Video games offer a lot more than a distraction. Eli Neiburger analyzes Pokémon, describing it as perhaps one of the most influential learning tools in kids’ lives.

Neiburger gives and in depth analysis of all the facets of gameplay, and community that facilitate learning. He explains the widespread impact of Pokémon. Having 200 million units sold (at time of publication), it is only second to Mario, and much larger than the likes of Madden and Halo. With such a large following, the impact on kids (the largest fan base) is very important. He continues explains how the obsessive tendencies the game can create may cause some annoyances, like a dog named Squirtle, but does not justify its ban from schools. In fact, he explains how Pokémon teaches kids, just like school, and in a more effective manner.

With such a claim, Neiburger needs a lot of supporting evidence, and he brings it. He highlights the literacy impact of the game. The solely text dialogue, with over 200,000 lines of text, without audio, forces kids to read. Yet as he explains the search for key information in the game, as it is hidden all over, creates a motivation for kids to read and better their reading skills. Such a learning contribution sparked my thoughts of whether schools should be promoting the game rather than banning it. Neiburger was nowhere near done praising the games influences, though. The low risk environment created by the repeatable in-game events teaches kids to experiment. Being overly shy and nervous to fail is a major downfall of education, and life overall, so learning to try in a harmless game is a huge success. The large amounts of abstract knowledge players are exposed to, and forced to process, promotes handling of complex datasets and dimensionality, an intellectual skill often reserved for older students. The amazing, positive Pokémon community also fosters communal learning and scientific thinking. As game developers are deistic gods of the Pokémon universe,
players are left to themselves to figure out the workings of the game, which has led to the players working together, as well as developing skills to better test hypotheses and make discoveries. The scientific method and critical thinking skills are essential subject matter of schooling, and this game seems to motivate kids to learn about them and foster a positive environment, rather than a hostile one that should be kept away from schooling and other learning. The game even exposes kids to ethics, specifically digital ethics with consequences of cheating, which can help develop the exact social skills and thought teachers seek in their students.

Overall, Neiburger presents a very comprehensive analysis and support of this popular game that is often overlooked as just a piece of entertainment and as a disturbance to learning. From reading his article, I am more proud and aware of the effects of my own playing of Pokémon, but even more so interested in the educational power of videogames and their applicability to schooling. Who knows, maybe in a few years schools will revolve around video games as teachers, and students may “go to school” on their sofa in front of a TV.

 

Neiburger, Eli. “Pokémon.” ETC Press Well Played 3.0 (2011): n. pag. Web. 20 Oct. 2016

Link: http://press.etc.cmu.edu/content/pok%C3%A9mon-eli-neiburger

Pokemon is a game that attracts players from different age groups all around the world. What makes this game so popular even in the Western world? the main argument in this article is that Pokemon is a reflection of Japanese cultural values and it serves as a learning tool for the players. First, the game highlights the importance of belonging to a group, not individuals, which is not a common belief in the western society (Tomei 6). The game foster collaboration between the players as they can link two devices together and exchange their pokemons between different two different versions of the game. This idea reflects a common ideology in Japanese society because according to Tomei, “the individuals acquire a sense of identity and security through their affiliation to the group” (7). Small groups are the foundations of bigger groups and eventually form a society. Similarly in the game, individual Pokemon trainers join different tribes and collaboratively achieve a certain goal. Second, this game allows the players to learn from rewards and failures. The players gain experiences and they start to develop their own strategies, such as what is the best time to challenge the gym leader. (Tomei 110).

I agree with the author’s idea that Pokemon is more than just a game. It is a mimicry of the real Japanese society that values collaboration and harmony. In the game world, the player has to earn money to buy important supplies for the pokemons. Moreover, he or she has to learn from every battle and become more experienced and wise. The purpose of the game is not to encourage the players to act as heros who eventually save the world, but to allow them to develop a sense of hierarchy. Higher levels in the games indicate players will have a better possibility to catch rare and stronger pokemons, compared to trainers at a lower level. This setting creates a system of promotion and implies that a higher level represents a better player. However, this game also is extremely addictive because there is no ending to the game. Players can easily spend the entire morning or afternoon on it without realizing how much time has already passed. Pokemon is a game that promotes the awareness of cultural diversity and allow its players to learn and advance through failures and successes. However, it is difficult to find a balance between healthy play and disruptive play. The underlying harmful impacts of this game on the players can be profound.

Bibliography

Tomei, Patricia Amelia. POKEMON: A CULTURE OF LEARNING? (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 20 Oct. 2016. <http://www.dbd.puc-rio.br/depto_administracao/TD11.pdf>.

Video games are not jobs. Gonzalo Frasca notes that too many games force us to be “errand-boys” who simply fulfill tasks that the game maker has created, and in a sense, he’s right. I’ve played my fair share of first person shooter games (Fallout, Call of Duty, etc.), and I always tend to get bored whenever the bland tasks kept coming my way. But I have not played Grand Theft Auto, the game that Frasca focuses on in his article.

What separates GTA (at least some of the earlier versions) from other violent video games is that it gives you the freedom to do whatever the hell you want. There aren’t many “mandatory” quests that require the player to do obligatory tasks, and even when the player has to travel somewhere, he or she makes a game out of it (usually in the form of stealing automobiles and running from the cops during the trip).

This is vital because it has the opportunity of keeping the player engaged for longer periods of time. When you have a job to do in a video game, it can seem too life-like, almost as if you were going to work for the day. In fact, the author actually relates this obligatory nature to a boring mailroom job he had. No one wants to play at work, and GTA is an exciting game because it allows complete freedom and total play. In a world of violence and harm, the character can do non-conventional things like steal, kill, and destruct. Basically, anything that you wouldn’t see yourself doing in real life would be an acceptable and normal thing to do in GTA.

