essay playing video games

Essays About Video Games: Top 12 Examples and Prompts

Video games have revolutionized the way we have fun today. If you are writing essays about video games, check out our guide to inspire your writing.  

Few can contest the fact that video games have taken over the world. From the basic, almost “primitive” games of the 1970s like Pong to the mind-bending virtual reality games of the 2020s, they have been a source of entertainment for all. Moreover, they have proven quite profitable; countries like Japan and the United States have made tens of billions of dollars solely from the video game market.

Despite their popularity, much has been debated over the potentially harmful side effects that video games may have, particularly on children. One side argues that playing certain video games can lead to people exhibiting violence in the future, while others believe that video games teach players essential life skills. Regardless, they will continue to be a part of our lives for the foreseeable future. 

For engaging essays about video games, read the essay examples featured below for inspiration.

1. What electronic games can teach us by Kendall Powell

2. designers are imagining video games without guns by keith stuart, 3. playing video games all summer won’t make you feel worse by nicole wetsman, 4.  violent video games bad by andrea newman.

• 5. ​​The health effects of too much gaming by Peter Grinspoon

Writing Prompts For Essays About Video Games

1. video games: good or bad, 2. the benefits of video games, 3. what is your favorite video game, 4. do video games cause people to become violent, 5. video games in your life, 6. video games vs. traditional games, 7. is the video game rating system enough.

“In other studies, researchers found that gamers who trained on Tetris were better at mentally rotating two-dimensional shapes than those who played a control game. Students who played two hours of All You Can E.T., an educational game designed to enhance the executive function of switching between tasks, improved their focus-shifting skills compared with students who played a word search game.”

Powell explains a few possibilities of applying video games to education. As it turns out, certain video games can improve players’ skills, depending on the mechanics. Researchers are inspired by this and hope to take advantage of the competitive, motivational nature of gaming to encourage children to learn. New games are designed to help kids improve their focus, coordination, and resilience, and game designers hope they will succeed. 

“Imagine a game where you’re a war reporter seeking to capture the most iconic, representative images in a battle environment: You’d still get the sense of peril that audiences expect from action adventures, but your relationship with the environment would be more profound. It would be Call of Duty from the perspective of a creative participant rather than a violent interloper.”

The graphic nature of some video games is said to make kids violent, so it is only natural that some creators try to change this. Stuart writes that it is possible to maintain the fun that shooter-type games induce without using guns. He gives examples of games where you do not kill your enemy, simply stunning or capturing them instead. He also suggests photography as an alternative to killing in a “shooting” game. Finally, he suggests basing video games around helping others, making friends, and doing more peaceful, creative tasks.

“Any role video games play in skewing well-being that did pop up in the study was too small to have a real-world impact on how people feel, the authors said. People would have to play games for 10 more hours per day than their baseline to notice changes in their well-being, the study found.”

Wetsman counters the widespread belief that video games “destroy your brain.” Research done with a sample of 39,000 players over six weeks has shown that whether one plays video games for long or short periods, their mental health is not impacted much. There are some exceptions; however, there are not enough to conclude that video games are, in fact, harmful.

“Some people believe that the connection between violent games, and real violence is also fairly intuitive. In playing the games kids are likely to become desensitized to gory images;which could make them less disturbing, and perhaps easier to deal with in real life. While video games aren’t about violence their capacity to teach can be a good thing.”

In her essay, Newman writes about the supposed promotion of violence in some video games. However, she believes this violence does not cause people to be more aggressive later. Instead, she believes these games expose children to certain atrocities so they will not be traumatized if they see them in real life. In addition, these games supposedly promote connections and friendships. Finally, Newman believes that these “harmful” can make you a better person.

5. ​​ The health effects of too much gaming by Peter Grinspoon

“Gamers need to be educated on how to protect their thumbs, wrists, and elbows, their waistlines, their emotional state, their sleep, and their eyes. Simple education around taking breaks, stretching, eating healthy snacks, and resting and icing your thumb, wrist, or elbow when it starts hurting can address injuries early, before they become significant. For the eyes, gamers can try the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, try to look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.”

Grinspoon discusses both the benefits and the health risks of gaming. Video games allow people to interact with each other remotely and bond over specific missions or tasks, and some research shows that they have cognitive benefits. However, some gamers may develop vision problems and hand and wrist injuries. Gaming and “staring in front of a screen the whole day” is also associated with obesity. Overall, Grinspoon believes that gaming is best done in moderation.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about hobbies .

Many parents believe that their children’s “bad behavior” is because of video games. Based on your experience and others, decide: are video games good or bad for you? Make sure to read viewpoints from both sides and write an essay based on your position. Would you encourage others to play video games? Discuss these pros and cons for an interesting argumentative essay.

Like anything else, video games have both positive and negative aspects. Explain the good that video games can do for you: the skills they can equip you with, the lessons they can teach, and anything else. Also, include whether you believe their benefits outweigh the disadvantages they may pose. 

For your essay, write about your favorite video game and why you chose it. What is its meaning to you, and how has it affected your life? Describe the gameplay mechanics, characters, storyline, and general impact on the gaming community or society. You can write about any game you want, even if you have not played it; just ensure the content is sufficient.

Many claim that playing violent video games can make you violent in the future. Research this phenomenon and conclude whether it is true or not. Is the evidence sufficient? There are many resources on this topic; support your argument by citing credible sources, such as news articles, statistics, and scientific research.

Video games have been a part of almost all our lives. Recall a treasured experience with video games and explain why it is significant. How old were you? Why do you remember it fondly? How did this experience make you feel? Answer these questions in your own words for an exciting essay.

There are stark differences between video and traditional games, such as board games and card games. For an engaging essay, compare and contrast them and write about which is more entertaining, in your opinion. Be creative; this should be based on your own opinions and ideas.

The video game content rating system is used to classify video games based on their appropriateness for specific ages. However, parents complain that they are not strict enough and allow the display of violent content to children. Explore the criteria behind the rating system, decide whether it needs to be changed or not, and give examples to support your argument.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips !

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Persuasive Essay: Video Games

Teenagers today often spend a great deal of time playing video games. These games are fun and engaging and young people often feel like playing games is a great thing to do in their spare time. However, you shouldn’t spend too much time gaming and there are a number of reasons for this: it’s unhealthy, you should spend more time studying, and you need to socialize more.

The primary reason to cut down on gaming time has to be that youths that spend a long time on computers and games consoles are often not getting enough exercise. With high obesity rates, it’s very important for young people to spend as much time being active as possible, especially since studies show that people who are overweight during childhood and adolescence are far more likely to become overweight adults than those of a healthy weight when they’re young. There is just as much, if not more, fun to be had in getting out and about and being active. This doesn’t have to mean going for long runs if that’s not your thing; team sports are both fun and great exercise. Dance or fitness classes are also a good option for those not into sports.

Secondly, getting a good education is that best thing that you can do for your future. If every teenager cut down on their gaming time by 30 minutes per day and used this time to study, the whole of that generation would achieve better results and be more likely to have the career that they want. With education, you get out what you put in, so it’s really up to you to put in the additional effort. If you want to go to a good college, extra study in your own time will be completely vital, but gaming can reduce your concentration span and make this more difficult.

The third main reason that playing video games too often is that it’s no good for your social skills. Some teenagers may argue that because they can now play their games online with friends, they are socializing in their own way. However, you can’t beat face-to-face contact, and if you want to succeed in interviews and build good relationships in later life, you need to develop some proper communication skills. This shouldn’t be a chore, or difficult, because hanging out with friends is far more fun than sitting indoors playing on games all day anyway!

In conclusion, there can be no doubt that spending too much time gaming isn’t good for you. You don’t have to stop all together, but it’s all about moderation. Cut down and allocate your additional free time to doing things that are good for you, and you definitely won’t regret it in later life.

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How to Write an Essay about Video Games: Presenting Effective Arguments in Papers

Gaming on video consoles is becoming more and more common. In actuality, the typical gamer plays for roughly six hours each week. There are many who claim that video games are harmful to one’s health since they promote inactive lifestyles like prolonged sitting and isolation from the outside world. On the other hand, some people say that playing video games is a good way to unwind and relax, and they are not wrong. So, what is the real story of video games? Are they good or bad? The controversy of playing video games presents an opportunity for students to either be proponents or antagonists of the issue through essays. Accordingly, this article discusses how a learner can write an essay about video games.

It would be best to do thorough research before writing an essay about video games

Research is often the most challenging aspect of preparing an essay. While writing your video games essay, you’ll have to employ the information you get from research to define video games, describe different genres, and give relevant examples to support your claims. Students must recognize that the amount of research they conduct totally affects how good their essays turn out. Your video game essay will benefit greatly from your careful attention to detail and thorough investigation. Just keep in mind that you are trying to convince your audience to see things from your point of view. This is why having a great deal of background information is essential. Researching your favorite video game would give you an added advantage. Additionally, to support your claims, you must include relevant examples and research-based data.

