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Can video games be educational?
(by Caleb Rumley - April 23, 2008)
I think that video games have a bad reputation – they started off as nothing more than tiny time wasters like Pac-Man and Pong, and have kept the same reputation with a lot of people for years. For those who have been disconnected with video games – those who think of Atari before Xbox – do you still think that video games are still completely mindless tests of skill? Because, believe it or not, some of the latest games can help engage the mind and maybe even help you learn a thing or two.
I’ve reviewed several games in the past few years that I think are of at least some educational value. The most obvious would be Nintendo’s Brain Training for the DS. Not only does it get your brain working on simple, fast-paced exercises, but Nintendo claims that the game actually gets your brain into higher gears. It hasn’t actually been proven that Brain Age helps you become a smarter person, but the basic arithmetic drills and fun exercises are a good way to have fun and stretch your mind a little bit.
But you really have to look past the obvious to find the educational values in today’s games. Two weeks ago I reviewed a game called Advance Wars: Dual Strike. The gameplay of Advance Wars is similar to chess, but almost more complicated, with different terrains, units, and lots of statistics. When playing multi-player battles (which I must win!) it’s important to out-think your opponent and try to predict his moves. Surprisingly, I found myself in a battle of wits against my best friend, which thankfully ended in my steamrolling all of his tanks because of my superior strategy.
But beyond strategy games there are several other titles that can get a gamer’s brain in gear. I know of several RPG games that are basically the equivalent of reading a book. The deep stories in games from the Final Fantasy series have always been full of dialogue that is just as much fun to read as the game is to play. Games like Mass Effect are also known to have a large amount of reading and dialogue, but from the cover you would never think about how much reading you actually have to do in the game.
Obviously, the puzzle genre can really work your brain as well. Games like Picross on the DS provide a solid brain workout that can be just as tough as the 5-Star Sudoku puzzles in the newspaper. And more recently released is Nintendo’s Professor Layton. This DS puzzler received great grades from Electronic Gaming Monthly, and was mentioned in the magazine for making the entire editorial staff feel like fools after being stumped by the deceptively difficult puzzles.
Games have come a long way from Pitfall, and the newest generation of games has at least some education merit. Sure, it might not be as good as reading a book, but to say that video games have no educational value is just wrong. Games like Brain Age have bridged the gap between studying and play, and as more and more educational games come out, learning and playing will be almost synonymous.
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