Do you really need Sight Training?

I saw Sight Training for the Nintendo DS yesterday whilst browsing in a shop and it got me thinking. The game gives you daily training to help improve your vision. It works on five key areas of your vision. These include dynamic visual acuity (seeing moving objects), momentary vision (taking in several bits of information at once), eye movement (moving eyes quickly and accurately), peripheral vision (seeing over a wide area) and hand-eye co-ordination.

So, do you really need this game to train your sight? If you're thinking about getting this game, let me introduce you to first person shooters or more specifically, Call of Duty 4 online multiplayer. Playing CoD4 will work on all five of these areas.

Dynamic Visual Acuity: CoD4 multiplayer is all about moving objects. In fact, it's all about shooting moving objects. CoD4 certainly tests you on this. You need to be able to use your eyes follow the enemy to get a good score. The ultimate test for this is spotting a sniper moving through that grass over there.

Momentary Vision: Most of the time, your eyes will have to take in a lot of information during a firefight. For example, the UAV is online. To do well in the game, you've got to look at the UAV to see where the enemy is and at the same time, focus on what is in front of you.

Eye Movement: You see two guys in the distance, one on the left and one on the right. You got to move your eyes and focus on them to determine if they are friend or foe. Fast eye movement would be an advantage.

Peripheral Vision: You're looking straight at the middle of your screen. I muzzle flashes on the edge of your screen. If you saw it, you've got good peripheral vision and it'll probably save your life as a result. A large widescreen TV would help improve your peripheral vision.

Hand-eye Co-ordination: OK, if you have the console version of CoD4 then this will be Thumb-eye co-ordination. The PC version playing with the mouse is better. However, let me recommend a better game for this. It's called tennis. Or better yet, try badminton.

So there you have it. No need for Sight Training. Just go buy Call of Duty 4 instead. Besides, from what I've heard, Sight Training is absolute shite.