You should develop an introduction that captures your reader’s interest

The whole point of the opening paragraph is to capture the interest of the audience. To achieve this, it should pose an intriguing topic or provide a contradiction or paradox. You ought to add a good hook to grab the reader’s attention so they can’t help but keep reading your paper. Given that there are numerous motivations for why individuals engage in video games, the introduction is where you have to specify the reasons. Moreover, it would be best to incorporate your thesis statement in the introduction. A thesis statement is basically the writer’s primary concept, summed up in one or a few sentences. A well-formulated thesis statement expresses the work’s central argument in a way that makes sense in light of the inquiry or issue at hand. It would be the correct response to the question, “What is the primary theme of this essay?” from the instructor. Nonetheless, you should perceive your thesis as an opinion that may be debated at any time, rather than an established fact or objective reality. In other words, now is the time to speak your mind regarding the impact of video games on today’s youth.

You must present your arguments in the body paragraphs

The arguments are what learners utilize to support their thesis. A single contention and one or two examples must each have their own paragraph. It would be best to provide your reasoning for your video game position and be sure to explain why you firmly disagree with the opposing viewpoint. Examples include your own experiences and, where appropriate, references to data from studies, forecasts, and statistics. Students should provide answers to contentious topics like “Do video games promote addiction and violence among players?” The arguments you employ ought to back your main point rather than contradict it.

You may offer vivid illustrations as you write an argumentative essay about video games

Learners should offer evocative examples of the genres and video games under consideration. Instead of stressing about whether the material you discover online or the game’s publishers are legit, dedicate yourself to writing a fun and vibrant paper for the person who reads it. This approach piques the audience’s attention and facilitates their comprehension of the argumentative essay about video games. Additionally, these vivid examples assist you in conveying your ideas in a manner that words can’t. Even if you aren’t convinced that your assignment requires an example, using one might perk up your reader and provide your arguments additional weight.

You should write a conclusion for your essay

The last section is meant to sum up the college essay. You may accomplish this by restating the thesis statement and briefly mentioning the arguments you presented in your body paragraphs. This approach will help the audience understand how you systematically addressed the issue and made conclusions. For instance, suppose you had to respond to the question, “Do games negatively affect us?” A topic like that can’t be satisfactorily answered by psychology, particularly when it involves something as novel as video games. Consequently, it is actually way easier to just pick a side and support your position with some research. In the end, your readers don’t expect the argument to be elaborated upon but rather summarized. No new material should be introduced in the last paragraph.

Identifying the sources you employed would be best

When you are writing an essay about video games, it is essential to cite your sources. That means you got to make a list of every resource you used in your paper. References to diverse books, scientific studies, statistical data, and remarks made by well-known experts are acceptable. It would help to make sure your research is from the past five years.

Proofreading is vital for developing a top-notch paper

Students must make sure that their essays about video games have been edited and proofread prior to submission. So basically, you are going to check your assignment for spelling, punctuation, and grammatical mistakes. Completing an essay that is free of errors increases a learner’s likelihood of academic success. Here are some tips to help you proofread your work:

• Read the text aloud. This will enable you to detect any mistakes.
• Take your time proofreading and revising your work. Spend sufficient time on it to ensure you catch any possible oversights.
• Concentrate on correcting a single mistake at a time. Avoid the hassle of searching for spelling and grammar mistakes at the same time. Prior to checking for punctuation and spelling problems, you may concentrate on grammatical issues.
• You may also create a list of the most typical errors that students make while writing essays, then review your work for each one.

Using these suggestions will guarantee that your essay is devoid of all types of mistakes that might undermine how persuasive your argument is. Alternatively, you can delegate your “ write my essay ” request to online essay writing services like CustomWritings which may allow you to complete a high-quality paper about video games.

Extra tips for presenting better arguments in essays about video games

Today’s youth often engage in video gaming, and this trend will only spread in the coming years. Composing a paper about video games can help you learn more about the subject while also providing readers with information they can utilize in their lives. Just consider the potential for them to be inspired by and gain new knowledge from your essay about video games. Following this article’s recommendations should take you a step closer to achieving your academic goals.

Nick Sinclair

Nick Sinclair, a gaming aficionado since the Commodore 64 era, studied Creative Computer Games Design in university before founding his own gaming company. Discovering a passion for content creation, Nick now helps gamers squeeze every drop of fun out of their favorite gaming hardware

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Essay on Video Games

Students are often asked to write an essay on Video Games in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Video Games

Introduction.

Video games are interactive digital entertainment platforms. They are played on devices like computers, consoles, or mobiles.

Types of Video Games

There are many types of video games. Some are educational, others are adventure-based or sports-themed.

Benefits of Video Games

Video games can improve hand-eye coordination, problem-solving skills, and strategic thinking. They can also be a fun way to relax.

Drawbacks of Video Games

Excessive gaming can lead to health issues like eye strain and lack of physical activity. It can also impact social skills if not balanced with real-world interactions.

Video games can be both beneficial and harmful. It’s important to play responsibly and maintain a healthy balance.

Also check:

• 10 Lines on Video Games

250 Words Essay on Video Games

Video games, a form of interactive entertainment, have evolved dramatically from their rudimentary origins in the 1970s. They have penetrated almost every aspect of modern society, becoming a significant part of our culture and a powerful force in the entertainment industry.

The Evolution of Video Games

In their inception, video games were straightforward, consisting of basic graphics and gameplay. However, as technology advanced, so did the complexity and visual appeal of these games. Today, video games are immersive experiences, boasting high-definition graphics, complex narratives, and intricate gameplay mechanics.

The Impact on Society

Video games have a profound impact on society. They have transformed how we spend our leisure time, and have even created new professions, such as professional e-sports players and game developers. In addition, video games have educational potential, as they can develop problem-solving and strategic thinking skills.

Controversies and Criticisms

Despite their popularity, video games have attracted controversy. Critics argue that they promote violence, addiction, and social isolation. However, research on these issues remains inconclusive, and many argue that the benefits of video games outweigh potential negatives.

In conclusion, video games are a multifaceted phenomenon that has significantly influenced our culture and society. Despite criticisms, their popularity continues to rise, indicating their enduring appeal and potential for future growth. As technology continues to evolve, so too will video games, promising exciting developments for this dynamic medium.

500 Words Essay on Video Games

Video games, a form of digital entertainment that has dramatically evolved over the past few decades, have become a significant part of contemporary culture. They offer a unique blend of interactive storytelling, art, and technology, engaging players in a way that no other medium can. Video games are more than just a pastime; they are a platform for expression, learning, and innovation.

The history of video games is a testament to the incredible technological advancements of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. From the rudimentary pixel graphics of the 1970s to today’s immersive virtual reality experiences, video games have continuously pushed the boundaries of what is technologically possible. They have transformed from simple, solitary experiences into complex, social phenomena, connecting people from all walks of life.

The Impact of Video Games

Video games have a significant impact on society, influencing various aspects of our lives. They have revolutionized the entertainment industry, becoming a multi-billion dollar sector that rivals and often surpasses traditional media like film and music. Beyond entertainment, video games have found applications in education, healthcare, and even military training, demonstrating their versatility and potential.

The Benefits and Concerns

Despite the criticisms often associated with video gaming, such as addiction and violence, numerous studies have highlighted the potential benefits. Video games can improve cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and spatial awareness, and can also foster social interaction and cooperation when played in groups. They can serve as therapeutic tools, helping to manage conditions like anxiety and depression. However, it is essential to maintain a balanced perspective, acknowledging the potential risks and promoting responsible gaming.

The Future of Video Games

The future of video games is as exciting as it is unpredictable. With emerging technologies like virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and cloud gaming, the possibilities for innovation are limitless. Video games are poised to become even more immersive, interactive, and personalized, offering experiences that were once the stuff of science fiction.

In conclusion, video games are a dynamic and influential part of modern society, reflecting our culture, advancing technology, and impacting various aspects of our lives. They are a testament to human creativity and innovation, offering unique experiences that entertain, educate, and inspire. As we move forward, it is crucial to continue exploring the potential of video games, addressing the challenges they present, and harnessing their power for positive change.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Chapter 6: 21st-century media and issues

6.5.4 Video games in the world of education (research essay)

Anonymous English 102 Writer

The relationship between education and new technologies, more specifically video games, has long been debated about and judged without a full understanding of the actual potential of the combination of the two. New methods such as using video games as an education tool are almost always overlooked by educators even though they may be missing out on a niche form of education that can keep students far more engaged in the subject they are learning while also encouraging them to continue learning because they are also having fun. It is also often overlooked that playing video games can potentially in some way increase the players’ skills in communication through the usage and improvement of communication required in some games. I share the belief that video games have great potential to be used as a tool for education if more educators would give them a shot and test them out. I also believe that video games have very high potential to improve the communication skills of those who play them. There are also many researchers and educators who share these beliefs and would like to see the use of video games as an education tool more widespread in the future. Many of these researchers and educators that believe in the use of video games as an education tool are of this opinion because they have tested this on students and found results that sway them to see the potential of this form of teaching. Though obviously video games could never become a primary education tool or mainstream form of communication, I think that video games could be utilized well as a form of education and that they could be used by many as a way to improve their communication skills.

