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> _Playing is a fundamental need. It is found in many animal species and is abolished only by certain important cognitive disorders or as a result of major trauma. The word "play" has two distinct meanings in some languages, including English: the activity of the cat playing with a ball of wool differs from that of a human playing chess. Indeed, a game-game is defined by a set of rules to which players agree to comply to achieve a goal. In addition, a game requires physical support (i.e., the hardware that allows playing the game, e.g. a deck of cards) and finally a dressing. These three levels are partly dependent, since the implementation of the rules imposes constraints on the physical medium. The video game essentially designates a computer game medium._

**The recurring debates on video games rely mainly on two criticisms. The first concerns the addictive nature of certain games. As with any technology, designers are partly responsible and should bear in mind the potential harms of their product. Perhaps systems could be put in place to prevent excessive playing time (such as TV or the Internet?). The second criticism concerns the overly violent dressing of certain games which are unknown Long-term effects on the player's behavior in the real world. However, there are at least two reasons to limit violence in games.**
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## <center>Sense of freedom</center>


* The first is the precautionary principle, the second is the observation that violence brings little to the player's experience. Recent studies show, in fact, that the pleasure of playing is determined by the sense of accomplishment and freedom generated by the game, and not by the violence of its content. A violent dressing is certainly attractive for some people, but it is repulsive for a large part of the population. Game developers therefore have a vested interest in reducing their violence.
* Among the new technologies, video games are no exception - they allow abuses, but also represent incredible opportunities. Indeed, some video games skillfully implement mechanisms whose understanding could revolutionize our approach to the cognitive man. Studies show that the regular practice of a specific type of games - the action video game - can have positive effects. Playing these games improves vision and could prove to be an effective treatment for some visual disorders.

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## <center>Men's Domain</center>

* The practice of video game action also affects space skills. These differ between men and women and play a role in their academic performance and in their choice of academic (scientific versus literary) training. Playing action games improves the spatial abilities of men, but even more so women's, to the point of blurring the differences between these two groups. Playing action games could therefore serve education and lead to more fairness; Alas, these games remain a male domain.
But these are but two examples of benefits among many others already known. Closer collaboration between researchers and game developers could expose their underlying mechanisms and enable their application for more serious causes, such as cognitive aging and education. All without medication, without medical intervention, at low cost and having fun!

* They are called "subjective shooting games". Often played on-line, these games, which aim to kill as many enemies as possible, are the target of all the critics: they would modify the consciousness of the reality, the management of the emotions and would have incited the authors of killings to pass to the act. Yet, while scientific studies highlight an impact on the use of violence among players, some highlight positive effects that are much more lasting and significant: playing action video games would increase the ability to make quick decisions and to ignore distractions. This would even improve the creativity of children.
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## <center>Intensive practice</center>

* According to a study published by TNS Nipo and Gamesindustry.com, 63% of French Internet users play video games. Boys aged 8 to 12 spend an average of six hours a week, and those aged 13 to 19 years, nine hours. What effect does this intensive practice have on the brain? Daphne Bavelier, who is studying cerebral plasticity at the University of Rochester, in the United States, and the University of Geneva, has come up with a question, somewhat by chance. "We were trying to improve learning, especially by increasing attention," she says. "We developed tests when we noticed that one of the students, a video game enthusiast, had remarkable attention skills."
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* The psychologist begins to take an interest in these games. The only ones to demonstrate a visible impact on cognitive abilities are violent action games, the most well-known of which are Halo, Call of Duty or Unreal Tournament. Their common thread? The player evolves in a complex world; His attention is divided, for he never knows when or where events will occur; When an event occurs, the player must react very quickly; This reaction requires constantly anticipating what can happen and imagining what happens outside the field of vision offered by the screen.

* The team began by comparing the performances of players and non-players in certain cognitive tasks. But the question of what was measured in this way was quickly asked: if the players showed better abilities in certain tests, was it because of their practice of video games or because, Such abilities, they felt at ease in these video games and became adepts? Another protocol was then put in place. It was a question of comparing subjects not playing video games and that was placed before a video game control, like Tetris (a puzzle game), to another group of novices who were placed in front of a game Video of violent shooting.

* The sessions of about one hour were repeated several times a week. Cognitive tests were then carried out 24 hours after the last session, so that no effect could be attributed to a point change in mood or excitement caused by the game. This was measured The performance change induced by playing a violent video game. Result: Players trained on action video games more easily follow a target in a complex environment. They develop a greater capacity for attention: when they have to look for a target, they become less tired and less distracted by other objects. They react faster, and they are also quicker to focus their attention on finding a new target.
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## <center>Visual activity</center>

* Those who have trained in action games have also developed their vision, apprehending more objects at a glance. Their visual attention is better distributed in space. They also get better results in visual acuity tests (they can read smaller written texts) and are more sensitive to contrasts. Finally, the effects are rapid. "After ten hours of play spread over a fortnight, significant changes in attentional capacity are already observed, says Daphne Bavelier. For other effects, such as vision, training should be about fifty hours out of eight Weeks. "Not all cognitive systems have the same degree of plasticity."

* These changes take several months. Vision is improved for at least two years, even if subjects do not replay during this period. Some other teams, such as Walter Boot at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have worked on the same subject, and their results are in the same direction: violent gamblers exhibit better short-term memory And pass more easily from one task to another. Linda Jackson of the University of Michigan found that of the 491 12-year-old boys she studied, those who play video games (violent or not) are more creative when asked to draw or 'invent stories.

* These beneficial results are all the more impressive since they are measured after few hours of play, are durable and have not been measured at all with other media (Internet or television) or With educational video games. In the latter, players practice a specific task. And if they become better with workout training on the task, it does not appear that this brain activity offers benefits outside of exercise. "Educational games do not have the complexity of action games," explains Daphne Bavelier, "but it is she who gives them their potential on cerebral plasticity."

* For Shawn Green of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it is also a subtle combination of "concentration and frequent stimulation of the reward circuit when a target is touched." The emotion generated by violence itself could also play a role in enhancing learning.
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## <center>Use in rehabilitation</center>

* These effects should not make us forget other effects of violent video games, much less beneficial, such as the violent excitement they provoke. Despite these real risks, can the beneficial effects of video games be put to good use? Certainly, it is always useful when driving in a congested street to have a good visual attention. The soldiers, infantrymen or fighter pilots, also benefit.

* Interestingly, surgeons with video games have better visuomotor coordination. However, tests on hyperactive people, for example, show that although they suffer from an attention deficit, they do not play in a way that allows them to be trained. On the other hand, the team of Dennis Levi of the University of California has shown that action video games (not necessarily violent) can be used to rehabilitate the visual abilities of adults with amblyopia, a visual deficit Of an eye appeared during development.

* This improvement would be five times faster than with conventional optometry techniques. There is therefore an interesting potential for re-education in video games. Their educational potential also seems under-exploited. Introducing more complex, more exciting, more structured scenarios should increase their brain impact. It remains to be seen whether violence can be dispensed with.
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