dickfour said:
Looks like people these days are suffering for attention deficit disorder. I think the negative implications of that extend far beyond gaming.
I would agree.
Ever since fast food establishments starte using pictures and people chose thier meals by pointing to a picture or calling out a combo number, I realized consumers were becoming dumber. I mean no offense by that, it is both our faults for taking the easy way through things and the advertisers for making it far too simple to choose and buy.
Also the people that benefit from quick games, it seems to me, are creators and developers. Think about this. if you want to sell more games, wouldn't you want to make the games people just purchased, get finished quicker? that was they wuold be ready for thier next fix....
I was part of some major research in memory (human) with Roche Industries, Nutely NJ, USA, back in 1995, and one of the things that came out of that research was that these convieniences that we use so often, like speed dialing (stored numbers), sticky note pads and so forth do more damage to your memory when used as a tool because with them, there is no longer a need to focus attention on the piece of information stored. The research was for add related medications... The problem that was discovered is best put in this statement... If you allow people to do it long enough FOR YOU eventually they will do it TO YOU. IN memory terms this means if you don't use it, you lose it.
he average piece of information in excess of 7 charaters or digits requires 15-20 seconds of concentration to pass into the long term memory... this assumes there is not already some emotional or personal connection with the said piece of data... the statement assumes there is no emotional connection with the data, that they are truely random digits, characters, names etc... IN other words, you will remember a name without the 15-20 aeconds, if it rings a bell with some name you are already familiar with. All new information stored within the mind, must be connected, through intentional or otherwise unintentional association in order to be readily recalled (diff. than rememebred).
Reading requires attention and with todays heat and eat society with the drive through food lines, liquor stores, gas stations and so forth, there is less and less need to pay attention or at least that's what the retailer would rather you believe. In doing so, we turn our choices over to them. We begin to have less and less say so in what we get at the market.
I feel this heavily applies to gaming as well.
Just some food for thought. Great topic.