Personally, I think video games have a good positive effect on the communication skills of those who play them. I have been playing video games for a large portion of my life and I think the form of communication within some of the more competitive games can have an effect on my communication skills. I think they do this by forcing the player to communicate in the typical form of the game which then have an effect on real world communication skills. In my experience, this increase in communication skill comes from the specific form of communication that happens in competitive video games. This includes games such as one of my personal favorites, Call of Duty Warzone. In order to communicate effectively, the players must communicate through quick and effective bursts of information. In Warzone, my teammates and I must communicate quickly to tell each other important information such as the location of enemies, or where to find valuable resources such as weapons, ammunition and armor. I can do this by either talking to the teammates through a microphone, or using a system called pinging. Pinging is an in game system where you look at an item or location you want to show to your teammates, then hit a button to place a ping there that is displayed to the rest of your team. The most effective way to communicate in Warzone is a combination of both pinging and rapid verbal communication. This way a player can verbally tell their teammates exactly what they are talking about while simultaneously pinging it to show their teammates visually. With the visual indicator on the screen from the ping, and the verbal description from teammates, it should be the most efficient way to tell a teammates something quickly. While some other games also have a pinging system, most force the players to be most reliant on communicating verbally with quick and information packed sentences. This is because while playing these games, the players do not have time to communicate with each other in long detailed sentences. They need to cut down the time it takes to relay information to teammates or often it will be too late for that information to be important anymore. In the time I have played video games I find most of this to be accurate and I believe it has had at least some effect on my communication skills in high stress situations. I also have personal experience with the use of video games education. When I was in elementary school, I frequently used a computer game to help me practice my speed of completing math equations. Even though I was learning the same thing that the teacher was teaching at school, I was much more engaged and interested because a game was more fun that simply doing equations on a sheet of paper. I think that this kind of education can be used much more often to keep students engaged with the subject they are learning. Overall, I have a good connection to this subject and feel confident in the positive relationship between video games and education as well as communication skills.

First, I will explore the research on the topic of the relationship between playing video games and communication skills. A question that I think is important to answer about this topic is how does video game communication effect real world communication skills. Many researchers have studied this relationship to examine video games effects on communication. One such researcher is Kenneth Horowitz in his article “Video Games and English as a Second Language: The Effect of Massive Multiplayer Online Video Games on The Willingness to Communicate and Communicative Anxiety of College Students in Puerto Rico”. In this article Horowitz studies a group of students from Puerto Rico who are attempting to learn English while using video games as one of their forms of learning. As they play these games it works on their English communication skills furthering their knowledge of the language. Horowitz regards new technology and the internet as a whole as a fascinating new potential form of education and more specifically a form of improving the communication skills in those who are learning a new language (Horowitz 379). Because this study revolves around students who are learning English rather than improving on the English skills they already have it is a slightly different situation than the research question asks but still mostly related enough to be relevant. The research was gathered through two questionaries given through the internet to the research participants further relating the connection to the internet and technology to education (Horowitz 391). This means there was a variety of ways for the participants of the study to express the affect the study had on them to diversify the results. While the participants played a wide variety of video game titles and genres, the results and levels of communication between the players did not change but stayed at a similar level relative to each other (Horowitz 398). While the messages players communicate to each other in these different games titles and genres may be different it still requires the same kind of communicative skill to get the message across to teammates effectively. Overall, the relationship between the time of video games played and the skill in communication is a positive correlation (Horowitz 398). When applied to the research question about Video Games correlation to real world communication skills, Horowitz’s research would seem to suggest that Video games do in fact have a positive effect on a person’s real life communication skills in a significant way. Another article that deals with this research question is “Games at Work: Examining a Model of Team Effectiveness in an Interdependent Gaming Task” by Sylvia Luu and Anupama Narayan. This article is another one that deals with how video games and gamification can help people work better as a team in other aspects of life other than video games. The term gamification is used frequently throughout the article, and I think this term is a great term to relate to this essay and the research questions within it as a whole. As stated in the article, gamification could be described as a way of applying skills and aspects of video game behavior into real life situations and circumstances as a way to more efficiently handle them when the need arises (Luu and Narayan 110). The gamification of everyday tasks or especially tasks that have to do with communication and education relates directly to the research question of video games having an effect on real world communication skills. In this article’s experiment a wide range of students volunteered to take part by working together in a video game designed to specifically bring out the teamwork and communication skills of those who played it (Luu and Narayan 114). In contrast to Horowitz’s study, this experiment uses its own game in contrast with Horowitz allowing the participants in the study to play whatever game they chose by themselves. This provides a different point of view and wider range of research data to support this main concept of improvement in communication skill. In the end of the study, it was shown that more communication between the players in the game lead to better performance overall and satisfaction between teammates (Luu and Narayan 116). When the players who participated in the study communicated more it led to a higher rate of success and level of approving between teammates which could be translated to communication in real life scenarios and demonstrates how the communication in video games is not all that different from communication in real life. Yet another article that deals with the ways video games have an effect on a person’s communication skills is “Using video game to enhance English communication skills” by Alex Roach and Yeski Utami. Once again, this article similarly dives into the gamification of education and communication and how video games can incentivize and reward the improvement of communication skills. The article goes over several types of games that can benefit from good communication skills including co-operative games which are directly related to the players working together and communicating as well as they can in order to accomplish their tasks effectively (Roach and Utami 202). Multiple different genres and types of video games have varying degrees of connection to communication and how it can be improved. The research done in this article was based on two different games played by several groups of students in order to diversify and expand the range of results possible to be shown in the data of the experiment (Roach and Utami 203). With multiple different games to play it becomes easier to show and more apparent that the results of one game are not an outlier to the hypothesis. In the results of the experiment, it is believed that the communication between players had a very positive effect on the success in playing the games and that good communication was very important and incentivized for a good performance (Roach and Utami 204). When the students in the experiment communicated better, they performed better in the experiment which shows the strong connection between playing video games and communication skills. Another, more specific article on this topic is “Can game-based learning enhance engineering communication skills?” by Cheyrl Bondar and Renee Clark. Obviously, this article is of a similar topic as the last few but is more specifically relegated to the topic of engineering students using video games in a similar way as the others. This article is based on a study on several hundred engineering students who were asked to write and deliver a presentation on a subject while first using video games as a way to see how the effect the skill in communication among these engineering students (Bondar and Clark 25-26). Though the final presentation these students are composing is not about video games or communication skills, the way video games are implemented into the study still creates an effective situation for the research to show how video games can affect communication skills in these students. The way the video games were used in this study was the students developed their own games specifically designed around different types of communication such as verbal, nonverbal and written communication. These games were meant to test each student in how well they can properly use these different types of communication to complete their assigned final presentations (Bondar and Clark 35). As the students play these several different games with varying objectives, they are also working together closely much like how they will need to for their presentations at the end of the year. In the final results of this study, it was discovered that the positive correlation in communication skills was only found in the level of out loud verbal communication skills (Bondar and Clark 39). This finding shows how playing video games improves the communication each of the players have with and between each other. It seems to show that as the players proceed through the games, they mainly communicate out loud with each other even when playing the games designed around other forms of communication therefor having a much greater effect on their verbal communication skills rather than non-verbal communication skills. Overall, this article and its research show that even when working towards an unrelated goal, video game players who are effectively communicating with each other will see a great improvement in their level of skill in that same kind of verbal communication. My second to last piece of writing on this particular research question is a CNN article titled “Video Games Help Children Improve Literacy, Communication and Mental Well-Being, Survey Finds” by Alaa Elassar. This article and its message are based on a survey administered to several thousand teenagers in a small range of different ages on how they believe playing video games effects their lives. They are asked about how they think playing video games has an effect on multiple different aspects including their skill in reading as well as their writing ability (Elassar). Many people including those in the age range of this survey know that playing video games and reading and writing skills are much more closely related than most would think. These teenagers who participated in the survey also report that the video games they play are a major topic of discussion between them and their friends when they talk (Elassar). While this particular finding may not show direct increase in communication skill related to video games, it does show that playing video games can increase the amount of communicating a person does throughout their day both while playing and when they are not. Many of these teens think playing their video games are a fun and entertaining way for them to build connections and friendships both with people they know in real life and with new people they meet online through the games (Elassar). This shows that playing video games creates and strengthens connections between those who play them together. In a somewhat unrelated note, the participants of the survey also report that playing video games helps reduce their stress and other negative feelings (Elassar). Overall, the playing of video games has a positive effect on most children who play them both in their ability to communicate and on their mental well being. Finally, I have one more online article titled “Video Games Level up Life Skills” by Kathryn Hulick. This article is a simple online piece of writing that conveys the message of how video games can build their valuable life skills such as communication and improvisation or resourcefulness (Hulick). As players play video games, they work on these skills by stimulating their minds in a casual and entertaining way. The article references a study conducted in Scotland about students who played video games during their school week to see if it had any effect on their school performance (Hulick). In comparison to the control group that played no video games during the study did not show as big of an improvement in the traits they were asked to report on, resourcefulness, adaptability and communication skills, as the group of students who did play video games consistently throughout the two months the study was conducted over (Hulick). All of these articles display a very strong connection between communication skills and the amount of video games the players play.

