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Useful things you learned from games
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Instead, we need to invest all our funds into a small yet elite and extremely lucky squad.
Featuring a young farm boy/former slave/son of a blacksmith who requires the traits of naivety, stubbornness, leadership and a hopelessly optimistic personality. He will be our main weapon of mass destruction.
Accompanying him will be his hot, tom boyish female best friend. She shall share his stubbornness but rather than hopeless optimism she shall be sarcastic and cynical. She and the main hero will also have unresolved feelings of attractions that occasionally make for humourous and awkward situations (such as victory celebrations).
There shalt also be a hot ally who is of noble blood and openly flirts with the main hero and generally is a spoiled bitch. She also needs to be blonde haired and blue eyed.
The team also requires the services of an old, friendly but perverted mentor and veteran who guides the team and teaches them about the earth or some other hippie shit. He will inevitably be killed by a very powerful enemy. This is but a clever ruse to enrage the main hero into fighting harder against the enemy.
The inclusion of an unsavory rogue/thief/former enemy/daredevil is also required because every super group requires a champion representing badass and dark to compliment and exaggerate the "good guy hero" champion.
And finally, because of US laws the team requires a single black guy who acts out his race's stereotype of being loud, obnoxious and destructive. US laws mandate that he must also die before the mentor does.
Also, Capitalism II. Awesome practical interface with economics.
No, not exactly 'real world' useful but I better understand and enjoy W40K now,
In case of alien invasion, find cyborg who never talks and has a power suit. Stay by him.
In case of zombies, find photagrapher with chainsaw. Stay just out of chainsaws reach.
Fortunately, everyone likes humans. Can't imagine why. But we're popular, even with extraterrestrials we've never met.
In case of alien occupation, find an MIT-educated scientist wearing a bright orange suit and has an uncanny familiarity with firearms. And he never talks.
Now, don't go anywhere near that guy.
Seriously.
You'll just die.
Especially right before the end, when there's that street with Striders patrolling it that will kill you no matter WHAT he does, despite his best efforts to get you to STAND OVER THERE BEHIND COVER AND NOT SHOOT THE GIANT WALKING DEATH-MACHINE.
And did you know that bunnies don't like being shot at? I had no idea!
Oh, and anything that isn't important I am physically incapable of touching. That's why my room's such a mess; it's not that I don't want to pick up my stuff, I simply cannot interact with it.
My Steam profile | My TF2 items
The Where in X is Carmen Sandiego games taught me a lot, or at least forced me to read an almanac to get the answers the game required.
Man the mage leader was pissed at his dudes that week, so was the rogue leader.
In any case to sum it up, I learnt how to research the skills under my jurisdiction, improve the efficiency of myself and my underlings (employees), take responsibility, delegate responsibility (my 2ic become a trusted ally, eventually taking over my position when I had to step down), learn how to manage people, learn how to resolve problems from higher ups and downs and inbetween diplomatically and finally, make the decision to step down when I realised that my life did not have room anymore for a voluntary activity, showing I have good judgment skills. <---this is all in job application speak.
That's what I learnt from wow.
I'm almost insulted when there's nothing hidden behind a waterfall, in a video game.
(fifa 95, nba jam, madden, f1, that robot baseball game, speedball!)
Lots of facts about life, such as what things can burn and what can't, animal behaviour patterns and such like.
(all sorts of old school games and new things like lost in blue)
Cultural tolerance. I have learned more about the various world religions, mythologies, world views, languages and histories than I think anyone would ever have expected to.
(Rpgs, civilization)
The mechanics of human flight, how not to crash a plane and how to recognise approximately 150 military aircraft
(flight simulators,i lost the manual to f-19 stealth fighter).
the difficulties of town planning, the ins and outs of military strategy including the vital importance of technology.
(Sim city, advance wars/world conquest/command and conquer/x-com)
I now have the reactions of a caffinated feline, and can fire a gun(not a real one, I'm from the uk) and a bow with extreme accuracy, and land a ball wherever i want it to go when I throw it.
