The Top 5 Reasons to Play Video Games

Some people say that gamers are lazy. Some say they're worthless. I say that without gaming I wouldn't be as efficient in typing this. Let's take a look at the top 5 reasons you should game, and what It can add to your real life experience. It is not my intention to give you an excuse to game all day. You know as well as I do that anything in excess is unhealthy. This is merely an informative article meant to disprove some of the stereotypical statements pointed at gamers. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's have some fun!

#5 - Hand Eye Coordination

Everybody always talks about Hand Eye Coordination, but what is it? Hand Eye Coordination is the ability to orchestrate movements between your hands and eyes to effectively achieve goals. A good example of hand eye coordination in effect is batting in a game of baseball. You're looking at the ball and using the bat to contact it.
This is Hand Eye coordination in it's purest form. You do this every time you play a video game. Your fingers are working without looking at them, attuning your fingers to the motions. This is one of the reasons that professional pilots use flight simulators to get themselves comfortable with the controls before they take flight. NASA uses a form of video games to prepare astronauts as well. Having good Hand Eye coordination does a multitude of things for you. It enhances your reflexes and motor skills and can be applied to any situation where you'll need to be good at crafting with your hands.

#4 - Learning Physics

As of late, nearly every game that gets released has some sort of physics engine, whether it be simulated or a new application called Ragdoll physics (which I especially like). Shooters are the pinnacle of physics explanation. When playing a first person shooter, you'll implement countless exercises in the field of physics. Whether it's calculating the gun recoil, throwing grenades or sniping in front of a running target, physics play a very active role in the world of video games. When knowledgeable about the properties of physics, you'll be able to calculate every day occurances a few seconds in advance just by looking at them. Where will that glass fall? Where should you place your hand to catch it? These are problems easily solved if you've had extensive experience in sniping your friend's character from a roof =)#3 - Networking / Social skills

#3 - Networking

With more and more titles having multi-player options and the release of MMOs, Gamers' networking skills are developing more and more - and at a younger age. While coordinating an attack on your opposing team, young gamers learn the importance of teamwork and how working together allows you to more effectively accomplish your goals. This is very important, because preteens or teenagers, even some adults don't get enough practice at working effectively with a team. Students often get sub-par experience in the realm of teamwork and are then expected to perform optimally when working with a group in the world of work.

#2- Endurance / Optimism

Every played a game and done something wrong and had your team yell at you? Welcome to the club. This is a commonplace in the world of work. Before you set out on your career path, you have to understand that you're going to be yelled at a few times. I know that this perk has less merit than the others, but it's still a perk. Knowing how to handle stress will often save you from depression and unwarranted anger.

#1 - Keyboarding

Being able to type is an invaluable skill. Without it you won't be able to land jobs that require a knowledge and efficiency for data entry. It looks great on resumes and if it comes down to it, an employer will take a person with at least some knowledge of keyboarding over a chicken pecker. On top of that, you can learn without spending hours looking at boring computer programs.

In conclusion, although gaming is not the cure-all for all of your life's problems it can help in learning real world skills. What are you waiting for? Get out there and type to your friends, calculate the physics on a grenade launcher, silently laugh at your yelling friends and learn baseball while you play your favorite new release!