It is held that about 10000 hours of doing are needed to become an expert in something that is not entirely new. At the same time I have seen observations that many playing games as a hobby easily have such time investments but the question then becomes what useful skills might they have. While truly high level skills might be debated there are an awful lot of lower level ones that are unarguable. For instance I have met many only know how to truly use a map today (I first used a GPS in anger some 20 years ago, they got popular not long after that) because of games.
Similarly on computers themselves. While I may not have lacked an interest in computers it was not that which saw me learn networking but wanting to play Carmageddon with my friends, and as the thing used [long list of profanity removed] IPX networking and it thus saw whole bunch of other troubles to sort first. If you have similar such things then please share.
A few years back there was a news report going round that a guy had learned to do emergency wound care thanks to the America's Army game.
Similarly many of the simulator games that got popular the other year do fairly well for it; an anecdote from someone I know that runs a car garage was that mechanic simulator had seen one of his customers far more able to articulate their problem than the average one.
It need not be at such a level either; all those hours of Tetris might have made you a master packer, did some reference in a game spark an interest in something maybe historical, did playing a computerised version of an activity see you take it up in real life (the skateboard boom of the late 90s and early 2000s very much owing a lot to the first Tony Hawk game), or maybe a game just got you to think about space and forces more than you had previously?

It is of course taken as a given that we are all master gunmen thanks to mouse controls and twin analogue sticks. Though more seriously Goldeneye really did teach me to be ultra observant for security cameras.

This is one of a new series on GBAtemp that considers mechanics in games, game design, concepts in games and related topics. Previously we have discussed games on the PS4 and Xbone that will stand the test of time, games that got better after launch, cancelled games and shuttered devs, and story canon in games. We have a long list of things to cover in the future but guest spots and suggestions are welcome.

 

[Geezerdorf]

And to be honest, I'm rather disappointed by quite some responses here. On one hand, we identify very strongly with our hobby (we call ourselves "gamers"...you think people reading books call themselves bookers, or others moviegoers?), but on the other hand we apparently downplay whatever benefit we get from playing games. I honestly hope this is a kind of modesty on our behalf, or perhaps an inability to see the cause of certain of our skills. Because the opposite is also possible: that we just play the wrong games, or play the games wrong (not all games train the same skill. And like sports, you need to play at, or slighly above, your skill level to improve).

Well, to be fair, if i listed everything That i had learned from videogames, it'll be a boring long explanation. But if i were to actually sample it...

Critical Thinking.
Musical Appreciation, as well as learning (certain instruments)
Strategic thinking and problem-solving
Languages (both english and japanese as i said)
Hand-eye coordination
Management and administration (Thanks Sid Meier, Thanks MAXIS, but major thanks to Richard Garriott)
Navigation (Although we use GPS, i used to be the "Navigator" for the family; whenever that gets wrong, there i am to guide them with a map)
Consciousness for tough, and i mean TOUGH & delicate matters (Seeing backstabbing, assasinations and a lot of other strong themes at my young age, actually made me understand how harsh and how difficult would the whole real world package come to be; i shit you not. I owe a lot to games like Final Fantasy 4-6, Tales of Phantasia and Destiny of an emperor for such learnings)

And this is just a sample of the whole list.

 

[JellyPerson]

Surgery and flight. Now I am a surgeon who only performs surgery while simultaneously flying a plane.

 

[Zanoab]

MMORPGs taught me how to type efficiently. I still don't use "proper" hand positioning all the time but I have awesome muscle memory for every key if you give me a few days on a new keyboard.

 

[Old]

Surgery and flight. Now I am a surgeon who only performs surgery while simultaneously flying a plane.

(Supposedly) My uncle knew of a guy in prison that would sit on the toilet/relieve himself, roll/smoke a cig, read a book, have a drink, and jack off, simultaneously. Pure skill/time management.

 

[JellyPerson]

I also learned how to be a defense and prosecution lawyer, a president, a mayor, a detective.


But for real, I actually did learn how to play the electric guitar. Thanks rocksmith.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

(Supposedly) My uncle knew of a guy in prison that would sit on the toilet/relieve himself, roll/smoke a cig, read a book, have a drink, and jack off, simultaneously. Pure skill/time management.

did he learn how to do that while playing surgeon simulator and flight simulator 1999?

