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Couldn't any form of entertainment be construed as being a waste of time, like watching television? If games are to be labelled as a waste of time, then watching television should be as well. While television can be helpful for getting your mind off things and giving one or two ideas as to what you can write about (if you're a writer), there aren't really any more benefits. With computer games, there are.

They help foster creativity and can force people to think:

While a film may get someone thinking about the ideas expressed or trying to work out who committed a murder, there isn't much more interaction beyond that other than simply watching and enjoying whatever is on the television. With video games, there's definite interaction.

Games can engage the brain, depending on what's being played. There are games available where players need to solve crimes and evidence needs to be collected. Normally, these games can tax the brain because it's not always obvious how to progress. There are also games specifically geared towards the solving of puzzles. When someone tries to solve these puzzles, it should help them when dealing with studying.

Games can also help engage the creative side of people. A side they perhaps didn't know they had. When this is mentioned, I do not mean shooting games or other similar types engage a player on a creative level. Rather, it is games like The Sims, Spore and Creatures that engage players creatively.

If someone enjoys these games, they could find an interest in other things. They might decide they want to pursue a specific career. Creativity is also something that should be encouraged, not frowned upon.

Games can help people learn:

Business games like Capitalism amongst others can help players learn about running businesses, while also having fun. These sort of games can also teach people about the value of saving money, because they'll realise that if they go bankrupt in a game from spending too much money, it could happen to them in real life.

Games are a hobby:

If someone watches television, are they frowned upon? Not really. It's considered normal and a perfectly acceptable thing to sit on the couch and watch whatever's on. Yet as soon as someone starts playing a video game, they're frowned on by parents or ridiculed by certain people. At the end of the day, there's no real difference between television and playing games. The difference is that television doesn't require someone to do anything more than sit in front of it with his or her eyes open. Games do involve the person though and they can't just sit there doing nothing or the game will soon be over.

Also, while it might be fine to watch movies with friends at the cinema for example or put something on the television while drinking, it's not the same as playing a game with a group of friends especially when it's one that sees people competing against each other. Games can also be used to socialise and as long as online games aren't used too often, it gives people a chance to interact with people they normally wouldn't have the chance to. For example, it's possible to talk to people halfway across the world.

Learn more about this author, Dan Cartwright.
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