In all my years of gaming, There has never really been a game that has caused my body to heat up (and/or sweat). Even when just practicing in training mode I literally have to take off my hoodie after a few minutes because I get hot. I’ve played thousands of games and I am a pretty avid BW and SC2 player and this has never happened in an RTS match.
Anyone else have similar experiences? I wonder how many calories it burns. I’m guessing it might be a lot more than people would think, maybe something akin to riding a bike a leisurely pace because there is a physical aspect as well as a mental acuteness and has to all be coordinated by hand/eye.
This could also lead to the explanation of why so many hardcore gamers seem to be thin even though their lifestyles would lead you to believe otherwise.
sure there are overwight gamers, just like there are overweight football players or whatever. It’s just their metabolism and genetics, but you can’t say that most SF/MvC players are fat. Clearly most of them are thin or regular builds right? So those guys you mentioned would be the exceptions to the rule.
Khentimentiu, I know i’m not the only one some guy on GGPO was confirming this phenomenon as well.
PS- You can clearly see people sweating in tournament videos all the time. Maybe it’s just the pressure of the match, or the temperature of the room. But if you are sweating, you’re definitely burning more calories than just sitting there watching tv.
It’s a theory what’s wrong with putting thought into things. If some science types actually did studies and tests on hardcore gamers and found that they were actually burning X more calories than whatever activity that typically is represented as a physical thing. Then that could help relieve some of the negative stigma of gamers and their lifestyles.
I can kind of agree with this, since I can play intense matches online and start sweating as things get serious. I play to win, so the sensation of not failing is one that makes me want to rip off my jacket.
What boggles me is not in how SF can make someone sweat, but in how BW/SC2 doesn’t. Fighters and RTS both require hand-eye coordination and brains as well. Perhaps it’s the “arcade” or offline aspect of Fighters that does it for you?
It depends on who is playing you, because If its an anticipated match of a casual game or a grudge match online and you know your opponent is good at the game, i drop dem drips when its a very crazy match
I guess this would explain how I’ve still managed to stay in shape after many years of having a strict exercise technique of doing absolutely crap all and my specially regulated diet consisting of everything, it’s awesome!
…now if only my face didn’t make grown men run away screaming like children…
Everyone’s body responds to mental stress and taxation differently. Just because Stuart Hayden has not experienced this (maybe he has, I dont know for sure, but he seemed dismissive) does not mean you are putting too much thought into it. I personally know what you are talking about (I do get hot as well for intense matches). Some people respond to the competitive stress by their bodies heating up. I dont have a clue how many calories are burned, i presume not enough to account for a workout though.
I have a personal example for stress impacting body temp. I was at work and was wearing safely glasses in the fab. I had an “oh shit” moment were i thought i screwed up. All the sudden that feeling of stress hit me and my glasses started fogging up like mad.
I agree with Fudd: it is strange that SF has this impact, but not SC2. Incidentally i really only remember feeling hot when playing SF. I’ll pay closer attention next time i play an RTS
Well for me i dont even play SF in arcade/lan setting and I still sweat and like i said even when just training mode. For BW and SC2 I have been to at least a dozen tournies and lans and didn’t sweat either (except when it was hot). Although, there is a widespread phenomenon in rts players on TL, just read the blogs someone will post at least once a day about ‘ladder anxiety’. Which is basically people in fear of laddering or whatever.
PS- Just to note, I was just playing SF3 for over an hour and I didn’t really begin to get hot til just now right before I stopped playing. So it doesn’t seem to happen all the time either.
edit- and just for reference, ive played all kinds of games but i didn’t ever start getting really competitive until BW and SC2 which ive played since 98 and 10 respectively. I only started playing SF3 in about 07 so it’s more my secondary game. And I don’t really recall getting hot or sweating in any of the games my friends used to play somewhat competitvely when I was a teen (goldeneye,twisted metals, etc)
