FFLL Release Bonanza and 120,000 Microsoft Points Giveaway!
by Ryan Rigney
Buy this garbage right now on Xbox Live Indie Games. Play it with friends! If you don’t have friends, that’s cool: we’ve got bots.
FAST FAST LASER LASER is officially out. You can buy it right here for just one dollar (or 80 Microsoft Points).
UPDATE: ALL WINNERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN.
Every winning entrant has now received their Microsoft points card code via email. Congratulations to all those who won, and check your spam box if you think you may have won but didn’t receive anything!
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Speaking of Microsoft points, I have some right here—120,000 Microsoft Points, in fact. That’s worth $1,500 USD. And I’m going to give every last one of them to you.
We have 75 codes, each of which is worth 1,600 MSP, or ($20). 75 of you will win, and all you have to do is participate in a little essay contest.
Just answer the following question in 600 words or less: “What can games do to change the world?”
This contest will end on Friday, December 14, 2012 at 11:59pm PST (that’s San Francisco Time).
Fun stories, references to the work of others who’ve thought about this question, and well-articulated insights are encouraged. If you somehow capture one or more of those things in only 10 words instead of 600, by all means, do so.
Input your answer into the comment field below, and EMAIL A COPY OF YOUR ANSWER TO MAIL@UTAHRAPTORGAMES.COM. If we pick your answer, we’ll email you a redeemable code worth 1600 MSP. Codes will be sent out by 12/25/12.
Of course, we’d like for you to use those points to buy FAST FAST LASER LASER, but we are also asking that winners use the money on other great Xbox indie games. We can’t make you spend the points on the Xbox Live Indie Games Channel, but we humbly ask that you do. Trust us, the guys making Call of Duty do not need your money as much as indie devs do. Below, we’ve provided a list of games that we think are awesome. One 1600 MSP card is enough to buy a copy of FAST FAST LASER LASER and a copy of ALL of these games, too! If you spend your winnings on the Xbox Live Indie Games Channel, you’ll get a whopping 16 great games. Good deal, no?
Remember that you’re only entered in the contest if you put your entry in both the comment form below AND in an email to mail@utahraptorgames.com. Good luck!
Note: Be sure to switch the below-embedded video to 1080p or 720p if you watch it!
Recommended Xbox Live Indie Games
Apple Jack 2 – 80 MSP – BUY IT HERE
Blocks That Matter – 240 MSP – BUY IT HERE
City Tuesday – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
Cthulu Saves the World – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
Diehard Dungeon – 80 MSP – BUY IT HERE
Entropy – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
FAST FAST LASER LASER – 80 MSP – BUY IT HERE
Gateways! – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
Pixel – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
qrth-phyl – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
Sententia – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
Smooth Operators – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
SpeedRunner HD – 240 MSP - BUY IT HERE
Super Amazing Wagon Adventure – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
Take Arms – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
Xenominer – 80 MSP - BUY IT HERE
Games can do a lot to change the world, they provide an environment where:
difficult things are possible, encouraging optimism
things are naturally interesting, provoking curiosity
players have a sense of agency, providing motivation
actions are immediately meaningful, inspiring awe and wonder
there are plenty of collaborators ready to tackle complex tasks along with the player, as in MMORPGs, fostering trust and cooperation.
What i’m trying to say is games unite people and teach people many things like teaching kids to lose, teaching english etc.
Basically if there were less war games those not teach anything, just cause violence. Good logical, friendly games can change the world by teaching something new and funny at the same time. Not that much I guess, but is good for a start. Thank you.
What can games do to change the world? As a student studying psychology and looking to have a future with gaming, I ask myself constantly what can we use games for? Most games have a basic reward system that reinforces behaviors over and over until you get to the end. This use of reinforcement can help young children learn morality systems that would help encourage positive behaviors and teach them the what is right or wrong. Looking at personality, if a game is designed right, it can be an indicator of what type of person you are and employers could use the results when hiring people. Looking at a game like Left 4 Dead, you see the way the game conditions you to look for ammo or weapons while also working as a group and I believe this can be branched away from games to condition people positively all over the world teaching life skills such as leadership, teamwork, and maybe citizenship. Overall, you can see through video games as a way to identify and teach people and I believe it is something you can take advantage of to do great things in this world.
Games have the ability to transcend language, creed, social status, and borders. Look at Journey for instance. You are given no ability to communicate save for a wordless chirp. A chirp that can convey both joy and fear. It’s all that is needed to share your emotions, your desires, your guidance, or your curiosity.
You don’t know what the person on the other end looks like, where they live, or what background they come from. You don’t care. At that moment, both people are the same; you are both explorers, creatures seeking the final answer. You are kin. The bond created can shape your emotions for a total stranger as you reach that final goal.
Maybe, someday, we can take experiences similar to these and use them to change the world.
When I was younger- much younger- I had a crazy idea: use video games for therapy. I hadn’t the fuzziest clue as to how actually put that idea into practice, but I felt it could go somewhere. Some years later, I stumbled across an article on video games being combined with psychology at MIT, and I sat back and felt oddly fulfilled- I realized that video games had become more than mere entertainment.
It was around that time that I had taken an interest in the history of games- I took to playing the classics and found Mario, Final Fantasy, Metroid- I soon realized that video games were a serious medium for expression, just like film, literature and music, yet they were different from all of these- this medium called for participation, not idle observation.
Besides practical, therapeutic and other scientific applications, however, video games have changed and are continuing to change the world. How? As of late, they’re being accepted in academic circles as a serious artistic medium, even though that’s not really how they’ve changed the world: it’s merely a consequence of it.
Whether they’re acknowledged for it or not, video games are art. I say this based on what I consider to be art, that being any work that triggers an emotional reaction. Are some games more “art” than others? Perhaps, and some are definitely poor pieces of art, but others are undeniably great.
“This was a triumph. I’m making a note here- huge success!” If you recognize those words, there’s a good chance you played Portal- do you remember how you felt at the end of it? I remember a mix of relief and amusement- the game’s clinical atmosphere combined with the biting humor of GLaDOS and the occasionally creepy environments were altogether a compelling piece of art.
I could drone on for hours about these games- surely if you’ve experienced Bioshock you picked up on the subtle yet complex sociopolitical implications, pieces of psychology and culture in conjunction with a powerful plot, atmosphere and a (relatively simple) moral choice system, the game leaves a powerful impression on all who experience it- and if it can, surely other games can do the same?
Games aren’t going to change the world. They’re already working on it.
The best thing they can do to continue this is by improving in their storytelling abilities and by utilizing the one element that sets them apart from all other mediums- interactivity- to deliver messages, ideas, emotions; they must continue to be art, continue innovating, and they must keep moving forward.
What can video games do to change the world?
In many cases, they create jobs for many people, and help an economy grow. Games have inspired many people to upgrade our current technology to keep up, this also allows us to do things with computers that we have never done before, I believe many computers would not be as advanced if it weren’t for video games. In recent years with online technology, games have brought more people from every country together and become friends, you don’t know who they are and you don’t care, because everybody helps each other. Some games inspire creative people, such as minecraft has for millions of people, some people are even inspired to join the military because of games such as call of duty and halo. Video games can change a society, in the early 1990′s many were afraid of video games, and that it may make their children violent, but now video games are a huge part of our society.
If this trend continues to grow, I can imagine the world becoming closer and closer because of video games.
Video games are fun and a great way to pass the time. However, they can also present learning opportunities and stories in a unique way. Consider the Assassin’s Creed series and Bioshock, both of which had influenced me to learn history and politics.. Bioshock takes place in an underwater city called Rapture, and besides being a very entertaining video game, it is also serves as an analysis into Objectivism and its strengths and flaws. The ruler of Rapture, Andrew Ryan, followed Objectivist ideals and the city fell into chaos due to the disparity between rich and poor and unregulated gene manipulation. It is this game that encouraged me to read Ayn Rand’s book “Atlas Shrugged.” The Assassin’s Creed series takes learning opportunities to the extreme. Each game takes place in a historical setting; the most recent was the American Revolution in Assassin’s Creed III. Simply walking around the cities brings a pop-up on the screen inviting the player to press a button and read a factually accurate article about a building, historical figure, or event. Throughout the series, the player character converses with Leonardo da Vinci, Caterina Sforza, and Niccolo Machiavelli, some of them providing insights or ideas that have made them famous in the real world. The series also portrays real-life events and allows the player to take part of them, such as the Boston Massacre, the Pazzi conspiracy, and the Battle of Chesapeke Bay. The game makes history very fascinating, and as a result the game influenced me to learn more about the subject. Video game stories are also unique because, in a sense, you are the main character. In a game with a silent and faceless protagonist, this idea is expressed even more heavily. Thus, getting emotionally invested in a video game is not at all an uncommon occurence.
At my evening job, there’s a cleaning crew that comes in to help with mopping floors and the like. They’re Ukrainian in descent, and only one of them speaks fluent English. The rest of our time is spent communicating with big, warm smiles and the words “excuse me.”
But they all knew what Angry Birds was.
