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When games begin to take over your mind, and the real world becomes blanked out as your concentration builds and you become ever more focused on the game, is your brain really affected? What about the "square eyes" wives tale when you play for too long, or play too close to the screen?
Lets go back to that first rhetorical question, the one about gaming affecting the brain. Does it really happen? How do games affect the brain? Maybe so. When you react to games in such a way that it becomes physical, then yes, I suppose it does. When your deep into a good FPS, and the phone rings, and you don't notice it until it stops, deeply engrossed in your favourite game.
A lot of people, when talking about reactions in gaming, refer to how quickly you pull the trigger on the light gun, or press the fire button on the controller after some sort of creature or a guard steps in front of you, ripe for the blastin'! But what about the other sort of reaction? What about when you've been playing one particular level for ages, trying to suss out a really difficult puzzle, and your temperature starts to rise as you get ideas of not being able to complete it again. The same old creature jumps at you from the same corner as before and kills you as before, and you slam the controller down onto the floor, scream at the telly, and, in worse cases, damage your console without realising it. You feel nothing, then when you cool down, your hand feels like a lobster has been greeting you. That reaction, the good ol' bad temper in front of the telly is computer rage, and happens a lot when I play! So, let me win if any of you ever play me over the web! Please?!
And, of course, there are other reactions, like the ones powered by adrenaline. Things like fear, readiness and excitement. Sometimes these are fuelled by the pleasure of winning a game, or completing a level that you have been stuck on for ages. Maybe that was the wrong example, because you generally feel relieved when you finish a level like that, rather than excited of fearful. Completing a level like that usually fills you with glee and the urge to carry on playing the game to se what's next, because you have waited so long, even though you haven't actually waited, you've been struggling to reach that point. A better example of a point in a game where you feel like you are filled with adrenaline is a fast-paced game, or a scary one. Games like Resident Evil or Eternal Darkness are the best examples I can think of which might bring up a slight tinge of fear in your eyes.
The reaction that these games cause is basically, jumping or doing something in fear. But how can you be afraid of a game? Why does it happen? It's only a console with a disc in it, and a picture on the screen of the telly and some sounds coming from the speakers for Christ's sake! What is there to be scared of? The reason this reaction happens is because you get so involved in a game, it just seems to be happening, you seem to be there, and you feel the need to either warn the character, or react in some other with the feeling that the character IS you! Strange, but for some reason, it seems to be true in a lot of cases.
Maybe those reasons are proof to show that games do indeed affect our brains, but not in the ways that many people say they will. Sure, they may influence the younger generation, but I doubt it. And another point to raise, does continuous gaming affect the way we see the world? If it does, how does it differ between someone who plays a wide range of games and a person who only plays their one favourite game, or someone who will only play one genre of game? Lets hear your views.
Thanks for reading
Happy days
Twain
Lets go back to that first rhetorical question, the one about gaming affecting the brain. Does it really happen? How do games affect the brain? Maybe so. When you react to games in such a way that it becomes physical, then yes, I suppose it does. When your deep into a good FPS, and the phone rings, and you don't notice it until it stops, deeply engrossed in your favourite game.
A lot of people, when talking about reactions in gaming, refer to how quickly you pull the trigger on the light gun, or press the fire button on the controller after some sort of creature or a guard steps in front of you, ripe for the blastin'! But what about the other sort of reaction? What about when you've been playing one particular level for ages, trying to suss out a really difficult puzzle, and your temperature starts to rise as you get ideas of not being able to complete it again. The same old creature jumps at you from the same corner as before and kills you as before, and you slam the controller down onto the floor, scream at the telly, and, in worse cases, damage your console without realising it. You feel nothing, then when you cool down, your hand feels like a lobster has been greeting you. That reaction, the good ol' bad temper in front of the telly is computer rage, and happens a lot when I play! So, let me win if any of you ever play me over the web! Please?!
And, of course, there are other reactions, like the ones powered by adrenaline. Things like fear, readiness and excitement. Sometimes these are fuelled by the pleasure of winning a game, or completing a level that you have been stuck on for ages. Maybe that was the wrong example, because you generally feel relieved when you finish a level like that, rather than excited of fearful. Completing a level like that usually fills you with glee and the urge to carry on playing the game to se what's next, because you have waited so long, even though you haven't actually waited, you've been struggling to reach that point. A better example of a point in a game where you feel like you are filled with adrenaline is a fast-paced game, or a scary one. Games like Resident Evil or Eternal Darkness are the best examples I can think of which might bring up a slight tinge of fear in your eyes.
