Is playing supcom intellectually motivated?

[Ubilaz]

This might be a question of a more philosophical nature, but I experience so much prejudice concerning gaming and it has made me think...

I think gaming is a source of much fun, knowledge and generaly evolving the brain, socialy and intellectually, do you agree?

Is gaming comparable to other mediums, like film, books, estethical activities like art or music, with their different genres?

If these statements are true, is supcom to gaming, what an intellectual book is to litterature? Is it more stimulating? Are there other games/genres?

Is sittning by the computer playing games two hours a day, comparable with painting or playing the piano or "insert your activity here", the same period of time?

Gl thinking, I'm curious about what you can come up with (try keep it serious )

[Veta]

SupCom is not an intellectual exercise.

[Mycen]

One of my jobs is baking biscuits for a busy restaurant, and let me tell you, I think of SupCom all the time while I do it.

I have to simultaneously pay attention to mixing and portioning out the dough, keeping in mind the timing to restock my station without falling behind in biscuit making, and planning how many biscuits to make so that I have enough ready to absorb a sudden surge of guests without a wait but not so many that the biscuits pass their hold time and must be discarded. I also have to think about how to divide my time between completing my tasks and helping my crew mates who need assistance.

Dividing your attention between many tasks and ideas that are different from each other in real time is hardly a skill set unique to SupCom. But it is certainly one that SupCom helps you practice.

Whether or not this qualifies as 'intellectual'? I don't know about that, I think of it more as mental exercise...

[ColonelSheppard]

yes

[eXcalibur]

it all depends on yourself.

you can play tic tac toe without thinking much, have fun, keep playing against other player like yourself and keep playing it.
you can play tic tac toe once, then figure out the best strategy and that it will always a be tie, except one player makes a mistake. then you had fun for 10 minutes, but after that tic tac toe has become a boring game for you.

this concept can be adapted to starcraft 2 as well: you can see that there is one perfect strategy to win the game. you realize that the one player who executes the orders faster will win. therefore, the game has become boring for you or you have fun in testing the apm of other players. but this is not intellectually challenging anymore.

there are a lot of great strategies in supcom and you can either use them (which is not intellectually challenging) or you can try to come up with new ones. then, you have to analyze the game and combine all the knowledge to invent your personal best strategy. this can be intellectually challenging. but when you play the game, you will never be able to execute your strategy perfectly. therefore, a supcom game is about micromanaging and apm again.
the only interesting fact is that pro players keep inventing new strategies for themselves, because this game is not completely analyzed like starcraft 2 (due to the lack of public interest and the impossibility of perfectly micromanaging a game).

most pc games are only in the beginning about learning something new and combine it to get a good result. after a while (e.g. watching youtube videos of pro players), it is only a competition of reaction time and overall speed. therefore, they become boring and you need new games.


in general i think that the more abstract something is, the more intellectually challenging it CAN be. the more something is unconventional, the more it CAN be intellectually challenging.
examples are: tv shows, movies, books, pc games, cartoons, board games, chess, mathematics, philosophy

[da_monstr]

Intelectual? Naaaah...

Better than watching TV like a zombie? Hell yes.

[rootbeer23]

its intellectual if you have a very small brain.
although there are tiny nuggets of joyful thinking to be found, that is when you invent tactics and strategies, which in the pure form happens in the head only. real world military strategy counts as intellectual too i guess.
the majority of it is akin to sports or play or crotchet.

[FunkOff]

Playing supcom is somewhat intellectual. Designing and building ways to improve upon it through mods is very intellectual.

[Nombringer]

Depends how you draw knowledge from your expirience and apply it, for instance reading a book by itself is not intellectually stimulating, drawing experiences and applying them to real life is.

[prodromos]

If you do not play it using restrictions, and always try to be just a little bit better, then yes, it is a game that taxes your intellect.
Is it a lesser intellectual exercise than reading a book? No, I would say it is a different one(I have read tonnes of books) and generally more intense, it tests your intellectual stamina more rigorously. Why is this?
I would be boring trying to explain why in pages, but think of this: life in the jungle put humans at the top of the food chain, not because of their good graces and powerful claws, but because of their intellect. Yet, no books, no arts and philosophy existed in the jungle in the first place.
SupCom puts you in a position like that of the primitive man, challenging fundamental aspects of intellect. Assuming the same amount of experience and undivided attention when you play the game, the only factor that distinguishes you from other players is your intellect.