Sarah's Games Design 2016: Impacts of computer games in our current society (12/09/16)

Impacts of gaming

Excess playing times
Inappropriate content - age rating being ignored (sex, drugs, language and violence)

Addiction - studies have shown 11% of gamers show an addictive nature. Cause by missions and an addiction to the sense of achievement and winning.
Teens have commonly been know to neglect their schoolwork
Sleep schedules and disturbances - 'insomnia and parasomnia (i.e., night terrors, sleepwalking or talking, and nightmares.)' Also, hallucinations from inside the game as well as, hallucinations from lack of sleep e.g. shadow people.

Social skills - loss of friends and some relationships being lost all together. 'Among addicted gamers who are married, up to 50 percent report a strain in their marriage as a result of their addiction.'
Health issues - overuse of a mouse could cause carpal tunnel syndrome 'area of the wrist that houses the main nerve and tendons - becomes irritated or swollen,' migraines 'intense concentration required and the strain put on the eyes,' back ache, eating irregulary and poor personal hygiene.
Violence - loss of reality causing more violent behaviours

Help overcome dyslexia - improved reading comprehension following sessions of games heavy on action
Could improve vision - a study showed that participants who tried to play games using only their “lazy” eye, with the “good” one obscured showed improvement in the affected eye
Fascinated by history - because most games use actual historical events to drive their story the players enjoy learning about it to further their knowledge about the game

May slow down the aging process - solving problems has been shown to cause the cognitive function of players of the age 50 has improved and lasted several more years
Help ease pain - cause distraction to the brain as well as 'an analgesic (pain-killing) response in our higher cortical systems'
New social connections - make new friends online as well as, using current ones to complete levels and missions
Improve balance in MS sufferers - it has been proven that 'MS patients who played games requiring physical interaction while standing on a balance board displayed improvement afterwards.'

Reflexes and faster decisions - faster actions, aka in driving and adapting quickly
Reduce stress - A study tracked players over six months and found that certain titles reduced the adrenaline response by over half.
Less likely to bully - playing the bad guy can cause remorse over actions
Help address autism - showing more engagement when having a victory