What have video games done for you?

All these comments make Jack Thompson cry. No murders? No robberies?
 
Torgo said:
All these comments make Jack Thompson cry. No murders? No robberies?
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I was once driven off the rode by a semi who was getting over two lanes on the freeway. I wasn't in his blind spot and wasn't worried anyway since I was TWO LANES AWAY. He drove right into me (close...I swirved away at the last second) and I flew into one of those big fat orange cones they put in construction zones.

The cone went flying 20 feet easy as I was driving 70. I give my years of playing racing games all the credit for giving me the split second decision making that I used that day :cool:
 
Games? I just remember, 23 years ago when I was facing some severe family problems, not caused by me. Games helped me stay alive and stay sane. (Yes, ZX-Spectrum and Amiga will live forever!!!) Although gaming was always considered to be the cause of all evil within my family, videogames will be the number one hobby for me as long as I live. Heck!!! I know I will be gaming on the next life also!!!!

Besides that it is the best way to be in good terms with the young ones. Take my nephiew for example. Although he is only six years old he absolutely adores me for bying him a brand new X-box 360 and we both enjoy gaming.

Yes, it is the best way to become a child again and never forget all the positive aspects of the younger age. Frees you from your stress and that alone makes you look into life from a more positive angle. ;) :)
 
Hand-eye coordination?

I've been gaming since I was four or so, and I couldn't catch a basketball in a parachute. Of course that's probably lack of those specific athletic abilities
tongue.gif
(Oh, I can't throw for shit either)
 
From gaming I have gotten a great monitor tan hairy palms and an unwavering apetite for doritos and pepsi.J/K.

Gaming, or it's byproducts like modding, have given me:
-Data management skills
-A healthy understanding of PC hardware and software
-The ability to attack a project and finish it correctly.
-Something to do besides watch the crap on TV
-PC troubleshooting knowledge
-A better ability to be sneaky like in Splinter Cell
-The joyus memories of killing hell's demons in Doom 2
 
Aside what has already been said (general knowledge of computers)

Networking concepts and server management have all stemmed from the desire to run my own tribes1 server.

I never got around to it, but quake3 and the desire to host a server got me into linux and IP in general.

Yeah, it did assist me in getting a real job.
 
BarneyGumble said:
Keeps me from masterbating.
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LMAO i think we have our first honest answer folks!

Video games taught me 1337 speak..oh wait thats a bad thing.

Also good conversation starters...with other gamers that is...."So, how bout that battlefield 2, pwnin them noobs with the helicopter, eh? ;) ?
 
Allowed me to eat eat in college through ebaying Diablo 2 items. And I got to know the ins and outs of putting up an auction pretty well.
 
actually.. yeah.. i've made new friends by just talking about video games... like someone would mention a game.. and you just say "oh.. hey i play that game too"..

and then you jsut start talking crap... and eventually make a new friend.. i'd say its happen a few times to me..
 
  • Stoked the flames of my imagination.
  • Quick problem solving skills.
  • Love for electronics and gadgets (Well maybe that was prior to games...).
  • Got rid of those luls in life where you're waiting for something.
  • My kids name is the same as an SNK KoF character.
  • Got the wife and I through semi-cabin fever at the birth center.
  • Let's the wife know she can never beat me at Guitar Hero.
  • Coordnation.
  • Memory is great, only for visual and audio, but names of people are hard to remember, but I know the faces.
  • Makes me a better artist in the long-run.
 
polydiol said:
they helped me understand that chicks dig pc gamers.
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I know! I got into this "pc gaming" craze just to pick up the ladiesss.

BarneyGumble said:
Keeps me from masterbating.
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lol.. and kittens are saved.

I'd have to say... hand - eye coordination. I had a similar situation like WorldRunner and I managed to avoid a collision. Lousy drivers!
 
Games have taught me many things. One of the biggest examples is probably Civilization II, where the civ-o-pedia had a lot of information. I actually read all of it.

I met my best friends in the heyday of SNES, games sparked up our conversations when we first started talking to each other.

Gets me the ladies (seriously, two girls I want(ed) actually played games).

