My entire knowledge of Texas Hold 'Em (and it's actually functional) was developed solely via Red Dead Redemption.
What games have you actually learned from?
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In the Metroid Prime series the philosophy of the "good" sentient creatures (Chozo, Luminoth, ect...) has actually made me see that this world needs that type of philosophy (It's very similiar to that of the Buddhist philosophy). The main idea of that philosophy is that there needs to be a balance between technology and nature, and in "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption" there is a race of creatures that were highly advanced and disregarded the idea and they eventually destroyed themselved because of 2 warring factions (One faction believed in the old ways of nature and magic. The other faction denounced the old ways in believing in the advancement of the race through technology.)
The faction that believed in the old ways, eventually destroyed the other faction and what was left of their sentience in the war, as well as almost destoying the planet's ability to sustain life as well. The only reason part of the plantet survived was because on of them had decided to find the balance between nature and technology and was only able to restore only a small fraction of the planet's ecosystem before being found, hunted, and killed by these savage creatures that the other faction had become.
I have seen that we need to find that balance between nature and technology, we will destroy ourselves.
The faction that believed in the old ways, eventually destroyed the other faction and what was left of their sentience in the war, as well as almost destoying the planet's ability to sustain life as well. The only reason part of the plantet survived was because on of them had decided to find the balance between nature and technology and was only able to restore only a small fraction of the planet's ecosystem before being found, hunted, and killed by these savage creatures that the other faction had become.
I have seen that we need to find that balance between nature and technology, we will destroy ourselves.
Orgean Trail - Taught me that bringing lots of guns and ammo for a trek across the northwest of American is a better idea than anything else.
Mass Effect/Halo Series - Fight to the last man - Never Give up. I had already had this ideal set in me, but it kind-of reinforces it. "Despite overwhelming odds and perhaps no hope to win, you simply need to adjust your tactics and take a different perspective". Paraphrased from Captain Keyes.
Left 4 Dead - When the **** hits the fan, your friends is all you got. Just another reinforcement that provides a very real basis as to why team work is needed during a crisis.
Counter-strike/Team Fortress - Taught me I liked sniper weapons and the M4 when I was much younger and have continued to influence my gaming experience since then.
Fallout 3/NV - Survival is a ***** - pretty obvious thing actually. However it also taught me that determination and a little planning (IE - Don't run in and gun everything) solves everything.
Mass Effect/Halo Series - Fight to the last man - Never Give up. I had already had this ideal set in me, but it kind-of reinforces it. "Despite overwhelming odds and perhaps no hope to win, you simply need to adjust your tactics and take a different perspective". Paraphrased from Captain Keyes.
Left 4 Dead - When the **** hits the fan, your friends is all you got. Just another reinforcement that provides a very real basis as to why team work is needed during a crisis.
Counter-strike/Team Fortress - Taught me I liked sniper weapons and the M4 when I was much younger and have continued to influence my gaming experience since then.
Fallout 3/NV - Survival is a ***** - pretty obvious thing actually. However it also taught me that determination and a little planning (IE - Don't run in and gun everything) solves everything.
I think gaming is a fantastic medium for a seemingly subconscious, even subliminal learning - you can have fun and be virtually unaware that as you're having fun, your brain is absorbing a great deal of knowledge or gaining new perspectives depending on the actual research and groundwork the game designers have put into the game and writing and design implemented.
Games are also inspiring in their own right - depending on the character interactions, nature, morality, ethics, and whatever choices presented with. I can come up with a range of examples, and some of them far less literal than "Games taught me how to shoot a gun, hur hur".
StarControl 2: actually helped me ace primary school astronomy science. But apart from that- the heavily text-based format of the game (all dialogue was in text) - taught me a lot of English. Presented in creatively written context and humor, the rather complex English use in the game articulated into my current level of English. That being said, English is my second language - the sheer number of well-written English games I played growing up had my fluency and proficiency of English far exceed my Chinese proficiency. The great writing in the game also taught me varying types of humor, charm, and options and opportunity in diplomacy and social interaction. I am by nature a very diplomatic person- I feel in some way I owe a bit of it to games like this.
