Often overlooked and caricatured by many people, video games are still struggling to find a place as an art in itself. However, playing is not necessarily a waste of time and can even reveal many benefits according to some experts, here are some examples.
The game as a learning object
“It’s a learning tool like any other,” assures Aymeric Lesné, coordinator of the association Rennes 3 Hit combo specialized in this field. Video games provide people with “the same abilities as a cup and ball game or chess game.” All have a goal to achieve and therefore develop our determination to get things right. “Most of the features of electronic games already existed in games dating back thousands of years.” Already, at the time, they allowed to develop certain qualities like the coordination of the movements or the visual acuity.
For Yann Leroux, psychoanalyst and member of the Observatory of the digital worlds in human sciences, the game would make us “responsible for our actions, because by controlling our avatar, we cannot do anything. Like our everyday life.”
Stimulates creativity and imagination
Like many defenders of this new media, Aymeric Lesné considers the video game as a “cultural object just like a book or a movie”. He manages to develop creativity and imagination. “The perfect example is Minecraft , a game called sandbox, where the player can create houses, castles. His only limit is his imagination,” says the specialist. However, not all games offer these features. An education in front of the screens must be made and “it is to the media, parents and schools that have an awareness-raising role to do here”.
Social link creator
On the social side, Yann Leroux assures him “even with two in front of a screen, the game is already generating social link” because two protagonists will dialogue through what they do, to weave or strengthen a relationship. “A parent can play very well with his child, it allows him to accompany him in his practice”.
What to think of the person alone in front of his screen? “Playing online is also a way of meeting and learning in a community,” according to the doctor of psychology, because “in the virtual world people will help each other, there will be a collective production of know to achieve a goal.
Relaxes and de-stressing
But “do not forget that playing a video game is first and foremost a way of having fun,” the specialists say. Pierre Foulon, host of 3 Hit Combo explains: “playing allows you to remove the hassle of everyday life, to be able to empty the time of a game to better start”. Yann Leroux, opposed to the notion of addiction in video games, even adds “they function as a narcissistic support; it reinforces the person by increasing self-esteem”.
