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Microsoft and several universities aim at conducting research related to video games

Microsoft has created a new learning institute aimed at helping researchers learn more about how video games positively influence gamers.

"We want to figure out what's compelling about the games," said Microsoft head of gaming research John Nordlinger.  "If we can find out how to make the games fun and not make them so violent, that would be ideal."

With Xbox 360 video games ranging from Gears of War to Halo, Microsoft understands the importance of popular video games, though most research is aimed at blaming video games for violence.

On the contrary, Devin Krauter, 17, is one of the top players at Gears of War 2, and says the game helps him think on his feet.

To help learn more about video games and how they influence gamers, Microsoft has invested $1.5 million into The Games for Learning Institute, with help from New York University and several other colleges.  Microsoft hopes to learn if video games can help students become more interested in math, science and other subjects.

Researchers already have a handful of middle school students they'll use to play video games and see how, if at all, it benefits their learning practices.  There has been a small amount of research involving video games and education, but this will be one of the largest studies involving first-person shooters and the impact they have on education.

There has been a lot of research into video games and if they could help influence and enhance how kids learn.  Researchers from the University of Wisconsin learned playing Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft can lead to higher scientific thinking.

Parents have wanted to hear about possible long-term psychological and sociological effects from long-term video game use, but research into video games is still in its infancy.  Researchers and analysts believe The Games for Learning Institute will help bring focus and publicity towards games-related research.

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MMOG complexity forces you to learn...
By grath on 2/22/2009 2:20:15 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
World of Warcraft can lead to higher scientific thinking


While the general perception of an average WoW (or any other MMOG) player appears to be physical evidence against this statement, it is very much true and I have seen the effects of the phenomenon on myself and others, both in realtime and hindsight, and have even used it to help a couple guildies with their math homework.

These are essentially number games. Statistics, dice rolls, and various equations to determine the result of actions. Some games try not to reveal these raw numbers to the players, but invariably we figure out them anyway and study them at great length so we can squeeze every last bit of efficiency and capability out of the equations. The more mathematically inclined of us are the ones who figure out the systems first, but even the least academically inclined player is willing to go look on a website for that information if it will enhance their character, and applying that information usually takes a fair bit of algebra at the least.

Aside from the just the numbers, there are many in-game activities that basically force scientific method, problem solving, and project management on a player. Planning an attack, for example, is much like a scientific experiment. You have defined experimental conditions, the state and abilities of your team, the sequence of events that individual players will execute, the expectations of how the enemy will react based on previous observations, with the basic thesis being "If we use team X with strategy Y, then we will defeat enemy Z." The result of the attack can then be success, failure, or more commonly somewhere in between, meaning than while victorious it still could have gone better. So you analyze the results of the experiment, adjust your conditions and strategy to try and achieve a better result, and try again. Frequently you even publish the results on a forum. If thats not scientific method I dont know what is.

So how to get people to recognize they are learning those skills in the game and apply them to the real world or their academic setting is the problem. The kids I helped with their homework truly didnt realize they had already been doing competent algebra in the game, it was just a matter of translating the material into "game themed word problems." It took a little while for the cognitive link between gamework and homework to form, but once it did they had no problem with their homework, although now that I think about it I never asked if they still had to think the problem through in the game language or not. In any case, its definetly something worth funding some research into.




RE: MMOG complexity forces you to learn...
By omnicronx on 2/22/2009 8:23:34 PM , Rating: 2
I really don't see how learning patterns leads to higher scientific thinking. I am not saying it is bad for you, but there are far better ways of achieving higher level thinking. I am pretty sure you can learn more in one week of a statistics or science class, then you ever will playing WOW. You cut out so much of your daily activities playing the game, that any benefit it has is countered by what you could have been doing.

Its like saying playing wii fit is better than normal routes physical activity.


By grath on 2/23/2009 6:11:14 AM , Rating: 2
I seem to have left the impression that I play WoW, advocate playing it, and somehow think its "better?" Not my intention. For starters, I never did play WoW, only various other MMOGS, which I had to stop playing about a year ago when real life caught up with me, but I chose to use WoW as the genericized example of the genre, as so many do these days. Believe me, I am under no illusion about the reality and long term effects of playing such games chronically.

