Do video games help or hinder your brain ?

[XenoFish]

15 minutes ago, ChaosRose said:

I think it depends on the games and the stage of development a brain is in.

It probably wouldn't be good for a developing brain to be on overload for too much time with explosions all over the place. Might be why some develop ADHD. 

I do think gaming should be taken in stages, fun educational and puzzle games for kids. As a way of teaching critical thinking, then more aggressive games during the teen years. I played a lot of Doom back in the 90's at school of all places. It was a safe release for teen angst.

[internetperson]

I played a lot more games when I was younger than I do now. It seems to be like everything else; there's a balance. There are some games that I think were great for me to play as a kid because it was educational but in a sneaky kinda way. Like the main purpose of the game was to enjoy it and have fun but it would involve real world elements. I have a few good examples but mainly Civilization and Sim City.

Civilization is a game where you'd basically pick a country and play as them. When the game starts you play on the map which is an exact replica of Earth. You will begin with the countries capital you picked in the exact geographical location as to where it's supposed to be. So just that right there is a good benefit. What's even better though is it drove my curiosity for geography. It's just kind of a neat thing in my book and I know it's nothing special but I can 'draw the earth' with borders and capitals with like 65% accuracy. Nothing special but can you do that? It's handy for the news, reading books (don't have to look up locations) and trivia night at the bar.

Sim City takes like 7 years to explain just how in depth it can get. Here's the long story short: you're the mayor of a city. Generally you have to build the city from scratch. So you have to take care of taxes (and rates), zoning, infastructure of all kinds, pollution, distance of travel for residents to work, making sure residents actually have work, etc, etc, etc. It can be so in depth. My older bro was into this game a lot as a kid and now he is in commercial real estate.

Also, Counter Stike I put a lot of hours into when I was like 16-18ish. Maybe even longer that game has one hell of a shelf life. Anyway that game hit my generation like a wave and anyone that put time into it knows it helps reflexes. You won't fumble trying to catch something that was accidentally knocked off the table, you'll just snatch it in one swift movement like a ninja.

[Farmer77]

On 8/12/2017 at 0:17 PM, godnodog said:

And all family annoying saying I spend too much time on pc playing, well I could be smoking drinking doing drugs or watxhing soap operas.

If isolation , lack of exercise and other unhealthy habits come as a result I dont think that there is a difference between the two. 

[Farmer77]

On 8/12/2017 at 0:17 PM, godnodog said:

And all family annoying saying I spend too much time on pc playing, well I could be smoking drinking doing drugs or watxhing soap operas.

If isolation , lack of exercise and other unhealthy habits come as a result I dont think that there is a difference between the two. I personally play sports games and the occasional FPS myself so im not bashing them, just saying there are real life consequences to diving into video games too far 

[internetperson]

14 minutes ago, Farmer77 said:

there are real life consequences to diving into video games too far 

Abso ****ing lutely. This goes with everything.

I've had addiction issues and one good things that's come out of that is I'm honest with myself. I've think that most aren't on some level. Almost always with food and now with video games. Frankly I don't think most folks need the sort of 'no messing around' honesty that I have to hold to myself because my addictive personality - for whatever reason - is on another level. I have been diagnosed OCD so maybe that's why. Anyway, I've brought up video game addiction around other folks and quite a few shoot it down instantly almost as if offended.

That can be a sign. I really don't care what someone's addicted to or not, what you do is none of my business but I mean hell I could probably say to most cig smokers I know "I think you should slow down" and they'd say, "Yeah no **** sherlock." Only junkies freak when you take their ****.

Edited August 13, 2017 by internetperson

[godnodog]

On 8/12/2017 at 4:27 PM, XenoFish said:

Yeah when you've clocked over 3000 hours in an FPS game and it makes you more relaxed and less stressed. Then they can deal with it.

In my case I live away from family and childwood friends, didnt made a single friend at college, and coworkers all have families,  so for me I can easely do a lot of hours at games like skyrim, championship manageretc, my job also allows me to alleviate strsss, as it is delivering mail by motorbike in a costal area, with good scenary

 

Edited August 13, 2017 by godnodog

[Klownzilla]

Video games really got me ahead of everyone else when we began having english language in school (Sweden) I learned a lot of english by playing games and watching movies without subtitles.

