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View Full Version : Eye-Hand Cordination and other game benifits



SoulBlazer
05-29-2003, 03:16 PM
Not quite sure if this is the right area, mods, please feel free to move this. :)

Reading about the new study released today on how action games seem to help people improve their visual skills, it made me think back to a story my folks have told me about.

Back in 1980, I was four and I came down with lazy eye and had to wear glasses for the first time. I hardly recall anything from that far back, but I remember having to wear the patch on my right eye (to this day, my left eye is still the weaker one) and the vision in my other eye did'nt seem that great.

My parents were told by my eye doctor that it might be a good thing if they bought for me a video game system and let me use it for about a hour a day, to help with my eye-hand cordination. So my parents picked up a Atari 2600 and a few games -- and hence started my love of video games. :D

Of course, I don't need the glasses anymore either -- I had LASIK done on my eyes about four years -- but I've noticed some things during my life that seem like they were helped during my twenty three years of playing games. Besides my eye-hand cordination, it does seem like my reflexes are quite good. I can see and hit a softball really well, although not a 90 mile fastball. :)Hearing all of those simple instrumental tunes also left me with a love for classical and instrumental and video game music.

Was anyone's elses parents told by a doctor about getting a system to help with eye-hand cordination? Or have you been told it yourself for your kids? Have you noticed any other physical traits that seem like they were helped by playing games?

chadtower
05-29-2003, 04:36 PM
Nope, most of us from the Atari generation were told that video games were evil for any reason the older folks could think of:

"They'll wreck the tv"
"They'll hurt your vision"
"They'll wreck your wrists"
"Read a damn book"

etc etc

rbudrick
05-29-2003, 06:44 PM
Well, those old farts aint got shit on us now...

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.games/05/28/action.video.ap/index.html

Not that this article is any new info to us...we always knew this. Our parents just didn't believe us.

-Rob

maxlords
05-29-2003, 07:05 PM
Dont forget this one too:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=68&ncid=68&e=1&u=/nyt/20030529/ts_nyt/video_game_killing_builds_visual_skills__researche rs_report

I can just see my parents cringing :D

hydr0x
05-29-2003, 07:23 PM
well, i've never been told so by my parents or a doctor :(

but i am a damn good goalkeeper (handball mostly, but also soccer), i had an offer by a top30 handball club here in germany when i was 17!!!!! (i think most will not know handball, well, it's a game similar to soccer just with throwing instead of kicking, of course it differs a lot, but to much to explain) and germany is one of the top countries in handball
so, my reflexes are really good, i think this was improved due to massive counter-strike and shooter play

btw: hand-eye coordination is becoming an important topic in online fps