In chapter 9, Nielsen et al talks about certain games that go beyond the realm of just playing. Serious games are “a broad swathe of video games produced, marketed, or used for purposes other than pure entertainment; these include, but are not limited to educational computer games, edutainment and advertainment, and also health games and political games” (pg. 205). The first aspect talked about was advertainment. These games are made for advertising purposes. An example of this was the line of games that Burger King was selling to promote their brand. Product placements such as Gatorade and HP computers in the NBA 2k series are extensions of advertainment. There are political games that try to change people’s view or make statement on current events. September 12th was a game that questioned the war on terrorism with how war itself creates more terrorism. Then, the idea of education in video games was discussed as well. There are three theories to “edutainment”: behaviorist, cognitive, and constructive. The behaviorist theory suggests the game is basically a reward of learning. The cognitive aspect is about the instructional approach where games can best affect a player and how to deal with obstacles in learning. In the constructive’s realm, exploring all aspects within the game are best at building up knowledge in a meaningful and personal way.
There were other ideas that dealt how video games were beneficial to people. It was pointed out by Jane McGonigal. Based on major video game titles like Halo 3, McGonigal believes that the strong followings of those games show a collective intelligence of gamers. Gamers heavily discuss the topics of their favorite games on websites and forums. Fan-based wikis show the fan knowledge of certain games. McGonigal also states game behavior can transfer to real life. For example, missions that save lives give positive rewards and ides to the player.
One of the questions that were posed about education in video games is how it is more transferable to real life. Even though, people are somewhat learning from the games, is it the best way to go about it?
-Vircell
I think it's an excellent way to go about it. Gaming brings out the best in people. They're really motivated to work hard and to work hard right then. People are completely immersed in games--so much that they don't have to eat. I know I skipped so many meals when I played WoW. If you could take this kind of motivation and apply it towards learning, why not do it?
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