Positives of computer gaming

http://www.units.muohio.edu/psybersite/cyberspace/onlinegames/positive.shtml

The positive aspects of computer gaming

This is a great article I found on the positive aspects of computer gaming and I thought some of you might enjoy it as well. While the media has offered up an abundance on the negative aspect of computer gaming, very little is shone of the positives that exist. This article offers just that. A few of the key examples offered are new friendships, to sharpening on mental skills to social cooperation.

One of the first positives and perhaps easiest to identify is the very real growth of friendships gamers experience online. When strangers band together in a computer game to confront and overcome a common set of goals, very often new friendships are formed and bonds of trust are created. The beautiful part of these new friendships is the fact that many times the friendships are formed between people that normally would never interact, let alone seek to build a friendship. Teens becoming friends with Grandparents, hard game gamers building positive and health relationships with house wives, the list goes on and on. Even teens of differing social groups find a common bond in online computer games.

Another positive area in computer gaming is that the games by their very nature encourage and often require a higher level of mental skills. It takes a great deal of mental focus to keep track of all the various elements found in computers games. This in turn lends itself to greater memory retention and the ability to quickly and accurately organizes activities to achieve a difficult goal. In fact, there was a recent article on MSN.com that stated that computer games can help to ward of dementia and memory loss in older players. That of course is a invaluable positive in my opinion.

The final example I would like to touch upon found in this article deals with the positive aspects that computer games bring to social cooperation and growth. Many people that are shy or socially “awkward” find a new since of freedom in online games. Do to the nature of computer games, shy or socially inactive people find that they are welcomed to join in with the collective whole. Additionally, because they share the same topics, loves and goals as their fellow players, they have a sense of belonging. This collective topic they share with others is just the thing to help them overcome their shyness.

All in all, there are many positives to computer gaming and they should be examined, acknowledged, and accepted. I know there are potential negatives and I freely admit that they exist in computer gaming. I do however believe there are just as many positive aspects and I hope that our culture and society can see them. Like many things in this life, a lot of what makes something positive or negative is what you bring to it. Computer game is like everything else, there is two sides to the coin. The thing is that the media only seems capable of identifying one side.