Can Gaming Make a Better World?
Jane McGonigal certainly seems to think so. In fact, she believes that in order to survive the next century, people will have to play up to 21 billion hours a week of online video games by the next decade.
How did she arrive at this conclusion? Games, McGonigal says, provide us with a very positive, surprising emotion known as an “epic win”. According to her, this emotion is the key to improving our world. By feeling as accomplished when they complete tasks in real life as they feel in video games, gamers could potentially take on anything.
She also believes that gamers possess four unique qualities that make them super-empowered individuals – an urgent optimism, a strong social fabric, blissful productivity and epic meaning.
Inspired by an ancient story captured by the Greek historian Herodotus, McGonigal created alternate reality games that affected reality through player participation, proving that her concept is indeed applicable in the real world.
All in all, I agree with and admire McGonigal’s message that games can make the world a better place – after all, who wouldn’t want to better the world while also having some fun doing it?