The reaction that these games cause is basically, jumping or doing something in fear. But how can you be afraid of a game? Why does it happen? It's only a console with a disc in it, and a picture on the screen of the telly and some sounds coming from the speakers for Christ's sake! What is there to be scared of? The reason this reaction happens is because you get so involved in a game, it just seems to be happening, you seem to be there, and you feel the need to either warn the character, or react in some other with the feeling that the character IS you! Strange, but for some reason, it seems to be true in a lot of cases.
Maybe those reasons are proof to show that games do indeed affect our brains, but not in the ways that many people say they will. Sure, they may influence the younger generation, but I doubt it. And another point to raise, does continuous gaming affect the way we see the world? If it does, how does it differ between someone who plays a wide range of games and a person who only plays their one favourite game, or someone who will only play one genre of game? Lets hear your views.
Thanks for reading
Happy days
Twain
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Must get Red Alert 2!
Long time no see Game.
Long time no see Game.
Ah, square eyes. It took a lot of prayer and even more Jack Daniels, to fix that problem. And have I learnt my lesson? No. Not in the slightest.
Games mess with you big time. Red Alert 2 is the worst. I was watching the MGS: TS trailer the other day, and something happened which set off a sound effect like those Aircraft Carrier Harriers do when they're on the attack. I panicked! Ian is about to attack my base, IVF's , cover the Chronosphere! Bear in mind, this was when I was in the middle of a Evo match - I was losing it.
Not long after, I was eating some Iced Gems and I childishly set apart the broken ones from the whole (complete) ones. I put the broken ones in my mouth and ate them. The whole ones I arranged in a 3 x 3 pattern shaped like a diamond.
'I could chronosphere those!' I thought! How flippin' sad is that! Cronosphering Iced Gems...! What would they do? Attract bees to the Red base and kill the dogs so I could send a spy in and steal money? Hardly.
It happens at work. We're all becoming geekified by these games. I hear 'Maaaarioooooo?' and 'Shoryukensupyaku' (Spinning Bird Kick sound?) when someone is annoyed. Tempers flare when talk comes up about unsporting RA2 alliances. Gaming, like football is a very dangerous thing.
My manager sounds like Orca (?) from Zelda. If you do a thrust move at the start of the Wind Waker instead of a vertical slash, you hear an 'Aaaaaarrrrppp!' And you get battered by your mentor...
Do I really hear the same 'Aaaaarrrp!!'? No, not at all, but my brain is so geared towards thinking about games and playing games and testing games, that I really start to think he does!
God is outside science. Yet as humans, we think that God is wrong because he doesn't fit in with Science. God was around before... but that doesn't matter?!
Crazy.
Anyway...
Don't play Red Alert 2 - It will make you insane.
Battle Control Terminated!
Aaaaaarrrggggghhhh!!!!!
Game
Games mess with you big time. Red Alert 2 is the worst. I was watching the MGS: TS trailer the other day, and something happened which set off a sound effect like those Aircraft Carrier Harriers do when they're on the attack. I panicked! Ian is about to attack my base, IVF's , cover the Chronosphere! Bear in mind, this was when I was in the middle of a Evo match - I was losing it.
Not long after, I was eating some Iced Gems and I childishly set apart the broken ones from the whole (complete) ones. I put the broken ones in my mouth and ate them. The whole ones I arranged in a 3 x 3 pattern shaped like a diamond.
'I could chronosphere those!' I thought! How flippin' sad is that! Cronosphering Iced Gems...! What would they do? Attract bees to the Red base and kill the dogs so I could send a spy in and steal money? Hardly.
It happens at work. We're all becoming geekified by these games. I hear 'Maaaarioooooo?' and 'Shoryukensupyaku' (Spinning Bird Kick sound?) when someone is annoyed. Tempers flare when talk comes up about unsporting RA2 alliances. Gaming, like football is a very dangerous thing.
My manager sounds like Orca (?) from Zelda. If you do a thrust move at the start of the Wind Waker instead of a vertical slash, you hear an 'Aaaaaarrrrppp!' And you get battered by your mentor...
Do I really hear the same 'Aaaaarrrp!!'? No, not at all, but my brain is so geared towards thinking about games and playing games and testing games, that I really start to think he does!
God is outside science. Yet as humans, we think that God is wrong because he doesn't fit in with Science. God was around before... but that doesn't matter?!
Crazy.
Anyway...
Don't play Red Alert 2 - It will make you insane.
Battle Control Terminated!
Aaaaaarrrggggghhhh!!!!!
Game
I do actually think of how awesome the ragdoll physics are when people brush past clothes etc, I blame Hitman for that, the original made great in-roads into turning ragdoll physics a standard feature for a fair few titles.
