Does Gaming Affect Players' Physical Health? Games Like Call of Duty Might Be Instructive

There is a lot of talk about gaming and all the problems that it can potentially cause. But have worried parents of teens ever stopped to consider the positive effects that gaming might have on players? That's right. Gaming can actually do a lot of good things for people's health, too. Critics would be surprised to learn just how many good things can actually come out of the gaming experience. And an increasing number of studies are proving it.

There is no better game to illustrate this fact than Call of Duty. With its fast-paced environment, multi-player stakes, and minute details that require intense focus, this game can actually do a lot for the physical and mental health of players. 

If you are a player or a potential player, you should look around and see what is available. Active players can find useful guides online. This can provide a leg-up on the competition.

Why gaming can be good for you

Before we get to the specifics of Call of Duty, let's first step back and take a look at gaming as a whole. For all the talk about mental addiction and such, there is a lot that the critics are missing. Gaming helps players in many ways:

• Building motor skills and increasing reflex time. Super fast-paced games can be excellent for helping players build motor skills. When people are forced to use their hands really quickly in particular ways, blood flow to the brain and peripheries increases. This, in turn, can do amazing things for hand-eye coordination, developing fine motor skills, and increasing reaction times. All of these qualities can be applied to other real-world situations.
• Physical therapy. It might not be the most obvious source of rehabilitation, but gaming can actually be an excellent way to help with motor recovery following a physical trauma. Numerous health-related institutions use gaming as a way to help Parkinson's and related patients improve their balance, assist with walking mechanics, and overall improve mobility.
• “Exergaming.” Now that gaming is moving beyond the realm of the living room couch, phygital games are providing players with all new opportunities to move in ways that early game developers would never have thought possible. Exergaming includes things like motion-based games like Wii and VR rhythm games that actually force players to get up and move around. These games can help with lowering blood glucose, assisting in weight loss efforts, and providing cardio benefits.
• Stress relief and pain reduction. Because of the intense focus required to play games well, this diverts players’ attention from whatever stress they might be feeling in life, and even physical pain. Focusing on a game can help players lift their mood and reduce cortisol levels, which can lead to a healthier physiology overall.
• Brain health. Gaming can, in many ways, make people smarter. Particularly games that require strategizing and quick thinking can help players develop neuroplasticity and improve various cognitive functions, including the ability to multitask and think on their feet. It also helps delay age-related cognitive decline.

Why Call of Duty is the game to play

Before we get into the details of Call of Duty, we should begin by saying that it is not simply one game. Call of Duty has undergone diverse iterations over the years, keeping fans on their toes and eagerly awaiting the next entry. Entries have included futuristic environments, the Cold War, and fictitious places that players can explore and even customize to their personal preferences.

Physical benefits

Here are just a few of the ways that playing Call of Duty can help players with physical (not to mention personal) development:

• Developing hand-eye coordination. First-person shooter games have been proven to markedly improve hand-eye coordination. Players are forced to take visual input and immediately utilize it in appropriate commands. This helps with all manner of sensorimotor tasks and those that require finding and homing in on targets.
• Developing peripheral vision. Call of Duty players have to keep their eye on an entire battlefield as they find particular targets. This helps players develop the ability to spot objects, both moving and still, within any given point of a wider periphery.
• Overall visual acuity. Because Call of Duty involves having to find enemies in odd places, including distant corners of a screen, perhaps camouflaged and hiding, players are forced to train their eyes to look for minute objects in unlikely locations.
• Quick reflexes. The game requires split-second decision making, particularly when a player faces numerous threats at the same time. This helps them develop amazing reflexes, and also assists with muscle memory development overall.
• Pain reduction in multiplayer mode. Call of Duty is one of the most fast-paced games out there. And multiplayer mode in particular helps to focus players in such a way that they can often be fully distracted from pain or discomfort that they might otherwise feel. In fact, neurological studies have even found that physical pain can be reduced by more than half by focusing on the high-stakes, intense environment provided by the game.
• Anxiety reduction from team playing. Call of Duty is a game that involves coordinated action in squads. When players play together, they are forced to collaborate on team strategy, act in concert with one another, and ultimately bond from the experience. This helps to reduce anxiety and give players a sense of community.

These are just a few of the ways that Call of Duty can help players develop physical skills. Depending on the player and the individual environment, a whole range of physical benefits can be gained.

Not a total workout, but a strong supplement

Indeed, there are many physical benefits that can be gained from playing games like Call of Duty. This is not to suggest that gaming can be a wholesale replacement for physical workouts. Without question, people also need sports and other types of recreation to stay fully fit. And yes, parents should definitely be mindful of the potential psychological dangers of getting too involved in shooting games.

But neither should people completely write gaming off. If it can be utilized in moderation and in a way that doesn't completely suck players in to the point where they never want to leave their consoles, there are a lot of good things that can come from it. And Call of Duty is one of the best games out there.