Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Counterstrike

Counterstrike is a very interesting online game. I got to know it a couple of days ago and it seems that it is quite popular. Its not its plot that is interesting, the goal of the game is very simple. What I found interesting is the skills that it requires to play. Such skills are observation and extremely quick reactions.

I decided this game is something I have to learn to play well, not only because its very popular but because I wanted to prove myself that I can do it. Nevertheless, some people might think its very violent. It simulates two teams, the terrorists and the counter-terrorists. One of the most typical scenario is the following: You are a member of the counter-terrorist group that consists of 5 members. You have to hinder the terrorists from placing a bomb in a marked area. To do this you have to kill them and be careful not to get killed. It takes extremely quick reactions and extremely sharp eyesight to recognise in miliseconds where the terrorists might currently be. You have to have a hundred eyes in all directions!!!

There is a lot of shooting, blood shed and killing in this game and in the beginning it was a bit weird to play it. Such games have been accused of being the inspiration of murderers and killers. After having played it for 4 days intensively, I frankly dont believe so. I havent noticed developing any aggressive behaviour. On the contrary, the speed of my reactions and my self-confidence have increased.

I believe such games cannot be the cause of psychologically ill behaviours. The human brain is in position to tell what is real and what is not. Passive people can use agressive games as a way of developing their reactions and coordination, increasing their self-esteem and releasing subconscious and unexpressed stress. However, I think kids and extremely sensitive people should not play such games.

5 comments:

Corsarius said...

Hey, Counterstrike! I was addicted for the longest time to that game, but stopped in order to focus on studies. It was a craze here in the Philippines, with people having a favorite side (Terrorist or 'Counter'), though other games have superseded it in months past.

A happy new year in advance to you and your loved ones, Viruswitch!

admin said...

:)) I can imagine the addiction!!! I still play just with bots because I am not very good at it but I love to watch good players play. I prefer to be a counter-terrorist bust sometimes you cant really learn a level if you dont play it as a terrorist as well.

But which games are better? I would really be interested to know!

Thanks for your wishes Corsarius! I wish you too a happy new year!

Indeterminacy said...

That's a healthy opinion. Maybe violent games attract violent people, as well as normal ones. No study yet has had the final word.

(I personally enjoy those games you sometimes see in German train stations, or amusement parks. You have nine holes, like a tic-tac-toe grid, and a hammer. Ground hogs keep popping out of the holes, and you have to hit them back in with the hammer. It gets faster and faster. I love it, but an ex-girlfriend was abhored by this. I'm glad she's an ex-girlfriend.

Indeterminacy said...

Just wanted to add, I think games like these serve as a healthy working out of aggressions, more than the opposite.

admin said...

Thanks for your comments, I totally agree with you.

The truth is that I went through a phaze where I kept dreaming all night of Counterstrike. Even when normal dreams would occur some terrorist would pop up out of nowhere with a gun. Fortunately this happened only a couple of nights. Also at first, the game impresses the senses a lot making everything look very real, to the point one might get a bit stressed and surprised during the game. The worse part of it is when one keeps getting killed, I think this psychological situation causes the fear in dreams.

After much Counterstrike though, I dont get surprised during the game (maybe shocked is the correct word) and I dont care when I get killed.

I am totally obsessed with the game now!!! :D