COMPUTER GAMES ROT THE BRAIN

Computer Games Rot The Brain

Computer Games Rot The Brain

" Turn that crap down!" yelled my uncle at his son. "If you keep on playing your video games too much you're going to go brain dead!" Then the son responded, " No, actually, the strategic elements of the game help enhance my process of thoughts in a way that improves my problem solving skills." I, being a video game lover, agree with him. (Pruitt, Adlin 2006, 241) Computer games don't rot your brains or make you dumber, as a matter of fact, they can make you smarter. Contrary to popular belief, video games can increase your brain activity and improve mental abilities.

Have you ever had an older relative see you playing video games and have them pompously say to you, “Those things will rot your brain?” Well, it turns out they were wrong, in fact they were so wrong that I think it may constitute irony. As it turns out, video games may actually keep your brain from rotting. According to this article from Reuters, video games may benefit the aging brain. (Mileham 2008, 201) In a study of 40 adults in their 60s and 70s, researchers found that those who learned to play a strategy-heavy video game (the game used in the study was “Rise of Nations”) improved their scores in a number of tests of cognitive function. The article goes on to state that this is the first study to suggest such findings but the results were, “very promising.”

I always said I would be a gamer until I died, now I have a great excuse. We'll know that the elderly are a target demographic as soon as we see the first “Murder She Wrote,” survival horror game. (Pruitt, Adlin 2006, 241)Computer games and children video games were first introduced in the 1970s. By the end of that decade they had become a preferred childhood leisure activity, and adults responded with concern about the possible ill effects of the games on children. Probably the main reason for such concern is because children would spend time playing their video games more than doing something "productive" such as their studies. Recent studies of television watching by children have included measures of the time children spend playing video games. In 1967, the average sixth-grader watched 2.8 hours of television per day

Just when we thought the furor over video/Computer games being responsible for school shootings had passed us by, a new study conducted at a Japanese university "proves" that youth who spend hour after hour playing Nintendo or PC games eventually become anti-social and violent. (Mileham 2008, 201)My first question is this: does this mean you Japanese reasearchers are going to make any effort in your country--where many of the games are created--to outlaw the making of these games? And my second question is this: does any of this reasearch apply to interactive, multiplayer-type games, such as "http://www.bungie.net" Bungie's Myth: the Fallen Lords, and Myth II: Soulblighter? Finally, were the youth ...