Way back in 1958, a man named William Higinbotham invented something spectacular. Tennis for Two was invented. Not the sport of tennis, but a video game. The first video game. It was a blast among visitors of the museum it was at and brought in quite a bit of money. So, why did I mention this. I brought it up to show that videogames were meant as entertainment. Some people think that videogames are reason the violence exists in the world, some people think that they are helpful. So, which do they do, poison the minds of players, or do they help enhance them instead. I will be talking about the pros and cons of video games and the way they affects one mentally, physically, and socially.

Video games have a wide variety mental effects on us. Many people have reported their children becoming more aggressive after playing violent games. This has lead some people to believe video games are the reason of an increase in violence in the world. Although people can become aggressive from video games, not all games invoke violence. Lots of video games can actually improve skills outside the world of video games. One such pro of video games is hand-eye coordination. Hand-eye coordination is control of how one physically reacts to mental stimuli. According to a study by Jing and Rongrong Chen in August 2016, action games such as driving games and first person shooters improve hand-eye coordination. Some games can improve resource management. This could convert to money management in the real world. A study from Beijing scientist Xu Ming, in July 2014 conducted a study to prove video games could improve money management. A select group played a game that had the player find resources and another group did not. After a week, each person in each group received 70 yen, or roughly ten dollars. The next week everyone returned. The group that had not played the game had spent almost all their money, while the group that played still had some of the money, if not all. However, not all things that come from video games are good. Some games may teach the wrong morals to anyone who is exposed to video games. If someone were to play Grand Theft Auto, they may think that a life of crime is perfectly fine. On a similar topic of misleading morals, we have misleading reality. Some people have mistaken fantasy in video games for reality, which can lead to believing in things that aren’t real.

Besides just affecting us mentally, video games also affect people physically. Some would ask the question, what good physical properties come from video games? More than most would think. Some companies, such as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony tried to make video games that promoted exercise. One such example is Wii Fit. The intentions of the game were to make people enjoy working out. Although it was popular when it first came out, it quickly declined in popularity. According to the article “Positive Effects of Video Games” by Matthew Cenzon in May 2016, video games can be used as a coping mechanism for injuries. He stated in the article that video games can be used to escape the real world and make us ignore the pain. While video games can be good, too much can have some bad effects. Playing video games can make us lose track of time. This can lead to staying up late playing video games, and not getting enough sleep. Migraines can also occur often if one plays too many video games. This can lead to bigger injuries if one is not careful. Another downside of playing too many video games is that it may get in the way of personal hygiene. In other words, games may replace time to shower, exercise, or brush their teeth. One may also just sit inside for a really long time away from anyone.
Video games have been known to cause some social problems, but I find there are more positive effects than bad ones. As mentioned, video games can make one socially isolated. Some people get so addicted to video games that they won’t even talk to their families, and only come out of their rooms to eat or go to the bathroom. Some people actually take it so far as to having others buy food and deliver it for them. This does sound very bad, but it doesn’t happen all too often, as a matter of fact, I think video games are excellent for improving social skills. According to the article “Kids who Play Video Games Might have Better Social Skills”, published March 9th, 2016, kids who play video games seem to be more socially cohesive. They also seem to develop better relationships with others. Most video game companies, Such as Microsoft and Sony offer online services which allow players to connect and play with others. I personally have a large friend group of around 15 people on Xbox Live. We connect with each other quite often. Instead of hiding behind our screen names, we know each other's real names. I interviewed one of my friends, who will remain anonymous, about online friends. I asked him if online friends were real friends. He said, and I quote,”Internet friends have something different about them than real friends. You get to know how they can act while not physically around other, and I’m pretty sure you would never say anything like this to anyone except very close friends. I actually think I know more about you than some of my other friends in real life”. While interviewing, he also said that online friends seem to cooperate more, or work in teams better. Teamwork is yet another benefit of video games. Almost all online games require some form of teamwork, whether one person, or thirty. This can carry over to the real world teamwork, such as working on a school project, or doing something for work.

So, are video games really that bad for us?  William Higinbotham had little to know idea what his video game would develop into. His intention was to make a fun, time killing game, not something to make someone unhealthy. With all the evidence about mental, physical, and social effects, one would argue with evidence present that they could potentially harm one. Others could say that they can help one develop skills. Even if we had near perfect video games, one person would still say they they have unhealthy side effects. Even though video games were made for good, not for evil, they can improve one’s life, and just as easily they can just as easily break it.