(Action games, mostly shooters, and throwing grenades.)
I unconciously move very quietly and keep scaring the crap out of my mom.
(metal gear solid, ninja games)
I have learned to find relaxation in simple tasks and the art of aesthetics, visual and phonic.
(Harvest moon, Settlers 2, the sims, railroad tycoon, animal crossing, electroplankton)
how to vent my frustration without hurting anybody, even myself.
(streetfighter 2, tekken 3)
That C grade might be the average intelligence, but that people with lower scores than that tend to be very vocal about their feelings. The terrible power and great defense of anonymity.
(any online game ever)
teamwork and co-ordination. working together to overcome odds.
(co-op fps games, starcraft, kuri kuri mix)
how even the best of friends can become worst of enemies when food, women, or shiny objects are involved.
(Gauntlet 2, zelda 4 swords, lego star wars)
And finally, most important to me at the moment, diplomacy and interpersonal problem solving. How to reason with people, see the source of a problem then come up with a mutually acceptable resolution.
(WOW, Civilization, Space empires)
In short, video games rock.
I learned a lot of English from games, too! But I hate that VG Cats strip, it makes me sad that the artist made those quotes go so out of context, and the guy has Falco say a quote from Peppy.
I'm currently learning Japanese with the help of games, too. I got Zelda TP for GC in Japanese, and playing through it without having played the American version made me learn quite a few words and ways pronouncing kanjis (mind you, I thought I was going to get a Wii and the American version of TP Wii first, but it turns out it was the other way around, and I'm glad it happened this way).
Also, when I first started taking driving lessons from my dad, I would do it very slowly and nervously for fear of crashing. I stopped for a while (he didn't visit me for over 2 years), but before going back to learning, I had played a lot of GTA SA. So once I got in the car I drove with more confidence and faster than I did before playing GTA without making a single mistake.
3DS FC: 2148-9166-6811; Pokémon White 2 FC: 0304-9556-1797 Free flawless Japanese Dittos for trade.
I learned lots of voodoo from Gabriel Knight at age 14!
- People act differently online
- Life is too slow compared to my uberfast games
Pokémon HGSS: 1205 1613 4041
Methinks you missed the joke.
I learned that you never have to really worry about comparing items, the last shop will always have the best.
Because 9% think it's too high, and shouldn't be cut! 9% of respondents could not fully
get their arms around the question. There should be another box you can check for, "I
have utterly no idea what you're talking about. Please, God, don't ask for my input."
Oh no, I got the joke just fine and laughed a lot when I read it. But then I started imagining the quotes being said on the game in my head, and it made me feel that part of my childhood was ruined.
3DS FC: 2148-9166-6811; Pokémon White 2 FC: 0304-9556-1797 Free flawless Japanese Dittos for trade.
Using this philosophy, I've gathered what I consider a respectable collection of games.
As for life lessons, I've learned that when you're attacked by zombies, get out the shotgun and aim high, because ammo is everywhere.
I was in the cafeteria and some lady was trying to get the milk dispenser to work, and could not. I too wanted some cow juice for my java and was tired of waiting for her.
I politely interviened and said "If video games have taught me anything they have taught me to look for the button". I looked, found the button, and everyone got milk.
Not racing games, necessarily*. But in general, keeping track of various on-screen displays while navigating through a sea of enemies/gunfire makes keeping your eye on the road and two or three mirrors while singing along to the radio (and perhaps playing some steering wheel percussion) almost insultingly easy.
*In fact, some racing games encourage bad driving habits. Like the urge to attempt 1000kph after some solid F-Zero time.
Gaming Unplugged columnist and video game reviewer at Snackbar Games
I still hear that phrase in my head whenever I'm trying to complete a complicated project on time and start to get frustrated.
I've wasted my life
I often have to justify my gaming lifestyle to my wife, relatives... well, pretty much any non-gamer who wonders why I'm still playing instead of mowing the lawn and washing the car or whatever boring shit I'm supposed to be pursuing now that I'm in my 30's.
