Video games teach us visual, critical, technological, and linguistic literacies that help us develop not only how we play games, but how we enjoy play. Jonathan Alexander makes a brief suggestion in his article Gaming, Student Literacies, and the Composition Classroom: Some Possibilities for Transformation that people may not necessarily be addicted to the video games, but to play itself.
Although the word addiction may be a bit ambitious, Alexander is getting at a valid point. The literacies learned through gaming allow the player enjoy play more because he or she is actively understanding the technological, linguistic, and visual spaces within the game. This, then, gives him or her more dominance within the game.
These literacies can also carry over into the real-world, providing players with advantages in school, career, and relationships. For example, the more technologically literate an individual is, the better equipped he or she is at operating within our technologically-dependent society.
