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IMPress Polly
01-06-2016, 11:56 AM
Have you ever played a game that you feel positively impacted the way you interact with others? I mean, we often hear about the negative ways that video games can affect the human psyche (e.g. the #1 news story about video games this year was the American Psychological Association's report confirming that games revolving around graphic violence can, in fact, together with other factors, help render the player more aggressive in the real world) and maybe that's justified considering what sorts of games tend to rake in the biggest sums of money. And yet I can't help but feel that all this talk about the potential social and psychological harms of this medium tends to ignore the flip side of the coin: the fact that interactive media can also, conversely, have a more powerful positive impact on the human psyche than other forms of art and entertainment precisely because it's interactive and hence experiential in nature, not just something you passively absorb.

Although I too initially approached video games as simply entertainment, since I discovered Final Fantasy VI at age 10, my primary attraction to video games has been the search for meaning and emotional connections. That was just one feature of Final Fantasy VI, but did you know that there's now an entire game genre that exists for the sole purpose of helping players relate better to others? It's true! And did you further know that the data shows it really works too? I was reminded of that fact while watching a back episode of PBS Game/Show this morning. You have to check it out! (Don't fret, it's only a few minutes long.) Therein Jamin details what empathy games are and the fascinating reasons why they work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYA-TfDUjek

I can't help but think that if the press spent more time highlighting these types of games and experiences instead of usually zeroing in on the more socially and psychologically negative offerings of the medium, maybe empathy games would acquire wider distribution and have a bigger impact on the gaming landscape. Well, it's just a thought.

What say you? Has a game ever helped you understand others better?

Gypsy
01-06-2016, 12:00 PM
I don't play games other than board games with my granddaughter. But my Dr. did suggest adult coloring books to help with stress. It seems to work.

Subdermal
01-06-2016, 12:44 PM
In that sense, video games have simply replaced other modes of communication and empathy that - in the past - happened in social groups.

Same result.

Mister D
01-06-2016, 01:50 PM
I do often get a little emotional finishing a good book. Not sure what it is.

IMPress Polly
01-06-2016, 03:59 PM
Hey PolWatch, I couldn't help but think of you while writing the OP, since you recently shared an interest in Beyond Eyes (which falls into the category of empathy games). Thought you might be interested in this subject!

Brett Nortje
01-07-2016, 04:08 AM
Hey @PolWatch (http://thepoliticalforums.com/member.php?u=1099), I couldn't help but think of you while writing the OP, since you recently shared an interest in Beyond Eyes (which falls into the category of empathy games). Thought you might be interested in this subject!

I think it is the stress relief felt by school kids that turn them into addicts of games. of course games make you kinder to your friends, but god help your enemies if you play violent games!

IMPress Polly
01-09-2016, 11:38 AM
Here's another example of an empathy game that's going to be coming out for Ouya and computer in a few days that I'm really looking forward to. It's called That Dragon, Cancer. It's an indy game is based on the true experience one father named Ryan had after learning that his son, Joel, had contracted an aggressive form of cancer (http://digg.com/2016/that-dragon-cancer-reply-all-radiolab?utm_medium=email&utm_source=digg):

Joel was throwing up from a stomach bug. He got dehydrated, but he couldn’t keep any liquids down. Ryan spent the night with him in the hospital. “I just remember him really wanting apple juice,” says Ryan, “cause that was one of his favorite things at the hospital, but then I’d give it to him and he’d just throw it up again.” Joel would not stop crying and screaming. He kept hitting his head against the wall of his crib. Ryan says it went on for five or six hours, and eventually Ryan started to lose it too. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, Ryan prayed. That’s when Joel finally stopped crying and fell asleep.

And beyond just sheer relief, Ryan had this other weird thought: the whole ordeal reminded him of a video game. As in, you have to get the baby to stop crying, so you keep trying things—give him juice, bounce him, talk to him. But in this awful game, none of those things actually work. They’re all fake choices.

Ryan wondered if he could make a game like that, where you, the player, don’t have control. He says, “I want to show you what it feels like to feel helpless but to have received grace. I felt like it would be ultimately encouraging to people.”

It's a game designed to help comfort others who are going through similar experiences and to help the rest of us feel what his experience was like. Here's the release trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlKCJlhJwxU

I'm glad this game has gotten some publicity in the news! It's so rare to see games like this get this kind of attention. This is the next game on my radar.