Opinions and Facts on Gaming

I was at a performance this evening in which something happened. Well, ok, things usually happen at performances, usually things like music or acting...in this case bagpipe music. But what I want to talk about in particular was the MC making commentary on a performer's biography.

The biography shared the expected details, who he studied under and his focus in college, plus of course his interests. He likes reading, which the MC definitely approved of, and saying that's good since the performer is in college after all. Then she got to the bit about him liking video games...and she didn't like that bit quite so much, saying that perhaps that interest isn't quite so good.

Will people please stop treating gaming like it's going to melt brains?

My own interest in video games is limited, since I seem to inevitably lose interest (though I like watching others play), so I know I won't do as good a job as that performer might at defending gaming. But I'll give it a shot.

First, and the most obvious to me, is that it improves hand/eye coordination. I hope that no one needs to ask why this is useful.

Some games involve the use of logic, so I'm just going to call that educational.

Others like World of Tanks are educational in other ways, such as helping people to learn about tanks and whatnot. It's not one I've played, but I've watched it being played, and I know someone who has played it for the educational side of it.

I know that communities are built in games like Minecraft, which help people learn to work together. Heck, there are even competitions (you can find recordings of some on YouTube) where teams have to work together, proof of the game helping players work on team building skills.

And I haven't even gotten to the story telling and sometimes amazing art that can be found in video games, which I think shouldn't be ignored. I know that's part of what I've loved about Dungeons and Dragons. Well, that and exploring. It's surprising how much fun exploring video games can be.

Given all this, I really hope that people can move past the whole idea that gaming is a bad thing.

Slightly a non sequitur, though it is on the subject of video games...I thought this might be a good time to share a video about ban appeals on Minecraft. All true, and quite entertaining.