Game skills pay off in real life

Grand Forks Herald ^ | 5/11/05 | Mike Antonucci

[Mr. Jeeves]

You sure did make a snap judgement on the simple statement that he plays video games 3 nights a week.

Hey, FR is the Number Two site on the Internet for snap judgments, sweeping generalizations, and commenting on headlines without reading the articles.

DU is Number One. ;)

[Tennessee_Bob]

1984 - 1994 - I was a jet engine mechanic, backshop and flightline, F-15 and F-16 at Nellis AFB.

[Pylot]

It is interesting, I often wonder when I see a kid driving like a maniac in real life if he thinks he can hit the reset button when he crashes!

[Mr. Silverback]

1989-1994, KC-135 Crew Chief, Wurtsmith and Plattsburgh.

[thoughtomator]

I think all that time I played "Balance of Power" just made me paranoid.

[KC_Conspirator]

Of course?

I find much of this hard to believe.

Now, some people come home from work and have a drink. I play PS2. Now how is playing Full Spectrum Warrior, Brothers in Arms, God of War, and any GTA enhancing my business skills?

[The_Reader_David]

Well, you know the saying "[The] Gulf War [I] was won on the playing fields of Atrai".

[theFIRMbss]

>Game skills pay off in real life

I'm kind of afraid
they set false expectations.
I just don't believe

that if I'm attacked
by zombie dogs, a hot girl
in a mini-skirt

will come to save me
by killing the dogs with kicks
to their zombie heads.

[HostileTerritory]

I can believe. I thought I was wasting too much of my life on Civilization, Sim City and Railroad Tycoon variants over the years, but when I got to the work world, I found that the experience was very useful for understanding the importance of planning, of pacing yourself, of managing multiple projects, and most importantly, how budgets work and how to balance debt and investment.

Communication skills from computer games, on the other hand, were zilch. I had to learn those in the real world.

[HostileTerritory]

I turned to video games because I was bad at sports and didn't have much in common with other kids my age. The real world wasn't working for me, so I preferred to interact with games where I could understand the rules and get positive feedback in the form of game success. When I got older, I adjusted socially and found my niche.

This may be what's going on with your son.

[Tennessee_Bob]

BIIIG Airplanes :)

Tell you the truth - I miss twisting wrenches - best job I ever had.

[Capitalism2003]

She doesn't kick the zombie dogs...She only kicks/stomps on the human-zombie heads after she knocks them to the ground or blows their legs off with a shotgun.

Get it straight man!

I love Resident Evil :)

[BigBadWolf]

I'm kind of partial to the Jackhammer and the baseball bat myself.

[theFIRMbss]

>Get it straight man! I love Resident Evil

You've uncovered me
for the poseur that I am!
I've not only not

ever played that game,
the only computer game
I have ever played

is the old Mac game
ChipWits. [sighs] But, in the film
she does kick the dogs!

[wreckedangle]

He needs to eat more. It's good that he doesn't like snacks/candy. 6 meals per day. Start with 180 grams of protein and 300 grams of carbs per day. Weight train with No cardio. Eating combined with weight training will pack on the muscle.

[Pukin Dog]

How does Forza compare to Gran Turismo? I saw GT on my neighbor's kid's Playstation, and thought I might go out and get one. I have heard of Forza, but that is just for X-Box right?

I have not decided which platform to get. What would you recommend?

[rattrap]

think in terms of ``winning'' when pursuing objectives.

They certainly don't attain an attitude like that from soccer games that don't keep score or grade-inflating government schools that don't allow dodgeball. Competition is the soul of achievement and at least something is teaching kids it's good to win.

[ElTianti]

Things I’ve learned from Grand Theft Auto
• Pimps Up! Ho’s Down!
• Violence really is the answer
• Auto’s are very, very explosive
• Never be without a strap
• Changing your clothes will fool the cops
• Gang members have a lot of money, but they heavily armed

[rattrap]

Doesn't mean playing doom or quake or grand theft auto is going to teach you anything useful, though.

Disagree, they may not be teaching you history or english or how to balance your checkbook but they do train the ability to think, solve problems, plan and process information at a high rate of speed. The military often talks about how the video game generation is better suited to the modern information intensive battlefield because these kids can take multiple streams of information and process them at high rates of speed. The same would apply to anything where lots of information has to be assesed at a high rate of speed.

[Paul_Denton]

Although I had known about it for a long time, it was Deus Ex that got me interested in the U.N.'s corruption and anti-American stance/activities.

Enemy Engaged: Commanche vs. Hokum got me interested in the ChiComs and their threat to Taiwan, Japan and ultimatly the U.S.

Heavy Gear II was a mecha game I played from 1998 to 2002. I played online and led a squad-sized "clan,"; using effective tactics and communications to defeat the opposing force.

Mechwarrior II was the first ever PC-CD game I ever played. It was a lot more than just shooting other mechs, you had to manage a lot such as heat, ammunition etc. Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries was all of that plus part management sim.