Do You Think Video Games are Good for People?

I sat in class today eavesdropping on some people’s conversation (I’m a nosy one, but when you have nothing to do you can’t blame me). Several times I’ve heard people talk about certain video games, like Diablo, Skyrim, and League of Legends. When they are asked about homework or work, they are deciding to ditch doing it and instead just continue playing video games.

Then I got to thinking: are video games good for us? Are we just a society of addicted individuals drawn to the digital world?

One one hand, video games serve us financially. Despite the United States being in a recession, the video game industry is still thriving as ever. There are thousands of jobs out there that relate to video games, whether it be marketing, customer support, or making the actual game. Without video games, there would be no industry, and thus, would be no jobs!

And during a time like this where holding a job is harder than juggling eggs on a unicycle? We wouldn’t want that, right?

But then again, video game addiction has contributed to a lot of negative things out here. It’s contributing to a sedentary lifestyle, obese people, terrible eye sight, and even terrible financial decisions. In an online game I used to play, a few people spend 200 dollars or so every month on their Cash Shop in their only video game. And they are every day, suburban people with as much debt as the next. That’s INSANE!

I’ve personally been influenced by video games ever since I was small, at the age of seven or six. The old nintendo 64 still brings back so many memories of my old hometown, and all the digital adventures that I had to go through in order to get an item, or complete the game.

But as I got to thinking about games, I start to realize that my memories were nothing but of me sitting down in front of a television screen, watching pixelated colors flash across glass. My memories may have been of great adventure, but they weren’t real. They weren’t me. All I did since I was young was attach myself to a screen. And for that, I feel regretful.

What about you? Do you think video games are good for society? Would we be better with or without them?

Post below. I’d love to hear from you.