How Video Games Can Be Bad for You

As many parents have known since they were first created, video games can be bad for you (they can be good for you too, but that is another article). While many gamers do not fit the usual stereotype of the gamer, the stereotype did come from somewhere. Sadly enough, many people have become the fat slob sitting on his/her parent's couch all day and playing video games. Becoming the fat loser is only the tip of the iceberg of things that can go wrong when people play video games.

Even though a recent study has concluded that gamers can lose up to 600 calories an hour from playing video games, Thos calories are easily negated by the snacking that many gamers do (not me, I cannot eat while I am playing a video game, Cheetos on my controls, yuk). Also, only the most active gamers lose that much (Wii gamers can lose even more than 600 an hour). Many players cannot sit completely still and just move their thumbs when they play a game. Those people are the ones that burn the 600 calories an hour.

It may sound stupid to you, but many hard-core gamers and game testers can devolope problems with their hands. Gamers can develope tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome, requiring the gamer to undergo a surgery to correct the problem. Another common ailment is simply sore thumbs. One example of how bad sore thumbs can be is one time, when I was trying to meet a deadline for a game guide, I began to have bad cramps in my hand resembling when I get writer's cramp. It began to hurt to put any pressure on my thumbs. I had to stop playing for a little while and the pain mostly went away. I still couldn't use my thumbs for a few days. It was a good thing that i do not use my thumbs when I am typing, or else I would not have been able to meet my deadline. I couldn't wrie out anything, play games (after that marathon, I was gamed out anyway), or do anything else that required the use of my thumbs without pain.

Many video games have bright-usually flashing screens. Certain patterns and colors can give someone playing the game a seizure. Some people would be very prone to the seizure, others would not be affected at all by the same pattern of colors and flashes. There is even a warning in the manual for the Playstation 2 (and probably in the manuals of all other gaming consoles) about the possibility of seizures. It has been known for a long timethat certain images on a TV can cause seizures. One famous example of a mass seizure caused by television happened several years ago when a large percentage of the kids watching an episode of Pokemon had seizures all at once.

A gamer can quickly develope bloodshot eyes from playing a video game. I get them almost everytime is play a game for more than one hour, but I have been prone to bloodshot eyes since I was nine and was shot. That eye is the only one that gets bloodshot. Playing the games for any length of time can also affect you vision, a most games are best played in the dark and the changing intensity of the light from the TV screen will make your eyes work too hard.

Playing a game for a long time can also give a person headaches. This is caused by the same things that cause seizures and bloodshot eyes.

Video games can be costly. New video games can easily be $50 or more. Even older games can be costly. I pay at least $10 for each game I receive, but I refuse to pay more than $20 for a game (the cost of a greatest hits game at Walmart). The only way that I am able to afford to buy games is because I buy one, then play it, then write one review and one guide on that game, then I re-sell the game to get another one. I always come out ahead on each game, making up to $5 on each one. Also, the consoles can cost as much as a computer.

One of the worst possible consequences of playing video game is that fact that gaming can be addictive. A few of the symptoms of video game addiction include not wanting to be around real people, thinking about gaming all of the time, and spending large sums of money for games all of the time.

Video games are a good form of entertainment, but only in moderation. Too much gaming will make you the gamer's stereotype for sure.