Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.

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Oops, didn't notice there was a giveaway. I'm not in, thank you.

Wisdom gained from gaming? From single-player gaming, hardly any really. Knowledge, yes...such as mentioning the importance of the development of pottery to the permanent settlement of human civilization. Thanks for getting me a couple extra points on my history exams Mr. Meier. But knowledge isn't wisdom.

As for wisdom, I did learn some interesting lessons from multiplayer sessions, but it's the people that I learned this from and not the game itself:

-don't give up until all is lost, how many times have you thrown in the towel only to find out that your opponent was a mere hair's breadth from losing?
-don't take half-measures, it will either take you forever to reach your goal or not get you there at all
-on the long run, you can't keep winning by turtling in / camping, this very much applies to real world problems
-cheesy gameplay (constantly doing premature rushes, using cheap exploits etc) will only get you so far (and not for very long at that), both in games and in real life

To sum up, all this colloquially translates to 'don't be a pussy'. But really, I find life to be distinctly more effective in teaching that than any gaming experience.

It's not theft so long as you're on a quest. - Pretty much every RPG ever made.

Not in, I already own all those games :P but +1 to you, good sir!

Yeah, Empire Earth taught me that some French priest once summoned a volcano in the middle ages to protect a chest filled with gold from the evil Brits. And that time when Manfred von Richthoven crashed in Poland and saved some Polish peasants from Russian soldiers. Empire Earth is a true source of wisdom.

Are you insinuating that that didn't happen!? :P

Here is a good one for my fellow Gen-Xers. :D

With all due respect, I strongly disagree -- most manuals seem to be filled with random google-translated gibberish, but rarely any wisdom. :P

On topic: Metal Gear Solid 4 taught me how to cook a decent fried egg. Does that count? :D

If there's anything that gaming has taught me, it's that life really ought to come with points, checkpoints and restore points. :p

Not in. Good thread.

A good question, quite open to interpretation I think.

To summarize the way I see it (abstractedly), knowledge is what makes us recognize and remember all those games that GOG adds to their catalog, and wisdom is what makes us realize that we don't actually have the time to play all the games sitting on our shelves already.
And then intelligence and greed makes us wishlist everything and wait until it goes on sale so that we can buy even more games we don't have time to play. Lastly, humor makes us not take any of this too seriously and enjoy ourselves despite the nonsense we do. I'm using 'we' because I suspect I might not be alone there...

Life is generally like point'n'click adventures - problems have a solution, that may be hidden, that may need backtracking or out-of-the-box thinking, but if you have an obstacle it just means there is a way to overcome it

No wait

Life is generally like chess games - you have to plan ahead, to think ahead of the people around you, and to be aware of the long term consequences and the reactions to the choices that you keep open, and to keep watching recognisable patterns yet adapt to their new forms

No wait

Life is like generally like poker - you don't choose all your assets but you have to adapt your strategy to them, and as long as you keep your mind clear even when everything seems against you, especially if you don't boast or show your difficulties, you may get through any bad situation, it's just a matter of keeping in mind what is due to yourself and not just blame luck

No wait

Life is generally like scrabble - you have to let go when you realise that your plan won't be completed because of a lacking element, and you've got to switch to other paths instead of waiting for luck to provide the missing piece

No wait

Life is generally like a game of go, just don't let yourself drown, keep some breathing space, and do invest in seemingly futile distant elements, you never know when they might be the little thing that will allow you to keep your head out of the water, and shape your life to new, unexpected, more solid forms

No wait

Life is generally like tetris, you sometimes can fit stuff in things and sometimes not, but it often depends on what angle to apprehend

No wait

Life is generally like ad&d, you require experience in order to evolve and develop abilities, in a world that constantly reminds you the distinction between lawful and good

No wait

Life is just a brutal roguelike and permadeath is a bitch.

Yes, most of the games. Their goal is just to make time pass by. Even with a sophisticated layer there is always repetition or endless storytelling involved. Games simply suck the time out of life. So instead of going for the quick and easy satisfaction I feel more and more attached to other real life activities. Only I needed like 20 years to find that out. But then it can surely count as wisdom.

This.

Manual? Manual? We don't need no stinkin' manual.