Do you think that Video Game skills relate to combat skills?

[Blindswordmaster]

Do your years of video games relate to any real world skills? Do you think your years of shooters make you more qualified than someone who has never handled a gun? Has playing zombie games prepared you for the zombie Apocalypse?
This isn't a zombie thread, I swear to God.

 

[delet]

Well, I might be just a little bit more OK with gore or shooting an enemy, and I might have a slightly steadier hold of a gun, but I've not tested any of that so I wouldn't know for sure.

Chances are, it wouldn't really make much of a difference.

 

[Banana Phone Man]

Um. No. There isn't a lot else to put here.

I guess I'll add to this.

Playing Big mother trucker. Truck me Harder does not help you in learning how to drive a truck or to truck other people.

 

[Julianking93]

Maybe. I don't know.

I might be a bit more immune to blood and gore and can at least aim because of games, but I can't say I'm a good shot because of games.

I'm a good shot because I practice with a gun

 

[Skorpyo]

Games just make it easier for me to deal with images of death.

They do not, however, improve my skills.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

No.

There's not much more to say, really.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Not really, no. Unless there's some Matrix-like console out there that I don't know about.

 

[Gralian]

When i joined the rifle & pistol club, i thought i'd be a crackshot because of all the shooter games i'd played over the years.

How wrong i was. So very very wrong.

My shots were all over the place and it took a lot of practice, concentration and patience to get to the standard i am today. Video game skills are non-transferable to the real world. What it does do is give you a rough idea of what it is trying to imitate. For example; playing Modern Warfare 2 hasn't made me into a soldier by any means, but i have a good idea of what being in a war would be like.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Perhaps in UAV piloting or some similar field (bomb disarming robot) but in terms of sighting down a rifle or plotting artillery coordinates absolutely not.

 

[lasersandbearsohno]

While I don't believe there is any correlation, my personal experience was different. First time I picked up a rifle, I blew away 5/6 pumpkins I shot at at range, and hit a tiny vodka bottle from a mini bar, first try, after watching an experience hunter and two ex military people miss. Of course luck was a part of it, but firing a pellet gun a year later, 6/6 shot at 30 yards. Am I saying that videogames helped? Nope. Am I saying that I am amazing at shooting? Nope. Just saying that if I had a bigger ego or a bigger love for videogames, I would be here spouting that videogames make snipers

 

[swolf]

Do your years of video games relate to any real world skills? Do you think your years of shooters make you more qualified than someone who has never handled a gun? Has playing zombie games prepared you for the zombie Apocalypse?
This isn't a zombie thread, I swear to God.

Well, considering that the average gamer has the reflexes of a fighter pilot but the body of a...well, really unhealthy person, I will say "no". I mean, even training scenarios, no matter how realistic, can properly prepare anybody for the realities of war. I mean, there's a big difference between a simulation with friends acting as the terrorists as you treat a "patient" with moulage injuries and the reality of people trying to kill you while you're behind cover treating a real person (a good friend) who will die in your arms if you fail (or may die anyways even though you did everything in your power to save them).

When i joined the rifle & pistol club, i thought i'd be a crackshot because of all the shooter games i'd played over the years.

How wrong i was. So very very wrong.

My shots were all over the place and it took a lot of practice, concentration and patience to get to the standard i am today. Video game skills are non-transferable to the real world. What it does do is give you a rough idea of what it is trying to imitate. For example; playing Modern Warfare 2 hasn't made me into a soldier by any means, but i have a good idea of what being in a war would be like.

I've got to ask for an explanation. How did playing Modern Warfare 2 give you an idea of what being in a war would be like? I mean, I've played the game and done battle simulation training and there's a HUGE difference. In the game, you can make a mistake and survive to continue fighting. In the simulation, any mistake would mean that you "died" or were "injured". It's not fun when your squadmates have to carry you out because a mistake was made. I'm not trying to flame you...just confused. (Though I would love to see a game which tries to accurately portray what war is like.)

Games just make it easier for me to deal with images of death.

They do not, however, improve my skills.

I wish that were true. I play a few violent "M" rated games but it's not the same. I remember an interview of a Navy Corpsman describing his experiences. He discussed that, in training, he had to keep an animal alive. That still wasn't enough to prepare him for when a bullet struck his friend and he was treating his friend, trying to stop the blood...I mean, read the book "Medic!" by Ben Sherman and that will give you an idea of what his thoughts must have been like.

 

[icyneesan]

Only if that combat involves me playing video games

Otherwise, No

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

There are some skills you learn in game that can translate into the real world. Flight simulators for one. Professional militaries around the world use them for everything from helicopter to ship pilots.

I remember reading how people actually used things they learned in America's Army combat medicine course in a real life situation.

Fighting and using guns are another thing entirely. These are almost always presented in a more theatrical way. Realism is sacrificed so you can shoot and fight. For example, how many games do you know make you adjust sights based on the distance from your target?

Edit:

It doesn't teach you tactics that well either. Most games it's easy to run and gun and they don't really present realistic ways to approach an enemy. Even games heavy on cover don't. You rush out in the open for just a few seconds in real life and you'll end up shot. I had to drill attacking a bunker so many times I can run through it in my sleep. And even if it's perfect, the person drilling you is still likely to mess everything up by saying you just got hit with a mortar and someone is dead.

 

[Gralian]

When i joined the rifle & pistol club, i thought i'd be a crackshot because of all the shooter games i'd played over the years.

How wrong i was. So very very wrong.

My shots were all over the place and it took a lot of practice, concentration and patience to get to the standard i am today. Video game skills are non-transferable to the real world. What it does do is give you a rough idea of what it is trying to imitate. For example; playing Modern Warfare 2 hasn't made me into a soldier by any means, but i have a good idea of what being in a war would be like.

I've got to ask for an explanation. How did playing Modern Warfare 2 give you an idea of what being in a war would be like? I mean, I've played the game and done battle simulation training and there's a HUGE difference. In the game, you can make a mistake and survive to continue fighting. In the simulation, any mistake would mean that you "died" or were "injured". It's not fun when your squadmates have to carry you out because a mistake was made. I'm not trying to flame you...just confused. (Though I would love to see a game which tries to accurately portray what war is like.)

I apologise. I meant to stress that games in general give you a very rough idea of what they are trying to imitate. This does not mean it simulates what it is like to be an actual soldier in an actual battlefield, but you have very basic demonstration of the setting and what is happening in a fight. Maybe Modern Warfare 2 was a bad example, and i should have picked Call of Duty 2 instead or another WW2 shooter. It's not a representation of what it's like to be a soldier, but of what they experienced. The endless shooting, the chaos, the explosions, people dying all around them and so forth. I'm not talking simulation style representation.

 

[Theron Julius]

Maybe being the gunner of an Apache, which most military shows claim to be similar to playing a video game. That's the only one that comes to mind immediately. perhaps piloting a predator drone, but I doubt it's particularly similar.

 

[Hiphophippo]

If it did I'd be a goddamn Navy Seal by now. Sadly, I'm pretty sure in a real combat situation I'd piss myself.

 

[James Hueick]

Depends; in order to operate a gun you have to know how to reload it properly and take it apart and repair it. Video games don't teach you either of these so no. But for games like Nintendogs they do teach you how to effectively raise a dog, and I expect that with Kinect there will be people learning to skateboard and maybe fight. And Rockback 3 (as long as its not glitchy) might teach people how to play an musical instrument. So to sum it up. Shooters: NO Anything else (basically): YES

 

[EPolleys]

Not for most mainstream games no.
Simulators on the other hand at least have the possibility to teach certain skills, mostly vehicle related.