Gaming Controversy

This radio story from the BBC came through my feeder today from Gamepolitics.com. It compares two controversial media both of which were said to "corrupt the youth" - novels and video games. It's a fitting news story since the UK is currently working to pass video game regulating legislation.

Long View

The story is also fitting since our library walked into a little controversy over video games as well. We are planning on doing a gaming night in the library using a variety of games (Wii Sports, Guitar Hero, DDR, Madden, Halo, and maybe Gears of War). The library staff involved in planning (including the Director) are excited about the possibilities of a gaming night, but we are getting questions from above about the appropriateness of including "M" rated games in an academic library sponsored event.

While these questions delay our gaming night, I am looking forward to the engaging in the discussion about the value of video games. This provides an opportunity to expand the assumptions people hold about video games and advocate the positive aspects of gaming and what it bring to learning. The work of James Paul Gee, Mark Prensky and others including The Federation of American Scientists provide a variety of justifications for the positive applications of games. So I'm pulling together some research and I'm looking forward to discussing video games which others on campus whose opinion I greatly respect.