In her article, “Gamers Have Skills. Let’s Tap ‘em”, Jane McGonigal discusses how video games are creating new ways for people to think intelligently. This topic is also relevant in Nielson’s writing as he explores the idea of edutainment. McGonigal uses Halo 3 as an example to demonstrate the importance and blatancy of cooperative actions through video games. She explains that players anticipated the release of Halo 3, not only just to enjoy it, but also so they could be among the first to share their strategies and discoveries on the Internet. It is common to find fans post what they have collectively learned such as secrets (Easter Eggs) and walkthroughs on discussion forums, blogs and wikis. The main point that the author was attempting to indicate was that “despite stereotypes of antisocial gamers who prefer to consume rather than create, most video-gamers are in fact engaged in a highly collaborative effort to exhaustively understand their favorite games. The video-gaming community is, quite simply, engaged in intense and highly successful “collective intelligence.” I would agree with Jane McGonigal with these statements. Nowadays, success in accomplishing a goal in games is highly dependent on one’s strategy and ability to work collaboratively with teammates. There has been a drastic increase in the popularity of multiplayer game types such as capture the flag throughout the past several years. The following link shows how good teamwork can affect achievement in a game:
In addition, content written on sites such as www.gamefaqs.com are nearly all fan-generated. There are multiple wikis dedicated to the world of particular games. One site that sticks out to me is the wiki for World of Warcraft: http://www.wowwiki.com/Portal:Main. Players collectively contribute to writing about basically everything there is to know about the Warcraft universe, including various lore, classes and quests.
Do you regularly participate in online communities such as posting blogs, writing on discussion forums or even constructing walkthroughs?
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