I believe video games are finding more ways to reach out to different type of gamers so that everyone is playing. You have your old fashioned gamers such as the teens and young adults who stick to the core systems such as PS3 and Xbox 360. Then you video games coming out now for the more active crowd such as the Wii and the Kinect, what middle aged adult does not have a Wii? Games have even found a way to reach people on the go with Gameboy or PSP or even on your cell phone. I believe everyone has played Angry Birds at least once. Facebook has found a way to reach out to different types of gamers with time management type of games like Farmville. So I think games are changing the world by reaching out to different types of people.
What _more_ can they do?
The last decade has seen a vast increase in democratization of game development, game literacy, social acceptance for games, experimental games and technology. Arts or farts, games have become a way of communicating. Player to player, designer to audience, introspectively, … are creating a language. What can the world do to change the games? Start listening.
As games have grown to a large industry, making more money even than movies, it is apparent that they can hold great power.
If this power is channeled the proper way, games can help people be more cooperative, more giving and less selfish. They can help explore other cultures, examine how people react under certain situations and help accepting diversity either in religion, origin, color, gender, age etc.
For me that makes creating a game an even greater challenge and responsibility.
Games can leave a lasting impression and shape the way we grow. As children, we were all (assumedly) exposed to video games which helped us become the people we are today in the same manner that any book, movie, painting, or song.
The moment an image on a screen gave a user a choice is the moment that gaming was born. With the progress of technology came the further complexity of video games and thus a more complex set of choices. In the short amount of years video games have been around in contrast to the rest of civilization’s technological advancements, we’ve seen a huge leap of from inception to current day realization.
Games have pushed the boundaries of how much control we have over a character to the point where we can now become fully immersed in a fictional world and truly feel like we’re a part of it. The choices in games have become so complex that we’re often found exploring uncharted territory of our own psyche and morals and asking questions we’ve never had to ask ourselves before.
With the recent accessibility of tools and the means to learn, we’ve seen some great independent studios produce something that offers more than entertainment value. The one game that had the biggest impact on me personally, wasn’t even a full game. It was a Half-Life 2 mod made by a single person who didn’t even have a background in making video games. That mod was “The Stanely Parable” and it did what no other game was able to do for me before I got to play this mod; it made me question the reason we even play video games.
Without giving away any spoilers, it made me realize there’s something to video games beyond entertainment. While it wasn’t a game that changed my life, it did serve as a vehicle to the idea that knowledge and ideas can be presented in a completely unique way that has a much more personal and emotional impact on a person than some more traditional ways of learning.
I think that video games are moving in the right direction. The same way art has been able to change the world in the past, I believe that video games will someday have a huge impact on the way we go about living our lives if developers start to see video games as a bigger picture. That is how I believe video games can change the world.
Games can change the world by bringing people together from all parts around the world. Games have become the universal language of building community. People speaking different languages can work together to complete a goal. Games can bridge the gap between the language barrier and connect people to each other. With the advent of online gaming, it is nice to be able play a game with someone online who is halfway around the world. Playing games also provide opportunities for gamers to meet new people and make new friends.
Games give people the opportunity to live vicariously through the characters of the games they play. You get to do things in games that you would probably never do in real life. I think games as an entertainment medium have given creative people the opportunity to tell fantastic stories, to touch the hearts of people around the world and to sometimes convey a message about the human condition. I really think games have the unique ability to transform the perceived notion that games are just games and that they can be so much for for so many different.
I think games have done a great job of changing the world so far but there are many other things they can do. I think with the amount of violence there is already out in the world, I think games need to stray away from making games violent. There are too many games with guns, shooting and killing. There needs to be games where families can sit down and enjoy them together. I think Microsoft has the right idea with the Kinect and I’m interested to see if they can continue making family friendly games.
Games have the ability to alter the way people look at the world. For months after playing tons of Tony Hawk, I would see skate lines all around me. After really getting into Katamari, I would imagine rolling up everything I see into a ball. And don’t get me started on my driving habits post-GTA 3. An immersive experience really sticks with you.
Games put you into new scenarios, introduce you to characters, and have you do tasks you wouldn’t otherwise know about. They can take things even further, however. If they allow you to put a face to what was previously just a label — say, a minority or someone with an alternate lifestyle — it’s possible to develop empathy for others in that same spot. You see those civilians in Medal of Honor, or you witness someone being bullied in Bully for how they look. If you have a connection to what’s happening onscreen, it’s almost like a real memory and is something from which you can grow.
By the way, I’m a big supporter of Xbox 360′s indie games. I’ve played through games like Ophidian Wars: Opac’s Journey, DLC Quest, and Quiet, Please. Congratulations on finishing the game and thank you for being so generous with the Xbox points.
I choose to be a gamer not that I can not do anythin social with friends, it is not taking part of my life as others see. I enjoy to be a gamer, play 2 hours every evening if I have time, I still see my friends, go out and do outdoor stuff as well. I have a full time work and a family, I have never put gaming before any of them but when the time is all mine, I like to game.
Becasue I can do a lot of stuff which I can not do in the real world, games give me joy of jumping of a helicopter to land on a speedboat to dive with it to an oil rig, I mean I would never want to do such a thing in real world. I realize this is all visiual and fun, noone one is hurt :)
I can do lots of stuff with friends, get new friends, find people on the other side of the world with same interests. Some of them became my good friends that I talk about other things then gaming, sharing interests, going out together.
So as an indiviual if I can get this much from games, I guess games can do more. You don’t have to game 100 hours a week to be a gamer, but just have fun with friends. You can teach little kids a lot with games that you can not teach by telling, I am not telling they have to put an xbox to each class with COD or GTA 5 but I mean even kinect is a huge thing. My son loves to play Kinectimals, games can teach them sharing by that. Kids fight for toys right, they can not stop. Put 4 of them infront of the TV with kids dance, puzzle games and see how clever they and how clever they get by time.
Why can not we share such an interest as adult, at work games can get colleagues together. I worked for 5 years at a huge firm, where not many people did know eachother, you arrange teambuilding sessions, outgoing activities, half of them do not attend. Put an xbox to the lunch area, with simple party games and let them talk to each other, don’t put limits infornt of your employees, give them something to socialize at the work area. We had one Wii on our floor, we were not playing every day but time to time it was fun to talk to other colleagues from the other side of the floor.
Games can get people together, put the boundries away, make them talk to strangers and get to know them, make them share stuff, respect one another, show the way to someone else who doesn’t know what he is doing. These are all basic stuff, I am not saying games should bring ground breaking new options, but give us that friendship in our hearts, I have that at leasts; I help strangers who have no idea about doing a specific thing, playing a game, changing settings of their Pc etc. I do it to be helpful and I am sure gaming gave me some of that sense
Twitter – 5tubborn
Videogames can do many things too change the world, mostly in providing entertainment too people and can be a learning experience , in example some colleges are using portal 2 for its experimental physics in the game , and as you know portal 2 is a great game and really uses you think too solve puzzles.On the point of education , many type of videogames are use in elementary school too teach child development , if it was up too me , i would update those games and try too put them every school in the world , i remember playing some old school point and click in my childhood , learning so much. But in all i hope more people that teach education , make a effort too include a more learning experience via video games, i would say they will pay more attention, because i did.
Twitter @spyroyoo
Hey Ryan,
Awesome contest. Here’s my entry:
In the movie The Karate Kid, young Daniel LaRusso is taught martial arts by his mentor, Mr. Miyagi, through novel means. Rather than practicing punching and blocking directly, he’s asked to perform repetitive chores that mirror the physical motions of those moves (e.g. painting a fence as a substitute for up-and-down blocking). LaRusso, unaware that waxing his mentor’s car is training and not exploitation, grows frustrated and is about to abandon practice when Mr. Miyagi, in an iconic scene, reveals the truth.
I think more than any other medium, games have the opportunity to teach people real-life skills in an indirect, Mr. Miyagi-sort of way (though games are certainly more fun than chores). I remember how a lot of ardent Dance Dance Revolution fans realized that their pursuit of a perfect score was also leading to calorie loss. Or how every fan of Chrono Trigger also learns the names of the three Biblical wise men.
What can games do to change the world?
Games. They have existed since the very beginning of recorded history. Scholars have pondered upon the origin of the first incarnation of games through examining and studying cave drawings and fossils, and have thus far discovered indications of many prehistoric forms of games. Through deductions based on habits and intelligent levels, they believed that the purpose of the invention of games by the early humans was to use it as stress relievers, to determine the winner of an event, or simply to pass time. By using a combination of basic intelligence and simple imagination, those early humans were able to come up with competitive, community-engaging games, with just the basic materials available at their disposal. Games that required using their bodies to hop and jump, or throwing rocks and pebbles accurately onto a target square in the playing field; these games were pretty common in peaceful and quiet times. During herd migrations when one tribe meets another, these games would be passed on. And thus began the arrival of games.
As time goes on and civilizations began to develop, so did games. Humans became more intelligent through experience in building their cities and tools, and applied that to the development of games. Therefore, games became more complex in terms of rules and appearance, and what was once purely dependent on physical skills for winning now began to depend on their intelligence as well. With the advent of this new version of games, played primarily with a wooden board and stone pieces, new audiences were attracted. People who were weak in physical games now had an opportunity to increase their reputation through these board games. Winners of those games were celebrated in their respective circles, and the acknowledgment and admiration of those skills coming from the spectators, provided them with further motivation to excel. That is true not only for the winners, but also for the spectators and other participants.
