Co-Op Gaming Elicits Pro-Social Behavior

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Hey guys, did you know playing co-op games with others encourages pro-social behavior? Whoddathunkit?

John Velez, an assistant professor of journalism and electronic media in the College of Media & Communication, studied how cooperating with other players in both violent and non-violent video games extended to social situations after the controllers are put down. The results of one article suggest playing cooperatively with others can eliminate the negative effects of violent video games on players' aggressive behaviors in the real world.
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Not enough co-op games, at least good ones. The gf an I play destiny, diablo and borderlands
 
It's all part of the illuminati's plan to destroy the family unit man! They don't want you spending time with your family members and enjoying the same hobbies man! They want you on Facebook so they can data mine and you steal your rights man!

No but seriously, there needs to be more co-op options. Playing online is nice and all, but it shouldn't be the ONLY option.
 
Or WoW...

Waits, as a healer, for ZG level 85 group... gets in, kills first boss, tank leaves.

Waits 15 minutes, and 6 tanks later, I have not yet moved from the corpse of first boss.

Very pro-social indeed. Though I'd use the term 'very realistic'
 
chenw said:
Or WoW...

Waits, as a healer, for ZG level 85 group... gets in, kills first boss, tank leaves.

Waits 15 minutes, and 6 tanks later, I have not yet moved from the corpse of first boss.

Very pro-social indeed. Though I'd use the term 'very realistic'
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Pretty much the same integrity as a group project in school lol
 
elicits pro-social behavior.. pirates remain anti-social due to no multiplayer in pirated games.
 
Have them play some GTA V online for a day. The jobs are co-op/team. Or some counterstrike.. see if they can still claim that.
 
chenw said:
Or WoW...

Waits, as a healer, for ZG level 85 group... gets in, kills first boss, tank leaves.

Waits 15 minutes, and 6 tanks later, I have not yet moved from the corpse of first boss.

Very pro-social indeed. Though I'd use the term 'very realistic'
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I was going to echo the same thing about WoW.

That is why, when I used to play it, I mostly did absolutely everything solo.

In around 3 years of that game, I went on a raid maybe 3-4 times and only really ever played co-op with one person other than that.

From the consistent type of that behavior I saw in that game, I would have to say about 95% of the players had to be 12 or younger.
 
co-op != online multiplayer. Those mentioning online games are confusing the two terms. As mentioned, trees there needs to be more co-op options. I enjoy online as much as anyone, but sometimes I would like to play a local co-op game.
 
w4ffles said:
I wish there were more couch co-op games.
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You'd have to own a console for that kinda stuff. Most PC games are designed to match up with the single person per platform model and either are single player games or are multiplayer online games that discourage meaningful social interaction in favor of the pursuit of in-game goals.
 
Monaco. That is all...

Well, almost all. This game in a room with a few friends is incredibly fun. Its requirements are almost nothing, so you could even set up a few laptops to play together.

Also Terraria.

Borderlands series on a LAN is also fun for co-op.
 
How will we remember to be sociable when we all have game-induced alzheimer's disease?

Where am I anyway?
 
J3RK said:
Monaco. That is all...

Well, almost all. This game in a room with a few friends is incredibly fun. Its requirements are almost nothing, so you could even set up a few laptops to play together.

Also Terraria.

Borderlands series on a LAN is also fun for co-op.
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Terraria is fun!

I think what's missing from that scenario might be the sofa-friendly aspect since people are still sort of staring at their own screen, click-y-clicking away at their mice with their eyes on their individual screens. There's slightly more social elements to doing stuff like taking turns bowling with your Wii or whatever that promote greater interaction and more coming-together-ness.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
Terraria is fun!

I think what's missing from that scenario might be the sofa-friendly aspect since people are still sort of staring at their own screen, click-y-clicking away at their mice with their eyes on their individual screens. There's slightly more social elements to doing stuff like taking turns bowling with your Wii or whatever that promote greater interaction and more coming-together-ness.
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That's where M.U.L.E for the C64 comes in then. (and possibly some adult beverages...)
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
I have nooo idea what that even is...but I guess a search engine will explain it all. :)
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It's a four player local co-op game that originally came out on the C64 and Atari computers in the early-mid 80s. You're one of four planeteers settling a planet. You get land grants, decide what you want to produce on that land (Energy, Ore, Food, etc.) Then you outfit a MULE (robotic mule that does all the work on the plot) to do one of these things. Once everyone does this for the round, there are auctions to buy and sell what you produced. Then they throw monkey-wrenches into things like space pirates robbing the town supplies, mischievous glac-elves stealing your food, MULEs going crazy, etc. In tournament modes there is collusion, extra things you can mine, etc.

It's ridiculously fun with a few people.

There is a new version that plays over networks, but it's not quite as fun as the living-room approach.
 
J3RK said:
It's a four player local co-op game that originally came out on the C64 and Atari computers in the early-mid 80s. You're one of four planeteers settling a planet. You get land grants, decide what you want to produce on that land (Energy, Ore, Food, etc.) Then you outfit a MULE (robotic mule that does all the work on the plot) to do one of these things. Once everyone does this for the round, there are auctions to buy and sell what you produced. Then they throw monkey-wrenches into things like space pirates robbing the town supplies, mischievous glac-elves stealing your food, MULEs going crazy, etc. In tournament modes there is collusion, extra things you can mine, etc.

It's ridiculously fun with a few people.

There is a new version that plays over networks, but it's not quite as fun as the living-room approach.
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That does sound like a lot of fun. It looks like you can emulate the C64 and play it still...I wonder if that's legal. It'd be interesting to try it.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
That does sound like a lot of fun. It looks like you can emulate the C64 and play it still...I wonder if that's legal. It'd be interesting to try it.
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It's quasi legal. Emulation itself is legal. Owning a disk image is legal if you have the original. Without the original (strictly speaking) it's not legal, but for a game that is over 20 years old, no longer available in its original form, I don't think you'd run into any problems grabbing a copy. Also, the original developer Dan (later Dani) Bunten is no longer with us. However, some of her family and original devs (if I remember correctly) work on the newer "Planet M.U.L.E." game. (there's also an iOS port of an enhanced original version) If you felt bad for downloading a free C64 disk image, you could always support them by buying a cheap license for one of those. :D
 
J3RK said:
It's quasi legal. Emulation itself is legal. Owning a disk image is legal if you have the original. Without the original (strictly speaking) it's not legal, but for a game that is over 20 years old, no longer available in its original form, I don't think you'd run into any problems grabbing a copy. Also, the original developer Dan (later Dani) Bunten is no longer with us. However, some of her family and original devs (if I remember correctly) work on the newer "Planet M.U.L.E." game. (there's also an iOS port of an enhanced original version) If you felt bad for downloading a free C64 disk image, you could always support them by buying a cheap license for one of those. :D
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Oh, and I recommend VICE for C64 emulation. It's the most accurate, has the most features, and is available on tons of platforms.
 
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