A nice article from a game developer's magazine. This young lady makes an interesting connection on how she found her gaming skills helped her adopt shooting skills.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/3641 ... _Games.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Article: "Opinion: Guns And Games"
Moderator: carlson1
-
OldCannon
- Senior Member
- Posts: 3061
- Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:19 am
- Location: Kyle, TX
Article: "Opinion: Guns And Games"
I don't fear guns; I fear voters and politicians that fear guns.
-
TDDude
- Senior Member
- Posts: 982
- Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007 5:03 pm
- Location: Northwest Houston
Re: Article: "Opinion: Guns And Games"
My son came home one day a few years ago and was as excited as I'd ever seen him.
"I GOT IT, I GOT IT!!!!" He kept saying.
What he'd "got" was the concept of a sight picture when shooting. I had taken him out with the old .22 bolt action from time to time but he could never grasp that concept. His shots would be all over the place no matter how close the target. Apparently, using a sight picture to place a shot is somewhat in the abstract similar to division is in math. A child's brain won't get abstract concepts until they reach a certain age of intellectual maturity no matter how it's explained. (home schooler here... I know of which I speak) I didn't push it and just let time pass.
Some shoot-em-up dinosaur hunting game is what taught him what I couldn't. I remember shortly afterwards he wanted me to play that game and "hunt" with him. I bet I spent $20.00 on that silly game that day while he and I "hunted" and I got to see him nail bug after bug and never miss. He was as proud of himself as could be and now years later, he loves firearms and is a crack shot.
It was a fun time and at a fraction of the cost of a range day. First person shooting arcade games (the kind that actually use an external "gun") have their place.
"I GOT IT, I GOT IT!!!!" He kept saying.
What he'd "got" was the concept of a sight picture when shooting. I had taken him out with the old .22 bolt action from time to time but he could never grasp that concept. His shots would be all over the place no matter how close the target. Apparently, using a sight picture to place a shot is somewhat in the abstract similar to division is in math. A child's brain won't get abstract concepts until they reach a certain age of intellectual maturity no matter how it's explained. (home schooler here... I know of which I speak) I didn't push it and just let time pass.
Some shoot-em-up dinosaur hunting game is what taught him what I couldn't. I remember shortly afterwards he wanted me to play that game and "hunt" with him. I bet I spent $20.00 on that silly game that day while he and I "hunted" and I got to see him nail bug after bug and never miss. He was as proud of himself as could be and now years later, he loves firearms and is a crack shot.
It was a fun time and at a fraction of the cost of a range day. First person shooting arcade games (the kind that actually use an external "gun") have their place.
Ray F.
Luke 22:35-38 "Gear up boys, I gotta go and it's gonna get rough." JC
-- Darrell Royal, former UT football coach - "If worms carried pistols, birds wouldn't eat 'em."
Luke 22:35-38 "Gear up boys, I gotta go and it's gonna get rough." JC
-- Darrell Royal, former UT football coach - "If worms carried pistols, birds wouldn't eat 'em."
-
Steve133
- Member
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 6:59 pm
Re: Article: "Opinion: Guns And Games"
Pretty interesting read. I always sort of resent the fact that gun-owners who don't fit popular stereotypes feel the need to couch any remarks concerning guns with vague sheepish self-deprecation ("I know that it's weird to own a gun, but I'm not one of THOSE weirdos..."), but that's not the author's fault. She makes a couple of interesting points, and I think she does a great job of explaining what makes shooting fun.
I do think it's kind of funny that the skill transfer that she talks about only seems to work one-way; the general hand-eye coordination and focus that you develop from gaming can easily be applied to specific skills that make you a better shooter, but if you've developed those specific skills through practice, it doesn't really help you much with games. I've long maintained that the better you are at something in real life, the worse you'll tend to be at the video-game version. The best guitarists I know are the worst at Rock Band and Guitar Hero - likewise, I can guarantee you that I'm a better shooter than most of the people I play games with, but I'm usually just about the worst at FPS games.
Kind of makes me want to dig up another, less-positive article that I read on some gaming website or another a while back. Something about all the yahoos who called all their local sporting goods stores trying to buy P90s and ACRs with heartbeat monitors after Modern Warfare 2 came out....
I do think it's kind of funny that the skill transfer that she talks about only seems to work one-way; the general hand-eye coordination and focus that you develop from gaming can easily be applied to specific skills that make you a better shooter, but if you've developed those specific skills through practice, it doesn't really help you much with games. I've long maintained that the better you are at something in real life, the worse you'll tend to be at the video-game version. The best guitarists I know are the worst at Rock Band and Guitar Hero - likewise, I can guarantee you that I'm a better shooter than most of the people I play games with, but I'm usually just about the worst at FPS games.
Kind of makes me want to dig up another, less-positive article that I read on some gaming website or another a while back. Something about all the yahoos who called all their local sporting goods stores trying to buy P90s and ACRs with heartbeat monitors after Modern Warfare 2 came out....