10 Surprising Ways Video Games Are Actually Good For You

2. Improve Motor Skills

The advent of physically interactive hardware such as the Wii and Xbox Kinect in the past decade has opened up exciting new areas of research for scientists interested in improving people's motor skills. Researchers at Australia's Deakin University recently discovered that children who play physically interactive games on the Wii have better object control skills and improved eye-hand coordination than those who don't. These results may be interesting, but it's hardly surprising that using your motor skills improves your motor skills, regardless of the situation. However, these results also indicate that video games can improve motor skills in a wider range of contexts that may be of more benefit to specific individuals. One researcher named Debbie Rand conducted a study at the Tel Aviv University to determine whether video games could be used to help rehabilitate stroke victims. To test this idea, Rand conducted traditional rehabilitation exercises with one group of patients while the rest played video games on consoles like Xbox 360 and the Wii. The video game group continued to improve motor skills like grip, even after the treatment had concluded. Another student recently conducted with cerebral palsy patients discovered improvements in balance after combining eight weeks of video game treatment with conventional physiotherapy. Parents who are worried their children may develop hand cramps or repetitive strain injury from playing too many video games should just remember that anything done excessively is going to be harmful, but moderate, regular video game playing can actually improve motor skills. Who needs sunlight and ball games when you can play Guitar Hero... right?