It’s time to accentuate gaming’s positives

In a recent interview with CBS Good Morning, famed game developer Cliff Bleszinski spoke candidly about his life, and his new autobiography, Control Freak. The 7-minute section featured only one question about video games generally - interviewer Brook Silva-Braga asked: "Do virtual bullets help inspire real world shootings?"

Little surprise that Bleszinski, the creator of Gears of War, replied in the negative. But it's interesting that this was the go-to question for a mainstream TV news show.

Games are a cultural behemoth. Those of us who play games, or who work in the video game industry, rarely feel the need to justify gaming. But there remains a sizable chunk of society who remain unconvinced that games aren't, somehow, nefarious.

These are often people over the age of 50, and they include journalists, judges, politicians and opinion formers. Games, like much else in the world, have been dragged into the polarized culture wars, and remain an easy target for reactionaries and cynics.

The Washington D.C. based Entertainment Software Association is funded by game companies to combat negative spin about games, and to lobby for gaming in the halls of power. Part of its remit is to accentuate the positive about games, including their role in education, medicine, scientific research, and social cohesion.

The ESA's policy document states: "Video games are fun, often educational and, increasingly, therapeutic. More and more people report that video games provide stress relief while creating positive mental stimulation. Medical professionals and health experts now recognize the benefits of gameplay, employing games to achieve positive health outcomes for patients of all ages."

The organization's public relations output regularly hones in on research into gaming's benefits. It seems to be working. A recent NPR feature on games began: "For a time in the '90s and early 2000s, some people considered video games an intellectual and moral threat to kids. That perception has changed over time, due in part to research that suggests otherwise."

The ESA also pushes back on the notion that games are addictive. Although the World Health Organization stated that video game addiction is an official mental health condition, back in 2018, research into the matter is inconclusive. As games become more popular and, via virtual reality and the metaverse, more realistic and self-encompassing, it's likely that concerns about addiction will arise. But even in the absence of conclusive scientific evidence, individual cases of obsessive game-playing, to the detriment of the players' lives, are not uncommon.

It's fortunate for the ESA's messaging that games are now widely utilized for the public good, and are being recognized for their manifold benefits. Every week, we hear of a new game that helps sick children, or a new report that extols the benefits of games for older people. Games are often being used to improve education, or to help people understand the lives of others. As this trend continues, and as organizations like the ESA continue to promote gaming's positives, the old fearful narratives will begin to fade away.

Here are six recent examples of games that are doing good, or of research into the benefits of gaming.

1. I Hear You, is a game that tests children for deafness. It's a collaborative effort involving Norwegian scientists and Tanzanian child care organizations. Children play a short tablet game with headphones, and are tested for their hearing abilities. Its developers say the test is distributed at low cost, and is highly effective at detecting hearing issues at an early age. I Hear You recently received an innovation award from the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations.

2. The University of Vermont recently released a research report stating that children who play three hours or more of video gaming per day outperform kids who never play any type of video games, in terms of impulse control and working memory.
   Professor Bader Chaarani, who led the study, said: "There is obviously a negative outcome that results from extended screen time on mental and physical health. However, if a kid is spending one, two or three hours on video gaming, maybe there are some benefits, as our data suggests. These benefits could not be seen if that kid is doing or spending time on other forms of screen time, like texting or watching TV or YouTube, which are considered more as passive screen time forms."

3. Games are a great way to teach subjects like history. The Ebstorf map was created in Germany around 1300, celebrating the ancient world and most particularly the exploits of Alexander the Great. It was destroyed in World War 2, but has now been recreated as a game, in which kids can explore and interact with the map. Sky News compared the game to the thrilling opening sequence of HBO's Game of Thrones.

4. Scientists at UC San Francisco’s Neuroscape Center recently released a number of "video game interventions that improve key aspects of cognition in aging adults". The games are designed to become easier, or more difficult, according to the player's ability.
   Co-creator Adam Gazzaley described the games as "experiential medicine," and said that playing them improved short-term and long-term memory in patients. "Experiences are a powerful way of changing our brain, and this form of experience allows us to deliver it in a manner that’s very accessible," he said.

5. A company called Lifespan was recently awarded a National Science Foundation (U.S.) grant of more than $250,000, to work on "game-based mental health intervention that uses autonomic biofeedback".
   According to research leader Wenzhuo Wu: "Current methods for identifying and diagnosing mental disorders are often based on unreliable, retrospective self-reporting," adding that "video game technology already has successfully been used to aid in the treatment of several childhood illnesses such as asthma, cancer, diabetes and even post-traumatic stress disorder."

6. Ketamine is often prescribed for people who suffer from depression, because it gets to work faster than alternatives. However, the effects tend to fade after a few days. A recent report in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that patients who played positive games after a ketamine injection tended to enjoy the drug's benefits for a much longer period than those who did not play. The researchers used games with "happy faces," and positive messages.

These six examples were all publicly released over a period of just two weeks in late October, 2022. They show the vast array of ways in which games are being used to improve people's lives.

These are the messages that organizations like the ESA are working to place in front of opinion-formers and the public, to show the positives of gaming. Gaming is much, much more than shooting aliens. Just like literature and film, it spans a gamut of genres, from throwaway fun, to potentially life-saving treatment.

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