While demand for better games may drive the development of better hardware, there are other applications that can and do drive the improvement in technology. ONE
Game HW & SW developers may be players as well, but they represent a small minority of that population. I did not think JonKatz was claiming that gaming improved the creative capabilities of just the developers. He seemed to be saying that the majority of the players themselves somehow benefited in terms of their creativity. Does it affect all or just the elite who do the development? TWO
You may believe that games help with strategic thinking and relieve stress. I may believe that some games help generate automatic responses along narrow paths and generate stress. The point is that the article did not give any evidence that the gaming activity itself generates creativity in the player. Pavlov's dog was not a scientist even though he was a part of the experiment. THREE
This article reads more like an election speech than an essay written to elicit new thoughts. You pose the question - "who in our culture is preparing for the radical changes in imagination about to be unleashed?"
In reply, I ask what radical changes in imagination have been unleashed by the last ten years of game play?
There are benefits when we can look at more sophisticated home computers and graphics chips that were (in part) developed to meet the needs of gamers. The creativity and imagination unleashed have been from the designers and developers - not the players. What evidence is there that playing these games benefits the player in any way.
The phrase "get a life" came into use for people such as these.
Slashdot Mirror
Game HW & SW developers may be players as well, but they represent a small minority of that population. I did not think JonKatz was claiming that gaming improved the creative capabilities of just the developers. He seemed to be saying that the majority of the players themselves somehow benefited in terms of their creativity. Does it affect all or just the elite who do the development? TWO
You may believe that games help with strategic thinking and relieve stress. I may believe that some games help generate automatic responses along narrow paths and generate stress. The point is that the article did not give any evidence that the gaming activity itself generates creativity in the player. Pavlov's dog was not a scientist even though he was a part of the experiment. THREE
This article reads more like an election speech than an essay written to elicit new thoughts. You pose the question - "who in our culture is preparing for the radical changes in imagination about to be unleashed?" In reply, I ask what radical changes in imagination have been unleashed by the last ten years of game play? There are benefits when we can look at more sophisticated home computers and graphics chips that were (in part) developed to meet the needs of gamers. The creativity and imagination unleashed have been from the designers and developers - not the players. What evidence is there that playing these games benefits the player in any way. The phrase "get a life" came into use for people such as these.