As people trained themselves physically and mentally, they also developed their fundamental skills at the same time. These skills were then unknowingly applied back into other activities such as their jobs, which helped them improved on their performances. As more people experienced this occurrence, they realized that games were a no-risk method of increasing their skills, which could be easily applicable in some other aspects of their life.
With constant practicing, people were soon bored with those games. Their desires to contribute towards their passions allowed them to build bigger and better games by using their own imaginations, experiences and technical skills, resulting in games that were revered as a national sport. These took place in huge arenas that gathered tens of thousands of spectators, and attracted competitors from all over the nation, and slowly, from all over the world. People laughed and cried together in harmony. A world was connected through a common love for games.
With the successes of these games, the people who were responsible discovered that there is an appreciation for their talents in games developing. And thus, they continued to develop games as an occupation instead of just as a hobby. With each success, they were able to build up their funds and hire artists to beautify their products. The high quality of the arts accompanying these games gave rise to appreciation of their artistic talents from people who otherwise would not have bothered. In time, great music and magnificent stories were written and featured in the games, and the respective creators earned attentions in their other works as well.
For such a simple idea, it is a miracle how much the world has changed through it.
Reference: http://www.toysperiod.com/blog/games/a-brief-history-of-ancient-games/
Games changes our Life!!
I play with my friends ever week and so we can talk about different things.
I enjoy the games and the talks. :)
I can’t imagine a world without games.
Games aren’t going to change everything in the world. They won’t bring peace to the Middle East or end hunger. One thing that games can change is the relationships that people have in a positive way. For example, there is a guy that works in my department at work and he is the grumpiest person I have ever met. He gets mad at the slightest things and is unfriendly to all of us coworkers. A conversation with him would consist of a few grunts from him and maybe a shoulder shrug and he’d walk away.
I found out that he had an Xbox 360 and gave him a few extra games that I had. Now I can go in back and talk with him and the conversation actually has 2 sides with words and sentences from him. He prefers to talk about gaming rather than work, but that is fine with me.
Another big relationship change for me happened with my 10 year old daughter. She has been “mommy’s little girl” for a long time and we didn’t seem to click on a common activity. That is until I got a copy of Just Dance for the Wii and she tried it. We spent 3 hours playing it together that first night and we now have 6 or 7 different versions of the game. We pick a night or two a week and just spend the time together dancing and laughing.
Sure, there are a lot of technologies that games use and will create in the future that will help in other aspects of life, but I think that the positive relationship changes they can bring to people is just as important.
Gaming industry is pretty big at the moment. There are lots of games developed and most of them aren’t just casual games for people playing only on weekend to kill some time. Of course lately it seems like ‘causality’ in gaming got a bit bigger then it was few years ago, but that just helps more independent developers(who of course aren’t taking casual aspect that seriously) to create even more interesting games. On those games I want to focus the most. We all know, that video games main purpose is fun, but we can also say the same thing about movies and some movies DID change the world. I would ask, ‘why games wouldn’t?’
First of all, games should focus much more on the story. Graphics or sounds won’t do much to change how we see things. Good story line keeps player with the game for longer. If the story is written well it could teach us most important values in life, for example, that doing good deeds, being nice to others will be awarded and doing exactly the opposite would be punished. Games could teach history too. The only problem here are the players. It all could work out, but only if player is set up for this kind of experience and is not expecting just pure fun. I think it will take some time until people will stop thinking about games only as a form of entertainment. I guess exactly the same thing was with movies.
Secondly games can help making better relations between people. Things like voice chatting isn’t the best way, because some people when they are feeling anonymous become very annoying. The best thing is to gather people in one room and let them play and compete. Things like Wii, Kinect or Move are great example to make people spend more time together instead of communicating via internet or telephone. I hope that in a few years there will be more ways to connect friends and video games together.
To extend the third paragraph games controlled not only with our fingers but with our whole body helps for our health. Until only few years ago, games forced us to sit in one place and use only hands to play. But now we can jump, duck, run, wave hands and do a variety of moves to control what’s happening on the screen. This way games could prevent obesity. It’s just a small hope, because like everything it depends on individual approach to that kind of games.
To sum everything up I think there are much more different ways to change the world, but I think these too are most important(at least to myself). It will take at least few years to make something like this happen, but I’m sure that sooner or later, video games will be something more than just pure fun. Maybe for the next generation of youth gaming will be much more important and will be taken more seriously than it is now. Let’s hope for the best!
Thank you for doing this, and have a good read!
Also good luck to everyone!
“What can games do to change the world?”
They can do alot. I personally think they are already doing it. There are so many games that help children learn new and amazing skills. Take Kinect for example. The Seseme Street and Nat Geo Wild Series on Kinect are just amazing. My son is able to interact with the world.
I would say that games change the world in so many ways. You could view the debates on Xbox Live or watch the VGA’s or E3 press conferences. So many new inivations in gaming have made it so amazing to be a gamer. We’ve come so far as a gaming society that all these new things around us literally make games change our world.
First thing I’d like to say awesome contest =) thanks for doing so!
Well, how can video games change the world? I don’t know about the world, but I know it is helpful for single people, I’d like to give some examples how games can help you gain wisdom you otherwise would despise by just learning the stuff from books or in school.
The Assassin’s Creed Series for example mentions dozens of real life people who really existed and even the locations and (death) dates are excact …history was never this interesting! All behind a well written story… I recognize historic people I otherwise wouldn’t even know…
Another nice Example is Eternal Sonata…you learn more about a polish musician and his life by playing through this colorful RPG…you even can listen to his works and learn a lot about his life…
Another example will be the language…english isn’t my mother tongue, but I play games in english since I was little…doing so, my english improved very well over years. My grades were average at school but I never failed english exams…only good grades…I didn’t even have to put much effort in it, because it was fun =)
What I’m trying to say is, that video games are able to teach you things, you otherwise won’t even look at. I also think most games have a positive impact to be more tolerant (especially when playing JRPGs) and share more emotions with the people around you hum =)
What can games do to change the world? First of all I play games because I feel bored most of times, I dont have many friends that can be called my real friends. But by playing games online and Im connected to different people around this world, I can make new friends, so called game-buddies, though we dont know each other in real world. Many games are just about to get from point A to point B and have a nonsense story. But there are also games that have actual story which can give the kind of emotions, encouragement, hope to player. We have action games teach us courage, education games give us knowledge, sport games give motivation to be fit, adventure games push us to visit different places…
Though there are many criminal cases involving with video games, which sadly somehow affects the meaning of playing video games, for fun, but it cant be helped since nothing isnt perfect, so do us people.
Games, particulalrly Kinect exergames, can improve your health. The following “eye-opener” review briefly surveys the current Kinect exergame titles for the Xbox 360 (Microsoft, Redmond, WA), focusing on possible uses by different age groups, from kids to older people, for improving players’ physical, mental/cognitive, and psychological/emotional health and fitness: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/g4h.2012.0041
What can games do to change the world?
Even if society denies it, games can in fact change the world. They help us separate good from bad, and prepare us for things that may happen in the future. They prepare us for situations that if they happen, the world as we know it will change forever. Games that have helped us gamers have this thoughts are games like Resident Evil, Left 4 Dead, Mass Effect, Battlefield, Call of Duty, and yes, even Gears of War. Some teach us about history, like for example the Assassin’s Creed series, where they tell us what has been hidden from us by the government.
Resident Evil, even though people consider it to be declining and a step backwards for the franchise every time a new game is released, they don’t see the real point of the game. It is to prepare us for a possible zombie apocalypse that may happen in the future, when pharmaceutical companies become so money hungry, they create a deadly virus. Luckily, Resident Evil has been preparing us, alongside Left 4 Dead, for situations like those, teaching us how to survive and how to effectively kill zombies. Now, maybe a zombie apocalypse sounds too unrealistic, right? Let’s talk invasions. Alien invasions, something that can happen because in reality, we do not know what is out there, we are obviously not alone in the Universe. When those aliens arrive to Earth we won’t be able to defeat them by ourselves, so naturally, we have to join forces with other species in the Universe and defeat them. That’s something that Mass Effect has made very clear, yet, Gears of War has taught us that if species decide to attack our planet, we just have to work out, have a gun with a chainsaw at hand, and always have a group of efficient friends. They will not have a chance. Now, shall we lower the scale a little? Let’s say, a future third World War starts, what do we do then? Well, obviously everyone knows how to use a weapon and the basics of being in a war; walk, run, jump, crouch and lay on the ground. Call of Duty and the Battlefield series have taught us about the different variety of weapons there are, and how to shoot, reload and throw grenades. Seems easy enough that anyone can learn, right? Finally, games have made us be more aware of what we are told and what the truth about our history is, for example, Assassin’s Creed has only taught us our real history, what has really happened, they reveal all the lies.
We can assure that if in the future we are invaded by aliens, have a zombie apocalypse or a future warfare starts, we will not have a problem finding a solution. Games have helped the world by preparing us for different kinds and possible situations we might face in the future. We owe all our knowledge of zombie killing, survival instincts, weapon expertise, fast thinking and critical thinking skills to these heart touching games. It has not only changed the world, it has changed our lives. Hope you had fun, and thank you for reading.
