Don't worry, playing games might just not be in your blood.
Image credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock
Some people are just more talented than others, gaming included. They can snipe out a tiny bunch of pixels easily while you miss a target right in front of you. Well, now you can tell your teammates that it's your eyes' fault – maybe they just can't see as many frames.
A study called "The speed of sight: Individual variation in critical flicker fusion thresholds" published in Plos One (via PC Gamer), showed an experiment where participants looked at a fast-flickering light source and had to say when it became constant for them. While some stopped seeing flickering at 35 times per second, others could see the flashing at 60 times per second or higher.
The researchers noticed that the participants who could perceive faster light flickering were able to do so repeatedly, so it's an ability, not a stroke of luck.
"We believe that individual differences in perception speed might become apparent in high-speed situations where one might need to locate or track fast-moving objects, such as in ball sports, or in situations where visual scenes change rapidly, such as in competitive gaming," said Professor Kevin Mitchell, a neurobiologist at Trinity College Dublin.
He added that those who see flickering at higher speeds might have an advantage over others "before they have even picked up a racket and hit a tennis ball, or grabbed a controller and jumped into some fantasy world online."
So it looks like natural skill does exist in a way, and it's kind of sad that we aren't all born with the same ability for playing games. Then again, as PC Gamer pointed out, this is just a part of it, and visual perception can be trained.
So don't give up on your cybersport career, read the study here, and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.