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I'll grant that games open up the possibility of collaboration and thus, offer a gamer the potential to enhance his socialization skills. They might even offer some creative inspiration, but they also remove the need to create anything yourself and so, in that way, inhibit creative development - all the worlds are already made for you, you don't have to dream any up yourself: games are conducive to imaginative atrophy. In terms of emergent cultures, what real value does a gaming culture have?
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I'll grant that games open up the possibility of collaboration and thus, offer a gamer the potential to enhance his socialization skills. They might even offer some creative inspiration, but they also remove the need to create anything yourself and so, in that way, inhibit creative development - all the worlds are already made for you, you don't have to dream any up yourself: games are conducive to imaginative atrophy. In terms of emergent cultures, what real value does a gaming culture have?
I'll grant that second life is something a little bit different than your average narrative based game but I still don't see what value it has - other than the narcotic benefit of offering gamers an escape from reality.
I would contend - and sure, I am biased - that a movie like the Hurt Locker has more actual value than any video game ever produced, and that in the two hours required to watch a movie like that, a viewer gains more than they would in playing 10,000 hours of world of warcraft.
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In developed countries we take things like organizational skills and concepts for granted. If these games could expose young people in villages of developing nations to these processes, it might be a good thing. In some areas, the only thing organized seems to be the various armies. emphasize "seems"
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I am sure there are folks out there who are more likely to use computer games than more conventional methods of learning. They are going to game anyway, so it is good to create games that increase awareness and perhaps encourage the development of skills as well.
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I am sure there are folks out there who are more likely to use computer games than more conventional methods of learning. They are going to game anyway, so it is good to create games that increase awareness and perhaps encourage the development of skills as well.
I do not expect that all players will apply themselves to the real world with the same focus they put on games, but even if 10% of them do, that's 10% we didn't have before. When they see a parallel to the game content in the real world, they should have a perspective on it, whether or not they are moved to act.
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I think this is a really important idea. I think that if enough people believed it, we would gradually have a sort of revolution on our hands. She's absolutely right that when gamers play something, they don't stop until they've figured it out, and have a strong optimism about winning.
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I think this is a really important idea. I think that if enough people believed it, we would gradually have a sort of revolution on our hands. She's absolutely right that when gamers play something, they don't stop until they've figured it out, and have a strong optimism about winning.
The only problem I see it motivating gamers to play realistic games like she is talking about. Gamers don't just play any kind of games. Personally, I like problem-solving in games, but I also love the aesthetic and the physics of games, which have nothing to do with beating the game itself.
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I remain unconvinced. While the games she proposes at the end of the lecture all seemed efficacious and intellectually stimulating, it is absurd to believe that someone who immerses themselves in the "world of warcraft" - the majority of gamers - will abandon that sort of fantastical escapism to play games that involve the real world and critical thinking. Just because both are games, does not mean that they are synonymous. So, if you can get the amount of people playing purely unproductive games to play games like peak oil, then, yes, games can be effective and productive, but, personally, I don't see this occurring. Getting more people to play world of warcraft will in no way make the world a better place.
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didn't watch the video.
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didn't watch the video.
but, a few weeks ago i posted a question about a couple in korea who spent hours in a PC room playing a game similar to "second life"...in so doing, they nurtured their internet child and neglected their real child. the child starved to death.
so forgive me if i have a hard time believing that gaming can save the world when it actually has a hand in killing it.
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It took me about ten minutes to begin to sway towards her thinking - but at the end I wanted to cheer!
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