The point I was trying to make was not to take them out of class and have them play a game, or have them play Wii Fit instead of ride a bike, just that a game such as an MMOG is not entirely useless as an educational tool. Obviously a week in a science or statistics class is potentially more beneficial, but thats assuming the student is receptive to learning such material in a traditional classroom setting, which they too frequently are not.

You called it "learning patterns" and implied that it is somehow ineffective. Patterns are exactly how our kids are being taught this kind of subject matter in school anyway. The problem is that the patterns become familiar mostly within the context of the equations and idealized word problems that appear in the textbook or on a test. Recognizing and processing the unfamiliar patterns that present themselves in life and applying the skills to them requires critical thinking, which is neither taught properly in school nor provided exercise for. Like it or not, an MMOG does provide a mechanism for these thought processes to be stimulated.

So I sincerely apologize if I somehow came off as a WoW fanboy, and apologize if you couldnt see past that to what I thought was some legitimate insight on the topic, Ill just go relapse into my MMOG addiction now, thanks.


Have a talk with nintendo
By William Gaatjes on 2/22/2009 2:28:13 PM , Rating: 1
If you take for example mario kart from the N64 back in the days it was lot's of fun to play with and appealing as well. While the violence was present, it was done in a cartoon style way. It is the same as the old and orignal tom and jerry movies. Lot's of violence but brought in such a hilarious and over the top way way you could laugh about it and intuitively you know you cannot do these things in reality when considering children. It's great shooting banana's.

We can have lot's of fun games.
I remember IGN extreme games on the playstation another fun game. It's a great laugh kicking the bicycler, hoping the bicycler will be hitting the tree again and you can hear his bicycle bell going"DING" again :):).

I mean why not make a game like most mod's are made for games like halo, unreal tournament, quake. Let's make a game with deathmatch capabilities but odd weapons. Let's exploit the stereotype thoughts. You can choose a Belgian that throws bags of fries instead of grenades and shoots diamonds. Choose a Hollander that shoots wooden shoes or throws windmills. An Italian that shoots razor sharp pizza's and throws with salami bombs. An Iraqi that throws shoes and has a high heels gun. An American that shoot's fake tits and throws big bottles of cola. Too many to choose from. And it will be a huge laugh. Especially if you can edit the avatar you are playing with and you can edit the weapons. And afcourse the enviroment you are playing in. Modifying avatars can be done easily. I have seen it way back on the orignal xbox. With present calculation power this is entirely possible.




RE: Have a talk with nintendo
By TSS on 2/22/2009 3:05:34 PM , Rating: 1
games are a escape. that's why some people play alot and some play little.

the violence is a way to control your own agression. the more you get bullied a day, the more gruesome deaths you inflict online.

i've always been gaming. but it didn't reach addiction levels untill i got into social isolation (at high school). which was caused by something else then gaming. i became socially isolated before i started gaming more. and i stopped beeing addicted when i went to a new school 2 years later where people *did* accept me.

if anybody knows anybody who's addicted to gaming, look at their social situation as a cause rather then a consequence.

cartoon violence is still violence. better yet i enjoyed pushing other players off the road in need for speed so that they'd crash and i'd win, instead of just beeing better in time. and there's hardly any violence in there. it just meant i had a bad day in school.

i still play wow, though i'm not addicted. the time i spend in there directly relates to how bad the real world makes me feel. and i feel good, so my time in there is low (i spend all day today with my family in a museum filled with animals. i don't even like animals).

it's my escape. some people need to go on vacation every year. some people enjoy going to the beach. some people smoke every hour. where all trying to escape reality for a short time so we can deal with it better the rest of the time.

now since i solved that problem how about that 1.5 mil? :P


By William Gaatjes on 2/22/2009 4:25:42 PM , Rating: 2
To make a point first : I do not have any problems with violence in as for example 1st person or 3d person shooter games. Nor do i think that games stimulate violence that is not latent inside a person already. But i think the GTA series or similair games are a waiste of any sane persons time.

quote:
games are a escape.


