[Eric_C]

Quote:

you could say the same thing about headfi......just look at your post count

 
srsly,there are some studies i read before but cant remember the source that said that video games are actually beneficial. something like improved thinking,improved reaction...
not as some ridiculous says that gaming make the kid dummer.
beside who can resist playing Black ops.WOW or resistance retribution online? organising your time is the key.i find playing all day is dum,unproductive and lazy.

I...really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you've just misspelled "dumb". Twice.

 

[midoo1990]

Quote:

Quote:

you could say the same thing about headfi......just look at your post count

 
srsly,there are some studies i read before but cant remember the source that said that video games are actually beneficial. something like improved thinking,improved reaction...
not as some ridiculous says that gaming make the kid dummer.
beside who can resist playing Black ops.WOW or resistance retribution online? organising your time is the key.i find playing all day is dum,unproductive and lazy.

I...really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you've just misspelled "dumb". Twice.

ya,bad news indeed

 . i type on my ipod touch so dont expect miracles especially with the terrible, slow and buggy huddler format.

 

[Young Spade]

^ Oh I completely agree; I catch things all of the time that I don't notice falling out of the fridge or out of cabinets; the other day a lot of min bags of popcorn fell off if the top counter whioe i was standing on the chair; I caught 4 of them with one hand.

Of course it varies from person to person but I could definitely see how certain games could improve your response time and things like that. He'll I'm the fastest in ny bio lab (this year and last) at getting whatever specimen it is properly scoped in when using slides in the microscope.

 

[Argyris]

Has anybody read Steven Johnson's Everything Bad is Good for You? It makes an argument that, despite what we hear all the time, there are actually some cognitive benefits to television and video games, and that as both have evolved over time they have become more complex and mentally stimulating, setting aside their content. Granted, Johnson pretty transparently slides around some obvious points that would challenge and complicate his argument (in other words, it's a selective argument), but he does make a few good points.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Everything bad is good for you?

So... I can tear through a porterhouse, then pick up a 6-pack of Stone IPA and a few cigars?

I'm feeling better already.

 

[Confispect]

^ I agree with Midoo.....look at your post count and apply what you said about gaming to head-fi. Everything comes into a neat prospective then, or this could be your 'other thing' other then gaming. Everyone is different with different definitions to things someone might be considering your head-fi habits to be excessive no matter who and what you are. You might feel the same about them on the gaming, to each is own. To Midoo that is something that accumulated all the way from 2006.....it is large though. Anyhow, anothers mans trash is anothers jewel and so forth. Also with as many years, days, and hours that we live doing everything including gaming and talking to a woman while smacking somebody for not shutting up all at the same time isn't a bad idea eh? I figure I have 60, 70 years on me If I waste 1 even 10 playing a game I won't shed a tear. With all those years I just might rack up a post count like yours. 

 

[marvin]

Most benefits from gaming suffer from severe limitations.

There's some benefits in reaction times and fine motor controls, but those plateau pretty early on. Locating, targeting, and shooting your fifth zombie/alien/Nazi/Taliban will yield some benefit. Doing the same to your fifty-thousandth zombie/alien/Nazi/Taliban? Not so much.
 
There's a much better case for cognitive benefits, but mostly in puzzle solving games and their strategy derivatives. Diminishing returns there too due to learning curves that either plateau or get too steep for the player, but that's no different than strategy gaming's analog equivalents like Chess. Course, these genres aren't very popular among hardcore gamers. If you stretched the definition enough, I guess you could define the gameplay in most shooters as a series of tactical puzzles. Not sure how much of a cognitive challenge it is though since every puzzle instance can be resolved by shooting the other guy in the face.

As far as whether or not it's a waste of time? It certainly can be. I easily spent more time gaming than I did on educational activities while I was in college. I could have picked up another degree or two if I had cut my gaming time in half, but hey, those are the breaks. It's really the same as everything else that is generally classed as "bad for you". A bit is fine. A lot, not so much.

 

[Young Spade]

Most benefits from gaming suffer from severe limitations.



There's some benefits in reaction times and fine motor controls, but those plateau pretty early on. Locating, targeting, and shooting your fifth zombie/alien/Nazi/Taliban will yield some benefit. Doing the same to your fifty-thousandth zombie/alien/Nazi/Taliban? Not so much.


 


There's a much better case for cognitive benefits, but mostly in puzzle solving games and their strategy derivatives. Diminishing returns there too due to learning curves that either plateau or get too steep for the player, but that's no different than strategy gaming's analog equivalents like Chess. Course, these genres aren't very popular among hardcore gamers. If you stretched the definition enough, I guess you could define the gameplay in most shooters as a series of tactical puzzles. Not sure how much of a cognitive challenge it is though since every puzzle instance can be resolved by shooting the other guy in the face.



As far as whether or not it's a waste of time? It certainly can be. I easily spent more time gaming than I did on educational activities while I was in college. I could have picked up another degree or two if I had cut my gaming time in half, but hey, those are the breaks. It's really the same as everything else that is generally classed as "bad for you". A bit is fine. A lot, not so much.

