14 DAY TRIAL // Futurist thinker Jane McGonigal has talked about the power that video games have to change the world, saying that as the medium moves forward, spending time playing will be one of the most important things that a person will do.
Speaking at the 2011 DICE summit, which took place in Las Vegas, Jane McGonigal said, “Games are the single most productive thing we can do with our time; give us the power to change the world.”
McGonigal is the director of game research and development at the aptly named Institute for the Future and recently released a book called “Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World,” specifically designed to show the potential that gaming has to improve lives for those who play but also for those who are not actually gamers.
The futurist said, “Feeling good in a game does transfer to real life. It's not a crazy idea. Games are changing the way we think and how we spend our real lives.”
She added, “The positive emotions that we get from games are spilling over into real life. Our games are like the radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker. They're giving people new powers.”
There is a significant body of research showing off that video games have a wide range of positive applications, from helping with PTSD to allowing quick learning for subjects that are not always popular with kids.
McGonigal also criticized the current state of the video game industry, saying that there's a need to deliver more meaning with gaming experiences in order to affect more than one person through play activities.
McGonigal believes that gaming should be defined more broadly than we do at the moment, and is focused on alternate reality games and on how blending the line between the real and the virtual can create new and compelling experiences.