How video games steal your time, money, and motivation.

Video games are the biggest waste of time this generation has ever experienced. This is a bit of a controversial topic because, most true gamers are 'die-hard' defenders of video games. Usually, when people talk about video games it's in relation to some sort of correlation between real world violence and violent video games. In my personal opinion I've never felt like committing acts to physically harm others after playing video games titles like GTA or COD. Because of that I won't be debating whether or not they have a correlation with violence. Instead this article will discuss the harmful effects it has on the mind, and how it robs you of life.

Gaming has consumed years of my life. To understand this, we must start at the beginning. As far as I can remember, my first video game ever was one of Namco's first major releases, Galaga. Never before had I experienced so much fun, challenging my previous scores and becoming better each time I played. This positive feedback led me to pick up gaming as my only and favorite hobby. Every day, I would come home from school, and the highlight of my day would be video games. That was all I cared about back then, choosing gaming over attending family events. Hell, even most of my school topics were about video games. In high school, I did virtual schooling, which made it easy for me to play an average of 7 hours of video games daily, and at one point, I even played for around 32 hours straight.

Fifteen years of being a gamer made me realize how worthless it had all been. I had been devoting basically full-time hours to video games, not for the purpose of becoming an e-sports athlete or content producer, but simply to pass the time and for pleasure. All those hours I spent gaming were rewarded with virtual trophies and meaningless rankings on a virtual leaderboard. Fifteen years of video games left me poorer in body, mind, money, and spirit. The amount of time I wasted is my most horrific regret. But enough about my pain; let's discuss the facts.

According to Entertainment Software Association (ESA), american video gamers on average play games around 12.8 hours a week. This means on average, American gamers spend at least 665 hours a year on video games. People with extreme cases like me for example, spent around 1,820 hours a year on video games if we gamed on average 35 hours a week. To get a grasp on how many hours that is, if you spent 665 hours working for federal minium wage you would earn $4,841.2 before taxes. And lets say you earn on the upper end of the pay scale, if you make $48.08 and hour and spend  665 hours working, you would make a whopping $31,973.2 before taxes. So considering the amount of time people put into gaming, do the benefits outweigh the negatives?

So what are the benefits of gaming? According to Game Quitters:

• Improved cognitive abilities
• Improved problem-solving skills and logic
• Increased hand-to-eye coordination
• Greater multi-tasking ability
• Faster and more accurate decision-making
• Enhanced prosocial behaviors
• Better eyesight (attention to detail)
• More physical activity with games that promote physical activity (VR, mobile games)

In moderation, gaming can have some great benefits. I have noticed that I typically see more details than others and I tend to have better hand eye cordination than most people. And for me personally, gaming has improved my creative thinking more than anything else ever has. I often find myself thinking of out of the box solutions to problems.

However the negatives can be quite overwhelming, according to Game Quitters , common negative effects can include:

• Poor sleep and hygiene
• Physical health atrophy
• Exhaustion
• Dehydration
• Obesity and heart problems
• Lack of motivation
• Depression
• Suicidal thoughts
• Social anxiety
• Poor emotional regulation
• Interpersonal conflict

I can definitely say that I've experienced all the effects except for obesity and heart problems. Lack of motivation may seem like an unreasonable side effect, but what gaming does is distract you from the real world. In the game, you could be the war god of planet Earth or the ruler of a kingdom, but when you get off the game, you're hit with reality. Why would you want to be in a place where you don't have a high social status, great wealth, or invaluable skills? Nobody wants to feel like they are a mediocre person, so it comes as no surprise that someone who games may not have motivation for real-world activities.

Just like everything in life, you must strike a certain balance. Too much of anything is a bad thing, just as much as too little of anything. If you ask me, there are much better activities to relax and settle down with. Reading books and exercising are far greater alternatives; you simply get more out of your rest time. Gaming does have some small benefits over time, and if you are a pleasure seeker, it can be quite desirable. But it doesn't begin to compare to the massive benefits you gain from learning and exercising. One makes you greater in a virtual world, the other in real life. It's only for you to decide what you want to be, just know the cost.