[Mr Walker]

On 12/08/2017 at 6:40 AM, Boozemonkey said:

After spending a large amount of time playing minecraft with my daughters I thought that it had taught me enough to survive in the wild....until I punched a tree and broke my hand...

Did you damage the computer?  

[Mr Walker]

On 14/08/2017 at 2:31 AM, internetperson said:

Abso ****ing lutely. This goes with everything.

I've had addiction issues and one good things that's come out of that is I'm honest with myself. I've think that most aren't on some level. Almost always with food and now with video games. Frankly I don't think most folks need the sort of 'no messing around' honesty that I have to hold to myself because my addictive personality - for whatever reason - is on another level. I have been diagnosed OCD so maybe that's why. Anyway, I've brought up video game addiction around other folks and quite a few shoot it down instantly almost as if offended.

That can be a sign. I really don't care what someone's addicted to or not, what you do is none of my business but I mean hell I could probably say to most cig smokers I know "I think you should slow down" and they'd say, "Yeah no **** sherlock." Only junkies freak when you take their ****.

I guess some people do get addicted. I used to play wow on line a lot (easily 40-50 hours a week while also teaching full time )    reaching the highest levels with half a dozen different characters    I've played a lot of rpgs for decades  and completed almost all the best known games over the years.  I completed sky rim in about 6 months,  but i dont need to play. I can, and do, go months without playing. When someone hacked into my wow account and stole everything i just walked away from it and moved on 

 It is just immersive fun.  I gave up on online playing because there are so many unpleasant and anti social people   among  gamers, especially the young,  despite there being also some of the nicest people I have met, especially among more mature gamers.

Oh and before computer games there were the consoles My fav were the nintendo's. I had over 300 original nes games,  over 200 atari games,  100 coleco vision games, and  about    100 super nes All with original packaging and booklets. Lost them all when the house burned down in a bush fire The coleco vision had an expansion module allowing you to play atari games on it  but i also had atari consoles.  

 More involved with other things these days, but have probably accumulated about 60 play station 3  games bought second hand for a fraction of their price  My first game was of course, "Pong" by atari but marketed as tele games , played on a console which only played that game  We played it on a big, but black and white old philips Tv set,  back in the seventies.  Even now i can remember the simple sound effect and the game play.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Mr Walker

[spartan max2]

Video games are the best. Much better then tv.

People only ever freaked out about it because it was new. 

Videogame addiction is bad but it's not the videogame harming them it justs them choosing to not do anything else

[internetperson]

1 hour ago, Mr Walker said:

I guess some people do get addicted. I used to play wow on line a lot (easily 40-50 hours a week while also teaching full time )    reaching the highest levels with half a dozen different characters    I've played a lot of rpgs for decades  and completed almost all the best known games over the years.  I completed sky rim in about 6 months,  but i dont need to play. I can, and do, go months without playing. When someone hacked into my wow account and stole everything i just walked away from it and moved on 

What did you teach? You remind me of a teacher I had in high school. Some friends and I went into his classroom during lunch on 9/11 to watch the news and he was playing wow.

If you had a kid would you let them play WOW (or any game) for 40-50 hours a week? Suppose they were good in school and well behaved, would you let them do this? Can you agree that a great deal of the population isn't 'wired' the same way as you and will freak out when they find that all their work was for nothing?

1 hour ago, Mr Walker said:

 It is just immersive fun.  I gave up on online playing because there are so many unpleasant and anti social people   among  gamers, especially the young,  despite there being also some of the nicest people I have met, especially among more mature gamers.

"It is just a beer after work." That's the majority of the population but every now and then you get drunks who can't snap out of it and who can't put the bottle down. I don't doubt that this is good clean fun for you (frankly I think that's great, it's the whole point of games) it's just that the little ones and teens aren't aware of the grand scheme of things. I've seen a million PSA's against smoking and drunk driving but none of them about obsessive gaming. I'm not even necessarily calling for a PSA but awareness of some kind. I don't think of addiction as exclusively consuming drugs/alcohol but I think of addiction more like a compulsive habit. Does that make sense?

