Your Brain On Video Games
Human beings have been playing games for a long, long time. Literal millennia. Legend says that chess was invented around 200 B.C., while Senet — a Predynastic Egyptian game — dates as far back as 3100 B.C. Chess, checkers, card games, jigsaw puzzles, puzzle boxes and more have all been used to fill our time, sharpen our minds, combat boredom, challenge ourselves, and have fun. Video games can be seen as the latest iteration in the long and rich history of lazy Sunday afternoons. While many people think Pong was the first video game developed in history, it was actually Tennis for Two. This was a simple tennis game developed by Physicist William Higinbotham in an attempt to liven up the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s open house (where he was employed.) The idea was to get individuals interested in science, showing the relevance scientific discovery had on society by creating a piece that could be interacted with. Tennis For Two was developed in 1958, and while monumental in its own right, video games wouldn’t be popularized until 1970’s aforementioned Pong. Consequently, we’ve only had roughly six decades to study the effects of video games on our cognitive processes.
Sitting down and having a gaming session is no longer a rarity, either. According to the Entertainment Software Association, 65% of American adults play video games, with 60% playing games at least once a day. That amount of…
