It is a longstanding fallacy that playing video games will
avail you nothing. The truth of it is that there are a great many reasons for
playing games. There are an even larger (and growing) number of reasons why you
should continue playing games. People are looking for new talent, and the gamers of this generation will someday be
the very people that industry types of all kinds are looking for. Here are just
a few reasons why gamers will rule the world
someday.
Categorisation
From an early age, the modern gamer is taught
how to categorize things. Games are separated into genres and then into
sub-genres and even into specific niches of gaming. The modern gamer is even taught to categorize by rating. Children know
that they are most likely not going to be allowed to play an M-rated game when they are 8 years old. There are
exceptions to the rule, I know, but on the whole,
the rating system keeps kids from seeing things they shouldn’t until they can
understand and process fully what they are experiencing. So this is the first
of many skills that will put the next generation of gamers ahead of your
standard nerds in the social pecking order.
Coordination
It has been studied by numerous groups who have
found that the kids of today have faster and more succinct hand-eye
coordination than kids of the previous century. This disciplined reaction time will serve the next generation of leaders
well, especially if they become the leaders of the military or public services
like firefighters or cops or EMS workers. With finely tuned and wicked-fast control
over intrinsic motion, the gamers of the future will be able to respond quickly and efficiently in a situation where quick
reflexes are a must.
Sleep Deprivation
Every die-hard gamer has spent hours and hours awake playing
their favorite games. Whether it’s an all-night gaming marathon with friends
online or via LAN, they have felt the effects of
gross lack of sleep and continued to hone the skills to combat loss of higher
function the longer they are awake. This trait would serve anyone in any sort
of crisis-management field very well. Gamers with the
ability to continue to operate at near-peak performance, even in the face of
fatigue or all-out exhaustion will make excellent leaders when the chips are
down and long hours at work are needed.
Strategization
Gamers know how to plan a strategy and execute it. Some of it is trial and error. But some gamers are
born with the innate gift of being able to immediately figure out how to
surmount nearly any obstacle, no matter the odds of survival. This is the kind
of guy that you want in control of a military unit or in charge of a
multi-bazillion dollar corporation. This is the guy you want in the “big chair” when things
are starting to get dire for the group. This is the dude who will know exactly
how to eliminate the threat and ensure success through properly planned and
implemented strategies.
Resource Management
Ask any gamer, and they will tell you that one of
the keys to success in gaming is managing your resources. Money, ammo, people,
and time are things that have to be tended to in
a game for there to even be a chance for success. It is this type of resource management
that could eventually save our flagging economy.
Since politicians obviously have never taken a math class or balanced a
checkbook, it will someday fall to gamers to clean up the mess left by those
gone before. But the good news is that with all the ridiculous amounts of
resource management in games these days–they will have no issues whatsoever
keeping us on the path to riches.
Teamwork
For the most part, teamwork falls into three
types in gaming. First, there is couch co-op. This is the method of play that
has become a bit of a thing of the past, but it involves occupying the same
physical space with another (or multiple) gamers while working together in an
artificial space within the game. Then there is LAN co-op play. This is the
method where a large group of people links their systems together for a common
goal. They all function as a giant unit in order to achieve gaming greatness.
Then finally, there is online co-op play. In
this mode, gamers play with a large group of
people that they cannot see to try and accomplish a goal or event. All of these
ways have burned the concept of teamwork into our minds.
Imagination
Gamers have been through nearly every imaginable
scenario in a vast array of locations and climates. It is through this exposure
that gamers are able to be creative when it comes to operating in a variety of
environments. Whether it’s low stress and casual or high-intensity gaming, they
know how to achieve every goal in every conceivable situation with limited
assistance, and they
have the wherewithal to complete the task, no matter the hardships. It
is with that determined spirit that gamers will
slowly but surely begin to assume, and in some cases usurp (I imagine), the
positions of power throughout the world and begin to mold them into their own.
Problem Solving
Nearing the top of the skill tree for assuming
control of the Earth, this trait is very important and is one that all
gamers–regardless of their level–possess. Every game,
at its core, is about problem solving. Whether
it is a puzzler or a star-studded action adventure, they all have problem
elements that need to be solved. This is one of the most important traits the
future leaders of this world will need. In
nearly every situation, across every continent,
and in every climate and society, gamers will be able to handle themselves, no matter what comes up. They will have a solution
for everything. It may not always be the best solution and may need to be discussed with other gamers, but they will always have
something to go on.
Desensitization
Since the world is a big,
old, evil place that is full of death and corruption, it will fall to the
future gamers of the world to stop these atrocities. But sadly, you can’t make
an omelet without breaking some eggs. This is where the concept of
desensitization will come in very handy. Gamers will be able to stomach the
horrible things that will have to happen in order to escape chaos and anarchy
in the years to come. They will be able to hold fast to the other tenets set
forth here because they have already seen it all. Games have become an
intensely more dramatic version of the real-life horrors that occur all around
us. But because gamers stand strong in the face of adversity, they will be able
to do so in life…when it really counts.
Decision-Making
Finally, the last and most important trait that
will assist gamers in ruling the world is one of decision-making. Nowhere is
succinct decision-making more apparent than in video gaming. It is this talent
that will become intensely important in the years to come in the real world. Gamers are able to assess situations quickly and
efficiently and are able to make tough calls in a real hurry. Time crunches are
everywhere in gaming and in life. I don’t believe that this parallel exists by
chance. I believe that gamers are being groomed in secret to create the world
that everyone can exist in and flourish. Gamers are being taught to right the
world’s wrongs and manage the world’s resources--one
respawn at a time.
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