How have video games helped you in your life?

A few sports games teached me some tactics and rules about some sports. Racing/driving games have helped how to drive alittle(is kinda hard to explain as I didn't really learn everything but I learned how to accelerate slowly and how to use manual transmission but still need to learn some others things such as how to fix and how to avoid crashes) fighting games teached me self defense, puzzle games help with IQ.

1) I met all my best friends through gaming, although many of them don't game anymore, we are still close and are friendships were kindled through various video game related experiences.

2) I was manager of funcoland through college, where I met a ton of great people and had a nice easy low key job and was able to complete my schoolwork at work.

3) as a teacher my love of games allows me to very easily connect with my students, and very often I bring in my consoles for parties or I let kids play games on my laptop at lunchtime.

4) as a kid, I had it pretty rough, and games gave me an escape that I sorely needed through some of the most difficult moments of my life. Also, my love of fighting games inspired me to work out and learn various martial arts. I always wanted to be as skilled as Ryu and as strong as Zangief which kind of shapes my fitness regiment.

Some of the games have taught me a bit more about history.

Guilds can teach management and leadership skills.

And of course, my typing skills greatly increased playing PC games!

I'm sure there are a lot more things that could be added to what games have taught me over the years.

Video games helped me understand people in general. I'm autistic, so social skills aren't exactly my strong suit. Playing story-driven games helped me to understand emotions and body language better than film or TV ever did. I also learned how to multitask better, and that alone got me through high school. That, and it helped me to find my current career path, which is game design.

It's people like this that help the videogame community have a more useful purpose then the social media makes videogames out to be.Politicians/social media,etc....alway's make the game community out to look bad is some sort of sense or another,violence,sex,crime,etc...

It's stories like this that the politicians should take notice and realize that videogames do a lot of good as well.

I tip my glass to you Sir,you should be an example for many others to follow.

It helped me get bad grades and lose some friends. Well still enjoy the heck outta them.

Games have personally done a lot for me in my life overall. I've made a lot of lasting friendships through shared interest in games, I've learned a lot about narrative and story telling form them, though that may seem weird, and they've often helped me work through various issues in my life. Games are a whole lot more than just a hobby in the side for me, and they've provided consistently enjoyable and meaningful experiences for me throughout

It's provided me endless hours of enjoyment and made me happy.

I was a bit slower then everyone else in learning when I was a child, making reading something I was not proficient in at all, to the point of being several levels behind my peers. Games like final fantasy and legends of dragoon helped me break from that lack of ability and forced me through their text based talking and stories to break free of that gap. I can truly say video games helped me to push past my so called disabilities and lack of interest in learning within the school environment and made me into a smarter better person. Without them I don't know if I would have gotten to the point I am today in that regard and many others like it (Business, money management, people management etc...)

Also during times of severe depression they've kept my mind busy and active while I was mentally and physically not capable of doing much. Without them those times in my life would have been far worse, most likely to the point of suicide as at times depression has taken every ounce of well being from my minds perspective. I firmly believe the activity of playing games during those times, helped me to feel accomplishment and worth when at my lowest points in life when those feelings felt so unobtainable/out of reach due to the mental illness. They gave me hope and self worth when I had none and offered me a way to block out and forget about the negative voice all ways bringing me down even if just for a short while.

They've also helped me to understand empathy, as when I was a child it was a concept I had a very hard time grasping. I could be blunt and downright horrible to people, and playing through the many stories of the ps1 ps2 and pc over my years as a kid really helped me to learn to implement and use empathy within my daily life.

In short without them I'd not be me. My whole life I've played and learned and enjoyed from this entertainment medium called games. Without them my whole identity and life could have gone in a very different and I think far worse scenario then I'm in now. Hope they continue to evolve and teach/entertain me, as until the day that stops I'll be playing games.