It’s Not “Just a Game” Anymore

Last week I discussed Jane McGonigal’s somewhat radical concepts that video gamers have a very real chance of changing the world in various positive ways. This week, I’d like to expand on that discussion with some conclusive evidence that entertainment software has one excellent real-world application that may change the way we view video games forever: education.

I can tell you with no lack of conviction that my fondest memories of my pre-collegiate education have nothing to do with the wonderful things that I learned. In fact, if there was anything I enjoyed about school before I began pursuing a degree, it was the chance to meet people, make friends, and grow with them. “Studying”? That was for the birds. “Homework”? I thought it was an oxymoron. I just wanted to have fun. As a child, I always thought I would have plenty of time to “work” and “study” in my adult life. Of course, I was right.

I always found myself wondering, “Why can’t education be more entertaining?” Some teachers can pull it off, but, overall, the learning process is a boring one for most. Until now, that is. Enter The Quest to Learn, “a school for digital kids.” According to the MacArthur Foundation, the organization funding this new wave school, the current state of the digital world has presented us with some powerful tools for promoting education among society’s youth. Enrollment begins at the 6^th grade level. However, if all goes according to plan, The Quest to Learn intends to expand this education through to the senior level.

I know what you’re thinking: “What about traditional areas of education like Math, Science, History, and English? What about Health and Wellness?” The Quest to Learn has it covered. The curriculum centers on four courses throughout the day that focus on all of these subjects, as well as an additional course that allows students to create their own video games. Each course presents students with a “quest,” and they complete these quests by engaging in digital and non-digital games that reveal answers to common educational questions. This method of delivering traditional education in a highly interactive and exciting way should prove to enhance academic retention across the board.

It makes sense, when you think about it. After all, this is the 21^st century, the age of digital information and technology. Providing kids with in-depth exposure to this world at a young age is the best way to prepare them for the future. But the use of video games to improve education isn’t a concept that is only suitable in the classroom. Adults can use it, too. If you have ever had to sit through a ridiculous training video with that same old monotone narrator spilling the requirements of your job or the keys to work safety out before you in the most boring way possible, then you know where I’m going with this.

Organizations are implementing interactive software in their training processes on an increasing level. According to an article from Carnegie Mellon Today, there is even a game for training firefighters on proper response in an emergency situation. I recently took an assessment test at a customer service call center for a company that shall remain unnamed (don’t ask me what I was doing there), and I was confronted by a “video game” that features the applicant as a customer service representative taking various calls and choosing proper responses, filling out customer information, and taking orders for new products or services. It was actually pretty fun.

Children are not the only ones who learn well through play; we as adults can have fun and learn at the same time, too. Furthermore, I believe any learning experience is improved when it becomes entertaining. Who would have ever thought that video games were the key to unlocking our potential and presenting us with the most effective way to learn and retain information? Is this what William Higinbotham had in mind when he created “Tennis for Two” over 53 years ago to “convey the message that [the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s] scientific endeavors have relevance for society”? Well, maybe it was.

Jane McGonigal: A True Video Game Innovator

Jane McGonigal believes gaming can change the world. In her 20-minute TED talk, she discusses the opportunities that video games and gamers have to make a positive impact on society, and what skills we as gamers have been honing our whole lives that make us the perfect candidates for solving some of the world’s biggest problems. One of these skills, or what Jane refers to as “super powers,” is “Blissful Productivity,” or a strong desire to be productive. Think of the toughest game you’ve ever beaten, and you’ll understand exactly what this means. Remember the frustration you experienced?  Yet, you persevered, did you not? When a gamer conquers a difficult objective, the reward is in simply having been successful at seeing the mission through to its completion.

Another super power that Jane says every life-long gamer has is referred to as “Urgent Optimism.” You were able to complete that difficult task because you knew that it was possible. The word “impossible” has been stricken from every gamer’s vocabulary. This urgent optimism compels gamers to face some of the most unfavorable odds. But difficult situations are not even required for this optimism to really shine; gamers experience this optimism before they even play a game. This is the number one reason why pre-order sales of anticipated games are typically so successful.

Jane also refers to the average gamer’s ability to find “Epic Meaning” in every game. Furthermore, Jane believes that gamers become paragons of society, or the best versions of themselves, when playing games. Video games give gamers the motivation to achieve something meaningful. When we play a game, most of us understand that the character whose role we are assuming is out to do something for the greater good. Here are some examples: In the Mass Effect trilogy by Bioware, the hero battles an evil alien race to save the entire galaxy. Whether you as the gamer choose to be a “renegade” or a “paragon,” the outcome is the same. What about Mario? He first set out to save one princess from the clutches of the “evil” Bowser. He wasn’t out to save the universe, but his pursuit was noble, nevertheless.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, is every gamer’s ability to establish a strong “Social Fabric” with other gamers. When every gamer shares these abilities in common (Blissful Productivity, Urgent Optimism, Epic Meaning), it only makes sense that they would come together online and share in the bonds of heroism. Anyone who has ever played a cooperative game online with others, or even a team-based competitive game, knows how true this concept is. Online video games have brought gamers from all over the world together in pursuit of common goals. Online gamer values transcend ethnicity and gender. It’s all about sharing in the experience.

