Spring Break
Only one course on video games not enough
Scott Dennis
Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: Forum
Long have I waited for Oregon State to offer courses in two subjects: traditional animation and video games. So you can guess how delighted I was when I read that OSU would soon be offering a class entitled "The Meaning of Video Games." Oh happy day; OSU is finally acknowledging that we're in the 21st century.
That's a bit of a hyperbole, but still. In 2007 the video game industry out-grossed the movies for the first time, with software sales of $9.5 billion. According to a 2008 Investment U article, 68 percent of U.S. households have people who play computer or video games. Yet despite the video game industry's prominent place in society, we now have but one class devoted to the subject.
There seems to be a common perception among those who don't play video games that such pastimes are nothing but frivolous distractions. Most colleges tend to take this view, and in doing so deprive students of a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the entertainment enterprise they take part in every day.
Though video games have a reputation for being violent and mind-numbing, you'll find that the most popular are nothing of the sort. Take Gamespot's 1999 "Strategy Game of the Year" winner "Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings." A 2004 eSchool News article praised AOE2 for getting kids interested in history. Likewise, a 2002 study undertaken by the group Teacher Evaluating Educational Multimedia concluded that simulation games such as AOE2 helped develop children's strategic thinking and planning skills.
Another advantage of history-based strategy games like AOE2 is that players learn about the contingent nature of history. A "World History Connected" article by Aaron Whelchel states that civilization-building games benefit students by eliminating a teleological understanding of history.
According to the article, students often believe that the course of history happened because there was no alternative outcome to the one that occurred. However, games like AOE2 allow students to see how choices made (or not made) in real history could have changed historical events. This sort of hindsight is exemplified by the game's record feature, which permits players to re-watch how a game played out and to observe how the little choices they made meant the difference between victory and defeat.
That's a bit of a hyperbole, but still. In 2007 the video game industry out-grossed the movies for the first time, with software sales of $9.5 billion. According to a 2008 Investment U article, 68 percent of U.S. households have people who play computer or video games. Yet despite the video game industry's prominent place in society, we now have but one class devoted to the subject.
There seems to be a common perception among those who don't play video games that such pastimes are nothing but frivolous distractions. Most colleges tend to take this view, and in doing so deprive students of a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the entertainment enterprise they take part in every day.
Though video games have a reputation for being violent and mind-numbing, you'll find that the most popular are nothing of the sort. Take Gamespot's 1999 "Strategy Game of the Year" winner "Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings." A 2004 eSchool News article praised AOE2 for getting kids interested in history. Likewise, a 2002 study undertaken by the group Teacher Evaluating Educational Multimedia concluded that simulation games such as AOE2 helped develop children's strategic thinking and planning skills.
Another advantage of history-based strategy games like AOE2 is that players learn about the contingent nature of history. A "World History Connected" article by Aaron Whelchel states that civilization-building games benefit students by eliminating a teleological understanding of history.
According to the article, students often believe that the course of history happened because there was no alternative outcome to the one that occurred. However, games like AOE2 allow students to see how choices made (or not made) in real history could have changed historical events. This sort of hindsight is exemplified by the game's record feature, which permits players to re-watch how a game played out and to observe how the little choices they made meant the difference between victory and defeat.
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