Action Games Active Ingredients
During our last in class group discussion, our group discussed how we would sell a writing class based on gaming to a head librarian. We came up with several theories that could have all been used, such as, the importance of coding, self-gratification, and future technological advances. However, the main selling point needs to be what it does to the gamer’s brain and behavior. After reading Jill Morris’ chapter on narrative realities and alternate reality games, I have come to the conclusion that narratives are not the necessary part of gaming, and should not be a selling point to “Librarians” on why gaming is important.
The important aspects of gaming are the ingredients that translate to positive behavior. Daphne Bavelier, a brain scientist devoting a lot of time to “Your Brain on Video Games,” is onto something and claims video games are here to stay. A statistic from her TedTalk, states “after one-month release of Call of Duty Black Ops, it had been played for a total of 600 million hours, the equivalence of 68,000 years.” In any case, binging is not a good idea, however action games, such as Call of Duty, have very many powerful, positive impacts on brains and behavior. One common misconception many have heard, “too much gaming makes your eyesight worse,” is simply false. Daphne and other scientists have taken this to the lab. Turns out, on average, action gamers vision is better, in a couple different ways. Gamers are able to resolve small detail in the context of clutter, much better. In addition, they are better at resolving different levels of grey, which could come in handy in many instances. For example, being able to see cars you’re coming up to, while driving in fog. Another common statement I hear, “games lead to attention problems and greater distractibility,” is proven otherwise by the same scientists. Spatial awareness skills heighten after spending time gaming. For instance, drivers are more aware of their surroundings, and are quicker to react to objects thrown in the way. The parietal lobe, in charge of orienting attention, the frontal lobe, responsible for maintaining attention, and the anterior cingulate, required to control or regulate attention, are three important cortexes in the brain that are more efficient in a gamer’s brain. These studies are a few examples as to why and how action gaming is important for positive behavior and brain stimulation.
While these are all positive things, it is important to note that not all ingredients are good for the brain. The effect of video games on the brain is, essentially, the same as the effect of wine on health. There are some really poor uses. That is why scientists are still working on finding the “active ingredients” that are beneficial for our brains in video games, in order to apply them all at once in a different kind of game. The best way to describe the continuous struggle is thinking about a piece of broccoli. You can’t just put chocolate sauce on a piece of broccoli and expect people to voluntarily eat it. The same goes for a video game. It isn’t enticing to throw math problems into a shooting game. That being said, the positive effects on the brain these games spark, are proven to be long lasting, and worth devoting some time to. We cannot take gaming out of the world. These games are not only fun and addicting. They clearly bring forth some positive effects, that could potentially be, slightly twisted into something world changing. Scientists are continuing to pull out the positive active ingredients in video games, and place them in something even better. Video games are here to stay.
Bavelier, D. (2012, June). Retrieved September 19, 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games#t-1056633
Bogost, I. (2017, April 25). Video Games Are Better Without Stories. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/04/video-games-stories/524148/#article-comments
Morris, J. (2016). Narrative Realities and Alternate Zombies. In Play/Write: Digital Rhetoric, Writing, Games (pp. 255–268). Anderson, SC: Parlor Press.
