Video games have left a positive impact on the world, the people who failed because of videos games have only themselves to blame.

The first thing that comes to mind is kinect. Kinect is now being used for so many great things and the main one I'm thinking of is in hospitals. People who are paralysed and recovering can use kinect to get an image of what they would actually look like if they were to walk again.
If video games are aiding recovery in hospitals, it's hard to say they haven't had a positive impact in the world.

Edit: To all those saying video games ruined your life, please be quiet. It was your choice to play xbox instead of doing school work, should have used your brains.

no video games ruined my life! i hate them but then again...i love them

Yes, Just wait a minute and think about this. The human imagination, think how much it has advanced from playing games. Not to mention educational ones. Think about your reaction times. Say COD. Good players, have good Reaction times in R/L. Games also bring people together! People from around the world you may have never got the chance to talk to. And with that said, it gets you ready for the real WORLD where you might have to do business with say a person from another country. Yes I do agree, many people do abuse video games. That's why people think badly of them. But the proper usage and time spent playing can have a positive effect!

Edit: Its a double edged sword, To some people.

Overall, video games do provide a positive influence over the world. It gives people a way to release all their stress without lashing out at people or taking it out on people, they can shoot or beat people up virtually which takes away some risks of society.
However this effect can have quite the opposite impact, and cause people to be reckless if they are immature and foolish and try to recreate what they see in games on rare circumstances.
For the most part, video games have been an important part of today's society and even economy.
So my vote goes to "for the most part"

P.S
For the most part unless you're addicted video games are healthy in moderation. I play my xbox often, and I still manage more than 6 hours of exercise a week which is more than my gaming time. It's the same as a packet of crisps, take it as a snack.

I think Yes, Because it brought a change in design and technology.

SORRY FOR THE LENGTH OF THIS - Got caught up and felt like getting my point across.


Video Games encourage learning:

• Nearly all games that are manufactured, cross platform (Wii, Xbox, PS3) have key elements
  that are known to increase skills in younger kids and teenagers. For example, memorization.
  All video games force you to learn combinations, and key factors that determine your ability
  to move forward in levels. I haven't even begun mentioning how they require you to exercise
  your mind, externalizing how your mind works. The way you think when playing a video game,
  causes you to run perceptual simulations on what actions you will take next, and how you will
  complete a task, increasing mental dexterity skills. Games like Battlefield, actually increase
  cooperation and communication skills, as in order to complete a task you must talk to your
  team in order to find flanking routes and ways to successfully defeat them. Cognitive skills
  as well increase, such as: Sustained, Selective and Divided attention. For example, how many
  times have you found yourself texting, while completely engulfed into a video game? Or talking
  to friends, while trying to go positive and or get a killstreak on Call of Duty? It enables your mind
  to have hand-eye coordination to multi-task fluently without faults. As for sustained and
  selective attention we've all had to face a family member trying to show you something while
  we're playing a game, causing distractions but you're still able to manage and play the game.
  
  
• Most gamers will perform better than your non-gamer at tests that require logic, and reasoning
  and or visual processing. Not to mention, as a kid whom use to have ADHD I've found myself to
  have an increase in the way I process things, to where I'm able to complete tasks faster than
  my friends, and family members. Though I've always been smart, video games have helped me.
  From communication, to logic, memorizing patterns and creating solutions and techniques in
  my every day life that have given me the ability to foresee problems easier than they truly are.
  
  
• Though it does decrease physical activity, there are positive sides to consoles like the
  Wii which enable a gamer/individuals to get exercise and physical activity while having fun.
  Though I'm unsure about the Kinect, the Wii fit has changed several lives as far as weight goes.
  This is one of the many cons, but depending on who you are? It's your responsibility to find
  time to balance gaming into your life, to allow time for physical activities. Video games aren't
  the ones to blame, but the parents that allow their children and teenagers to play for long durations.
  