I haven't played much online but I know what you mean regarding the unpleasantness. I remember playing an add on to half life (battlegrounds) and there was a kid who wouldn't use his mic because he was afraid folks were going to make fun of him because he was like 13 or something. He eventually did use the mic and I think I did explain to him a bit on how to handle such folks but I don't remember, was a while ago.

1 hour ago, Mr Walker said:

I had over 300 original nes games,  over 200 atari games,  100 coleco vision games, and  about    100 super nes All with original packaging and booklets. Lost them all when the house burned down

Dammit! And I thought Alexandria was bad.

[Mr Walker]

47 minutes ago, internetperson said:

What did you teach? You remind me of a teacher I had in high school. Some friends and I went into his classroom during lunch on 9/11 to watch the news and he was playing wow.

If you had a kid would you let them play WOW (or any game) for 40-50 hours a week? Suppose they were good in school and well behaved, would you let them do this? Can you agree that a great deal of the population isn't 'wired' the same way as you and will freak out when they find that all their work was for nothing?

"It is just a beer after work." That's the majority of the population but every now and then you get drunks who can't snap out of it and who can't put the bottle down. I don't doubt that this is good clean fun for you (frankly I think that's great, it's the whole point of games) it's just that the little ones and teens aren't aware of the grand scheme of things. I've seen a million PSA's against smoking and drunk driving but none of them about obsessive gaming. I'm not even necessarily calling for a PSA but awareness of some kind. I don't think of addiction as exclusively consuming drugs/alcohol but I think of addiction more like a compulsive habit. Does that make sense?

I haven't played much online but I know what you mean regarding the unpleasantness. I remember playing an add on to half life (battlegrounds) and there was a kid who wouldn't use his mic because he was afraid folks were going to make fun of him because he was like 13 or something. He eventually did use the mic and I think I did explain to him a bit on how to handle such folks but I don't remember, was a while ago.

Dammit! And I thought Alexandria was bad.

I taught high school students aged 12 to adult;  english history geography, health and sexual development, australian studies  social studies, society and environment etc.

I would bring my kids up like i was brought up.

With a balance. While i was playing wow it was a bit over the top. Sometimes  I would play all night and sometimes i might play most of one day on the weekend but my wife kept me honest and i was also working  I took the game time out of my reading time and tv viewing so it didn't make a big difference overall..  (ive always read for at least   40 to 50 hours a week) . Not sure what you mean about me being different to others  Everyone's different I dont drink smoke or take drugs Now i am retired i read about 6 hours a day watch  movies or netflix with my wife for a few hours   spend 4 hours or so online   SO about half my time is in cerebral pursuits. I walk the dogs every day. walk and ride a push bike, garden and spend a bit of time on active things ( i do all the cooking and help with cleaning washing etc.  but i prefer activities of the mind  i did geocaching for many years and recently have taken up hunting decorated rocks   I only need about 4 hours sleep a night so i get extra time most people don't have         

I would not put many controls on my kids UNLESS they needed them. which, given our family, they probably wouldn't .  We all do well at school all are physically healthy and all are well adjusted socially and mentally  Only if i saw negative effects would i use my authority to intervene.  eg if grades or attitude fell away because they were playing too many games (or too involved with sports  ) i would negotiate some limits.

Because i have spent all my life spending so much time reading 9i read about 2 or 3 books every day as well as a lot of other stuff it would be hypocritical of me to stop a child doing something the y loved IF it didn't affect their progress in life  Many of my extended family play games together with grandfatehrs fathers uncles and young kids all involved  We even have a regular games night every monday for all interested .  we also play a lot of board  games of all types  and modern games like escape rooms  as a family.

