As it comes to the end, it’s hard not to accept that 2021 was just a little different than 2020. Covid-19 disease, global political turmoil, climate change — all of last year’s crisis came to a head. The result was another 12 months that paid everyone’s health tax and forced many of them to flee wherever they could find them, often in video games.
To be honest, I’m really in this camp. In the last year, my relationship with the sport has changed dramatically, from a sport to something I do to endure. As the parent of an unborn child, it is difficult to get out; to play Mass Effect: Legendary Edition or Horizon Zero Dawn it is the only opportunity I have to explore. “Without a doubt, sports can be psychologically beneficial,” says Megan Connell, a psychologist who specializes in sports. “Sports give us time to relax. It gives us a sense of accomplishment. ” But as the year went by, I struggled with something else: Knowing that while sports have always been important to me, is a way out that not everyone has.
This distinction is always evident when I look at my house. Not only have I had an iPhone recently and an iPad, but also a Mac, a PlayStation 5, and a Nintendo Switch OLED, and I have the opportunity to find a Xbox Series X (technically my husband). My game setup also uses a 4K projector with a 120-inch screen, so when I play, I am completely immersed. None of these things are meant to be proud. Only the more I was surrounded by my weapons, the more I realized that gaining mental health benefits from sports goes hand in hand with ending affordability game.
Of course, there are cheaper games – most titles are free, and mobile games are usually cheaper. Registering and selling events can also help reduce financial impacts, but this does not change the fact that the barrier to entry in the game – the cost of consoles, PCs, and other devices – can be very high.
And they think you can even to find hardware; the latest PS5 and Xbox still hard to find, even a year after its establishment. And Switch OLED is very simple – I was able to get mine because I was so happy to see one in the group, I bought it right away without thinking. Most people do not have the time, resources, or expense to use this brand, especially when you consider the cost of purchasing another device or the cost of trying to make a gaming PC during a chip shortage.
Earlier this year, late this summer, I wrote about how I rejoiced at my change in the world. It wasn’t that I was so obsessed with computer games that I couldn’t go to the park without them; It was that after a few months of being together, sports became a way to reduce stress. Play Mass Effect I also got the same results at home. Make no mistake about it, running for a long time can be destructive – Connell admits – but at a time when people need a break where they can get it, the game has proven to be worth it. The problem is, it does not breathe anyone can hold.
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