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What do you think you body will look like after gaming for years? Amanda and Stacy tackle this question of what gamer’s bodies from the Daily Mail UK and break it down using science. Do they agree with the article? Listen to find out.
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Intro Music – Final Impasse By Ground is Lava
CHECK OUT OUR LAST FEW EPISODES
- It’s Time Again For The Next-Gen Consoles – Here’s Our Take
- Video Game Rating Systems – Is Now The Time For A Change?
- COVID-19 Responses from the Game Industry
WHAT THE REBELS ARE PLAYING
Stacy played WoW again to take advantage of the 100% XP boost, leveling his 4th character to the max level.
GAMING NEWS
It’s been reported that leakers dropped main story points for the Last of Us 2, which has caused Naughty Dog to move up the release date; good for us but bad for the hardworking employees who had their work spoiled for many.
WHAT WILL GAMER’S BODIES LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE? STACY WEIGHS IN:
As a professor, I studied this and teach this. Let’s start from the top and work our way down the diagram. The amount of skull indentation is so deep, this is impossible to get this much deformation from a computer or Xbox headsets. You’d had to have had these headphones on your head as a baby, as your skull hardens. This isn’t possible to the degree shown in the image, not even close.
Dark circles are of course possible, but this isn’t exclusive to games. A lack of sleep or too-much screen time would be likely causes, and that could be from any screen. Even a night out!
Hunchback to this degree is not really possible. It would take a decade or more of poor posture and bone degeneration, and usually injuries to develop anything close to this. This also isn’t exclusive to gaming. Humans adapt their posture and gait to make whatever they are doing as easy as possible. That can manifest as displacement. Not to mention gamers have some of the best, most ergonomic chairs available.
Obesity is probably the biggest threat. It’s easy to move less and eat more. Gaming is fairly sedentary. We can give them that. To prevent this, maybe try a Wii?
Pale skin? Sure. We’re inside a lot, but that doesn’t mean gamers are vitamin deficient!
Repetitive strain injuries and arthritis are possible with repetitive motion. But there is unlikely to be little to no adaptation with a controller. It’s probably better for you than a mouse and keyboard.
Blood pooling happens when blood travels down your legs but can’t get back up to the heart very easily. When you’re seated or standing for long times, blood is fighting against gravity. So, it’s harder to get back to the heart and easier to pool in the lower limbs. So, this is a possible long term.
Bald patches are possible, but there’s usually a number of contributing factors besides lack of vitamins and the relationship to gaming.
Hairy ears are bizarrely possible IF your body thinks it’s going to have an obstruction in your ears because of the headphones. I could grow ear hair but unlikely this significant.
Sloping shoulders are 100% going to happen with any seated gaming. It relates to bad posture. But isn’t exclusive to gaming.
You can get eczema from allergies or stress but this is pretty uncommon. I feel like this is added just to increase the grotesque nature of the model. People can get eczema and that’s got nothing to do with gaming.
On the left hand, this guy has what appears to be rheumatoid arthritis. This is a ridiculous depiction of gaming adaptations, including deformed joints and blistered fingers. There are no sharp edges on controllers anymore. You’ll be fine.
The last one is swollen ankles, but the image shows a high ankle swelling that would continue down onto your foot, a side effect that would be related to the blood pooling of the lower leg. Because of the pooling. It’s possible but unlikely and not exclusive to gaming.
Overall: if you’re talking about adaptation and evolution, evolution is much slower than this. After 20 years of intense gaming with a bad diet, no exercise, and bad hygiene, it is possible you will be obese, and unhealthy with a slouching posture and bad circulation. You might get some of these conditions with a sedentary lifestyle, but not all of them. This is just not realistic and is clearly written as clickbait.
Fear not, we don’t feel this is what the future holds for gamer’s bodies.
