I’m a lifelong video gamer. I already know one downside; its ruined my eyes. Although they are still tolerable in that I can still play games. I have noticed that it seems like my hand eye cordination is better than those I know who cannot or will not play these games. This leads me to three questions.
What are the postive effects of video gaming?
How much of an impact does said gaming have on your brain’s reaction time?
To what extent does the military value gaming as a training and readying tool? I have noticed the Army has become involved in the development of several tactical games such as Full Spectrum Warrior and America’s Army.
Off the top of my head, improved hand/eye coordination and improved problem solving skills (if indeed you are playing VG’s which require such - I’m an RPGer myself). I’m sure someone with real answers to your question will be along soon - me, I just remembered my old Genesis rotting in the closet, think I’ll have a go at the old Shining Force II.
I’m in total agreement about the RPGs. Nothing racks the brain more. At the moment I’m playing NHL 2003 by EA Sports. Also played Morrowind recently, on the XBOX.
There was a study recently that showed that surgeons who spent more than 3 hours a week playing video games had 37% fewer errors while doing laparoscopic surgery, and performed those surgeries 27% faster than their peers who did not play video games. So, try and make sure your surgeon is a gamer.
Some years ago (before most folks, including myself, had a PC at home), I was diagnosed with wrong eye dominance. IOW, even though I’m right-handed, my left eye is dominant. This makes me a bit of a natural klutz. The opthalmologist who discovered this little bit of trivia about me recommended that I play arcade games to improve my hand-eye coordination. This is how I came to spend many, many hours of my late 'teen years/early 20’s, in the back room of a little diner called CrabTown USA, playing Pac Man, Mario, Jump Man and Donkey Kong. I don’t know if it helped or not, but I do know it was nice to have a doctor’s excuse to go to the arcade!
Personally, I think computer (but not necessarily console) games, can also help with mouse/keyboard productivity, since many games require either fast reflexes of the mouse, and keyboard shortcuts/hotkeys, which can translate into increased speed on the job.
This is anecdotal but around the time I started driving I was also heavy into the Nintendo game “Paperboy” and found myself being uber aware of the road and stuff going on around me (that’s the gist of the game)
And in regards to what Viscera said - I got acclaimated to using my new laptop with the little nipply pointer thingy really fast by playing alot of FreeCell.
IANAS, but I think that the Army views such games more as a recruitment tool than as a training tool. In other words, an 18-year-old who plays America’s Army might think “Wow, this is really cool! I want to join the Army so I can do this stuff in real life!”, but you’re not likely to find many folks playing it at boot camp.
Well, I read an article in a newspaper a few months ago by a researcher who said that video game players (especially if they play First Person Shooters) are more likely to be lucid dreamers.
I don’t know if this is a “benefit” of gaming, but I think it’s pretty cool.
I managed to google up a similar article (IIRC, it’s about the same researcher) here:
Having interviewed the designers and the men running the project at E3 a few years ago I concur. The goal in the game is to sell the ‘concept’ of joining the service.
Well, I know that after I started playing the Grand Theft Auto games, that really helped my driving. I became very aware of when cops were nearby as well. And I would constantly get the urge to randomly run over pedestrians too.
IMO, it all depends on the video game and the person playing. It’s been said that video games can improve your hand/eye coordination. Applied to real life situations, I think this probably doesn’t add up to much. I’m not saying that in certain particular instances, like surgeons who perform laparoscopic surgery, it’s not helpful. But for normal Janes and Joes, I can’t see how playing Grand Theft Auto or Halo is going to make you better at your job or handling real life situations.
Video games can make for good learning and training tools when used in conjuction with other forms of direction. I saw somewhere that the Army is using video games to teach soldiers, not necessarily how to shoot or improve their hand/eye coordination, but how to work together as a team and the importance of listening and taking orders.
And I do think games makes your brain work in ways that didn’t exist before. Or if they did exist, it was in less popular forms such as role playing games or brain teaser like puzzles. Video games help you think outside the box. While this won’t affect most individuals, it will spawn a whole new group of thinkers that will influence our way of living. It’s just too early to tell how that may be at this point.
Plus I feel that it introduces younger people to be interactive with computers, something that is very important in our day and age. Video games like everything else we enjoy is another form of entertainment. Doesn’t mean it’s a waste of time but it also doesn’t mean it’s going to benefit you in anyway other than enjoyment and self-fulfillment. Myself, I’d rather have my kids (if I had any) playing Civilization or Final Fantasy than watching another crap TV show. But I wouldn’t want them to sit around playing video games all day and doing nothing else either.
I agree generally with you, but I think you have to distinguish between games.
Civilisation is a turn-based game which takes 10-40 hours to finish. It involves planning and knowledge of a number of factors built into the game (such as strength/cost of military units, types of Governments and value of scientific research).
Roleplaying games usually mix a plot with bursts of combat. Less detail than Civ type games, but still a thinking process.
Shoot-em-ups may well have hand-eye co-ordination value, but only develop reflex actions.
I spent a month last year with a gastroenterology group, and I spent a few days in the lab with them doing colonoscopies. They let me drive the camera for several of them, and they couldn’t believe that I had never done it before. One of them said I was probably on the level of a late first-year GI fellow by the end of the day.
“Two words,” I said. “Video games.”
“Oh, so you played a lot of video games as a kid?” one of them said.
