Editorial: Giving Thanks to Video Games

Rarely do gamers ever seem to give thanks to their favorite developers, however, this does not mean it is necessarily either side’s fault. What is important is to recognize this fact and examine what can be done to fix this. In most cases, an enormous amount of effort goes into creating a good video game, but then of course sometimes the way in which this video game was developed can be slightly unsavory to the consumer. On the other hand, a lot of larger game developers are much more impersonal, leaving a thank you to be relatively ineffective unless it is directed towards a smaller team or indie developer. All in all, it is no surprise that everyone on the Lusipurr.com staff is extremely thankful for video games, as are gamers in general. Though, there is one group of people who never even think to thank video games, and those are, surprisingly, non-gamers. Besides being a great form of recreation, video games have also been known to greatly improve people’s lives and not just through the entertainment aspect.

Tetris, one of the most popular video games of all-time, has been found to help treat Amblyopia, more often known as lazy eye. By having those with the condition play the game dichoptically, with one eye focusing on the falling blocks, and the other focusing on the the bottom of the screen, scientists were able to note a distinct improvement in the participant’s depth perception, as well as stronger vision in their weaker eye. In fact, a couple years earlier, the American Academy of Ophthalmology studied the effects of video games on the condition, with no specific game in mind. Instead, they separated the participants into groups, one of which being a group that was asked to play video games for at least one hour a day using only their weaker or “lazy” eye coupled with their standard treatment. The other two groups focused either on a specific supplement to improve brain function, or micronutrients used to improve vision. In the end, thirty percent of the group had a noticeable improvement in vision, while sixty percent had only a slight improvement. Thus, showing there might possibly be a stronger correlation between Tetris specifically and improved vision when dealing with Amblyopia.

Another helpful game to those who might not regularly play video games, surprisingly, is none other than Super Monkey Ball 2. Believe it or not, this Gamecube exclusive was played by surgeons in Florida Hospital Celebration Health in order to sharpen their skills. Using over physicians over the course of three years it was found that by playing the game, surgeons were able to make less errors and and they were quoted as being “more efficient” by Dr. James Rosser who led the research. By having two groups of physicians, those who played the game beforehand, and those who did not, perform a simulated surgery, it was found that those who played had a better score than those who did not. Overall, it seems as if those who play video games at least three hours a week make thirty-seven percent fewer errors which is fantastic as the obvious goal is for surgical errors to be nonexistent in an ideal world.

How have video games helped you out in life besides being fun to play? Before surgery will you be requesting your surgeon play Super Monkey Ball 2? Make sure to leave a comment below to let us know!