What we can learn from computer games
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: You belong to the first generation that grew up with computer games. What effect does this have on your life?
Jane McGonigal: Those who grew up with films, like the generations before me, are looking for a good story. Unlike my generation, the computer games generation: We always want to be active, interactive, not passive viewers. We are always looking for the contact, the challenge, the adventure.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: You talk about interaction, about contact, while computer gamers are considered isolated freaks without social skills. Do we have to revise our picture?
Jane McGonigal: Those who think like that think from a 90s perspective, when most games were singleplayer games. Today, most popular games are multi-person games. There are games to play with friends and family in the living room - like "Guitar Hero", "Rock Band", the Wii fitness or sports games. The other really popular variant are online games. Here you sit alone in front of your computer, but you play online with some, dozens or hundreds of people together. Through the games you learn to work with others; You learn to find people with whom you can achieve something together.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Is there anything more that you can learn while playing computer games?
Jane McGonigal: Computer games make you more relaxed about mistakes: It's not so hard to fail. Because in a computer game that's not bad: it's more of an opportunity to learn how to do it better. I think that's the main difference between computer gamers and people who do not play: gamers are less afraid of their own failure. This will enable them to learn faster and be more willing to try again.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Is there anything that makes computer games interesting for women?
Jane McGonigal: Computer games can boost your career by bringing you in touch with all the online applications and social networks that gamers use to share strategies and information. So you get to know complex modern technologies - that can be a big advantage in your professional life. Also, it's amazing how a colleague can become a real ally in the job once you find out you're playing the same game. Mothers can use games to create a closer connection with their children - they begin to understand why children love these games. And they are also a way to spend free time with your own children.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: That almost sounds like parents should encourage their kids to play computer games.
Jane McGonigal: Encourage your kids to play multiplayer games, not singleplayer games. Either games that you can play with your friends at home, or even online games. And encourage your kids to engage in online culture around these games, using forums and wikis - not just as consumers, but as active members of the community.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: What's the point?
Jane McGonigal: When a child loves a game, it develops an incredible passion for everything that has to do with it. Gamers often make highly complex calculations, writing long articles. For outsiders it looks like work, but it's great fun for them. Especially complex online games such as "World of Warcraft" offer endless opportunities to write and to train his skills in mathematics and strategy.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: The danger, however, is that these people neglect their real life.Jane McGonigal: Yeah, that's a problem, I do not contradict that. Computer games give people social support and a task that is important and exciting. That's why games and the virtual world make some people happier than the real world. But the fact that some people spend so much time playing computer games is not a symptom of something wrong with the games. It's a symptom of something going wrong in real life.
Game developer and futurist Jane McGonigal explores how computer games and virtual worlds can change our reality and shape our future - and they're developing games that do just that. In 2006, she was named one of the "Young Innovators under 35" by the MIT Technology Review. At the CeBIT she spoke at the Trend Forum 2009 of Deutsche Telekom.
