Orson Scott Card on Games

RexDart writes "Author Orson Scott Card has published an essay on modern gaming at the Ornery American site. Titled Brain Training, the piece touches on many points in the ongoing debate on videogames. While Card concedes that 'there are brutally violent games' and that games are addictive, he argues that videogames and games in general are excellent brain-stretching exercises, and expands from that into intentional mental workouts as a lifestyle and calling."

Comments

Super Smash Brothers Melee

[Shadow Wrought]

Just last night as I was playing SSBM with my stepson, I was thinking, "Wow this is really helping him prepare for the world. I wish I had something like this growing up, instead of Combat, Adventure, and Pitfall with their pathetic graphics on a 2600. I probably would have been more successful."

Well, actually I wasn't. But I did think it was a fun way to relax and spend time with my stepson. Maybe it's a male thing, but it is always easier for fathers and sons to spend time together when they are doing something. For my dad and I it was 1 on 1 basketball. Previous generations had fishing and gathering fireflys. For us, it's gaming. Whatever works, use it;-)

Could we possibly be overthinking these "issues" with gaming?

"The Downside"

[Chi Hsuan Men]

Overall, I thought the article was very good; however, I was tripped up on "The Downside" section. From TFA:

But most games are not violent. Even if they are war-themed, they're about as violent as playing chess -- which is also a war game. Most games have no violence at all, and some -- especially online multi-player games -- are highly social and require learning the ability to cooperate and compromise.

I might be reading this wrong; however, it seems that Orson Scott Card is making a distinction between violent games (including war-themed games, like Battlefied 2 and Call of Duty) and online multi-player games (World of Warcraft and Puzzle Pirates).

I think Orson Scott Card is making a faux pas by not mentioning that some online multiplayer games are violent AND require learning the ability to cooperate and compromise, along with allowing an indvidual to "stretch their brain".

My favorite online FPS du-jour at the moment is Battlefield 2. Not being in a clan, I am subject to the feast or famine of public servers when it comes to individuals who decide to play as a team in squad and those who decide THEY want to fly the helicopter, so when you decide to get in, they team kill you with C4; however, I've played the game enough to realize that one squad which is organized and skilled, can win a map for a team.

In addition, Battlefield 2, through the multiple class system, allows you to utilize multiple tools in order outsmart your enemy.

Some would consider Battlefield 2 a "murder simulator" and others would begrudge the game because it makes war "appealing"; however, beyond those labels is a game that forces individuals to work together in order to achieve a goal and use their brain and their skill in order to outsmart opponents.