Games you accidentally learned from

[Xerosch]

As a non-native speaker I've practically had my whole education in english through games and movies.

It started with english voice overs with german subtitles, then both in english and now I'm watching 98% of movies in their original language and don't want to play any localized version of games.

 

[Keymik]

I learned english from World of Warcraft, mostly due to being and roleplaying on a roleplaying server(And we all know how sensitive roleplayers are about grammar ^^) I was the ace of my class and was actually shocked that some people can't even get simple words like 'with' and 'you're' right..

 

[Nansen]

oh, I really loved Caesar and Pharaoh! the other games in the series, like Emperor (one of my all time favourite games) and Zeus actually taught me alot as well.
somebody already mentioned the Assassin's Creed games, especially AC2 - there are so many historical people and places, I also picked up a few Italian phrases, heh. Batman: Arkham Asylum taught me alot about the Batman universe as well in a really interesting way.

 

[Infernai]

The first Metal Gear Solid taught me a bit about different guns, nuclear weapon information and what the symbol for infinity is.

Basically this except for two more things:

1. It taught me that, if you use it right, a cardboard box is a pretty damn good hiding spot (To the point I'm ashamed it works...yes, that means i have tried it).

2. By watching some of the movements and attacks in MGS 3, i was able to learn some degree of CQC

 

[Denamic]

I wouldn't pin it on a singular game, but I did learn English from playing games and watching movies.
I was at 9th grade level when we started English classes in 3rd grade.

 

[Quaxar]

Civilization taught me almost everything I know of world history.

Yeah, me too. But my teacher still wouldn't believe me what a war-hungry ass Ghandi really was!
Age of Empire and Age of Mythology were great history games too.

And I learned a lot of seldomly used vocabulary from Guild Wars.

 

[chocolate pickles]

Silent Hill 2 (and some of the other games from the series, to a lesser extent)taught me a bit about psychology.

Fallout 3 and New Vegas also taught me a bit about music from decades ago (people think I'm odd when I start singing the lyrics to 'I don't want to set the world on fire')

 

[Malkav]

I also learned a lot about English through games. The most notable was my very first game, Xargon. I could barely read at that point and didn't have any idea what the textboxes said. So I tried to decipher the words and make sense of it, just from what they sounded like, or what the showed scenes and pictures suggested was happening. Oddly enough, I came really close at times. So when I finally learned English at school, it already felt familiar and I didn't have problems with "complicated" words that the other students frowned upon.

My native language + vocabulary also benefitted from the legacy of Kain series, especially Soul Reaver. The translation is just gorgeous. It also helped with general storytelling.

Freelancer taught me about planets, suns and the universe and got me interested in it. You can scan pretty much everything for statistical and historical data. At the age of 11, I already knew about neutron stars, red giants and white dwarfs, as well as modding for some time. At that time, I learned more about programming than I ever learned at school.

The Witcher: Basics of sword-fighting, at least in theory, as well as knowledge about demons and other monsters in folklore.

Devil May Cry: Again, demons and spirits of real-life folklore. Not very useful, but nevertheless interesting. You'll constantly see some of those in fiction.

RPGs and games about certain eras can often be a good way to learn about different epochs, even if they take a lot of liberties.

 

[laggyteabag]

I learned all of the WWII weapons and their origins from Call of Duty
And Assassins Creed taught me about the Borgias, a bit about renaissance Italy, and a few Italian phrases

 

[teebeeohh]

i organize my work the same way i would organize my empire in strategy games, i works surprisingly well, too

 

[A Weary Exile]

I know the names of several more Japanese warlords than I would otherwise because of Shogun 2: Total War, and I know quite a few folk tales and legendary beasts from Japanese mythology due to Okami and Touhou. Including times when knowing one complemented the other: Okami's more traditional outlook on the crow tengu showed me why Aya has a fan, for instance.

Basically this. I can name dozens of feudal Daimyo and Samurai and their deeds thanks to Samurai Warriors, same goes for the Dynasty Warriors games and China's Three Kingdoms period. Of course I had to cross-reference the exaggerated stories of the games with sources online (See; Wikipedia. ) to get the truth.

And I learned more about European/Middle-Eastern/African geography/history from the Total War games than I ever did in school. :l

I also did not know that The Assassins were a real organization before Assassin's Creed. Granted they are NOTHING like they are in the game (And they're actually called the "Hashashin" where the word "Assassin" comes from.) but that game is still responsible for me learning that.

 

[Knight1172]

Medieval: Total War taught me a fair bit about the Byzantine Empire, but it was Age of Empires that really sparked off my passion for history. Cossacks and Cossacks 2 really instilled in me a love of the 1650-1850 time period, which I hold to this day (I know the lyrics to all four verses of 'God Save The King' 'The British Grenadiers').

Considering I'm hoping to go to King's College London to read War Studies, I'd say video games can be pretty damn inspiring when it comes to the history department.

 

[Exocet]

Age of Empires 2
To this day, I have never heard of the Lombard league from any where else but that game and a book, and it's no school history book.
I also know the history of the Mongol empire, something else I wasn't taught in school, which I always found odd, considering the importance of the Golden Horde, and the consequences in Europe.

 

[LadyTiamat]

Fallout 3 = Basic survival skills of managing and scaveraging

 

[Wintermoot]

The only thing i can think of recently was being able to recall the names of the ww11 weapons in a museum from memory alone. Thankyou medal of honour/ Call of duty

wait when did I miss WW3-11?
pretty much this I recognize weapons from various era,s thanks to shooters.

 

[Major_Tom]

The only thing i can think of recently was being able to recall the names of the ww11 weapons in a museum from memory alone. Thankyou medal of honour/ Call of duty

Alright, what's this?

Spoiler

And this?

Spoiler

 

[Zantos]

Age of Mythology was pretty well researched, I picked up a fair amount of ancient religion from that.

Fallout NV taught me the important life lesson that just because something is difficult, it doesn't mean it's worth it.

 

[daveman247]

The only thing i can think of recently was being able to recall the names of the ww11 weapons in a museum from memory alone. Thankyou medal of honour/ Call of duty

Alright, what's this?

Spoiler

And this?

Spoiler

No idea

Trust somebody to pick the obscure ones...

 

[Major_Tom]

The only thing i can think of recently was being able to recall the names of the ww11 weapons in a museum from memory alone. Thankyou medal of honour/ Call of duty

Alright, what's this?

Spoiler

And this?

Spoiler

No idea

Trust somebody to pick the obscure ones...

I cheated a bit, they were both just prototypes. First one is the StG 45(M), a successor to StG 44. The other one is a Type 4, a Japanese M1 Garand copy with some modifications (like the integral 10-round magazine).