NEW CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS WILL PROMOTE COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY
 Reps. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., announced the launch of the new Congressional Caucus for Competitiveness in Entertainment Technology (E-Tech Caucus) on February 16, 2011 at a press conference on Capitol Hill. The 39-member caucus will work toward sustaining a robust computer and video game industry by educating Members of Congress and the American people on the industry’s economic, educational and social benefits.
"The E-Tech Caucus is about jobs and our competitiveness around the world," said Rep. Brady. "This growing industry has generated more than 120,000 jobs in over 34 states and is a major international player as well. It's time Congress took notice."
The formation of the caucus reflects the computer and video game industry’s economic impact and remarkable growth. In the past six years, the industry’s sales revenue grew by more than 120 percent, with the industry generating approximately $24 billion in revenue in 2010. Over the same period, the entire U.S. GDP grew by only 16 percent.
The diverse membership of the caucus, with legislators from both sides of the aisle, representing constituents from California to Virginia and Texas to Illinois, reflects the national impact of the computer and video game industry. The industry has an economic presence in 34 states; 300 colleges and universities in 42 states offer computer and video game design courses and degrees. In addition, in states from coast to coast the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Foundation supports a national scholarship program for students pursuing video game development degrees, grants to schools that utilize computer and video games in the classroom, and iCivics, an online education program from former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor that encourages an active role in democracy.
The formation of this new caucus is also further recognition of both the widespread appeal of computer and video games and their use beyond entertainment. Today, 67 percent of American households play games, the average player is 34 years old and 40 percent of all players are women. Many industries, including those in the health, education and business fields, recognize the benefits of video game technology. Computer and video games have a presence in school curricula, medical procedure simulations and physical therapy, as well as employee recruitment and training initiatives.
"The U.S. entertainment software industry is at the forefront of innovation and education, turning what we have thought about video games on its head," Rep. Wasserman Schultz said. "At the same time that our children are playing Wii Sports, academic researchers are developing games that explore protein folding, and doctors are using video game simulations to hone their skills. We owe it to our children to explore how these technologies can help America continue to lead the world in innovation."
As the computer and video game industry becomes more and more a part of everyday life, the E-Tech Caucus intends to provide a forum to discuss and formulate innovative solutions to a range of policy challenges that harness the ingenuity and broad reach of the entertainment software industry.
ACCORDING TO DR. JANE MCGONIGAL, “REALITY IS BROKEN”
 As computer and video games have evolved into a mass medium with wide appeal, their ability to affect our daily lives has expanded. Game designer and author Dr. Jane McGonigal believes “life is hard, and games make it better.” In her new book, “Reality is Broken: Why Games Make us Better and How They Can Change the World,” McGonigal argues that by challenging us and focusing our energy, game play can improve our chances for success, help foster stronger communities, tackle important social missions, and enable us to imagine and invent the future together.
McGonigal asserts that games can improve daily life, and have the ability to enhance anything, such as education. She points to the teaching model employed by New York’s Quest to Learn school as an example of how games can effectively be incorporated into every aspect of the classroom. Educators and others increasingly understand that by keeping students engaged and motivated, games help them digest difficult subject matter. The National Education Association has recommended that teachers incorporate Electronic Arts’ SimCity into their curricula, while The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop said in a 2009 report that games provide “an important, untapped opportunity” to support learning.
McGonigal writes that games can enhance social skills and communication. For instance, she points to a 2008 study conducted by Christopher Bateman, which found that gamers “really seem to enjoy training their friends and family to play games, with a whopping 53.4 percent saying it enhances their enjoyment.” She also highlights the opportunities provided by online games like Lexulous to engage with other gamers, friends and family members through chats, and notes multi-player games such as Nintendo’s WarioWare: Smooth Moves, which requires gamers to play together and socialize.
McGonigal emphasizes that games should not be a distraction from our lives, but a part of our lives that enable us to connect with others and work collaboratively to improve the world around us. “Games are showing us exactly what we want out of life,” she writes. “[M]ore satisfying work, better hope of success, stronger social connectivity, and the chance to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.”