Yes, remind me never to play Manhunt again...
*Hides from sirens*
*Hides from sirens*
No to mention that after my heavy Pokémon obsession period (over 600 hours of Gameboy gaming) I found myself calling animals Pokémon names.
Bee's were Beedrills (Bee sounded like an alien word).
Buterfree instead of butterfly.
And after months of playing WWF No Mercy and having been accustomed to the rules of the game (when you can't reverse moves, when you can do finishers etc.), seeing it on TV again and seeing the matches break all these rules, it just did my head in! :-D
Basically, you absorb gaming like you absorb the real world, and just more than sometimes, you can confuse them! :-D
Bee's were Beedrills (Bee sounded like an alien word).
Buterfree instead of butterfly.
And after months of playing WWF No Mercy and having been accustomed to the rules of the game (when you can't reverse moves, when you can do finishers etc.), seeing it on TV again and seeing the matches break all these rules, it just did my head in! :-D
Basically, you absorb gaming like you absorb the real world, and just more than sometimes, you can confuse them! :-D
pb wrote:
> How many times have you walked down the street thinking "Hey,
> this is like that game",
You know, that's how I know I've really stepped down on my gaming dosage.
Once upon a time, EVERYWHERE was a potential games level, whether it be running and jumping across rooftops, or having gunfights.
And ofcourse, after hours of Goldeneye, everytime you saw a camera you just wanted to shoot it! ;-)
> How many times have you walked down the street thinking "Hey,
> this is like that game",
You know, that's how I know I've really stepped down on my gaming dosage.
Once upon a time, EVERYWHERE was a potential games level, whether it be running and jumping across rooftops, or having gunfights.
And ofcourse, after hours of Goldeneye, everytime you saw a camera you just wanted to shoot it! ;-)
Games can be bad i know that for a fact
THey can be on your mind like a drug but who cares About you playing a gama half your life
THey can be on your mind like a drug but who cares About you playing a gama half your life
Certain gaming is good for coordination, psychological awareness, concentration and spatial awareness in my opinion. a good example for this kind of effect is that of ut2k3, if you see what i mean. you move around, and GOOD players learn to predict the exact spot a target will be, and when to fire their projectile to make the two things meet. again, this kind of skill develops over practice and time. concentration? well, if i'm on an adrenaline high my reactions are sometimes lightning fast, say if i run full speed into someone round the corner. then, two things happen. firstly, i jump out of my seat in a frenzied shock, and then my finger crashes down on the fire button. this effect is amplified if i am using the lightning gun, as it has the sharp recoil that i like. psychological awareness? again, GOOD players will predict what people will do in a battle, and so they are knowing what the player's gonna do, before they even think do it. Some exceptionally good players have caught me out many a time, so even with my apparently spontaneous tactics, i have no chance against the power of the mind, really. co-ordination? obvious really...
I have been gaming since I was 4. And I have never had any depression or negative effects. I dont wear glasses or contacs, my fingers are fine. Oh, Adn my mums a Phycologist, and she say that gaming that help develop the mind. Becuase you are thinking in what you are doing on screen. Play agame liek Silent hill and you do the puzzles. Medal of honour uses quick reflexes etc. I also read in a magaine that playing games can IMPRVE your eye sight becuase you are concentrating on the screen, using visual skills. Not a day in my life passes without games...and i'm normal...well...the voices tell me Im normal...
tigamilla wrote:
> Garr wrote:
> Playing computer games causes psychosis, derealisation and
> depression.
> Feelings off false realities, clouded perception e.t.c
>
> Get real man, stop quoting from American health papers
well, it happened to the star wars kid :D
psychosis : why he filmed himself prancing about with a golfball retreiver in the first place is beyond me...
derealisation : he never thought of the fact that he would be laughed at, ridiculed and found out, so he did not stop...
depression : he certainly was, after millions saw his footage...
false realities : he was kicking the crap out of SOMETHING...
clouded perception : HE thought what he was doing was cool...
> Garr wrote:
> Playing computer games causes psychosis, derealisation and
> depression.
> Feelings off false realities, clouded perception e.t.c
>
> Get real man, stop quoting from American health papers
well, it happened to the star wars kid :D
psychosis : why he filmed himself prancing about with a golfball retreiver in the first place is beyond me...
derealisation : he never thought of the fact that he would be laughed at, ridiculed and found out, so he did not stop...
depression : he certainly was, after millions saw his footage...
false realities : he was kicking the crap out of SOMETHING...
clouded perception : HE thought what he was doing was cool...
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