Video games are constantly hounded by the media at large – specifically FOX News – as being a rather pointless pursuit that serves only to placate the easily amused, oversexed mind of many an adolescent boy. However, studies into video games have quite conclusively proven the benefits that playing games can have on a young mind in moderation, to heighten reaction times, situational awareness, and the capacity for cognitive reasoning among other things. In unexpected ways, video games have taught us a variety of things amid all that dragon slaying and gunfire. Sure, we all love a dumb game that’s simply fun, but some games by their sheer nature can’t help but actually impart some wisdom that actually has applications in real life.
Here are 10 video games that actually taught something useful.
10. Microsoft Flight Simulator – How To Fly A Plane
Granted, this one isn’t likely to come in use, but if you’re ever on a flight and the pilot dies, loses consciousness or otherwise falls ill, it might be useful if someone else onboard is able to pilot the plane. Microsoft’s Flight Simulator series is a thoroughly academic video game franchise, taking you through the very real ins and outs of piloting a commercial aircraft, such that if one sunk enough time into it, you might even be able to viably land an actual plane, though of course you’re still likely to have to overcome varying plane specifications, and your own terror.
Still, the game builds a very practical foundation whether you need to save a jet-liner full of passengers, or just want to get some know-how before you actually pilot your own light aircraft for real. As far as practical teaching goes, few games are as astute and studiously-designed as this.
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5 Comments
I don’t know, I learned of teamwork more with Battlefield Bad Company 2, with squads. Call Of Duty informed me more though on World War 2, like we all know about yes, but I learnt a bit more than I did through it. I also learned from Call Of Duty great story telling.
But thats me.
I don’t know if Mass Effect is the best example to give for race relations anymore since the ending made you exterminate races with genocide or mutate everyone into having the same DNA, because people who are different cannot ever get along…
Dear god. Call of Duty as a Teamwork game? I’d rather rank BF3 as a Teamwork game. All I’ve seen from CoD gameplays is people running and gunning as a one man army throughout the map.
Call of Duty taught me to do things on my own because My team were a bunch of monkeys with guns and the other team was a SWAT Team
I sort of knew Dark Souls was gonna be there……………(wimpers in corner and sobs at the thought of Dark Souls II, thinking he had escaped hell)