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?
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?