Are video games BAD or GOOD for you?

[checking facts]

like most things in life, it depends on how and how often you use them.

---------- Post added 2013-04-03 at 04:09 PM ----------

As much as I enjoy video games, I'd chalk it up to a "bad hobby" mostly because it isn't and inherently CAN'T be productive in anyway. There's a lot of productive hobbies out there. There's also a lot of unproductive ones but those are bad too.

I am brazilian, and I've learned 80% of my current english knowledge by playing video games. it was very productive to me.

[ranku]

ok so i'm back. now i can continue with what i meant by video games being good teaching tools.
people have used video games to learn different languages.
lots of math.
want to learn about physics? set up an explosion in MC and try to calculate where the block on top of it will go.
economics? doesn't take much auction house surfing to learn how a market works.
need management skills? lead a few raids and you will learn how to organize people well.
need to get people to understand group rolls and team work? set up some raids.
need help with statistics? theory craft.
social skill problems? start working with people in mmo's

like i said earlier, there are a plethora of legitimate uses for games.
this guy is very good at explaining this

[Sj]

This.

I learned more about leadership and managing people in half a year of raid leading than the rest of my life combined.
Raid leading is 100% about leadership. There are no wages, bonuses, or anything to keep a worker in line. If you piss them off, they can just go to a different guild. You have to make them want to listen to you.

Got to keep that mandate of heaven.

This is so true. My late sister was a raid leader for most of classic and TBC. She was a very quiet, mousy girl with very little confidence in herself. Over the course of those 3 years that she was a raid leader, she blossomed into a very self-assured and confident woman.

Raid leading experience from multiple MMOs is actually on my resume and CV; I feel it's actually helped me with the last few jobs I've had. If you can eloquently phrase "I coordinated a team of 40 people I don't know over the internet and achieved all the goals that were set," you'll impress any interviewer with an internet connection and an open mind.

[Zogarth]

Do everything in moderation.

[ranku]

Do everything in moderation.

pretty much this, though it may sound strange, even moderation must be taken in moderation (there are times where a person just needs to go nuts with something)

when it comes to games there is a bit of a spectrum of usefulness.
there are those who are not involved due to being too much of a realist and not seeing any value in games (i know a select few of these, never really got along with them)
there are those who only see them as a way to pass the time or relax
there are those in the middle who can see value in them but focus just as much on other things
there are those who spend a bit too much time on them but are able to anilyze them and see the hidden values and statements within the artform
and then those are those who are absolutely obsessed and while they may see the art and the lessons, are too focused to be able to use them in real life.

so depending on the person, it can fall anywhere here.

[Rampant Rabbit]

They have the possibility to be either. It all depends on how you approach gaming.

[Adam Jensen]

They are good for you in small doses. They improve hand-eye coordination and decision making, and for multiplayer games, they can improve teamwork and leadership skills (provided you partake in those roles.)

And like anything, they are bad for you in excess.