Positive effects of Video Games

We talked in class about the postive and negative effects of video games, but I think it’s easier to be wow’ed by the negative impacts since so many extreme things, like death, have happened as a result of game playing. With that in mind, I wanted to show some TED Talks I’ve seen about the positive effects that games can have:

Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world | Video on TED.com.

Jane McGonigal: The game that can give you 10 extra years of life | Video on TED.com.

Both of these talks are presented by game developer Jane McGonigal. If you’re unfamiliar with TED Talks, their motto is “Ideas Worth Spreading” What they do is they give experts of a wide variety of fields the chance to spread their ideas to the scientific and academic community by presenting at scheduled conferences, which are then recorded and can be watched by anyone online.

In the first video, McGonigal talks about what positive effects video games have on people and how we can utilize them to create a better reality. In the second video, she describes her idea for a personal improvement game, “SuperBetter” which is based off of the methods she used to overcome depression. I thought these talks were very cool when I watched them, and wanted to share them with you guys.

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3 Responses to Positive effects of Video Games

  1. Kirsten Mary Winkeler says:

    I’m really glad to see someone promoting the positive effects of gaming. As we all know, the media tends to portray gaming as an extremely negative thing. It’s good to know that gamers are in fact learning important positive skills through games.

    I always find it really interesting when games are used beyond entertainment purposes. It’s amazing that a game can used to help someone overcome an emotional, mental or even physical problem. This shows that games aren’t just for mindless amusement, but they can actually help people and have actual positive results.

  2. Bart Pursel says:

    McGonigal spoke last year at our annual teaching and learning with technology conference (video might be busted unfortunately):
    http://symposium.tlt.psu.edu/mcgonigal/

    I had a chance to meet with her for a few hours and she’s certainly got some interesting ideas. SupperBetter actually helped a colleague here recover from a concussion, turning it into something like a game. We’ll be talking about these types of games next week in class.

  3. Ryan Douglas Mcnair says:

    First off TED Talks are awesome. Secondly, I too like these examples of using gaming as a positive influence. It is easy to see certain negative influences games can have, however games are what you make them. When designed for education or overcoming depression, games are able to captivate audiences in extremely positive ways. Although I too enjoy the occasional mindless game, I am very glad to see the power of games being used in thought-provoking or therapeutic ways. Neat videos and I look forward to seeing the expansion of games with a purpose in the upcoming years.

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