Most old Point and click adventure games: Resourcefulness; you'd never think games could teach you too many actual practical life-skills, but point and click adventure games encourage lateral thinking and in some ways, cunning and perceptiveness to our environments. I have had moments in my life- I'd improvised tools to accomplish a particular task, observe and rationalise to more rapidly gain proficiency in something that otherwise needed to be taught/coached intensively. In general, I always feel that something could always be done differently if not in better ways because of the open options I feel that objects and my surroundings could be used.
RPG/Adventure games - anything with a deep enough story: I think having played a lot of those as a kid, I learned a lot about virtue. It gave me perspectives on what should be important in life, and that performing good actions can be a good unto its own regardless what you gain or even lose to perform such an action. Heartwarming moments in a story-driven games can inspire us to think what difference we can make perhaps even in the real world, and if we truly relate to those moments, we often more consciously seek to create these wonderful moments ourselves in our real lives. I can say on many occasions, summoning the courage or will to do some things for some people in my life and even strangers have earned me warm, fantastic and proud memories that will last me for life: standing up for someone you care about or defending/aiding the someone in need, doing something extravagant and sweet for a loved one, taking decisive action in a crisis, and generally doing anything that makes you remembered for the things you do. These are powerful moments.
Games in general can open our imaginations as the creators of the game confer their creativity and ingenuity upon us by letting us experience their work.
I could go on, but this would go on too long - I listed what I think the more important things games could teach us. Of course- I am not saying I owe ALL my virtues, resourcefulness, skills, character and courage to games - but in some ways, they encourage and inspire us in the way they simulate the situations we could be in and how we could behave and interact if we were in them. I have a 'take-what-you-will' approach to various media and life in general, I learn what I can and find whatever is valuable and know that it will be put to use; it is possible to experience these and learn nothing with a closed attitude towards them, but I hope this attitude will change in most people, because I find a lot of good games actually teach truly valuable things to people than just "I learned how to shoot a gun" or "Stronger is better" - if people took their focus away from the 'how' and paid more attention to 'why?', i.e: as opposed to "I learned how to shoot a gun" have we ever thought "why am I shooting this gun? do I believe in this cause?" and from "I trained hard to be strong" to "where can I use my strengths so I can do something that truly matters with it?".
Okay, /philosophical rant about games.
Games are also inspiring in their own right - depending on the character interactions, nature, morality, ethics, and whatever choices presented with. I can come up with a range of examples, and some of them far less literal than "Games taught me how to shoot a gun, hur hur".
StarControl 2: actually helped me ace primary school astronomy science. But apart from that- the heavily text-based format of the game (all dialogue was in text) - taught me a lot of English. Presented in creatively written context and humor, the rather complex English use in the game articulated into my current level of English. That being said, English is my second language - the sheer number of well-written English games I played growing up had my fluency and proficiency of English far exceed my Chinese proficiency. The great writing in the game also taught me varying types of humor, charm, and options and opportunity in diplomacy and social interaction. I am by nature a very diplomatic person- I feel in some way I owe a bit of it to games like this.
Most old Point and click adventure games: Resourcefulness; you'd never think games could teach you too many actual practical life-skills, but point and click adventure games encourage lateral thinking and in some ways, cunning and perceptiveness to our environments. I have had moments in my life- I'd improvised tools to accomplish a particular task, observe and rationalise to more rapidly gain proficiency in something that otherwise needed to be taught/coached intensively. In general, I always feel that something could always be done differently if not in better ways because of the open options I feel that objects and my surroundings could be used.
RPG/Adventure games - anything with a deep enough story: I think having played a lot of those as a kid, I learned a lot about virtue. It gave me perspectives on what should be important in life, and that performing good actions can be a good unto its own regardless what you gain or even lose to perform such an action. Heartwarming moments in a story-driven games can inspire us to think what difference we can make perhaps even in the real world, and if we truly relate to those moments, we often more consciously seek to create these wonderful moments ourselves in our real lives. I can say on many occasions, summoning the courage or will to do some things for some people in my life and even strangers have earned me warm, fantastic and proud memories that will last me for life: standing up for someone you care about or defending/aiding the someone in need, doing something extravagant and sweet for a loved one, taking decisive action in a crisis, and generally doing anything that makes you remembered for the things you do. These are powerful moments.
Games in general can open our imaginations as the creators of the game confer their creativity and ingenuity upon us by letting us experience their work.
