In search of knowledge
I have been gaming for over two decades now. From the corner café arcades and consoles to the Personal Computer, I have spent so much time gaming that it stands to reason that I should have learned something, doesn’t it? Below is a look at a few things I have discovered during my years of gaming.
RSI and Eyestrain are a way of life!
Sitting for hours on end before a glowing receptacle that is my gaming altar, two things always impart fear and agitation. First there is the pain that is Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI).
The endless clicks of a mouse, or hours spent caressing an analog stick have taken their toll. The frequent and excessive use of gaming input devices has lead to many a throbbing joint pain for me, and annoyingly they get worse as I get older.
Then there is the abominable experience that is Eyestrain. Sure, I could blame it on genetics and my parents DNA for having weak eyes, or I could get honest and admit that all the time I’ve spent staring at a flickering screen has something to do with it.
I can survive on Mountain Dew and Cheese Puffs
I am sure we have all run into this, specifically in our younger years. After a few days or weeks of hardcore gaming we slowly awaken from our psychosis. We gaze around the dimly lit room and we notice something. Surrounding us we see we are ankle-deep in an endless sea of chip packets, take-away containers and empty Coke bottles. Who knew I could live off this junk!? Time to hit the gym!
Personal hygiene can be subjective
Any serious gamer can easily run into this dilemma and it often goes hand-in-hand with the abovementioned revelation of living off junk-food for weeks. We need to balance our gaming time with the real world activities, but sadly the real world often takes a second seat. At times I would say to myself, “Hmm, maybe I need to take a shower? As soon as I’ve hit level 30 that is…”
There are no saves, re-do’s and pauses in the real world
How many times have you wished you could just ‘pause’ the world? Or maybe you just messed up an exam and you wished you could load back to a previous save and try it again? The real world would be so much more bearable with such systems in place.
LOL can mean so much more than – Laughing Out Loud
This does not just pertain to LOL, but also to any similar abbreviations and smiley faces. Some people can almost speak volumes with these utterances. There are even an elite few who can communicate only in LOLs and smiley faces. “Lol WTF rotfl >_< nub l2p :P!”
Online gaming abbreviations and smiley faces can almost be considered an official language.
On a serious note
Despite all the flippant things I have garnered from my time gaming I believe I have also gained some useful skills. Skills like I am able to navigate environments better than most, and have pretty good reflexes as well as hand-eye coordination. From all the puzzles I have solved in games my thinking has also become pretty sharp. My reading and typing skills have also gotten better from all the RPG’s and Online Games I have played. That is just off the top of my head, and there are many more subtle gains.
There have also been studies which have pointed out such revelations. The U.S Army uses gaming as a tool for recruitment, which must count for something. Studies have proven that gaming improves spatial awareness, cognitive abilities, problem solving, resource management, teamwork to name just a few.
Some research has even pointed out that gaming is a good release of aggressive energy and relieves stress, and in a world so wracked with stress and depression we need a good release. Interestingly, surgeons who play games will commit fewer errors in surgery. Can you believe that?!
In life the key to most things is balance. Gaming is certainly not without its hazardous side. I know that if one spends exorbitant time gaming that it has detrimental effects (see RSI). It is just nice to know that in a sea of negative studies and hysteria stating gaming can only bring ruin and social degradation, that there is a silver lining.
So at the end of it all what has gaming taught you? What inane junk jangles around in your head? Or have they improved your life for the better?
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