The Application of Video Games to Learning and Community Building

Video games-they have a negative connotation of being just that, games. But is that all there is to them? Are there any benefits to playing these games? And are there bigger and better uses for the technology that drives video games? As computer technology has continued to develop and improve upon itself, it seems the answer to all these questions is slowly but surely developing into a resounding yes. In the current era, video games are much more useful then they are given credit for. Whether its developing community or supporting learning, the progression of video games from pleasurable toys to powerful tools has and will continue to make a large impact on society. Over the course of this essay, I will highlight some of the countless examples of the uses of video games, and then delve in to what importance they might hold in the future.

With the release of the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii, video games leaped from solitary toys to social activities. However, these consoles took different paths to this same end. While the Wii uses "casual"-style games to encourage social interaction, the Playstation 3 became a massive social tool due to its online gameplay. And the Xbox 360 has combined both these approaches to become competitive in sociability with these other consoles. This is all not to mention computer games, where Massively Multiplayer Online Games have changed the way people interact with each other.

The casual games of Nintendo's Wii have created a "living room Renaissance
of social gaming" by lowering the learning curve and creating games that
require less time of the players to get in to, and less effort to enjoy. This makes the games more accessible-easier to pick up and play when you have less time, or more friends, on your hands. The Wii's revolutionary motion-sensitive controller, the "Wiimote," enables users to enact the motions of their in-game avatars and interact with the motions created by other players. Because of this, most Wii games focus more on beating your opponents at simple tasks rather than at using complex button sequences, making them more fun to play as a group.

While the Playstation 3 doesn't have a motion-sensitive controller and isn't based on casual games, most of its games have interactive online elements. After signing into a game online, you can compete against, or work in cooperation with, other human players anywhere in the world in multiplayer-style gameplay. You can even communicate over headsets,
using your voice to talk in real time to your opponents and team mates. The
Playstation 3 also has games in which the user creates content for the game
himself, and then uploads it to the game's servers to share with his online friends. This content includes pictures, videos, and maps and gametypes to be played online with others.

The Xbox 360 creates two different types of social environments, one like the Wii's, and one like the Playstation 3's. Like the Playstation, many games for the Xbox 360 involve large elements of online cooperative and competitive play. Through these games, players can interact and socialize with others, even while they are alone physically.

However, because of the Wii, many Xbox 360 programmers are shifting from creating the hardcore games that appeal to a "small cadre of tech-savvy youngsters" to the broad public. Through creating games for families, adults, and women rather than only for young males, almost all people can find something on the 360 they like, creating a much larger social network for gaming in general. As more of these social games are created, there will be more temptation to play these games in groups, rather than solo.

Like the game consoles, Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) promote sociability. These games, primarily played on the computer, allow the player to access a persistent online virtual world containing countless other real players. These worlds are built around the goal of player interaction-to progress in the game, you must trade, battle, and team up with other human players. However, unlike the consoles, because the number of and time spent with other players is so huge in MMOs, many players are able to adapt new world views by playing these games. By creating a social bridge between different peoples around the world, each individual is exposed to a diversity of world views. With an MMO network 9 million people strong, and the average user spending 20 hours a week playing an MMO, players are able to meet, interact, and learn the views of countless other players. And, unlike the real world, geographic locations in MMOs don't de facto contain individuals of mostly the same views. For example, D.C. is overwhelmingly democratic, Texas is overwhelming republican, but "Freeport" in "Everquest" contains people with diverse views because it can be accessed from any real
world geographical location over the net.

Many video game developers are also applying their game engines to human purposes. By replacing the entertainment aspect of games with real-life simulations on top of game engines and infrastructures, a "copy," or simulation of some aspect of the real world can be explored and experimented with in a video game. Why do this with video game technology rather than real life? Because, unlike real life, simulation can be much safer, more cost-effective, and more accessible than interacting with the same environment in real life. We learn faster through imitating/doing rather than simply being instructed on how to do something, so simulations can be very useful tools.

By using simulations, we can train ourselves on how to handle possibly
dangerous situations without actually putting ourselves in danger. We can
also learn to use (and maybe even break) expensive equipment such as
airplanes and cars, and without ever getting the chance to destroy one in
real life testing. This can also be applied to surgery; Rather than
performing a dangerous operation on a patient to learn how the surgery really works, the surgeon could practice the surgery virtually on a virtual patient. That way, if something goes wrong, no one gets hurt. In this way, there are many important tasks that could be learned safely through simulation.

The future is fast approaching, and as it does, things are going to change. Because the Wii's motion-sensitive controller has introduced other social groups besides teenage guys to videogames, the demographics of the average videogame player will change. As more people start to like videogames, the market will grow and seep into other markets. For example, online multiplayer games could start to merge with social networking websites and other games, until one day you have a single avatar that you use in all games, and that your Facebook page is linked to. Also, as more people begin to play videogames the stigma as these games being unprofessional will go away-people will start to do real life business with others they met in a
virtual world.

Simulation games will also change. Large scale simulations that simulate life itself will be created and used to test how feasible different objects and strategies would be in the real world. For example, products could be introduced into complex simulated markets to test how well they would sell without having to risk losing money in real life. Also, engineering machines could be created in a virtual space designed to simulate the complex relationship between all physical laws to make sure they work efficiently without having to build the objects in real life.

Video games are slowly becoming much more than simply games. Walking through my dorm right now, it isn't hard to find a group of students huddled around the TV, interacting with each other through the enjoyment that the video game they are playing together is providing them. Walking into another room, I see a guy playing a videogame with a headset on, conversing with his friend halfway across the world. His roommate is on his computer playing an
MMO. He and five friends are out hunting orcs together over the Internet. And stopping by the Duke Hospital, I'm able to see pre-med students using simulators to learn the small, but important details in performing certain surgeries and monitoring patients. In the current era, video games are notable community building and learning tools. And as the months go by, video games will become even more important and central to these areas, and will evolve to become useful in many other areas of society as well.

Sources:
"Video Games as Community Building Tool." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98794201

"Xbox 360." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360

"Playstation 3." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_3

"Wii." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii