The online shop managed by Epic Games could be heading for Google’s Play Store after a US appeals court sided with the Fortnite maker – Copyright AFP/File Lionel BONAVENTURE
After a few decades of fatuous, futile whining about video games, it seems the net effect is positive. An international team from the Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden did a study of 9-to 10-year-old old US kids published by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. The results put together a more holistic perspective. The study was done in 2022 and has finally filtered through to the masses.
Most importantly, they established a correlation between play and cognitive abilities.
The outcome was “an increase of 2.5 IQ points above the average rise”. There are a LOT of inferences here that need to be examined at more than a PowerPoint presentation level:
Video games are far more advanced these days. Forget “Zap! Pew pew pew!” That was 40 years ago. Some games are very good storytellers, creating logic trails every bit as good as a competent audit trail.
They require players to learn complex mechanics and play dynamics. That alone could explain the stimulus effect.
The sheer scope of subjects in video games is truly vast. You could be playing Ant Empire or a game full of nothing but puzzles.
These games give many situational choices to players. Forward thinking is very much part of every game. Strategy games in particular require a lot of forward thinking at the macro and micro levels.
Aesthetics matter. Never mind the “compulsory sparkly garbage” you see in some of the lazier games. You’re in a new world every single time.
Situational awareness is 100% turned on. Every game requires a clear picture of what’s happening. Whether it’s Fortnite, Civilization, or whatever, you need to be focused and functional.
Interaction between players matters. Performance is a peer thing. The drive to do well doesn’t even need to be mentioned. Cooperative games also reinforce this mode.
Kids can be creative in roles, looks, and self-managing their play in games. Not easy in what’s rather embarrassingly called “real life”.
Pretty simple, you’d think.
Nope.
It’s fundamental and well matched to educational experience since the caves.
Consider this:
The current level of game AI generates these outcomes. New AI, particularly AGI, could supercharge everything from core stimulus to training and “an education you didn’t even know you were getting”.
It’s the kindergarten principle taken up a few more levels. Kindergartens were created by kids. The critical core principle is “self-directed learning”. That’s what these games seem to do, essentially creating paths for self-directed learning.
So, all those patronizing decades were as useless as they looked. Yet again, fun turns out to be the most effective way of engaging kids.
