The bigger picture of video games

Parents often tell their children “video games rot your brain.” Too many video games can
hurt someone but in this case there is a deeper meaning beyond parents initial perspectives.
Dating back to the 1950’s, when the first video game Pong was brought to life.

Developers have been making games ever since with different goals and challenges that are
used to make the game fun. Some games like NBA 2K and Madden teach players about sports
and the professional athletes that are mirrored in the game. Other games like Call of Duty, an
action packed game keeps players full of adrenaline and teaches them to never give up their
target no matter the obstacles.

Most of the time parents think that video games are just a waste of time and that the kids
should be going outside. They see the war games and think that it is teaching kids violence but
in reality the games teach children history and rules that they will use for their whole life.
Junior Brooks Rice explained how the Call of Duty (COD) Campaign taught him an
important lesson.

“I have been playing COD for a long time now and I have realized something
that I use in life that I got from the game,” Rice said. “I learned to never leave a man behind in
COD and I use this whenever my friends are having a hard time and they need help from me.”

A new game that has been launched this past quarantine is called Among us. The game
is a virtual game of Mafia. Those games teach people to play careful and be skeptical of
strangers. These skills are necessary in life to make sure they do not get hurt by a stranger.
Junior Riley Reynolds spoke about the knowledge he has gained from NBA 2K.

“When I first saw basketball I was very interested in it, but I didn’t know anything about it,” Reynolds
said. “I decided to play 2K and after a few weeks i learned the game and the greats that played
it.”

Video games teach people a lot about respect and relationships. Some of the first
consoles, like the Xbox 360, introduced a way where people could talk while playing the video
games. Although some players were toxic and rude, these online parties are some of the ways
that children became friends. It is exactly like when you play a sport and become friends with
someone from the bonding of the game, video games bring you together through frustration and
happiness.

Junior Brooks Rice playing video games