Video Game Reflection

By Cal Payne

I think that video games are overall an important medium and have an effect like no other, being
that they stimulate more parts of the brain solely because it is a medium to be actively engaged
with. I think that the understanding of certain things can be more accessible to younger
audiences because the act of engaging with a game can occupy.

An interesting point that I have read among players of my favorite games, (Dark Souls Trilogy,
Elden Ring, Sekiro, and the like…) is that difficulty and the necessity to focus on a hard game
can help me to take my mind off of the anxieties and general overwhelmingness of my day to
day life. Playing a game so difficult that it is frustrating to play at times can help me focus on
playing the game, and disregard how I am feeling. I recently watched a video that stated it
plainly: ‘De-stressing with Stress’. The narrator breaks the game, Elden Ring, into 3 forms of
stress within the game’s mechanics that have a lasting effect on a player’s mental state. The
main section that stood out was the first point - particularly being that the game’s design is
intended to spring short-form stressors upon you to resolve, but it is never completely
overwhelming. For example, the game will never throw an army at you, but it will give you a
group of people to fight, or one really hard boss. The second part is that for the most part,
nothing in the game has to be done in order, or on a time limit. The argument is that presenting
problems that have a solution help the player focus and work through the problem, without
being overwhelmed with deadlines or nearly impossible difficulty. Ultimately this is one of many
ways that I think Elden Ring and other games made by this company can help with stress
management, and I have found that I use these games for this purpose. The dopamine release
from overcoming an obstacle that creates stress seems to make the stress easier to manage.

A sort-of counterpoint is the possible negative cultural impacts of games. Less commonly
nowadays, developers had a fairly narrow way of integrating POC/Minority characters, much like
any media text. It could be that all of a developers games feature a person of color as the villain,
and a white man as a hero, or just a lack of playable female characters. I think that this
argument can be made for almost any media text, but the immersive aspects of games would
lead one to assume that anybody should be able to play the game and relate to it. Of course
there are games that feature female protagonists, such as the Last of Us 2, and Tomb Raider,
but it is far less common. According to a study on gamer demographics by age and sex on
Gametree, the gender split for general gamers is fairly equal, with only around 6-8% more
players being male. This modern demographic may explain the expanding of character options
among games in recent years, but it still does bring up the issue of the male dominated industry.
This also doesn’t even account for the ratio of female to male game developers, and other
production roles, which still very male dominated. It seems as if the male dominated industry is
still reluctant to allow women to work in it, even with the growing portion of gamers that identify
as female. This phenomenon is more prevalent in the video game industry than most others.
This is a possible downside of the advancement and existence of video games, and a possible
impact on our society and its views on gender roles. It seems that society often sees video
games as a common male activity, but fails to consider that female players take up almost as
much of the population.

A very important point to note is the relationship between dopamine addiction and gaming.
According to the Mayo Clinic, to paraphrase, while we play games, our brain recognizes the
scenario as if it were real, so we have similar stress responses to the game, and these stressors
can result in a state of constant hyperarousal. This contradicts my point that games like Elden
Ring can use stress as a way to destress. Maybe doing this too much can create a constant
state of stress, and have a negative impact on our overall health. These states can be different
for everyone and for different people they can lead to lack of attention span, difficulty controlling
emotions, and poor impulse control. This can create a lot of irritability, and decrease your
immune systems ability to function properly, as well as lead to depression, and other mental
states associated.

The argument that games can benefit us does however seem to outweigh most of the bad.
While it is easy to sit and mindlessly play a shooter game for hours on end, some games require
more problem solving and patience. Particularly within the aforementioned Dark Souls series,
patience is very prevalent. Additionally, according to the American Psychological Association,
the games the can improve cognitive function include games that are seemingly mindless
shooters. The article explores many ways games can improve cognitive function, such as
creativity, focus, teamwork, and memory, but a point that stood out was that 70% of gamers play
games with a friend(s), and millions of people participate in worldwide game communities such
as FarmVille, or World of Warcraft. This is a testament to a games ability to help people with
socialization. Just because these friends are online doesn’t mean that they aren’t real social
interactions. While they may be strictly over the internet, there is still a conversational exchange,
as well as an activity being done with other people. This could imply possible mental health’s
benefits as well, as people who are uninterested in leaving their house often can still socialize
and have some sort of interaction. There is a flip-side to this coin however, and it is the idea that
this untraditional form of communication can make real world interactions difficult. While I would
touch on this, I observe that the positives outweigh the negatives in this case, and my ultimate
point is to emphasize the positive impacts.

Ultimately I observe that video games have had a larger positive impact on our society than
bad, and while video games have more prevalent examples of this, most of the negative effects,
such as sexism, racism, etc. are a sort-of byproduct of any media text. As a medium, the
interactive aspect can help people immerse themselves in what they are doing, and can provide
different perspectives, improve problem solving ability, improve socialization ability, etc. Overall,
I think that moderation of video games can offset the negative effects, such as low dopamine
levels due to spikes, and general dopamine addiction, and I think that it is a valuable medium
that holds as big of a place as film or text.

-Luker, E. (2022, August 25). Video games and screen addiction. Mayo Clinic Health System.
[Link]
and-screens-another-addiction

-American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Video games play may provide learning, health,
social benefits. American Psychological Association.
[Link]

-Uke, John. “Gamer Discovery Network.” GameTree, April 3, 2024.