As a gamer, it’s usual to hear statements like “what do you get from gaming?” or “what does gaming do to your life?” For some, gaming is entertainment while for others, it is their hobby. But believe me, gaming offers something more than meets the eye. Here are some surprising benefits of playing video games.
Playing games can actually improve your visual perception.
Our parents used to warn us not sit too close to the monitor with the thought that it can deteriorate our vision. Well, according to a study by the McMaster University in Canada, playing video games can actually improve your eyesight. They took six patients with life-long cataract disorders and instructed them to play EA’s Medal of Honor for a total of 40 hours. After the test, the researchers found out that the vision of the five of the six patients improved. The patients were able to recognize faces more quickly and can able to make out small prints as well. How awesome is that?
Video games are an excellent way to meet new people and make new friends.
Video games that feature a cooperative gameplay or are set in an open-world environment allow a person to play with other gamers online. MMORPG games like Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, and Diablo lets their players interact with each other through their virtual world. You can even create a party or a guild to do missions together and join territorial battles. Popular MOBA games like DotA 2 and LoL, on the other hand, also lets you team up with other players online to create your own team of five players and battle out with another team. Games like this will let you meet new friends so make sure to have one of these installed on your PC or gaming laptop. Besides, playing with your friends makes gaming more enjoyable.
They reduce stress and fight depression.
Try asking gamers the reason why they love playing video games, and I’m sure most of them will answer that it relaxes them. In a study conducted by Associate Professor Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson in 2010, he found out that those who play video games are likely to handle stress easily and become less depressed. Ferguson even suggested that violent games can be used as a form of therapy to help people de-stress and “work through their frustrations in real life.” He also says that playing video games can also “reduce hostile feelings in players through mood management.”
Games can sharpen your memory.
There are many scientific studies to prove this statement. For years, researchers have tried using video games to help improve the memory of their patients. The most recent were the study conducted by the Irvine neurobiologists from the University of California. The subjects who played “Super Mario 3D World” surprisingly showed a 12 percent increase in their memory performance, proving the fact that certain video games can actually sharpen one’s mind.
It can improve your hand-eye coordination.
Believe it or not, video games are actually being used to train new surgeons. In a 2007 study by Dr. James Rosser Jr. found that surgeons who played video games in the past made fewer errors, were faster, and are way better in laparoscopic surgery and suturing drills than non-gamers. Since then, fast-paced FPS video games such as Call of Duty or Half-Life are used to improve a person’s motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
After reading this, doesn’t gaming seem more interesting?