The second part of this essay will be focused around a different connection to video games. The research question for this portion is can video games be used as an effective education tool. The first source I would like to use for this topic is “Video Games Can Develop Graduate Skills in Higher Education Students: A Randomized Trial” by Matthew Barr. This article is based on a trail to show how video games can be used as an education tool. The study is about a group of subjects who were asked to play video games and report how they were affected in a cognitive and social context (Barr 86). The participants play a wide variety of games that have the potential to have educational value to explore many different methods of teaching from a video game. By the end of the research, it was shown that the students involved in the study did show good results for a test administered by the researchers possibly indicating a link between video games and effective communication skills (Barr 90). This shows what my research question aims to ask that video games while not a main source of education can be used as a tool for educating in some instances where it applies and for specific skills. The next source for this research question is titled quite simply “Gaming as a Teaching Tool” written by Brandon Baker. This source is another website article that aims to point out a positive connection between video game playing and engaging education for students. The article discusses many ways video games are being used in various different environments including the military, fitness, and of course schools themselves (Baker). With such a diverse range of games and genres it is possible for video games to be used in hundreds of different contexts and environments as an educational tool in one way or another. Professor Yasmin Kafai certifies that video games have a long extensive history in education and that their modern surge in use is nothing new as Professor Kafai verifies with the course she created titled Video Games and the Virtual World which deals extensively with how video games can be used for educational purposes in many different scenarios (Baker). As Professor Kafai’s course most likely verifies, video games have had a long history of educational purposes even when it may not seem very obvious or apparent. There are many games that have very specific educational values and themes that were made exclusively for classroom education purposes rather than for entertainment purposes such as a game titled Math Blasters (Baker). Although there are some games that are made specifically for educational purposes and not for entertainment purposes, it is still possible and even likely that more entertainment focused video game titles are capable of having educational value whether it is intended or not. Recent events, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, have shown that video games and other technology based methods can be extremely effective and sometimes vital to a learning environments benefit (Baker). When the world of education suddenly became almost entirely reliant on technology to administer its lessons to students it is possible that many educators became at least somewhat aware that video games have a much higher potential of educational use than many would have previously thought. In summation, Baker’s article is very aware and expressive of how the world of education is already very much connected to video games and that they have a bright future in the educational field now that technology has taken on such a crucial role in the field. Another source that deals with this topic is “A New Venue for Video Games: K-12 Classrooms” written by Carolyn Jones. This article begins by describing a teacher who struggled to keep his students engaged and interested in the subject matter until he instituted video games as a way to make his class more engaging and fun for the students. He began to use Minecraft: Education Edition as a part of his history class and witnessed as it drastically increased his student’s engagement with the course material (Jones). When students are given a more entertaining way to learn the same material as a more traditional classroom experience can offer, the entertaining option will usually be much more appealing and effective at keeping the students interested in the material. Other educational games such as Dragon Box focus around other school subjects such as math to provide a wider range of teaching ability across multiple different possible forms of presentation (Jones). Many games have specialty areas of education just like different teachers are more informed on certain subjects. My last source for this question is “The Benefits of Gaming in Education: the Build A World Case” which has no listed author. The article states that gaming has numerous social and psychological benefits to its players and that these benefits have countless positive effects even in the area of education (The Benefits of Gaming). These benefits are often somewhat overlooked but have a very great impact on students and other young people who play video games. As students play video games they are idly and subconsciously improving their critical thinking and technical skills due to the quick snap decisions and puzzle solving that many games have included within them (The Benefits of Gaming). Video games are not often made purposfully with the goal of education in mind but they very often include puzzles and other stimulating challenges that require the player to think critically. Overall These sources all seem to indicate that there is a strong relationship between video games and the field of education.

Works Cited

Horowitz, Kenneth S. “Video Games and English as a Second Language: The Effect of Massive Multiplayer Online Video Games on The Willingness to Communicate and Communicative Anxiety of College Students in Puerto Rico.”  American Journal of Play , vol. 11, no. 3, Jan. 2019, pp. 379–410.  EBSCOhost , search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1220304&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Luu, Sylvia, and Anupama Narayan. “Games at Work: Examining a Model of Team Effectiveness in an Interdependent Gaming Task.”  Computers in Human Behavior , vol. 77, Dec. 2017, pp. 110–120.  EBSCOhost , doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.025.

Barr, Matthew. “Video Games Can Develop Graduate Skills in Higher Education Students: A Randomized Trial.”  Online Submission , vol. 113, Jan. 2017, pp. 86–97.  EBSCOhost , search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED608315&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Roach, Alex, and Yeski Utami. “Using video game to enhance English communication skills.”  Proceedings of ISELT FBS Universitas Negeri Padang  5 (2017): 200-204.

Bodnar, Cheryl A., and Renee M. Clark. “Can game-based learning enhance engineering communication skills?.”  IEEE transactions on professional communication  60.1 (2017): 24-41.

Squire, Kurt. “Video games in education.”  Int. J. Intell. Games & Simulation  2.1 (2003): 49-62.

Baker, Brandon, “Gaming as a Teaching Tool.”  Penn Today , 6 May 2020, penntoday.upenn.edu/news/gaming-teaching-tool.

Jones, Carolyn. “A New Venue for Video Games: K-12 Classrooms  .”  EdSource , EdSource, 7 May 2018, edsource.org/2018/a-new-venue-for-video-games-k-12-classrooms/597100.

“The Benefits of Gaming in Education: the Build A World Case.”  Acer for Education , 27 Jan. 2017, acerforeducation.acer.com/education-trends/gamification/the-benefits-of-gaming-in-education-the-build-a-world-case/.

Elassar, Alaa. “Video Games Help Children Improve Literacy, Communication and Mental Well-Being, Survey Finds.”  CNN , Cable News Network, 5 Sept. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/09/05/health/video-games-literacy-creativity-children-trnd/index.html.

Hulick, Kathryn. “Video Games Level up Life Skills.”  Science News for Students , 3 Dec. 2019, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/video-games-level-life-skills.

Fishman, Andrew. “Video Games Are Social Spaces: How Video Games Help People Connect.”  Video Games Are Social Spaces: How Video Games Help People Connect | ResponseCenter , www.jcfs.org/response/blog/video-games-are-social-spaces-how-video-games-help-people-connect.

Understanding Literacy in Our Lives by Anonymous English 102 Writer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The Field of Dreams Approach: On Writing About Video Games

Tony Tulathimutte on the future of video game criticism

Every year, more and more great essays are published on literary sites concerning video games. In the past year I’ve especially loved entries like Janet Frishberg’s “On Playing Games, Productivity, and Right Livelihood,” Joseph Spece’s “A Harvest of Ice,” and Adam Fleming Petty’s “The Spatial Poetics of Nintendo: Architecture, Dennis Cooper, and Video Games.” But for each great essay there are a handful of others written like apologies, seemingly perennial pleas to take video games seriously as a form of meaningful narrative.

I hoped to have a conversation with a writer about games that went a little deeper. There were two main reasons I turned to the Whiting Award-winning writer Tony Tulathimutte. The first was because of his response in an interview with Playboy , in which he said that his interest in gaming probably “had something to do with my desire to bend or break formal conventions in fiction.” The second was his three thousand word essay about Clash of Clans , “Clash Rules Everything Around Me,” which was exactly the type of essay about gaming I wanted to see more of. Tulathimutte is the author of Private Citizens , which we listed as one of the 25 best novels of 2016 .

What I want is long-form literary criticism. But writers should just write what they want to read. The body of work will be there and the audience will follow it. The ‘ Field of Dreams’ approach.

Graham Oliver: Can we have this conversation without getting stuck trying to legitimize video games as a medium?

Tony Tulathimutte: “Are video games art?” “Have we had the video game Citizen Kane  yet?”

GO: That’s such a boring and overdone conversation. I think it’s more interesting to look at the ways in which video games actually do interact with literature, and not to hold the conversation just as a demonstration of our respect.

TT: Take the respect for granted and go from there. I thought about starting a literary magazine about video games a while back, but the discourse had by then become so toxic that, even with the most anodyne academic essay you could write, the best you could hope for was that it would be ignored. There needs to be more space for this kind of writing, but I just didn’t want to wade into it then. I feel a little better about it now, which is why I did the Clash of Clans  essay.

GO: What is the difference between video game-related essays showing up on a literary site, versus a site where the primary purpose is the intersection of video games and literature? What could that site do that can’t be done (or isn’t being done) otherwise?

TT: Part of it is just volume. You can’t have a general interest magazine like the New Yorker covering video games to the same depth or degree as it does film or music or even theater. Every big magazine at this point covers video games occasionally — I know the New Yorker has written about Minecraft and No Man’s Sky , for instance. New York Magazine just did a big essay on gaming more broadly.

But for some reason, there’s no video game editor at the New Yorker , no dedicated departments or verticals, except at newer places like VICE, Vox , The Verge . Unlike music or movies, video games aren’t equally distributed through the culture; it’s more compartmentalized. This owes in part to a marketing apparatus around games that caters to and fosters a specific audience, and because the audience for certain genres — responding to these pressures — became self-selecting, especially with respect to gender. Video games may be art, but they are also a STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] industry, which makes them no different from any other STEM field in that regard.

GO: It’s a question of access. I was thinking about your Clash essay; you have this entire paragraph that has to explain this massively popular and mechanically fairly simple game. Does that automatically turn off an audience who are already proficient in those basics? In which case, are you only writing for people who don’t game? I suppose that’s another conundrum of coverage in a general interest publication…

TT: If you read an essay by Susan Sontag or Martin Amis about the great books, or by André Bazin about film, they can assume a certain level of knowledge about the text or film from their audience. I can write that way about games on my own time and my own dime, but there’s no presumed canon or general readership for games, because they’re not taught in schools and not regularly discussed in big publications. So you either write for the diehards — the equivalent of film buffs or bookworms — or for novices.

