Too many prejudices about video games?

We all have prejudices and, especially if you are not a millennial or similar, some distrust towards video games easily takes root. This is demonstrated by an interesting anecdote that Francesco Toniolo , video game expert and professor at the Catholic University of Milan, inserted at the beginning of his “ Game culture ” (il Mulino, 2024, pp. 176, also e-book), a small volume specifically designed to overcome some commonplaces linked to the universe of electronic entertainment .

On December 21, 2023 , 13-year-old Willis Gibson became the first player in the world to reach the maximum level allowed in Tetris , the famous video game with blocks to fit together created in 1984. The news caused a sensation and there was no shortage of commentators who let slip the most classic of advice: “But why, instead of spending hours with a video game, my dear Willis, didn't you go out and play in the open air?” .

Good advice for all seasons, but, Toniolo writes in his book, would it have been given anyway if the young Gibson had spent his days playing chess? Or in another home pastime considered "morally" more acceptable. An impertinent and deliberately provocative question, but one that should at least lead us to reflect and try to better understand a phenomenon of global and generational significance. A phenomenon that moves a global market worth 188 billion euros every year. A figure like this indicates that behind the word videogame lie millions of jobs and hundreds of millions of users. Hidden are imagination, creativity, technology, resourcefulness and even the selfish pursuit of profit at all costs. In short, a complex and little-visited universe, except by end users, that Toniolo helps us understand, "freeing us" from the clichés that surround videogames.

Is there really anyone who still believes that video games are just games for a few enthusiasts? Or who thinks that gamers are all introverted teenagers locked in their bedrooms?

In recent years, the gaming universe – with its products, its characters and its consumers – has, in fact, changed a lot. Today it is a phenomenon with stories and protagonists that we also find in the cinema or on video platforms and with more and more people – of all genders and ages – who play all over the world, and no longer only on PCs or consoles, but increasingly often on their smartphones.

In short, video games are part of our time and our imagination and it is useless to think that there are valid alternatives capable of wiping electronic games off the face of the earth . And this is because for millions and millions of people video games are not comparable to any other game for a series of reasons, among these the fact that online gaming releases adrenaline but also the desire for aggregation, certainly virtual, between people who come from all over the world. It happens, in fact, to play with groups of twenty or thirty players, male and female, with whom you exchange information, creating a sharing and a complicity that only electronic gaming, today, can give.

It goes without saying that like every phenomenon, gaming also has its dark sides and we have all heard about them: players' tendency to overdo the hours of play, products that show too much gratuitous violence. But as always in situations where the negative aspect seems to prevail, there are also positive aspects linked to the player's ability and his countless coordination skills, and knowledge of computer tools. Without forgetting that mastery of the English language is often necessary because many games are only accessible in this language.

When faced with a situation of excess , one should find the middle ground . It is certainly a question of control, but playing can also mean relaxing from daily tensions, to experience positive emotions. Some scholars have also considered the benefits of online games that allow the user to develop and build self-esteem, a sense of self and the ability to plan, organize and collaborate with others during interactive games. In the end, as always, everything depends on the use that is made of them and the player's ability to self-control.