Are video games under appreciated for how much knowledge you can absorb from them, unknowingly in most cases, while playing them??

[ImmersionGaming22]

Hi all, I have been a gamer for many moons now, in fact I have been gaming right from the begging when video games were first born. I started gaming on my Spectrum Sinclair ZX 128K, back when i was about 8 years old, in fact I may have even been younger than that, but im saying 8 as a safe estimate. Im now 44 years young and love games just as much now as i did back then. Anyway to get to the point, ive noticed through my life that ive come across certain situations, or been faced with certain questions that i was asked to answer and was able to resolve/answer them because of information i gained while playing video games, i struggle to remember an actual example for you, as my memory isn't as good as my 8yr old self's lol, but I know for a fact it has happened throughout my life numerous times and after questioning myself as to how I knew that specific information, I realised id picked it up unknowingly while playing a video game. In my opinion, if written properly, games can teach us so much and its knowledge that sticks with you, as your usually quite immersed in the game when you learn it, so it tends to stay with you, much in the same way as other life experiences do! So yeah my question is has any of you guys ever noticed anything similar, where knowledge you gain from playing a game, came in handy in a real life situation?? 🙂

[killamch89]

Definitely - the fact that the stigma about videogames being a massive waste of time still exists confirms this. Yes, videogaming is more widely accepted than when I was a kid and they're trying to incorporate it into other industries to benefit people in numerous ways. But most non-gamers still think videogames are a huge waste of time.

[Shortie]

I can definitely agree with this for sure. You will be surprised at how much you can take in from video games even in some cases sub consciously that you later may need and you think back to how you know that or in some cases because you took it in sub consciously you don't remember where you learned it from. 

When I was a kid I remember gaming was pretty much frowned up on if you played too much but now that I am older I realize that gaming is much more than just sitting there and playing games and not doing anything, it's so much more than that and you can learn a lot from gaming and I really do feel like many are starting to see that now and the stigma of gaming being bad isn't like it used to be anymore.

[Empire]

Games has came a very long way and it's getting better as technology grows around us. I mean we all love and to play games and have our go to games that we stick out for hours and years. We learn the good and the bad and learn from the passed and furture. Same are very bed experience and good. 

I always into GTA roleplaying and being a cop, but that was years back 😉 now for me I fly in flight simulators and I fly as realism and real as I can to the point that I fly study levels addons and aircrafts, that's just another level

[Kane99]

A lot of video games can be used to teach us. And I have learned a lot because of video games, not the video game itself, but maybe dialog in the game teaching me things, or learning about some history. Like with Assassin's Creed, the whole series works on history, albeit they do change a lot, but there are aspects of our histories in all of these games. Even though a lot of it is made up for story purposes, it seems that there is a lot to learn from games. 

 

[ImmersionGaming22]

Thanks everyone for your replies, it makes me feel better that im not the only one who thinks this way, i was starting to feel like i was just trying to justify all the years ive spent in the wonderful world of games, by telling myself that im actually getting more from them than just pure enjoyment (which is reason enough to do anything for sure) lol 🙂 I guess ive just spent too much time around non gamers, who dont appreciate the work, imagination, research and money that goes into making a good and in a lot of cases historically accurate game. Kane99 you are correct my friend, i too have learnt so much from the assassins creed games, as not only are they full of fact based history, but you also get a real feel for what it would have ben like to live in that era, im thinking right now of my latest AC experience which was obviously Valhalla and in that game, especially as im from the north of England, it gave me a real appreciation of the struggles our forefathers faced, not only from the Vikings but from the Romans too, everyone wanted a piece of old blighty back then lol! Ive also just got into PCVR as i connect my Quest 2 to my gaming PC and wow let me say the immersion level has gone through the roof, its another level and can only add to the learning experience, as now im in the game/game world and you experience things and see things that you would have missed playing on a monitor or tv, its absolutely crazy 🙂 ive just finished Lone Echo and i was left speechless, to be in orbit around Saturn, as a worker droid protecting your human partner is another level when your actually there, i was stood looking out of our space craft at the view of Saturn with its rings and all the meteors floating around it, it really gave me a perspective i would never have dreamed of without VR 🙂 There is a few tweaks you have to make when first setting up your quest 2 for PCVR gaming via a link cable, but it is well worth it when you get it right, as it improves the look and feel of the game 10 fold, im happy to help anyone who is using their quest 2 for PCVR, just drop me a message and ill talk you through it, as it does improve the look of the games in VR very much if done right. Anyway peeps thanks again for the replies and sorry for the long response lol once i get chatting you cant stop me 🙂 take care all, Woody

[Justin11]

This is more of a personal observation than it is general, you could get an incite into certain things through video games bit someone else might not get that Same knowledge from it.

If you appreciate it more but others doesn't it doesn't justify that people don't appreciate video games for knowledge you could get from it which is often times just your own personal experience.

[ImmersionGaming22]

Thx for your reply Justin11 and I dont disagree with your opinion, but that could be said for anything in life, not just video games, we all take different things/experience from any situation in life, be it in a video game or a real life situation, that's what makes us all very different and interesting. Some people overthink every situation they face and therefore will probably gain more knowledge or experience from said situation, while others dont put that much thought into things and just live for the moment, so they probably wouldn't analyze things to deeply and wouldn't learn as much from the same situation, that's just the difference of personalities and what makes us all so different.

