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Gaming is good for you - new study

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by Slappy, Feb 12, 2003.

  1. Slappy Gems: 19/31
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    Remove all ads!
    Just to see some positive views about our favourite hobby:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2744449.stm

    Of course you have to allow for the BBC's current trend of dumbing everything down to tabloid level but at least it shows that not every research project is set against us. I particularly like the "many studies of game playing have been skewed by hidden agendas." The comment that "The most common emotion when people are playing is laughter" is also nice to see and should really be the main message for the anti-gaming lobby.

    On the down side, I see they can't resist putting in a picture from Grand Thefy Auto 3. This just happens to be a mildly controversial game ;) and the fact that you can't play it online (the research is about online play) doesn't seem to matter to the BBC.
     
    Slappy, Feb 12, 2003
    #1

  2. Sprite Gems: 15/31
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    Well, heck, I've spent hours taking part in games, talking with fellow players, and reading in-game banter too. Who knew it qualified me to be a University of Chicago professor? :lol: From now on, when people ask me how I spent the weekend, instead of saying "playing computer games" I'm going to say, "studying culture".

    Seriously, it's nice to see them stress the social aspect. When I was a teenager playing P&P everyone thought it was a game for antisocial loners. Hello? We were the only teenagers I knew who actually sat around a table talking with one another. And look at the strong communities gamers have built- ALFA and SP both come to mind. I've been playing online D&D every Saturday for many months now with great people I met here at SP. And yet this is the first article I've read that seems to see that side of it.

    Thanks for finding and sharing this, Slappy.
     
    Sprite, Feb 12, 2003
    #2
  3. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    [​IMG] The biggest problem is that most of this type of researches are made either by a) oldish professors who are aware of the existance of games, but never went near any except for that research of theirs or b) professors paid for the research by someone or some group who wants to blame games for violence and every other bad thing kids do, instead of focusing on the real problem which is mostly lousy upbringing with no values given to the children by the parents, or cultural (gun accessibility ease of USA, for example).

    Not to mention the fact that just as many (or almost) adult people on average play games as kids. And the fact that playing any of today's games is not really a solitary event... Most people who play games post on related forums and hang in related chatrooms, play online with friends, or go to LAN parties and competitions etc.

    [ February 12, 2003, 20:07: Message edited by: Taluntain ]
     
    Taluntain, Feb 12, 2003
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  4. Z-Layrex Gems: 21/31
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    I couldn't agree more. Some of the most intelligent posters SP has ever known (Shralp, ArtEChoke and Damona) played that MMORPG 'Asherons Call'. And as I sat there watching them discuss the previous night's activites that took place in the Asheron world, it dawned on me just how sophisticated games (and gamers alike) are becoming. If these people who try to blame violence and stupidity on computer games actually saw for themselves, that three people, miles apart from each other, can just meet up in the virtual world and go off adventuring together, then maybe all these silly accusations would finally come to an end.
     
    Z-Layrex, Feb 12, 2003
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  5. Jesper898 Gems: 21/31
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    It gives people an option of actively participating in some kind of fantasy role they could not do in real life

    Yup thats true, how many people would really want to be on Omaha beach?(medal of honor) or in a crypt full of sword swinging skeletons and nazis?(Return to castle wolfenstein)
    Games allow us to do stuff that we would be terrified to do in real life.
     
    Jesper898, Feb 24, 2003
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  6. ejsmith Gems: 25/31
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    Yep. Tal prety much hit it.

    I see and remember a lot of parents just buying a video game for their child, just to "shut them up" for a while and give them some peace and quiet. Don't sweat what the game is. Don't sweat what the kid is doing with it.

    All I know is he's been quiet in his room for the past 4 hours.

    Now, don't get me wrong. My parents did this with me. And I would have, most likely, been miffed if they'd tried to take any kind of active part in Wing Commander or Defender of the Crown or Silent Service.

    Yet, it has come to the point where parents have too. We (as a world wide group of computer users) have gotten away with it as long as possible; times have changed.
     
    ejsmith, Feb 24, 2003
    #6
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