I could go on, but this would go on too long - I listed what I think the more important things games could teach us. Of course- I am not saying I owe ALL my virtues, resourcefulness, skills, character and courage to games - but in some ways, they encourage and inspire us in the way they simulate the situations we could be in and how we could behave and interact if we were in them. I have a 'take-what-you-will' approach to various media and life in general, I learn what I can and find whatever is valuable and know that it will be put to use; it is possible to experience these and learn nothing with a closed attitude towards them, but I hope this attitude will change in most people, because I find a lot of good games actually teach truly valuable things to people than just "I learned how to shoot a gun" or "Stronger is better" - if people took their focus away from the 'how' and paid more attention to 'why?', i.e: as opposed to "I learned how to shoot a gun" have we ever thought "why am I shooting this gun? do I believe in this cause?" and from "I trained hard to be strong" to "where can I use my strengths so I can do something that truly matters with it?".
Okay, /philosophical rant about games.
Shitload of mythological characters from the Golden Sun series.
Persona 4 taught me more about myself as a person through the shadows of its main characters. It was almost disturbing to see how much I saw myself in them and that prompted a huge change in my personality.
Persona 4 taught me more about myself as a person through the shadows of its main characters. It was almost disturbing to see how much I saw myself in them and that prompted a huge change in my personality.
I remember loving Word Muncher, is it similar?dakorok said:
Gran Turismo, has helped me learn how to handle a car. Unfortunately it hasn't taught me how to parallel park yet.
Rome: Total War taught me a fair bit about the Roman empire.
Rome: Total War taught me a fair bit about the Roman empire.
Portal improved my spatial reasoning. Kessen taught me about the Battle Of Sekigahara, the fall of the Emperor and the beginnings of the Tokugawa Shogunate (I bought books on Japanese history after playing that game). Fallout 3 taught me a bit about the geography of the D.C. area, like where Maryland is. I'm not from the US so I'm not familiar with a lot of the smaller states or where they are. Now I know.
Just around every WWII game I play teaches me something new that couldn't be achieved without having me actually see it recreated.
Mercenaries 2 taught me the capitol of Venezuela. Saints Row 2 taught me that fast food can heal me.
Edit: Also, Fallout New Vegas taught me about cactus fruit. It may not apply to many here, but seeing if something apocalyptic happens in Arizona(Where I live), It's glad to know I can forage for food incase.
Edit: Also, Fallout New Vegas taught me about cactus fruit. It may not apply to many here, but seeing if something apocalyptic happens in Arizona(Where I live), It's glad to know I can forage for food incase.
In Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood I learned italian...well, how to swear in italian..
Hey it's useful in school! XD
Hey it's useful in school! XD
Games have taught me how to manipulate people into charging into dangerous situations so i can get the kills and assists for them dying because the enemy was waiting for them.
Back in elementary school, our computer lab sessions were pretty much dedicated to games. We started with Mario Teaches Typing, then moved on to Sim City 2000 and Oregon Trail. These games were so much fun we hardly realized we were learning stuff.
I also had a game called "Swamp Gas Visits the USA" on my parents' computer, where a friendly purple alien traveled across the United States in a flying saucer. I learned my states and capitols thanks to that game. Every time you completed a session, it would allow you to pick one of three arcade games to play as a reward. My favorite was Quasar Klutzes, where you fed bananas to these fat blue creatures with antennae eyes. They'd drop the peels and cause their buddies to slip on them, resulting in a hilarious "WHOOOAAA" from the unfortunates.
I also had a game called "Swamp Gas Visits the USA" on my parents' computer, where a friendly purple alien traveled across the United States in a flying saucer. I learned my states and capitols thanks to that game. Every time you completed a session, it would allow you to pick one of three arcade games to play as a reward. My favorite was Quasar Klutzes, where you fed bananas to these fat blue creatures with antennae eyes. They'd drop the peels and cause their buddies to slip on them, resulting in a hilarious "WHOOOAAA" from the unfortunates.
Every game's got some reference in the dialogue or gameplay that I'll learn from.
For instance, in CoD4 I learned that the name for the curving trajectory of an object in motion due to the shape of the Earth is called the Coriolis Effect.
For instance, in CoD4 I learned that the name for the curving trajectory of an object in motion due to the shape of the Earth is called the Coriolis Effect.
