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- secretwhistle, on 10/11/2007, -0/+113However, Oregon Trail rocked! It taught me I was particularly talented in the "starvation" and "contracting dystentery" fields.
- LordSkywalker, on 10/11/2007, -0/+64This story is so wrong. Games like Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego, The Incredible Machine, etc. are great fun and help kids learn. I love to learn just as much now as I did as a little kid and I can guarantee I will be having my kids play these interactive pc learning games to enhance active creativity and thought.
- kevyn, on 10/11/2007, -3/+66guitar hero taught me how to rock hard.
- jasnmb, on 10/11/2007, -2/+62I was surprised how much I enjoyed Brain Age, but that wore off after a few weeks. Dr. Kawashima is probably really pissed that he hasn't seen me in so long.
- SerifTheRobot, on 10/11/2007, -2/+43The only good part of Oregon Trail was shooting 4 bears, but only being able to carry one back.
- CaptMonkey, on 10/11/2007, -1/+35Who needs to buy food before you leave, when you can buy 99 boxes of bullets instead?
- FickyFicky, on 10/11/2007, -0/+34If you're gone more than a couple of months, he just says "Who are you?" without a trace of recognition.
Heartbreaking stuff. - o0joshua0o, on 10/11/2007, -0/+33Games have taught me the following (and more):
No matter how many times you lose, you can win if you keep trying
The more you practice, the better you'll get
Strategy is more important than power
Always look for a pattern
Exploration is often rewarded
Talk to everyone in town, even the lowest street urchin might be helpful
Always check your map
Use your money wisely in the shops - bittermang, on 10/11/2007, -0/+28On the Apple II version in school, we would get our characters killed, and then write terrible eulogys on their tombstones and save them to the floppy disk.
The teacher took away the game soon after.
Also; every time I tell a story about a video game it somehow involves the words "floppy disk" and then I feel like an ancient old man. - Akaji, on 10/11/2007, -0/+27No, you didn't. Everyone knows that Resident Evil 4 is a much better zombie horde simulation than Doom 3. Doom 3 is a hell-entering-earth simulation. Duh.
- caddyalan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+26Some people tried to use Simcity and Simearth as teaching tools. Like it or not, they're not perfectly accurate simulations. But they're fascinating on their own terms, and they're probably best enjoyed when played voluntarily.
- bIuebonics, on 10/11/2007, -0/+26no, the sad part is when you say "floppy disk" and actually refer to the 5.25 disks that were literally floppy, not these 3.5 wannabe floppy disks.
- akshay626, on 10/11/2007, -0/+24I learned a lot about government conspiracies and political philosophies in the MGS series.
- ViRaZ, on 10/11/2007, -0/+23I remember playing Number Munchers and Museum Madness in middle school.
- shienloan00, on 10/11/2007, -0/+21Amen to Oregon Trail. I learned things about diseases I will probably never get and learned that no, it doesn't matter if you have 6 people in you're party, it's always "you could only carry back 348 lbs of buffalo meat" even though I shot 6 of them.
- MHiggy, on 10/11/2007, -7/+28I love putting cheese on my broccoli.
- Duhitsmichael, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16Math Blasters!
- Niddik, on 10/11/2007, -3/+18What is he talking about? Learning games can be fun! For example, I learned the proper way to take down zombies by playing Doom 3!
- ToadLeg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+16I completely disagree with the title; virtual reality games like HalfLife that tell a story can teach you things, but they're definitely not boring. What "teachers and parents" are trying to do is add homework to a game. It would be like reading a book and needing to perform a math calculation to find where the next page in the book is.
- withoutashovel, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15The Typing of the Dead whoops Mavis Beacon any day. Best typing game ever. You learn without knowing you learn.
- tsbardella, on 10/11/2007, -2/+14If you are playing to play, play but if you are playing to learn, learn. otherwise stay in bed it is easier on the grammaticians in the house.
- Dougman82, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13I agree - games can be a great source of learning for people of all ages. The trick is to not make the game completely lame. I will never forget this "game" they had us play in Junior High where you're boating down the amazon, and you see different birds and fish and stuff, and you have to take pictures of them and identify them - it was corny as hell.
- Sube6491, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12Gran Turismo and Forza taught me SO much about cars. And they were great fun.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12I am thoroughly against using video games as teaching tools. I can recall two instances in my short employment at CompUSA as a manager where some customer thought they could shirk their responsibilities to their kids and let the magic box do the teaching:
A lady walked up to me with two different "Learn to play the piano" packages and asked me which did I think would teach her daughter piano better. I consulted the phone book and wrote down the name and phone number of someone I knew in town that was an excellent piano teacher and put her software packages back on the shelf. She was kind of pissed.
