In Chapter 9, Nielsen talks about "serious games." This starts by talking about advertainment, but mostly focuses on edutainment, the use of games in education. I certainly remember using games like Math Blaster, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and the Super Solvers games. I definitely enjoyed these games and feel that I learned from them.
One of the main themes from the chapter is that edutainment games are mostly all based on an outdated model. The edutainment games of the 80's were loosely based on the popular games of the time and simple non-integrated "drill-and-practice" learning. Some critics of modern edutainment games think that the new games have just based their games on these outdated games from the 80's, rather than taking their inspiration from modern popular games. I think this idea makes a lot of sense, in that students may not find themselves enjoying these older-style games, as they are not as engaging or as graphically impressive as modern games.
Lastly, the article and video talked about the idea of collective intelligence. Internet users, especially gamers, are becoming collectors and creators of vast stores of knowledge, bigger than any single person involved. McGonigal claims gamers seem to have a good number of skills that could help the world. They are great problem solvers and collaborators. They have a sense of possibility that others may not have, due to a large number of difficult successes. Together, gamers may be able to make a significant difference.
Do you think that McGonigal's ideas of gamers being able to save the world has any merit?
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