[quote=""Cyclohexane""][quote=""I__CHAOS__I""]the biggest difference between pro and casual games (aka noobs),
according a scientific research done in Korea (land of pro gamers) was:
pro gamers use a different brain-zone. Casual gamers rely more on knowledge, facts and repetitive moves where-as the pro uses much more what was called 'intuition' or 'instinct'. The pro is much faster at anticipation and adapting when the nooby is thrown off as soon as something "unknown" happens.
also from that research:
24 was the peak age for gamers, after that, many essential abilities start to decrease (like reflexes, eye-hand coordination, focus etc...)[/quote]
I am skeptical of these type of “studies”. I mean, how many people did they sample? What was their determining factor? What game did they play? The surge of older gamers is a new thing, the product of younger gamers growing up and having the financial capability to play. You cannot sample your average joe blow who rarely plays and determine his coordination is off. What if he never played a video game or he simply hates FPS, RTS, or RPG games? It is easy to skew results and percentages.
I’m going on 31 now and my reflexes / coordination are as good as ever. I spare 18 – 19 year olds on a weekly basis in martial arts. I do pretty well within my rank, regardless of age. As a matter of fact, I believe the me of today would kick my 18 year old ***. Of course, that is due directly to experience, which is my point.
You’re only old if you let yourself get old. It’s use it or lose it, just don’t stop. I have an 84 year old grandpa that still goes grocery shopping, does odd jobs around the house, etc. It’s lifestyle choices and how you live that determines how you decay more than what you were born into. If you want to say the majority of people make unhealthy choices that lead to early decay, I could agree with that. If you want to say a kid is going to be better at a game because he is younger, well I disagree completely.
As far as intuition or instinct goes, well guess what, the more you train the more of an instinct it becomes. You do martial arts, when you first started, the moves seem clumsy and hard to remember. Once you have performed the same defensive maneuver a few hundred times, it becomes instinct, a reflex your body performs without you thinking about it. Of course you are using a different part of your brain, it’s the same part that allows you to drive to work without remembering the actual drive but instead the hundreds of thoughts your were concentrating on. It’s simple and reinforces my point of view, the pros practice which allows them to concentrate on unexpected surprises because building villagers, houses, the map, resource selection, etc. is already instinct.
It’s more like Lazy said and I completely agree with his points on hardware, responsibilities, etc. The younger kid does not have to pay the bills, help the kids with their homework, go to work, research future investments for financial security, mow the lawn, coach their son’s t-ball, set an example for their kids, do the dishes, etc. etc. Available game time becomes an issue to adults. It’s practice that makes perfect and having a room free of distractions certainly helps. I’d never say I do not want those little distractions because I love them completely, but my kids definitely decrease my video game proficiency. Even if I am playing, I’m also answering questions about where volcanoes come from, why the sky is blue, is that an elephant, etc.
I agree that some people learn certain skills faster than others and if they invest the same amount of time as you, they will always be better. That is true, but it does not mean you cannot overtake them with persistence. Ask yourself how bad you want it, then take it. To me, I do not care. It is obvious when you look at my rank and then play me. Games to me are a break from reality, I’m not going to create stress in my escape!
My point is, genetic factors are highly overrated and could even be conceived as racist to certain individuals (depending on the topic).
You can train yourself to be anything you want to be. I am convinced that anyone can do my job effectively if they are willing to make sacrifices. Anyone can be an engineer if they give up everything irrelevant and dedicate your life (at least 4 years of it) to the task. I’m not the smartest engineer that I graduated with but my grades were excellent because I was always studying. I mean always, I couldn’t take a **** without reading a book.
If you (I say you generally speaking) really want to be a top player and that is what is important to you in your life, then just do it. I think if this is your priority and you cannot support a family or be financially secure, you need to reevaluate your life. That of course is my own humble opinion. I realize some people do make a living with video games and that is great for them. Doing something you love and getting paid for it is all part of the pursuit of happiness built into Americans. However, most of these kids are eventually going to be own from their mother’s tit and forced into the real world. That natural talent will be wasted as well as their time spent not perusing an actual career. No matter how you try to rationalize it, it is only a game.
Age does not matter, and while natural talent does make a difference, good ol brute force training is more important.
Saying things like its natural talent and I cannot do it because I was not born with it is nothing more than an excuse. I don’t want to insult anyone here, but those are the things cowards say. Those are the type things people put into their heads that prevents them from becoming everything they can be. I agree that there will always be people better than you in some things and vice versa, but leave it at that. If you say you can or you say you can’t, you’re right either way.[/quote]
it's your right to be sceptical
But I think it was rather a big set-up. I don't think you have an idea how big the gaming world is in korea, and neither did I until I saw this documentary. If I recall well, it was on National Geographics, which is as far as I know, as rather reliable source. But you never know.
When they say "24 years old is the peak age" they talk about an average obviously, so if you are better than ever at age 31, that is perfectly possible, but doesn't change the average peak age.
What was meant with 'instinct' was a born talent. Repeating something over and over (like the martial arts moves) are a so called second skins or reflexes, but not really instincts imo.