GO: Is that why we haven’t had novels which interact with video games the way David Foster Wallace did with tennis, or Ann Patchett with opera? Neither of their books included explanatory paragraphs; it’s so ingrained in our culture that it seems almost impossible to have grown up without some idea of what tennis or opera are.

TT: Most people have played a game, and the average gamer spends six hours a week playing them. I think it has less to do with the medium inherently than just the failure of writers who have approached the subject. I haven’t read everything on games, but so far, the fledgling efforts have been too literal or kind of corny. Some writers seem to think that you’re supposed to transpose the form of games into fiction — to provide this very lightly remediated experience of reading a book so that it feels like you’re playing a game.

The last thing you want to do is create a watered-down experience of gaming in a text. A book should still work as a book. It’s the usual difficulty of writing about other mediums; there’s that old chestnut that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. But there are special considerations for how to write about any form in a way that conveys deep presence and vividness comparable to the experience itself.

GO: When you’re writing about games in one form or another, do you find you prefer to write for someone who is like you — very interested in both writing and video games — or is your preference for someone in that liminal space somewhere between them?

TT: I approach it as I do with all my creative writing, which is to write for the audience of Tony. That frees to me to write things irrespective of their publishability. Right now I’m working on a long essay about Metal Gear Solid  — the whole series. That’s between ten and twenty games, depending on which ones you call canon. The dialogue alone stacks up to something like sixty thousand words each. And the companion synopsis is almost three thousand words. I’m just trying to make points about the series that haven’t been made before. Would Kill Screen or The New York Review of Books ever run that? Hell to the fuck no.

If writers keep doing this, eventually there will be a readership equipped to deal with it. For the longest time there have been really smart people playing video games and wondering where all the good criticism was. It’s a discoverability issue, to a certain extent. There’s so much good writing out there about games, but most games-writing outlets cater to fairly niche perspectives. Action Button is extremely good, irreverent creative criticism, probably my favorite. Five Out of Ten is academically oriented, Kill Screen is mainstream journalism. What I want is long-form literary criticism. But writers should just write what they want to read. The body of work will be there and the audience will follow it. The Field of Dreams approach.

GO: You said earlier (and you’ve also mentioned it in your Playboy interview) that the discourse around games is toxic and partisan. Are you talking about within or outside of the gaming community?

TT: All of it. Partisan lines have been drawn within it for purposes far beyond aesthetic disagreement. In part because so much of this discourse occurs in a medium where people are not held accountable for their words, i.e. on the internet.

GO: How does that compare to conversations within the literary community? You’ve written before, for instance, about the MFA vs. NYC debate .

TT: I want to do my part to de-estrange gaming discourse. Not de-stigmatize or demystify, but de-estrange. This cancerous shit happens everywhere — it just happens in a spectacularly aggressive and organized way in gaming.

GO: When you’re not actually writing about video games, what place do they hold in your life? Are they the stress relief at the end of the day, the reward after two hours of writing? Or something you try to avoid when you’re in the middle of a big project?

TT: I’ve played video games since I was three years old. I have loved video games a lot longer than I’ve loved literature — which is not to say more. Actually… yeah, probably more. It just so happens that I’m a writer. I don’t feel the guilt that some people do who, even if they enjoy gaming, approach it feeling as if it’s a waste of time, or a form of entertainment which takes them away from their “real life.” You wouldn’t condemn a cineaste or a lover of literature. But a fug of non-respectability still attends video games.

That said, the reward mechanisms in most games are designed to get you hooked in cognitive motivational ways that don’t apply to most literature. So it’s absolutely possible for games to displace other things that you would want to do just as much. I don’t struggle to fit them into my life, but I probably would, if my life consisted of much more than just teaching and writing.

GO: I suppose I was thinking more about the effect on your mental state. For instance, I have to save video games for the end of the day, because I have a hard time going from the almost meditative state of game-playing into writing. How does it fit in, not in the sense of time but in how it interacts with your ability to produce writing afterwards?

TT: If a visual narrative enters my head before I start writing, it’s enormously difficult to pull myself back into writing. A huge amount of psychic inertia has to be overcome to transition from consuming a narrative to assembling one. I have a lot of wacko bird theories as to why. Perhaps language is such an information-poor medium that it demands a sparseness of input, so that you can have room to envision or create new stuff in your head. Maybe the act of viewing, which puts you in the posture of evaluation and judgment, beefs up the inner critic that makes it hard to write. That’s all pure superstition, I have nothing to base that on.

GO: What about when it comes to the type of video game? You’ve mentioned playing DotA 2 in other interviews, which is very different from more narrative-heavy single player games. In the middle of a big writing project, do you find yourself drawn more to one type of game over another?

TT: With the caveat that writers are the worst self-appraisers, I’ll say that I have not noticed any influence from the type of games I’m playing on what I write. I think games engage an entirely different part of my brain, which might also account for the difficulty I have toggling between those two modes. That said, I think longer games can work like long books — immersively — where you have to pinch your nose and take a deep breath before plunging into the Neapolitan books and it just becomes the medium you swim in for months. Some games demand a higher or more frequent degree of engagement to get any kind of nuance at all. You can play a thousand hours of DotA 2 , without coming anywhere near understanding it.

GO: How does that compare to the relationship between reading and your own work? Do you avoid other people’s writing when working, or do you keep books on your desk for the sake of referencing them?

TT: I do. I try to keep a messy puddle of books around my work area, in case I want to steal something from somebody else. But I Google as much as I refer to other books. I don’t disconnect from the internet when I’m writing, like some writers who have this almost mystical anathema against technology. I generally find I benefit from my procrastination.

You can have a rom-com game, a campus game, an adultery game, or a boring-but-important game that will get taught in high schools circa 2110.

GO: You referred to language as being information-poor a minute ago, which reminds me of the AGNI essay you wrote on boredom. The thesis of that essay was basically that boredom in literature is okay. Can you also apply that idea to video games? Can there be meaningful or productive boredom while playing, through the act of repetition, for instance? I just played Her Story, which I know you enjoyed, and while it has a super interesting story you have to slog through a certain amount of repetition to get to it.

TT: The democratization of game creation is producing a wider range of games, like the Super 8 camera did with film. You can have vignette-style games like Nina Freeman’s —  Cibele , how do you Do It? , Freshman Year , etc. You can have “walking simulators” that are almost purely meditative, like Gone Home , Firewatch , or Dear Esther . I just saw a piece on a game based on Thoreau’s Walden .

The impulses and tendencies that make people want to create literature are present. It will happen more as people are able to do what they want to do, without enormous corporate financial support or even crowdfunding, which, to an extent, just moves the bottom line to having to be crowd-pleasing. Games can be plenty boring in spite of themselves, even if that’s not what they’re trying to do. It’s a cliché by now to point out that the most time investment-heavy games like World of Warcraft consist largely of “grinding.” Or, if you play something like DotA 2 , queuing for a game.

GO: For DotA 2 you also have to spend a lot of time reading up on viable builds. Work that’s not in actually playing the game.

TT: Yes, although I will say that that intellectual work doesn’t feel like tedious labor to me. I have fun looking up builds. The deep strategy and understanding are coextensive with the pleasure of playing the game.

Moments of boredom are built into games for reasons that range from comedy to suspense. I think a lot about the moment in Final Fantasy VI where you’re directed to just wait at the edge of a floating continent for a character to come along. On the one hand you’re sitting watching a clock tick down. On the other hand, it’s extremely tense.

Contrasting aesthetic effects in games to those in other media is not always productive, because it’s like playing Twenty Questions. Can games do X like books? Can games do Y like films? In the same way we should assume games are art, and that there’s an audience out there hungry to make something of them, we should assume that games can do anything. You can have a rom-com game, a campus game, an adultery game, or a boring-but-important game that will get taught in high schools circa 2110.

GO: I go to these academic conferences where a similar conversation is happening among professors who write in the field of gaming studies. Some bring in literary and film theory, and try to lay that on top of video games, while others reject that. The tools and the language are already there from other fields, so it seems easy. On the other hand, it can be kind of reductive, and perhaps prevents you from having the more meaningful conversation.

TT: Right, or even just the conversation you’re trying to have. There are also those efforts to create a language around game studies, partly I think try to legitimatize it in the eyes of the academy. You get people going on about the Ludologists versus the Narratologists, about ludonarrative dissonance, copping these quasi-academic terms. I can see the point of systematizing things, but my favorite criticism helps you not to just describe and understand, but to enjoy stuff more.

GO: How much do you worry about the effect that being an “out” gamer will have on your literary career?

TT: If I were bashful or coy about my love of video games I wouldn’t do this interview. The same goes for pornography or television. Even the language of being “out” implies a political and social pressure or an importance that just doesn’t exist. I’d hate to believe that being a writer means living in a constant state of deposition, publicizing everything you do, think, or feel. The fact that I like video games isn’t interesting. Video games are interesting. I love talking about them with smart people, both within and outside of gaming culture. But I’m also perfectly happy to be left alone with them.

