Games are kinda one of the best things humans have going for us. I grew up with games, so I know what I'm talking about. My family has a serious passion for them; from card to dice, board to video. Of course I also played schoolyard games and my school had computer games that focused on math, language and spelling.
Games aren't just kept to one corner of our life, they are really intermingled with our socializing. I get confused when I come across contempt for video games, since humans usually associate games with positive interactions. I've come to a tentative theory that people who have this knee jerk reaction belong to one of two groups.
The first group is people who haven't played video games and have had negative experiences with significant people in their lives who do play video games. The second is folks who struggle to play video games because of various limitations. Both groups have legitimate complaints that should have dialogues.
Attacks that comes without valid critiques that are often wrapped in ableism and fat phobia are not legitimate arguments to make. Consider people who have physical limitations. Consider that video games are a completely different activity, just like you wouldn't shout at someone playing chess in the park for not jogging. Consider that some video games actually are physically engaging and thus destroy the obnoxious myth that all video games are evil plans to keep us on our couches forever. (Pretty sure that’s Netflix plan yet I never see anyone hijacking Facebook posts in the same manner as a video game post.)
Games have been around since before we came down from the trees. Animals play games, because time is is endless and kind of boring and needs to be passed. If a species can be bored, they will make games. We've been polishing and elaborating games for a really, really, really long time.
If you're a history nerd like me, it's a really fascinating Wikipedia rabbit hole to fall down. The cultural significance attached to games as well as religious and moral teachings is a great example that we have been aware of the active consumption component that's unique to games.
Also pretty neat is the class equalizing component. While it's true there are certain games kept to the elite as well as reinvention of games in resource stricken and disadvantaged areas, games can supercede boundaries and allow people of separate communities to meet and engage with each other.
Do you know what video games do for your mental health? Often they improve it. Anecdotally I use them to manage depression, anxiety and stress as well as utilizing it as a motivational tool. Scientifically, research and studies show a slew of positive benefits in regards to spatial and depth perception, memory strengthening and fine motor skills.This backs up the working theory that games are valuable for learning development. This is really cool when you also consider that science has also shown our brain's plasticity (ability to create new neural networks) doesn't go away as adults. So video games aren't just beneficial for kids, they engage adult brains in similar ways.
Games are awesome, and history backs me up on this. So be cool and recognize video games are a hobby. We have been goofing off and enjoying every second of it for a long time and it's my honor to continue that tradition and do my part to let future generations discover mysterious game artifacts. I can't imagine how they are gonna explain the Gamecube, but it'll probably be funny.