The Games can have a scenario that treats a worldwide phenomen and tries to solve it in a gameplay, making th eplayer lives and decides what the end’s gonna be like ?
Games already have created major change to the world and will only continue to do so. They bring people together through teamwork, joy, laughter, and a sense of accomplishment. Games can be used to get to know someone or a group of people. They can be used to bring a family together. They simply improve the quality of life for all those involved.
Games have been played for centuries. But with modern technology not only do we have the physical games that our ancestors could play but also games played together in different universes. People can play a game and not only play as someone or something completely different than they are, but with other people all around the globe. And that basic interconnectivity is what can make a true difference in the world.
Games can be used to bridge the gap between those of different cultures, income levels, races… any all the barriers that we as humans put between us. The basic idea of any game is to just let yourself go and have fun in whatever event is happening. And especially with the way that video games have evolved, a person can let all of those barriers go and simply immerse themselves in the world their game takes place in and the people that are playing with them.
That easy With games world leaders can just solve their national conflicts by having national leaders just 1 V 1 each other or clan battles. =] But Seriously video games can provide an escape from reality just like how books can. Video games imo have a better chance of bringing people together and into a community regardless of language or ethnicity.
Games can change the world by helping people to explore new cultures, to learn new ideas and ways of thinking, that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. Games can be informative, and educational, they can help teach us things. Games can connect us with other people across the globe, and help bring friendships and friendly rivalries. Games are just another way that the world is becoming more and more interconnected, and that’s exciting!
What can games do to change the world?
When I was a child, I use to play on the NES Sesame Street game that had educational lessons incorporated in the game. At its time, the NES was an advanced home console that you were able to experience great graphics for 8 bits. When I had grown out of that, I was addicted to the Muncher PC games that teach me a lot of words and numbers. Video games when using the right software can help educate kids into having a learning tool in addition to their schoolwork that they are required by law to learn.
It was recently a few years ago by Nintendo that they exploded onto the educational business by creating the Brain Age series. I own the game and what the game has done wonderfully on is that they teach people such as myself on how to respond accurately on problems that you have to be quick to answer on.
Currently, there are many video games that have content that in the long run help others and in return those lessons will help change the world.
“What can games do to change the world?”
Just make it so all the children playing COD are controlling robots then send those robots to war.
They already changed the world for many people.
It’s a unique media that absorbe other media like cinema and music and add the interaction.
Games like Shenmue, goes beyond the simple entertainment, making games art that could be enjoyed or so many levels, just for fun, or to immerse in a new world, know new places, stories, sounds ect
a real experience.
What can games do to change the world?
They can be more complex and mature like Shenmue, Ico etc mature in the sense of bring something real good to the player besides the simple entertainment with guns.
If the videogaming industry can do this, we’ll finally have a media that will change the world like the music and movies did.
I think if they started to bridge the gap more between video games and training simulators that it could be used as a great learning tool for many individuals looking to learn about certain subjects. Take the Xbox 360′s kinect for example. it’s already helped quite of bit of people by introducing them to exercise workouts and routines through Dance Central, Nike’s kinect trainer, and Evolution fitness evolved. Down the line I could see them making more expansive music Teaching games, not only for guitar or drums (Rocksmith and Rockband). But also for instruments like the violin, Cello, or heck, even bagpipes. as long As developers are willing to expand their horizon on what games can do, I think they can make an educational yet fun experience to learn almost anything.
When you play video games you can run, fly and it’s possible to do things that you can’t do in your real life like driving a Formula 1 car or even win the NBA with your favorite team.
My life wouldn’t be better but while I’m playing video games my problems dissapear momentarily. I think is good to disconnect some time from the world and have hopes and dreams.
Videogames have already done alot to change the world. People have met and made great friends online, people who were once shy now are more open because of their online socializations. Many have even met their significant other and happily married and are still together til this day. Games have even brought racist people together, I even met threw a friend a racist gamer who pushed my buttons and I was close many times to beating him up but our halo 1 and 2 gaming sessions brought us together and we are great friend even now as I type this. I could list more how gaming benefited the world but I think I made my point.
The Golden Age of video games has not occurred yet. I wholeheartedly believe that video games have the potential to make a greater impact in society than all other forms of entertainment (music, film, television, etc.) combined. Video games allow players to control their experience rather than watch a movie or listen to a song where the product leaves no room for customization, only interpretation. The capacity is already here; the world just needs to embrace it more. It’s difficult right now since there is still a good portion of the population who grew up without video games and who view them as a mere diversion and time-waster. However, the NES/SNES players are now having children, and soon the N64/Playstation players, and then the Xbox/PS2 players and so forth – generations that grew up on video games will pass down there joys and memories to their kids. People are losing weight by playing on the Wii/Kinect, video game soundtracks are being nominated for Grammy Awards, and video game debates are raging on about violence and mature content.
In comparison to music and film, video games are still infants. To me though, these infants are starting to look like those child geniuses that get their Masters before they can vote. I’m excited to see what the future will bring once gaming is fully embraced like other entertainment genres.
You’ve seen the movie Wall-E, right? Idiocracy? I’m honestly afraid that these are the results of the technological revolution that has occurred over the past decade and is continuing at an ever increasing pace. Gaming is a small part of that. Texting, Twitter (yes, I’m posting this while logged in from my Twitter account), Facebook status updates, even the instant “Google has the answer, so I don’t need to know it”, all of these things, while having their uses, are contributing to the dumbing down of the average population.
It’s not all doom and gloom. The people in Idiocracy and Wall-E seem content. :)
What can games do to change the world? That is a very interesting question. I believe video games have a tendency to have a varied outlook when you ask different people of their view of them. Some parents who I have spoken to avoid having their children play more mature titles, an acceptable response, while others simply go to the other end of the spectrum and declare video games as harming our society and will not allow their children to play them. I guess I can see a parent preventing their child from playing games for the sake of studying or chores, but saying it will harm them, that is where I feel it crosses the line. The video game genre has opened up so many opportunities that I have felt has changed the world in different, yet small ways. I for one was not a very social person during my school years and did not have many friends, but after being introduced to video games by my mother (an old school gamer at heart) I was open to a world of opportunities, especially to become more social. I soon attempted to communicate more and it slowly boosted my confidence so much so that I started speaking to more people at my school. The fact that I even played games became a topic I could speak about and find others who had similar interests. Soon I had a small close-knit group of friends who liked hanging outdoors, wanted to see all the new action movies, and loved gaming.
So how does all this work into my view of gaming changing the world? Well needless to say there is many ways it has done so, but the one that hits close to home for me is the social aspect. Gaming has become an important component of my life because it allowed me to stop being nervous about initial social encounters and just be myself. In fact, as I became more relaxed I found out more about myself, thus discovering my love of art and the art of games. Being so intrigued with how games were made and the design had me craving to create art of my own. I got obsessed with graphic design and animation soon learning it is a skill set I really enjoyed doing. As I further my skills in both of these areas I pursued my goal of meshing my design aesthetic into a major known as Motion Media Design. I am so passionate about art and try to inspire others around me. I try to show them that exploring something new, may it be video game art or what have you, is something worth attempting and not to be afraid of. Thinking of it all now and by writing down all of this I have realized games have changed my outlook of the world and my career path. I wonder what video games will do for others in the future and how it will change the world that person in their own way. All I can say is for them and those who were never allowed to game give gaming a try, you may discover something new.
“What can games do to change the world?” Well first off I’d like to say that there are many ways that video games have already begun changing the world. One such way is through the use of various learning and lifestyle programs. The one I’d like to point out in particular is the My Coach game series. With language teaching, SAT test preparation, fitness training and even a program to help smokers kick the habit. All of these things help and will continue to make the world a better place by helping people live more fulfilling and healthy lives’ which in this day and age is becoming more and more challenging to do.
My hope for the future is for games like these to be more prevalent in schools to better help promote fun and entertaining ways for children and adults alike to learn.
Games have done so much for our world and continue to do so both mentally and physically. Many games these days have the ability to improve our cognitive that what may not seem as important outside the game, are in fact important and may save our lives.
For instance, we learn that actual reaction time and mental awareness learned from game genres like action (Devil May Cry) and first-person shooters (Counterstrike) improve our awareness of certain cues to be cautious of. We learn that avoiding an attack or listening for even a slight footstep may raise our attention to look at the direction it came from and avoid accordingly. As a gamer, our reaction time and awareness are improved even more so that we can avoid certain circumstances faster than a person that doesn’t play games.
What does awareness and reaction time have to do with “changing the world”? Well, we are the world and improving any single one of us is improving the world, even if it’s just a small amount of the world every single one matters. To the world we may just be “someone”, but to “someone” we may just be the world.
