Games are social. Games can be played with multiple people in the same room, games can be played with people on different continents. Most games have a social component to them. Not all games are social. Some are immersive environments where one player is interacting solely with created characters, such as the Elder Scrolls series or The Sims. Others, including many popular games such as World of Warcraft (WOW), Halo, or Call of Duty (COD) revolve around gameplay that is interactive and strategic planning with friends/clanmates.
Games are often educational. You can learn, even when it isn't science, math, or reading. Games have a lot to teach us about communication, technology, strategy planning, perseverance, and the joy of success. Some games do offer more in the way of traditional education, where a player is actively learning a skill such as typing or the basics of city planning. Others are created to be largely entertainment, but can still teach skills. Halo, a common shooter game involves destroying a horde of aliens. The players work together to accomplish tasks. Teamwork is essential. One player may be driving a car, while the other player mans the rooftop gun. The teammates must communicate and work together or they will fail at the task, resulting in the death of their characters. Teamwork is something that is important in daily life, from marriage to the workplace. Skills learned in the game may help translate to these other environments allowing the employee to take on a leadership role and function well with others. Games can engage students, like the students shown in this video (below). This video also addresses some of the current issues in gaming - the main focus right now is entertainment. Although some current games exist purely for the educational market, we need to work as a society to increase the number and the quality of educational games.
Games are a growing part of the economy. Games cost money to make, they employ many people in the creation and development stages. The physical product of the game disc or server space employes more people. This YouTube video talks more about about gaming, including spending. In many games, people pay real life money to get premium objects. Many games, such as The Simpsons Tapped Out, which is a city building game in The Simpsons universe is a freemium game. A Freemium game is one that is free to play, but you can pay for premium content. In Tapped Out, a player gets many buildings and characters for free. A player need never pay anything to enjoy the game, but if a player pays real money, they are given in-game currency that can be used to buy goods or services. While many do play for free, this particular game has earned more than 100 million between August 2012 and October 2013.
I have recently been playing Settlers Online which is a game where you found a little society. It is a strategy and city-building game similar to Age of Empires, Civilization, and Sim City. You are the mayor and your city needs many things to survive. You have to have resources to advance, to feed the population, to expand, to create what you need to survive and advance. Fishing, hunting, and deforestation are real in this game. Mines are used up and collapse. You have to balance what you take with what you get. Space is limited and the gamer needs to create a strategy that will allow the civilization to have what it needs, in the space allotted, and with the resources available.
There are additionally social benefits to Settlers Online. There is a running chat and forums with lively discussions, most of which are not game related. People are willing to share tips and aid others, although lines of loyalty clearly align with clan lines. For someone who has never been in a clan, it is a unique experience. All clans are different, but many are people who form close friendships and are fiercely loyal to the others. Many people, on top of investing hundreds of hours of time into the game, are investing real money to purchase goods, resources, and bonuses to help their society. Within clans, you will even find sharing of premium goods that cost that user real money. Educationally, the game forces the player to think about the limitation of resources, what goes into city planning, and even historically what was needed for society to advance to where it is today. This game is also freemium. It is free to play, but you can get bonuses, items, and resources by paying cash.
In summary, the world of gaming is a lot more complex than it seems. It goes far beyond simple games meant to amuse individuals for short periods of time. They are educational, they make us happy, they challenge us, they teach us, they are viable business models, and they are expanding. It will be interesting to see how the gaming industry evolves during the next few decades. We are already seeing a decline of console games, in favor of portable device gaming. As this expands, new developers are joining the marketplace. Many are starting to offer educational games and simulations. Eventually this will expand in both quality and quantity. Students will only benefit by the future of gaming and the integration into the classroom.
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