessibility to unlimited entertainment, that doesn’t really require for the child to be physically athletic just determined. DR. Soroya Bacchus stated in an article "With gaming, there's a problem called the displacement hypothesis where people who spend a lot of time in the virtual space, that's time, they can't spend with other people.

One of the concerns — the time elasticity argument — is that we only have so much time in a day. We've got to make a decision. The question becomes, when you're gaming, what are you losing out on? Maybe it's social skills, maybe it is diet and exercise, or maybe it is real-world interactions. Those are the things we worry about. But I think you would worry about the same thing with a gymnast or a football player at university. "(Mother Nature Network, 2012) Loss of time while playing video, can games lead to loss of real world interaction.

Friends no longer hang out, instead meeting up online chat rooms to play games together. Eliminating the need to go outside to play or to talk to friends before gaming progressed to online, children would come over each other house to play games. Besides the hours of gaming just for fun, children use games to relax from a stressful day of chores, cleaning or sports. Video games give the mind something else to focus on other than the hardships of the day. It could be almost a worry free zone, unless their stuck on a level they can’t pass. Video games also help get rid of boredom at parties.

Some children actually have video themed parties such as guitar hero, rock band, madden and let’s not forget Mario party. Games that are used to bring people together and have good clean fun indoor, which is also a plus for parents that are afraid that something may happen to their child outdoors. Children are safer indoors playing games than they are outside playing. In conclusion children do benefit from video games. They develop better focusing skills along with hand eye coordination. The ability to solve different puzzles using the creativity of their minds, by coming up with different idea and solution in order to accomplish the goal.

Helping to understand team work, learning how working together with other makes it easier than doing things alone. The feeling of accomplishment, some children may never win at sports but on video games they will feel just as satisfied with completing the storyline for Mario. Video games are very beneficial to children; children aren’t just wasting their lives away because they are playing video games. There are only so many things children can do. Video games make children happy, so if playing video games is what the child likes to do than let them.Just set a reasonable amount of time for them to be able to relax and be creative.

References: CNN http://www. cnn. com/2010/TECH/gaming. gadgets/07/28/debate. kids. games/index. html NBC news http://www. nbcnews. com/id/21757056/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/many-parents-avoid-video-games-kids/#. UWrty7XOGSo parents. com http://www. parents. com/kids/development/benefits-of-video-games/#page=2 Family Resource http://www. familyresource. com/lifestyles/mental-environment/top-5-reasons-video-games-are-bad-for-you.

Video game study http://msutoday. msu. edu/news/2011/video-game-playing-tied-to-creativity/http://canon. umwblogs. org/2012/11/07/do-videogames-make-children-lazy/ Wii http://usatoday30. usatoday. com/tech/gaming/2006-11-28-wii-sales_x. htm Navy times http://www. navytimes. com/article/20100526/NEWS/5260328/.

Fleet-considering-video-games-tone-recruits Teen weight loss http://www. wired. com/gamelife/2010/01/taylor-lebaron/ http://www. skinnybliss. com/taylor-lebaron-cutting-myself-in-half-author-teen-loses-150-pounds-with-video-games. html eating and video games http://www. dailymail. co. uk/health/article-1383655/Teenage-boys-eat-food-playing-video-games-study-says. html.