How to approach any system like that and methodically figure it out.”įor a final jab against more traditional media, he says that while the scientific method applies to games like Quake and Grand Theft Auto, “it does not apply to movies, TV, books,” he says, “which is why I think video games are uniquely positioned. “That’s the most important lesson they’re learning, in any of these games, is how to approach any complex system, whether it’s how to program their Tivo, how to build a city in SimCity, or how to get that kid in the school yard to be your best friend. The social and problem-solving aspects of video games should leave educators with optimism, claims Wright, as the underlying scientific method needed to solve any video game is the critical lesson. “A lot of parents, when the kids are playing Doom or Quake, or whatever, thought the kids were being overly aggressive,” he rebuts, “But, in fact, if you look at those games, what these kids were doing were playing with teams and they were being amazingly cooperative.”
Riffing off on the social aspect, Wright claims that multi-player shooters are far more social than anti-social. Unlike previous installments, theres a focus on different time periods. As in all previous SimCity titles, you must build a city in SimCity Creator. It was released in March 2008 in Japan and September of the same year everywhere else. The game was published and developed by Electronic Arts. It is also the name of a related Wii game. Wright’s explanation seems to confirm the wildly popular success of SimCity‘s progeny, such as FarmVille, which have flooded Facebook newstreams with requests to join what is apparently the thrill of digital agriculture. SimCity Creator is the name of SimCity DS 2 outside Japan.
Now you want to share that solution in some way.” “Your solution and my solution are entirely unique to us it actually represents you in some way. Open-ended games like The Sims and Grand Theft Auto have a near infinite variety of solutions. Too many educational games approach learning like a thinly veiled multiple-choice test, where science and math problems have single-solution answers, because in “a puzzle, everybody’s going to get the exact answer.”īut open-ended problems of discovery are “student-centered,” Wright emphasizes with a hint of dramatic pause (which, for his speedy explication, is just a few eye blinks). The underlying keys to fun, argues Wright, are problem-solving and discovery. It’s an idea Wright and others have been talking about for years, but as new games continue to up the violence, shock value, and realism, often succeeding in part on the controversy they inspire, the thesis has never been fresher.
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