Why Video Games are a Good Thing

General Music and English Writing • 2020

Nov 14, 2019

And How to Use Video Games to Write

Why do so many students have trouble with time management when it comes to homework and the writing process? Most boomers will attribute it to video games, and while some students do focus their time on the “distracting” services games can provide (relaxation, escape, socialization), games are actually doing a lot of good for people.

Let me just throw out there what I mean by the good that games do for people. This is all from personal experience and games that I have played, myself, so I can give anyone who disagrees with this list a piece of my 4.0 GPA mind with exact examples. Some of these benefits of gaming are:

Teach accurate history of a multitude of cultures (Assassin’s Creed, Battlefield)
Build vocabulary and reasoning skills (Skyrim, LetterQuest)
Encourage active problem-solving and “fixing” of issues (Sherlock Holmes, Resident Evil)
Teach manners and proper ethics/morals/right vs. wrong (Dishonored, Thief)
Lots of hand-eye-coordination (Fortnite, but really any game)
Again, socialization, relaxation, escape (Anything online like PUBG or Call of Duty)
Time-passers and mind breaks to help process learned information and recuperate (Zombie Castaways, Left 4 Dead)
Teach how to do “complex” math for code-solving (Tomb Raider, escape games)
How to look defensively for things out of the ordinary, which can further help with both defensive driving and awareness when in unfamiliar locations (PUBG, Tom Clancy games)
Self-defense techniques and how to properly respond quickly in trouble situations (Remember Me, Blair Witch)
Willpower and planning (Pokemon, Fire Emblem)

The list really can go on much longer than this, but this is a good start to the many benefits of gaming. Since this is the case, why can’t we use them as a time management tool to get our work done, too? I know that I do. Here’s my personal writing process for those pesky research papers (or really any writing assignment). Feel free to take this rough example and tweak it to yourselves.

Pick a paper (I’ll use a big, final research paper as an example, since it’s final exam time).
Create your title page and paste the instructions in the document.
Pick a game you want to play (I’ll use Fortnite, since everyone is obsessed with it still, for some reason).
Play a match, and if you lose, fix your sources into an MLA or APA or whatever is required by your major works cited page. If you win, play one more before doing this.
After fixing your sources, pick out some key quotes that you can use in your paper (make sure you note the page that it’s on for your citations).
Play another match.
If you lose, write your first paragraph. If you win, play another, and then write your first paragraph.
Make sure your thesis has all of your main points in one (three is usually recommended, though it varies by subject).
Once your thesis is looking good and that first paragraph is out of the way, go ahead and play another match (just one this time because you’re getting into it, now).
Now that you’re a winner winner chicken dinner, go ahead and write a paragraph or two about the first part of your thesis. Just say anything you can think of about that point, even if it’s absolute gibberish. Just trust me.
After that first point is done, take you a few moments to check all your social media, maybe eat a snack, play another match. Just make sure you set a limit on it.
Honestly, just rinse and repeat until you’ve finish that paper (minus the conclusion), nonsense and all, a paragraph or two (level or time limit) at a time.
Once you have the meat of the paper done, though, now is the time to add your in-text citations and such. I personally write what comes to my head, first. Once I do that, I go back and find things that either support what I’ve said and expand on it or challenge it. Then, I add those citations where they fit.
Now that you have your citations out of the way, it’s time to make the paper sound logical and make sense. You have a few options here, depending if you’re like me and love revision and editing or if you’re like normal people and hate it. If you like doing it yourself, go for it. If not, go to the ace or find one of your friends who is into English (like me) to help you out with it.
Now, you should pretty much be done. Go ahead and write that conclusion paragraph (it should be a quick summary of everything you’ve said. It should be pretty similar to your introduction paragraph, really). After you do so, give the whole paper another read to make sure you’ve fixed your typos and it makes sense.
Now that you’ve finished your conclusion and done your last proofing, you can now go ahead and play your games and have a good ol’ time. Just don’t forget to turn it in.

Now, this is a pretty specific example, and these steps can always be tweaked. There are times when I’m playing a game like Jedi or Tomb Raider, and I set time limits or goals for myself since they aren’t match or level-based. “I’ll just finish this objective and then do this amount of the paper,” or, “I’ll play until 7 p.m., and then I’ll do this amount of the paper.”

Just like the settings in your games, tailor these steps to you and what you need and are doing, and you’re golden. You’ll be done in no time while making sure to take plenty of mental breaks so that you don’t get burned out while still accomplishing something. Really, when it comes down to it, use games as motivation and goal points to get things done. It works wonders.

When all is said and done, stop shedding a negative light on gaming. Games can be used for a lot of good if we let them, even if that good is simply motivation to get things done. Gaming is a beautiful gift that we have been fortunate enough to experience, and we should be cherishing that and using it to help us, rather than allowing it to tear us down and keep us from the things that are important, such as writing for our classes. I hope that you gamers (and non-gamers) out there can take something from this and tweak it and apply it to your lives. Happy gaming and happy writing!