The Healing Power of Gaming

Bare with me as I indulge in the glories of Geekdom. A new mega gamer has risen above thousands of players to practically beat a console game. Other players thought he was so good at Gears if War they accused him of meta gaming – finding a flaw in the programming that allowed him to exploit play or hack the game program.

Aldo Cauvi who plays as Panconbasura, lost his hearing two years ago in an accident. Peru doesn’t offer many opportunities for the disabled so he’s been keeping busy gaming while waiting for surgery to improve his hearing. Just as you would need your hearing in true combat, using it in simulated combat improves your chances of escaping an ambush or ambushing opponents.

Aldo didn’t sleep much during his game play and beta testing. (Which is an opportunity to play a game and offer feedback to programmers before full release.) In fact, some would say he was a bit obsessed. People who are depressed can become addicted to video games. There is also a positive side to gaming be it table top or console. It keeps the mind busy.

I started playing Dungeons and Dragons when I was in the sixth grade and I kept playing until just a few years ago mainly because no one else games in my small town. The game allowed me to safely try out different personalities and solve puzzles. It helped me experience assertiveness and confidence. As a child in a dysfunctional household, gaming was crucial to my mental health. It also helped me make friends. My friends and I gamed during study hall and got away with it because we said all the dice we were throwing was for our math class. As an adult I know the teacher wasn’t that gullible. I think she knew we were good kids who needed time to play.

Today gaming is still therapeutic for me as long as I balance it out with other activities such as walking my dog and actually keeping my house clean. Okay, depression is another post all together. As someone who is bipolar and has destroyed things, including my husbands art because I’m angry, or breaking dishes, blowing some digital images up or playing guitar as a tattooed, pierced, gothic bad ass really eases my stress.

It’s a hobby that my husband and I enjoy. We kill zombies together laughing and giving each other high fives. Currently we’re playing Fable II. It’s an RPG (role playing game) set in a fantasy world. Just as we discuss our dreams in the morning, we tell stories about what our characters did. Some people golf, some watch sports. We and many others game.

Read more about Aldo at GCON: Gears Community Online Network gearscon.com/?p=207

What are your favorite video games? Facebook games are pretty popular. Do you play any of those to relax?