Games Are the Future of Our World

By Jennifer Wardell        

More than 174 million Americans are gamers, and by the age of 21 children in the United States will spend a total of ten thousand hours gaming!  Now you're probably thinking that playing video games is bad for you, and we need to tell these children to stop staring at screens, but Jane McGonigal says otherwise. She believes that video games actually fulfill human needs, therefore causing less regrets at the end of our lives. Plus, we can use games to change the way we act in the real world.

Jane McGonigal is a designer of alternate reality games, and she has a mission of seeing a game developer win the Nobel Peace Prize. She has created games in more than 30 countries, partnering with many organizations to create games that challenge players to tackle real world problems. One of her best known games is called "SuperBetter". This game helps people tackle a variety of problems, especially anxiety and depression.  

Initially, Jane McGonigal developed this game for herself in order to help her get over a concussion that didn't heal correctly. It helped her to get better and tackle the real world by making her more confident, and she was able to get in a network of friends that could help her.

In addition to helping people tackle health issues, she also believes that games contribute to human happiness and motivation, and give one a sense of meaning and community.  Games help someone spend time with friends and family and to take a break from the stresses in the world. She believes that gamers will be able to tackle obstacles in real life and stay optimistic in the face of failure because of what they have experienced in games.

Source: http://janemcgonigal.com