There are few industries that have such a wide reaching appeal as video games. While most people don’t need to be told how the video game industry is unmatched in its level of mindshare in our society, somehow many have missed how video games are impacting our businesses, our governments, as well as our families. Consider the following and see how video games have become more than just a game*:
REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS
According to New York’s Beth Israel Medical Center, surgeons who played video games three hours a week made 37 percent fewer errors than non-players in laparoscopic surgery simulations, which involves joystick controls.
Four million people played the U.N. World Food Programme’s “Food Force,” an educational game in which players must distribute food to famine-stricken countries, during its first year.
Asi Burak created “Peacemaker,” an educational game that explores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Not only can players view actual news footage, they also can play the game from the perspective of both sides.
BUSINESS IMPLICATIONS
According to marketing consultants at Apply Group, at least 100 of the global Fortune 500 companies will use gaming to educate their employees by 2012.
IBM developed “Innov8,” a free, interactive game that teaches graduate students business and technology skills.
DOLLARS & SENSE
The entertainment software industry stimulates complementary product purchases of roughly $6.1 billion a year. For example, approximately $73 million in HDTV sales can be directly attributed to the XBox 360 game console.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, portable software sales for the “Family Entertainment” genre should reach $48.8 billion by 2011.
FACTS & STATS
Mazda Motor Corporation launched its vehicle, the RX-8, in Sony’s “Gran Turismo 3″ video game two years before the actual car debuted at the Detroit Auto Show.
Of the 298.2 million video games sold in 2008, most were rated “Early Childhood (EC),” “Everyone (E)” or “Everyone 10+ (E10+).” Only 16 percent, meanwhile, were rated “Mature (M).”
EDUCATIONAL IMPACT
More than 100 students showed up to enroll in “How They Got Game,” the first gaming course at Stanford University. The professors had anticipated a small seminar consisting of 15 to 20 students.
According to the Game Career Guide Web site, more than 500 educational institutions around the world offer courses in video game design and development.