I've learned many great things from video games. How to rob banks, punch people in the face, and how to tap "X" repeatedly. Here are just a few of the more usable things that I've learned from video games.
1. Patience
Video games have taught me patience, as well as how much I hate stupid motivational posters.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoquotes/14546646743
You're not always going to be able to beat every puzzle in the first go. Sometimes it takes a few tries, a few month, or a year or two. Sometimes, it takes pounding your head against a wall a few times for the solution to click. After years of impulsivity and hard-headed thinking, I learned to think a little more before I act, and then do the stupid thing.
2. Dealing with aggravation
Whoops.
http://www.theplayethic.com/wargames/
I've tried plenty of games that I haven't been very good at, Dark Souls, PacMan World, Monopoly, but there's nothing as frustrating as sucking at a game that you're not usually bad at. I'd breeze through most of the gameplay of something and then run into a certain mechanic that would stump me. Like chase sequences.
I'm just no good at chase sequences. I corner too hard, drive straight into parked cars, and miss turns any chance I get. Anytime a bad guy's car is getting away, I would rather sit back and let 'em rather than go after them.
But replaying those sequences over and over again has taught me how to deal with an annoying situation for a long time without lashing out. I mean, sometimes. Does yelling at the screen when I get killed for no reason count as lashing out?
3. It's somehow acceptable to hoard stuff
Gotta reach in the back for the freshest one
http://www.malmstrom.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2001285356/
Being a pack rat is in my nature. I always assumed it was a bad thing, but as it turns out, the more ridiculously vast your pile of games, the more impressed gamers are with you. YouTube Let'sPlayers often show off their massive collections in the background of their videos to prove that they know what they're talking about. While I don't have enough games to cover a wall, I have enough that it takes several boxes to hold them all, and I still find some cases under the TV.
4. Actions have consequences
Wouldn't wanna come across him in a dark alley. Or a bright alley. Or anywhere.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/griffinyphotography/3864959061
If I've learned anything from video game dialogue options it's that actions have consequences. You can't just choose the Renegade dialogue option every time and still be considered Paragon. Or attack people over and over and have them still work with you.
Video games have taught me that some people are going to see you as evil for doing the same thing that makes you think you are good, they just will, and that you'll have to learn some measure of accountability when you play or else you'll just lose.
5. Not to side with Russia over American intelligence
"Whoops, I pressed the wrong dialogue option."
I MEAN COME ON.
