Pixel Power: Can Gaming be Good for You?

 by Indie Stone

Over the years, gaming has had a bad press, a sullied reputation for making players violent, aggressive and antisocial. Most of the research has focused into the negative impact of computer gaming, and so far, it has been a reasonably one-sided debate.

There are 66 million people in the UK, and 32 million of those, nearly half, are gamers. An average gamer can consume 10,000 hours of gaming by the time they’ve reached the age of 21. How long do you press those buttons for? We all know about games like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto which can have the most grotesque and violent images bringing out the most aggressive emotions in young, developing brains. Although these games bring out the worst in people, there are also well documented advantages to playing these pixels.

Further research into the area suggests that, in fact, gaming can have a great impact on multitasking skills, it can enable people to have closer attention to detail and make better, faster decisions. For instance, the Stroop test, a neuropsychological test which measures a person’s attention capacity, has shown that when pitted against non-gamers, gamers win hands down.  They display better eyesight, increased motor skills, better hand eye coordination, and may have even increased the size and efficiency of certain brain regions. 

Games such as Fractured Minds, a puzzle role-play game that explores anxiety and mental health issues are leading the way. It allows players to embark on a journey to experience the every-day challenges associated with these conditions. Game design has come so far to help the treatment of conditions such as: Autism, PTSD, and other mental illnesses. New research is also coming to light that encourages parents to game with their kids as a family activity.

Gamers aren’t antisocial geeks who live in dark basements and game for 12 hours straight. Gamers are you and me: so let’s game on!