f13.net

Reuters news story (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-02-07T131806Z_01_SP181155_RTRUKOC_0_US-VIDEOGAMES-VISION.xml&WTmodLoc=TechNewsHome_C1_%5BFeed%5D-8)

I started gaming in my early teens, more than 22 years ago. And I remain the only member of my family without glasses.

I, on the other hand, have horrible eyesight thanks to constantly focusing at a fixed distance for hours every day. My peripheral vision, however, is very good (perfect score on that flashing dot eye test) which I attribute to all my hours playing shooters :D

Without games I'd probably be blind, then. Vision started going in 1984 and I've been gaming since 1975 :P

Alot of my friends play games and it seems every damn one of us is getting near sighted as we age. They need to do a study like this over the course of a decade, not a month.

Maybe they mean better visual accuracy and processing, rather than pure acuity. Like my vision sucks and I need glasses, but I can notice subtle movement and identify shapes better.

Yeah well until somebody bothers to dig up the original research it's hard to say what exactly they measured since all the article said is "eye test" (gee that's helpful).

Don't believe the scientists' lies!

Do you know any gamers that have had their eyesight get better since they've been gaming?

Mine has not improved and in fact has gotten worse just in the last two years, but I'm not willing to blame games.  Who's to say it's not just CRT exposure?  Might be too much F13 posting.  It might also be nice to find out if they implemented controls to filter out any boost to motor skills caused by sedentary media-sucklers suddenly particpating in their entertainment.  Considering they specifically mention action games, I'm going to guess not.

Bad science makes me tired.

Masturbation.

I have damned good vision, especially for my advanced age. However, I am concerned that any benefits I get from gaming are probably canceled out by all the reading I do on monitors with crappy refresh rates.

My eyes didn't get bad until I became a daily user of desktop computers and the net (circa '94). Played plenty of games before that.

They're not too bad though. I can still drive and read without glasses, but it's much better if I wear them.

If that were true, I'd have empty eye sockets by now.

I have an old 19" CRT that you can feel radiating your face if you use it.

I've been gaming for decades years over a week.  My vision isn't any better.  Sometimes I have to feel my own face just to make sure I'm who I think I am. 

You guessed wrong. Ok Just saying... Well nevermind...

I'm 20/20 in one eye, and better in the other. /shrug

I've had poor vision for more than 20 years.   One day not too many years ago, I woke up and my eyes felt a bit funny.  The whole world looked different, and I suddenly realized that I could see...like, almost perfectly.  It was a Christmas miracle! Okay, I think it was the middle of the summer, but those words surely went through my head.  Baby Jesus had reached down from the heavens and smited away my sub-standard vision!  Bless him!

Then I awoke fully, and realized that I had forgotten to take out my contacts the night before.  Holy shit, was I bummed.  My very own little miracle, snatched away before I could even enjoy it.

Sorry, this has nothing to do with eyesight. From the authors' web site (http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/people/daphne/visual.html#video):
So action games help with visual processing. Too bad they still suck for your waistline.

Yes, and hand eye coordination, but didn't we know that already?  Who keeps giving these scientists money?

Well, actually... you do.

And speaking as a scientist, thank you. Thank you very much.

You're welcome.  How's that teleporter coming along?