Games can change the world in a huge way!! First off the games that help learn other languages is very impressive, so are music games like Rocksmith that can teach you play a guitar! But i can see a world 20 years from now where medical students have a dummy human body they can play hi-tech operation on, learning how to do advanced operations ect and competeting to be the best, then using those techniques on real life patients to save lives…. Last year I went to an event and played a tech demo that allowed you use a machine and controls these arms and sew a needle and thread into a guys arm, the size of the would was SMALLER THAN A PENNY!!!! It was all zoomed in on a screen (so others could see the attempts) and through magnifying glass… my gf and i just kinda stabbed the guy repeatedly with the needle and thread lol, but there was someone there was a doctor there who uses the machine for work….. and in just under a minute or two he had the entire would sutured up flawlessly! it was very impressive to see! imagine using that to remove tiny foriegn objects in the liver or kidney (bullet shrapnel maybe) and being able to sew it up, good as new!
Games changing the world seems like an obvious thing. The amount of learning you can do without even noticing it is amazing. No other medium seems to be able to throw fun and learning at you in such a unique way. A good childhood friend of mine helps a teacher with autistic children who, as you may know, have severe issues with learning and most of all – paying attention. The past year they started using iPads in the class and he’s able to keep them engaged in ways he could only dream to do with just pencil and paper. He says they seem laser-focused on the games and are even able to help others. The games they are playing are teaching them counting, spelling, problem solving, logic. All of the things they struggle to teach them on a daily basis now seem to be something the kids *want* to do. They can’t way to play these “games”!
Another thing is the fact that iPads can be used by the physically disabled as well, since it has accessibility/voice options as well as the front facing camera. Everyone gets to play!
Video games can do plenty to help the world. There’s Sesame Street games that help kids learn to read and write, there’s simulation video games used in all sorts of fields to help train people like the police. The Xbox Kinect is used in operating rooms to help surgeons who can’t use a keyboard or mouse since they wouldn’t be sterile use hand gestures to change or zoom in with MRI images. Or possibly even less lofty goals, There’s been quite a few weddings and relationships that have blossomed from two people playing a game together, and love always makes the world a better place.
Games have the incredible ability to provide a world for people to play in and explore without having to leave the safety of your bedroom. Even if it only conveys them in a limited amount, they can do so much to address and show real world concepts and issues in this safe and controlled environment. War shooters games can teach us the horrors of war by showing the brutality that ensues when peoples to go war. World strategy games, such as Civilization, grants people the perspective of the overarching forces that drive human history, giving a direct look into the processes that control their own lives and allowing them to better understand such processes so they can address them in their own way. They can also be used to teach people about other cultures and ideologies by working them into the greater narrative of the game, allowing the player to unknowingly learn such important concepts while they are enjoying their game.
At the same time, the changes they can make are not always good. Those same war games that teach us the horrors of war can very well lead towards the desensitization of the human figure, reducing it to something that is acceptable and even encouraged to attack. The macro-level strategies games can do much of the same by causing us to forget about the individual. Likewise, the same methods used to teach people of culture and important world concepts can also be used to indoctrinate people into hateful and misguided interpretations of the world.
Ultimately, they can inspire us to do greatness, but also allow us to understand and address the parts of us that aren’t quite as good. It is through this that they can truly change the world, for they allow us to understand each other so much better and thus allows us to work towards a better future for everybody.
I believe gaming is already changing the world. Now, it isn’t changing the world in a way we’d all ideally like (World peace, an end to War, famine and poverty, etc…), but it is changing the world in its own way.
Videogaming has become a Colossus, with a staggering Industry price tag of $80 Billion. To put that into some kind of perspective, that’s a leap from $8 Billion, to $80 Billion in just 10 years. This is something that’s bigger than the entire Music business, and it’s currently growing faster than Hollywood.
This once small, socially inadequate, ridiculed past-time has turned into a highly respected and culture-shaping trailblazer.
Technology has moved in sync, like a severe and continious case of right-place, right-time. Allowing gaming to be even more diverse and widespread, from online to mobile. Connecting, involving, evolving and intergating people from all over. Colleges & Universities are ever more dedicated to the craft of Videogames. Governments too, have encouraged the growth of this medium by setting up tax breaks. A clear statement that gaming is doing great things for the economic world.
Did you know that:
-69% of the world’s population are gamers.
-Roughly 219 Million people play Online.
-An ongoing total of 1 Billion people have played Angry Birds.
-Call of Duty: Black Ops, in just five days, made $650 Million in sales.
From the humble Atrai 2600, to the soon-to-be “Last Gen” of the current systems, I have seen some of the most amazing feats of human creation in bringing us interactive entertainment. The next chapter of this adventure remains to be seen…I can’t imagine where gaming will be in 10-15 years time. But I hope it will still be going from strength to strength, while making us as happy about gaming for the next X amount of years to come!
All I can say is, it’s certainly changed my world.
Video games, when most people hear someone say that they play video games they instantly think of a large teenage boy, wasting away his time staring into a screen. Screaming at his TV and munching on high calorie foods. However, what they don’t see is how video games can help make people come closer together. The bonds made while gaming can be life changing. I myself usually play Xbox with a couple close friends of mine. I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say, I have more fun spending time with them while gaming rather than doing anything else with them. From the comfort of my home, I can connect online and joke around with them while trying to make a comeback victory in Madden or attempting to complete easter eggs on Borderlands.
I think the biggest thing that gaming has done to change the world is bring people with commons interests closer. With the hit of a few buttons, I can be speaking to people thousands of miles away from me. This happened last summer during a game of Halo. A few friends and I were running around not taking things too seriously, when we encountered some like minded gamers. We decided to party up and see how things went. The few hours I spent with my newfound Canadian friends were wonderful. Being an American, I hadn’t really met people from other countries that much, however through gaming I had the opportunity to discover more information about other people and their culture. After 6 months of playing almost daily with them, it’s safe to say that gaming is a brand new realm of meeting and making friends.
Sure games may just be a time intensive past time, but the time I’ve spent gaming has to be the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had with friends. The numerous inside jokes, bonds and fun times that I’ve experienced through gaming is something that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to experience had it not been for gaming. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to live these unforgettable moments.
Games can change the world buy giving people simple ways to improve themselves. Games like Brain Age and Professor Layton help to sharpen your brain power and increase your memory. Games like Rock Band 3 and Rock Smith can give you a fun way to learn an instrument and get immediate feedback.
Games are also just a great way to bond with your fellow man and make new friends with others across the globe.
In short, knowledge is power and games are a great way to give people knowledge.
In the future, our robot army will dominate the world, thanks to Call of Duty and Halo.
What can Games do to change the world? well for some games you can learn stuff from it.. Specially it they are games that have trivia,rock band, or even war games.. for Trivia when you play it there may be things that you never heard about and never knew about and by playing those games you learn something new. and for Rock band and games similar to that now they have Real guitars now.. But i remember i use to always play Billiards games Online.. Ex Yahoo Pool and i never even really played Pool before but fom always playing those games i played someone and beat them the 1st time and all from learning how to play/bank shots/trick shots from games ..
Games have to power to not only change the world but shape the world of the future. Be that through social or political, or even economical influence. Games can be made with commentary on the political situation of a given region and have an impact on that population of gamers. They can also influence social situations in many area’s depending on the message that is trying to be delivered. Not to mention the economical growth that the video game industry has on any region that studios choose to locate in.
Games have already done so much to change the world. Sure they can warp a weaker mind, that one rotten apple ruining the experience for the rest of us. But for those of us that realize where the edge of the real world and the virtual world exists, that experience is a blast. Ok, so my Fallout and Elder Scrolls characters both ate more than I did during my 500+ hours through those franchises but I lived. It’s all about the storytelling for me. Movies can show you something that you would never see. Games can let you live it. With the virtual world merging ever more with our real world, it won’t be long until we see gamers popping in and out of a Matrix type setup.
Someday we’ll be able to live, work, and sleep through our virtual world. Imagine controlling real world applications and machinery through a virtual connection all from the comfort of your home. Imagine being able to download your conscience into a android version of yourself. Sure we’ve seen the sci-fi movies showing these exact things (“Surrogates”, “Gamer”, “Virtuosity”). The human body is literally just a bunch of neurological wires sending out signals. So finding a way to connect those signals to outside applications is a logical step forward.
It’s like the Jules Verne effect. If one man hadn’t dreamt it, another may have never built it. Video games open up a whole new realm of dreaming. And the building process is now under limitless construction.
Games can do a lot to change the world. Co-op can teach people great teamwork, but to me, games are more of a getaway than anything else. I’ve suffered from severe depression for years, and I use games as my own form of therapy rather than go to a doctor, which wasn’t helping. With video games, I can escape into a fantasy world and do things that I could never do in the real world, and to me, that’s better than any medication.
I honestly wish more doctors/psychologists would consider games a way to help people get over trauma (to an extent, having a PTSD stricken soldier play Call of Duty is obviously not a good idea), but unfortunately video games are still under the stigma of being “brainless, violent, garbage” for a lot of people. Hopefully that’ll change soon, because video games can do a ton of good for people. I know they have for me.
Video games can and are changing the world as we know it. Gaming has become a regular pastime for millions of people. From frat houses to family living rooms, gaming has created ways for people to socialize and enter worlds they never before thought possible. Games such as Call of Duty and even Farmville, while not personal favorites among hardcore gamers, have helped make gaming popular among people that would never be interested otherwise.