I think you missed the point I was trying to make, I wasn't trying to say we all play video games to learn, or use them as a learning tool, or that we should take anything we see or hear in a video game to seriously. My point was that some videos games are based loosely on real life situations/conditions and that there has been many times throughout my life where I have known something, or how to do something which I, at first, didn't know where I got said knowledge, only to later realize it was from playing a certain video game, without which I would probably not have known said information! Like I said earlier though, this could also be said for films, tv, or any life experience for that matter, but this post was specifically about video games. Also I was referring to the non gamer people I know, who believe that all games are strictly for fun and mostly for kids. They also believe that there is no useful knowledge at all to be gained from video games, as there is no truth or true to life information contained in them. I didn't mean that gamers who dont learn anything from the video games they play dont appreciate them as much as people who did learn something from them, not at all did I mean that, in fact I dont even know why you would get that impression, as reading back though my post, I dont see anything that would suggest that to be my stance, so if that is the impression you got, I apologize, that was not my intention or point.

But yes bud, I get your point, not everyone will get the same experience from every game, but that's fine we all play games for different reasons and no one reason is more right than another, if the game brings you enjoyment and satisfaction, in whatever form you were hoping for, then the devs have succeeded and your money was well spent! 🙂

 

[Justin11]

8 hours ago, ImmersionGaming22 said:

Thx for your reply Justin11 and I dont disagree with your opinion, but that could be said for anything in life, not just video games, we all take different things/experience from any situation in life, be it in a video game or a real life situation, that's what makes us all very different and interesting. Some people overthink every situation they face and therefore will probably gain more knowledge or experience from said situation, while others dont put that much thought into things and just live for the moment, so they probably wouldn't analyze things to deeply and wouldn't learn as much from the same situation, that's just the difference of personalities and what makes us all so different.

I think you missed the point I was trying to make, I wasn't trying to say we all play video games to learn, or use them as a learning tool, or that we should take anything we see or hear in a video game to seriously. My point was that some videos games are based loosely on real life situations/conditions and that there has been many times throughout my life where I have known something, or how to do something which I, at first, didn't know where I got said knowledge, only to later realize it was from playing a certain video game, without which I would probably not have known said information! Like I said earlier though, this could also be said for films, tv, or any life experience for that matter, but this post was specifically about video games. Also I was referring to the non gamer people I know, who believe that all games are strictly for fun and mostly for kids. They also believe that there is no useful knowledge at all to be gained from video games, as there is no truth or true to life information contained in them. I didn't mean that gamers who dont learn anything from the video games they play dont appreciate them as much as people who did learn something from them, not at all did I mean that, in fact I dont even know why you would get that impression, as reading back though my post, I dont see anything that would suggest that to be my stance, so if that is the impression you got, I apologize, that was not my intention or point.

But yes bud, I get your point, not everyone will get the same experience from every game, but that's fine we all play games for different reasons and no one reason is more right than another, if the game brings you enjoyment and satisfaction, in whatever form you were hoping for, then the devs have succeeded and your money was well spent! 🙂

 

My point was on appreciating video games for how much knowledge you can absorb from them, personally I am a testament to how much knowledge you could get out of a video game, I played this game called Dr driving on mobile and it was all about driving and maneuvering and even when I went to get my drivers license done I was already so skilled at driving my instructor felt I didn't need any more lessons.

But in terms of appreciation not every one who has played Dr driving might have derived the kind of knowledge I got from it, so In this case I would naturally tend to appreciate this game more in terms of what I gained than others who might just have had only a good time playing it and nothing really deep.

So that doesn't mean people don't in general appreciate video games in terms of knowledge derived from it but our experiences differ so are our reactions as well.

[ImmersionGaming22]

Definitely Justin11, i completely agree mate, like i said before bud, that's what makes us all so different an interesting, as it would become very boring very quickly if we all liked the same things and thought the same way lol

But yeah mate i get your point and completely agree with you! 🙂

[Reality vs Adventure]

I can't recall a situation where a game helped me in real life. I have gained knowledge in some games and you really never can tell the affect knowledge has in your life. Imagine if games was used more in education purposes. Then many people would be able to answer this question easily. Just by playing games in leisure no doubt there are ethical decisions, social interactions, history, survivalism, puzzles that all can help in a specific situation. Even gaining the ability of faster response times by playing games could save your life in real life. Gamers would make good police as their reaction times are sharper without losing much quality in decisions. So it is hard knowing exactly where to pinpoint how a game has helped in real life because all these thing like knowledge, response times, concentration, all can help in some way. 

 

[The Blackangel]

I know I have learned things from gaming. For example I learned a lot more than I knew previously about swords from playing Castlevania SOTN. that includes seeing many that I previously had never heard of. A good example of that would be a shotel. Mario Is Missing is another one. But I think it's specifically designed to be educational.

An old one from when I was a teenager is Operation Weather Disaster. I know it's educational. But it's so damn much fun, you don't realize you're learning. Skytrip USA is another one. Amazing games, both.

Edited February 9, 2023 by The Blackangel

[Scorpion]

Absolutely, I’ve had similar experiences! Games often teach problem-solving and critical thinking. For example, strategy games helped me navigate real-life planning situations. Immersion makes those lessons stick, like when I recalled historical facts from *Assassin's Creed* during discussions. Gaming enriches knowledge in ways we often overlook. 

[killamch89]

9 hours ago, Scorpion said:

Absolutely, I’ve had similar experiences! Games often teach problem-solving and critical thinking. For example, strategy games helped me navigate real-life planning situations. Immersion makes those lessons stick, like when I recalled historical facts from *Assassin's Creed* during discussions. Gaming enriches knowledge in ways we often overlook. 

Hoyle's board games taught me how to play Chess and the rules of it.