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Seven Games of Highly Effective People

Posted by Zonk on from the actualization-via-mario dept.

edwilli writes "There is an interesting piece on the Windows XP site entitled The Seven Games of Highly Effective People. It's a look at how games can improve your living and social skills, while still not allowing you to have a life. " While the piece itself is pretty fluffy, he links to Got Game?, a book about how gamers are shaping business. For more on this, check out Social Effects of Electronic Interactive Games, and this page of research papers compiled by The ESA.

3 of 18 comments (clear)

  1. except for that time-sink factor... by ghostlibrary · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think the paper misses the time-sink factor. Yes, Rise of Nations can hone skills, but when you play it until 3am and miss your 8am meeting because of it, that's not terribly effective.

    Similarly, I think Tetris is responsible for more lost productivity than any other single cause.

    I'm dubious about touting our game-playing as a plus while applying for jobs, for similar reasons.

    It's a fine line between proving and honing skills, and 'wasting' time using those skills instead of earning almighty dollars. How do you get good at a game without spending lots of otherwise productive time?

    Only so far you can 'hone the saw', to steal from Covey.

    --
    A.
  2. Doom indeed... by Gallvs · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... helps you sharpening the saw

  3. Wrong Seven Games by uncoolcentral · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Mr. Prensky clearly didn't have much of an "effective" focus group if those MicroSoft games and time-sinkers are supposed to represent... anything other than a thinly veiled ad.

    I'd load the list with real time strategy titles, and toss in a few turn-based, with *maybe* a couple of other genres to round it out. (Say maybe a FPS and a RPG.)

    What would you put on your list?