Things that we have learnt from videogames

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Think back over the last few decades... What sorts of things have we learnt from video games that we previously did not know?


For instance:

We now know that plumbers are usually portly Italian fellows, who like coin collecting and mushrooms.

Plumber's girlfriends (Or rather, "Love interests") tend to almost always have a habit of getting themselves into some sort of trouble, leading to plumber having to go and rescue her... Often...

Despite being a little overweight, we know that plumbers like to play a wide array of sports (Such as Tennis: Golf: Baseball; Soccer) as well as kart racing, board games, and pinball

Plumbers also like to work when on holiday, and have been known to volunteer to clean the streets of their chosen holiday destination.

And they occasionally like to have a jolly good ruck with their mates from time to time as well!




What else have we learnt?

[Nirvana]

According to Final Fantasy, people will gladly accept us in their houses, without introducing themselves or caring about who we are. They will give us information about anything that troubles the village and expect us to fix it.

[Jumpman Jr.]

People always think that kids are too young to do something, but then you go and save the world, and then they pretend that they are your best friend. Getting the master sword usually gets us the respect we deserve.

Seriously though... I've always thought that playing (and beating) an RPG couldn't be done by the average person. People (non-gamers) always say "video-games are stupid, they don't expand your mind." Are you kidding me ? Everything I hear that, I always say "Why don't you go try beating Chrono Trigger and then you tell me what isn't expanding my mind.

[Humanoid]

Meat found on the ground can readily be consumed and can actually be a health benefit!

The cops'll only come after you if you kill more than like 5 people.

Cars dont get damaged by crashing.

[Cryomancer]

Hamburgers found in garbage cans are fine.

[weredog]

Want to buff up? No need to pay for expensive gym membership. Just go into the nearest forest and start butchering random woodland creatures and soon you will be powerful enough to take on the world.

[phreak97]

so long as the bullet hits either your hat or gun first, you can be shot and it can pass right through your head and/or body and hit whats on the other side, and youll be perfectly fine.

so long as you are wearing armour on your upper body, you can be hit anywhere and it will still protect you.

if you break something in a house, just walk out the nearest door then walk back in. the broken object will almost certainly be back as it was before it broke.

people dont mind you walking into their house and taking their money and belongings, in fact, they will probably give you helpful tips aswel.

while racing an expensive sports car, if you hit a solid object at about 300km/h you and the car will be fine.

you can spin your wheels for as long as you like and you will never need to replace your tyres.

sequencial shift cars were invented in the 70's or early 80's and were usually made for racing.

you can put a car in first gear while you are traveling at 250km/h and rev it way beyond its limits, and you'll never damage the engine.


in honesty:

i have learned most of what i know indirectly from video games. my interest in games strengthened my interest in electronics, and game console tech has been my primary hobby for a long time. i am now at tafe (similar to college) studying electronics, and i am applying for the position of apprentice arcade technician.
i know what i know of computers because of games too.. i have been among the higher end computer users at all my schools from a young age (though i am falling behind now because i have not been interested in a life with computers for a long time). if it werent for games, i never would have had an interest in computers either, even though i am not into pc games at all anymore.
my love of video games produced my love of the internet, which has taught me masses of valuable info.
video games kept me fit through alot of high school, while i was playing ddr. aswel as keeping me fit, it increased my balance, and hand-eye coordination (lol i also walk with my feet really low to the ground now, people have noticed me tripping on bumps in the ground you cant even see:P). video games have increased my reflexes by an excessive amount, and produced almost perfect sycronisation between my hands (my school went on a trip interstate, one of the places we visited had a reflex tester.. all the standard crap, but it had a button for each hand, so you could tell where you react first.. everyone was getting slightly different, but close enough numbers (2-4 hundredths of a second different). i was the only real gamer in the lot of them as far as im aware (there were sports people and all), and i scored clearly ahead of everyone i saw attempt it, and on top of that, i scored a 0% difference between my left hand and right hand..

I am who I am because of video games.

[vultar]

in general Bosses are just lonely critters with poor social skills, and taking over the world/kidnapping princesses is all just a cry for help. There always secretly helpful, making sure there are plenty of power-ups; moreover, they take great care in making sure that any weapons/armor/etc. they decide to put out for you is made to fit you or your friends.

[Mianrtcv]

I figured out when I was 9 yrs old that I could make my friend say timeout towards the television speakers. How?
By telling him that's what you had to do to pause a game on the Intellivision.

[tony_good]

Games have taught me that explosions only affect walls if the walls are already cracked.

[evil_genius]

Viacom should stick to television.

