DailyDirt: Gaming Can Hurt For Real
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Usually video games are played to escape from reality. The distraction from real life is supposed to be entertaining and fun. But every so often there are stories of folks who take their games a bit too far and end up getting hurt physically. Video games are getting more and more realistic all the time — but that doesn’t seem to matter that much. Here are a few game-related stories for your amusement:
Nintendo says 3D games could be bad for the development of young kids’ eyes. These warnings, though, are probably only going to attract more kids to play “dangerous” 3D games. [url] A 23-year-old man tries to play Frogger on an actual 4-lane highway — and gets hit by an SUV. The awesome 2D graphics of Frogger must be at least partially to blame. [url] L.A. Noire is a realistic-looking video game that has collected a lot of facial expressions. Players are supposed to be able to tell when video game characters are lying, but I wouldn’t play poker with this technology just yet. [url] Understanding Pac-Man’s algorithms might help you master the game. Maybe someone will write a program that can play Pac-Man perfectly — that program might figure out, though, that the best strategy is not to play. [url]
Filed Under: frogger, l.a. noire, pac-man, video games
Companies: nintendo
Comments on “DailyDirt: Gaming Can Hurt For Real”
23-year-old Frogger needs to be submitted to the Darwin Awards.
you know…wargames should be stricken from geek references. The only way to win is to strike first and force your opponent to make a mistake.
There’s an xkcd comic around that shows it pretty well.
On the bright side when the movie industry disappears(not likely but who knows) all actors still will have a job in the game industry 🙂
ummmm lets look into something such as soccer, black friday, 4th of july etc. harms(roits and fires) rather then spread moral panics
Re:
It won’t, you must mean the big studios and the organizations that represent them.
The movie industry may be better off without them.
Re:
You are right my bad.
Fact: Frogger doesn’t make you play in the street, violent video games doesn’t make you more violent, and games like Guitar hero will never make you a musician.
Darwin Awards...
I think the guy has to actually die to be considered for that award….
Darwin Awards...
There are a few exceptions so this could qualify.
Re:
Just a note about Guitar Hero, it may not make you a complete musician but it can train your sense of rythm and perception of sounds pretty good.
In fact Guitar Hero and all those karaoke games can be used to teach other languages because of that.
About the motion capture thing I got a little disapointed to not have read anything about the Kinects hacks that are inundating the web lately.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6gJab-LyPE
People are almost doing the same thing on the cheap already.
One more website for Kinect hacks
http://kinecthacks.net/
99 balloons yay!
The last one I swear.
Microsoft changes its tune after seeing how popular the kinect became in the hacking space.
http://mashable.com/2010/11/20/microsoft-kinect-hacks/
Now Microsoft says it left the hardware open on purpose, backtracking from statements threatening moders and hackers.
Kinda like Tic-Tac-Toe. You can’t win.
“These warnings, though, are probably only going to attract more kids to play ‘dangerous’ 3D games.”
Considering the risks are for kids under six years old, I doubt that the warnings will do anything. Six year olds are in first grade schooling, and some of them may have had some previous socializing in daycare and kindergarten. Peer pressure and risk experimentation is nascent and fuzzy at this age. However, virtually none of this age group are aware of news, or of corporate messages like this. Connecting the abstract concept of a negative news story into a risk-reward plan of action is way over a six year old’s head. The closest analogy is connecting a blatant and specific imperative command (like those seen in glossy advertising) into an acquisition-bargaining plan of action; e.g., for a McDonald’s toy, whine and shriek near mommy’s knees.
The 3D thing is probably a pretty valid concern. Watching a 3D movie now and then is probably ok, but engaging in a 3D game, especially on a handheld closer to your face (at a shorter focal length) for a longer time sounds possibly painful.
I think this just good incentive to make better 3d tech that doesn’t have that issue.