View Full Version : Did playing video games make you technologically savvy?
tholly
04-07-2005, 09:46 PM
i said kind of....i dont know how much it helped, but it couldnt have hurt
frodo2968
04-07-2005, 09:48 PM
i said kind of....i dont know how much it helped, but it couldnt have hurt
Same here. And I guess it got me into electronics much more.
Cryomancer
04-07-2005, 09:49 PM
Probably, in the sense that i owned and operated and atari when i was...hell i don't even remember. If nothing else it helped me be comfortable with technology, I am always a quick adapter to a new machine, I'm the guy that sets VCR clocks for relatives, ect. Agree with the couldn't have hurt sentiment.
Dahne
04-07-2005, 10:18 PM
Years of renting games without manuals taught me to press buttons a lot and see what happens.
Thus, I am far more technologically savvy than the rest of my family.
Phosphor Dot Fossils
04-07-2005, 10:22 PM
I answered an unequivocal "yes."
I've always said that two men were responsible for much of the early direction of my life toward the career and the interests I have now: George Lucas and Toru Iwitani. It's all their fault.
monkeychemist
04-07-2005, 10:34 PM
I answered no because frankly, i have always separated the video games from computers. maybe i could justify kind of with emulation, but frankly, playing games on an emulator does not require any technological knowledge. now the xbox, that got me to learn soldering and basic computer technology however, it is not a classic system therefore did not count in my vote...oh well, this is probably more info than anyone wanted to read, but i was the only "no" so there was my life story lol
ubikuberalles
04-07-2005, 10:42 PM
I voted "kind of".
Did it get me started in computers and electronic technology? No. I was already programming computers and building circuits before I started playing video games in the arcade. Pong and other home videos were out before I started programming but I didn't find them very interesting.
Did it get me more involved and excited with computers and electronic technology? Hell yes! Video games inspired me to write graphic demos and other fun stuff. I didn't write any of my own video games but it opened me to the possibilities and my programming skills improved greatly.
Uzi 9mm
04-07-2005, 10:58 PM
I would say Yes, because video games are really what got me into computers to begin with.
Griking
04-07-2005, 11:22 PM
Definately.
My gaming roots is in old computer games. Installing a PC game back in the DOS days wasn't as simple as it today. You had to set up the video, and sound up. This required knowing about DMA channels and IRQs. Then you had to know how to configure and optimize your comfig.sys and autoexec.bat files in order to free enough conventional memory. There was no such thing as autoplay. You even had to manually load your mouse and CDROM drivers via your autoexec.bat files. Don't even get me going about networking.
it290
04-07-2005, 11:28 PM
I was interested in computers before I was interested in games, but the two kind of went hand-in-hand after I got my first computer (a C64). I was more into programming at that point, though.
Push Upstairs
04-07-2005, 11:44 PM
Video gaming planted the seed, but i think getting into DVD did more for me though.
DTJAAAAMJSLM
04-08-2005, 01:55 AM
Yep. I knew a lot more than most of the other students due to my many hours spent playing video games.
pacmanhat
04-08-2005, 02:15 AM
Definitely yes...especially gaming on the PC side of things.
StealthLurker
04-08-2005, 02:26 AM
Definately.
My gaming roots is in old computer games. Installing a PC game back in the DOS days wasn't as simple as it today. You had to set up the video, and sound up. This required knowing about DMA channels and IRQs. Then you had to know how to configure and optimize your comfig.sys and autoexec.bat files in order to free enough conventional memory. There was no such thing as autoplay. You even had to manually load your mouse and CDROM drivers via your autoexec.bat files. Don't even get me going about networking.
YUP. Also having to do all sorts of things to "crack" the copy protection on early computer games because I had no money to buy games myself. I also remember looking at hex codes of games to try and get infinite lives, health, ammo, etc.... kind of like a crude "game genie".
Even beyond that, before the days of getting a nice CD-ROM or floppy with a game magazine.... they simply listed the source code for a game and you had to type it all in yourself!
With all that fuss just to play your games back in the day you "accidently" learned about computers until one day you realize, hey computers are kinda cool, despite the games.... fast forward about 20 yrs, now I'm a soft engineer. :)
.
Videogamerdaryll
04-08-2005, 04:54 AM
Yes...
I Am Humanoid
04-08-2005, 05:20 AM
>>>Do you feel that playing video games as a child
helped you to better understand computers
and other forms of technology?
I mastered the *butt bongo* from playing
Track & Field/Hyper Sports.
I guess that you could say it helped me
with *other forms of technology*...
women!
They can't resist a *savvy* butt bongo man! LOL
Yes!
I've often said that I owe my career to that first game of Pac-Man I played at Pizza Hut when I was four years old. I was hooked on video games from that first game, forward, which led me into home consoles, then computers, then back into consoles for some serious collecting. All the while I was doing the same thing as a lot of you (especially you, StealthLurker), just messing with batch files and hex codes, tricking myself into mastering computers. Now I, too, am a professional programmer. And a freelance programmer at that, meaning that I have the freedom to support my collecting obsession!
And as I also feel like I owe my life (or lifestyle, or something... 'owe my life' sounds too dramatic!) to video games. Had I not been obsessed with video games and computers, I would not have gone to my specific college for computer science, I would not have made all of the friends that led me to Nashville, where I live now, and I would not have met my long time girlfriend who also attended my university.
So yes, if it weren't for video games, everything would be very different!
Iron Draggon
04-09-2005, 05:15 AM
DEFINITELY!
I started out fixing my own broken controllers and handhelds, but I never really got into what I'd call the "advanced" repairs, like soldering operations. However, I took to my first experience with a computer like a fish to water. I taught myself everything that I possibly could on my own, and now I'm in school learning the rest. So I can build my own PC's very comfortably now, and resolve almost any technical problem. And I owe it all to video games...