Now this does beg the question as to whether or not a free-form, do whatever, video game has the capability of keeping a gamer interested for longer periods of time (if that’s even the final goal). I haven’t ever played a game that lacks some kind of storyline, and I wonder if the lack of direction would lead me to be bored and feeling empty with a game like GTA. It’s probably fun for most people to steal a car in a video game and drive around hurting people, but aren’t there marginal returns on that satisfaction? The freedom sounds great, but I’d probably need a decent amount of direction after some time. It’s kind of like being away from school on summer break; almost every student will admit that he or she is ready to get back to class when August rolls around.

So while this liberty has to be relieving for some time, I wonder how sustainable that is. I’d be curious to see if someone like me (I consider myself organized and structured in the way I live my life), would actually come to like a game with a distinct, rigid plot line more than a game like GTA that provides abundant choices and the freedom to experiment.

Frasca, Gonzalo. “Sim Sin City: Some Thoughts about Grand Theft Auto 3.” Game Studies 3.2 (2003): n. pag. Dec. 2003. Web. 20 Oct. 2016. <http://www.gamestudies.org/0302/frasca/>.

Schulzke’s asserts that Fallout (Fallout 3 in particular) serves as a moral training ground of sorts, a place for individuals to hone and strengthen their own Phronesis – Aristotle’s term for the pragmatic use of morality in real world situations. Schulzke claims that the game serves as a “half-real” world in which the outcome ultimately is fictional, but can have an effect on our whole-real world, in this case by strengthening our moral decision making. He also claims that Fallout 3 does this exceptionally, especially compared to other video games. Fallout 3 doesn’t push you towards one side of morality versus another, it doesn’t use a clunky or unintuitive system for keeping track of the player’s morality and actions, and it contains a feasible neutral standing for the player to balance on as well. Fallout 3 essentially drops you into an unfamiliar world, without any guide or suggestion as to how you should act or treat others, and let’s you do what you please.

(Schulzke mentions Megaton in his article, one of the post-apocalyptic towns that has flourished in Fallout 3’s hostile world. Yet it has an active nuclear bomb in the middle of it that can be tampered with. The player can choose to set it off, deactivate it, or just leave it alone, all with unique rewards and consequences.)

This allows the player to truly become immersed in the game and its situations, and make their own decisions and see their impact due to Fallout’s complex and involved karma system and its retributions. Schulzke makes good points, and even since 2009, systems for letting players’ choices and moral decisions have true gravity in a game’s environment have improved beyond Fallout’s qualities. But can it ever be perfect? Can we ever achieve a perfect “half-real” world, where it can train us just as well as the real world, but in a fictional environment? Personally I don’t think we can, just due to the fact that we know its fake. The stakes can be made higher artificially, but never can they match real life and its truly permanent and reaching consequences. After all, you can’t save in real life before a crucial moment or decision. You can’t turn off real life and escape to something else after a bad judgement call. So while games like Fallout 3 have value as training devices for Phronesis and morality, they cannot completely prepare us for what challenges lie ahead of us in the “whole-real” world.

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Schulzke, Marcus. “Moral Decision Making in Fallout.” Game Studies 9.2 (2009): n. pag. Web. 19 October 2016.

Link to article:

http://gamestudies.org/0902/articles/schulzke

Most people see Pokémon as an average card game that children play to have fun and prevent boredom. Pokémon is also not common seen as a way that children can improve their real world knowledge. Eli Neiburger would argue other wise. Neiburger uses logos to prove that Pokémon actually helps children become better readers and more detailed oriented. He talks about how the clues to find the needed tools in Pokémon are hidden in key phrases of texts. This forces the player to become very detailed oriented to be able to work their way through the game. The game does not allow you to continue from stage to stage until all clues have been found. This can become very frustrating if the clue is frequently over looked. After the first time of being stuck for a long time, the player will soon become aware of how important it is to pay attention to everything. Neiburger argues that when a child plays a game like this, the child becomes detail oriented in life and can pick up on things faster than others. They can also identify things before others because of their high awareness that has been improved due to playing Pokémon.

Neiburger also believes that the complicated and long texts found in Pokémon improve the child’s reading level and comprehension. He talks about how the text is often highly above their grade level and this challenges the players. Also, once the child is able to read this more complicated words they must understand them to guide their way through the game. These words become apart of the players’s repertoire of words and help to expand their vocabulary. Neiburger believes that Pokémon can be a useful tool in becoming a much better reader in the everyday world.

Neiburger, Eli. “ETC Press.” Pokémon. N.p., n.d. Web. 20       Oct. 2016. http://press.etc.cmu.edu/content/pok%C3%A9mon-eli-neiburger

 

When I played Skyrim, I felt like I was transported to a whole new world with endless possibilities. Roaming the large map destined to save the world from dragons and finishing quests along the way. From the beginning of Skyrim to the end, when I put in the disc and pressed continue, nothing else came to my mind completing quests was all that mattered. Having to learn about the abilities my character had, unlocking the best equipment and weapons and upgrading my skills was so absorbing. Being able to sit in my dorm at boarding school on weekends and play without interruption to battle dragons, killing deceased nords called Draugr in caves, finding the best armour, making the best weapons and deciding which items to drop when the weight limit was reached. Everything about the game was so great, from the graphics to the storyline, it felt like you were in a new world. Absorbed into a world of medieval times where there were no cars or electronics and soldiers in metal armour telling tales of getting an arrow to the knee. Starting out with nothing and having to build yourself up in the game made it all worthwhile in the end even though that meant the game was done. After finishing Skyrim, leaving the world full of caves with Draugrs and no more Trolls that chase after you, it leaves an open space in the mind that once had a feeling like you were able to live in medieval times with a little twist of fantasy.