Archive for Society & Culture

The spread of “news games”

CNET recently published this interesting article about news games — simple online games that are designed to promote or simply riff off of a current news topic (like the spread of swine flu.) The article cites several examples, including Swinefighter, a game in which players are tasked with killing off viruses within 20 seconds. Swinefighter incorporates a running total of all the viruses killed by everyone who has played the game, so at the time CNET published it’s article, we know that 14.5 million virtual viruses have been wiped out by players.

This begs the question: why isn’t the government using games like these to educate the public? It doesn’t cost much to develop a simple online flash game, and the cost certainly pales in comparison to the harms caused by a public that is both panicked by and undereducated about pandemic-related issues. Or in the words of the article: “It’s a shame the innovation (of providing CDC advice about swine flu in Swinefighters) was left to two entrepreneurs.”

May 17th, 2009 | Category: Society & Culture, Training & Education | Leave a comment

EU says games are good for children

A report from the European parliament has concluded that video games are not only safe for children to play, but actually helpful because games teach children “essential life skills.” Add this to the pile of research that has built up over the last several years in rebuttal of (generally unsubstantiated) criticism that games trigger aggression and have no redeeming qualities.

Key quote from the article: There is no firm proof that playing them has an automatic negative impact on children’s behaviour, for example by causing aggression, said the report from the committee on the internal market and consumer protection. Instead, “video games can stimulate learning of facts and skills such as strategic thinking, creativity, cooperation and innovative thinking, which are important skills in the information society.”

February 14th, 2009 | Category: Society & Culture | Leave a comment

If gamers ran the world…

Following on to the recent Pew finding that 53% of all American adults play games, it looks like one of Obama’s key information planners is a dedicated World of Warcraft player, causing gamers to analyze his playing style for policy hints.  On a similar note, the essay “If Gamers Ran the World” is a thought-provoking article on what games have to teach, even if we don’t always agree with some of its more far-out conclusions.

December 9th, 2008 | Category: Society & Culture | Comments (3)

News round-up

There are lots of interesting articles on games and business recently.  A slightly older one is a BusinessWeek slideshow on 33 ways that game companies can make money from games, some of these methods are only relevant to game companies, but they offer interesting hints as to how game companies and other businesses can work together.  A Swiss engineering company is using techiques right out of games to create compelling point-of-sale displays.  Another article looks at the way some games tackle serious issues, ranging from tragedy to war, in an intellectual way. And, on the lighter side, humor site Something Awful imagines what business skills a few well-known games might advertise themselves as teaching.

October 23rd, 2008 | Category: Marketing & Advertising, Society & Culture | Leave a comment

Every teenager plays games

A new survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Foundation shows that 99% of boys and 94% of girls between the ages of 12-17 play video games.  Further, teenagers play many types of games (at least five different categories of games), and they play them together - 76% play games socially, at least some of the time.  Also, around 40% of kids say that playing games has helped them understand political, civil, or moral issues - though the report is somewhat lacking on what exactly this means.

All of this serves to reinforce the message of our book - games are increasingly part of everyone’s lives, and, one way or another they are going to have an effect on almost every kind of business.

September 16th, 2008 | Category: Society & Culture | Comments (2)

Changing the Game (order via Amazon or B&N) is a fast-paced tour of the many ways in which games, already an influential part of millions of people’s lives, have become a profoundly important part of the business world. From connecting with customers, to attracting and training employees, to developing new products and spurring innovation, games have introduced a new level of fun and engagement to the workplace.

Changing the Game introduces you to the ways in which games are being used to enhance productivity at Microsoft, increase profits at Burger King, and raise employee loyalty at Sun Microsystems, among other remarkable examples. It is proof that work not only can be fun--it should be.