My kids love me for it, though. My son has started countless conversations with me over some nuance in the reality presented in Mario Sunshine. That's something.
Anyway, I've found that in threads that go over five pages or so, nobody reads the previous posts and we get a lot of redundancy.
So as I token of my thanks, I made this list of our collective lessons gleaned from our favorite hobby:
-- English/Reading skills (Rhaka, wenchkilla, PotU, Stigma, SimBen, Fantasyrogue, Squirminator2k, Non-Existent Freezer, Torso Boy, Sushisource, RockinX, gneGne, Akatsuki)
-- trivia, historical facts (shutz, Fantasyrogue, Rhesus Positive, Xusder, YardGnome, matt7718, Duki, l337CrappyJack's friend, JJ, malerik, Akatsuki, kitch)
-- inspired/encouraged to read up, study, appreciate literary inspiration for game (Tiemler, J3p, Merovingi, radjago, SimBen, Darkest_3|i)
-- better coordination, dexterity (043, Xagarath, malerik)
-- how to drive (Descendant X, Parkingtigers, Vyolynce)
-- to get up and try again, to complete a complicated project and manage frustration: "Remember...patience, discipline." (Judas, Darkest_3|i+3)
-- pattern-reading (Tuoma, Jacoby's fiancee)
-- helped my typing (Captain Uglyhead, Fantasyrogue)
-- the rules and scoring systems for various sports (SimBen, radjago, malerik)
-- logical problem solving (shutz, Qingu, Variable)
-- how to keep calm in tense situations (emnmnme, Merovingi)
-- I learned where to vent if I had a bad day, how vent my frustration without hurting anybody (mtvcdm, malerik)
-- how to manage my stocks and get the best profit margins, optimization solving (Obs, titmouse)
-- taught me organisation skills (natxcross, Morninglord)
-- how to manage people, work cooperatively, make compromises (shutz, Morninglord, malerik)
-- that people act differently when they are anonymous (gneGne, malerik)
-- how to identify, emulate, or create a formulaic plot (The_Lightbringer, Kurrel)
-- cultural tolerance (malerik)
-- the value of running away. (natxcross)
-- how to apply a tornaquet (Wombat!!)
-- cause/effect, consequences of actions, to be prepared (natxcross)
-- to take responsibility for my actions (Morninglord)
-- improved memorization (FreddyD)
-- tactics/strategy (VeritasVR)
-- games strategies are not always applicable to real life (Nocren)
-- multitasking (ThatDudeOverThere)
-- map reading (PenguinSeph)
-- Always, always check behind waterfalls. (LewieP)
-- that space is an incredibly hostile environment (mistergoku)
-- how even the best of friends can become worst of enemies when food, women, or shiny objects are involved (malerik)
-- to better appreciate art (bruin)
-- never sell a game you like (NofrikinfuN)
-- to look for the button (Yall)
Also teamwork, without the team, you'd better be the best damn player in the world, or else you've got 95% chance of failure.
Especially if you name them after people you don't like, give them bare-bones rations, and make them literally run all the way to Oregon.
It really should have been called the Slave-trail.
That would open up a hole big can of worms on unsuspecting elementary school kids.
Tribes also increased my typing speed quite a bit.. Nothing like typing a quick message while waiting for your jetpack to recharge.
Here's an interesting article that was just slash-dotted:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N2J303978.htm
Summary: Video games improve the skills of surgeons.
The Marines ARE the Emperor's chosen (thier inital genetic code is from the Emperor is his prime) and they have unwavering faith in him. If anything it shows what a true fanaticly devoted person is capable of doing in the name of thier faith.
You know, the more I look into it, the less I want to play Marines in 40K now.
The fun part about 40k is that there is no race that is good and openminded.
The Tau? Pfft. They're all "Join our cause! Or take this shovel and go dig a hole to dump your body in!"
(And they give you the choice. Hell, you even LOOK at a Xeno and you're excuted in the Imperium.)
And I probably woulda played Guard if I never read 15 Hours. (or was it 25?)