Video games are good for you:
“According to a new study, people who played fighting games on their PCs became up to a 58 percent better at perceiving fine contrast differences, an important aspect of eyesight. The breakthrough is significant because it was previously thought that the ability to notice even very small changes in shades of grey against a uniform background could not be improved. Contrast sensitivity is the primary limiting factor in how well one sees. Volunteers in the study played intensively for 50 hours over nine weeks with either Unreal Tournament 2004 and Call of Duty 2, and the results were compared with another group who played The Sims 2, which is richly visual but does not require as much hand-eye coordination. The improvements lasted for months after game play stopped.
This is good to know, although it makes me wonder if but for the sake of my gaming habit I would have the eyesight of a naked mole rat. More importantly, chicks dig guys who game. Just ask Spacebunny or the Chilliette. They’ll tell you that there’s nothing a beautiful girl appreciates more than knowing that her man is in the next room, dominating the online opposition. Are you really going to argue with two hot Norwegian blondes?
I didn’t think so.
There are two problems with that report, though. Unreal and CoD aren’t fighting games, they’re FPS. Street Fighter IV, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat are examples of fighting games. And 50 hours over 9 weeks is not what any self-respecting gamer would call intensive. I once played through Heretic in 18 hours straight sans cheat codes or breaks, while Big Chilly forgot to a) get dressed, b) eat, c) notice that a dog was urinating right next to him, and d) pick up the wedding rings, because he was on a nine-hour naked Sim City binge. It would have been longer, except his fiance showed up wanting to see what the rings looked like….
Now, THAT’S intensive.