Positive aspects of gaming

[ipman]

I'm interested in the positive aspects of gaming. It first started after realising how many negative stories are often perpetuated by those who don't play.

So I started by watching the YT vid below by Daphne Bavelier(cognitive researcher) which looked at how regular gaming leads to better eye sight, better cognitive abilities like tracking and solving puzzles. Moto GP riders often use Moto GP games to learn new circuits and keep their reaction and tracking skills up during the off season.

I actually find I need the mental stimulation of discovering a new virtual world, with it's own distinct rules that I have to learn and incorporate in order to enjoy the game.

So it may be harder for gamers to notice these gradual changes, but what do you consider as positive aspects of gaming for you?

Daphne Bavelier 'Your brain on video games'>

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FktsFcooIG8&ab_channel=TED

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Can you train me in the ways of martial arts, like you did with Bruce Lee?

 

[ipman]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w_ozqJNLvA&ab_channel=IEEEVirtualRealityConference


It does seem that gaming has potential as a simulator, preparing the mind for different activities and using VR could train muscle memory.

 

[DXCHASE]

VR is def. good for exercise, i know one of Meta's ad campaigns right now stresses this but its quite true.

 

[Brian Boru]

10 Real Life Skills You Can Learn Playing Video Games

You can learn a lot from video games that can apply to your lived experiences; here are some skills you can gain.

www.makeuseof.com

I don't know where I collected this list of life skills which gaming can help with:
Computer assembly
Concentration
Cooperation
Coordination
Detection
Empathy
Exploration
Farm work
Immersion
Improvising
Interdependence
Investing
Job flow
Leadership
Mental flexibility
Multitasking
Orienteering
Patience
Perseverance
Planning
Probability
Manufacturing layout
Reading
Relaxation
Resource management
Socializing
Strategic choice
Strategy
Tactical flexibility
Tactics
Teamwork
Timing

 

[WoodenSaucer]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w_ozqJNLvA&ab_channel=IEEEVirtualRealityConference


It does seem that gaming has potential as a simulator, preparing the mind for different activities and using VR could train muscle memory.

This was an awesome reply. Haha. I wasn't expecting a legit response to what I said.

 

[Colif]

Farm work is one real life skill I happily not learn

 

[Brian Boru]

Farm work is one real life skill I happily not learn

Zed will not be pleased! It's not so bad if you have the equipment, but back-breaking if you don't. Fresh air is nice

 

[ZedClampet]

I'm interested in the positive aspects of gaming. It first started after realising how many negative stories are often perpetuated by those who don't play.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FktsFcooIG8&ab_channel=TED

One aspect that is kind of new for gaming is that good simulator games can actually teach you real life skills, like car repair, PC repair, farming, etc. And there are dozens of games that teach you how to code, games that teach you a foreign language, etc. And these are real games, not edutainment. People play them for fun and get the added benefit of learning real things.

 

[Colif]

Zed will not be pleased! It's not so bad if you have the equipment, but back-breaking if you don't. Fresh air is nice

Lets just say if my parents hadn't moved before I was born, there is a good chance I would have been a farmer or something related. I have relatives in the town they left who are farmers. It was never something I wanted to do.

I realise other people like it, thats great... my uncle was a farmer for most of his life and only now at 78 he can't do it anymore. He has medical reasons he can't do it now. The Alzheimer's doesn't help either.

 

[ipman]

This was an awesome reply. Haha. I wasn't expecting a legit response to what I said.

That's one thing I like about forums. Replies often send me off looking, and I didn't know they were developing this.

I think if you look back through the history of human development, often tech is developed and that leads to others seeing the possibilities for it's uses.

Gaming has developed relatively quickly and those who have grown up gaming and coding are primed to explore those possibilities.

 

[ipman]

One aspect that is kind of new for gaming is that good simulator games can actually teach you real life skills, like car repair, PC repair, farming, etc. And there are dozens of games that teach you how to code, games that teach you a foreign language, etc. And these are real games, not edutainment. People play them for fun and get the added benefit of learning real things.

I did read that they tested real pilots against virtual pilots, flying unmaned aircraft and they faired the same.

I used to teach English and I found that using games(language based at that time) was almost a subversive way of teaching. If students find it's fun and engaging they learn. I think school educators are working with those ideas.

If a student was learning about WW2, give them Sniper Elite V2, based on real places in N. France.
Or if learning about the Old West, give them RD2.

Hopefully by being involved they might then be tempted to read about the subject/watch a documentary as well.

 

[HenrykForkbeard]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w_ozqJNLvA&ab_channel=IEEEVirtualRealityConference


It does seem that gaming has potential as a simulator, preparing the mind for different activities and using VR could train muscle memory.

