In today’s digital age, many have heard of the term ‘FPS’ but some might not know what it actually stands for. FPS games, most commonly known as First-Person Shooter games, is a genre that allows the player to play in a first-person perspective with the use of guns or other special weapons. FPS games share common traits with other shooter games in a genre but it’s more than just playing the game, it has its own community.
Photo by Gerard Yeap on Instagram
Can you imagine? Players from different platforms can communicate and play together. The same game can cater to 3 different platforms like PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. For example, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a 2019 shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It can fall under Action and FPS which allows players to cross-play. Nowadays in online video gaming, cross-playing or some would call it cross-platform-play is the ability of players to use different gaming platforms to play and communicate with each other. This feature is put into this game because developers want to factor in play balancing across different controller types since keyboard-and-mouse tends to offer better performance than a gamepad in shooter games.
Photo by Gerard Yeap on Instagram
Often, people think that playing games can somehow make you more prone to acting violently. However, research has proven that it actually provides you several benefits, especially when playing FPS games. Playing this specific genre helps to improve brain functions like cognitive abilities and learning skills. Besides that, it improves executive control and decision making which helps you to develop a better working memory. To prove this statement, a study was conducted by the Scientific American Mind which showed those who played shooter games obtained better results on a test that revolved around abilities such as spatial reasoning, spatial focus, visual acuity, and decision-making. In turn, this can aid students with their studies since FPS games require quick thinking and precision in decision making through the games’ shooting aspect.
FPS games are also one of the leading video game genres, beating competitors like RPG and Strategy games. However, have you ever wondered why FPS games can be so addictive? First-Person Shooters tend to be very quick because it’s an action-packed game which gets your adrenaline flowing. Each match is short; hence, it helps people to de-stress and release frustration. Due to this, a player doesn’t have to invest a lot of time and effort into any particular match.
Photo by Gerard Yeap on Instagram
On the other hand, there are ups and downs to FPS games as well. Because it is addictive, there can be serious side effects due to playing for long periods of time. A full-time gamer could potentially start to feel pain in your neck and elbows because of sitting upright for a long time. It could also cause health issues in the long run because of the lack of physical activity which is bad for one’s health. FPS games are fun to play, but we need to learn how to discipline ourselves and limit our time spent gaming.
In our modern generation, technology has come a long way. Gamers have been blessed as gaming technology has reached many new heights. FPS games have been in the market for a long time with there being so many forms of it available. In my opinion, it will always be one of my favourites, because these games allow their players to experience the thrill and excitement of real-life combat, providing an adrenaline-pumping experience that makes FPS games so addictive.
By: Gerard Yeap