Jazzing on Joysticks ~ Surgery 101

Science Daily had an article that stated "Surgeons With Video Game Skill Appear To Perform Better In Simulated Surgery Skills Course."

Apparently, "Surgeons who had played video games in the past for more than three hours per week made 37 percent fewer errors [in the Top Gun course], were 27 percent faster and scored 42 percent better overall than surgeons who never played video games. Current video game players made 32 percent fewer errors, were 24 percent faster and scored 26 percent better overall than their non-player colleagues..."

Wow!

So getting zoned out with the joystick may have applications that may prove to be more useful than just serving to have unresponsive game-zombies irritate their loved ones.

That's nice to know...

...especially since I have joined the ranks of the gaming-zombies.

Just like I had onced eschewed calculators and using a computer for graphic design, I viewed video games to be the spawn of the antichrist.

The closest I would come to playing anything on the computer was Spider Solitaire. And seeing how easy it was for "just five games" to turn into twenty, that was enough. I certainly did not need to have my butt grow wider and my wrist get carpal tunnel from spending many hours in front of the monitor trying to win "just one more game."

So what happened?

Blame it on Verizon Wireless.

When we were due for new cell phone upgrades, just before our contracts were set to expire, I decided to get LG's The V.

Of course, with a new phone and a new contract, there was a whole new set of bells and whistles available for the picking. And having gone from technophobe to technophile ~ oh! what a glorious choice of pickings it was!

Just out of curiosity, I loaded Luxor, a game that a friend of mine had introduced me to.

Thus, my love affair with games began.

Next came Hungry Puppy. It was very different from Luxor; and much more frustrating. I couldn't get past the 4th or 5th level. And I couldn't find the cheat codes on-line that would enable me to figure out what that "bouncy-thingie" was.

Next was Bejewelled. It was fun.

However, Zookeeper, which operated on the same principle as Bejewelled was much more exciting, even though its point structure wasn't as generous.

The Solitaire games were so-so ~ a disappointment.

And then came Zuma, introduced to me by both my daughter and the same friend who had done the original favor of introducing me to Luxor.

I don't know whether to thank them or to strangle them.

Zuma had me hooked. It became the monkey on my back. I would be sucked into the game and play until my phone powered down. Then I would plug in my phone and play some more.

Did I have a problem or what?

Was I a prime candidate for the 12 steps at Gamers' Anonymous?

Perhaps not.

After all, when my eyes started getting bleary and I could not focus two inches beyond my nose, I knew that I was time to quit.

(I wonder, is the eyes' refusal to focus the gamer's version of passing out?)

As if it wasn't enough to be possessed by Zuma, an on-line friend introduce me (along with a whole slew of other unwitting victims) to Boomshine.

Talk about addicting!

You know it's gotta be bad when my sister and I are both talking to each other on the phone while we're both playing that infernal game!

Don't you just love it?!

It all goes to show you how easy it is to become that which you condemn.

I would like to further explore that concept; but for now, it's time to go play with the monkey ~ er, I mean, brush up on my surgery skills.