Rawan Alabbas

Mr. Justin Cary

04/27/2015
UWRT 1102
Can Video Games Alter Society in a Good Way?
Video games are a ubiquitous part of each children, teenager, and adult live. The
majority of people are playing video games for almost half of the day. Moreover, a study
shows that 97% of people play video games at least one hour per day in the United States.
This large number of people who are interested in video games and the verity of video
games available in the market lead us to the big question here. Can video games alter
society in a good way? What are the benefits? , And how can we approach them? These
kinds of questions grab people and media attention for sure. By focusing on three major
areas, cognitive, motivational, and emotional. We can express the beauty of video games
in our lives.
The latest issue of the American Journal of Play (Fall, 2014) by Adam
Eichenbaum, Daphne Bavelier, and C. Shawn Green approved that games are capable of
providing a variety of basic psychological needs. When playing a video game our brain
releases chemicals, which prove essential in permitting brain plasticity and learning.
Because when these chemicals releases it will be consider as a signal to the other brain
parts saying that an important issue is happening (Bao et al. 2001). For sure, when the
brain received this kind of information the thinking skills will improve and we can see
this in many games like StarCraft, XCom Enemy Unknown, and Destiny, which is
consider one of the top video games that makes you smarter.

Many people are struggling in making decisions because it is not an easy task to
do specially when it is a fateful decision that will change your life. Guess what? We can
learn how to make a decision by playing video games. For example, games that dont
have a specific way to play them will require the player to make the decision of his/her
own way of playing. Like, when playing gone home review the player have so many
items to discover, but it is the player choice to pick up whatever he/she wants to see.
Another cognitive skill, is learning how to focus in many things at the same time
like when the player is required to move rapidly, hold things, and keep track of many
items (Gray, 2015).
All of these skills are long-lasting positive effects we can earn them by playing
the right video game at the right time. After all of that, we can say that a large percentage
of people think that this is a great positive impact for society.
People agree that video games play a main rule in improving their motivational
and emotional status. When thinking about games that are easy to access and can be
played quickly by using smart phones such as Angry Birds, we can see that it changes the
players mood and helps him/her to relax. Also, we need to consider this positive effect as
a fundamental thing as Granic says If playing video games simply makes people
happier, this seems to be a fundamental emotional benefit to consider (Granic, 2013).
To prove these three major parts, we can think of the SimCity video game.
SimCity is a game, which requires the player to build and manufacture a city. There are
two massages behind this game, which support the positive impacts provided before. The
first one is improving the thinking skills. For example, the player will build a city, which
has a residential, commercial and industrial land also; the player should be carful about

building and maintaining the public services and transportation. This massage supports
the first area, which is cognitive. Because when the player build the city with all these
requirements, he/she will think deeply in the designs and thats will improve the thinking
skills of the player.
The second massage is about managing. SimCity effectively teaches the player
how to manage the recourses of his/her own city. The player will be responsible about the
decisions he/she makes and this is emphasizing the fact that video games teach us how to
make decisions.
In addition, the graphics of the game are excellent and thats will increase the
players desire in building a better city. In this way, the motivation impact is achieved.
For my own perspective and experience, I agree with all the benefits that I have
provided before. I think playing video games is not only about enjoying and entertaining
yourself, but it is more than that. From the articles we can conclude that video games
alter the society in a good way. However, this is not the only side that we have to think
about. As there are cons, there are pros for sure and we have to consider them.
Some of the public pros of video games are causing obesity and violent.

Recourses
1. Chatfield, Tom. "Can Video Games Alter Society.. in a Good Way?" The
Huffington Post. September 5, 2013. Accessed April 21, 2015.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-chatfield/engaging-thebrain_b_3875040.html.
2. Granic, Isabela. "Video Games Play May Provide Learning, Health, Social
Benefits, Review Finds." Http://www.apa.org. November 25, 2013. Accessed
April 21, 2015. http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/11/videogames.aspx
3. Gray, Peter. "Cognitive Benefits of Playing Video Games." Psychology Today.
February 20, 2015. Accessed April 21, 2015.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201502/cognitive-benefitsplaying-video-games.
4. Eichenbaum, Adam, Daphne Bavelier, and C. Shawn Green. "Play That Can Do
Serious Good." 2014. Accessed April 21, 2015.
http://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/7-1article-video-games.pdf.
5. "23 Video Games That Could Make You Smarter." Raise Smart Kid. Accessed
April 21, 2015. http://www.raisesmartkid.com/6-to-10-years-old/5-articles/57what-video-games-are-good-for-the-brain.
6. "SimCity | Rock, Paper, Shotgun - PC Game Reviews, Previews, Subjectivity."
Rock Paper Shotgun PC Game Reviews Previews Subjectivity. Accessed April 21,
2015. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/simcity/.