None of us are at all unfamiliar with the term "gaming". Gaming is an extremely popular hobby in the modern world. All of us are familiar with big titles like Grand Theft Auto,Need For Speed,Assassin's Creed and others. Earlier,it was thought that gaming was only meant for teenagers,however,it not so any longer. There are no restrictions on who can become a gamer - and,trust me,all one needs to be a gamer is a passion for gaming.
The gaming industry had started to thrive at the end of the Cold War years,when old timers like Mario and Contra made our day. (I still remember myself sitting in front of my TV with my Atari,killing a boss on Contra and wishing for an S gun). Since then, there has been a gradual development of the industry,promoting the creation of better games with more features than was imagined only a few years before. Big companies like Take-Two Interactive,Ubisoft,Electronic Arts,etc. have really promoted the gaming industry through their games,which mop up millions of dollars in revenue in games sales as well as sales of downloadable content offered on their games to enhance the gaming experience. Now,we have games of every generation in our hands. Be it action,adventure,RPG,racing,shooter,open world,etc. we have all it takes to enjoy atleast an hour or two before our gaming instruments (a PC or a console).
The gaming industry has not only directly provided employment to many tech geniuses who would otherwise have been left unemployed or working in some office for low wages under bad conditions,it has also boosted the hardware and software industry industry. Big companies like Nintendo,Sony,Microsoft,NVIDIA,AMD,Intel,etc. are engaged in the production of hardware to run the games that we like to play. Software used for chatting over the microphone,for messaging other people,for making efficient usage of memory resources,etc. have become very popular because of the boom in the gaming industry.
Gaming soothes the minds and helps us take a break after a long day at work. It helps us forget the stress of our lives and put ourselves in the boots of some character in a video game,and enjoy! It is also suggested that games do teach us some things. Games meant for kids try to inculcate moral values. Games for elders are mostly story-driven and show us the story of the protagonist(s) as heshethey battle out all problems in life to gain salvation. Most video game stories are very enjoyable, are people from all age groups enjoy them. Besides,getting good hardware and running games at maximum graphics is a thing every gamer likes to do.Games inculcate knowledge of history (I still remember the guide in Age Of Empires that taught me many things about history) and good English in gamers also. They also sharpen the minds of the gamers (as one has to often think carefully in most games).
However, gaming has its disadvantages also. Too much of gaming is as addictive as alcohol or drugs. One thinks of games (yeah,even during work hours) and this hampers productivity. Gamers stick to the small screen for many hours and this hampers their sense organs. Gamers also tend to lose their social skills and can't mix up well with non-gamers(who don't understand any of their gibberish). Another negative aspect of games is the ever-increasing system requirements for all games. Any piece of hardware lasts barely four to five years before one has to get a replacement in order to continue with their hobby. All gamers do not come from the same economic background,they cannot afford to change their systems so fast. Moreover,it also means that the maximum use of the potential of a piece of hardware is never made.
Gaming has its advantages and disadvantages. Gaming,done moderately,helps rather than harms (as is the case with alcohol or drugs). In the end,it is gamers who must decide whether they must excel at life in the real world,or lose their identity forever in some virtual world.