New technology is being created:

• Video games force companies like NVIDIA and AMD/ATI to continue creating new Graphics
  cards so other companies like Microsoft and Sony can continue competing with one another. Not
  to mention, it allows hospitals to use the latest technology to find more accurate results when
  someone suffers from a stroke, tumors in the brain, aneurysms, swelling and bleeding of the brain,
  tears in the heart and aorta, changes in tissue and structure of the body. Without high end graphics
  cards, we wouldn't be able to detect things as fast as we're able to nowadays. They've pushed
  the envelope on many new innovations that we all love and enjoy, giving us entertainment that
  we all take for granted (in my opinion) that we didn't have 20 years ago when I wasn't around.
  
  
• There are tons of simulation games that we have benefited from, that have created better
  airline pilots, soldiers, and doctors. We're able to have realistic simulations that mimic real life
  situations that soldiers might experience when on the battlefield, or pilots might experience
  when in flight with hundreds on board. Video games have made a substantial impact in technology.
  

Video games have created many jobs:

• Video games have undeniably become one of the biggest entertainment markets, twice as
  big as the music industry and movie industry right now (Google if you don't believe me). This
  industry has given tens, of thousands of individuals jobs (For example): Customer Representatives,
  Beta Testers, Game Developers, Game Art, Retail Employees (Like Gamestop), and many others.
  

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I could list off so many reasons why we've benefited from video games. I wrote an essay on this
in like, ninth grade and had to research cognitive skills that have been impacted giving younger
kids nowadays advantages over their peers. Being nineteen, I can also say it's helped me a lot
as far as communicating, and logic goes. I'm more interested in reading, learning, books, and
things that challenge the mind. I never use to be into them until I began playing Video games.


Regardless - it's all perspective. We're all entitled to our own opinions, but those that tear
video games down and say they increase violence in younger adults and teenagers are absolutely
wrong. Good parenting, and who you are as a person reflects off of whether you're going to take
a game like Grand Theft Auto IV serious. So I'll say video games are absolutely great for society.

They create a ton of dorky (the best) jobs. Also, they keep some types of kids off the street, and relieve stress to people of all ages (for the most part).

They only put a bad mark on when people get addicted.

theartftw wrote The tenth General Discussion section debate. Rules are the same as the previous, but for new people here they are:

• Do not flame others for their opinions.
  
• Thumbs up or thumbs down other users posts if you agree or disagree respectively.
  

I will give a rep reward to the person with the highest amount of thumb's up, and to the answer I personally like the most, so be sure to think long and make your answer thorough, voting down does nothing.

So the question of the day: Have video games left a positive impact on the world?

Parents think that these games rot the brain. Also, violent video games are readily blamed by the media and some experts as the reason why some youth become violent or commit extreme anti-social behavior. But many scientists and psychologists find that video games actually have many benefits the main one being making kids smart. Video games may actually teach kids high-level thinking skills that they will need in the future.

Positive Ways
Video games give your childs brain a real workout. In many video games, the skills required to win involve abstract and high level thinking. These skills are not even taught at school. In shooting games, the character may be running and shooting at the same time. This requires the real-world player to keep track of the position of the character, where he/she is heading, their speed, where the gun is aiming, if the gunfire is hitting the enemy, and so on. All these factors need to be taken into account, and then the player must then coordinate the brain's interpretation and reaction with the movement in their hands and fingertips. This process requires a great deal of eye-hand coordination and visual-spatial ability to be successful. Research also suggests that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual attention skills from video games. There have been even studies with adults showing that experience with video games is related to better surgical skills. Also, a reason given by experts as to why fighter pilots of today are more skillful is that this generations pilots are being weaned on video games.

Negative Ways
Of course, there is another side to this coin, such as the studies that link playing violent video games with aggression in children. And this underlines half of the problem - not all video games are violent, but the media perspective of games focuses on this element. Most of the bad effects of video games are blamed on the violence they contain. Children who play more violent video games are more likely to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and decreased prosocial helping, according to a scientific study (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). The effect of video game violence in kids is worsened by the games interactive nature. In many games, kids are rewarded for being more violent. The act of violence is done repeatedly. The child is in control of the violence and experiences the violence in his own eyes (killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting). This active participation, repetition and reward are effective tools for learning behavior. Too much video game playing makes your kid socially isolated. Also, he may spend less time in other activities such as doing homework, reading, sports, and interacting with the family and friends.

