Does practice make perfect?

[Hippobatman]

As others have mentioned, I think that some people are born with certain advantages as well as disadvantages. Some are better at first person shooters, while others are better at fighter games (street fighter, tekken). You see this in real life as well... Some are better at maths, while others have a brain for languages.

I'm sure that you need practice for everything, and natural advantages like better reflexes just gives you an edge when you reach the peak of your performance. There will always be someone better than you.

Not to brag, but I count myself somewhat over average when it comes to games. I tend to learn gameplay, tactics and strategies after just a couple of rounds and I believe that this is an advantage that some people have, and others don't. However, no matter which natural advantages and talents you may have, you need to practice to polish them so you can fulfill your potential.

 

[T360]

i think its more about learning the game and the contorls then pratice i mean learning different stargeys and getting in a decent amount of the time with the game.

 

[Kovash86]

Practice doesn't make perfect but it does make you really good.

 

[MeTheMe]

I think practice can fill your capacity for getting good at some games. in other words, if you practice, you will get better at a game, but since everyone's different and no one is perfect, I think each person can only get so good at any game. That's my theory anyways.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

So here's my question for people who have been playing for longer than I have. Does practice make perfect, or are there limits on learning in games? Since so much of a game depends on reflexes, hand-eye co-ordination, reflexes, quick thinking, and so on, can they be learned? Can one become an expert if one plays long and hard enough?

practice always makes perfect, it's how mindless 4 year old kids are capable of playing mario kart. at the higher competitive levels, which most people never play at, talent does come into play... but usually, just to kick ass, practice is all it takes.

like in counter-strike... if you play that game long enough you actually memorize with 60% accuraccy where people will be 5 seconds into the match, allowing you to blind fire at a corner hitting the enemy just a split second before they fully come out. this effect usually is what causes people to declare 'wall hacks' but it's not that hard to learn if you put in the time.

i'll actually even wait 5 seconds before i move, just to break myself out of the opponents expected flow of the game.

 

[JDLY]

i think it depends mostly on the person

i nerver really played many FPS's but when i got my PS3 and got Resistance i was pretty good at it. by the time i got an internet connection for it i was really good. although i do admit i got better the more i played.

i am a better gamer than most people i know. but i am still in high school (10th grade) and my grades are preety average (mostly bedcause of my work ethic) but when i take those "standardized tests" the state requires my scores are through the roof. this is because i learn fast and remember at least 90% of what i learn.
so it is easy for me to get really good really fast

again this is coming from a person who can take 90 degree turns at 170+ mph in Need for Speed: Most Wanted without even letting off the gas

 

[TheIceface]

As others have mentioned, I think that some people are born with certain advantages as well as disadvantages. Some are better at first person shooters, while others are better at fighter games (street fighter, tekken).

True 'dat!
I'm terrible at fighting games, well... I'm good at Super Smash 64 and Melee, I'm also fairly decent with the arcade versions of Tekken 4 and Tag. Try to play me in KOF, Mortal Kombat, DOA, or street fighter, and I'll leave you in a puddle of blood on the floor. Not because I beat you at the games, but rather you beat me so bad that I got pissed and had to destroy you.

I'm also mediocre at best in Guitar Hero, DDR, or other games like that. I find many MMORPGs boring, so I often don't have enough practice, dedication, or knowledge of the game to beat anyone in that.

However, throw me in a brand new shooter game, let me have 15 minutes with the controls, and I'll decimate the hell out of you. I once got invited to play Halo 1,2,or 3,(not really important) at an xbox or 360(also not important, although the 360 controller is a big ripoff of the PS controller, so I'm more familiar with the feel.) After about 2 rounds with the guys who owned the game, I was at the top of the scoreboard chanting taunts and tea-bagging like an XBL veteran. I then got very bored, ripped out a controller, and clocked the nearest guy in the head with it. The End.

Oh, and the reason that ^^^ was such an amazing story is because I don't, never have, and never will own, or regularly use, and Xbox of any kind. (This was before I had to be a tester on one for work.)

 

[AlexHarman]

i'd say it does... when i first got team fortress 2 i sucked at it, thought it was nothing more than a game for spawnkillers and noobs and went back to halo.

picked up later on and after playing with my buddy we became awesome as engineers.

 

[huntedannoyed]

This is a good topic. I played the first Lost Planet, and nothing else, for a little less than a year. It was the first game I had ever played on the xbox 360. I sucked bad at first, but the game slowly started to grow on me. Eventualy I was that guy who was single handedly taking down VS's with machine guns, and getting rolling headshots. Then I stopped playing it. I moved over to other games, some were FPS's and some were not. Now the new Colonies edition of Lost Planet has come out. The lesson that I have learned is this: If you don't practice FPS's at least a couple times a week, you will be slaughtered by the people who do.

 

[sms_117b]

Bit philosophical, but I don't think perfection can be achieved, you can always improve in some aspect. So the original statement must be void. However I am a firm believer that "practice makes competence"

 

[Sethran]

Practice does make perfect, but the more difficult the game the more practice required. And, of course, it varies from person to person.

Take me for example: I've been gaming since I was old enough to know that the toilet wasn't trying to eat me alive, and during all that time I've played any number of racing games with my older brother. To this day, I suck at racing games. He, however, having exactly the same amount of gaming experience as I, is one of the greatest racing game players I've ever seen and that's saying something.

