DARPAN FEATURE
Ask yourself: • Do I feel bad when I can’t play? • Am I having a hard time stopping or reducing my play time? • Do I think about video games most of the day? • Am I not enjoying activities I otherwise used to like, outside of gaming? • Do I play to feel better when I have unfavorable feelings? • Am I lying to my close friends and family about the time I spend playing? • Are my work, relationships or studies being impacted because of video games?
Given that video games tap into essential human needs, they are bound to have positive impacts. Enhanced cognitive ability, improved hand eye coordination, relaxation, and a better overall mood are all potential benefits for gamers. On the other side of the coin, however, there are also hazardous impacts to avoid. Foremost, the bottom line is that video games make people feel good to the extent that they can have addictive qualities. The BY NAINA GREWAL dopamine released, because of fulfilling the three psychological needs, brings you back to the game again and again. The desire to play more can hile many industries faced a hit To explore why video games are so begin to take a majority of your time. This may as a result of the pandemic, one compelling, research company Immersyve lead to a decrease in motivation for work and particular segment of the market conducted studies and collected years of data. study as extensive time and energy is dedicated flourished: video games. It was reported that It was deduced that video games target three to gaming. Related issues such as insomnia and in March 2020, just around the onset stay-atimportant psychological needs: obesity may also be linked. Moreover, a gamer home orders, video game sales went up by 34% Competency: Humans like to feel that they may go down the path of escapism, suppressing while video game hardware saw a growth of are good at something. Accomplishing goals and or running away from problems in real life using 63%. With approximately three billion video reaching objectives, with built-in reward systems, video games. As such, poor mental health, social game users across the globe, the industry is here allows players to feel a sense of success. disconnection, and relationship problems may to stay. Autonomy: Gamers can try as many times arise. For parents, the topic of video games is as they like and make decisions to their liking. Be it a partner or child, it can be especially bound to come up sooner and later. Once This degree of independence gives one a sense of hard to understand and address problems related a child’s friends begin to play, the power of control. to excessive gaming. Those who play video games the network makes it likely for others to join in. Playing video games is certainly a form Relatedness: Aside from mass online games may feel that those who do not play cannot of belonging, especially when it comes to that connect multiple global players, gamers can truly understand how much fun it is to play. multiplayer games. In addition, the games also feel connected to the fictional characters and Conversely, the other party may feel unheard and dismissed as they may not be getting the often offer alternate realities, where players can situations in a game. attention they would like in a relationship. escape into a new world.
VIDEO GAMES FRIEND OR FOE
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SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021 Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
DARPAN
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