Games Invade Reality
I love to play video games. I live a very busy life (as it seems we all do these days) and the bit of extra time I can scrape together every week or so often falls to playing video games. While I'm not a big fan of first person shooters (I played these games for a few years, but now I think they're boring), besides trying to beat my computer at chess, I try to find games that make me think, give me the freedom to do things that I want, and give me freedom to explore.
Mainly, I like games games let me be someone else, or somewhere else, or games they let me try on roles that aren't possible otherwise. This is well known. It is like wearing a mask to a ball. We are given more freedom in electronic spaces to try things that would otherwise be impossible.
Lately, games and society have been reaching a crossroads. Games as experimental spaces, places to look at information on alternate ways, to have experiences otherwise not possible, and as spaces to take on new roles have been reaching a crossroads.
It is definitely possible that I stand to be corrected, but I believe that America's Army, the virtual recruiting tool of the U.S. Army was one of the first video games that was produced to have an impact on reality. While it definitely had all of the characteristics of a game, this electronic space let players take on alternate roles and experiment in ways not possible in reality for most people. Without tracing the entire history of the genre, moving from this game through Everquest and World of Warcraft, millions of gamers are now able to experience an alternate life. I also think that online spaces such as Eve Online, The Sims, and now Second Life are another step in this evolution. Online spaces that are not meant to be games in the traditional sense of providing tasks for players to complete in order to score points, gain resources, etc. They are the beginning of Neal Stephenson's metaverse from the novel Snow Crash.
I believe the impact of these spaces on education will be massive. They are access points for all types of streaming multimedia, allowing users to chat with others, watch videos and listen to audio that is being streamed in from "the outside." There are already countless events held withing Second Life. Lectures by top thinkers such as Cory Doctorow and Larry Lessig where people can simply stroll down to the virtual auditorium and listen.
Once again, the companies understand this. Second Life, always restricted to people 18, has had a teen version for almost a year. Imagine the possibilities of putting kids together from across the globe in virtual spaces like these. Second language learning opportunities don't come any more powerful then this.
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