Skeptics Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [videogames]

A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device.

The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device,but it now implies any type of display device that can produce two- or three-dimensional images. The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld devices. Specialized video games such as arcade games, while previously common, have gradually declined in use. Video games have gone on to become an art form and industry.

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Are PC-based players generally superior to console-based players in first-person shooters?

I have heard that the reason that the XBox live games cannot be played with friends on Windows machines is that when MS tried it out, the keyboard-based players were so dominant that Microsoft decided not to allow the capability. Specifically, I've…
Larry OBrien
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Are perpetrators in mass killings more likely to play violent video games?

To be clear: I am not asking if violent video games cause violent behavior. That is covered here. I am more interested if there is any correlation between violent video games and mass killings. I want to know if the killers are any more or less…
Kip
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Can Doom run on a car's infotainment system?

In this youtube video a hacker claims it is easily possible to mod the infotainment system in his Porsche to run the game Doom using the controls of his car to control the game. This Gizmodo/Sploid story describes the supposed hack: A YouTuber…
matt_black
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Do video games lead to increased depression, anxiety and aggression?

Nicholas Kardaras is a addiction expert who was a professor at Stony Brook Medicine. In his 2016 NY Post article he claims that screen time is extremely harmful to children. The article intermingles anecdotes, expert opinions and references to…
svavil
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Are most gamers unable to complete the first level of Super Mario Bros.?

Wired Magazine reported this in 2013: During a Q&A session, Satoru Iwata revealed why Nintendo’s newer games are easier. Nintendo conducted a test with many gamers and found that most of them were unable to finish the first level in the original…
IronGopher
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Do some game developers use tests to measure dopamine and adrenaline levels?

A Vice article attributes a claim to psychologist and book author, Dr Nicholas Kardaras: game developers use tests to measure dopamine and adrenaline levels in order to make video games as addicting as possible. Is it true that some game…
HC_
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Is Tetris by Electronic Arts the best selling video game on mobile?

According to Wikipedia, Tetris by Electronic Arts is the best selling video game ever made. With 100 million downloads, it sold 17.46 million copies more than the next best selling game, Wii Sports on the Nintendo Wii, which sold 82.54 million…
user25258
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Did a woman go blind after playing a mobile game?

The article Chinese woman blinded in one eye after playing game likened to electronic heroin stats: The 21-year-old woman suddenly lost sight in her right eye after playing the game for the whole day over the weekend ... in Dongguan, Guangdong…
Chloe
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In 1982 did then President Ronald Reagan send a letter to an 8-year-old kid congratulating him on getting a Pac-Man high score?

According to multiple online sources (an DidYouKnowGaming?! forum post here and an AtariAge forum post) Jeffrey R. Yee of San Fransisco set a worldwide record for the high score on Pac-Man by scoring 6,131,940 points. This is from a…
Giacomo1968
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Did Nintendo own Love Hotels?

Is this claim accurate? Before developing video games, Nintendo owned 'Love Hotels.' Private short-stay rooms that were used for sexual encounters.
Jonathon
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Did Wario say a swear?

Ok, this would have been in like 2004-5 or so. I had some disk for gamecube with a set of bonus features including trailers, and there was one for WarioWorld, and I remember clearly hearing him say "what the fuck?" at one point in it. I can't find…
Jackson D
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Was the number of injuries happening to the Madden cover players unusually high?

I came across this claim in the wikipedia entry of EA Sport's Madden NFL Football series: While appearing on the cover has become an honor akin to appearing on the Wheaties box,[1] much like the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx, certain players who…
magnattic
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Who coined "gamification" term?

According to wikipedia Nick Pelling coined the term "Gamification" in 2002/2003 as part of his bussiness model Conundra. Though the term "gamification" was coined in 2002 by Nick Pelling,[77] a British-born computer programmer and inventor, it did…
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