3月11日，游戲設(shè)計(jì)師Jane McGonigal在波士頓舉行的第二屆PAX East游戲節(jié)上發(fā)表主題演講，闡述游戲的價(jià)值。PAX East吸引將近6.95萬來自全美各地的與會(huì)者齊聚波士頓會(huì)議中心，參加這個(gè)為期兩天的桌游、電腦和視頻游戲慶祝會(huì)。
McGonigal演講的聽眾大部分是20多歲的男性，也有家庭和青少年，有些人身著游戲角色的裝束。她問聽眾：“我們長久以來被告知游戲是有害的，但游戲是否也能夠帶來積極的影響呢？游戲是否能夠?yàn)檫_(dá)成現(xiàn)實(shí)目標(biāo)添磚加瓦呢？”依其所見，游戲能夠做到這一點(diǎn)。根據(jù)McGonigal的描述，玩游戲能夠使人充滿干勁并積極參與其中，喚起潛藏的創(chuàng)意，給玩家?guī)沓删透?、社?huì)歸屬感和歡樂，這些情感都可以引導(dǎo)人們實(shí)現(xiàn)真實(shí)生活中的追求。
游戲邦認(rèn)為，她提出此等言論正是時(shí)候?？v然McGonigal已為捍衛(wèi)游戲奔走數(shù)年，但直到最近游戲動(dòng)力學(xué)和游戲化方才引起人們的關(guān)注，游戲成為今年SXSW的主題便是例證。設(shè)計(jì)師將生活的方方面面游戲化，從鼓勵(lì)有益健康的行為舉止到提高兒童的安全意識。隨著手機(jī)和社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的普及，諸如《憤怒的小鳥》和《Farmville》等休閑游戲的玩家數(shù)量不斷增長。
Jane McGonigal
McGonigal繼續(xù)說道：“許多關(guān)注游戲玩家的人感到擔(dān)心，他們害怕這種離奇恐怖的環(huán)境會(huì)讓玩家脫離現(xiàn)實(shí)生活?！钡S后她辯解道，游戲玩家通常更具創(chuàng)造性及合作性，他們不但適應(yīng)能力強(qiáng)且較為樂觀，這些感覺會(huì)使他們的日常生活更加愉快。
McGonigal是加州Institute for the Future的游戲研究與發(fā)展總監(jiān)，她用實(shí)例闡述游戲?qū)ν婕业姆e極影響。經(jīng)常玩《吉他英雄》和《Rock Band》的玩家與常人相比更易學(xué)會(huì)使用新樂器，玩過《陽光馬里奧》等合作類游戲的孩子會(huì)更積極參加合作活動(dòng)。斯坦福大學(xué)研究表明，角色扮演游戲的玩家對現(xiàn)實(shí)生活更有信心，每天玩3至4小時(shí)《光暈》或《使命召喚》的駐阿富汗士兵回國后壓抑、暴力行為和自殺的幾率也較低。
McGonigal在其所著的《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》最新暢銷書《破碎的現(xiàn)實(shí)：游戲何以改變世界》中寫道，游戲就是個(gè)充滿各種障礙的無償任務(wù)，參與其中的玩家必須盡力達(dá)成某些目標(biāo)。她在演講中說道：“游戲?qū)⒆罱K成為工作，這是我們自己選擇的工作，是我們希望能夠激發(fā)自我并與朋友加強(qiáng)聯(lián)系的工作?！北M管如此，游戲邦了解到McGonigal也提出些許警告。比如，她認(rèn)為如果玩家每周游戲時(shí)間超過28個(gè)小時(shí)，那么游戲便會(huì)失去其積極作用。
有記者在McGonigal簽名售書期間問她游戲?qū)ι钅膫€(gè)方面影響最大。她說道：“應(yīng)該是衛(wèi)生保健?！痹谥黝}演講中，她探討了游戲如何幫助其度過患腦震蕩的困難時(shí)期。她認(rèn)為，康復(fù)性游戲能夠幫助改善人體健康，也能使玩家對自己的前景保持積極態(tài)度。（本文為游戲邦/gamerboom.com編譯，轉(zhuǎn)載請注明來源：游戲邦）
Are Games Good for You?
Jane McGonigal has a message: games are good.
Last Friday, the computer game designer defended the merits of gaming in her keynote at the second annual Penny Arcade Exchange (PAX) East games festival in Boston. PAX East drew some 69,500 attendees from across the country to the Boston Convention Center for the sold-out, weekend-long celebration of board, computer and video games.
“For years, we’ve been told that games bring out the worst in us. But could it actually be that games bring out the best in us?” she asked her audience—which seemed to be mainly men in their twenties, but also families and teens, some sporting costumes based on game characters. “Is it possible that rather than distracting us from real goals, that games can be a springboard to real-life goals?” The answer, she went on, is yes. Games evoke feelings of motivation, engagement, creativity, achievement, social belonging, and ultimately happiness, emotions that can be channeled into real-world pursuits, according to McGonigal.
Her keynote comes at an apt time. While McGonigal has been championing games for years, only recently have game dynamics and “gamificiation” become buzzwords beyond enthusiasts (games provided the theme of this year’s SXSW keynote, for example). Designers are using gamification for everything from encouraging healthy behavior to teaching safety awareness to kids. And with the boom in smart phones and social networking, the number of people who play casual games like Angry Birds or Farmville continues to grow.
“There are a lot of people who look at gamers and they worry,” McGonigal continued. “There’s this weird, horrible stereotype about gamers that we’re not good at life.” But people who play games, she argues, regularly experience productivity, cooperation, optimism, and resilience–feelings which can lead to genuine happiness in their everyday lives.
McGonigal, who is the Director of Games Research & Development at the California-based Institute for the Future, went on to illustrate the positive effects of gaming: people who regularly played Guitar Hero and Rock Band were inclined to pick up an instrument they didn’t know how to play; children, after playing a cooperative game like Super Mario Sunshine, were more likely to engage in cooperative behavior. The list goes on: a study out of Stanford University showed that people who controlled avatars that they felt were socially confident became more confident in real life, while soldiers who spent 3-4 hours a day playing Halo or Call of Duty in Afghanistan had low rates of post-traumatic stress, domestic violence and suicide after returning home.
A game is a voluntary task ridden with obstacles where participants must achieve some goal, McGonigal writes in her recent New York Times bestseller, “Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.” “Gaming is the ultimate work,” she said during the keynote. “It’s work we chose for ourselves; it’s work we want to do that motivates us and brings us together with our friends.” There are, however, some caveats. For example, she said that the positive benefits of gaming don’t work if gamers play more than 28 hours a week.
I caught up with McGonigal during her book signing and asked where she thought games would have the biggest impact. “Definitely healthcare,” she told me. During her keynote, she had discussed how coming up with a game had helped her through a difficult time recovering from a bad concussion. Rehabilitation games that help a person get healthier and keep a positive outlook will be big, she suggested. (Source: Technology Review)
