Playing Games is Not Always a Bad Thing
Have you ever heard the sentence “Stop playing games, it’s bad for you” or “Game is a waste of time or energy”? Of course, you do; it’s a common thing that our parents or other people commonly say to us. And I need to admit that the older generation might have a different perspective compared to us, the younger ones. They didn’t even have a second to think about the perks of playing games. The writer of this article would also like to refute his arguments, share his experiences and also the benefits of playing games. In this article the writer would like to discuss both the bad side and also the benefits of playing games by using the method of auto ethnography and literature review.
What is the definition of a game? According to the Collins dictionary, game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. And according to merriam-webster.com, a game is an activity undertaken or regarded as a contest involving rivalry, strategy, or struggle. Surprisingly, playing games could also improve/develop our soft and hard skills. Such as communication, language proficiency, team work, adaptation, patience, etc. Not to mention that playing games could also give us money;, yes you are correct, MONEY!
According to the writer’s experiences, he earned himself money or other kinds of rewards just by playing games. Is this real? Of course it is! The writer will also attach an image as a proof that playing games do give us money. Furthermore, the writer himself earned several soft or hard skills just by playing games. For example, communication, language proficiency, and teamwork
Real life currency in a form of dollars that the writer’s earned – Photo taken from the writer’s Discord
Other rewards such as nitro – Photo taken from the writer’s Discord
Another perks such as working as a developer to make money – Photo taken from the writer’s Discord
Sheeeshhh, I know right? Old generations should know about this kind of thing. They cannot just assume that playing games is always bad. We need to provide them with proper evidence that will open up their minds that playing games isn’t always such a bad thing. Although playing games has several benefits/perks that we could get, if you abuse it or are not wise at playing games, it could lead to several bad side effects. Those kinds of bad effects are hurting our eyes, damaging our brains, exposure to toxic environments, etc.
Believe it or not, the writer’s do feel those kinds of bad experiences. For example, meeting toxic people or perhaps becoming tired because he’s playing games for several hours or maybe making his eyes tired from watching the screens for 2 straight hours. Yes, this is the result if you abuse or cannot wisely manage your needs of playing games. This article is also a form of education and doesn’t have any kind of way to offend other people. The writer hopes that he can help other people by opening up their minds that playing games is not always a bad thing to do, especially in a pandemic like this.
To sum up this article, the writer would like to say that playing games does have a bad side effect, but it also have some benefits that we gamers could get: one of which are earning soft or hard skills, rewards just by playing games, etc. As for the bad side effects: it could damage our brain or hurt our eyes if we are not wise at managing our needs to play games or abuse this activity. And lastly, this article is for of education purposes and has no intention to offend any sides including old people.
Editor: Pieter Bagaskara Astadiningrat, Clara Nathania, and Nadia Salsabila