Video games. Good or evil?

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videojuegos bien mal portada 0.jpg
videojuegos bien mal portada 0.jpg

As a result of a certain interview in Public Mirror with Marc Masip, president of the Desconecta Foundation, in which he associated video games, among other things, with family problems, hygiene problems, aggressiveness or social isolation. He used phrases like “My recommendation is that today’s video games are not of any benefit to the boy.” Or even the following message to fathers and mothers who listened to the interview: “Be very careful when my son plays a video game.”

Obviously my first reaction was to get defensive, to justify that video games are art, they are culture, that they help many people. But after those first few minutes I wondered, is it always like this? And the answer is clear: No. We can not include all video games in the same bag as those phrases of Mr. Masip are very unfortunate to generalize.

So are video games good or bad? And this time the answer is not so obvious because not everything is black and white. And it is that video games as a tool, like movies, music or books, are neither good nor bad.

GTA

Let’s talk about responsibilities…

The arrival of all new technologies and their ease, and I’m not just talking about video games but also about the use of social networks, has caught many off guard. It is possible that many parents or guardians have found themselves totally lost when trying to control the use of these new tools as well as the new games that are coming out. And it is that in a very short time we have experienced a great revolution without even realizing it and with constant changes that cause or make it very difficult to know and even less control. A clear example of this that I mention is that in a very short time our mobiles have become mini computers and are hardly used to call, which opens up a world of possibilities for absolutely everything.

Are we talking about lack of information or lack of interest?

Going back to video games, all games have labels – PEGI System- that inform or guide about the appropriate age of the games as well as the content. Like in the movies. Even the most recent PEGI OK that informs which games are suitable for all audiences and if the Web platforms that sell them offer security guarantees. Whether we as managers want to pay attention or not, is up to us.

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And I have mentioned “as in the movies” because it seems that we have an easier time controlling this medium, it is better known, perhaps it seems like a simpler control, but the tools to be able to control exist in movies and in video games. It’s funny how programs like The Island of Temptations or inappropriate age movies are normalized in “non-adult” hours but they are scandalized by GTA while nothing happens to see SAW or Game of Thrones.

PEGI

The ultimate responsibility for what our children consume lies with their parents or legal guardians. So although that information is there, it is essential to know more about the content they play and understand that information. And here lies the real problem: that ignorance. And yes, I focus on parents because perhaps they are that generation that has experienced the change to these technologies in a more abrupt way than we have experienced it as part of our growth.

Blaming each other is not the solution, far from it, but demonizing/accusing a whole sector is even less so.

I think it’s everyone’s job to publicize, correctly and professionally, the reality of the video game industry. It is a clearly growing sector with a great impact so that it is still that great unknown or even worse, that great culprit of all the ills of society. Therefore, I personally believe that this work is also the work of politicians so that they include it in education, so that the information reaches everyone, so that there is greater regulation of the work.

I am talking about mixing education with videogames but knowing, being aware, that the latter are a business and have to be profitable. So here I would open two branches: The first to show the dangers that can arise from this lack of control or supervision on the part of parents, giving games that do not correspond and the consequences that it can have. Only then can you be aware. But the second is to show those titles that are clearly art, education, culture and heritage. And a very recent example comes to me Alba: A Wildlife Adventure from ustwoo or others like body quest by Didactoons.

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

And it is that although it is slowly improving, the educational sector is still very little involved in the development of video games despite the advantages that have been demonstrated in several studies. For example, a study carried out by the Universität Oberta de Catalunya, in Barcelona, ​​showed that video games improve creativity, cognitive capacity as well as an increase in information retention and assimilation.

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Or the University of Oxford that has done a study indicating that video games are good for mental health. The competition and social connection that video games foster among people contribute to their well-being. A study in which it takes, among other titles, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a game that has shown that despite living through a pandemic situation, it has allowed many people to have that space of theirs that allowed them to escape from the harsh reality that it has meant the Covid.

But not only cultural. Video games have been shown to help mental health, problems such as depression, anxiety or even to overcome phobias. That they have served in those moments of loss of reality, that have allowed you to regain control in those moments when everything is beyond you. They are a great support to avoid those negative thoughts that come to mind. And no, they are not the cure, but they help on that path.

And even more, if they are so bad, what about those studies in which it has been shown, for example, that playing reduces the pain of post chemotherapy mucositis? Thanks to Juegaterapia, it has even been quantified that while playing they need 20% less morphine to alleviate pain. And I think this is magic…

And more and more hospitals associations and different organizations are using video games to help patients with rehabilitation, including physical. Because we also have good examples of those video games that promote sports, physical exercise, counting the steps that are recorded with small rewards in the game.

playtherapy

Let’s not deny reality

Nor can we deny a reality: Video games are addictive. But maybe we should dig a little deeper and really see where that addiction comes from. Probably the fault of it is not the video game itself that serves as a place to escape, but some personal, family or psychological problem that affects you. Let us remember the boy with the katana, who killed his parents and his sister at the age of 16 and accused himself of Final Fantasy VIII of being the one who incited him to it when the reality is that he was not comfortable with his family, he always wanted to be alone and even a year before he had tried to escape.

There are games that incorporate micropayments or mechanics with algorithms created to create this addiction, as slot machines can do, and video games are more handy and therefore there should be more control and information about it in order to take action.

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Perhaps one of the tools that the Government could use, because I believe that it is at this level that work has to be done, is to use the streamers, to the famous youtubers. A few years ago this word hardly existed and now it is part of our daily lives. It is a fact that masses of adolescents follow them and therefore they have a responsibility that can be used to raise awareness. The power of mobilization that they have will hardly be found by parents.

And here I link it to another great dilemma. If all the friends play X, what do you do with your son? Perhaps certain agreements can always be reached with control of the hours he plays, after fulfilling other functions at home, at school, monitoring his attitude… It is not about isolating him from social trends, that he be the “weirdo”, but forging a personality, educating him, is the responsibility of the parents.

To finish…

I cannot finish exposing all this explosion of ideas without talking about their origin. Those programs like Public Mirror that despite dealing with this issue as if they cared, the only thing they are looking for is the show and the social alarm. It’s funny because while they were talking about addiction on the show, they only saw gambling ads. So perhaps another important part would go through regulating these programs and if you want to talk about the debate that the possible addiction of video games supposes, perfect, but then a debate is held with all the parties involved so that all the facts can be exposed and to be able to inform rather than misinform. And is that Who gives them the right to talk about something they have no idea or give biased and manipulated data and leave without disheveled?

Romanticizing the environment is not going to help anyone, especially since like everything in this life, it is imperfect. For this reason, it is best to have things clear, to know the tools that we have and to promote that positive part that video games have and help correct what is wrong with them.

Love vector created by gstudioimage – www.freepik.es