Do video games have a negative impact on people today?

[fuzyon]

I think they do, a lot of competitive games tend to be really frustrating especially when you need to win. I remember when I was playing League of Legends, I used to be so competitive that I would rage everytime I died, it became a source of anger for me instead of just having fun with friends so I just stopped. It's kind of the same with FIFA right now so I took a step back and I'm just trading cards for money, that's pretty relaxing for me.

 

[Azelma]

I agree with the OP; there's a definite positive impact.


Not only do studies show that video gaming improves hand-eye-coordination and decision making skills (among other things, but these two I can be absolutely sure of without checking), I can speak from lots of personal experience about how gaming has helped me. First of all, it has broadened my vocabulary a lot (English is not my first language) and probably helped with grammar too, as I've been playing from a fairly young age. I've also often noticed gaming's stress-relieving properties - after a particularly hard day, there's nothing like scoring a couple of satisfying headshots and you feel the stress just flow out of you  :laugh:


It also helps broaden your views. If you play different kinds of games with different kinds of settings, you can't help but think from the point of view of the people (NPC's) of the world. That can be great for those struggling with things like empathy. 


Games can also teach you things almost by accident, like Civilization has done to my SO, who used to know practically nothing about history. He never cared much for the subject, but because of Civilopedia (the game's own encyclopedia of the game and the cultures involved), he has actually been interested in reading stuff about ancient cultures (I'm quite a history buff so I've been very happy with this progress  ).


I feel I could go on about this subject all day so I better stop here for now  :laugh:

 

[17emilyhalko]

I don't think that video games are inherently bad. I think that video games can't alone have a negative impact on people, but can only have a negative impact when combined with other things. I know that many people think that video games can make children violent, but on the other hand, the games can deter some kids from violence because it can teach them the consequences of the violence. I really don't think that video games can really impact a child in a way as to cause them to become violent unless they were already predisposed to be violent. In that case, then I definitely believe that a video game could potentially push someone over the edge. Also, video games definitely won't make you lazy or less applied to your education unless you were also predisposed to be that way. I know that many people think that video games damage education and the human brain, but I played video games for my entire childhood, and I was still the valedictorian of my middle school, so I really don't think that games will hinder your education or mind. I definitely believe that people can become addicted to video games, and it's horrible when they choose video games over the people that they love, but all in all, if video games weren't there, I also believe that they would find something else to become addicted to or distract themselves with.