What are the benefits of video games

That is a wide question with endless answers, but I'll name a few from personal experience and observation through several people in all age spans which I've personally seen. The answer will also vary depending on which games you'd play. Video games helps stimulating a persons ability to connect elements in order to solve problems, as well as analysing its cause to begin with. For me, it was also the main tool in learning English, as my Norwegian 1st-7th grade didn't provide sufficient coverage of it. In extreme cases, it has lead some heavily depressed and socially repressed people to take a chance and build up belief in themselves. I lead a World of Warcraft guild for almost eight years. Two of my members never got out and didn't believe in the world. In their eyes, the world was ugly. I met them face to face in London, 2010, their first trip there. They're now happily married and venturing to another country to study, pursuing a career path. For some, it's an anger outlet. For some, it's competition and sport, just as any physical one. For a few, like myself, it has been the inspiration to what I now do professionally. But for most people, the main benefit is one thing and one thing only... Killing time. For those arguing about why gaming is socially destructive, I tell them this: There is no difference spending 4 hours in front of the PC / PS / Xbox a day from reading four hours a day, watching TV four hours a day or playing the piano four hours a day, other than you often play video games with other people and have a tons of different possibilities of self-improvement as written throughout this answer.