True, if it is similair as a normal hobby. If is too hide from your problems use it as a temporary bandache but not as a solution.

quote:
the violence is a way to control your own agression. the more you get bullied a day, the more gruesome deaths you inflict online.


I understand. But i do advice you if you are physically able to do a sport that uses self defense technics like boxing, kick boxing, karate , judo ,kendo. There are lot's of those sports out there. Now bullies will be there in the gyms too but they have to comply to rules or they will be expelled. For you , you can relief yourself from your anger with physical excersize and gain strength and ability too. And learn the mental ability to control your anger. Total result is a confidence gain for sure. The best way is to conversate, most bullies have problems of their own too.

Sport is a good natural way too relief yourself from stress. Physical movement cleans out the lympatic system making you healthier and increases the control over your muscles making you stronger and more agile. I personally believe we humans in general are evolved in such a way that stress factors can only be removed through physical movement. If that maybe sports or weight lifting, swimming... A sidenote : Evolution is an ongoing process and there are people who are not bothered by stress at all.

quote:
i've always been gaming. but it didn't reach addiction levels untill i got into social isolation (at high school). which was caused by something else then gaming. i became socially isolated before i started gaming more. and i stopped beeing addicted when i went to a new school 2 years later where people *did* accept me. if anybody knows anybody who's addicted to gaming, look at their social situation as a cause rather then a consequence.


I am happy to read it al works out and am happy to read you have gained some insight.

quote:
cartoon violence is still violence. better yet i enjoyed pushing other players off the road in need for speed so that they'd crash and i'd win, instead of just beeing better in time. and there's hardly any violence in there. it just meant i had a bad day in school.


Having fun is for everybody different. But the main point is you can do in games what you should not or never do in real life. As long as you realize that you are no different then any other sane person with intelligence. kudos too you and everybody else who realizes this.

quote:
i still play wow, though i'm not addicted. the time i spend in there directly relates to how bad the real world makes me feel. and i feel good, so my time in there is low (i spend all day today with my family in a museum filled with animals. i don't even like animals).

it's my escape. some people need to go on vacation every year. some people enjoy going to the beach. some people smoke every hour. where all trying to escape reality for a short time so we can deal with it better the rest of the time. now since i solved that problem how about that 1.5 mil? :P


Why you don't like animals ? Hard for me to grasp. In all honesty, most animals are empathic and have the good gift of making you feel good when you are not happy through interaction. Although from a museum filled with animals you will not recieve much empathy :).

But it can be still a learnfull experience. It is important to not do one thing all the time. Diversity(within limit's of course) keeps your mind fresh.


WOW makes you a scientist!
By AvidDailyTechie on 2/23/2009 8:49:12 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin learned playing Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft can lead to higher scientific thinking.

This, I have to post to:
As compared to what--doing nothing?
For now, I'll take reading textbooks about math and science or performing my own experiments and problem solving games over WOW.

I admit, I have not read the study... that would be as useful with my time as, well, playing WOW to become more scientifically minded...




By AvidDailyTechie on 2/23/2009 8:51:01 AM , Rating: 2
Moreover:
Want to play a game that improves cognition? Chess
Want to learn interesting science that seems like science fiction? Quantum Mechanics

down down down...


By Warlock Chick on 2/23/2009 3:50:00 PM , Rating: 2
Not just that, a gamer is strategic in thinking. They develop leadership skills and are team players. Although grinding wow gold develops patience, there are other tasks in the game that does that. Just check this out [ http://WoWGoldPig.com ] and P-L-A-Y .




By edantes on 2/22/2009 12:25:05 PM , Rating: 1
Once upon a time, the Tobacco Institute was hot on funding research on the health benefits of cigarettes.

Microsoft should use some of this money to hire Tony Soprano to break the legs of the researchers writing nasty papers on their products.

Could it be they are already doing it?




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