I’ve been playing videogames for about as long as I can remember. In fact one of my earliest memories is running home one day from Kindergarten to play Super Mario Bros. on the NES, only to be shot down because it was Thursday (gaming was limited to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for us.) from my time as a child all the way up to present day, gaming has been given a bad reputation from media outlets and grandmothers across the planet, but it’s very rare people talk about it’s benefits. No, I didn’t conduct any studies, and I’m no expert per se…I just grew up gaming, and I turned out just fine!……Right? For the next few weeks in correspondence with the all important #throwbackthursday I will go over an attribute I feel videogames helped me improve upon. Let’s start with an obvious one:

Hand-eye coordinationCould you maneuver through this gauntlet of saws? With practice, I’m sure you could.

I saw on the news once that a man just barely escaped death by ducking under a tree that had suddenly fallen. The entire top portion of his car was scraped clean off, and had it not been for his quick thinking…he would have seen a similar fate. When asked how he managed to react so quickly in such a dire situation, he gave the credit to videogames. Is this even feasible? I think so.

Things like reflexes, hand eye-coordination, and memory care not from where those attributes are developed. they carry over and are applicable throughout many facets of life.

Let’s take it to my high school years, where I made the decision to pursue music. My parents bought me a bass guitar and I started practicing away. I treated bass lines just like, you guessed it: a videogame. I just needed to identify a pattern, and move my hands to make the necessary inputs on time. Friends were sometimes surprised at how quickly I could learn a song, and I truly feel my time spent with videogames has greatly contributed to that. Again…not an expert, just my opinion.

Below is a quick list of some games I feel helped push my hand-eye coordination to their limits. Try some out!

Megaman 2

Classic videogames rarely pulled punches, and this game was no different. Jumping between the blocks in the picture shown above is hard enough on it’s own….but we have to defeat that dragon too!?

 

Amplitude

three buttons, your eyes, and your ears. Time presses in correspondence to the visual queues on screen. A stepping stone in what would one day become Guitar Hero.

Super meat boy

This game is only for the hardcore. The stage pictured above ranks amongst the hardest videogame stages I’ve ever played. May the odds be ever in your favor.

 Next Thursday I’ll discuss how games helped in teaching me to share!