Honey, Why Don’t You Play a Video Game?

Okay, how much damage has she done to the bloody car this time? Is the first thought that screams across my beleaguered brain. But her car is okay, she hasn’t been shopping and her mother’s arriving for a visit next month. So what the hell is going on here? My mind races. Is this some kind of trick? My eyes narrow behind the newspaper, not reading a word. She’s up to something, but I don’t let on that I’m wise to her wiles. Hang on a minute! Is a musical theater show coming to town?!

I make a non-committal grunt and scrabble to the entertainment section in a raw panic, though on the surface I appear millpond still. Over the years I’ve mastered this little trick of outward ice and inward fire. It’s a survival technique men have evolved to navigate the miasma of relationship bliss. A bead of sweat rolls unbidden from my armpit as I achieve the appropriate page. I find no show tunes on my immediate horizon. The relief is so palpable I have to restrain myself from sobbing a little cry of joy. This respite doesn’t last long, however, as another possibility dawns on me:

Maybe she wants to go for a walk?! Quickly, my thoughts gather and excuses begin to flip before my mind’s eye like flash cards in a procrastinated cramming session.

“It’s just that, I’ve noticed you’ve been a little short with me lately, and you’re a lot easier to talk to after you’ve blown some stuff up.”

I smell treachery; she’s actually making sense.

But I also know this – she didn’t come up with that perceptive nugget of information by herself. I decide she’s been talking to her friends and one of them has mentioned this phenomenon occurring with her own significant other. I make a mental note to buy Geoff a beer next time I see him. I don’t know how he pulled it off but congratulations are in order. Nazi zombies, here comes death!

Video games are often maligned as being a complete waste of time and effort, usually by those ignorant of the benefits. Benefits, you say?! Yes, benefits. Video games hone hand/eye co-ordination, manual dexterity, reaction times and visuo-spatial awareness. Problem-solving is an endemic part of the storyline arc of most games. Online, additional factors such as strategic thinking and co-operative participation become paramount. A veritable mountain of scientific evidence backs these claims, not least among which is their application as a noted stress reducer.

Several years ago there was a rash of articles making the rounds in newspapers and magazines about US Marines in combat zones playing Halo on their downtime to relieve stress, apparently to great effect. Games have a much higher immersion quality than movies, so much so that for the brief period you are playing, you forget about all those other things contributing to your stress level. It’s a little therapeutic timeout for your mind, as well as a mental workout.

“Well, darling, if it’s good enough for the Marines…”

photo courtesy of cloneofsnake

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