Keeps me from dying of insane boredom. Also keeps my fingers flexible (I have no medical basis for this). Also, lead to my interest in computers and my major (computer science).
 
yea video games are the only reason i got into computers, if you had asked me what the north bridge for pci-e card(s) is a year ago, you woulda been bitch slapped back to where ever you come from. but now, im only 15, and i get so many questions at my school concerning hardware problems, some so complicated people pay me to fix em, dont get me wrong, im not afraid to say "i have no clue" but i dont all that often. so it really gave me a job, its not much but im gonna have a leg up in college, should i decide to become an electrical or computer engineer.

right now im unofficially working for a computerguy, im the dude who deals with the mass of people who come in, and im gettin $10 an hour, to do shit thats cool. + i get hardware cheap, which is nice :D

and at school, we have this dude who is our sorta techi, but hes old, not that thats bad its just hes sorta like..... something thats been upgraded to deal with my generation, where as i am in this generation, all i mean is i have a more through knowlage of how shit works. anywho on the pa, when a comp breaks down our secritary says "mr smith" (the old comp dude) "please come to the office" and five minuts later they call me down.

i do not however deal with software, unless its basic, cuz its just too damn fustraighting.

yea and mega math blaster. damn that game was off the hook. it was like, i would go home and just sit on my ass playing "shoot the equation that isnt bad" and im like "Ok!"
and now im in principles of math 10 challenge

and if your lookin for advice heres a general rule
AMD + Nvidia = good
Intel + ATi = bad
mac = neutral, just bad os skin. and there un upgradeable.

and i like the apple site... "whats an intel pentium processer doing in a mac?" failing miserably you dumb fuck, they only signed with you cuz microsoft gave em the boot!
 
They completely changed my outlook on school. My whole life I was a very good artist but did poorly on traditional school subjects, like math, because I was completely uninterested in them. I've been a big-time gamer my whole life and have always wanted to be a part of the industry that makes them. It wasn't until high school that I actually read up on what it takes to become a person in that industry. Even though I've always been such a good artist and was sort of destined to pursue career in art, I was interested in the technical aspect on making games too. Over time I became more interested in it. Well, all the sources I read on game programming said that math was very important and used all the time. From then on (ninth or tenth grade I think) I suddenly had a reason to care about math (and my education in general) and started to do well with it in school for the first time. I eventually picked up some C++ books and decided to attempt to teach myself to write programs. Later on I decided I wanted to go into computer science and keep art as a hobby rather than a profession. Now I do well in school and get excellent grades, and it never would've happened without video games!

Then of course there were some smaller benefits such as learning to type really, really fast (thanks to Diablo 1 and 2). Also, my friendship with the kid across the street back in elementary school (who eventually became one of my best friends) was built around playing the SNES together, mostly Mortal Kombat 2.
 
I'm 56 years old and I have played video games now for over 30 years. I find them to be a great stress reliever and good for brain activity. My general reaction times are much higher than non-video game players my age, and I feel they can be an effective Alzheimers prevention mechanism.
 
helped me get into dental school where i hope the increased hand eye coordination and reaction times will help my clinically. (i actually mentioned css in my interview).
 
video games are a time killer

also if not for CS and BF1942 i would know nothing near what i know about computers

also scientific studies have showed that players of video games have faster reaction times and better hand eye coordination than non gamers. i read it in a TIME magazine
 
They have forced me to learn to build new computers from scratch. They have given me better reflexes (sp?). They have taught me a lot about WWII (seriously, they have). Before I met my fiance they gave me something to do in between women, and something to do after sex once I found a woman. They have given me a lot of fun times with my soon to be father in law, my brothers, my sisters, my friends, and my fiance. They have kept me from becoming a druggy, an alcoholic, or one of those losers that has to go get wasted to have a good time. It has helped me socialize with casual games such as "you don't know jack" and games like Tetris.

Overall, games have replaced most of the time I would have normally spent watching crappy TV sitcoms that involve no interaction on my part. They have saved me money on my entertainment budget thanks to long RPGs, online titles, and services such as gamefly. $50 bucks once a month is a HELL of a lot cheaper than going out for drinks every other night of the week. (which adds up really quickly)

Of course, it would make you a social outcast if you didn't know people that liked to play and goof around on a video game as much as you do. Luckily, games are starting to become less "geek" and more of a socially acceptable form of entertainment.
 
Caused me to get into numerous pointless forum arguments :D

Seriously though , I think that playing games teaches you how to approach problems methodically and imaginatively. They also force you to keep learning and flexing your brain, which has been shown to help stave off alzheimer's.
 
I've been a part of a particular game community for a long time; so I've received numerous benefits from it.

1.) By throwing game tournaments (and being the director) - I've learned to mulittask better, become a leader in making the decisions, and learn the process in making an event successful.

2.) Created a large network of contacts. A lot of my fellow peers happen to be within the game industry and in other related media, or being relatively successful, so if I ever need some references, I have contacts all over the nation.

3.) I administer 2 sites which paved the way in my current career track (web developer).

4.) Have friends all over the place.


Then there is the usual, hand-eye coordination, enhanced reflexes, etc, typing, etc etc.
 
