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Videogame Driving Skills Don't Apply In Real Life
the digital nomad writes "When driving cars in videogames, you're often forced to see everything from a third-person perspective. Now, what would happen if you tried to drive while limited to that odd view in real life? These folks decided to find out."
I still credit the training I received for playing long hours of Night Driver with saving my life in 1981. I was cresting a hill late at night on a two-lane country road when I was suddenly faced with an oncoming car in my lane. Using the exact same right-left swerve that I practiced so many times in the video game, I avoided a head-on collision by hitting the shoulder just in time, and got off the shoulder before sliding down the ditch.
The real question should be "Would I have still missed him had I not played so much Night Driver?" There's no way to answer that, of course, but for now I'll stick with the "my anecdotal evidence runs counter to your theory" attitude.
John
What? When I play my racing games I'm in my seat with a G25 steering wheel playing "games" like iRacing.
And yes, the skills translate very well into real life. But don't take it from me, take it from the pros.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRacing.com
Stop playing your driving games in third-person view.
People are never as simple as their stereotypes. This applies equally to Christians, Muslims, and Emacs-lovers.
You mean banana peels DON'T make cars spin out?!
On the ride into work this morning, I drove over several pedestrians, flipped my car twice after hitting guardrails at the wrong angle, and took 5 minutes to get unstuck when I drove through the plate-glass window of a coffee shop. I'd say I've learned everything I need to know about driving from video games.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/12/04/1516204/Gran-Turismo-Gamer-Becomes-Pro-Race-Driver
Granted in his case the main thing that helped him was practicing consistency in hitting braking points and adherence to a proper racing line. I doubt the game actually improved his physical ability behind the wheel.
Jump through two articles to get to the source....here ya go C/O Rooster teeth, enjoying the riches gained from RvB I'm sure.
I enjoyed it, but this is idle/humor material.
import system.cool.Sig;
Can't RTFA since work blocks Gizmodo (seriously? WTF?). However, my first thought after seeing the article summary was "You know, Grant drives this way in real life all the time on Mythbusters."
Haven't the Mythbusters proven again and again that operating a vehicle from 'non standard' driving perspectives is quite difficult?
Well, FPS's turn everyone into real-life Delta force operators, and makes them all experts on weapons and combat tactics. Certainly playing racing games will make you an excellent driver in real life too, right? Right?
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
You were very rarely forced into 3rd person, it just gave you an advantage of situational awareness, wrt other cars and seeing into corners. And it was better, because the perspective of 1st person was so shit because of tech (640x480 and even 1024x768 does NOT cut it), and so now - take EA Need for Speed SHIFT or GT or Forza, those games give you working cockpits that still have enough resolution out the windscreen to see into corners and feel speed properly, and dirve in a more realistic manner.
The death of 3rd person is coming, the tech is now here to simulate proper driving - so we are doing something in real life that was anachronistic to begin with....
In real simulation games you are forced to view the game through driver's view, which is LOWER than the field of view you would have in a real car, because 2d screen cannot accommodate a human's fov from a first person perspective.
so, argument is formulated wrong. its not 'videogame driving skills dont apply in real life', but, 'videogame driving skills in games that allow 3rd person view do not apply in real life'.
otherwise, all the simulators the military is using to train tank drivers, pilots, captains etc would mean bullshit.
Read radical news here
While the participant's driving skills were impeded, their ability to hit prostitutes with bats remained sharp even in third person.
Rooster Teeth Shorts, Immersion (Pilot)
Not cool that Gizmodo didn't give them credit. These are the same guys that do the Red Vs Blue machinima.
I find that the Simpsons Road Rage point system for pedestrians is very accurate.
It's what I base my vehicular homicide priorities on.
There's a video on youtube of a guy who tested real vs virtual drunk driving by playing GTA 4 sober while Nico was virtually drunk, then driving with Nico sober while himself being totally smashed. Unsurprisingly, the drunk Nico-sober player combo was much more accurate, while the opposite resulted in much more destruction and mayhem.
Outside of Mario Kart type games I never liked that view and I've never used it. I never saw it's appeal given that it's difficult to position the car properly on the track or get a proper sense of distance. And that's not to mention you can't even see what's immediately in front of your car. About the only benefit I see is that you could spot another car hiding in your blind spot. It does allow for more of a spectacle when racing. Undoubtedly someone could get good with this view, but that doesn't make for the ideal camera position. Then again, I also never liked the dashboard crowding my view in games. In real life the dashboard isn't as intrusive in my field of vision as it is on the screen.
have you never been on a gimballed ride? your mind can be tricked into feeling acceleration with simple motion.
They're using their grammar skills there.
I was playing Carmaggedon when I first got my license. I am pretty sure that skills do not transpose.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
I have often said that driving is the world's most boring video game. Get to your destination, while avoiding a multitude of hazards. Think about it: there is nothing positive that can happen during a drive, and the media keeps us relentlessly up-to-date on the negatives. Driving: "stay between the lines, stay between the lines, stay between the lines...*sigh*..." And if you don't pay attention for just one moment: tragedy. The famous video game Desert Bus is actually a more accurate simulation of driving than any Gran Turismo.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Compare the angle and field of view of GTA shots (27 seconds into the video) and the angle and field of view they've used for the test.
Over half of the screen is missing and the driver is trying to navigate the car from a "frog's-eye view" as if sitting on a chair being dragged behind the car.
Ergo - he can't see anything directly in front of him in the radius of about 50 meters.
What's next?
"Proving" that you can't drive a tank through a wall by trying to do the same with a van?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
There is a top gear video a few years back where Jermey Clarkson ran laguna seca in gran turismo then drove the same car on laguna seca. His gran turismo time was something like 15 seconds faster per lap which he equated to the fact that you do not get the same sensations as you do in a car, and that you don't have to worry about any self preservation in a game itself so you take risks that you would NEVER do in a car.
As a track junkie i pretty much agree with this.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.