I agree that compulsion is part of addiction But it doesnt even have to be addiction, it can just be where one section of your life dominates all others. I would be more worried if a child of mine became obsessed with sport  than with reading or gaming.

iti s a personal; thing but i dont like a lot of the attitudes and values around organised and competitive sports for young people .  Recreational sports for fun, social interaction and fitness, yes; but not team competitive sports.   

lol love the classics reference Yes it was a blow All that remained of those games were row on row of tiny metal chips lying where the y fell as all the packaging and plastic vapourised  I am thinking of getting one of these new game  platforms where you can play all the old games on the emulator   raspberry pi or similar  

[kartikg]

I like to play fps but as of now I don't have a proper gaming PC I have been  play addictive games on mobile which I think are really not good for your brain because most time is spent on waiting for minig resources which is deliberately done so that you pay. mobile games suck

[XenoFish]

http://progamerhub.com/day-life-pro-gamer/

https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/western-progamers-shouldnt-want-to-be-like-koreans-5759

 

[FLOMBIE]

12 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

http://progamerhub.com/day-life-pro-gamer/

https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/western-progamers-shouldnt-want-to-be-like-koreans-5759

 

Western progamers shouldn't want to be like koreans (korean progames).

Like what? Autists with hot girlfriends?

[XenoFish]

I found the links interesting. I clock about 4+hours a day in an fps mp that I've been playing since 2011. Got over 3000 hours in. Most on console and about 1000 hours in on pc. It keeps the existential dread way.

Edited August 15, 2017 by XenoFish

[jmccr8]

On 8/11/2017 at 5:36 AM, XenoFish said:

I've been playing games since the NES came out. I've got to say my hand eye coordination is pretty good. Plus the more I play puzzle type games, I find myself solving problems faster. I think if the game challenges or develops a skill you do not readily possess, then yes they will work wonders.

I really haven't played video games, I grew up with pool,darts and shuffle board although I have always enjoyed decode-a-quote,crosswords, and word jumbles which I now do with my grand-daughter.

jmccr8

[Luca-RoseElsie-Raemom1921]

A really good psychologist I had (for Depression and Anxiety) from 2015-mid 2016 told me video games can be a stress relief for people, in moderation ofcourse. Some games can be used as forms of exercise Dance games, fitness games are good for that. 

I've found some games can help with memory to.

I've only just started gaming more recently (I blame Michael since he's a gamer lol) and have found it does help when I'm angry, Anxious or stressed.

With fps you can take your anger out on the enemies in the game and it has no effect on people in the real world.

[XenoFish]

4 minutes ago, Ruby04 said:

With fps you can take your anger out on the enemies in the game and it has no effect on people in the real world.

I have killed so many people and the only thing hurt is their egos. Which is better than real dead bodies. I play a lot of retro games on PC sometimes. Just to relieve stress. I got a clicker game running almost 24/7.

[Luca-RoseElsie-Raemom1921]

8 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

I have killed so many people and the only thing hurt is their egos. Which is better than real dead bodies. I play a lot of retro games on PC sometimes. Just to relieve stress. I got a clicker game running almost 24/7.

That's what I mean, you don't physically harm anyone.

[XenoFish]

You know it would be nice if wars were fought using video games. Cheaper too.

[Klownzilla]

Haha i can just see it now...even though i'm sure this wasn't exactly what you meant. The leaders of the world fighting over...well whatever and settle everything with a Tekken tournament. :-D

[+DieChecker]

59 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

You know it would be nice if wars were fought using video games. Cheaper too.

That's what they told Ender... 

[BeastieRunner]

On 8/11/2017 at 9:18 PM, IBelieveWhatIWant said:

I don't see how playing CoD makes people dumber. It improves your reaction time, situational awareness, memory, strategy, hand eye coordination.

 

In general gaming is probably one of the best things to do to exercise your mind

Except the study referenced here showed that your grey matter is shrunk when you play shooters like Call of Duty.

Edited August 28, 2017 by BeastieRunner

[BeastieRunner]

On 8/12/2017 at 1:56 AM, godnodog said:

Read the full article, COD is an example

I read the study I culled the info from. I read the article, too.

It specifically outs CoD as shrinking your grey matter.