The way we communicate and work together on these games help edge on the gaming industry. Gaming is on the tips of millions of people’s tongues. Gaming has created something that people can relate to. Just like movies and books have done for many decades, one can bring up a video game in a conversation and chances are that you can start an entire conversation based off that video game.
A personal example of this comes from my first week at college. I arrived at college quite confident but soon came to realize that the people that were around me were the exact opposite. These kids were exactly what I worked so hard to avoid and the first few weeks at college were dull because of this. When the time came for our dorm to decide on an activity to do together I recommended a game night, where I’ll supply the equipment. Everyone agreed and we set it up. I brought out my old Nintendo 64 with Goldeneye and Mario Kart 64. When I got there, everyone immediately recognized these games. We played for hours, starting with a Goldeneye tournament and then switching gears to Mario Kart. The time went by so fast and most of us became very well acquainted. Long story short, we now have game night once a month and allow anyone to come. We all bring extra televisions and now have multiple gaming systems. Guys bring their girlfriends and even get them involved. Gaming helped so many people come out of their shell at my small University, and that’s why I believe that gaming has the ability to change the world.
Can Games can do a lot to change the world?? Yes…Firstly,you have games like Page Chronica that mix side scrolling action that forces you to spell words to cast spells..The bigger the word,the stronger the spell..most kids hate going to school to learn..Now,put a game in front of said kid and make that game teach them to spell..smart!..
Next, some games have helped people break outta their shell.some people have a hard time making friends/talking to people in the real world for fear they won’t be liked,but games like WoW,Xbox live and other games have taught alot of people to be themselves and helped them in the real world to be more out going and try to meet new people. Also,Thanks to online gaming,you get to talk to and become friends with people who live no where near you. From my days of everquest to xbox live,I’ve made some great friends of people who I would never of met in real life as I live no where near them.
Lasty,gaming is becoming more acceptable in the world.Growing up, only “nerds” played video games. Now,It seems everyone is accepting of video games and the people who play them. Sure,there’s still people out there who hate games or channels like FOX trying to fill people with propaganda “video games teach kids sex and how to shoot people”.But I think Gaming is only going to get bigger and better and it’s change on the world will do way more good than any harm.
Games can change the world for the better. Whether it’s training for a job or just hanging out with friends. There is a nearly unlimited amounts of possiblities when it comes to gaming. Just take a look at how much games have evolved over the past 10 years. They started out as something you would play for fun, now they are used for almost everything.
As long as people play games in moderation, they can be very beneficial.
Short Answer: To have fun.
Over time, video games have become art as much as literature or film. Whether it be from the amazing artistic graphics of Dante’s Inferno or the mind bending puzzles of ilomilo, gaming truely is art. There’s plenty of big developers and indie companies who make and sell their art just as with any other art form. Video games CAN change the world, and i know this because they’ve already started.
What can games do to change the world? The same as books and movies. They share a story and a lesson from the director / developer. It expands our imagination and gives us freedom to do whatever we wish in a virtual world.
By passing a message of hope and fun for people.
Video Games. Interesting isn’t it? It is a form of entertainment and expression of one’s self. One may look at it and say ‘it is evil and should be exiled’, while another will say the opposite. One thing is certain is that it is already changing the world. We as humans can be attached to its message emotionally and video games can be powerful in the messages it expresses. To change the world, video games should be able to leave something meaningful to the player, whether it’s an eye-opener or able to leave the player pondering on the outside world. In hand, the players’ will be affected when they make an important decision in life or when one chooses how to approach a situation in a different light. To be able to get something useful from it, one must also consider whether it is suited towards the player. After all there is no reason of playing a game to get a demeaning thought in the end. And these are the things video games must do to change the world.
Games can change the world by portraying the artist vision, much like movies and other media. indie games developed by one person is similar to a painting which is also done by one person most of the time as far as im concern. like any media at when its new, video games are being challenged in many aspect, like if it should be accepted to society or if its art. art is always open for interpretation so therefore video game is as much art as paintings and drawings.
In a hot and stuffy, dimly lit room in the basement of MIT’s electrical engineering department, 3 students labored to create a string of code and algorithms on what was when in the 1950′s, one the most powerful mainframe computers in the world. These students, largely lost by time,Steve “Slug” Russell, Martin “Shag” Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen , created was to be the first video game in the world, Spacewar!, the rest is history as we know it, the best form of expression out there.
Ultimately, the way video games can change the world is by it’s expression of the human condition. Around the year 3200 BCE, mankind invented one of its most important inventions, the written word. What followed was the most influential and powerful methods of expression ever seen. Works of expression have represented chronological eras of ideals and people, from Hemingway and the Lost Generation to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and the Beat Generation.
As video games continue to evolve and develop into the ultimate media form, we can recognize patterns. Games have advanced by presenting emotion, wonder, and expression of the human condition in increasingly bold and breathtaking new ways. They have taken us on amazing adventures and seen things that are otherwise not possible. Video games can and will change the world through powerful representation of the spectrum of human emotion and our yearning for discovery to quell our insatiable curiosity.
Siddartha Gautama put it best when he says that life is suffering. Change is the only constant our reality will bear, and so inevitably people will suffer. Recently, for the holidays, I witnessed a presentation that gave children at a local hospital with terminal diseases a large donation of video games and consoles. Many of the games ranged from mario to pokemon and halo for the older kids. I watched in utmost curiosity after helping to set up the consoles, as the kids began to play their games. I watched as children, who just hours ago wore faces of despair, hopelessness and pain, giggled with glee at the wondrous and colorful presentation of Mario, and battled each other with their new found pokemon friends. I think for that short time, they forgot the harsh reality that was waiting for them when the console was turned off, and instead embraced the opportunity the game gave them.
The point isn’t that video games can help sick kids forget their troubles for a little while. It’s that video games help people, all people. They make them happy. I’ve never had a gaming session where there wasn’t a smile on my face, and I don’t think anyone else has either. The world is filled with too much pain and suffering to not be happy, even if for a short while, which makes them an important agent for change any day in my book. As video games continue to progress, I believe they will change the world, not with companies, sales or jobs, but by presentation and how we think about ourselves, others, and most important, our form of expression, Happiness.
Games are the best interactive medium that can connect people all over the world through a shared experience. More so than any other medium IMO and as the technology progresses and the market penetration of mobile devices, game consoles and computers reaches more and more people it will transform the entire world economically and socially. Great games can create a loyal community of people engaged around the world cooperatively or adversarially and can even go so far as to teach as much as entertain. Economically it has already surpassed mediums like movies and eventually it will dwarf physical sports with e-sports like Starcraft in South Korea. Games have already made its mark around the world and the potential is for it is utterly boundless when the next generation grows up and makes gaming even more mainstream. Basic game design and programming will be taught early in the classroom and kids in the future will be going into museums to see vintage consoles and arcade machines.
Some ideas I had about gamification of social issues
You can show any kid or even toddler a handheld or phone and they’ll want it. They can intuitively pick it up and figure out where to go and where to find the games. I’ve lived and worked abroad in two developing countries and travelled through neighboring countries and no matter where they are, kids will ask for your phone to play games on it.
Now, whether that is “good” for their development, and whether it turns them into consumer drones is another discussion, but the truth is that games are an incredibly powerful AND accessible medium.
Games are a universal medium and hopefully developers and traditional organizations like advocacy organizations, charities, and development agencies can somehow bring more games to a wider audience. Game economies and ways to make money in games – (think illegal gold farmers in WoW, selling TF2 drops – it’s a new feature now, or designing skins and mods in the Steam workshop) are a great untapped opportunity that can provide opportunities for people with little.
There are many advocacy type messages that can be delivered through games too. There was a Kickstarter request for developing a game called “iBeg” to raise awarenesss about homelessness. The next step would be to have culturally appropriate games and apps for other places and other issues.
For example there are countries with where 1 in 5 people have AIDS (though declining year after year, thankfully). There are related problems in these countries with high rates of alcoholism and people drinking themselves to death at 50. There’s high incidents of rape, domestic abuse and gender violence. All these things work together in a negative spiral. You don’t need to be a genius to see that high rates of AIDS, acceptable attitudes about violence against women, and everything fueled by an alcoholic haze is a volatile mix.
Traditional charities and advocacy organizations in these countries have done anti-HIV/alcohol/whatever campaigning through print, movies radio, music, dance and stage plays. It can definitely be done through the game medium too. There are definitely concepts and ideas which aren’t too preachy that I have in my head that can raise awareness about different issues… turning that into a simulator or a game is a big challenge, but I think people have done it roughly before and will do it better in the future.
There are so many causes out there that we can be creative enough to make culturally appropriate games without trivializing them.
This part is a lot more hazy but I think there needs to be a word about accessible technologies too. And I think that’s where mobile phones come in for these markets. There are big opportunities in the mobile games market and due to how massive the audience is and how cheap the technology can be. Even the urban poor have access to internet and cheap Android phones… I think it will be a wider and wider and more diverse audience accessing the apps marketplace… and it would be good to have something more relevant to their frame of reference.
