Learning in Video Games.

[mad benji89]

some times when i play a game and havent played the previous games i often look up the story from the first ones or buy/download them because i feel that its always a good idea to see where the game idea first game from.

i know prefferably its best to play the first game then go through them in order but i often dont hear about games till later on lol.

for example fallout 3 i played that one first and then later the first two i know there is a fallout: brother hood of steel but it didnt look that good to me tell me if am wrong because i dont want to miss out on a good game

 

[neoman10]

Playing Civilization IV made me look at some world leaders and their countries, and generally made me more interested in History. Then I started GCSE History, and I'm doing Russia from 1904-Present.

Hum.

respect my man, that's a complex time in their history

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Age of empires II, got me into History, I read about the Aztecs, Joan of Arc, Genghis Kahn, and William Wallace.

Also Stronghold 2 got me into more of how the castle system worked.

 

[HT_Black]

I finally figured out how to pronounce 'Saracen' after a stint on Assassin's creed.

...And Half-life 2 made 1984 a lot less shittyand pretentious.

 

[A Weary Exile]

Like with the OP, after playing Bioshock I really wanted to read Atlas Shrugged. I still have to buy the book though, but I will when I've got the cash for it.

I'd buy something else the book is 1000+ pages, it takes forever to get to the point, you can see the plot twists coming from a mile away and it's extremley slow-paced you're really not missing much. The philosophy is good but you can just listen to Andrew Ryan's speeches over again and you get the important parts of Objectivism. Ayn Rand does have another book called "Anthem" which is supposed to be a lot less boring, I've never read it it's worth a look.

 

[A Weary Exile]

I'm no book critic, but I read a part of Ayn Rand's novel before throwing it away. The worst thing about the book is that the characters don't talk or act like people, it primarily dumps Rand's philosophy on you. I would only recommend her work to people who want experience how kooky people think.

It really is just awfully boring, most of the time the characters are like robots who get a stiffy for metal alloys and trains.

 

[Captain Pancake]

On a whole, video games have improved my grammar to no end. Hell, fallout 3 taught my little brother how to use the word "berate".

 

[saxist01]

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem got me into H.P. Lovecraft

 

[Megacherv]

Just about every game I have ever played ever. I've read up on almost every game I've ever played because...well...I dunno really...Wikipediing is very fun, I once started reading about Google's new OS, and ended up somehow reading about Johnny Vegas (whose real name NOTHING like Johnny Vegas...message or Wiki if you want to know)

 

[Naheal]

Considering I'm starting to get into the game development industry myself, I find ANY game to be interesting to the point of "how the fuck did they do that?" or "wow. A living breathing world. Awesome." Does that count?

 

[Evilbunny]

Guitar hero got me interested in a whole new genre of music, and inspired me to learn about the rock gods of old.

 

[Versagen]

Assassin's Creed got me into actually being interested in the Crusades, but it really made me want to learn more about the Templar Knights.

 

[tomtom94]

Age of Mythology may have aided my knowledge of ancient cultures, but I think the opportunity to do Latin at my old school had more of a bearing on that.

 

[Magnatek]

I learned english and got an intrest in history from games and the internet.
On the english topic, is that how you spell intrest? xD

You're off by one "e", but that's one of the better (although incorrect) spellings of the word "interest" I've seen.

OP: Sadly, the only interest of me to read the subject matter from a game came from the Lord of the Rings games. The games and books were entertaining, but based on some of the earlier responses, I'm starting to feel a little shame.

 

[Ericb]

Metal Gear Solid got me interested in the Deterrence Theory and politics in general, both in the Cold War and in the current political climate. Because of the cutscenes, not the game itself. =P

Ogre Battle: The March of The Black Queen got me really hooked on war strategies.

Demon's Crest made me forever in love with visual arts.

Of course, a lot of games of the 8-bit, 16-bit, 80's and 90's arcade era made me feel like this, but that game specifically really was an influenced in that respect.

 

[Silvertongue]

I'm currently playing Hearts of Iron II. That game has made me into a WWII buff.

I've always been interested in history, but that game opened my eyes to all the political, economic, and social stuff that went into making that war happen and that made things turn out the way they did.

Also, it stimulates my alternate-history cravings. What if Nation A had joined Nation B's alliance, or Nation C had acted more decisively on Front X? So much fuel for "what ifs"!

 

[Avatar Roku]

It's actually discussed on this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0qRKjfX3s&feature=channel] video series. It's funny, one of his examples is exactly what you said.

 

[olee12343]

It's actually discussed on this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0qRKjfX3s&feature=channel] video series. It's funny, one of his examples is exactly what you said.

Wow, taht's actually really cool. I'm going to subscribe to his channel. Also, he brought up Math Blaster, which was one of the first games I've EVER played. It was awesome.

 

[Avatar Roku]

It's actually discussed on this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0qRKjfX3s&feature=channel] video series. It's funny, one of his examples is exactly what you said.

Wow, taht's actually really cool. I'm going to subscribe to his channel. Also, he brought up Math Blaster, which was one of the first games I've EVER played. It was awesome.

Yeah, he makes good videos. He's actually got his own blog [http://videogamesand.blogspot.com/] as well, if you're interested.

Also, there's a fan group [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Talking-About-These] (shameless plug).

 

[Ristoril]

in morrowind i liked the weapons and so i researched weapons and now i believe i can name almost every weapon that ever existed that's not a gun