[sleepycal]

Think back over the last few decades... What sorts of things have we learnt from video games that we previously did not know?


For instance:

We now know that plumbers are usually portly Italian fellows, who like coin collecting and mushrooms.

Plumber's girlfriends (Or rather, "Love interests") tend to almost always have a habit of getting themselves into some sort of trouble, leading to plumber having to go and rescue her... Often...

Despite being a little overweight, we know that plumbers like to play a wide array of sports (Such as Tennis: Golf: Baseball; Soccer) as well as kart racing, board games, and pinball

Plumbers also like to work when on holiday, and have been known to volunteer to clean the streets of their chosen holiday destination.

And they occasionally like to have a jolly good ruck with their mates from time to time as well!




What else have we learnt?

That we should all be plumbers...

[CrimsonNugget]

If you can roll fast enough, you can break through some walls.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

So many RPG's will have us believe, it is perfectly acceptable to walk unnounced into somebody's house and rummage through their drawers / dressers / cupboards and feel free to steal whatever useful items may actually be stored in them. All this whilst the actual home owner is home!

It is then customary to have a brief chat with the home owner regarding some trivial matter such as the weather or other people in the town, before departing.


We have also learnt from RPG's that shops will gladly rip you off - Especially if you wish to trade something back for cash. They'll willingly sell you something for 10,000 gold which you will then find for free about ten minutes later in the field... When you go back to trade it in, they offer you only 100 gold for it. Bastards.


We also know that people who live in villages have nothing better to do than walk backwards and forwards throughout the entire course of the game, often getting in your way blocking the only way past them (See older 16 bit RPG's for examples of this) - They'll also talk utter crap to you, often repeating what they have previously said.


And as Broken Sword games would have us believe - You can store any amount of crap in your trouser pockets, regardless of size or shape or the fact it may be a pancake drizzled in syrup or even a fish... You can also go around mindlessly smashing up valuable artifacts without anyone giving two hoots...

[FantasiaWHT]

That evil overlords are amazingly stupid.

Evidence?

-Instead of sending their strongest underlings to wipe out their adversaries early, they let their weakest ones be slaughtered by the hundreds and thousands.

-They stock their bases with the equipment needed to kill them.

-The paint their weak spots with glow-in-the-dark high-gloss neon colors.

-They leave themselves weak spots in the first place...

hehe

It would be cool to have a positive parody of those "Everything I need to know in life I learned from ******" I've seen Kindergarten most often, but also Sesame Street and friends.

[pkupstixx]

Ive learned that if i find a locked door, I have to find the key in the flower vase that opens a little brown box. Inside the box is usually half a piece of some talisman that matches another pice i found earlier. ( because we all carry broken things hoping we will find the other half to fix or sell on ebay later ) now that i have those 2 pieces i can make them into one piece to open the little chest thus obtaining the key. Then i can take that key and travel back through the ( mansion/military complex/ship/factory ) then up five floors back to the room that was locked. Open the door and go to the bathroom finally.

Ive learned that the princess is always in another castle.

Ive learned that when im in my own jet/star fighter that im invincible and take out an entire opposing army/alien empire by myself.

Ive learned I should be on tour with the boom boom huck jam show or in the xgames trying for gold with my snowboard.

And ive learned some people have absolutely no class what so ever playing online.

[weredog]

Turtle shells are indestructible.The only way to permanently rid yourself of the reptillian monsters is to dropkick them into the nearest bottomless pit.


It doesn't matter if you are the last hope, the one thing standing against the destruction of the world and all lifeforms upon it.The shopkeeper will still charge outrageous prices for the equipment needed to defeat the coming threat.Apparently if you are a shopkeeper making a profit is more important than avoiding horrific agonizing death.

[cityside75]

Perhaps the most important:

Simply step on a first aid kit for a 25% improvement in your health.

[spooie]

Things I learned from Mario...

Injesting off-color mushrooms and strange looking flowers will give me super powers.

Turtles with hammers want to kill me.

Taking pills can be your friend, if you take just the right amount and consume many in select patterns.

Clean is better than dirty, and dirt is meaner than clean.

Randomly jumping around with my hands above my head will make blocks appear in mid air.

Just when I think I've saved some hot chick from an evil monster and I'm going to make out with her, some guy with a mushroom for a head will tell me I have to do it all over... 7 more times.

:/

[Yago]

Thanks to Rocket Ranger I have learned how to build a rocket that can take me to the moon.

Thanks to first person shooters, it is impossible for me to accidently shoot myself in the foot.

Throwing bombs at mountain sides might reveal a secret door.