Has a game ever taught you something?

The Souls games do a great job of taking me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to change up my strategy and think about my tactics. One thing they've taught me is to experiment and to play more aggressively. Sort of a face your fears kind of moment 😄

How about you, SW? Has a game ever taught you something?

I went to Rome after playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I could legitimatly navigate the entire city based on my knowledge of the game map. It's obviously not exact to scale, but it painted enough broad strokes to know where I was at all times in relation to everything else.

MSFS and Gran Turismo taught me a thing or two about flying and racing.

Grand Theft Auto games taught me how to drive and treat the ladies.

^

Similar. Probably learned something from a game over the years, but can definitely say that gaming led me down my career path.

lol not editing that

You're a developer?!

A rather old quote: "If Tetris has taught me anything, it’s that errors pile up and accomplishments disappear."

@SolidGame_basic:

Yeah, art side. Got into 3d art because of games, and worked on quite a few. But ultimately ended up doing work in just about every applicable industry. Mainly VFX (film/TV) and animation. Also medical, figures, toys, cultural heritage preservation, etc.

Currently creating synthetic data for machine learning. Still 3d assets in game engines, same old workflows, different application.

😮wow, you're like the most accomplished person in SW since Jack Septiceye lol

😂

Good ole Sean. I live comfy for sure, but not on that Septiceye 💰

I think games got me interested in history, WW2 games were big when I was seriously getting into gaming and those kicked off a lifelong fascination with historical conflicts.

I think i'd also say that games helped train me to stay calm under pressure. Stuff like intense MP games or Souls boss fights where you need to learn to keep calm under stressful circumstances.

Fitness Exercise Boxing 2 on Switch helped hone my fighting skills. One of few games I totally like on Switch.

funny I think the Souls games had the opposite effect on me. I was too gung-ho initially and had to learn to take things slower and be more wary of my surroundings/potential traps.

I rage quit Dark Souls 1 in Blight Town, came back months later with a more patient approach and finished it. That approach has served me well in subsequent From games.

i agree about the experimenting side of things though

Kid Icarus: Uprising. The game taught me that the gods, whether they are fictional (as in the case this game) or real-world, are in many ways like the mortals that worship them.

Yes. In NBA jam I can use some of the moves I learned on the basketball court.

No joke, I was driving a U-Haul truck and just intuitively knew what to do different compaired to a regular car, and I think it was because I had been playing a bunch of Motorstorm at the time. It's arcade as racing games get, but still gave me some insight into the handling of larger vehicles.

DCS World taught me how to fly the A-10C. Like literally; I'm not saying I'd be an ace pilot or anything, but I could probably start it up and fly it. And then crash it lol

They don't call it a "study sim" for no reason 😜

If you're looking for more vague ideas of what games have taught me--like what moral lessons, life lessons, etc--I'd argue games have taught me a lot, such as:

• Creative problem solving. "I need to get to the other side of that wall but all I have is 10 pounds of explosives. Hmmmmm..."
• Organizational skills. "I have 100 pounds of gear and a 10 x 8 grid and a carrying capacity of 95 lb...what do I keep, and how do I fit it all in"
• Artistry. "Wow these blood effects are really great. I wonder; if I drag the body to the wall and shoot from different angles at it, will the blood splash on the walls?"
• Morality. "If I feed the vagrant, Kreia from KOTOR 2 will lecture me. If I don't feed the vagrant, Kreia from KOTOR 2 will lecture me. Hmmmm..."
• Effectively using space, planning things out. "OK if I lay down my heavy industry over here, have a train going out of town this way, buffer in between with commercial zone and then lay down residential, my people should be happy. They're not happy!?"
• Historical stuff, especially the details. I know the Assassin's Creed games are not realistic but they do consult historians and portray the game worlds to the best approximation of what we think life was like for people.
• Tactics. I think a lifetime of strategy games, both realistic and fictional, has made me a pretty good strategic thinker, an adequate armchair general.

Same, except for me it was Paris and the Notre Dame.

My experience playing awful games that get overly celebrated or good games that get ridiculed is that people would much rather conform to popular sentiments than assert their own beliefs and perceptions and having to stick up for them. Like the classic Demotivator used to say "When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other". Not just the gaming world though, it is a pretty universal principle, but I just play a lot of games so it really sticks out to me there.

Conan haha

Many things. English, for example.

That Sony first party games are mostly ubisoft clones, confirming my over-rated claim

@simple-facts: Name their unbisoft-like games...

Uncharted, Sushi Ghost, Spiderman, Horizon..

@Litchie: like you’ve played those games 😀

@Litchie: Uncharted nope, Horizon ok, haven't played the other 2 yet. So the rest aren't, so most aren't Ubisoft like, gotcha. 👍

Video games taught me alot of names of real guns from WW2 and modern ones from games like MOH and Battlefield.

No, not a big fan of Ubisoft like games. Sadly tried Uncharted, I think it was the first. It sucked.

You don't think Uncharted share any similarities to PoP/AC? Weird. Since it does. Horizon is basically an AC copy. Tsushima as well. Spiderman share many things with AC.

English for me too.

lol hell no. That is crazy getting a life lesson from a game.

Lmao at the OP saying Elden Rings taught him how to take chances in life. So because you attacked a hard boss it changed your whole outlook on life? Op you spend your life on this forum. I tell you what actual life is far harder then Elden Rings.

Smelling really nerdy in here, gotta go. lol :P

OP did not say that.

Language, geography, math, etc. There's a lot to learn from videogames. That goes for books, movies and other forms of culture too.

Not quite.

Way back when I was just a little tot still in diapees, playing games helped me learn how to read and enjoy reading.

lol. Eh, he might've been even worse without games.

(sry ghosts :P)

Absolutely. The souls games taught me that they are garbage, and the Witcher 3 taught me that it is still the greatest RPG of all time that has still not been bested. Amazing.

English is not my language my friend.

You needed gaming in your life to teach you about how to have an opinion?

I know. What is your language?

@Litchie: Uncharted, not even remotely close, you'd have to be smoking crack to think otherwise. Horizon, yup it took that formula and actually made it fun.

Video games are the reason I studied computer science (like many who enter that field). So there's that. Older video games were also known for being harder, which taught things like perseverance and twitch reflexes.

In terms of individual games, FFVII taught me a few things about capitalism, climate change and psychological disorders. And MGS2 taught me about things like fake news, echo chambers and post-truth politics.

Traces of Ancient Gods, Taught me to actually, try new things, to think about my actions, since, you can't just use any followers when playing this, you have to formulate, choose the best for your character and playing this thought me how to be patient. Perfect for casual gamers who wants to chill on their down time, a not so time consuming dungeon exploration game coupled with multiple characters hence the variety of team composition when your challenging dungeons and challenges stages differs, also comes with co-op game play if you want to play with your friends and even enter a healthy rivalry by racing as who can beat certain levels or acquire certain character against your peers.

Yakuza games taught me a lot about Japanese culture.

I’m convinced it’s helped my hand-eye coordination and reaction time. I’ve been able to transition into playing pinball quite well despite my lack of experience in it. I’d like to believe gaming has helped me in that department, though I’m naturally athletically inclined.

As far as gaming stories? No. Gaming stories have taught me that gaming stories suck.

Edit: I think that gaming also has influenced my music taste, especially along the electro-pop/electronic/dance variety.

Crusader Kings has taught me a lot about feudal laws.