Tuesday 13 March 2012

The importance of videogames



A couple of weeks ago I was subjected to a snide comment about the fact that I play videogames. I held my tongue; these things aren't painful any more as I've long been prey to them, but they are ignorant.

So today, I'm going to discuss why games are a valuable part of our lives. Firstly, they are entertainment. No different to watching a film, listening to a song or reading a book. Everybody needs time off to entertain themselves, they simply cannot function otherwise. The importance of free time is often dismissed, but highly essential all the same.

People who play games also watch films, listen to songs and read books in their spare time. Gamers have other interests too. I for one like vegetable farming, sewing, swearing at inanimate objects in Brezhoneg, making candles, and assistance dogs.


But aside from the need for run-of-the-mill, respectable entertainment, there is another reason I am so fond of games. I am a disabled person. I deal with chronic pain, ill-health and the life-threatening consequences of illnesses every day. They are agonising and frightening. The only effective relief, is gaming. I cannot take painkillers because my stomach will bleed. Distraction, so-called immersion pain relief as noted by the American Pain Society, works wonders. For the duration, I stop feeling the worry and I stop being aware of my aches.


Games even have the capability to entertain the blind, and for the rest of us, they at least build brain cells through problem-solving. Many titles have extremely involving, dramatic plots like a novel or epic film, and the powerful impact of these tales stay with the players for many years.


There are many other important utilisations. XBOX technology has been used to scan patients' insides in detail without needing to cut them open.
Games help terminally-ill children in hospitals, get paraplegic patients moving again, some teach medical students, teach surgeons, train soldiers, help ill veterans, train pilots, train bus drivers and some schools now use them to teach subjects. Technology allowing people to control the movement of an on-screen object with their thoughts has been developed by linking people up to game interfaces.



Just because games are not your personal choice of entertainment, does not mean that you should look down upon them and those who utilise them. They've been doing great things for us since 1947.


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