easy, all my side effects are good.
i'm not over-weight. i'm not un-healty. I play games alot.
my reading speed is above average. I type really fast ( thats due more to chatting than games )
And my hand eye reaction speed is 30% faster than average ( thats at 8am, without any stimulants...aka, Caffene, chocolote...ect..and 8am for me is EARLY! )
when i was tested for medical stuff a while back, my hand eye reaction time was tested, so thats how i know how fast i am.
Due to the fact that i play alot of RPG's, my vocabulary is a bit more extensive ( except i don't really show it on the boards for some reason, maybe i'm just to lazy to type out the big words, and i use small ones instead ), again my reading speed is quite fast. I understand things very easily, and don't have to be told things over and over to get it.
And the fact that i have met some good friends online while playing games, it helps me to have fun. and when i have fun, i am happy. And being happy does wonders for your health and mind.
so basicly, i have no ill-effects from gaming.
Also, i wrote a paper on the effects of gaming a few years back for school. It mainly had to do video games and violence. but i had to put in other benifits of video games. I used myself as an example in that paper.
Edit: Also, after reading about everyone noticing their surrounds better, I realized i do that too. I just get a better picture of whats around me than most. I notice tiny little things. Like said before, when something isn't straight. Or someone sits something small in a spot, and they do it very carefully, as where no one else notices they do it. but i spot it right away, and know that they did it. Its not just the enviroment i notice, but the tiny minute actions people do as well.
Its funny, someone carefully grabs something, to be ready to throw it. but i'm one step ahead of them. i see them do it. then they wonder how the hell i knew they was going to throw it, and what they were going to throw. Or they wonder how i saw them get ready.
Also, you seem to notice where people's eyes go. If they are about to hit you, watch their eyes. 90% of the population will Look before they strike. Which tells you where they are about to hit. giving you the upper hand.