Does Gaming Reduce Productivity?

Scott Taulbee writes "Bob Mandel of AVault has given us his interesting views on why playing games does not reduce productivity, but rather is a stimulating alternative to 'snoozing, daydreaming, overconsuming food and beverages, or sitting like a mindless slug waiting for time to pass.' He suggest that '..compared to other forms of recreational activity that could be enjoyed during work breaks, computer gaming has the greatest chance to hone skills useful for productivity in the workplace.' Should we all take this article to our bosses with requests for installing a GameCube on every desk?"

Lucky...

[gfxguy]

We have foosball, one of those bar-room basketball games, and a pool table. While they are for clients we are allowed to use them when there are no clients wanting to play (which is usually). Of course you're not supposed to play all day, and if your supervisor happens to walk by when he knows you've got work, then you'll get in trouble.

I just got done losing in a work sponsored pool tournament, and no, I don't work for some start-up internet company that's about to go under.

In my specific department we were given a PS2 by a client for research into doing an advertisement for their game, and we still have it hooked up, and the guys bring in games from home for an occasional break.

No games on company computers, though, and I believe the reasons are valid - we have clients that walk through our work areas and it just doesn't look professional when we are on their time, new equipment is technically only a tax write-off if you don't use them for anything else, and they don't want you to disturb others in your work areas.

Nap in the office 'increases productivity'

[indros13]

A German researcher is claiming 40 winks in the office can give more of a boost to the working day than a dozen cups of coffee.
His study found even a 20-minute doze could increase concentration and stamina enormously.
Professor Peter Wippermann says bosses should allow employees to take 'power naps' and also provide comfortable office furniture for a quick snooze.
Professor Wippermann, from the office research consultancy Trendburo, which is based in Hamburg, said a quick snooze in the office regenerates worn out body cells and improves the ability to think flexibly.
Story filed: 15:23 Friday 25th May 2001

link here [ananova.com]
Similar stories here [efuse.com]
and here [clickondetroit.com]

stimulating the mind

[LuxFX]

When I have to get up early for a long day of work, or if I hit my afternoon drearies, I always do one of the online crossword apps. I find that kind of puzzle-solving to be very stimulating and raises my level of alertness and clarity. For just a 10-15 minute commitment, I've improved my workflow for hours to come.

Much better than sogging ever so slowly-but-surely toward that I-Need-a-Nap afternoon lull...

.

Re:Now that you bring it up...

[ArcadeNut]

- The game Tempest was inspired by a nightmare Jeff Minter had about monsters that'd crawl out of a hole in the ground.


Close, but not quite.

Jeff Minter was not the original programmer for Tempest, it was Dave Theurer (KLOV - Tempest [klov.com])

Jeff Minter DID do the Atari Jaguar Tempest 2000 game however. (Jeff Minter [dadgum.com]

Jeff "Yak" Minter is probably better known for his "Revenge of the Mutant Camels" and "Llamatron".