Can Video Games Save the World?

There’s no doubt that gaming has transformed the way many people live their lives. It’s created a culture of people who have morphed their perspectives and skill sets according to the games they play. However, it can be a gamer’s tendency to behave differently while playing a game than they do in the real world. One extraordinarily passionate game designer from the Institute for the Future, Jane McGonigal, shared her research and beliefs on this topic at a recent Ted conference. She claims it is possible to fuse the real and virtual to accomplish the feat of saving the world, one gamer at a time. Jane’s research revealed historical evidence that ancient man played games and the correlating positive effects that it had on society at large and that belief can be the same for the present and future. How can we do this exactly? By playing more games of course. Games that can enrich and expand our lives says Jane. There must be something to it because even the White House is creating a game. The U.S. government recently commissioned MicroSoft to develop an online game that gives players the ability to manage the Federal Budget. This project is an effort to show people how challenging this task truly is although it’s built with a few bells and whistles to keep it interesting.

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