The reason being, he's in love with cars and I'm not.

If you like a game, or you like a type, it's easier to practice at the game. Now that's where it becomes tricky, because when playing games like Call of Duty 4 you'll eventually realize that there are people who love them so much they play all day and night, perfecting their grenade tosses and movement sniping abilities.

If you're a casual FPS gamer, like me, you'll find that you're out of your depth in online matches because while you may or may not be a competent FPS gamer, there will always be some obsessed FPS fanatic on the other end of the sniper scope with his crosshair pointing between your eyes.

So yes, practice does make perfect. However, if you can't devote half your life and one or both of your testicles [Or ovaries, for the lady gamers] to the game, don't feel bad if you keep getting killed. The people that do are a strange and rare breed who can't understand why everyone else doesn't like their ability to kill with such precision.

 

[TheIceface]

If you're a casual FPS gamer, like me, you'll find that you're out of your depth in online matches because while you may or may not be a competent FPS gamer, there will always be some obsessed FPS fanatic on the other end of the sniper scope with his crosshair pointing between your eyes.

Hes right, if you want to be a really excellent gamer, you have to log some serious hours. For those hours to actually count for something you have to be concentrated on the game most of the time. This is very hard to do if you're playing a game that really doesn't interest you.

Once you find a game that you enjoy playing a lot, logging long hours won't be a problem, and you get more from the time that you do play. If you play a game you don't enjoy, and you just practice to get better and not have fun, you're not going to gain nearly as much.

 

[RonaldBakbacon]

Practice DOES NOT make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect.

In other words, if you play online and use the same strategies and tactics over and over you will not get better. Your twitch reaction will get better, your knowledge of the game will improve, but these have a limit. To actually become a better gamer and see your rank rise you have to try new things. This is what separates the good from the great. The leaderboard leaders lead the leaderboard because they tried out and found strategies that are unrivaled. And once someone finds a strategy or playing style that consistently trumps theirs, there will be a new leader.

When you get right down to it, getting good at games to have a fun time online isn't fun at all even when you get good!

My suggestion is, don't worry about being good. Just play something you have fun with. The rest comes naturally.

 

[Ultrajoe]

In terms of RTS, yes.

This is my area of expertise, and only by playing constantly can you learn what works and what does not.

Its good that way, and innovation is rewarded, and innovation is a natural result of practice.

 

[Graustein]

Practice only makes perfect if you practice different things.

When I play Smash Bros Melee (Brawl isn't out yet here), I always try to mix it up and try different things. My ability improves steadily in one of two ways:
1) I learn new tricks and strategies. Whenever I develop a new effective strategy, my skill increases by a large amount as I perfect it and learn its applications
2) I improve my ability to perform said tricks, ie. my reflexes gradually improve.

If you neither try new things nor perfect what you know, you won't get any better, and as you do the same things more and more without improving, it actually gets harder to break the habit, for example I have a tendancy to taunt whenever I think I'm safe. Even when my momentary respite could be spent better by repositioning or charging up an attack.

Of course, this trying new things deal only applies when I'm not playing in any sort of competition. If it doesn't matter if my friend wins, then I might try new things. If I'm out for blood, I do tried and true, unless the battle starts going against me, then it's pretty clear that what I'm currently doing isn't helping.

 

[shatnershaman]

In terms of RTS, yes.

This is my area of expertise, and only by playing constantly can you learn what works and what does not.

Its good that way, and innovation is rewarded, and innovation is a natural result of practice.

What RTS are you playing? All the ones I play innovation gets owned by the cheap ass race.

 

[RonaldBakbacon]

I was actually talking about FPS. Not all FPS games, though, I specifically had Team Fortress 2 in mind.

But yes, RTS also.

 

[CTU_Agent24]

...Practice?
I beat my firend at Halo the other day, to which he replied "Damn, need to practice more"..
Practice??
Since when did Video Games require practice? Why is it so important to be good/perfect at a game?
I always thought you play Video Games for fun.
I get thrashed every time i play Smash Bro's, but who cares? i have fun playing it.
Isn't that all that matters???

 

[lord kamina]

i think practice does make perfect i remember when street fighter 2 came out on the snes and my dad got it for me i sat down with my sister and we just mashed the pad till my tiny hands bled i think most people used chun lee and blanka because it was just TAP B AS FAST AS YOU CAN BOY!!

until then someone lent how to do the hadouken and that went out the window but after a few weeks of after school training and several visits to the hospital for sever carpal tunnel you master all the moves but that?s it from then on almost every 2d fighter had the same basic staples for moves quarter circle forward/back, hold back then forward,hold down then up and that?s it until 3d came into it but I have had times where I play one game say guilty gear for ages then go back to street fighter 3rd strike because I forget all my timing for this game and I would have to refresh my memory but I now spend more time on the arcade cabinets then on the home console here I am on Basara x
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qAA7D1QVhQE

 

[Rob Sharona]

I like COD4 because when you get pwned 6 times in a row you can see exactly how they killed you. When you walk into another perfect grenade you can see exactly what position they got into, what angle they aimed their grenade and how long they cooked it for. Using this new found knowledge you can emulate it and score similar sick kills.

As for general ability I agree with the people who say it's all about knowing the maps. You get to know the the best hiding spots, you know the fastest routes to the action, you know where people will be camping, etc. Obviously there is more to being the best than just map knowledge but I think this is the best place to start.