Scientists find red team is better than blue team (seriously)

by Scott Jon Siegel on Jun 12th 2008 3:55PM

Finally. Proof that red team roolz. The scientific journal "Cyberpsychology & Behavior" has published the results of a research study, finding that over the course of 1,347 matches of Unreal Tournament 2004, the red team beat the blue team 55% of the time. Yes, this is actually what passes for science now.

One neuroscientist reasons that the slight red team advantage may be psychological, as the color red could prove distracting to men, "possibly because men flush and turn red when they're angry." As silly as that sounds, the study parallels a similar one performed in 2005, where it was found that wearing red in real-life one-on-one sporting events increased the likelihood of victory.

Acknowledging the findings of the research, Epic Games VP Mark Rein said they won't be changing the classic multiplayer colors of Unreal Tournament anytime soon. At least now you have an excuse for losing all the time, right blue team?

Source

Tags: PC, research, science, unreal-tournament-2004, ut2k4

Reader Comments (70)

According to my calculations

1000 coin flips (50% chance of heads/tail lose/win)

more then 530 heads(53% heads) : 3% chance
more then 540 heads(54% heads) : 1% chance
more then 545 heads(54.5% heads) : >1% chance

So this is significant

Are you sure it was for the color not the fact Caboose screwed it?

I'd like to see the results for the relative TKs.

Blues are always shooting each other in the head.

Does that mean that things with red blood are better then things with blue blood, take that covenant elites and those wierd australian fish with three hearts and blue blood!

That's what my copout is going to be from now on! "It's cuz I was on the blue team!"

Yes, finally we can lay our guns down. It has been determined that Reds are the ultimate victors.

There's no point for you Blues to keep up the fight, you have been outmatched.

Now let us all make Purple babies.

At least the Toronto Maple Leafs now have a scientific explanation.

Red knight's going down.

Red is more of a "natural" color than blue when considering rock formations, etc.

Unless you're fighting underwater.

Michael Jordan's secret?

Then how do you explain redshirts?

I remember reading about this in 2005.

The picture at the top reminds me of why it's difficult for me to be on the blue team. I am colorblind, so it is difficult for me to spot the red players against brown or green backdrops. Blue really stands out. This is likely true for people without color blindness, too.

I didn't realize that I was on the blue team THAT often.

How about this theory. The vast majority of FPS players are male (though, yes, women do play too), and a very high percentage of males are colorblind, amongst that percentage, the vast majority are RED/GREEN colorblind. Add that with the fact that the majority of Unreal and especially Halo maps involve a great deal of green (algae on steel, grass, etc) and i could see how the red team has a "cloaking" ability that the blue team would lack. Blue sticks out like a sore thumb against green and dull backgrounds, leading to their demise.

Just throwing that out there...

woooooooo suck it blue!

I can't believe no one else had said this. SUCK IT BLUES!

FOR THE HORDE!

Wait, if red is supposed to be an indicator of success, what explains the Philadelphia Phillies, who own the world record for most losses in professional sport?