Question: What are the long term consequences of playing too many computer games, or electronic games generally?

Phillip Wilkinson answered on 18 Mar 2013:

The long term effects can be thought of more easily in terms of their physical, mental and emotional impact and whether they are positive or negative.

Note that when I say linked, it does not mean that one causes they other, just that there is a general trend. This in science is called a correlation. Just because two things are correlated, doesn’t mean they cause each other.

Physical:
– Extensive video game use has been linked to obesity and bad posture.
– Focusing on the same thing for a long time can lead to eyesight problems; same applies to reading.
+ Study has shown surgeons who play video games are faster and make less mistakes during operations. So games help with hand eye-coodination.
+ Researchers in America are using video games to help people with eye-sight problems develop better peripheral vision.

Mental:
+ Video games have been linked to increases in problem solving ability, visual spatial reasoning (reasoning about objects positions etc).
+ Because video games are fun and motivational, there is a big movement towards educational games.
– Video games that give out too many trophies, and achievements can lead to instant gratification behavior. So we put off long term goals for short term rewards.

Emotional
– There is some evidence to support a link between violence in video games and violent thoughts,
– There is a link between video game over usage and a lack of confidence and social skills
+ Playing games with friends in a team demonstrates the same skills that are needed for team work in the real world.
+ To complete a game, we must overcome obstacles, pick ourselves up after failure, plan ahead and achieve goals <- people who demonstrate this behavior are usually more successful.

These are only a few of the long term impacts and the truth is we don't fully understand them all! This is because games are a relatively new phenomena and have only become massively popular in recent years.

Edit: Great question btw! Hope this at least starts to answer your question!