The Impact of Games: Part Two

You can find part one of this series of posts here.

In part one, I discussed the benefits of gaming, ranging from stress relief to hand-eye coordination. It is undeniable that games can have positive effects. But like all things, games must be played in moderation. A few hours a week theoretically can help children relieve stress, build friendship and teamwork, and improve their coordination. However, as the comments on the previous post have mentioned, playing too much can be detrimental to the person's health.

To give an example, I will return to League of Legends. In Season Two of League of Legends (2012, essentially), TPA Toyz was considered the best mid laner in the world, and possibly the best player in the game. His mechanics were praised as unbeatable, and when he retired, the League of Legends world was indubitably shocked. However, this was actually to be expected. To become the best in the world, practice is key. As a professional gamer, he practiced over 10 hours a day in order to outperform his competition. As a result, he was soon diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, causing him to retire. More about it here.

League of Legends Season Two World Champions: Taipei Assassins (TPA)

There are other health effects correlated with gaming. Similar to Toyz, I have felt some pain in my wrists when I played too much at once. Accompanying that sensation were my rapidly blinking eyes. Staring at the computer screen for so long (League of Legends games are almost always 20 minutes at the least, often stretching to 40 minutes) had caused my eyes to become terribly dry and eventually red.

Beyond health, there are other problems with gaming; one of the most frequently cited is addiction. As far as I know, games are meant to be addicting. When I lose, I am motivated the continue playing until I win. When I win, I feel euphoric and want to continue playing. As you can see, if the player is not careful, he or she can easily fall into the temptation of games. I won't lie: I have my moments when I procrastinate and play games instead of finishing my homework. This especially applies, since I am a second semester senior. 

And so, I believe that games are not for the weak-willed. People seem to believe that gamers are stupid, aggressive, and incapable of taking care of themselves (the third one sort of applies). There is that stigma. But true gamers are not those who spend 10 hours a day playing a game mindlessly while procrastinating (professional gamers are exceptions since playing games is their job). True gamers are the people who can balance work (or school), games, and their social lives while riding a unicycle and juggling countless other activities.

In a later post, I will discuss one final negative effect associated with gaming: violence. In that post, I will also address what we are able to conclude from this set of posts.

Part three of this series can be found here.