Games Impact Across Industry and Society
Typically, when we hear the term game we think of the entertainment aspect of the media as opposed to the societal and industrial impact of games. As games become more popular in our private and personal lives we are seeing an emergence of games in industry and government.
Virtually everyone has heard of the America’s Army Game, however few realize it has become the most effective recruiting tool the armed forces has at their current disposal. In fact, the game has proven so successful the Navy has recently launched a similar game focused on recruiting and I think we will see others for the Marines and Air Force emerge soon. Rumor is that the next iteration of Americas Army will include more accurate and specialized roles for players and move beyond merely the recruiting role and become an important training tool for new recruits.
Not entirely dissimilar to the Armed Forces use of games we are seeing several defense contractors beginning to utilize games to demonstrate capabilities of prototype and future defense technologies (armorment, weapons, vehicles, etc). In the past, contractors built elaborate animations and simulations or models to demonstrate the capabilities, but the interactive nature of games enables users to actually control the demonstrations and get real feel for the new technologies.
The pervasiveness of games has not been limited to military aspects, in Banking we have seen Banking Business Simulation become a valued training tool for many financial institutions. In BBS , bankers (or wannabe bankers) have the opportunity to experience true to life management of a large financial institution without the risk of bankrupting the general account or Grandma’s life savings.
In Healthcare, we see Flexism allowing Doctors and administrators to view problems and issues that may arise due to sudden influx of patients, giving the ability to realistically plan for and how to proceed should the need arise. We have also seen recent studies that relate increased effectiveness of doctors (specifically surgeons) to playing video games.
I could go on for hours (assuming you read slow and I type a lot) about how different industries are using games, however I think the most substantial impact industry will see from games is the skills the current players are developing. Now we have all heard from the many “sociologists” on the impact of violent games and television on our youth (we are not going to debate that point on this blog, however the August 6 issue of The Economist does a good job of it), but we rarely see the positives. Recently, I read an interesting post regarding how games enable students to learn how to make better and quicker decisions. In a game, one learns the impact of their decision almost immediately, but more importantly (with exception of course) one also learns a single bad decision rarely results in immediate death, and is generally recoverable. Several studies have shown this to have a direct impact on how students make decisions in their outside of games lives, making decisions more rapidly and with fewer regrets. Even more impressive than general decision making skills are the complex thought processes and fairly advanced business principles that children are acquiring from games. Last week as I was sitting in my office my daughter came in and asked “daddy , should I hire another maintenance man for my zoo ?” to which I non-challantly replied “sure, why not”- from there my eyes glossed over as she stated “well, I can afford one but it will take 50% of my positive cash flow, and while I am forecasting a 35% revenue growth , I have to be careful to not let my operational expenses get too high because I need to build my capital for future improvements.” My daughter is 12 years old and she understands complex business considerations and how to apply them, these same principles I didn’t even hear about until I was in business school.
My kids are not unique, a few days ago I was speaking with a co-worker about her son playing RTS games and she shared her observation. Her son was ‘killing off’ his own army , and she enquired as to why ? (hoping of course not to get some morbid response), and he explained that this particular units were “too specialized” and he needed to get rid of them in order to build out other specialties an remain in population limits. Managing resources and balancing enterprise needs are concepts many managers don’t have to deal with until they have 20 years experience, but our kids are now doing it for fun.
These kids are experiencing business concepts in ways that past generations could never imagine and they get it. Now the issue of ‘have vs have nots’ becomes even more pronounced, kids that have access to current technology and games will leave those that don’t behind in their dust. Your thoughts ?