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

-Reflexes (Studies have apparently shown)
-Awareness of the environment (I guess if you constantly keep an eye out for pixels moving, it might improve your awareness in real life as well)
-Strategic thinking (Since most of us won't be generals in real life, it might not be super useful, but any kind of competitive game in which you can influence your opponent negatively builds strategic thinking)
-Movitation for learning a language (e.g. the Angry Video Game Nerd recently mentioned he wants to be able to read Japanese writing)

 

[hamohamo]

i learned english from movies first than from youtube. but my reflexes have improved after playing more than 10000 hours of smash 64.

 

[aofelix]

dark souls - determination.. lol

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

i learned english from movies first than from youtube. but my reflexes have improved after playing more than 10000 hours of smash 64.

10.000? Are u sure u didn't add too many 0. Wow.
I do love the game but without online and enough local people to play it with, I didn't come anywhere near that much.
Sth about the game remains so satisfying. I would totally buy a 64-fied version of Smash 4 (with 64 gameplay, graphics and sound).

 

[hamohamo]

10.000? Are u sure u didn't add too many 0. Wow.
I do love the game but without online and enough local people to play it with, I didn't come anywhere near that much.
Sth about the game remains so satisfying. I would totally buy a 64-fied version of Smash 4 (with 64 gameplay, graphics and sound).

well when i was a kid i used to play a lot of games but when it came to multiplayer that was my thing. me and my brother used to have so much fun playing kirby dittos on sector z. I mean today i don't play it as much as before cuz i'm playing smash 4 more but at the time even when brawl came out 64 felt way better and melee felt even worse than brawl cuz everyone feels like a rock and once you're out of the stage most of the time you won't make it back. and yea i probably defo played above 10000 hours my dude. i kept playing it since like more than a decade

 

[Sathya]

speaking english
like most of quebecois

Its better learning piano

 

[Pacheko17]

Games taught me English and really helped me with Japanese.
Even with Portuguese, since I really didn't do much writing/typing before I started playing MMOs.

 

[Owenge]

1. PS2: love for games and consoles in general
2. Android: love for going outside the boundaries of what a electronic allows
3. Call of duty black ops 2: reflexes (I loved this COD, sue me)
4. Rainbow 6: love for PC, also learned that the head is made of plastic wrap and the body I said made of steel

 

[BlueFox gui]

waste my life time : D

not english because GBAtemp is my english school

 

[FierceDeityLinkMask]

First played games with Mario AllStars Super Mario 3 for snes. Learned how to hold things, speak, and basically everything from playing games. My first memory is of my playing AllStars.

 

[VitaType]

well when i was a kid i used to play a lot of games but when it came to multiplayer that was my thing. me and my brother used to have so much fun playing kirby dittos on sector z. I mean today i don't play it as much as before cuz i'm playing smash 4 more but at the time even when brawl came out 64 felt way better and melee felt even worse than brawl cuz everyone feels like a rock and once you're out of the stage most of the time you won't make it back. and yea i probably defo played above 10000 hours my dude. i kept playing it since like more than a decade

10,000/20 = 1,000
1,000/365 ≈ 2.74
Which means that if you played the game for 10 years in total 10,000hrs you played in average ≈2.74hrs every single day. This isn't counting all Smash Bros. games, but just the first entry in the series. If you only played at the weekends it would be ≈9.59hrs a day.
I'm fairly sure your guess how long you played isn't enterly correct
You should look-up how many hours you have in Smash4 to get to a better guess

 

[VinsCool]

waste my life time : D

not english because GBAtemp is my english school

You will laugh, but spending time around here since 2014 helped me a lot.
Not kidding.

 

[BlueFox gui]

You will laugh, but spending time around here since 2014 helped me a lot.
Not kidding.

idk why i would laugh
this is exactly what i did

 

[SonyUSA]

I learned that the mitochondria is the power house of the cell...


... Parasite Eve XD

 

[AdenTheThird]

1. Self-control. Frustrating games (SMB) have helped me manage my temper over time.
2. Awesome skills. Mariokart 7 hours, day after day, have turned me into the best racer in town