Science Says Black Ops 2 Is Good for You

[Andy Chalk]

Science Says Black Ops 2 Is Good for You

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It turns out that hardcore first-person shooters have a number of positive effects on the cognitive functioning of the human brain.

We all know that videogames are bad for you, and that shooters are particularly bad, and that the Call of Duty series is far and away the worst of the lot. Well, maybe it's not "known," exactly, but it seems like a fairly reasonable proposition, right? After all, FPSes are twitchy, violent and utterly void of meaningful redeeming qualities. Right?

Actually, no, according to cognitive neuroscientist Daphne Bavelier, a researcher at the University of Geneva. In a recent TED talk, she spoke about the impact of hardcore shooters on the brain and found a surprising number of upsides. Taken in "reasonable doses," games like Black Ops 2 can "have quite powerful, positive effects on many different aspects of our behavior," she said. Hardcore gamers have better visual acuity than non-gamers, improved attention and a better ability to multitask and to switch their focus between multiple tasks quickly.

Bavelier's studies have also found that "training" on videogames can have a significant positive impact on brain functions and even more importantly, that once they take hold, the improvements last. The long-term trick, as she explained, is to blend the broccoli of education with the chocolate of entertainment; but in the meantime, you can take some comfort in the knowledge that all that running and gunning isn't turning your brain to mush after all.

Source: TED [http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games.html]


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[Bindal]

"hardcore FPS are good for you" says science, "casual FPS are good for you" says the headline. So, which of the two is it now?

 

[Rule Britannia]

Watched this on Ted Talks.

Blacks Ops 1 is good for you. Black Ops 2 will make you grow brain tumours and cists.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Blacks Ops 1 is good for you. Black Ops 2 will make you grow brain tumours and cists.

Wrong way round man! Blopstwo is turning out much better than blops, I may even go out and buy this one(!) rather than the usual sponging off my mate's XBL.

Be the first CoD purchase I've made since 2007, so it must have something right...

 

[RA92]

If CoD can improve your brain like that, Quake and UT should turn us into meta-humans.

 

[cricket chirps]

I went in to reading this article going "HA! yea ri..ght..." then by the end i left thinking "..well that actually all sounds quite reasonable and plausible....well then."

 

[Atmos Duality]

As it turns out, it's not *just* Black Ops 2, but what's in a tagline?
But I understand: It's concise and "controversial" (on these forums).

 

[Legion]

To be honest our very own Critical Miss sums up my opinion on this.

 

[Rad Party God]

Well, I've been gaming with first person shooters since the days of Doom in my dad's 486 DOS PC and I've recently been addicted to Tribes, I guess more complex shooters are better for everyone (and yes, I just said that Doom is more complex than COD).

 

[AnarchistFish]

why black ops 2 in particular?

 

[WanderingFool]

why black ops 2 in particular?

its the most popular shooter to come out recently.

Im sure there are probably better games to use for such tasks, but still, its not completely unheard of, if you ask me.

 

[Rednog]

Considering the massive aneurisms that occurred after Treyarch pulled Nuketown from BlackOps's playlist I really don't think this can be true.

 

[Baresark]

Considering there was never any science behind games being bad for you, this is no surprise. Anything that pushes the brain into doing what any modern FPS does will of course have positive results on the the brains functionality. It's basic Neuroplasticity. It works like this, if you use a part of your brain, that part becomes better at what you require it to do. If you aren't good at math, doing math makes you better at math. If you have a short attention span, focusing on a single thing for an extended period of time can increase that attention span. Using your will power will increase the density and functionality of your prefrontal cortex. But, I guess the average person doesn't realize things like this happen. I'm glad someone put it out there. I can't help but feel since TV rots your brain (it literally does this as your brain goes complete passive during this activity) and the majority of gaming takes place on TVs/Monitors, the people jump to games doing this.

Edit: I feel this part needs explanation. CoD:BlOps 2 should not be the focus of this. It's any game that makes your brain work in ways that it otherwise does not work that will do this. I can't help but feel that people will interpret this to only mean a certain kind of game will do this. Most games will have this function in some capacity. You want to work on finger dexterity and reaction time, I invite you to play Ultimate MVC 3. You want to better help yourself think outside the box, play some good adventure games.

That's not to say that all games will have this kind of function. Games that hinder your already developed or natural abilities can lead to frustration and discontent with the game environment. If you are in a happier state, that leads to cognitive ease, which makes it easier to learn. Ultimately that is why I find any FPS far superior on my PC versus a console with a controller. Also, I found your ability to react in RE6 caused me ridiculous amounts of frustration.

 

[Grabehn]

When you can realize that there was a slight sighting of a helmet in the corner of a window, and you can see it and also shoot it, you know this kind of games can improve at least something. At least CoD 1-2 did that for me.

 

[sethisjimmy]

LOL there's something to be said for when she talks about how those kinds of games improve your ability to see different levels of grey.

But seriously, I love me some TED talks.