Games can change the world in similar ways that other artistic mediums do, presenting new ideas or taking on certain issues prevalent in society. We have seen this already, particularly in the indie space, with games like Braid, Limbo, and Papo y Yo, just to name a few. And with the gaming audience growing at an incredible rate, more and more people will be receiving the messages that developers are sending out.
Games can start by being accessible to everyone across cultures. Tell a meaningful story on a universal subject matter with memorable characters that everyone can relate to. Try to offer a different perspective that transports them into a difficult scenario where they have choices to make and all of them are bad. Get the player to walk in someone else’s shoes to understand their motivations and hopefully open one’s eyes to be more tolerant and understanding of his or her situation. Craft a thoughtful universal narrative that can be retold interactively to bridge the vast gaps between separate entities holding different beliefs and ideas. Like a good book the gamer should reach the end credits with a deep sense of satisfaction but also a strong desire to jump back into their virtual shoes and learn more.
Being big on gaming in a job where not many people are into it let’s me see the learning potential of gaming. I work in a school, and have seen first hand the benefit gaming can have on children and their enjoyment while learning.
There has been a sizeable take-up recently of teachers using Minecraft in education. I have yet to see this in action, but from what I have seen it looks great. I had an idea a couple of years back that I would get into XNA myself and try writing some educational games for the Indie channel. Of course I haven’t been able to spend the time I needed to get to grips with XNA and C#. I am currently looking at simple game engines that I can use to get the kids learning basic game creation.
Long story short, education can be ‘disguised’ as gaming, and gaming gets kids involved and excited. So gaming has an important role in shaping our kids futures.
First of all, games are considered as inappropriate or immature way of entertainment among some people. Unfortunately, these guys obviously never played any game, or, they have, but had bad luck in choosing. These days, games offer much more than some movies can: amazing orchestral music, logic puzzles, different languages, history, adrenaline gameplay and so on. And yes, here is the word PLAY. It basically means that games are interactive, while movies on the other hand are passive forms of entertainment. Gaming developers are also trying to involve difficult social problems,and are trying to convince people that things like race, sexuality or religion do not make us worse or different from others and judging by these standards is barbaric. And, of course, games help us forget our everyday problems and allow us to be heroes, soldiers, princesses, mages, ninjas, bastards or anything else we always wanted to be or wanted to do. In other words, I love games. :)
Games change the world by making everyday life seem new and exciting. They can transport you to a different realm, where you can temporarily live a different life and be a different person. They can give hope to people, or at least take their mind off of the current problems they have in their life.
Games allow a person to accomplish certain goals. And when they meet those goals, their spirits are lifted and their day is a little brighter. I know when I accomplish something in a game that I have really been working towards, I am very pleased that I was able to. Doing that makes the rest of my day happier. And it helps me to put escape from the real world that I find myself living in.
Games change the world by allowing everyone of any age and background to be able to accomplish something in their life which removes them from whatever bad or unpleasant circumstances they may be living in. And by having bright spots in a person’s life, that can help change their overall view of the world they live in. That can help ignite hope in them to be able to get out of any unpleasant situation they may find themselves in. Because if they can accomplish something, no matter how large or small, in a game… they can also do the same in any situation they may face in life.
Video games can indeed change the world, much in the same way prior media (books, movies, etc.) have done: through the dissemination of ideas.
How many examples do we have of things imagined and placed on the page or screen that were impossible and outlandish in their day, but later came to be? Those with the ideas aren’t always capable of bringing those ideas to fruition. And those capable of bringing an idea to life may not have had the vision to imagine it in the first place. Bridging these two groups, the artists and the engineers, is crucial for the imagined to become reality.
If you’re ever presented with the opportunity, ask of someone who recently created an amazing technology where they first got their idea. I would be willing to bet more than one would respond with the name of a science fiction author or the title of a book or comic. And someday soon, if not already, someone will credit a video game as their muse.
Games can be used to teach history in a radical new way or at least spark an interest in the subject. The earliest one I can remember playing was called Oregon Trail. I learned about the pioneers, and the many hardships people faced on the long and perilous journey west and it’s also where I was first learned about dysentery and a host of other fatal diseases. Later in life games like Civilization and Age of Empires sparked my interest in world history and more specifically a passion in medieval siege weaponry like trebuchets and ballistas. Games have opened the door to so many subjects that I would have otherwise been blind to early in my life.
Games really can change the world : if we put criminals in a concealed room where they have no choice but to play shitty girly games like Imagine Babyz or Cooking Mama for days, there would only benefit : either they would change into some nice person who only wants to do good and be gentle to everyone, or they would end up killing themselves. Either way, it would be a happy ending for society, and there would be rainbows and unicorns everywhere, and…
Oh sorry, gotta go see my therapist now.
What can games do to change the world?
Games. They have existed since the very beginning of recorded history. Scholars have pondered upon the origin of the first incarnation of games through examining and studying cave drawings and fossils, and have thus far discovered indications of many prehistoric forms of games. Through deductions based on habits and intelligent levels, they believed that the purpose of the invention of games by the early humans was to use it as stress relievers, to determine the winner of an event, or simply to pass time. By using a combination of basic intelligence and simple imagination, those early humans were able to come up with competitive, community-engaging games, with just the basic materials available at their disposal. Games that required using their bodies to hop and jump, or throwing rocks and pebbles accurately onto a target square in the playing field; these games were pretty common in peaceful and quiet times. During herd migrations when one tribe meets another, these games would be passed on. And thus began the arrival of games.
As time goes on and civilizations began to develop, so did games. Humans became more intelligent through experience in building their cities and tools, and applied that to the development of games. Therefore, games became more complex in terms of rules and appearance, and what was once purely dependent on physical skills for winning now began to depend on their intelligence as well. With the advent of this new version of games, played primarily with a wooden board and stone pieces, new audiences were attracted. People who were weak in physical games now had an opportunity to increase their reputation through these board games. Winners of those games were celebrated in their respective circles, and the acknowledgment and admiration of those skills coming from the spectators, provided them with further motivation to excel. That is true not only for the winners, but also for the spectators and other participants.
As people trained themselves physically and mentally, they also developed their fundamental skills at the same time. These skills were then unknowingly applied back into other activities such as their jobs, which helped them improved on their performances. As more people experienced this occurrence, they realized that games were a no-risk method of increasing their skills, which could be easily applicable in some other aspects of their life.
After constant practicing, people were soon bored with those games. Their desires to contribute towards their passions allowed them to build bigger and better games by using their own imaginations, experiences and technical skills, resulting in games that were revered as a national sport. These took place in huge arenas that gathered tens of thousands of spectators, and attracted competitors from all over the nation, and slowly, from all over the world. People laughed and cried together in harmony. A world was connected through a common love for games.
With the successes of these games, the people who were responsible discovered that there is an appreciation for their talents in games developing. And thus, they continued to develop games as an occupation instead of just as a hobby. With each success, they were able to build up their funds and hire artists to beautify their products. The high quality of the arts accompanying these games gave rise to appreciation of their artistic talents from people who otherwise would not have bothered. In time, great music and magnificent stories were written and featured in the games, and the respective creators earned attentions in their other works as well.
For such a simple idea, it is a miracle how much the world has changed through it.
Reference: http://www.toysperiod.com/blog/games/a-brief-history-of-ancient-games/
Games can change the world by bringing people from all walks of life together, fostering a spirit of communication and cooperation. Games can be used to predict likely outcomes and to offer possible solutions to real-world problems.
Games have the benefit over movies and books of being an interactive medium. While a game-creator can craft a game in such a way to elicit a specific response from a gamer, each person will experience it or relate to it in a different way. While most games tend to be tight narrative experiences, I find that the most interesting ones are more open-ended and light on overt narration.
When I think back to a game like ICO, where the spoken language is non-earthly and never translated, I think of how interesting it must be for gamers across the globe to play it. With no language barrier in place, you can convey ideas and evoke emotions though interaction alone. In ICO, you become immediately aware that you need to protect something in need, and it brings forth a feeling of altruism that some may not have the chance to express much in the “real world”. I believe that this can be very transformative, and it is why many people from around the world felt attached to ICO, allowing it to develop a very strong cult following.
Games allow people of all ages, beliefs and cultures to interactively experience something instead of merely watching or reading it. It is this interaction that personalizes the medium and gives it a greater meaning to many. While humans can be very provincial and xenophobic at times, it is shared experiences and commonalities that have the power to join us. It sounds cliché, but I believe that if we can share something without language and cultural barriers, we will be better prepared to look beyond our superficial differences.
This is why I believe games can, and will, change the world.
What can games do to change the world?”
Video games can change the world, in which there may be billions of possibilities. The two ways video games can change the world would be that they can easily help educate the world, and more hygienic approaches to everyday surgeries and other small usages. By use of the Wii remote, Johny Lee demonstrates how easy and cheap life could be with the inclusion of Wii Remotes:
http://www.ted.com/talks/johnny_lee_demos_wii_remote_hacks.html
I will secondly explain that Kinect can help surgeons with aneurysm procedures, where they cannot risk infecting their patients with outside bacteria, so they use the Kinect’s motion sensing technology to help look at images without touching other objects:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57445827-76/surgeons-use-kinect-tech-during-aneurysm-procedures/
If these two game technology in the present day can change so much in this lifetime, imagine what could happen 10 years from now? The possibilities will be endless.