I can basically trace my whole life to games in some way, and almost all for the better! I started gaming at age 3 with the Atari 2600. Taz, Warlords, Defender, Combat, etc. I was always fascinated by knobs, switches, electronics, and such as a small child and games allowed me to play with those things and not ruin my parents stuff. I grew up in a very small town in the mountains of PA and we never had much money. Games were a window to other, bigger, worlds and allowed me to experience things and see things in new ways.

When I moved to a bigger city (and by bigger I mean like three stop lights and 2-3 schools) hours away, I was the strange kid. I wasn't used to things like caring about the brand of my shoes or cutting my hair right. Games were there as a form of escapism and fun, as well as learning, when everything else was pretty bleak.

My vocabulary, problem solving, reading, hand-eye coordination, creativity, attention span, and more were all boosted tremendously. It led to my becoming a top hockey goalie, a writer (including years as a game reviewer and playtester), and a college graduate in IT.

BUT... there are bad sides too. I spent a lot of time alone, and it allowed me to isolate myself. I missed out on a lot of time "normal" kids spent with friends and developing relationships. I also was able to use games to escape instead of facing certain issues. While I did learn a deep level of introspection and thinking as well as reasoning, I did miss out on a lot of things.

It has been a mixed blessing, and I really couldn't say if I would do everything exactly as I did again. Gaming would still have been a part of my life, but most likely not such a large part.
 
In a way, I think that it had helped me in that it was easier to start driving because with Gran Turismo and Need for Speed, you start to understand a bit of the "physics" involved so that was pretty interesting.

Another way it was beneficial was like what someone had mentioned. FPS. You tend to start researching yourselves about these stuff and then, I understood these stuff about video cards....
 
They made me not need to talk to girls and give them all my money, those sirens!
 
Let's see...

Made me spend my money
Made me spend my time
Made my tailbone have problems (I can only sit for about 15 min. now before it gets sore)
Made me spend money on WC'ing my rig, and getting a 30 lcd monitor
Made me spend $431.99 on a 360
Makes my GF whine everytime I play
Makes me want to tear someones head off when I can't be a map or an opponent
Makes me go through the HASSLE which is ebay when I want to get rid of old games
I'm sure there is something I've forgotten

And yet I still play and get excited about them...lol
 
Made me realize everything has a weak spot.....you just have to find the flashing red spot.
 
There is nothing funnier than the people who think they are gun experts from playing CSS and BF2. "Well yeah, the G36C is accurate but not powerful enough for my tastes. I like the Ak101 once you get used to the recoil." Lol, it's sad to think about how many people joined the army thinking they would "pwn".

"OMG! I aimed right at his head. He must be hacking or something. I can't wait to respawn so I can headshot all these nubs."
 
Made me want to code games--so I learned C++ (still learning).

Been an enjoyable, interactive alternative to reading books.

MP reinforced my belief that people suck (good to get the final word on that. :D )
 
Blinkme323 said:
There is nothing funnier than the people who think they are gun experts from playing CSS and BF2. "Well yeah, the G36C is accurate but not powerful enough for my tastes. I like the Ak101 once you get used to the recoil." Lol, it's sad to think about how many people joined the army thinking they would "pwn".

"OMG! I aimed right at his head. He must be hacking or something. I can't wait to respawn so I can headshot all these nubs."
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Not to stray, but one of my close friends fits this mold exactly... and now he is a sniper in the Army with an unreal amount of confirmed kills. We all thought he'd end up dead in days thinking he was in RL god mode, and instead he is now quite badass for real. He sort of showed us.
 
I'm failing college because of it...j/k, thats cause I'm stoopid. Got me into repairin computers, and gave me an edge early on in life playin word munchers and the incredible machine was a fun one too.

OT: That wouldn't happen to have been SkillsUSA Vica, would it? Division champ here :D

Sly said:
...the principal talked me into joining a contest, then became the regional champion.
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bruenor said:
Not to stray, but one of my close friends fits this mold exactly... and now he is a sniper in the Army with an unreal amount of confirmed kills. We all thought he'd end up dead in days thinking he was in RL god mode, and instead he is now quite badass for real. He sort of showed us.
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Well, boot camp would get that sorted out in no time. And you can't be good at something that you don't like. Apparently your friend loves to light up heads, real or not. Some people just have an eye for these things.

As for video games for me, never found out what FPS did for me as I only shot pistols once in my life, but I think it could help on the teamwork sides of things. Always sucked at offensive basketball (but I got some mean D) and I always dreamed I could play tennis like they do in Top Spin but I fell short, only made it to the college level :D. If only swinging a racquet was as easy as pushing a button. But I played tons of Gran Turismo, and I do have a SCCA competition license and have spent enormous time and money on karting. Its a good tool for learning tracks and racing lines but not so great for actually driving different cars, the physics (or at least the feeling) is still too different. Feeling Gs through your ass is a good skill to have in driving.
 
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