But there are some points that you may want to consider. Games are not just entertainment. Games are advanced systems that modify a player’s beliefs, their views of the world, and the behaviors they exercise in that world. They deal with complex realities and teach meaningful lessons that can be transferred into a player’s real life. Without even realizing it, a player excepts the developers concept of realty and makes it apart of his.

This is not true for all games. Basic and primitive games that have little educational value and are quickly labeled as a “waste of time” or “just entertainment”. This is simply because the core experience of the game is to test reaction speed or basic problem solving skills and the like.

However, this whole concept shines true when you examine some of the more complex games. Let’s take for example World of Warcraft, a massive multiply player online game. On the surface you could say that players are having the same experience over and over again. This, one may say, has no real value. Not so when you consider the fact that they are playing with other people. This brings in social dynamics, team work, organizational skills, resource management, time management and much more. These all have real world value that can be put to use in business and in personal lives.

Games are fast becoming a medium through which social change is nurtured. Take for example Peacemaker, a game that was developed to facilitate awareness and help bring about change in the middle east. It brings the player into the conflict and makes them personally responsible for getting the outcome that their country desires. The player is faced with complex issues, juggling the wants and needs of several different groups, many of them conflicting. What do you think a player will take away from a game like this?

Gaming as an intellectual platform from which people express complex thoughts, ideas, and concepts hasn’t been fully realized due to the accessibility of the medium both on a consumer and creative end. This fact is quickly changing. As noted above, Facebook games are gaining in popularity. The internet as a platform is making the number of possible consumers rise to levels just unreachable years ago. Advancements in software allows wider access to game development than ever before. More people are able to enter into the medium without having a “professional” level of training, which increases the number of developers and decreases the costs. We are and will be seeing more casual developers enter the field.

Just like stated above games are in the infancy, there is so much that can be accomplished through this medium. It is up to you to help make the future of gaming, where do you want to take it?

adult oriented games have existed for like ever

but he does have some nice ideas

One wish of mine, however, is that just as there are mainstream films like Hurt Locker which make you think, there would be mainstream (not utilities or edutainment) games as well.

Of course, I’ll be doing a design analysis of Heavy Rain soon…:-)

You can read serious books for intellectual nourishment, and still play games for fun. Fun is good. Don’t look down on fun. Super Mario Bros. is not inferior to Animal Farm. They are two different things. Having both of them adds richness to life. I don’t see why games should try to not be games.

The analogy to books and movies doesn’t really work. If you want, compare software in general to books and movies. Then you will see that software is already doing many things, including educating and enlightening people in ways that non-interactive media cannot. Video games are one subset of software, which serve the purpose of entertainment.

If it is not doing what a game does, then it not a game. It is something else, something which does not make actual games any better or worse.

And I have to tell you that this kind of discussion I’m having with myself for some time – and after reading your post and putting my ideas together, it just make me think more about the role of games on our lifes.

I’ve even posted a small discussion at my site, entitled “Are videogames a lost of time?” (in portuguese), in which I wrote some of my own visions about gaming and why I and many people like them.

In an average, gaming is just for fun. But I think it can be more than that, more than just entertainment. Let’s wait and see what games will be on the future – because today they’re just the baby brother.

I hadn’t heard of Dwarf Fortress, I’ll have to check it out.

Thanks for the response!

I am far too old to have played Super Mario Brothers as a child, and I’m sure I’d be nearly as inept as your mother with a controller. It’s different when you didn’t grow up with this stuff. I love computer games, but I’m really bad at “real-time” combat. I mean, I think Mount&Blade is great fun, but you wouldn’t believe how bad I am at it. I’m sure it would be hilarious to see me play.

But you know, it might be that your Mom could beat your pants off in pinochle. Maybe not. I can’t stand card games myself. But you understand what I’m getting at, I hope. You’re mistaking particular kinds of games for games in general.

Personally, I don’t care if games become a “respectable medium.” But although entertainment is the basic point, games have always been teaching tools, too, at least for children. We need to take more advantage of that. We play games because we want to, because they’re fun. Wouldn’t it be great if we could learn something at the same time?

And games could be great motivators for all sorts of things. Or they could unleash our creative side – for ALL of us. Books and movies tell a story created by someone else. Games could allow us to create our own stories (within the specific framework – setting, history, rules, NPCs, etc. – created by the developer). Dwarf Fortress is one of the games leading the way in this, which I actually think might be the future of gaming.