For years now there have been many arguments made about how damaging gaming can be to ones mind, but gaming has many positive attributes to it as well. Nowadays, there’s a game for almost anyone and anything, including employee training, general education, combating obesity, managing chronic diseases, and military preparedness and recruiting.
World-renowned game designer Jane McGonigal, author of New York Times bestselling book “Reality is Broken: Why Games make Us Better and How They Can Change the World”, is someone who has written and spoken a lot about alternate reality games, and multiplayer online gaming. In a 2007 Salon.com article it was mentioned that she was especially interested in using collective intelligence as a means for improving the quality of human life.
The game that has been created by Jane McGonigal to contribute to the quality of human life is called SuperBetter. According to McGonigal, it has helped more than 120,000 players tackle real-life health challenges like depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and traumatic brain injury by increasing their personal resilience. This has ultimately allowed SuperBetter players to feel better physically, mentally, and socially.
Another form of collective intelligence in the gaming world is The Education Arcade, which is a website dedicated to exploring the various types of games that “promote learning through authentic and engaging play”. The mission of The Education Arcade is to:
“Demonstrate the social, cultural, and educational potentials of videogames by initiating new game development projects, coordinating interdisciplinary research efforts, and informing public conversations about the broader and sometimes unexpected uses of this emerging art form in education”.
All in all, there are many positive attributes to gaming, it all just depends on which games one chooses to play, how much time is dedicated to gaming, and most importantly the amount of knowledge that is obtained from playing a particular game.
In the video below, renowned game designer Jane McGonigal, visits Zócalo with Ze Frank to reveal why those who understand, design, and play games can create a better future for everyone: