The Power of Video Games in Academia

The Power of Video Games in Academia

The Power of Video Games in Academia

Today, mainstream media accepts video games as a part of most young adult's lives. Even with this reluctant acceptance, there is still opposition and taboo concerning video games in certain circumstances. A recent example is the Supreme Court hearing over the effects of violent video games on minors and if a law, banning the sale of mature rated video games to minors is constitutional. In addition, many high schools that are somewhat technologically advanced are banning games and their related sites. Although those examples are only one side of the coin, an example of the good video games can do are simulators the military uses to teach military personal certain training exercises and combat readiness. However, in schools, video games are often taboo and can provoke controversy or dissent.

The games industry today releases thousands of titles every year, from AAA titles to independent games. These games are equally as diverse as the groups making them, from historically based war games, such as Call of Duty, to works of conceptual art, such as Flower. As the industry evolves and higher level video games funnel from the developers creative mind to the gamer's console, the ability to learn through these games increases. The idea of bringing game mechanics into real life tasks is "Gamification," but that only serves to take ideas from one source and implement them elsewhere without fixing the nature of the issue. With the exposure to the internet, social media websites, blogs, YouTube, Facebook, et al. high school children lose interest in school subjects very quickly if the teachers do not give them reason to remain interested. There is where video games could bridge the gap between academic learning and the people trying to learn.

Many video games subtly use tangential learning to tease the subconscious of the player, driving them to seek out more knowledge about a subject in the game. An example is the Assassin's Creed series. During the second game, the player is a young assassin in Renaissance Italy. The narrative pushes the player through many true events, such as the corruption of the Borgia and conversing with Leonardo Di Vinci concerning his inventions. The game pushes players to surround themselves with more knowledge about the Borgia, Italian history, and other branching topics. Through the interactive nature of video games, the player plays the message, rather than having it told to them through traditional learning practices. The game is more than just the sum of its parts; members of academia cannot overlook the possibilities of using it to stimulate students.

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