call-of-duty-2 posts

So we bet a lot of people who see you play action games or first person shooters think you are wasting your time. Not so, according to a new study from the University of Rochester. The study suggests that playing such games can help players with improving "a wide variety of general skills."

The study, to be published in the journal Current Biology, the authors tested " dozens of 18- to 25-year-olds" who apparently don't normally play games. Some of them spent hours playing action games like Call of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament while others played the decidedly non-action game The Sims 2. After playing the games each group was asked to perform some other tasks and answer some questions. According to the study, the players of the first person shooter games "were up to 25 percent faster" in completing their tasks and correctly answered the questions at the same rate as The Sims 2 players.

The researchers say that by playing first person shooters, players could improve in handling tasks like "multitasking, driving, reading small print, keeping track of friends in a crowd, and navigating around town."

[Via Blue's News. Photo courtesy of University of Rochester]

We've always laughed when certain lawyers or politcians have tried to push the theory that first person shooter games are "murder simulators" simply because playing a game with a mouse-keyboard combo or a gamepad can't possibly be the same as shooting an actual firearm. However a newly revealed study now claims playing such games can improve a person's vision.

Reuters reports that the study by the University of Rochester in New York showed that after playing games like Call of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004 gamers "saw significant improvements in their ability to notice subtle differences in shades of gray." That could help them when they drive at night. So perhaps getting a "nut shot" in Combat Arms can actually help your vision in real life, if not your aim.