Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Online games used to predict real life actions?

madhatter · 01-28-2004, 04:20 PM

I am new to these forums, so I will throw out a conspiracy that I have come up with.

Video games... The norm of newer generations of children all over the world. Several people have tried to blame video games for violent actions of a few individuals. The maker's of GTA faced several lawsuits in the recent past for causing children who played them to commit violent acts of murder, etc. I do not agree that video games cause violence, but that is not the topic of my post.

To cut to the chase, I believe that a video game has the potential of mapping a person's pshychological identity.

Basis of idea...
Most everyone that has seen the rapid development in videogames in the past couple of years. Games like GTA simulate a person in society that can choose to do several activities. (Personally, I think the game kicks ass.) Though, when I look at what other game engines are starting to do, ex. HL2, my imagination runs away. The ability to create 3D environments that any person can "exist" in by playing a game. They can react with other people online, react with objects in the 3D environment, solve problems, etc. The blatant fact is that games have the capability of presenting a person with a pseudo-realistic society that has several choices and outcomes. That being said...

The psychological aspect
If you present a person in the game with a choice... say to walk to the left or to the right, then the person may make a choice. You could extend this simple choice selection in a variety of ways. If a government or organization created an online game with a variety of choices, then they could quite possibly predict how a certain person would react to different situations in society.

Suppose this government game was designed to where you could interact in a society that realistically presents a modern city. Of coarse this game would be easily marketable because it looks good and you can do whatever you want.(part of the attraction of children to games like GTA3 or Postal2) In the game, you could go on a shooting spree, or drive a taxi cab, etc. Meanwhile, you would be psychologically mapped through online statistics built into the game. If you play the game long enough, then the government/company will start to be able to predict your next choices and perhaps your style of "playing."

Basically, these game statistics and predictions could be correlated to how a person would react in real life.

Example
Say you play a game and you mug people with a gun. Further, you tend to target young women at night. Then, the government/company may start to recognize that you would prefer to mug young women at night in REAL life. Much more could be said by criminal psychologists that you may feel weak yourself, so you need a gun and you target women at night. This isnt the best example, but maybe it will help to show you how this psychological "choice" game could predict real life activities.

Problems with this conspiracy
1. The game would have to be good enough to keep people playing for quite a while to be able to predict their responses to situations.

2. The game would have to target a whole lot of people, so that all but a few will play it.

3. Assuming the game makers can do both 1 and 2, you would still have to have some random sampling of players to see how the game correlates to real life decision making.

Thanks for reading. I hope I communicated the idea.

01-28-2004, 04:20 PM	#1 (permalink)
madhatter Upright	Online games used to predict real life actions? I am new to these forums, so I will throw out a conspiracy that I have come up with. Video games... The norm of newer generations of children all over the world. Several people have tried to blame video games for violent actions of a few individuals. The maker's of GTA faced several lawsuits in the recent past for causing children who played them to commit violent acts of murder, etc. I do not agree that video games cause violence, but that is not the topic of my post. To cut to the chase, I believe that a video game has the potential of mapping a person's pshychological identity. Basis of idea... Most everyone that has seen the rapid development in videogames in the past couple of years. Games like GTA simulate a person in society that can choose to do several activities. (Personally, I think the game kicks ass.) Though, when I look at what other game engines are starting to do, ex. HL2, my imagination runs away. The ability to create 3D environments that any person can "exist" in by playing a game. They can react with other people online, react with objects in the 3D environment, solve problems, etc. The blatant fact is that games have the capability of presenting a person with a pseudo-realistic society that has several choices and outcomes. That being said... The psychological aspect If you present a person in the game with a choice... say to walk to the left or to the right, then the person may make a choice. You could extend this simple choice selection in a variety of ways. If a government or organization created an online game with a variety of choices, then they could quite possibly predict how a certain person would react to different situations in society. Suppose this government game was designed to where you could interact in a society that realistically presents a modern city. Of coarse this game would be easily marketable because it looks good and you can do whatever you want.(part of the attraction of children to games like GTA3 or Postal2) In the game, you could go on a shooting spree, or drive a taxi cab, etc. Meanwhile, you would be psychologically mapped through online statistics built into the game. If you play the game long enough, then the government/company will start to be able to predict your next choices and perhaps your style of "playing." Basically, these game statistics and predictions could be correlated to how a person would react in real life. Example Say you play a game and you mug people with a gun. Further, you tend to target young women at night. Then, the government/company may start to recognize that you would prefer to mug young women at night in REAL life. Much more could be said by criminal psychologists that you may feel weak yourself, so you need a gun and you target women at night. This isnt the best example, but maybe it will help to show you how this psychological "choice" game could predict real life activities. Problems with this conspiracy 1. The game would have to be good enough to keep people playing for quite a while to be able to predict their responses to situations. 2. The game would have to target a whole lot of people, so that all but a few will play it. 3. Assuming the game makers can do both 1 and 2, you would still have to have some random sampling of players to see how the game correlates to real life decision making. Thanks for reading. I hope I communicated the idea.