Video games improve shooting accuracy

[Principal Skinr]

Interesting, but not surprising. My son struggles to shoot accurately with iron sights, but when I let him shoot my M&P 15-22 with a red dot, he is a dead-eye. He's not used iron sights in his video games. I'm going to do a little experiment and break out the old COD World at War and have him use iron sights for awhile and then take him back to the range.

 

[gregkl]

For the amount of time I am logging playing COD MW3 I should be shooting like Jerry Miculek!!!!

hah, same here. Just checked and I have played for over 17 days on just one of my profiles. That was on COD4MW.

 

[mrp010]

Had a teenage cousin that had never shot a real gun before out blastin gophers like pro in like 10 minutes.

His only prior experiences were games. Which he was very good at. They have been proven to improve hand eye coordination. And not just shoot em up games.

He had a great time.

 

[ryan3030]

This is kind of a silly topic (not the post, the news report) and falls under common sense for me. Video games are one of the better ways to improve hand/eye coordination and that's a pretty well accepted fact, especially when you can directly emulate the activity you're trying to improve. Handgun accuracy is largely hand/eye coordination (align sights, squeeze trigger). Do video games help in this aspect? You betcha. They also help you swat flys better.

That being said, I've been an avid gamer for going on 25 years now, and the first time I shot a handgun I couldn't hit ****. Every one of my shots was 2 feet high and right because of the recoil anticipation, flinch, trigger jerking, etc.

Video games do not, and will not ever, create a handgun marksman out of an untrained individual. I'd be willing to bet the kid in the story that Evan cited had a considerable amount of practice under his belt.

 

[printcraft]

That video was great. I enjoy playing violent video games. The Grand Theft Auto series of games are my favorite. Lots of great weapons, amazing game play, and a chance to be a badass in some small way. ........

The last time I played that and then went to the range I beat a guy
with a tire iron and stole his car.......... didn't improve my shooting though.

 

[drillsgt]

As a mostly "non-gamer" I never paid much attention to the media violence debate. Recently while reading Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's fantastic book On Combat, he has a section on video game violence.

The section that really stood out to me was when he talks about the shooter in the Paducah, KY shootings. Out of 8 shots fired, this kid made 8 hits, all in the heads and upper torsos of his victims. That kind of accuracy is UNHEARD OF, even by elite combat shooters. This kid "trained" day-after-day on 1st person shooter games, then shot 2 magazines to acclimate himself to the real deal just a few days before starting his massacre.

Really made me think. . . . .

You can read the excerpt for yourself here: On Combat, Media Violence

I would also recommend the rest of the chapter, or buying the complete book.

He gets around, he publishes anti-gun research and anti-video game research but it's the almighty Dave Grossman so everybody gives him a pass.

 

[esrice]

He gets around, he publishes anti-gun research and anti-video game research but it's the almighty Dave Grossman so everybody gives him a pass.

I can keep an open mind. I'd be glad to read any articles you've published or written on the subject.

 

[gregkl]

The last time I played that and then went to the range I beat a guy
with a tire iron and stole his car.......... didn't improve my shooting though.

This is funny!!!

 

[drillsgt]

I can keep an open mind. I'd be glad to read any articles you've published or written on the subject.

I've been published, I know what makes a good scientific article and what is junk (which is the majority of public health related gun research). I'm finishing up a lit review right now for publication on safe storage practices if you want it.

 

[hoosierdoc]

There is one important difference to consider. The shooters in the examples given in the article were all of an offensive nature. As law-abiding gun owners, we tend to train exclusively for circumstances of a defensive nature.

Very different animals.

True, but as bad as I am I get the defensive side of things more often than not.

 

[esrice]

I've been published, I know what makes a good scientific article and what is junk (which is the majority of public health related gun research). I'm finishing up a lit review right now for publication on safe storage practices if you want it.

That'd be great.

 

[indianabowhunter]

Just 20 minutes of playing a violent video game turned players into more accurate shooters when firing a realistic gun at a mannequin and were more likely to aim for and hit the head, a new study found.

Video games improve shooting accuracy - CIOL News Reports

Serious ?

 

[figley]

According to Penn & Teller's research, video games turn kids into pansies, who are too scared to shoot a, "real", gun.

 

[findingZzero]

Wolfenstein, Doom, Duke Nukem, Descent, Quake, Chuck Yeagers Air Combat, Aces Over Europe, Eurpean Air War, WW2 Fighters, Mig Alley, Aces High, Forsaken, Half-Life, Unreal, Max Payne, Battlefield 1942, Batltlefield 2, IL-2 Sturmovich, Crysis, MOH, COD, Brothers in Arms.
Anyone wanna trade my joystick for a Cz 75B or M&P. It's well broken in.
I should show up at the range with my MS sidewinder2
p.s. Did I mention the penny arcades in Coney Island in the 40' and fifties.

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

Just 20 minutes of playing a violent video game turned players into more accurate shooters when firing a realistic gun at a mannequin and were more likely to aim for and hit the head, a new study found.

Video games improve shooting accuracy - CIOL News Reports

Sounds like the Dept. of Homeland Security wasted a bunch of money on milli0ons of bullets

 

[Caleb]

There is one important difference to consider. The shooters in the examples given in the article were all of an offensive nature. As law-abiding gun owners, we tend to train exclusively for circumstances of a defensive nature.

Very different animals.

Great video, point was to debunk the myth that video games does not "train" kids on offense violence as Obama and all his liberal clowns are leading everybody to believe. All these violent gunman that shot up the workplaces, schools, and generally public places all have a deeper sinister problem inside of them.

 

[cassaireland05]

That's correct.

It doesn't have to be "shooting" video games that translate into better hand/eye coordination. It is, broadly, just "video games" that do it.

-J-

I agree!! I play Call Of Duty all of the time and I also shoot a lot too. If anything I think shooting a real gun would help me play Call of Duty better. If I could go into the actual game with a real gun I would probably do better.

 

[Jimmy0315]

Does that mean if I watch "adult movies" it will make me more accurate in bed?

 

[gregkl]

I agree!! I play Call Of Duty all of the time and I also shoot a lot too. If anything I think shooting a real gun would help me play Call of Duty better. If I could go into the actual game with a real gun I would probably do better.

especially when some of those players start getting an attitude!

 

[gregkl]

Does that mean if I watch "adult movies" it will make me more accurate in bed?

Maybe not more accurate, but possibly more fun!