GO: Do you hope there’s a day around the corner where a game developer decides to make a narrative-heavy game like Life is Strange , Her Story , or Kentucky Route Zero , and they look at a list of literary authors to figure out who should write it?

TT: Not at all. I believe that I can do a lot of things in writing, but I haven’t felt an urge to create a video game since the third grade. It’s always good to have some kind of interest that is totally pure, where you’re going to be an eternal fan, because sausage-making can disillusion you fast. If part of the charge of art comes from mystique or sheer baffled admiration, that’s something I want to preserve in at least a few departments of my life.

GO: As a writer, you’re expected to be both a creator and a thoughtful critic as well. It seems like once you publish a book, there is an expectation that you’ll be reviewing or blurbing for other books for the rest of your life. How does your approach to writing about literature differ from your essays on games?

TT: I review books as a practitioner; I know what goes into putting one together, so I can pan one that isn’t well-made. I write about games as an appreciator, in that I want to take something I like and enlarge people’s sense of pleasure or wonder at it. This doesn’t mean that I can’t be critical of a game. I have negative things to say about everything. But because I’m not highly qualified to trivialize or disparage a game on the level of craft — for instance, a sunbeam in a video game might look shitty and aliased because of technological or budgetary constraints that I’m not aware of — my main task is to study its narrative and to add value.

GO: You’ve been thinking about games critically for a long time. I read that you wrote your theses — both in undergrad and for your first master’s degree — on video game interaction. What were you looking at in those?

TT: I majored in something called Symbolic Systems, which would be called cognitive sciences anywhere else. They add linguistics and philosophy to the standard curriculum of formal logic, computer science, and cognitive psychology. I applied the extremely specific language of human-computer interaction studies to video games. So I wrote pretty dry literature surveys of game-writing and interaction theory, and how the latter could be applied to the former.

One was about game controller design, which ended up anticipating the Nintendo Wii controller by a couple of years. I talked about the potential for modular design and gestural input. The second thesis was about menus. They’re the basis of turn-based RPGs, and in games their definitional boundaries are weird. Take the Warp Zone Pipes in Super Mario Brothers . You go over a ceiling and drop into a room where you’re invited to select one of three pipes to go through. It is very clearly a menu, where you’re selecting one of three options, but it’s also a part of the action.

God, I sound so stoned when I talk about this.

GO: I hate to keep mentioning Her Story , but I just started it today. In that game, the user interface also has this blurry boundary. You read a ReadMe file to learn how to use the system, but that’s all part of the in-game computer you interact with as part of the story.

TT: Yeah, it’s brilliant. Any computer interaction can be extrapolated into a game premise. Here it’s basically Database Search: The Game, but it’s fun and well written. To analogize with literature, there are plenty of stories whose premise comes from its formal conceit. My favorite is “ Going for a Beer ” by Robert Coover. He takes a simple sentence gimmick — where two things that happen at different times are written as though they’re simultaneous — and it becomes the conceit of the story. The story is, “what if your life was composed of moments with endings and beginnings but no middles?”

GO: Form matching content. That happens in all types of art, right? There was a piece on Hamilton which pointed out that, as the first half progresses, the Marquis de Lafayette’s rhymes get denser and faster, coinciding with him being in America and increasingly speaking English. The music reflects the plot.

TT: Form generating content, I would say. It’s a classical idea. Sometimes it’s done very explicitly, like with Oulipo. It can be super corny, but it’s a dependable source of inspiration.

It’s Tristram Shandy-levels of batshit.

GO: Going back to your idea for a game-writing website, were you imagining a place that just collected the kind of long-form writing you want to see, or were you also imagining a community that would be built around it?

TT: I am not too concerned with building community. The idea was simply to get critical essays on games­ — not fiction, poetry, reviews, or personal essays, but literary analysis. Like the essay I’m working on about the Metal Gear Solid series… So many of the male characters lose their hands and are sterile and have daddy issues and misinterpret the will of one female character, The Boss. Aside from the glaring Freudian overtones, what’s that about? This is not stuff that figures into the plot as it plays out, but is something that I think screams out for conversation.

GO: I was a Nintendo kid and then jumped to PC gaming, so I never got into the Metal Gear  games.

TT: It’s like the Infinite Jest of games. As far as I know, it’s the longest continuous scripted narrative in games. You can make a strained case for things like Zelda or Metroid , but this is the most sustained vision from an auteurist figure, Hideo Kojima, and it’s just bonkers. It’s Tristram Shandy -levels of batshit.

GO: Well, that sells it. I now have to ask the big, speculative question, since you just called it the Infinite Jest of games. What do you think David Foster Wallace’s writing would have been like, had he been obsessed with video games rather than television?

TT: This question is so enormously counterfactual it might as well be a novel. The guy was hugely tech-avoidant. He typed with one finger on an old computer. But games seem very contiguous with his concerns in Infinite Jest . Though who’s to say Virginia Woolf wouldn’t have also gotten equally invested in games? Wallace is a gimme because of the technological overlap, but to me the more interesting speculative question is, What would a game written by P.G. Wodehouse be like? I want to see an essay on  that .

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Impact of Videogames on Children Essay

Introduction.

Modern children live in an extremely digitalized environment characterized by the availability of information and specific ways to spend free time. Today, most young people prefer to spend time in front of the computer, either doing their homework or socializing by using social networks. Another trend of contemporary society is the high popularity of video games that become more complex, similar to reality, and demanding much time. The constantly updating content along with the ability to play with friends online attract children. In such a way, videogames replace other activities such as running, walking, or socializing in the street. The given change of priorities triggers vigorous debates about the possible effects of games on children, their physical and mental development, and long-term consequences. For this reason, the given research is devoted to the issue of videogames and how they influence children. To investigate the problem, the following thesis is offered:

The adverse effects of videogames on children might include the development of anxiety, depression, changes in brain functioning, problems with weight, socialization, and trigger the evolution of chronic diseases; however, they can also positively influence children increasing visuospatial cognition, attention, creativity, and reducing aggression levels.

The development of the videogames industry resulted in the emergence of complex games that create attractive images and exciting tasks to engage players and hold their attention. Statistics show that 66% of children aged 8 to 12 years play video games about 2 hours per day, while teens aged 13 to 17 play about 2,5 hours per day (Halbrook et al. 1097). However, in real life, the numbers can be even higher because of the inability to trace the amount of time spent on such activities. It means, for children, videogames become the main type of activity practiced every day.

Addiction and Accessibility

Another problem linked to videogames is their ability to precondition addiction. They affect the brain similarly to drugs as they stimulate the pleasure center and trigger the release of dopamine responsible for the emergence of specific behaviors (Paturel). In such a way, playing videogames, children feel the need to spend more time. The problem is complicated by the fact that today, games are spread globally, and there is hardly an area, excluding the poorest ones with no Internet or computers, where children are deprived of a chance to play (Paturel). The combination of addiction and accessibility contributes to the spread of videogames and the growing topicality of the question of how they impact the physical and mental health of a child.

Mental Development of a Child

One of the main problems linked to videogames is their influence on the mental development of a child. Childhood is the period fundamental for the mental development of a child, and numerous factors might have either a positive or negative effects on their brain and behaviors (Lobel et al. 885). In such a way, the fact that videogames become the central way to spend free time, replacing the previous activities, attracts the attention of researchers as it has a direct impact on the psyche and health of an individual. However, there is still no consensus on whether videogames have only negative or positive effects.

Brain Functioning

One of the popular fears is that videogames can affect brain functioning. Some researchers assume that excessive gaming in childhood can physically rewire the brain and introduce irreversible changes into its work (Paturel). The recent Chinese research presupposing two control groups showed that gamers (individuals spending about 10 hours a day online) have less gray matter if to compare with people who spend less than two hours online (Paturel). In such a way, gaming can be dangerous as it affects various brain areas, depending on the type of game and reaction it cultivates.

Depression and Anxiety

There is also a belief that games might precondition the development of depression and anxiety in children. The given states are mainly associated with failures in online games, the inability to get some achievement, or bullying, one of the common practices on the Internet. The research shows that excessive gaming might precondition dopamine exhaustion, emotional suppression, and the lack of motivation to achieve various real-life goals (Paturel). Moreover, people with depression might suffer from the deterioration of their states caused by addictive playing (Video Games and Children: Playing with Violence”). Analyzing the impact of videogames on anxiety, researchers also offer various assumptions. First of all, gaming can be a normal and healthy way to relieve stress and decrease anxiety levels by engaging in online activities (Pellissier). However, for children with gaming disorder, using gaming as the anxiety coping mechanism can be dangerous and contribute to the accumulation of negative effects and increased risks (Pellissier). In such a way, video games have diverse effects on depression and anxiety, including the positive and negative ones.

Lack of Socialization

The lack of socialization and contact with peers in real life is one of the most popular fears among parents. Today, most games demand much time; moreover, they are focused on cooperation online by using the Internet, which means that children do not have to leave their houses to communicate with other people. It preconditions the increased time they spend at home. The recent research states that there is a direct correlation between the time spent online and social skills, or the higher the gaming addiction, the less the social skills (Lobel et al. 885). Children might demonstrate the inability to communicate in real life because of the absence of the demanded experience.

