Have Videogames Ever Given You an EDGE?

[digitalpress]

Think about this for a moment. Has there ever been a time when you thought to yourself "it's BECAUSE I play videogames that I'm better at this real life situation."?

A few personal examples.

- I definitely drive better on slippery roads than I would otherwise. The many rally games played over the years have gifted me with a better understanding of skid dynamics. I use this quite frequently as well, driving a rear-wheel drive sports car in often inclement winter weather.

- I didn't golf until well into my adulthood and though my actual golfing skill saw no real improvement, I knew instinctively what club I should use in any given situation.

- I think that I can do two different things with each hand better than mose. For example, writing with one hand while typing with the other. A general eye-hand coordination thing.

How about you?

[autobotracing]

Me too on the rally games

I love the colin mcrae series I still need to get 05 8-)

I hydroplaned the other day and went into the other side of the road and ended up in the ditch.


But I missed the culvert and a 10 foot fence and nothing happened to my car.



Also I tend to like pretending my car is a rally car so when it rains on my dirt road I go like 50-60 and jump the hills just a little and go through the mud . :roll:


I say allot of games have also givin me better hand eye coordination .


Games like ddr , pop n music,guitar freaks,dance maniax and beatmania have mad me a little quicker with my hands and feet.


I also enjoy playing that boxing game in the arcade that konami makes .
That has actually got me into real life boxing.

Im currently doing boxing workouts just for sport .Im not actually going in the ring unless its with my friend thats training with me.

<OT Fight night 2004 xbox rules>

I would imagine if I played typing of the dead my typing skills would be even better.


Cant think of anything else at the moment

[Kroogah]

Yeah, Typing of the Dead, no doubt. I knew how to type before picking that game up, but it's definitely the most fun way to learn how to type.

Lots of sports games gave me deeper appreciation for the sport in question. NBA 2k3, NFL 2k1, and Tiger Woods 2004 all had this effect on me.

DDR introduced me to dozens of new people, which continues to this day. Also lost 30 pounds which is nice.

[maxlords]

Video games have saved my life...literally. Because of my increased hand-eye coordination, I can drive MUCH more accurately, and I've managed to narrowly avoid and/or lessen the degree of driving incidents.

One time, I was driving down a mountain road, and I didn't know that there was a curve that turned to the outside (normal turns curve to the inside to help you grip the road) and I had literally maybe 2 seconds before I drove my van off a 50+ foot cliff. I managed to hit the brakes and spin the wheel so fast that my van was actually nearly instantly faced 180 degrees away driving the other way in the other lane before I even realized what had happened.

Another time I drove around a corner at 60 MPH and there was a truck STOPPED in the road turning. I slammed the wheel to the right with only a few feet to spare and instead of hitting the vehicle dead on, managed to just barely clip it (right rear corner of their truck connected with the left front corner of my car). Still totalled both vehicles, but I walked away without a scratch and considering the speed I was going, I'd say it's only my gaming reflexes that saved me.

Other than that, I can type much faster that I should be able to without any sort of formal training, and I'm able to focus extremely well on tasks. I think all of that is due at least in part to my gaming.

[ehall]

Picked up this interesting little game from Spencers over the weekend. 4 players hold a button, and a light flashes red to green. When the light turns green, the last person to hit they're button gets a shock. With as many games as I've played, my reflexes are dead on. No shock for me!

[Johnny Black]

I find that I shoot people in ski-masks better thanks to Time Crisis. :P (I'm kidding!)

[jhm1987]

I find that after playing Rise to Honor I can kick multiple people at one time and hurdle large objects

[jslithy]

I know it's their advertising slogan, but it's true--Virtual Pool really does make you better at real pool.

[s1lence]

For sure my driving skills have improve after hundreds of hours of GT driving. The cars in the games can have more horsepower etc. but the basic cars and the dynamics are fairly close to the way they are on the real track.

[tony_good]

I'm nothing if not tenacious. Sports never did much for me. Since I was smart enough to pass school (nothing to brag about, I admit), I didn't care what grades I made, as long as I passed. But dedication, persistence and perseverance are absolutely necessary virtues in life, and without first learning these values by playing video games, I shutter to think how my life would have turned out. Since many games offer different ways to overcome obstacles, they are also an outstanding way to teach problem solving skills. In the workplace, Street Fighter, GTA, Grand Turismo, and lots of other games were the reasons (read:excuses) my friends and co-workers would come over to play, drink beer, party, etc. It boggles my mind that games are called "anti-social".

[scooterb23]

I know the proper way to knock out a hooker after a "date" and get my money back.

But seriously, I really have to watch myself every once in a while...because I sometimes try to see which angle I should hit that car in the intersection at to create the most damage...