So what does this mean for the real world? It goes without saying that, as far as video gamers are concerned, these “super powers” are irrelevant if we cannot apply them to real world situations. The secret is in the game, of course. In 2010, Jane collaborated with the World Bank Institute and the World Bank Group to create an online social networking game called “Evoke.” Marketed as “A Crash Course in Changing the World,” Evoke was designed to motivate gamers towards utilizing their learned skills in gaming for real world applications. Players engaged the Evoke network by submitting blogs, videos, or photos that pertained to real world problems and situations. These submissions would then receive votes from other Evoke members, which created a point system for leveling up “Evoke Powers,” such as sustainability, entrepreneurship, and vision, to name a few. Top players earned professional mentorships, seed funding, and travel scholarships aimed at helping them achieve their vision of the future.

Jane isn’t the only one who feels that gamers and video games can have a positive impact on society. According to the Entertainment Software Association, there have been many games in recent history geared towards educating the public on a myriad of various social, educational, and political issues. These games focus on issues such as raising overall awareness on the issue of Genocide in Sudan (Darfur is Dying) to educating children on world hunger (Food Force).

Personally, I believe video games will always serve as an excellent source of entertainment, first and foremost. However, that does not in any way dilute the power that video games have insofar as educating the masses. I have always been a hands on learner, and I believe I would have absorbed a great deal more of my K-12 education had it been presented to me in an interactive and entertaining way. It’s about time that society accept this one important truth: not only are video games here to stay, but also the number of real world applications for interactive software is staggering, and we need to utilize this potential immediately.

Supporting The Entertainment Software Association

Support. It’s a single two-syllable word that most people are aware of. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary partially defines the word in the following ways: “2a (1): to promote the interests or cause of (2): to uphold or defend as valid or right (3): to argue or vote for.” Throughout history, many great people have accomplished extraordinary things, but no one person or entity has achieved these goals on their own.  The Civil Rights Movement, while arguably ineffective at changing the attitudes of many U.S. citizens towards issues of race, still put an end to racial segregation. Names like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks may take up a large amount of space in our minds when we think of the Civil Rights Movement, but those individuals would not have been able to bring about positive change without the support of thousands of like-minded people who promoted non-violent civil disobedience. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was able to bring the United States out of one of the greatest economic depressions the nation has ever seen, and he did this in relatively poor health. He could not have done this without the support of the American people, who were so confident in his leadership that they voted him into office four consecutive terms.

Global industries also rely on the support of internal organizations for numerous reasons. This support comes in the forms of trade and professional organizations that conduct research on specific industries in which they operate, employ educational programs for law enforcement agencies to better enforce government regulations, and actively promote government policies that improve industry operations. For the video game industry, we have The Entertainment Software Association.

The main focus of The ESA is to combat piracy. According to The ESA, the estimated cost of piracy to the entertainment software industry was $3 billion in 2007 alone.  But this number is only representative of pirated games that are being sold at heavily reduced prices around the world. It’s simply impossible to tell just how much the entertainment software industry loses to Internet piracy, where peer-to-peer file sharing sites host “cracked” uploads of the most recent PC and console video games.

It is for this reason that The ESA takes such an active role in developing its anti-piracy programs. In its most recent report, The ESA details the steps it is taking to put a stop to global piracy. Such steps include sending notices to ISPs and their clients pertaining to infringing game files, of which there were roughly 8.7 million in 2010, offering training sessions to about 1,800 law enforcement officials in three different countries, and educating the younger generation on the danger that piracy presents to the entertainment software industry. This is the role that many trade organizations play for other sectors of the entertainment industry, because it’s no secret that the film and music industries are suffering similar losses due to copyright infringement.

While the organization’s anti-piracy efforts may be the most crucial of its operations, they certainly are not the only programs implemented on behalf of the entertainment software industry. The ESA also offers annual reports that offer some pretty interesting information on sales and demographic data that most video game publishers and developers probably drool over. For instance, the knowledge that 25 percent of 2010 game sales came entirely from digital purchases might influence developers to increase the amount of downloadable content available for their games, and perhaps even make their products more readily available for download through digital distribution channels like Steam, On-Live, the Playstation Network, Nintendo Network, and Xbox Live Marketplace.

Also, thanks to the efforts of The ESA and The Entertainment Merchants Association, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of video games in the case of Brown v. EMA. To make a considerably long story short, this means that video games are now officially protected by the first amendment. In case you’re wondering, this is very good news. Developers no longer face restrictions of content in their video games due to unfair segregation from other forms of art and entertainment (e.g. films, books, music, etc.). I think now is a good time to return to our examination of that two-syllable word we were talking about, again. Just how successful would the entertainment software industry be without the support of trade organizations like The ESA? Furthermore, what can you do to support them?