We need your stories for the show

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PristineSteam
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We need your stories for the show

Post by PristineSteam » Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:43 pm

On a future episode of the show, I'd like to discuss the overlap between video games and real life. I have some stories about this, but I'd also like to incorporate stories from our listeners. If you have some, please submit them here. We will give you credit if we use your story on the show.

Here are some ideas that you might like to respond to:

Have you ever had an experience in real life and then thought, "wow, that was just like a video game I've played"? What was it?

Have you ever learned something -- a skill, a piece of information, a way of looking at things, etc. -- from a game and then later found that useful in real life? For example, have driving games made you any better at driving? Our younger listeners may have played a pretty realistic driving game before ever driving in real life. What did you think about that after you drove a real car for the first time?

On the other hand, is there anything you "learned" from a video game that turned out to be completely wrong when you tried to apply it in real life? I'm not talking about something like trying to find power-ups inside crates in real life, I mean something you really believed from a game that turned out to be wrong.

Have you ever used video games for a specific real-life purpose? (To relieve stress, to prepare yourself for something, etc.)

If you play a sport, have you ever used a sports video game to improve your understanding of the sport? How did that work out?

If you have done something both in a game and in real life, how has one made you think differently about the other? I'm not looking for responses like "game X isn't realistic" here, I'm interested in how a game has changed your thinking about the real thing, or the other way around.

If you can think of some other story related to this topic, go ahead and submit it, it doesn't have to be a response to one of the questions above.

Thanks in advance for your participation,


Tom

zodiacprime
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Post by zodiacprime » Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:00 pm

As far as sports go, and I think I speak for many gamers here, I learned the rules of hockey from the NHL series from EA, for me specifically: NHLPA Hockey '93. Then there's the details I learned from Papyrus' NASCAR Racing about the art of car drafting and the fine details of the various tracks. I found that in the case of both these sports, that my appreciation for them greatly increased after I understood them on this level. I can still name most NASCAR tracks with just a glance and I know how hard it can be to hit those chicanes just right at Sears Point or Watkins Glen... good memories. And don't get me started on how many times I've had to explain 'icing'.

The Brass
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Post by The Brass » Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:53 pm

i really dont like to type long stories on keyboard unless for work but since its for twitch i will definitaly try! not right now though i will edit this post when i feel like typing a story
OL' DIRTY BASTARD

Horprodukt
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Post by Horprodukt » Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:09 am

I learned how to use manual gears whilst driving by playing Atari's 1989 arcade game Hard Drivin'. The sit down version of the game had 3 pedals and 5 gears just like a real manual drive car, accelerate, brake and clutch (the only arcade racer that i know that includes a clutch). After playing the game a lot I felt so confident i could drive a real car that i tried driving my girlfriend's Mini Cooper home from work .... i managed the gears ok, so Hard Drivin' was useful in that respect, but it didn't teach me hill starts using clutch control and the handbrake which you have to do with manual gears, so i rolled backwards on a hill junction and hit the car behind.

No serious damage was caused apart from to my ego.


What this also taught me was not to be so damn stupid, and still shocks me to this day that i did something like that.


I didn't take lessons and pass my test for another 5 years after that.

Here's the game in question....

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8072
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Icarus
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Podcast Ideas

Post by Icarus » Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:34 am

How about a feature on Microprose (I love X-COM) and Bullfrog (Magic Carpet, Syndicate). Also, a discussion of women and video games could be lively. You could explore why women liked pac man and centipede, how women are depicted in games, if that has changed, etc. Lastly, the psychology of the gamer and what this leads too. For instance, I've read literature that says engineers are obsessive compulsive and must be so in order to be successful. Are gamers obsessive compulsive and does that lead them to predominantly engineering careers?

bellulah
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Post by bellulah » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:34 am

hey! long time listener, first time posting. here goes...

i'm a scientist in a lab by day (it pays for my vices), but i also own a record label, write songs and have released several recordings. i find that i am constantly paying attention to the music in games, for about a dozen reasons.

just as most people have enjoyed watching graphics develop over the years, i have been more interested in the development of sound. starting at blips on the atari, programming my own on a computer and then my mind was blown when the first NES came out. what seemed like multiple tracks, and polyphonic structures... i could go on!

when you are learning to play an instrument, or are learning the art of audio engineering, you really gain a better appreciation for what's going on in these game soundtracks. couple that with the technologies at the time (fitting whole games in 32k) and it's nothing short of astounding. and by being so intensely interested in these sounds, it forced me to pay attention to the song structure, which in many cases closely mirrors classical music.

so i don't know, it's really influenced the way i look at music in general- like, if they can pull these amazing things off in a video game, or if i could have en emotional response based sometimes solely on the soundtrack, it really shows the power of melody and arrangement.

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