She points to games such as World Without Oil as an example of how games can help improve overall quality of life by providing players with an opportunity to explore and solve real-world problems. The game simulated a global oil crisis and challenged players to imagine what their lives would be like in such a situation, and cooperatively develop and share ideas for reducing international dependence on oil. Players can also contribute to the greater good through games like The Extraordinaries, a web and mobile app created by an organization of the same name that enables players to engage in “microvolunteer missions,” such as locating the nearest defibrillator in a particular area. When a player completes the mission, it benefits a real organization – in this case, the First Aid Corps.
McGonigal believes games can make us more ambitious, more organized, and more united, and because of that, “we really can save the real world with the right type of game.”
GAMERS PLUG IN TO CURRENT EVENTS
Keeping informed of current events is important to understanding the world around us. To meet this need, media outlets and social organizations are turning to news games--computer and video games that transform news and real-life events into interactive experiences. These games, which are becoming more widespread, provide players a unique way of interacting with today’s current news that broadens our understanding of the deeper themes and context of the events that shape our world.
News games recreate events and inform players about the context in which the events occurred. The game Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City, created by a team of youth leaders within Global Kids’ Playing 4 Keeps program in partnership with Gamepill Inc., teaches players about the challenges posed by the disaster in New Orleans. The game also celebrates how New Orleans residents helped each other after the hurricane, and seeks to draw attention to continuing struggles in the area.
More recently, Newgrounds posted the game Super Mario BP Oil Spill, which tries to recreate the oil spill in a Mario-themed world. Mario tries to save fish and plug spewing pipelines, drawing attention to the enormity of the spill and its tragic aftermath.
These games not only depict current events, but also can take the place of traditional news graphics as a way to help readers understand complex data. The game Salubrious Nation, developed by Nick Diakopoulos, asks players to predict the health of a community based on public health data. Using data published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Community Health Data Initiative, players are able to predict health patterns in particular cities. The game reveals certain community-specific statistics to players, such as poverty rates and life expectancy, which players must then use to predict data such as smoking and obesity rates. By providing gamers with an opportunity to play with the hard data, Salubrious Nation helps to underscore the connection between environmental factors and the public health issues reported in news coverage.
Like editorial cartoons, news games can provide a way to editorialize events, enabling publishers to depict the news as they interpret it. For example, the game September 12th: A Toy World, presents a view of the U.S. engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan through the creative team’s eyes. The developers of the game, a team of Uruguayan game developers and a former CNN journalist, sought to use the language of videogames to convey the message that violence begets more violence.
The interactivity of these games offers a more engaging way to access news and editorial-like content. Through play, news games are helping to expand the reach of traditional reporting and to increase awareness of the impact major trends and events have on our society.
TELLING STORIES THROUGH PLAY
 Activities and events marking Dr. Seuss’ birthday and Read Across America Day are scheduled for March 2, and this year readers around the country will celebrate the art of storytelling through both books and video games. Increasingly, adults and children are turning to computer and video games as a way to experience stories. While the impressive visual elements gain the most notice, they also tell a compelling story that involves interesting characters and an engaging plot line to capture the imaginations of gamers.
Books and stories often provide a creative foundation for computer and video games. Game publisher Her Interactive, for example, publishes computer games based on the classic Nancy Drew mystery series and is set to release its latest title, The Captive Curse, later this year. Similarly, The Adventure Company developed a series of games based on Agatha Christie novels, such as Murder on the Orient Express and Evil Under the Sun, and created The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft in collaboration with JoWood Productions. Electronic Arts published a number of games based on J.K. Rowling’s popular Harry Potter series, including the latest installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.
In addition, a number of best-selling authors have penned scripts for computer and video games in recent years. Acclaimed horror writer Stephen King worked with a team of producers and designers at StephenKing.com to create the computer game Discordia. The basis of the game is King’s “Dark Tower” series of novels, and features a storyline written by the author himself. The team is set to release a second chapter to the game later this year. Fiction author Lorenzo Carcaterra, best known for writing “Sleepers,” worked with Atari to write the script for its 2008 game, Alone in the Dark 5. In addition, “The Beach” author Alex Garland created the storyline for Namco Bandai’s Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.
These games and others provide a valuable opportunity for gamers of all ages to become engrossed in the stories and characters found in libraries and bookstores across the country; an opportunity that is sure to expand as established and aspiring writers work to exercise their talents through a non-traditional medium. |
