Can games affect your computer

When I first started gaming and building my own computers we generally had to set up our own parameters to the gaming environment in the computer and often even changed the characteristics in the Kernel or the chip set. Back then you could affect the regular use of your computer if you did not make sure to change things back to the way they were originally. Now days coders and engineers write all the code within the confines of a prescribed environment that seldom changes. Strings of commands are cobbled together within this environment to create the modern game. The environment handles any changes and controls things like security, errors, and any odd commands that would hurt your computer, so in short today your games are safe and would not hamper your computer in any fashion as long as your computer meets the minimum or recommended requirements listed on the game packages.