A recent study shows that 91% of children in American play video games (cnet.com). Games should not only aim to entertain, they should teach. An example would be "Rock Band". The game is played by pretending to drum. The player taps the correct drum head at the correct time to earn points. The game is very entertaining and can be enjoyed for hours on end. I mention "Rock Band" because a friend growing up loved to play "Rock Band" and the practice he gained from playing carried over into real life! He was able to learn the real drums at an alarmingly accelerated rate. When asked how he was able to learn so well in such a short period of time he attributed it to his time spent playing "Rock Band". Image that while playing engaging AAA titles like "Call of Duty", "Mass Effect" or "Assassins Creed" that you were also learning, almost unbeknownst, programming, chemistry, and american history. Games can become a powerful resource for creating a platform for life long learning.
Current efforts to incorporate learning into games have produced titles like "JumpStart" or "Reader Rabbit". These games aren't sufficient. They don't make a strong attempt to make learning fun, simply having an animated moose hand out additional homework, won't work. We need titles that people will be excited to play during their free time. I am a fan of the mass effect series. There are many activities players can engage in. They can hack, slice, engineer or administer first aid. What if these mini games actively taught the player the basics of these disciplines? If a player chose first aid, they'll learn how to safely remove debris from wounds, apply pressure to stop bleeding, and know that bandages should not be removed. When people play games and they find they have an affinity towards healing they can then consider a career in the medical field. When they start taking classes to become a EMT, nurse or doctor they'll find they already have a solid understanding of the fundamentals.
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