Now that was some reply to Saucer. 😂

I feel that people find it easier to pick negatives out of anything really, especially when it comes to video games. I'm not sure why it gets such a bad rep when there is plenty more of far worse things you can be doing.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I used to teach English and I found that using games(language based at that time) was almost a subversive way of teaching. If students find it's fun and engaging they learn. I think school educators are working with those ideas.

When my youngest son was little, we had him playing educational games on a tablet from a very young age. He also watched a lot of educational kids shows on PBS. As a result, we noticed him reading things like restaurant signs that we had never taught him when he was still 2 years old. When he was 3, he was fluently reading children's books. By the time he was 4, he could fluently read newspapers and encyclopedia entries, even with fairly large words. His preschool teacher had him read books to the class just to inspire them to learn to read better. His mother and I never even worked hard with him on any of that. He just picked it up on his own from games and kids shows.

 

[ipman]

Now that was some reply to Saucer. 😂

I feel that people find it easier to pick negatives out of anything really, especially when it comes to video games. I'm not sure why it gets such a bad rep when there is plenty more of far worse things you can be doing.

Yes it's strange. I'm not sure if films were considered subversive at one time.
But in reality people who don't understand gaming have a cliched view and imagine that most players are 'young men' and because there's been a few cases where obsessive gamers have blurred the line between virtual and real, it becomes a scapegoat.

But the reality is that all ages and gender play PC games. In fact developers are making characters more accessible to those who aren't stereotypical. Games like HZD and WD's Legion.

 

[ipman]

When my youngest son was little, we had him playing educational games on a tablet from a very young age. He also watched a lot of educational kids shows on PBS. As a result, we noticed him reading things like restaurant signs that we had never taught him when he was still 2 years old. When he was 3, he was fluently reading children's books. By the time he was 4, he could fluently read newspapers and encyclopedia entries, even with fairly large words. His preschool teacher had him read books to the class just to inspire them to learn to read better. His mother and I never even worked hard with him on any of that. He just picked it up on his own from games and kids shows.

Yes I referred to those tech shifts; the internet, gaming, simulators, AI, robotics. This is the zenith in terms of what a tech shift can do for humans. One of my favourite stories is how Sugata Mitra placed a PC with internet in the slums and the children worked out how to use it and started educating themselves.

Another link with gaming is that they use human games like Go or Dota 2 to test the latest AI. And the human players see the AI making moves they would never think of, and learn from it.

 

[Brian Boru]

One of my favourite stories is how Sugata Mitra placed a PC with internet in the slums and the children worked out how to use it and started educating themselves

Oh yes, I read about that years ago and thought it was brilliant—both the experiment and the result.

I'm not sure why it gets such a bad rep when there is plenty more of far worse things you can be doing

Lack of familiarity. Mass shootings have been around for long enough for people to become acclimatized to them. But gaming needs another generation before it's fully part of human consciousness.

Meantime it works as an 'other'—one of many things to rally people against when something needs to be 'explained'.

 

[Zloth]

If a student was learning about WW2, give them Sniper Elite V2, based on real places in N. France.

I learned a lot about WW2 fighting planes and bombers playing Air Warrior way back in the 80's and early 90's.

The thing is, games pretty much always have to alter things to make the game entertaining. All fine and dandy, but they don't typically give any indication of what's authentic and what's modified. That makes learning from them a little dubious. How much of Red Dead 2 is based on the historical old west, how much is based more on the dime novel imagining of the old west, and how much is just straight up Rockstar?

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I learned a lot about WW2 fighting planes and bombers playing Air Warrior way back in the 80's and early 90's.

The thing is, games pretty much always have to alter things to make the game entertaining. All fine and dandy, but they don't typically give any indication of what's authentic and what's modified. That makes learning from them a little dubious. How much of Red Dead 2 is based on the historical old west, how much is based more on the dime novel imagining of the old west, and how much is just straight up Rockstar?

You're right, of course. But you can still get some things out of the games. For instance, I was a big fan of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault back when it came out. It was a great WWII FPS game that took place on the European front. I had studied WWII in school, just like everyone else. But I knew a little about it, and happen to have an uncle that is obsessed with WWII and will talk your ear off about it.

Anyway, one of the biggest highlights of gaming in my life was playing through the mission in that game where you storm the beaches of Normandy. You're with other young men in a boat heading toward the shore, along with a bunch of other transport boats. Seems like one of the guys starts puking because everyone is scared out of their minds. Then the boat scrapes the bottom, the door falls open and slams against the ground, and the Germans start mowing all of you down.

Learning about it in school is one thing, but actually experiencing that through a game and getting a visual of what it may have been like gives you some major perspective. After I finished that part and got to safety, I had to take a break and sit there in silence for a little while. Just realizing that there were young men who actually experienced that makes you really think about things.

I'd love to have a modernized version of that game.

