Jane McGonigal, the director of game research and development at the Institute for the Future, recently had an essay published by the Wall Street Journal in which she states that the playing of video games is beneficial and makes us better people.
Here’s a quote from the article:
Those who continue to dismiss games as merely escapist entertainment will find themselves at a major disadvantage in the years ahead, as more gamers start to harness this power for real good. My research over the past decade at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Institute for the Future has shown that games consistently provide us with the four ingredients that make for a happy and meaningful life: satisfying work, real hope for success, strong social connections and the chance to become a part of something bigger than ourselves.
Take that research and couple it with the recent Gamification trend and it’s easy to see that video games have come a long way. What’s Gamification you ask?
Gamification is the use of game play mechanics for non-game applications (also known as "funware"), particularly consumer-oriented web and mobile sites, in order to encourage people to adopt the applications. It also strives to encourage users to engage in desired behaviors in connection with the applications. Gamification works by making technology more engaging, and by encouraging desired behaviors, taking advantage of humans’ psychological predisposition to engage in gaming. The technique can encourage people to perform chores that they ordinarily consider boring, such as completing surveys, shopping, or reading web sites. Via Wikipedia.org
It’s good to see that the world and mainstream media are finally warming up to video games. Considering the power of the industry, $18.6 billion in 2010 in the US alone (down from 2009), it’s no wonder that people are starting to open their narrow view of games to see the real power of them.
Although, as a writer and author (The Journey of Why, my second novel on Amazon), it is sad to see reading taking a hit in favor of gaming.
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