In the real world I am a decent enough driver, haven't had an accident for years. But that real world driving skill doesn't translate at all into a skill of driving a car in a video game. I don't play racing games at all; and in games like GTA, I find the driving parts much harder than the shooting parts.

I am currently trying out a bunch of different games. Between my 70% unplayed Steam library, free games in the Epic games store, and the XBox game pass for PC, I am spoilt for choice. So I was trying out Watchdogs yesterday. The game didn't really speak to me; but what made me stop playing was having to drive a car around town to escape police and finding the controls very difficult.

I once read somewhere that the problem might be that in a real car the controls are analog. You don't just have the choice between gas and no gas, brake or no brake, you can use the pedals gently. With buttons on a keyboard or gamepad you don't have the choice. So instead of pressing the gas pedal gently and keeping it at that position for a constant speed, you need to press and release the acceleration button constantly. And you never end up driving at constant speed that way.

Well, I guess I have a lifetime of preference for fantasy games to thank for my lack of skill. I just don't play games that play in a world that has cars all that often. But it always struck me in the discussion whether violent video games turn people violent, that the bigger danger might be fast racing games turning people into reckless drivers. I mean, how often do you hold a Kalashnikov in real life, compared to a steering wheel? If there is any danger of confusing virtual activities with real world activities, wouldn't it be more dangerous when doing things in a game that resemble real life more closely?