The old notion about games is that they are for fun and entertainment purposes. However, this isn’t the norm in our society these days. Today, games have surpassed the realm of only fun and have entered a place where they contribute to our society in a very positive way. Their immersive nature, engaging mechanics, and ability to tell a captivating story make their role important in education, therapy as well as in social activism. The reason we can enjoy all these benefits is because we are able to understand the context and the phenomenon of these games. Gaming translation services play a crucial role in this regard by making it easy for multilingual speakers to understand these games.
So let’s talk about these benefits of video games in our society and delve especially into the context of education, mental health, and how games bring change to our society.
Video Games and the Classroom Environment
As mentioned earlier, it is an old concept that games are just for fun so they will divert children’s attention from studies. If that’s what you think, then open your mind to get a different perspective from us. Games are now becoming a part of the educational landscape because of the positivity they provide to children. Studies have proved that video games are great for attention retention in students. If we talk about the attention span only, then humans have an attention span of just 8.25 seconds. Now imagine this span for children, how less can that be?
Increased Motivation
Games such as “Prodigy Math”, “Portal 2”, and “Minecraft” are amazing for students as they grow children to build problem solving skills and explore spatial reasoning. Another game, the “Kerbal Space Program”, is on the rise these days. It offers a realistic and challenging experience and allows students to learn about engineering, physics, and orbital mechanics. So isn’t it great to enjoy as well as learn some crucial skills?
Storytelling Narrative
Video games provide students with a fascinating experience that allows them to know more about historical events firsthand and explore scientific events in an engaging way. For example, the game “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius”, fights evil aliens with the help of his robot dog as well as creates new and friendly scientific gadgets. It intrigues children to learn more about science and scientific discoveries.
How Do Video Games and Therapy Go Together?
After education, comes another important role of video games in our society, therapy. Often people associate therapy with mental patients, which is not true at all. The field of mental health is exploring the effects of video games. This leads us to notice the therapeutic effects of video games on our health and believe us, age has nothing to do with it. You can be a 40-year-old person and still seek therapy in the form of games.
OCD
Obsessive compulsive disorder is a serious disease in some people that can affect their daily life activities and even their relationships. Video games help OCD patients to notice their negative thought patterns and try to eradicate them.
Autism
Social skills training video games allow people who are suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to practice social interaction in a safe environment. Board games, cards, and puzzle games are of great help to autistic people.
How Do Games Contribute to Our Society?
The contribution of games to our society is also evident in the way they drive technological innovations. They help solve problems and develop critical thinking skills in humans of all ages.
Raise Awareness of Social Issues
Video games also raise awareness on social issues for example, “Papers, Please”, a video game that talks about the themes of immigration, border control, and the cost of following orders in a dystopian setting. It raises awareness of the political situations in our society and how humans can solve those issues on their own.
Great for Introverts in Starting Dialogues
Games foster teamwork, collaboration, and social skills among people all around the world. Here people who have zero communication skills get to engage with other people, which helps them to enter any social gathering very easily. With the help of a translation company, these games are translated into multiple languages so that people all around the world can indulge in those games without facing language barriers.
A Career Path
Video games provide a career path for gamers. It means if you are a gamer and conscious about your career, now you don’t need to worry. It is because you have a whole career path ahead of you. There are certain esports tournaments where games like Valorant, Call Of Duty, and Free Fire are actively played by international gamers. Jacksepticeye, Markiplier, and Tyler ”Ninja” Blevins are some of the famous names in the gaming world.
Last Words!
Video games hold immense potential to help our society besides providing mere entertainment. They contribute to the educational sector. It also focuses on improving mental health, especially autistic and people suffering from OCD. The social activism factor of games is another reason behind their contribution to society. They help raise awareness about the ongoing issues in our community.