Weight Management and Chronic Diseases

Excessive gaming can also result in poor weight management. Gamers usually have snacks consisting of unhealthy food such as sweets, chips, or soda (Halbrook et al. 1100). The given dietary patterns create the basis for the emergence of several problems. First, they might acquire extra weight and suffer from obesity. At the same time, spending much time in front of the computer with decreased physical activity and wrong posture might result in the development of scoliosis and other problems with the locomotor system (Lobel et al. 885). Moreover, there is an increased risk of acquiring chronic diseases such as gastritis. From this perspective, videogames can be dangerous for children.

Nature-Deficit Disorder

Spending much time at home and playing videogames, children devote less attention to real life and the world surrounding them. Thus, Louv states that the threatening tendency towards the decreased exposure of children to nature can be observed in Western countries today (23). The given nature-deficit disorder has a negative impact on children and society as for health development, they need to interact with the environment and acquire all benefits from this cooperation (Louv 45). The inability to remain in contact with the world affects all systems of the child body and prevents them from healthy evolution. For this reason, videogames should be viewed as the factor limiting children’s access to nature and triggering the growth of the nature-deficit disorder.

Enhancement of Brain Capabilities

However, it is critical to mention the fact that there are also positive effects linked to videogames. For instance, studies show that by playing action games, players improve their visual capabilities, including tracking multiple objects, reaction, storing, and manipulating them in specific memory centers in the brain (Paturel). Because of the need to consider several factors at the same time, players have to perform multiple tasks simultaneously and make immediate decisions, which affects their brains and makes them more flexible (Paturel). These positive effects differentiate gamers from other children and help them to cope with diverse tasks while visiting their educational establishments.

Playing action games is also directly correlated with reaction speed. Investigations show that gamers who spend much time in this sort of activities have a lower speed of reaction (Paturel). It is explained by the fact that their gaming sessions can be viewed as training, which results in the formation of bonds in the brain and the development of skills (Pellissier). Because multiple repetitions of the same actions are an effective form of learning, gamers acquire new capabilities linked to similar situations (Paturel).

Imagination

There are also different opinions on how videogames affect the imagination. Thus, most studies conclude that modern role-playing games (RPG) contribute to the development of creative and imaginary qualities of the child brain (Halbrook et al. 1100). They offer a person a unique world, and a player should use his/her imagination to dive into it and associate his/her hero with himself/herself. Additionally, quests and strategies might precondition the rise of strategic thinking and the ability to resolve problematic puzzles or questions (Halbrook et al. 1100). For this reason, videogames can be viewed as a factor stimulating the development of this aspect of the brain’s functioning.

Recommendation

In such a way, there is no unified opinion about whether videogames should be viewed as a positive or negative factor impacting the mental development of a child. This complexity comes from the fact that there are both positive and negative effects associated with gaming. However, all sources emphasize the dangerous nature of excessive gaming and addiction. It means that parents are recommended to control their children playing patterns to avoid spending too much time in the virtual world and guarantee that they interact with the world and their peers in real life.

Altogether, videogames have both positive and negative effects on children. They might precondition the development of chronic diseases and extra weight, high anxiety, and depression levels, along with the changes in brain functioning. The highly-addictive nature increases the risks of spending too much time in games. However, there are also positive effects, such as better reaction, motor skills, visuospatial cognition, and creativity, which are trained during gaming sessions. For this reason, it is vital to continue the further investigation of the problem to outline more effects and conclude whether children’s brains suffer critical damage from games or they can be a tool to stimulate its development and optimal functioning.

Works Cited

Halbrook, Yemaya J., et al. “When and How Video Games Can Be Good: A Review of the Positive Effects of Video Games on Well-Being.” Perspectives on Psychological Science , vol. 14, no. 6, Nov. 2019, pp. 1096–1104.

Lobel, Adam, et al. “Video Gaming and Children’s Psychosocial Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence , vol. 46, no. 4, 2017, pp. 884-897. doi:10.1007/s10964-017-0646-z.

Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder . Algonquin Books, 2008.

Paturel, Amy. “ Game Theory: The Effects of Video Games on the Brain .” Brain & Life , Web.

Pellissier, Hank. “ Your child’s Brain on Technology: Video Games .” Great Schools , 2014, Web.

“Video Games and Children: Playing with Violence.” American Academy of Child & Adolescents Psychiatry , 2015, Web.

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IvyPanda. (2022, February 27). Impact of Videogames on Children. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-videogames-on-children/

"Impact of Videogames on Children." IvyPanda , 27 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-videogames-on-children/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Impact of Videogames on Children'. 27 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Impact of Videogames on Children." February 27, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-videogames-on-children/.

1. IvyPanda . "Impact of Videogames on Children." February 27, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-videogames-on-children/.

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IvyPanda . "Impact of Videogames on Children." February 27, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/impact-of-videogames-on-children/.

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An opinion essay.

Look at the essay and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

Instructions

Do the preparation exercise first. Then do the other exercises.

Preparation

Check your understanding: multiple selection

Check your writing: matching - useful words and phrases, worksheets and downloads.

Are video games really a good way to keep fit? What do you think?

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ESL Writing Worksheet: Opinion Essay About Video Games (Intermediate)

In this writing worksheet, you are going to find exercises that will help students elevate their writing skills and practice the structure of an opinion essay on the topic “Are Video Games Good for Youngsters?”. 

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There is an example of a short opinion essay on this topic, plus a multiple section where students can check their understanding of this type of writing, a section for practicing useful words and phrases for opinion essays plus practical tips for writing an opinion essay. The exercises are tailored to intermediate (B1) students.

Preparation Notes for the Teachers

Required time: 45 – 60 min

To prepare:

Prepare a discussion that covers the topic of the pros of video games. 

As a warm-up, tell students that you all know that playing too many video games for too long can be harmful for the mental and physical being of a person. However, this activity is also fun and some games are really engaging and intelligently made, so players see many good reasons about why they should play them. 

Ask students: How many hours per day do they play video games? What is their favorite video game and why? Are video games a good way to socialize? Are video games a good way to learn new English words? Are there any other benefits?

An Opinion Essay: Are Video Games Good for Youngsters?

In this worksheet, you will find exercises that will help you strengthen your writing skills and learn how to write an opinion essay on the topic “Are Video Games Good for Youngsters?”.

You will also learn some useful words and phrases for opinion essays, plus practical tips for writing an opinion essay. 

What is your favorite video game and why? Are video games a good way to socialize? Are video games a good way to learn new English words? Are there any other benefits?

Discuss briefly with your teacher and the class, then answer the questions in Exercise A, B, C, D, and E.

Read the questions before answering to make sure you understand them.

Are Video Games Good for Youngsters?

Today, many young people play video games on their electronic devices, at home, at their friends’ houses and many of them say that playing video games is their favorite activity.  These games are good for young people because of several reasons.

First of all, I think that video games are a good way to train your brain. There are many popular games in which players need to have high levels of thinking, follow instructions, solve complex problems and use logic. In my opinion , these games are fun, and you can learn many things from them. Moreover , you can play them with friends online, so you can hang out and socialize even if you have long-distance friendships.

In addition , you can learn a lot of new English words if you play video games. Some people think that you learn best in classes and while listening to music or watching films. Although this is true, there are many excellent students who learn English from video games because they spend most of their free time playing.

Finally, I believe that video games are good because they are fun and intelligent. I think that they are a good alternative to communicate with friends when you can’t see them in person and learn many new things together.

A. Understanding the Opinion Essay

1. Read the above essay, then choose and circle the 6 ideas that are mentioned in the essay.

a) Video games can increase your intelligence and ability to think.

b) Too many young people are obsessed with video games.

c) Playing video games online is good for socializing.

d) You can play video games even when you are not at home.

e) It is better to learn English in person than online.

f) Many students do well in English because they play video games.

g) There more reasons why playing video games is good for young people.

h) Many video games may help young people with problem-solving.

B. Expressing Opinion

2. Match the words and phrases that have a similar meaning. *Reminder: some of these words and phrases are underlined in the opinion essay in Exercise A.

a) I disagree that… ____________________________________

b) Finally…____________________________________

c) Nowadays…____________________________________

d) In addition…____________________________________

e) In fact…____________________________________

f) First of all…___________________________________

g) I believe that…____________________________________

Tips for Writing an Opinion Essay

• Write your essay in 3-4 paragraphs. Start each paragraph with phrases like First, Moreover, To conclude.
• Express your opinion using phrases like In my opinion, I believe, I think that. Always support your opinion with 1-2 arguments, i.e., why you think so.
• Mention opinions that are different from yours. Use phrases like “Some people think/believe“ and then explain why you don’t agree with them. Always explain why you disagree with 1-2 arguments.

C. Write an Opinion Essay

3. Write an opinion essay with the title ‘Are video games good for youngsters?’ Write the essay below and give your opinion.

Download this worksheet (including key) in Word and PDF doc format (zipped)

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• Entertainment

Narrative Essay about Playing Video Games

Life is like a video game, everyone has a different storyline. Mine is my life long addiction to video games. When I play, I am almost always better than anyone against me. Playing video games makes me feel free, as if I am inside the video game controlling each line of code. Every time I take damage, I can feel my heart hammering inside my chest as I figure out what to do next. Every time I do damage, I feel the adrenaline rushing through me, and every time I win, I feel a sense of accomplishment. Every time my parents yell, “Dinner!” I become cold as reality comes crashing down upon me.

