Video games can actually be good for you?and Rusel DeMaria (whose books on video games have sold 2 million copies) proves it. In this insider’s analysis of the increasingly violent and uncreative video gaming industry, he offers a roadmap for parents, educators, gamers, and industry insiders to leverage the inherent potential of games to promote positive personal and social change.
About the Author
Rusel DeMaria has been writing about games and the game industry…
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As the parent of a long time gamer, I think this is a terrific book that would be of much value to a wide variety of people; parents, educators, psychologists, gaming journalists, and children’s recreational supervisors. It would also be of value to anyone who works in the game industry or wants to work in the game industry, particularly in the business, community relations, executive, legal, or general design areas. Although it’s certainly not aimed at gamers, I would say that gamers who have a serious interest in the broader aspects of the field should give it a read. It offers a lot of insights into video gaming, as well as offering up a good many ways that video games can add value and dimension to our personal, educational, and professional lives.
Video games can prove powerful tools for learning and social change: that’s the eye-opening revelation in RESET: CHANGING THE WAY WE LOOK AT VIDEO GAMES, which comes from a gaming journalist and concerned parent who examines the myths and stereotypes revolving around video games. From an analysis of the business forces behind these games’ development to the unique qualities which distinguish video games from other media and the latest learning research on play and learning connections, chapters extol the possibilities of video games as powerful tools for education and inspiration – if presented properly. A fine choice for education and social issues libraries alike, this will reach college-level audiences.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
The book is a spirited attempt to defend the concept of computer gaming. It attempts to draw out and articulate the components of games which offer the potential to revolutionise the learning experience. The primary one being the involvement and identification of game play which `motivates’ the user to learn complex subjects without the traditional experience of learning as a difficult and unappealing task.
The strongest elements of the book lie mostly in the author’s attempt to `unpack’ game-play and relate the different components back to (mostly psychological) research into learning and motivation. His central thesis is that if learning is unstructured and `fun’, is it far more productive. Games focus on positive user experiences, and learning becomes almost a by-product of the on-going attempt to repeat the `buzz’ of achieving desired tasks. Partly this is because learning is provided within more exciting and interesting contexts, and partly because the user doesn’t perceive tasks as `compulsory’, but is allowed to learn at their own pace and in their own way.
Whilst this idea is not new:
“Generally speaking, a child’s education must be based on the principle that everything must come from his own will. Nothing should be given in a ready made form. One can only give the idea, one can only guide or even teach indirectly, starting from afar and leading him to the point from something else.” (Gurdjieff 1928 – Views from the Real World.)
… it has (up till now) never meaningfully challenged the idea that learning (almost by definition) should be boring, hard and laborious.
In my opinion the author does an excellent job of reviewing the important elements of game-play and in showing how much this medium has to offer. He comes close to establishing `computer games’ as a potential paradigm shift in the structure of education.
I think this is a book the critics should read!