 

[ipman]

I learned a lot about WW2 fighting planes and bombers playing Air Warrior way back in the 80's and early 90's.

The thing is, games pretty much always have to alter things to make the game entertaining. All fine and dandy, but they don't typically give any indication of what's authentic and what's modified. That makes learning from them a little dubious. How much of Red Dead 2 is based on the historical old west, how much is based more on the dime novel imagining of the old west, and how much is just straight up Rockstar?

I was just thinking of those games as an entry point, and hopefully people would go on to read about the real history. I find that developers often do a lot of back ground research but then do have to compromise to make a film or a game. If you tried to recreate a historical period event that would be a re-enactment.

So for example I played Sniper Elite V2. I enjoyed the gaming experience of being a sniper. Judging distance, wind velocity, bullet drop, but also choosing the right gun, and tracking enemy so they don't stumble on a dead body.

But I also went off and researched the guns, watched them being fired for real on YT. I knew about the V2.
I also then looked up the locations in the game, which were real. No doubt the dev team researched all this and more.

 

[Brian Boru]

games as an entry point, and hopefully people would go on to read about the real history

Right, that's it for me with books, movies or games—go research the place-event-person.

For example, even tho I was interested in ancient civilizations since school, I still learned loads by reading up on the civs and leaders in the Civilization games.

The Syberia adventures caused me to delve into the steampunk thing, while Deus Ex taught me everything I know about cool overcoats.

 

[Zloth]

Anyway, one of the biggest highlights of gaming in my life was playing through the mission in that game where you storm the beaches of Normandy. You're with other young men in a boat heading toward the shore, along with a bunch of other transport boats. Seems like one of the guys starts puking because everyone is scared out of their minds. Then the boat scrapes the bottom, the door falls open and slams against the ground, and the Germans start mowing all of you down.

Stalingrad in the first Call of Duty was similar, except you don't get a gun.

View: https://youtu.be/kYWb7GfGn_A?t=64

I was just thinking of those games as an entry point, and hopefully people would go on to read about the real history. I find that developers often do a lot of back ground research but then do have to compromise to make a film or a game. If you tried to recreate a historical period event that would be a re-enactment.

That's something I can identify with. I read up a lot on B17 bombers after playing Air Warrior, and some of my other favorites as well. I wonder how often people do that? Oooo, better go start a topic before Zed beats me to it!

 

[ipman]

I also like visiting places like virtual Chicago in WD1. Or leaping over the hills in San Fran(WD2) and imagining I'm Steve McQueen's character. I've never been to America but when I see real Chicago in a film, much of it seems familiar. The over head railway, L-train, etc..

I was thinking that Legion's depiction of London is so good, it would be a good way of doing virtual tourism before visiting. Or even for taxi drivers to get a feel for the city.

There's all sorts of benefits to gaming.

I felt when the pandemic lock downs started that I was well prepared to manage my free time. Gaming is a great distraction and the virtual worlds explorations made up for the loss of our freedom.

Plus other benefits, I wonder if gamers know more about the best hardware and all the info we need to make the best of that hardware.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I also like visiting places like virtual Chicago in WD1. Or leaping over the hills in San Fran(WD2) and imagining I'm Steve McQueen's character. I've never been to America but when I see real Chicago in a film, much of it seems familiar. The over head railway, L-train, etc..

Here's the interesting thing about Chicago in WD. It was actually nothing like the real Chicago. My sister lived in Chicago when WD came out. She came over once, and we were driving around in the game to see if she recognized places. She said it was nothing like Chicago, and I think there were even mountains on the edge of town, which is not remotely true.

I did some research and found out they didn't want to pay licensing fees for the city plans, so they just made their own version that is slightly similar. In Chicago, there is a famous shiny metal sculpture they call "The Bean." They don't have The Bean in the game, but they put something in it that is similar, but not the same.

 

[ipman]

Here's the interesting thing about Chicago in WD. It was actually nothing like the real Chicago. My sister lived in Chicago when WD came out. She came over once, and we were driving around in the game to see if she recognized places. She said it was nothing like Chicago, and I think there were even mountains on the edge of town, which is not remotely true.

I did some research and found out they didn't want to pay licensing fees for the city plans, so they just made their own version that is slightly similar. In Chicago, there is a famous shiny metal sculpture they call "The Bean." They don't have The Bean in the game, but they put something in it that is similar, but not the same.

Yes I suppose that was an early attempt at re-creating a city and I'm sure they made many compromises.

Legion is a compromise of London, but the dev team spent some time in the city, visiting different areas and also carrying out extensive research talking to hackers, ex-police officers and people that couldn't be named!

From what I saw in a vid they have developed an AI system that can after viewing footage of a real city, then re-create it almost exactly, so that may be the future of those types of games.

Again not only by playing against gamers, AI is also being developed in conjunction with game design and gameplay.