I would like to start by saying that any content’s worth is dependent on how the user interprets them. There are alot of people that tell you to stop wasting your time on alot of different things. If some of our figure-heads listened to those voices then we wouldn’t have alot of the great things we have today. We are all inspired by different media.

If you feel that you spent your time in a good way and that you were entertained or happy for a time then you have accomplished more than most do with their day. If you happen to create something in or outside of yourself that benefits you or others than that is great too. Happiness is the key to life.

1. The most obvious benefit to video games is entertainment. Many people overlook this fact immediately. In this day and age humans require entertainment. Video games are a well-rounded medium to choose. They are the epitome of storytelling and interaction. In other words they are a mix of watching, reading, and reacting. This makes for a very rewarding experience.
2. Video games allows you to focus. Where other’s might sit down to watch television and completely turn off their brain some will sit back and turn on a video game allowing them to focus on a goal. In turn that person will earn a sense of accomplishment once that task is complete. Also, the more you focus the more you can focus. If you can focus on playing a video game for a long period of time you are strengthening the part of your brain that helps you focus. In turn that will help you focus more in life(and more intensively in video games!!!)
3. Social gaming can be another very good reason to play games. What’s better than sitting down with your gamecube and playing some mariokart with your family or sitting down with a bunch of your guy friend’s and playing some Call of Duty or Halo. You can pursue talking about what you love with other and join forums or chatrooms online to talk about the games you love. While there isn’t much to talk about and analyze about action games you can easily switch on your critical thinking when it comes to RPG’s. Sharing your gaming experience with other’s will definitely open up some social outlets. Another very important global event is the increase of online gaming. People from all over the world are connection through Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. For example; I have friends that have met people online from all over the US through World of Warcraft. They became great friends and began socializing about more than the game. Eventually going on roadtrips to see friends they met in Canada. The world of gaming is increasing in size and becoming a very exciting new experience that everyone should enjoy.
4. Video games develop your critical thinking and problem solving in ways you probably don’t realize. During the course of a video game you may have to do seemingly simple tasks. You may have to go to a specific place to collect information in order to find out where you have to go. In the early days games were obvious about this. There would simply be a character that would say, ” You must go to the hidden cave behnid the waterfall.” Now you will talk to twenty or thirty Non Player Characters that tell you several stories that may or may not pertain to your actual goal. You are forced to interpret more information and decide on the relevance. While it sounds simple it will help you in life in deciding the real relevance in what you act on. Also in games there are puzzles and world’s that force you to think in other ways. That pattern could easily be recreated in real life because obviously someone in real life created that pattern in the first place and they had to get their idea from somewhere.
5. Video games help you maintain your reaction time. Obviously if you are playing a very intensive shooter that requires you to look quick and react then you will improve your actual reaction time. You turn the corner in a video game and see a car coming you process this information as danger and back away. Practicing this simple concept in a game will have the same effect in real life eventually making you quicker as processing real life.
6. Hand, eye, and even sometimes, body coordination. First off, hand eye coordination. Very closely related with reaction time by playing games you are strengthening your ability to react to images quickly by seeing them with your eyes and reacting with your fingers. Also their is a rise in music games as of late with titles like Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band. Dance Dance Revolution really is a revolution that causing you to see things with your eyes and react with your legs increasing hand-foot coordination. In doing this you become more spacially aware. And alot of people need help in that area if you know what I mean. On another note Rock Band incorporates reading words and singing them into a mic that records pitch allowing you to react with your voice. The world of video games is find new and innovative ways to include not only your hands and eyes, but also your body.
7. There are educational and simulation based games that do well to educate you and see things in a different light. Video games are used for all kinds of flight simulators and training programs now adays. I know growing up a had several of those children’s computers that taught you to spell and do math. I feel that I learned most from computer programs and games designed to teach than I did in class growing up.
8. Some games induce creativity and ingenuity. Games like Sim-city force us to create a whole city and maintain it. This takes some very serious critical thinking and strategic thinking that you can’t get anywhere else. Also strategy games like Warcraft I, II, and III, Civilization, and Starcraft force us to think very strategically in the placement of buildings and resources. These thoughts increase our awareness and if applied to real life thinking you can start to realize why some buildings and resources are place where they are today. Also, something that has been kind of behind the scenes for a while is User-Based gaming. People that sit around and modify maps and game rules creating new things that the developers didn’t think of. There are games now that incorprate user based modifications in their games. For instance Halo 3 allowed you to create and add weapons and small and large details to the map. A new game called Little Big Planet will be designed for online play and users to create levels for other users to play. This kind of creativity is a skill to develop and cherish.
9. Fine arts appreciation is another reason to play games. Video games are rich with fine arts. Some people may overlook how much art goes into the making of a video game. For every terrain, character, piece of trash, or furniture there was some art designer that had to take the time to design that particular piece. There is alot to appreciate that goes into the making of a game. Music is another art to appreciate. Some games have entire orchestras employed to make tracks for their games.
10. This goes without saying, but all-in-all video games are rich,new, and enthralling experiences that can cause you to grow as a person. Games involve luck, skill, problem-solving, amazing art, fantastic music, and thousands of new worlds to unfold that will take you in and leave you with a new experience to share.