And my pool game is decent because of Virtual Pool :)

[fishsandwich]

We were playing Trivia Pursuit this weekend, and all I needed to win was the sports/games question.

I never watch sports, so I kept missing the questions.

On my fourth try, the question was...

Who was the first female character to appear in the Street Fighter II series?

Chun Li, of course!

It seems that Sports & Games also included VIDEO games.

Thanks, SF2... I won the game because I'm a gamer.

Cheers

:D

[davidbrit2]

I know it's their advertising slogan, but it's true--Virtual Pool really does make you better at real pool.

Absolutely. They are definitely not just blowing steam when they guarantee it will make you better at pool. Oh how I long for a PS2 version with USB mouse support.

And I'm the same with the racing video games. When I got my license, I pretty much already knew how to handle the car in snow and ice. Heh.

[link1110]

Back in 6th grade, my teacher was so impressed I knew the meaning of the word "Cipher," I learned it from Star Tropics.

[Kid Ice]

All those late nights trying to get MAME, other emulators, and various games to work the right way definitely helped my PC skills.

EDIT: Oh yeah, trying to write my own games as a wee lad on the Commodore machines gave me a head start in computer logic.

[EnemyZero]

id definitely say games have gave me a much better reaction time, esp when driving, ive eluded more than my share of accidents :P

[ECWSandmanECW]

Driving Skills, thank you Gran Turismo :)

[Sothy]

I definitely had good reading skills in school from reading in text heavy games "Maniac Mansion etc"

Side Pocket yes has helped my pool playing... wish for those dotted lines though.


Ghost Recon, Operation Flashpoint, Counterstrike, Day of Defeat, Rainbow Six, Silent Scope, Maximum Force, Cabal, Operation Wolf, Mechanized Attack,
Napalm, Missile Command, DooM, Wolfenstein 3d, Medal of Honor, Rescue: the Embassy mission, Panzer General, Wargasm, P.T.O., Silent Service, T2 Arcade game.....

....... Im not good with children.

[Sotenga]

I'd say that video games in general have enhanced my dexterity and reaction time, especially Contra. Heh... you need quick reflexes to survive in that game, ya do. I also learned a lot about all sorts of mythology, and I have Castlevania to thank for this. And... this will sound extremely dorky, but all those years of playing fighting games have actually allowed me to learn more about actual fighting. Now I do believe I can hold my own against offenders, though screaming SHORYUKEN will probably do little more than baffle my enemy. That's why I have to actually perform a powerful jumping uppercut so I can say that Street Fighter has helped me kick my attacker's ass. LOL

In all seriousness, more realistic games like Tekken taught me about fighting... well, really, it more intrigued me to the arts of self-defense, so I took the liberty of becoming a stronger person as a result. I will never be comparable with Marshall Law... erm, Bruce Lee, but I can certainly hold my own.

[Nez]

Racing games really helped me learn how to drive, even though they were mostly arcade racers.

San Francisco Rush taught me a lot, as did driving a tractor when was 9 _ 15 years old.

[Luke]

I'd say games have improved my problem solving skills as well as my memory. I once did an abstract reasoning test for a job interview and was pleased to hear that I ranked in the top 1% of the population. I do not think this was just from games but I think they helped. :)

Cheers,

Luke

[ubikuberalles]

Video games helped me understand computers better which helped loads for my old job. I loved studying the hardware of the Atari 8-bit and the VCS which made it easier to understand the architecture of the bigger machines at work (VAXen, RISC, HP and so on).

[aaron7]

Helped mostly. When I broke my left metacarpal (pinky into wrist bone I think), I was told to play video games ALL THE TIME to help heal. So I guess that counts!

I have always had bad hand-eye coordination. DDR and Frequency have been my saviours!

Driving... well, I understand the physics of it better and I can apply that, but I do sometimes look at cars or things on the road and wonder what kind of damage I could do hitting them!

[Big Papa Husker]

I played that shock game on New Years eve. It was pretty fun.

[Gapporin]

Playing video games helped to me to be better at playing the piano.

No, seriously.

Whenever I hear a piece of music I really like, I usually download a .mid of it, and then print out the sheet music for it. I then go over the piece once or twice, and then practice on it. Some are pretty easy, but some are *really* hard (Burning Heat, anyone?). Ah well. You know what they say, practice makes perfect...

[Avatard]

Well, thanks to my C64 I know how to blow up Chernobyle's power plant. In fact let me in there for 5 seconds and the whole thing will just melt down. Also now I know whenever I see a mushroom I better grab it fast and eat it up before it jumps off a cliff.

Also my hand eye coordination is better. After all those arcades and games learning to drive a manual transmission was a breeze. I even met friends through Everqeust that hooked me up with the great job I have now.

However I STILL can't figure out how tennis is scored, I've tried but I've failed. I just hit the ball till it says I win. Maybe one day.