Natural Born Killers: Video Game Players
 

I don't have any consoles, I don't play and video games on my computer, and have been fps free from my comp for two years. However, whenever I got to a X-Box lan or go to an internet cafe, I totally dominate. Most of my friend have and X-Box and I completly destroy them in any FPS game. It just got me thinking, am I a natural born killer? In the sense I can kill anyone easily in video games. Are there certain people who excel more at killing in video games then someone else of same or lower skill?

Discuss.

It might be that everyone else just plain sucks. :D

Yeah, probably. I have a few friends who are simply pure naturals. Doesn't matter what genre, what game, what system, anything. They can just pick up a controller on a game they've never even seen before, take one practise round and then OWN EVERYONE. It's unsettling.

What it means is that you're a certified psychopath and you should seek urgent psychiatric help now before you realise that since you're such a good mass murderer in the virtual world you just may even be better in the real world.

Or...

You just have natural talent.

But I wouldn't rule out psychotics being involved somehow.

I have natural talent, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to randomly kill people. Something up with your train of thought that have you thinking that way, if so seek some help bud.

Some people definately have a knack for the mental coordination that fast-paced video games require. I haven't seen anyone that's so naturally good that he can immediately show up and consistently defeat people who are far more familiar with the workings of any one game, but I can easily imagine it happening in a more laid-back gaming environment than the ones I usually play in.

As a side note, I'd probably have an easier time pulling the trigger in a combat situation after having capped tens of thousands of virtual zombies and nazis and terrorists and such. It wouldn't surprise me if the armed forces started finding out that children of the post-DOOM era required less...resocialization...to get them to actually fire a gun at someone.

Not to mention that they're familiar with teamwork and basic tactics from games like CS or Call of Duty.

There is no real correlation between being good in video games and being a natural born killer. Actual combat is so completely different from virtual combat that making a comparison is naive and silly. You never experiance mind numbing terror that this breath you take could be your last when playing a video game.

Teamwork? Tactics? Not from what I've experienced online. :eek:

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/ima...s/20021121.gif

Watch yourself playing a game. Better yet, watch your hands. Are they moving the controller around in excitement? Or is the controller stationary? Aiming and shooting a gun depends on hand placement, how comfortable you are carrying the gun, and your vision-to-hand compatibility.

Find a gun that's as light as an XBOX controller, require's you to use two joysticks to move it around, and has two triggers, one which shoots bullets, the other grenades, and maybe you'll be proficient.

Yeah, but at the same time if I train myself to hold the controller perfectly still while I'm playing, and I only take the shots when I know I can make them, all of a sudden I'm more proficient with a real weapon. This actually happened with me. I became a better shooter by using the sniper rifle in whatever game more often.


Edit: I forgot to reply to the original post.

Yes, some people are naturals. I'm usually somewhere between moderately good and excellent at a game when I start. First time I ever played CS was at a LAN party; within about 15 minutes, I had the best stats in the room. Same with Unreal Tournament. I very seldom play any more at all, let alone "seriously," and I can still do very well when I do play, so I must conclude that there's at least a certain level of talent there.

Otherwise it may just be that I play smarter than everyone, though I sincerely doubt that because generally speaking my tactics revolve around the basic idea "run at the guy and shoot him in the face."

Perhaps my claim was misinterpreted.

I'm no better at using a firearm than any other random civilian. I don't know how to operate one that isn't already loaded, had the safety disengaged, and is ready to fire.

However, I'm desensitized to the idea of using a weapon to kill something. I have, in some simulated, fantasy portion of my brain, killed tens of thousands of dogs and guards and headcrabs and cyberdemons and all the rest. It would not be any utterly new or unheard of thing for me, mentally, to shoot a firearm at a live target. I obviously haven't experienced all the psychological shock that comes from killing something that is actually real, but I still think that my brain would accept it after having seen it done and actually feeling that it had in some sense done it itself.

*Deleted*

Sorry, wrong thread. :crazy:

I think some people are just "natural born killers" as you say. I'm the same way. I can play a game for one hour and be the best player in my entire school district of about 500 people (fairly small I know but i can't help it). Especially in first person shooters. The skill in games comes to me like a psychic power.