Psychologists Claim Games Alter Personal Reality

[Dfskelleton]

I have to agree, as especially of recently, when I watch a movie and someone dies a particularly gory/violent death, I am automatically inclined to say, in my best Shao Kahn voice, "FATALITY".
I agree with the article though, although I might as well add something else to it: maybe because it's FUN. It's fun to occasionally make a morbid/ironic statement in GLaDOS's voice. It can be fun to try and sneak around like Sam Fisher or Solid Snake. I've found myself holding household objects like weapons and whistling the Doom "E1M1" song (I'm mentally stable, I assure you)

 

[Scrythe]

This sounds eerily similar to the phenomenon known as the Tetris effect [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect].

I will admit that I've encountered some of this to a degree, but it was just once and I blame other factors into it.

Back in my heavy WoW days, I did a four day straight binge of WoW without sleep. Over the course of this, I would often hear WoW sound effects in other aspects of my daily life (school, work, etc). Other than this incident I haven't encountered anything like this ever again, so I blame the sleep deprivation on this.

Since we're on this subject, has anyone else noticed that after a handful of rounds on DDR, you start seeing the arrows fly by when you close your eyes? Just wondering if that happens to anyone else. It usually goes away in an hour or so.

 

[yanipheonu]

I'm pretty sure EVERYTHING alters personal reality, but hey, makes sense that an alternate controllable reality would affect your "true" reality pretty well.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well ofcourse they alter Personal Reality because everything you know shapes your personal reality.
Movies, books, music, and pretty much any other piece of information alters it... oh but they forgot to mention that didn't they.

 

[crudus]

So does everything else. Movies, tv, books, etc do it. I would be shocked if it didn't happen.

 

[conflictofinterests]

After Assassin's Creed 1 cam out and I finally ran out of food, when I left the house to get something to eat I kept thinking about how difficult it would be to climb the buildings I passed x3. Of course when Assassin's Creed 2 came out and started talking underhandedly about a bleeding effect, I was plagued with even more bleed over symptoms. GEE THANKS, UBISOFT. I LIKE HALLUCINATING GHOSTS AND PERCEPTION METERS. SO FUN. YOU JUST HAD TO GO AND SAY THAT.

 

[Cheskaz]

It's true when i play Tetris for extended periods of time, i start to view everyone as falling blocks...

 

[conflictofinterests]

SNIP Tetris effect [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect].

SNIP

I just read that and I realized I experience that ALL THE TIME. Generally different things, BUT ALL THE TIMES. When I was little and tortured ants as a kid, it was ants. When I was in biology, it was biology. When I was in forensics, it was forensics. When I was in calculus, it was calculus. It's been Minecraft and Paper Mario and Assassin's Creed, and a shit ton of other things. Didn't know it had a name.

 

[Evil Top Hat]

Of course it does, everything affects personal reality. Hell, advertising and politics is based on it.

Yeah I have to agree, the results of the test seem a tad redundant. If something exists in your reality, then it is affecting your reality by existing within your reality, and if it is something like a hobby, such as gaming, then it will influence you just the same as anything else will when it exists in your life in such a prominent way.

I can only really one time I've caught myself thinking something like this however, which was when I'd just finished a three hour stretch on oblivion and caught myself trying to save my game IRL.

 

[Podunk]

My friends and I joke about shit like this all the time. After playing a lot of Echo Bazaar easy tasks are 'Straightforward', and after playing Mirrors edge the next place you need to go 'glows red'. Shit like that. It's never serious.

 

[Lordpils]

Everytime I play a game I enjoy it effects how I look at everything, like L.A. Noire making me examine peoples faces more. I would only add that this doesn't occur when the actions you do in the game directly contradict your personal morality it's kind of like how hypnosis is supposed to work.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

Of course it does, everything affects personal reality. Hell, advertising and politics is based on it.

That's actually precisely what I was thinking. I wouldn't say anyone who plays a shooter is going to shoot lots of people to death in real life, but it's kind of obvious that people are affected by their environment and their experiences, not exactly a ground-breaking statement.

 

[Vykrel]

For instance, one of the 15-year-old respondents described once seeing health bars above the heads of real people.

im going to chalk that one up to poor choice of words... the kid simply imagined health bars. he didnt actually see them, as if he was in that Nickelback music video or something.

anyway, this same thing happens when people go to the movies. a lot of times, when someone goes to see an action movie, they will come out feeling like a badass for no reason whatsoever. its not just videogames.


personally though, this article doesnt apply to me at all. the most i do is think of Master Chief every time i see the number 117.

 

[ENKC]

After years of heavy Tony Hawk playing, I still look at my environment and think "I could grind that." Which I couldn't. Because I don't skateboard.

 

[Vrex360]

I find it hard to believe that my playing Halo has influenced the way I percieve reality in any way.
Now if you don't mind, I must return to High Charity and report my findings to the Covenant high command.

But anyway OT:
Yes it's true, I often find that I think about the world differently when I play games for a long period of time, but I'll often feel the same way after watching a movie or reading a book. Reality is what you make of it, I guess.

 

[Kyle Roberts]

Yeah i think this is right i've been playing so much minecraft im starting to punch trees and cry at night in fear of creepers. (obviously im only joking) But ever since resident evil i have been starting to sound like wesker all the time.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

The closest thing I get to this is the Tetris effect when I am organising things in a bag or something like that nothing like Health bars above people's heads. I have been playing video games quite a lot for the last 16 years so it can't be that bad.

 

[Earaldor Xerron]

"Betters us how?"
Not all research has to be innovative you know. Maybe this doesn't look all that useful now, but it will probably has it's use later, when similar studies use it's results. It might also give ideas to people to start similar studies or write a book or create a religous sect or something. Okay, tha latter ain't exactly good usually, but you never know. My point is that any research that produces some reliable and previously unkown information "betters us".
(As others have pointed out, this previously wasn't unkown to gamers, so the only good thing about it is that now it's scientifically proven. To some extent. People who never played a game once in their life, but skim trough the new issue of their favourite tabloid and read the already half-assed and manipulative article about this research half-assedly will however, have a new reason to fear/hate/whatever games. Yay! Nevertheless this research can still be very useful in further studies.)

 

[fredster117]

well that helps alot i was i a park my mate lobbed a pebble at a car a police car had see this and the policeman got out eveyone ran but i put my hood and when into blend then ran huming the ac1 pursuing song

 

[TacticalAssassin1]

I get that. Sometimes I go to push buttons to make myself do stuff, and then realize I can use my muscles...
Like after playing Grand Theft Auto, going to push C to look behind me, or playing L4D or Portal, going to press E to pick stuff up.

Not to mention all the times I wanted a portal gun