• Does marijuana make you a better gamer?

    Do you happen to be one of those rare people who believes that a little marijuana can improve your shooting skills?

    It's an important question as, on Friday, the government declared that pot has no medical benefits whatsoever. Indeed, its opinion is that it should remain in the same class of drug as heroin.
    Others, however, argue that the drug isn't completely without merit. Simultaneously, you see, the gaming and marijuana communities have been debating whether pot makes video game players more at one with their controllers.

    not entirely unlike using steroids while smacking a baseball. It quotes Alex Walker, the tournament director of the World Cyber Games, as saying: "I've seen a number of players at national tournaments who came in 'baked' purely so they could play better."

    As the magazine goes on to say, "cannabis' influence on better play is hardly a trade secret." But even on that count, not everyone agrees. Just a couple of years ago, the government's drug czar was very confident that marijuana actively impairs your gaming skills. He made a video to prove his point.
    This, sadly, was ridiculed (I have embedded one example below) to the degree that I can no longer find it on the government's "Above the Influence" anti-drugs site.

    Culture magazine is certain that most gamers would admit (privately, of course) that cannabis makes them play better. But it doesn't use only anecdotal evidence to make its point. It also talks about work from the Groningen Mental Enhancement Department in the Netherlands, which recently completed a year-long study with Alzheimer's patients.

    In it, those subjects who gamed and smoked pot had 43 percent better memory retention than those who merely gamed. Naturally, one will still have to leap to conclude with certainty that, given these results, pot will help everyone game better, especially as not every drug effects every human being in the same way.
    However, there is surely much more evidence to be culled in order to discover a correlation that might persuade, say, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and the great Barry Bonds, should they seek a new career in the gaming profession.

    Perhaps some anonymous commenter might offer us further enlightenment about whether lighting up a certain quality of weed improves the quality of one's hand-eye coordination.
    Comments 10 Comments
    1. dlukym's Avatar
      dlukym -
      An alcoholic buzz helps me with racing games but that's it. It helps me to relax and not over think the next corner.

      I don't smoke, so no.
    1. mr. nails's Avatar
      mr. nails -
      Quote Originally Posted by dlukym View Post
      I don't smoke, so no.
      You'd be a lot cooler if you did. ;P

      To comment on the topic I too believe it helps me game. Sure, if I'm completely blasted I wouldn't be worth a fuck no matter what I did, but just enough to get me in "teh gaming zone" and I'm golden. It seems to put me in a state where my ADD gets put to rest and I'm able to focus entirely on what's at hand... pwnin' no0bs!
    1. duke0102's Avatar
      duke0102 -
      It seems to put me in a state where my ADD gets put to rest and I'm able to focus entirely on what's at hand... pwnin' no0bs!
      I know someone who uses it for the exact same thing lol He's from NL and it's so annoying when he 'reminds' me all the time that it's legal over there
    1. thufantho's Avatar
      thufantho -
      what kind of dumbfuck makes these sort of news ? 2. the game music will become awesome ... if you take a pinch of marijuana .. 3. its not like heroine .. it is , if you take a little bit of marijuana in the night .. smoke it .. play ambient .. and go to sleep .. then you will see the light inside your head ...sssssssssssss
    1. category6's Avatar
      category6 -
      where do we get Marryjiwana again Dude Pots Makes everything better in life i wonder why they don't sell it at the Drugstore anymore
    1. OlegL's Avatar
      OlegL -
      The last time I was high, I was playing a ps3 game, and I believe weed improved my gaming skills.
    1. brilman's Avatar
      brilman -
      Don't worry everyone! I'm going to do a lot of research on this
    1. 1000possibleclaws's Avatar
      1000possibleclaws -
      Does speed make you a better gamer?
    1. bonkers's Avatar
      bonkers -
      LSD im sure that does
    1. Appzalien's Avatar
      Appzalien -
      You have to remember though, nothing works without the brain. I think hand eye coordination is jumping the gun. What about the brain changes that cause you to focus, be less distracted by what's going on around you. They could also cause your hand eye coordination to improve. By focusing on the game more intently (or other tasks like art or sports) pot lets you emerse yourself more than your standard mode.At least that's what i've been told...