 
Well it depends on the person. With regard to your shooting reference in relation to strategy and overall thinking, it gets to a point where you have to think about where weapons are on the map, when they respawn, where your team mates are, where the enemies are, your ammo and if you can get what you want done with what you have, how much your team has, and all of these tiny small little things that, when added up, make the game one hell of a mental strain.

 

[BobSaysHi]

Quote:

 
Well it depends on the person. With regard to your shooting reference in relation to strategy and overall thinking, it gets to a point where you have to think about where weapons are on the map, when they respawn, where your team mates are, where the enemies are, your ammo and if you can get what you want done with what you have, how much your team has, and all of these tiny small little things that, when added up, make the game one hell of a mental strain.

Ditto. Has anyone played Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory? That was the most challenging multiplayer game I've ever played. Each team tries to make the other slip up, and requires very complex teamwork to win. 

 

[marvin]

 
Quote:

Well it depends on the person. With regard to your shooting reference in relation to strategy and overall thinking, it gets to a point where you have to think about where weapons are on the map, when they respawn, where your team mates are, where the enemies are, your ammo and if you can get what you want done with what you have, how much your team has, and all of these tiny small little things that, when added up, make the game one hell of a mental strain.

 
Thinking is not the same as learning. Doing a thousand problems out of a algebra workbook would personally involve a whole lot of thinking (and a nasty headache), but I wouldn't be learning anything given that I've already mastered the material. Same goes for any team game from basketball to TF2. There's an initial time period where you're learning how to be an effective player and getting a bit of a cognitive boost. But the vast majority of playing time occurs long after the point where you've transitioned from learning new concepts to acting/reacting on the basis of what you already know.

 

[Young Spade]

 
 
Thinking is not the same as learning. Doing a thousand problems out of a algebra workbook would personally involve a whole lot of thinking (and a nasty headache), but I wouldn't be learning anything given that I've already mastered the material. Same goes for any team game from basketball to TF2. There's an initial time period where you're learning how to be an effective player and getting a bit of a cognitive boost. But the vast majority of playing time occurs long after the point where you've transitioned from learning new concepts to acting/reacting on the basis of what you already know.

 
Oh ok, I didn't see that you were referring to learning; in that case I completely agree with you

There is a point in pretty much all online shooters and the like thst things just start to click; mostly after gertingn comfortable with the game and learning a few tricks and how everything works

 

[Confispect]

Quote:

Ditto. Has anyone played Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory? That was the most challenging multilayer game I've ever played. Each team tries to make the other slip up, and requires very complex teamwork to win. 

I have not multiplayer but the campaign is rewarding.

 

[Argyris]

Quote:

Everything bad is good for you?

So... I can tear through a porterhouse, then pick up a 6-pack of Stone IPA and a few cigars?

I'm feeling better already.

Glad I could help. 

 

[demonz11b]

This is a never ending discussion. Some people will defend VGs to death, some will criticize them.
 
I won't try to convince anybody, just tell you my personal experience in the hope that it serves as a warning for the youngsters that may read this or for concerned parents.
 
Born in the 80s and, like Uncle Erik, i remember the world before VGs, i remember the world before internet and home pcs.
 
I spent my childhood and my teen years playing video games, and i deeply regret it.
 
I had a lot of trouble with school peers, with my family and other stuff. And as a kid, the only thing i could do to escape was to plug my brain into a vg.  Now i know that those precious moments could have been invested in sports or arts instead, but well, time is gone.
 
Please don't think that any time playing video games is a bad thing. It's understandeable that now and then one wants to play them, specially the young, and VGs, like it or not are part of our XXI century culture. But i think, based on my experience, that spending more than 5 hours per week in vgs is a very, very bad thing.
 
And of course, all gamers spend more than that. Maybe they play in one single day more than 5 hours.
 
What to do with spare time? id say, find some sport you really like, nowadays we have a wide array of them. The classics (basketball, baseball, football, soccer, etc) and new things like skating, parkour, etc.
 
Find some art you'd like to develop: guitar, piano, singing, dancing, painting, even whistling properly is an art!
 
These days, with low cost tech, even a kid can start making experiments with a camera.
 
And play vgs little, play them no more than 45 min per day
 
The same goes for tv.
 
There are great shows on tv, but real life is better, and TV, well it is just a beautiful lie. Even "realities" do not depict reality. I'd say watch just 60 or 90 min watching tv.
 
For the young: Enjoy your body while you are young, enjoy your spare time, believe me, once you grow up spare time becomes incredibly rare
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Mkubota1]

If it makes you happy, it's the best thing you could do in this life.  If it gets in the way of your health or hurts other aspects of your life, then adjust as needed.  Early in life it's probably better to diversify your activities just so that you don't miss out on something you haven't yet experienced.  But that would apply to everything- not just video games.