Ever since I was a kid, I have played video games. It has been the center of my life. When I was six, I got a Nintendo Wii and I played Mario Kart against other people globally. Even though I was just six, I was among the top 200 best players globally.  When I was nine, I got a Nintendo 3DS. I started playing a newer version of Mario Kart against my friends, and I crushed them. One day while I was playing a game, my character managed to glitch into the map and got stuck. The only way to get unstuck was to leave the game, which would have caused me to lose placement points. This moment sparked my interest in video game designing and coding.

Since then, I have taken various coding programs from colleges and online programs including one from Harvard University during the summer of 2020. While I was taking this online course, I quickly learned that designing and coding video games is a lot harder than I thought. One typo can create hundreds of errors, which can quickly overwhelm the user. It also taught me the sheer complexity of even a very simple video game. When working on my final project (which was a ball rolling down a hill), I had to use Blender, a free graphic designing software, to make a red ball. Blender is one of the most complex animating and modeling softwares that takes years to master, and all I wanted to use it for was to make a simple red ball. After I spent around four to five weeks making the ball and then another two weeks coloring it, I found out that there was a button that automatically makes a ball. All I had to do was specify the color, diameter, and texture. Four weeks of learning just to find out that there was a button that could solve my problem in four minutes. 

Unfortunately, not everything has a simple button. When I had to code using C# to make the ball roll, I quickly realized that I needed to know more than just the basics of this language. I had to learn almost half of C# in just two weeks. Through dedication and perseverance, I learned what I needed to know to make the ball roll down the hill. This wouldn't have happened without my love for video games.

Not only do I love getting better at video games, but I also love to improve myself. During my sophomore year, I was falling behind on one of my classes. This class had a test coming up in just a few days, and after realizing just how much this test would affected my GPA, I started asking more questions and began completing more practice problems. I was the only one who stayed after school to make sure that I had the answers to my questions. When test time came around, I got one of the highest scores in my class.

That year I learned to not underestimate myself. As I began to find confidence in myself, I gradually became better at doing what I love doing, and always try to improve on myself as much as possible.

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How do you take a video game and turn it into a compelling narrative?

Hollywood long struggled to successfully adapt video games into scripted works. But in recent years, writers seem to have figured out how to create compelling narratives inspired by video games.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Hollywood is always looking for the next trend, the next big thing. And these days it appears to be video games. So many games have inspired movies and scripted series. A new one just dropped on Amazon Prime Video, "Fallout," a game based in a world destroyed by nuclear war.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FALLOUT")

ELLA PURNELL: (As Lucy MacLean) The mission of the vaults should be important to everyone to come up to the surface one day and restart civilization.

MARTÍNEZ: HBO had a hit with "The Last Of Us." "The Witcher" was a hit for Netflix. But how is it done? How do you take a video game and turn it into a compelling narrative? Dmitri M. Johnson is one of the producers behind the "Sonic The Hedgehog" movies. He runs a company that specializes in video game adaptations.

DMITRI M JOHNSON: Now we have film and TV execs who grew up playing games like we did. Video games on their own right are just having a moment of incredible storytelling. And I think when you have writers, directors, actors who also, you know, are kind of part of that community, you get this perfect storm of storytelling, and it really is right place, right time for me and, you know, some of my other contemporaries.

MARTÍNEZ: Do you think the attitude of Hollywood has changed since you started producing the "Sonic" movies? I mean, has video games become a property that Hollywood looks to and said, you know what, we can really make some money off of this?

JOHNSON: It is night and day. You know, we were borderline mocked and, you know, run out of rooms when we were talking about game adaptations in the early 2000s. And today, you know, it's the biggest thing on the planet. Like, I don't know if you've seen some of the reviews coming out for the new "Fallout" series, but the reviews are incredible. And I think the more that the source material is taken seriously, you're bringing together the highest-quality elements - you know, as far as writers, directors, the talent - we're going to continue to see those results. And I love my industry, but it certainly chases heat, and right now, video games have never been hotter. So I think that Hollywood absolutely wants to be in this space.

MARTÍNEZ: What do you think are some of the specific mistakes that people have made when it comes to some video game adaptations in the past? Where do you think people have gone wrong?

JOHNSON: I mean, that's a loaded question, but I'll talk about a couple that we certainly keep in mind. So number one, when you look at some of the games especially, you know, you look at like, you know, the PlayStation 2 and, you know, some of the early, early great Xbox, PlayStation games, oftentimes you were playing as you. A great example of that is something like a "Max Payne." Like, "Max Payne" is one of my favorite games, but you are playing as you as Max Payne. And I think if you go into an adaptation kind of with that mindset, you kind of have a shell of a character, which doesn't scream a movie.

The second big one that we try to avoid, and I actually coined this as my mom test, is while you want to make an adaptation that certainly pleases the fans of the game - and, you know, with that, we try to put in fun Easter eggs and things that only the hardcore fans will know - you also have to make sure that an audience who hasn't played the game, who may never play the game, can come in and connect with these characters, fall in love with the story and, you know, in my mom test, I say find out after the fact that it just happened to be based on a game. So that is also a mistake that happened in the past. I think one of the better examples of adaptation was Episode 3 of "Last Of Us."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LAST OF US")

NICK OFFERMAN: (As Bill) This isn't the tragic suicide at the end of the play. I'm old. I'm satisfied. And you were my purpose.

JOHNSON: You had a character that, you know, you lightly touch on in the game, but that episode, I think, stood out because it went deeper than the game could. It really explore that character and that story in a way that hadn't been done in the game. And I think that's great adaptation.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And you're talking about Nick Offerman's character in "The Last Of Us"...

JOHNSON: Yes. Yeah.

MARTÍNEZ: ...Someone who was maybe not a central character in the video game but turned out to be a very memorable character in the TV show.

JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, that is adaptation, like, at its best. You know, I consider one of the best video game adaptations of all time the original "Mortal Kombat" movie.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MORTAL KOMBAT")

FRANK WELKER: (As Prince Goro) This puny mortal will be no problem. I'll crush him in one blow.

LINDEN ASHBY: (As Johnny Cage) All right. Let's dance.

(SOUNDBITE OF FIGHTING)

JOHNSON: I loved it from the first minute, you know, the techno, you know, beat hit to the end, but I was also a hardcore "Mortal Kombat" fan, so, you know, I doubt my mom would have appreciated that the same way that I would, you know? So that's one of the things we try to - you know, a couple of things we try to keep in mind, for sure.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, when you're pulling out spines - right? - I mean, out of bodies...

JOHNSON: Exactly.

MARTÍNEZ: ...Moms might not like that unless, you know, they're into that. You know, you never know.

JOHNSON: Twelve-year-old me loved it.

MARTÍNEZ: Absolutely. Me, too. Absolutely.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE IMMORTALS' "TECHNO SYNDROME (MORTAL KOMBAT)")

MARTÍNEZ: Now, we saw a bit of a backlash in recent years against superhero movies. People are maybe a little maxed out on superhero movies. There have been a lot. I've loved them all. But you know what? That's just me.

JOHNSON: Yeah.

MARTÍNEZ: How do you avoid this backlash or this kind of fatigue with video-game-inspired material?

JOHNSON: It terrifies me. I lose sleep because I don't think there's going to be any lack of brilliant, incredible storytelling in games, but I do fear that you will have producer studios who think that there's a, you know, kind of cash-grab opportunity and will not only see games that don't necessarily need to be adapted but will see, let's just say, certain people working on them who don't appreciate or understand what makes a great adaptation. So one of the ways we avoid that is we like to say we never chase heat. Don't chase something because it's sold millions of copies. That may have been because it was an incredible game, and it should only be an incredible game. We chase passion. We chase, you know, things that we personally are invested in, and we bet on that.

MARTÍNEZ: Dmitri M. Johnson is one of the producers behind the "Sonic The Hedgehog" movies. He's also co-founder and CEO of dj2 Entertainment and Story Kitchen, production companies specializing in video game adaptations. Dmitri, thanks.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Violence in Video Games — Advantages And Disadvantages Of Video Games Essay

Advantages and Disadvantages of Video Games

• Categories: Video Games Violence in Video Games

About this sample

Words: 1148 |

Published: Feb 9, 2022

Words: 1148 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, video games: advantages and disadvantages, works cited.

• Bavelier, D., Green, C. S., & Seitz, A. R. (2013). Learning through action video games. Nature, 12, 135-138.
• Chang, Y. C., & Huang, Y. M. (2015). Learning by playing: A cross-sectional descriptive study of nursing students’ knowledge acquisition in digital and non-digital games. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 18(1), 128-140.
• Ferguson, C. J. (2015). Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game influences on children's and adolescents' aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(5), 646-666.
• Gentile, D. A., Anderson, C. A., Yukawa, S., Ihori, N., Saleem, M., Ming, L. K., . . . Sakamoto, A. (2009). The effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviors: International evidence from correlational, longitudinal, and experimental studies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(6), 752-763.
• Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist, 69(1), 66-78.
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