Games That Are Good for You.....

Posted by Matthew Brodsky

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Are you overly stuffed with turkey, mince pies and numbed by bland tv programming? Perhaps it's time to be entertained and stimulated by "Social Impact Games" who have gathered together over 200 titles for your delectation.

Game on a laptopNo offense,gamers. But the likes of Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, andAssassin's Creed are doing nobody any good but you. And even thatlast bit is highly debatable. But we won't get into personalviews about how big a waste of time and money video games are orare not. To each his or her own, the politically correct, GoodSamaritan would say.


But thenagain, the Good Samaritan is probably only playing so-called"serious games"-that is, games that are dedicated toward personalor societal enrichment. If you don't believe me, just check outSocialImpactGames.com, the Web site dedicated to such seriousgames. As the motto on the site's banner says, "EntertainingGames with Non-Entertainment Goals (a.k.a. Serious Games)." Sofar, Social Impact Games is cataloging and/or linking to morethan 200 games. They claim to know of as many as 500 seriousgames in the universe, and are in the process of tracking all ofthem down.

There are games, for instance, to inspire health and wellness intheir players, to train business people in the way of the office,to teach soldiers how to respond in foreign settings, and toeducate the young on such complex topics as public policy.

There's a game called Food Force, in which players are the U.N.World Food Programme sent in to help during a humanitarian crisisin the Indian Ocean. The goal-teach young people about foodissues around the world.

Another game is called Waste of Space. It vaguely resemblesAsteroids, and generally teaches students the same thing: howbodies act in the vacuum of space. Or there's one called FreeDive, where players "swim" in a 3D simulated underwater worldwith the fish and the turtles. This game has been proven todistract children who have chronic pain or are undergoing painfulprocedures.

My favorite is BT Better Business Game-where the player is avirtual CEO of a company and must learn to manage socialinteractions and their company's business environment. It's goodto be the king.

Some games are there to be downloaded to your laptop. Othersmerely have information provided on them. The site hopes to helpfolks interested in socially responsible games to find them, aswell as to create a forum of inspiration for those interested increating new serious games. The phenomenon, the site says, isgrowing.

Forget all that touchy-feely stuff, though. Real gamers are onlyinterested in one thing-how games play. The Good Samaritan in mesays, "Judge for yourself."

But the gamer in me says, "If I want a serious game, I'll set thecomputer to the Colts in my next Maddengame."

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