Honestly, it is hard for me to say whether video games have left a positive or negative impact on the world because in truth it is an individual choice. Whether or not the player can play it in moderation and not let it bring other blocks of life down, is entirely up to that person. I would say video games bring more opportunities to leave a positive impact, but like I said, it really only depends on the player and if they are able to balance reality from the fiction worlds of video games; and also have the simple human knowledge of what is right and what is wrong.

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Positive Aspects of Video Games:

• One is that it has been studied and tested, and it was said that those who play video games have better visual skills such as hand-eye coordination, better peripheral vision, and the ability to better block out distractions. Another positive impact that I have learned from talking to other individuals is that video games can be a positive outlet for stress. Those who have family/friends struggles, maybe a violent household, trying to kick bad habits, or something as simple as having a bad day- can seek refuge in video games. It can provide a sense of safety in the creative worlds of the games; and games like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, etc. can be a place where the player can release all of the built up anger and tension by taking it out on the characters in the game. This is a much better alternative than taking it out on real people.
  
  
• Games like Skyrim allow the opportunity for players to gain problem solving skills, how to manage resources, and many other positive skills. Think about online gaming here - it has the ability to allow kids to interact with millions of other people of all ages. This can help anyone who may be shy or timid learn to become more open and enhance his or her ability to engage in conversation with people along their way in life. Looking at whether or not video games make a positive impact or not in simple terms - We all know that we should do things that make us happy; things that we enjoy doing, that get us through the day. Video games can be just that for a large number of people.
  
  
• Video games these days are also encouraging and allowing everyone the ablity to stay active and get fit from the comfort of their own home. If it is a concern, no one would have to worry about what people think about them at the gym or other fitness establishments when they can just turn on their Wii, Kinect for Xbox, or Playstation Move; so there really are very few excuses as to why an individual can't maintain or begin a healthy lifestyle. Games such as EA Sports Active and Wii Fit can let anyone have a great time while they burn off calories and shed off pounds at the same time!

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Negative Attention:

• One of the biggest things that pops out to me when I think of negativity surrounding video games is the Daniel Petric case. The so called "Halo Killer". Some of you may have heard of him, some may not, but I'll give you a brief summary of what happened. Daniel Petric is a teenager from Wellington, Ohio who shot both of his parents at the age of 16 over a video game disagreement. His mother was killed and his father was badly injured, but recovered. It all began between Daniel and his parents began when they forbade Daniel from buying and playing the Xbox 360 game Halo 3 because they didn't like the idea of him playing violent and mature video games. Daniel sneaked out of the house one evening and purchased Halo 3 at the midnight release without either of the parents knowing, and when he got home his mother found out what he had been doing. They immediately took the game away. They put it in a safe that also concealed a 9 mm handgun. About one month after the game was taken away from Daniel, he used his fathers key to unlock the safe and take back his game. Daniel also took his fathers 9 mm handgun along with the game. Court reports stated that Daniel came up behind his parents and said Would you close your eyes, I have a surprise for you. Daniel then proceeded to shoot both of his parents.
  
  It is situations like this, where the individual can't find the balance for moderation and reality, that the critics of video game effects feed off of. Daniel should have learned that it is simply just a game and that it is important to have a healthy balance of other aspects of life such as family, school, friends and so on. His addiction got the better of him, and in the spur of the moment his anger got the better of him, which leads me to my next points that critics of video games point out. Addiction and temper.
  
  
• I will say this over and over again, but it is really how video games work; either you can realize that it is just a game, and continue to remember what is acceptable and what is not (in real life), or you can bring your video game world into your everyday life. Some people let the video games they play teach them the wrong values. Violent behavior, vengeance and aggression are rewarded in games such as Grand Theft Auto Saints Row among many more. Negotiating and other nonviolent solutions are often not options. Moderation, Moderation, Moderation. I believe all video games are fine in moderation, but addictive behavior can be bad. Many professionals suggest that video games can be addictive for the player, and that his or her addiction can lead to an increase in depression and anxiety levels. Addicted kids also tend to show signs of social phobias.

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I believe that for the most part, video games have made a postitive impact on the world.
The reason i would say no, is because of games like call of dauty or halo, they are both so violent.
but games like kinect games, cn help children have fun without violence.