Today I read an interesting article in Wired by Clive Thompson. In it he makes some observations about the Creature Creator in EA’s soon to be released and long awaited simulation game – Spore. Specifically, he points out that the Creature Creator is fun, easy and is also – essentially – a 3-D design package. By making Creature Design fun to play “Spore’s Creature Creator is de-skilling 3-D design”
This is not the first time a video game has taught us something. Clive argues that playing video games made the learning curve extremely shallow for learning the skill of how to use a mouse (a physical device) to navigate our computer system (a virtual system). It did so to such an extent that regular computer users feel as if such a skill is inherently intuitive. It isn’t. Anybody who has watched a 2 year old play with video game controls without realizing that those controls are making things happen on the screen has seen this non-intuitiveness in action. The same is true of anyone who has had the pleasure (?) of leading a complete computer novice through their first interaction with a computer OS.
Recently there has been a growing realization that playing video games can potentially be both fun and a valuable learning experience. One instance that quickly comes to mind is the team building and management skills acquired running guilds and leading teams of adventurers conducting large-scale raids in World of Warcraft. In fact, acquiring and managing resources (key components in most MMORPGs) are familiarizing a generation of gamers with database management. Many of these games also have some form of marketplace where loot picked up while adverturing can be bought and sold. These marketplaces are economies in microcosm governed by the laws of supply and demand. Players quickly learn to hold on to their more vauable loot until there are more people wanting to buy the loot then there are people selling it. They also learn that the best time to buy is when there is a glut in the market. Trying to teach these concepts and skills to preteens and young adults in the classroom is a painful process for both sides. However, in the context of a videogame, learning is a side effect of playing a game. The lessons learned aren’t any less valuable or valid for having been acquired in such a fashion.
Why the growing realization now when video games have been around for over 20 years? I believe it is because of the growing complexity of those games. Early video games taught little more than hand-eye-machine skills. However, as gaming technology progressed with each generation of games building upon the code of previous generations, the games became not only more complex but also more realistic. History simulators actually teach history. Flight simulators actually teach the dynamics of flight. And, with MMORPGs being provided with complexity via the social interactions of thousands of actually humans, players are able to learn and explore social and cultural dynamics in microcosm.
Spore promises to up the ante in this regard. Spore simulates everything from creatures to cities to civilizations. In doing so, it promises to provide it’s players with more than 3-D design familiarity. It also has the ability to increase their understanding of the principles of evolution, increase their creativity (more on this in another post), and their appreciation of biology.
Shh! Don’t tell the kids
