Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

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Ron2K
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Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by Ron2K »

Racing video games: we all play them, many of us love them. They give us an outlet for the days when we can't get to an actual track, and, for the better simulations, can even help us hone our edge in the off-season. But do they really make us better drivers, or do they make us more dangerous on real-life tarmac? Two studies go head-to-head on the issue.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by KatrynKat »

/this reminds me of that episode in Big Bang Theory when Sheldon tries out the simulator to learn for his license... :D

it might help in theory, but it won't help you with the real world and driving on the roads of today....
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by rustypup »

worse.. it's not all about reaction time.. it's about spatial awareness, mechanical aptitude and pro-active driving... none of which includes hookers, glossy graphics, loud music and snazzy camera work...

i have yet to play a racing game with real world mechanics... as a result we have a bunch of nutjobs out there rolling their cars because physics thinks gamers are lamers...
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

I disagree.

I've been in a couple of situations in the real world where my gaming experience has helped me avoid an accident. There are things you don't learn when learning to drive a car, and those things are things you can only learn while in the situation. Sure, gaming can't be compared to the real thing, but when you've avoided a million accidents in games (more realistic games), it absolutely gives you an advantage, no doubt about it.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by rustypup »

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:I've been in a couple of situations in the real world where my gaming experience has helped me avoid an accident it almost caused.
:P

gamer drivers are the worst i have met... distracted, egotestical, over confident and completely lacking in foresight... if you plan your path through traffic, paying attention to risks around you, you should not be dodging accidents...

my favourite is the tjop who swerves from tar onto the grass verge only to spin out of control because he-man NFS pro didn't quite twig there's a major traction difference between the 2 surfaces...

even funnier is watching this happen on dirt roads...
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by GreyWolf »

Agree with Dae.

In my group of friends, the gamers are better drivers than the non-gamers.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

rustypup wrote:
DAE_JA_VOO wrote:I've been in a couple of situations in the real world where my gaming experience has helped me avoid an accident it almost caused.
:P

gamer drivers are the worst i have met... distracted, egotestical, over confident and completely lacking in foresight... if you plan your path through traffic, paying attention to risks around you, you should not be dodging accidents...
In a perfect world, where you're the only driver on the road, this is true. There's absolutely no way that you, or your driving ability can have any impact on that of other drivers on the road. No matter how well you drive, there's a guy somewhere that's going to cut in front of you out of nowhere, or run the red light, or whatever. You're not the only driver on the road, and there are a million other people driving that don't know what to do in any situation other than what happens in your driving test.

So essentially saying "if you pay attention and drive properly and you'll be fine" is nonsense IMO. I started learning to drive 14 years ago, and I'll openly say that I believe I'm a good driver, a very good driver. I've never had a car accident, and I've had to avoid a couple, and I know that if I hadn't been playing racing games my whole life, I would not have been able to avoid all of those potential accidents.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by Siemens »

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:I disagree.

I've been in a couple of situations in the real world where my gaming experience has helped me avoid an accident. There are things you don't learn when learning to drive a car, and those things are things you can only learn while in the situation. Sure, gaming can't be compared to the real thing, but when you've avoided a million accidents in games (more realistic games), it absolutely gives you an advantage, no doubt about it.
Same here. I've had to use some of my gaming experience in real life situations when driving. Also if you read Kotaku you'll often find a story of how it helped someone.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by Siemens »

rustypup wrote: gamer drivers are the worst i have met... distracted, egotestical, over confident and completely lacking in foresight... if you plan your path through traffic, paying attention to risks around you, you should not be dodging accidents...
Just by reading that I can tell you are a bad driver simply because of the don't-care attitude.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by Jonboy »

I think this is a load of bull, does that now mean that all the FPS players can effectively render an enemy headless with our pinpoint accuracy, or that after a few days of Dragon Age I can cast summon an ice demon better than the next person???
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by rustypup »

Siemens wrote:I can tell you are a bad driver simply because of the don't-care attitude.
:lol: funniest comment yet... i have no idea what it means but its misdirected belligerence is refreshing...

pfft..we're all bad drivers... but i've had the benefit of doing a general drivers course and can claim that i am now professionally worse than most... i learnt how to roll, impact and obstruct... i've even rolled a bulldog :D

i can tell you, declaratively, that if you imagine, for one second, your driving skills and competency are improved by a game, you stand a good chance of killing someone someday... :wink:
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by rustypup »

<del.del.del.>
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by D3PART3D »

rustypup wrote:NFS pro didn't quite twig there's a major traction difference between the 2 surfaces... .
Playing Gran Turismo would make you aware of the traction on varying surfaces really quickly. It's a feature of the game. Just saying.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

Jonboy wrote:I think this is a load of bull, does that now mean that all the FPS players can effectively render an enemy headless with our pinpoint accuracy, or that after a few days of Dragon Age I can cast summon an ice demon better than the next person???
Does that make any sense in your head?

