Mile High Top Sites ®™

Millions of Americans enjoy video games-for the adrenaline rush, the companionship, the competition, and the chance to become a conquering adventurer, at least in a virtual world.

The good news is Americans don’t have to break the bank to play the video games they love. Turner Broadcasting System’s GameTap is one of the latest and greatest options for consumers to get their game on and experience all the good things about games. Some are game testers and get paid to pay games.

“Turner created GameTap because they wanted gamers to have a wide variety of games-a virtual vault-that allows them to experience all types of thrills including role-playing, action, and puzzle games,” says Stuart Snyder, General Manager of GameTap.

But in addition to being fun, can playing these games really promote self-improvement? Hold on to your controllers: some researchers and social critics are now arguing that video gaming has its virtues. It can speed reflexes, improve mental abilities and even reduce violence. While nobody is arguing for a 24-hour diet of video games, many observers now see some hidden values.

Consider research done at the University of Rochester in New York, which concluded that young adults who frequently played video games can improve their “video attention.” In one experiment, for example, test subjects were asked to quickly figure out whether or not a certain shape-a square or a diamond-appeared within one of the six rings. Video gamers came out on top. The researchers said that video games force players to simultaneously juggle a variety tasks, such as detecting and tracking enemies, and avoiding getting hurt. Those game-playing skills can translate into more general visual skills that apply to everyday life. Sure go ahead and buy games at game store.

“We sometimes think of popular culture as a passive recreation, but there’s nothing passive about video games-they are the most interactive, demanding entertainment medium ever created,” said Snyder. “If the GameTap staff of overachievers is any indication, video games are a great way to learn how to think on your feet.”

Simulation games, where players design everything from roller coasters to cities, can get kids interested in mechanical engineering and urban planning. Wrote author Steven Johnson: “My nephew would be asleep in five seconds if you popped him down in an urban studies classroom, but somehow an hour of playing ‘Sim City’ taught him that high tax rates in industrial areas can stifle development.”

Johnson, the author of “Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter,” has become a prominent defender of video games. He has also entered the controversy over whether video games promote aggression, arguing that crime among teens and adolescents has dropped by almost two-thirds since 1975. Whether video games can take credit is a matter of strong debate, but Johnson suggests that video games may act as a safety valve.

Video games may even have therapeutic value. Mark Griffiths, a professor at Nottingham Trent University in England, argues that video games can help distract children undergoing chemotherapy and treatment for sickle cell anemia. The games may also work as physical therapy for arm injuries.

Like many researchers, Griffiths advocates moderation in game play. GameTap’s Snyder agrees. “At GameTap, we love games, we’re immersed in them, and we’ve got hundreds to choose from. But we also know the importance of putting the controller down. A virtual world can be fun, but there’s no substitute for the real thing.” Get into the game become a video game tester!!

NBA Denver Nuggets basketball super stars get paid millions of dollars for playing a game. Not everyone is going to get paid paid to play in the NBA or NFL, NASCAR Racing or other major sport games. Games are the fun and thrill we all like. Then you have video games from Playstation 3, XBOX 360 and list go on….is there real money in games?

However, some still ask, why do we play games?

There exists some ephemeral quality that separates gamers from the rest of humanity, some thing that makes us, us and them, not us. I’ve never been able to quite put my finger on it, but it is inescapably there.

Today, in hopes of moving closer to that essential quality of gamerosity, we examine part of what makes us tick. In particular, we take a look at what draws different types of gamers to the hobby. Every gamer plays for different reasons, but there are common threads that tie the experience together.

Many gamers are motivated by the challenge a game can present. Success in a game may be governed by any of a wide variety of abilities. A First Person Shooter requires twitch reflexes, a steady hand and the ability to remain calm under pressure. A word puzzle game may require an extensive vocabulary and the ability to rethink the uses of old words, but no measure of speed. A sports simulation might well require an in-depth knowledge of the topic, in addition to arcade skill, but is unlikely to have terribly much concern for linguistic acumen.

The common thread is that all of the games challenge some subset of a player’s abilities. This challenge can be a powerful motivator. The Challenge Motivated gamer is drawn to a game that tests their skills, preferably one that tests them to their limits. The gamer may also be motivated by the natural improvement that comes from working at peak. They are driven then, not only to excel, but to improve. Challenge Motivated Gamers thrive whenever a game pushes their skill set of choice, but may be disinterested in games that fall too far away from the target.

Competition is a close cousin of challenge. Many gamers are driven by the need to prove they are the best, to be pitted against their fellows and come out on top. Competition minded gamers range from those looking for a challenge in a fair fight to the sort of win-at-all cost leet speaking infants that give us all a bad name. Competition can be easy to take too far. There is nothing inherently wrong with being driven by competition. To some extent, competition is merely challenge taken to the extreme. It is only when it leads to mistreating your fellow player that it begins to become less a motivation and more an unfortunate personality quirk. Competition Motivated players thrive on those games where they are pitted against one another with the outcome dictated by skill at playing the game. They will often wane in those environments that either require cooperation, such as many MMORPGs, or in games where skill plays a much smaller role, such as in less sophisticated card or dice games.

Comming soon we will take a look at some other common gamer motivations, including Creativity and Escapism.

Love to play games? Get paid to play games! Act today to become a video game tester!

Limited time wanted video game testers. For more information and become a member visit us at, www.get-paid-to-play-games.milehightopsites.com