The impact of videogames on society

The NY times writes about the impact videogames (and the people who play them) may have on the mindset of today's younger workforce.

Some quotes:

• Trial and error is almost always the best plan. (the best rewards come to those who take risks)
• It's all about the competition.
• Young people rule. (ie: f- authority)

Also, there's the issue of control. Why does lil' Billy choose to play videogames instead of play outside??

• "You are the star. Unlike, say, Little League, where most kids will never be the star."
• "You're the boss. The world is very responsive to you."
• "There's always an answer. You might be frustrated for a while, you might even never find it, but you know it's there."

Side note: these points mirror, almost exactly, the benefits of extreme sports.

So now imagine a generation of kids growing up with these awesome positive influences (take chances, be in control, screw authority) and what do you think will happen??   

more later, gotta run and catch kill bill vol 2 on the big screen (still playing in theaters in cairo!)

update on 4.12: there's a book on the impact of videogames on society called "Got Game" and it talks about "the resilience of gamers, because they have to fail literally thousands of times to succeed, so they know how to transcend failure."

Comments

[Justin]

Well first of all you just gave me a reason to play more video games (way to go). Second now I have a excuse for playing video games and not going to school... but dad you have to understand by playing halo for hours upon hours I'm just training for the real world, which is much more than a college education would ever give me. Third all this time I thought video games was a waste of time only providing me the instant satisfaction of absolutely dominating anyone who thought they were good at a particular video game (my two specialties would have to be Halo and any Tony Hawk game). This article gave me a boost of confidence that my college career hasn't been a waste... all along I have been rigorously refining those three attributes stated in the article in order to get an upper hand on my competition once I get out of college. Finally I would just like to thank my older brother for showing me the beauty of being a gamer.

Oh and a side note to reaffirm this article that Adam just posted, one of my friends posted on a website that a guy put down on his resume that he had the 3rd best character on the Diablo II hardcore ladder (simply he had the third best character online out of thousands gamers that play). By putting this on his resume he got the job out of hundreds of applicants because the place he was hired thought that this accomplishment showed dedication, planning skills (you have to plan out how you want to build up your character from the start to get anywhere close to the best), and competitiveness. I love the fact that being that good at a video game can actually get you a job