The main way I believe video games would help change the world is through helping people to learn. This can be done through education or hands on training. Technology is advanced to such to such a level that we can relive and view history through a video game. The main example being Assassin’s Creed III, although a fiction game, it gave players an accurate virtual playground where they could learn about American history. I can definitely see video games being used more in the future to give accurate detailed history lessons through discovery of a virtual world. Video games can also be used to help people to learn through hands on training. I remember 16 years ago, that I first learned how to type on a computer through a video game. It made the learning process of how to type very fun (getting high scores) and at same time it helped me to learn in a time efficient manner. Another example of how video games can be used as a training tool would be Nintendo Wiis being used to help train surgeons to perform better in operations. It is amazing how video games can be used as a training tool to help save lives.
I believe that the key to changing the world to a better place is through increased learning and education. I feel as though video games would make a great tool to ease the process to help more people to learn how to perform specific tasks or through being educated in their studies.
Username: DarkDusk
Subject: What can games do to change the world?
Games. They have existed since the very beginning of recorded history. Scholars have pondered upon the origin of the first incarnation of games through examining and studying cave drawings and fossils, and have thus far discovered indications of many prehistoric forms of games. Through deductions based on habits and intelligent levels, they believed that the purpose of the invention of games by the early humans was to use it as stress relievers, to determine the winner of an event, or simply to pass time. By using a combination of basic intelligence and simple imagination, those early humans were able to come up with competitive, community-engaging games, with just the basic materials available at their disposal. Games that required using their bodies to hop and jump, or throwing rocks and pebbles accurately onto a target square in the playing field; these games were pretty common in peaceful and quiet times. During herd migrations when one tribe meets another, these games would be passed on. And thus began the arrival of games.
As time goes on and civilizations began to develop, so did games. Humans became more intelligent through experience in building their cities and tools, and applied that to the development of games. Therefore, games became more complex in terms of rules and appearance, and what was once purely dependent on physical skills for winning now began to depend on their intelligence as well. With the advent of this new version of games, played primarily with a wooden board and stone pieces, new audiences were attracted. People who were weak in physical games now had an opportunity to increase their reputation through these board games. Winners of those games were celebrated in their respective circles, and the acknowledgment and admiration of those skills coming from the spectators, provided them with further motivation to excel. That is true not only for the winners, but also for the spectators and other participants.
As people trained themselves physically and mentally, they also developed their fundamental skills at the same time. These skills were then unknowingly applied back into other activities such as their jobs, which helped them improved on their performances. As more people experienced this occurrence, they realized that games were a no-risk method of increasing their skills, which could be easily applicable in some other aspects of their life.
After constant practicing, people were soon bored with those games. Their desires to contribute towards their passions allowed them to build bigger and better games by using their own imaginations, experiences and technical skills, resulting in games that were revered as a national sport. These took place in huge arenas that gathered tens of thousands of spectators, and attracted competitors from all over the nation, and slowly, from all over the world. People laughed and cried together in harmony. A world was connected through a common love for games.
With the successes of these games, the people who were responsible discovered that there is an appreciation for their talents in games developing. And thus, they continued to develop games as an occupation instead of just as a hobby. With each success, they were able to build up their funds and hire artists to beautify their products. The high quality of the arts accompanying these games gave rise to appreciation of their artistic talents from people who otherwise would not have bothered. In time, great music and magnificent stories were written and featured in the games, and the respective creators earned attentions in their other works as well.
For such a simple idea, it is a miracle how much the world has changed through it.
Reference: http://www.toysperiod.com/blog/games/a-brief-history-of-ancient-games/
Games can change the world by giving people the chance to come together and experience something new. I feel that the world is becoming a more hectic and destructive place. Video games can be used as a tool to bring people together, something that is greatly missing in today’s day and age. It can give people who can be seen as completely different the chance to experience and share a common bond and that is their love of video games. With people enjoying great games, it gives people a chance experience something great together, regardless of their gender, age, and ethnicity. Video games can build connections between people. I believe the more connections there are in this world, the better chances of the world becoming a greater place away from becoming overly destructive.
Video games change the world through creative inspiration. Playing games such as Final Fantasy VII and Legend of Dragoon as a kid filled my head with all sorts of story ideas and really got my creative juices flowing. Playing an RPG is akin to reading a book in many cases because there is so much dialogue and description. It should come as no surprise to learn that I have since become a writer. Gaming helped to put me on my career path.
Video games also hone the player’s analytical skills. Whether it is determining what equipment is best for your style of play in an RPG, solving puzzles in a puzzle game, or establishing map control in a first-person shooter, it requires problem solving and critical thinking. These are abilities that you will need to succeed in the workplace later in life (or even now depending on how old are you are). Video games, especially ones played online competitively, force people to think outside of the box and solve problems in ways they never otherwise would have imagined.
Another way that video games change the world is by connecting people online. Back in the PlayStation 2 days, my friends and I would rush home from school to get on SOCOM II because we were part of a clan. There were other people out there in the world that counted on us to always be online and play in clan matches. I have friends who live in countries all around the world because of gaming. During everyday life, I’m just a normal person. But when I get online I am someone who is needed and who is counted on.
Winning gives a sense of accomplishment. Like the character Jeremy from Pure Pwnage pointed out in one episode of the web series, just because something is online doesn’t make it any less real. Gaming in of itself is a skill.
Video games have already made a large change in the world today. This can be seen with something as simple as motion controls. Case in point, the Wii. When launched it was targeting a totally different demographic than most other systems: the non-gamer. Medically this also has a significant impact. At my place of work, there is an acute rehab wing. This is for people who stay in the hospital that are engaged in physical, occupation, or speech therapy. However, for this I will focus on the physical therapy or PT. Each day walking by the gym they have, I see a Wii set up and people active playing it. Moving with the game and little by little increasing their range of motion, stamina, or even just their attitude. Seeing people who are typically not interested in video games converge around the console is a welcome sign of the time to the point. Video games are no longer just for playing games. While I’m sure that Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft, set out to revolutionize healthcare in particular, their impact is significant enough that I have noticed video games creep into other areas of my industry. It was suggested in a study that surgeons who play video games before a surgical procedure are less likely to make mistakes during surgery due to ‘warming up’ before hand (reference). While this is only a small example of what games are capable of in the world of medicine, there are still a world of possibilities that could be opened for patients. Physical therapy is a start but what about using the Microsoft Kinect for speech therapy? Or what if we used pong for gauging reaction times? The possibilities are there but until games can be more accepted as more than just a form of entertainment, they will only be regarded as such.
Gaming has always been a huge part of my life. Ever since the age of 3, I have been playing videogames. I know there is no way to prove this, but I feel that they have helped me with a lot of skills through life. Anything from reaction time, to quick thinking, to keeping a beat; games have helped develop these skills. Not only do games help us in ways such as this, they are also quite enjoyable. It’s rare for one to find a method of positive development that is as fun as playing videogames. I wish more people would give gaming a shot instead of just writing it off as a worthless hobby or waste of time. If more people were open to gaming, I think the world would definitely be a better place.
Stimulate your mind. Sharpen your skills. Play videogames!
Video games can change the world by being educational as well as teaching values and important goals in life. Video games are unique from other mediums because we are active participants, making video games interactive than movies or books. Games like Brain Training can help people improve people’s thinking and other edutainment software can of course help supplement education programs. Video games can also be used for training like driver’s training or even military. Games can improve the abilities of surgeons by fine tuning their hand coordination. Video games can also bring people together through local play or multiplayer. No doubt that many friendships have been forged over the years just through video games. Video games can change the world through so many means. The possibilities are endless.
Good gaming puts you in a dilemma, or literally “twin problem”, and solving both gains you victory. Multiplayer games can each us ways to better ourselves through competition and better society through cooperation. Games can teach us how to act in a situation by reading the text of a NPC, or can show how well we react to something like Kaboom. Games teach sacrifice, as in: Should you get the easy reward now or save up or a bigger reward? (Ask any RPG player.) Sometimes games teach us not too always attack, like Link and the chickens, but put timers in fighting games to say you must attack eventually or else risk losing by judgement. Game programers speak a language all their own, the more Sanscrit, the more powerful, all to convey the universal human language. The best games can be basically explained on one sheet of paper but teach something new when playing against a new opponent. Finally with Xbox Live, you can turn an in-game enemy into an off-game friend. Some good games emphasize one aspect, wile others of the great games put twin opposites in yin and yang harmony. Gaming is balance, even between extremes and moderation. Gaming is life.
Here’s a link to my entry, ’cause my post didn’t appear even after trying a few times with different accounts. Hope that this still counts.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?ttfypdlbzrqqptc
DarkDusk
All Dec 15 entries should be disqualified the end was suppose to be on the 14th
I emailed and posted on the 13th, but it doesn’t show up at all. What would you suggest be done about that?
You should’ve said something before the contest ended.
@bob101910
You made it sound like I didn’t. Don’t worry. I already did via email on the 14th. I thought it was just pending for moderation, but I guess it was regarded as spam. Anyway, it’s up to them if they want to make me an exception. I’ve done my part and I’m fairly confident in their judgement.