The second guy asked me what's the best piece of educational software for his 5 year old. When I asked him what he had been using he listed several things but he wanted "something his kid could play with by himself. He was always wanting his dad to help him with the ones he had." I simply pointed out that his kid could use the other programs just fine he just wanted his dad to pay attention and play with him. That guy got pissed too. - MrFlesh, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11BS. Oregon trail taught me that no matter how much you prepare for a cross country trip indians will steal ***** off you, half your family will die along the way, and fjording a river never works.
- Gadren, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10Me: "Sprained ankle? Walk it off!
Stray bullet wound? Walk it off!
Dysentery? Walk it off!"
Party members: "Oh thank God we're at a fort. We can buy medicine!"
Me: "Medicine?! I'm not made of money! Well, not after I spent it all on rifles and ammunition..." - ScottoGato, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10Number Munchers FTW!
- Itazura, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego, Sim City, Math Blaster....these i'll all played as a kid in school...and they weren't boring at all, probably why they had sequels and even a badass tv show with rockapella. If you want pointless fun, go play with your Wii, if you wanna learn some sweet skills about navigating through world, fire up that old apple 2e and blaze that trail.
- adb44, on 10/11/2007, -3/+11Super Solvers? Operation Neptune? Doctor Brain? The Learning Company did a damn good job. I freaking grew up on those games.
Now we have Civ4, which is pretty awesome in its own right. - NerdyNinja, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Regardless, if the world is ever threatened by a collection of Alien races bound by religion into a warrior caste system intent on erasing humanity to appease the Gods who apparently are affronted by our very existence, despite our apparent connection to a series of ancient ringworld artifacts that have great religious significance to said Alien covenant, I'll know just what to do. Information can be useful knowledge if the right question comes up!
For those of you wondering, you should find some biologically advanced humans in super suits of armor that have been trained all their lives in combat yet have this annoying tendency of humping their dead enemy's corpses and yelling in high pitched voices. - nugx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7All games teach you something. Dont be stupid.
- Gatesophile, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6If it's the same game I'm thinking of it was Amazon Trail, obviously trying to jump on the Oregon Trail bandwagon. It was a cool enough game, though.
- mpn401, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6In grade school, it was all about MS-DOS word rescue and math rescue! Eventually, as we got older, we found out how to turn off the math problems in math rescue and how to get into other parts of the computer like Qbasic Nibbles. One teacher didn't approve of either, but the rest could care less.
- Piyh, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6If you die wait for respawn
- NipsMG, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Hell yes!. I learned a valuable lesson about caulking a wagon before floating it across a river. God knows what I'd have done in my life without that little tidbit!
- o0joshua0o, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Strategy is especially important in RTS games like Starcraft. The strategy you use against your opponent is much more important than the relative strength of your units.
- unibomber999, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Actually, I have a 3 year old boy who finds games that revolve around numbers and the alphabet really fun. It all depends on the age range you're talking about and what concepts are new and interesting.
I think that the most obvious subject to apply video game learning to middle/high schoolers is history. Most of what you learn about in American and world history revolves around wars, and what better way to become immersed in the time and environment than through a 3d, first person game. - Mearn, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6In the words of Walt Disney: "I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained"
- accessviolation, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Yes, well that's why you should read the article. Because it basically says what you are saying. A game should be a game first, any education should follow naturally from that, instead of trying to transform a textbook into a game. The example he uses is Civ IV, in which you can learn about different technologies and cultural leaders coincidentally during gameplay.
- bifflarken, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5In all seriousness, I remember slowly learning what the townspeople were saying in Zelda 2. I remember being all happy and proud when my dad came home, and I read to him what they were saying.
- Nougat, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5I started in with an interest in computers when I was about eleven, with Star Castle and Phoenix at the drugstore. That interest has always been maintained by "technology as entertainment." I make my living in the field now. So there, Mom!
- theRIAA, on 10/11/2007, -0/+599 boxes? pshh, rich ass doctor.
- SweetMercury, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5But what if it's teaching me to kick ass and take names, in that order?
Sounds like something worth learning. - s1mph0ny, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Alright, one less to be overtaken by the AWD marketing overlords!
- wpong, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5waat?! carmen sandiego, bitches! i can't agree with this article.
- Braingoo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5How about.
Never play a game that does not teach you at least a little something. - mthe0ry, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Almost all (fun) games some element of game theory and strategy. They do make you smarter.
- KyleMistry, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4That game was SO awesome!
That, and Carmen Sandiego games. They made childhood fun. - yoshihama, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Neither of the cases you listed were the fault of the games. Just reflections on a society that don't want to take the time and responsibility required to properly rear its children. I play games with my 7 year old. Some are meant to be educational, and others aren't, but by taking the time to play with him I point out things and help him learn. (Ex. We're currently playing Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii, where he's forced to read all the dialog, solve some rather difficult puzzles, and understand cause and effect relationships.)
- Ashkc88, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Sadly I only think of floppy disks being those 5.25 ones, and I'm not that old!
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