9 Essential Skills That Video Games Improve

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Video games graced humanity a few decades ago with the likes of Pong and have evolved beautifully ever since. What was once a simple little game on a screen has now turned into an utter phenomenon with seemingly endless possibilities. The evolution of video games is such that we’re now at a stage where millions of dollars are being awarded to superstars – akin to the NFL or the NBA. The best in the business are major celebrities with adoring fans hoping to catch a glimpse of them in action one day. The games themselves share some of the superstardom as they are scarily lifelike and make for experiences like those of movies.

That said, with the continuing development of excellent video games and video game content, more and more people are beginning to realize that it’s more than just mashing buttons on a pad and hoping to get the right result. It’s much deeper than that now. In order to beat the game or defeat the player you’re battling, you have to use your brain a lot more. Sure, there are still some games for kids out there that require little-to-no skills or thought process, but the masses have to be on their toes.

Video games come in for a lot of criticism by certain groups of people. This will probably happen for many years to come even though they’re proven wrong almost every single time they try to open a debate. What these people don’t like to mention is just how it can improve a person’s abilities. There are many facets to video gaming, and a person can develop many skills whilst playing. Let’s go through a bunch of positive effects video games can have on someone.    

Problem Solving

Many games nowadays involve obstacle in which you must use your brain to get past – be it an action-packed shooter or puzzle-based games with some riddles in it. Sometimes it takes up a large portion of your gaming that day as some are super tricky! The gamer must identify the issue(s), scan an area, think outside of the box, and try to piece together a solution. This kind of thing really builds up a person’s ability to solve similar issues in the future – virtually and in real life.  

Social Skills

A lot of verbal communication is involved in video games these days. Be it just a friendly chat between two participants from different parts of the world, or two buddies needing to work together to complete a challenge. Video gamers are stereotypically pictured by many as quiet loners sat in a room on their own trying to avoid any human contact. It’s quite the contrary as games today require a lot of chatting and to be social!  

Hand-Eye Coordination

Having the basic skill of hand-eye coordination is obviously good to have as a functioning human being – it kinda goes without saying. You’ll need to do things in real life pretty much every day that will require this skill. When playing games, you’re literally improving this ability in droves without realizing. More specifically, you’re improving different technical skills like aim, steadiness and balance.  

Teamwork

You need to be able to work together in a lot of instances in order to win a specific game or beat a certain level. Being selfish and playing for yourself doesn’t get you anywhere in team games. It teaches you how to use one another in order to achieve stuff. It transfers into real life, too, in terms of work and recreation. Let’s say you wanted to hit up paintballpick.com, buy a couple of paintball guns and head off to play a little capture the flag – you’ll have a lot more chance of winning if you’re well versed as a team than if you’re a group of individuals. Likewise, if you have jobs to do at work – if you can’t work together, then you’re probably going to struggle more.

Memory

This affects younger people a lot more as their brains are still developing and they’re still taking in a lot of information, but it helps everyone in some capacity. There’s a lot of depth to video games now that requires you to remember quite a lot. Over time, your brain will be unconsciously training itself to hold information.

Creativity

With all of the genres and all of the new, wacky and wonderful video games that are being released every single year, you’re bound to pick up a thing or two from them in terms of creative thinking. A lot of the popular stories over the years have been fantasies that open your mind to ideas beyond what we know to be natural and true. If you ever wanted to create a story, a novel, a poem, or anything like that, you’ll have a lot more in your arsenal thanks to what you’ve seen in the past.

General Knowledge

There’s just so much stuff you’re able to do in video games that you’re going to subconsciously pick up something. It might be something really basic and fairly unnecessary, but it might just stick with you. A piece of information might pop up on a Grand Theft Auto radio station whilst you’re cruising down the road with the cops chasing you, or something might get mentioned in jest whilst you’re reading through your mission logs on some other game.

Reading

A lot of stories are caked in the information that you need to know in order to understand the premise fully. Reading in school or in work is always quite dull, but when it’s something you’re super interested in, then you take notice. People slowly learn more and more words when they constantly read them – who’d have thought it!? Also, lots like to play video games with subtitles enabled so that they can know exactly what’s being said. They’ll also pick up a word or two as they follow along with the dialogue.  

Patience And Perseverance

You’re not handed victories on a plate, and you don’t bypass certain levels by continually failing. Kids and adults alike are taught to keep at it and that things don’t come overnight. It’s something that people need to take into real-life as it can be tough and requires work, patience and perseverance.