Computer games is a major addiction for the young generation. In the end, is it really worth it?

Has this generation of people been infected by a wannabe ebola virus? As far as adults can be concerned, there was no such thing as technology back in their day. There was something else that existed though. It was usually a life with no screen at all. As kids, they would go outside and enjoy the fresh air, as they would play outside with friends and socialise in person. However, generations have changed. Now there's technology like iPhone’s, PC’s and console’s. However, one of the most effective and deadly creations of them all is computer games.

Jane McGonigal, who is a world-renowned designer of alternate reality games-or in other words, create games that require people to solve real life problems, had also taken many thoughts about computer games itself. She had been on TED talks and have discussed the issue about computer games. Although she is a video game designer herself, she was conflicted whether to say it was really all that worth it. When she began she said, “Currently, there are more than half a billion people worldwide, playing computer games and video games, at least an hour a day. Alone, 183 million people play video games in the U.S.” Half a billion people playing computer games is more than the population of Indonesia and Brazil put together, who rank top 5 in the most populated countries since 2014. Not only that, a survey conducted in 2007, had 1,102 kids taking the test. The games of choices had the top 5 games being Guitar Hero, Halo 3, Madden NFL, Solitaire and Dance Dance Revolution, according to ABC news. This proves on how the majority of the video games played by many is not games that require you to solve issues that could help you in real life. Jane McGonigal also had to add on how we spend 3 billion hours a week playing computer games as an entire planet, which is not a good thing. That is around 125,000,000 days, and with that amount of time, people could be doing so much more to benefit the world or themselves.

Many people agree that computer games is something that really shouldn’t have been introduced to people. Many authors like Terry Pratchett had to say, "Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon…” Other people have to say the same on computer games. Student, Aaron Kiss, who is from an unsourced school says, “Computer games is a waste of time, I don’t really like it but I must admit, I did use to play it frequently. Although I would get mad when my parents would stop me from playing, I was definitely not addicted.”

Mr Raisdana, a sophisticated English teacher has daughters, who also can be addicted to computer games. “My daughters have an iPad and love playing Minecraft, however, I usually see a risen amount of procrastination during their time when playing computer games. So I’d usually have to unhook them from the game, but it isn’t easy, as whenever I tell them to get off or when I take the iPad away from them, my children will sometimes get mad or will even enrage,” says Mr Raisdana. Studies show that the younger you are, the more likely you are to start playing computer games. With 99% of boys under 18 and 94% of girls under 18 reportedly playing video games, they could rack up 10,000 hours of gaming by the age of 21. The issue is that when 18, these grownups should be heading into college. However, the 96.5% of girls and boys who choose to game, miss out on what would’ve been the next step in their future, and as said before, the games played by the majority of people are not games that can help improve life skills. Not only has it taken the ego of some people, but it can even take even more than that, it could take lives. There have been cases of killings, just over computer games. That includes a 13 year old taking his mother’s life with a .22 caliber. He was so enraged that he even made efforts to rape her before killing her, and all of this, just because of his mother taking his Call of Duty game away. With so many hours wasted on these computer games that are usually violent, it can drive people crazy, even to the point where depression takes place. From depression, it could only get worse.

With computer games that drive people to the edge, and with the young generation at risk of cutting themselves off from the real world, computer games is definitely not worth it. The amount released into stores should be reduced, and if computer games were to be released, the games should positively improve the logic and the mind thought of the people playing the video games. Still, there are better and more important things to do in life than to just play computer games. There are hobbies like board games or sports, or to even just be social with family in the real world, as you could do everything together as one, and all of this can easily improve the attitude and the mindset of one. Unless the computer games played by majority of the people is something that can make a positive impact onto the lives of many people, the best choice as a hardcore gamer, is to stop gaming.