How is FPS similar to a racing game? The only similarity is that it's done on a computer.

Racing games feed you the behavior of a car under certain conditions. Obviously games like trackmania don't teach you a thing, but a game like Forza will most certainly teach you some fundamental understanding of car physics and how cars behave under given situations, which are situations that could potentially occur in real life.

Here's an example. I was never told by any driving instructor that if the car slides, you should turn the wheels in the opposite direction of the slide to regain control of the car, otherwise it'll just keep going (obviously, there's a lot more to handling that sort of situation, but this is a factor). Nobody ever taught me that, except for my dad. Now, if he hadn't told me that, and if I had never played a racing game in my life, I would never know what to do in that situation. So if I went around a corner and my car started sliding, I'd have no idea whatsoever what to do. But the fact that I've encountered that situation a million times in games, and because I've handled the car in that way to save myself in those situations, I know that in real life, that's the approach I should take. These sort of fundamental, logical car reactions aren't only visible in sims either, but in even more arcade-style games, so there's even some learning that could happen there.

Does this not make any sense to you?



Playing FPS games isn't going to make you any better at shooting a gun, because there's no underlying knowledge behind what happens when you pull the trigger. You point the gun, and the bullet goes where you tell it to. There's no complicated physics behind that.


Rusty, is the concept of simulators something you've never heard of? You know that Pilots fly a simulated plane before they fly the real thing, right? Why is it that they do this? Because it's fun and because they can crash stuff? No. They do it because that plane reacts to real world situations in a way that's very close to the real thing, and that simulated training is an aid to the pilot. Obviously, nothing beats flying an actual plane, but running the simulator definitely helps. The principle is exactly the same here.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by rustypup »

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:if I went around a corner and my car started sliding, I'd have no idea whatsoever what to do
what you should do is not take a corner as if your car has perfect traction?.. this is a real world situation like "now, let's say i'm undertaking someone in the safety lane and suddenly there's a lamp post - if i hadn't played toca touring, i wouldn't know how to get out of that situation - would i? would i!?"

:/ can't remember the last time, outside of a skid-pan, i had to recover from a corner slide...
DAE_JA_VOO wrote:The principle is exactly the same here.
the principal is most certainly not the same.. in most flight sims there are no competitive hooks and the training you get on a flight sim is primarily focused on routine and instrumentation.. when you're clawing your way through an air pocket or correcting trim in high wind, then you're flying... everything else is playing at silly buggers...

as stated before, racing games fail almost universally in real world physics, spatial awareness or defensive driving... how that translates to better driving behaviour is doubtful at best... i won't argue that gamers present better reaction speeds, (not necessarily just racing gamers), but the value of that is negligible if they're also driving like ... well... someone who's mistaken the real world for a game...
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by wizardofid »

I am an excellent driver because of Mario cart
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by JollyJamma »

I grew up with GT2 and I can say it helped with my driving. I've only nearly died twice thus far.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by Tribble »

I have watched my kids play Motorstorm - and I am not looking forward to teaching them to drive. :shock:
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by rustypup »

10 points for hobos?
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by Tribble »

We play skittles - much more fun and you get to stay on the road. Sadly - most of them do get out of the way in time. Working on that though.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by SykomantiS »

PC games don't help in driving. At all. If you find yourself in a situation where you are trying stunts that you saw in a game, then you are doing something wrong- and you are putting other's peoples lives at stake because you are being stupid a self-centred selfish retard. <--- Before any of you pro-game drivers have a fit, that was not aimed at any specific forumite. Unless you are guilty, of course, then I don't really care.

Also, Dae. I dunno, but if I wanna turn and I overdo it and the rear comes out, logic tells me to turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction- because, y'know, you kinda want to turn in the opposite direction now :|

But hey, that's logic for you. Some people have it, some have to suffer without it :wink:
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by Anakha56 »

rustypup wrote: gamer drivers are the worst i have met... distracted, egotestical, over confident and completely lacking in foresight...
:( I r insulted... :(
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by Ron2K »

Anakha56 wrote:
rustypup wrote: gamer drivers are the worst i have met... distracted, egotestical, over confident and completely lacking in foresight...
:( I r insulted... :(
Well, considering that said gamer driver ran a cop off the road... :twisted:
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by Anakha56 »

:lol: Hey at the time I did not know he was a cop and that was a non-game driver driving like a douche and the fact that I got away proves that driving games help :P.
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Re: Does gaming make you a better or worse driver?

Post by SykomantiS »

Or it could be that he was not a non-game driver as you thought and his virtual addiction to speed bled out in real life- then a game driver would have been the whole reason for your predicament.

Also, hindsight being 20/20, the fact that you are a game driver gave you a mentality of "screw you?" :P :lol:
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