I bet that most of us, especially the guys was stuck with a gaming culture whilst growing up. I can remember the beatings and discipline I received from my mom for gaming after school and at weekends.
Gaming culture has long been a common practice since the beginning of time. From traditional gaming performed between friends to the introduction of video games and their consequent growth, the gaming industry is growth-personified.
I grew up playing games like Super Mario, Bounce, Snake Xenzia, Prince of Persia, Real Football, Assassin’s Creed, etc. These games blessed our childhood with a lot of memories. In as much as they were introductory gaming phases, they encompassed a plethora of mental benefits that our parents never saw (Ah, mummy).
In modern-day gaming, we have better and more advanced examples with scintillating graphics. They include; Call of Duty, Fortnite, FIFA, Grand Theft Auto, Blur, PUBG, etc. These are all terrific games capable of keeping you glued to your seat for hours.
There are several hypothetical motions about the benefits and consequences of gaming. It still doesn’t deter teenagers and youths from gaming even more. The older generations see it as a distraction and will do anything to have it out of our sight. There are good sides and bad ones to every action, which we will touch on later
So, stay tuned.
Gaming has become a way of life recently, and for some people, it is now a money-making scheme. It has become a noble profession. Many competitions celebrate gamers and their adeptness in their respective niche. We now have proud gamers.
This has created a coalition of people with similar goals and mindsets. Just like various cultural concepts that unify a lot of people, gaming has become a competent unifier. Hence, Gaming Culture.
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Concept of Gaming Culture
Let’s dissect the word, define them, and bring them back together.
Gaming is the action or practice of playing video games. Culture can be defined as the way of life of a group of people. Can you see where this is leading?
Hence, gaming culture describes the tradition and practice of gaming within a group of people. It also includes a set of values that have emerged due to this practice. Several values have come to light in recent years due to gaming, which has created an identity for video gamers.
Think of it as a culture, just like you have Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa.
Five Values You Get from a Gaming Culture
Identity
One thing that is severely needed when growing up among youths is the quest for identity. A career is an identity. A skillset can be an identity. That talent you have can be an identity too.
Since the inception of gaming and the validity of its benefits, many people have taken up
gaming as their identity and are proud of their gaming culture.
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Game Programming
The gaming industry is undergoing unstoppable growth, which is creating a hunger for better and colder graphics to satisfy human wants and yearns.
Many gamers have taken to the creative parts of gaming to cool down the demand and also challenge themselves.
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World Acceptance
In the world, gaming is a controversial practice either ethically, politically, or medically. There are false notions that aim to tarnish the credibility of gaming and gamers. Some incidents even drive political stances against gaming.
Whether each of these notions is right or wrong, gaming culture is a rave in our world today and has become a hot topic.
Fashion
Who would have ever thought that gaming would affect the way people dress?
Nowadays, though, gamers dress like their favorite game characters. Several cosplay events are organized for gamers dressed in in-game characters to socialize.
Examples of game characters include; Naruto, Avengers, Justice League characters, The Incredibles, and many more. This also coincides with the “identity value” gained from gaming.
Talented Niche
Gone are those days when gamers were characterized as unserious, distracted with no vision. These days, proficiency in one game or the other is celebrated on a global level with awards.
This accreditation has led to people striving for the top in the gaming industry and you can only find the most talented ones up there. It is a testament to the benefits of gaming culture and why we should push for its progress.
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Advantages of Gaming
Do you want some reasons to stay at home and play video games instead of doing your homework or attending classes?
Increased Cognitive Function
After careful study of the impacts of gaming on humans, it was discovered that gaming has grave importance on the development of the cognitive processor. There are various importances regarding gaming and cognitive function and they include;
- Digestion and interpretation of large amounts of information: Video games possess loads of information that could carry one through the stages. Core gamers can store a load of information. It takes an expansive brain capacity.
- Quick decision-making and acknowledgment: I call the Call of Duty players to the stand because they are guilty of this. If you want to know any Call of Duty player worth his or her salt, they have a speedy reaction time. They make split seconds decisions and are adept at eye movement.
- Promotes active learning: Most video games adopt active learning to teach players. Active learning involves actively and experimentally involving players in the learning process with the goal of growth and development.
- Development of spatial skills: The ability of humans to mentally and visually manipulate scenes and happenstance in their heads. High spatial skills equal heightened performance in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) areas. This is a key importance of adventure and shooting games.
- Enhances creativity and problem-solving: The growing requirements of games demand higher creativity percentages from gamers. This improves the intelligence quotient (IQ) of gamers and affects set cause their problem-solving ability across all facets of their lives.
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Increased resilience
During my research on how game improves resilience, I found that it only improves the resilience of people with a growth mindset. Someone with a growth mindset believes more in effort than talent or intelligence.
The layout of most video games is structured in a way that builds in difficulty. The demanding nature of these increasing stages demands greater efforts on the part of gamers to achieve success.
Improving Social Life
This would have been a debatable advantage during the early invention of gaming, as it usually required one to stay indoors and stay clear of any anthropogenic (human) disturbances. However, the modern gaming culture has incorporated multiplayer and improved social life by connecting players from all over the world.
See: Social Media: Is it Social Enough?
Better feelings processor
It has been proven that games help you process your feelings better and also act as an outlet. Have you ever been so angry that you just want to shoot guns uncontrollably at someone? Games can help.
It is understandable when you are upset. We should not deny the occurrences of these feelings; the only factor we can control is our response.
Games can keep you in touch with your feelings and help you process them better.
There are many more advantages that we can note from gaming. It, therefore, nullifies any thought of gaming as a “mind-numbing” practice.
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Gaming culture: Conclusion
I am searching for a time machine that can take me back to my younger days when my mum ingrained the fear of gaming into me. I’m older now and I am swamped with work and satisfying my loving readers.
I have given you undeniable evidence that shows that gaming is a worthy place to channel your energy.
Just remember, there is a bad side to everything, the moment you can not do without something, it becomes an addiction. Do not get to that level.
