It’s easy for gamers to get wrapped up in our own little world of internet time and trailers and hit titles and new releases. The problem with our own little world is that there’s a much, much bigger world out there watching us. So, every now and then, I like to take a look at that larger world, and see what’s going through its collective mind. So here’s a “Mom Talk” style article about how the innocent bystanders out there see our little hobby. Collingswood Patch has the story.
The thing to remember about non-gamers is that they just don’t understand what gaming really is. They see the surface, often a very violent surface of headshots and finishing moves, and that blinds them to looking deeper. Games are training tools, not training for violence, there’s nothing violent about pressing buttons, but training in problem solving, decision making, cooperation, team-building, setting and achieving goals, and all the other skills that come together to bring success under pressure.
Games are training people to work together and succeed. I think that’s kind of important, maybe.
I think that the teamwork aspect is what really makes games like these so interesting.
Video games are more than just the end product (like almost everything) and people have been too likely to tie themselves up into a moral panic rather than sitting down and understanding the product. Isn’t that why we run into people like that psychologist who just hates video games and then lies about actual diagnosis to get kids to stop playing them?
Behold bias. Although, with the generations who grew up with video games advancing this will probably come to an end sooner rather than later.