Jane McGonigal is a game designer, and is very active in and passionate about the benefits of “gaming”. That being said, I have hard time reading what she says in the excerpt Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World about gaming being so beneficial for individuals as an escape from reality and a true form of expression.
I have little to no interest in the gaming culture at all, and therefore it is hard for me to believe that individuals are choosing virtual reality over their real life. I have brothers that love playing video games. but they do so as a break from reality, not an exodus. I believe there is a small sub culture of “hardcore” gamers who devote almost their entire lives to said video games. I think that for all others games can be a fun time-killer, but social interaction with others, face-to-face, is necessary and more important.
I find it interesting that McGonigal believes that entire lives being led on the internet is a good thing. If culture continues to evolve in this way, how sad would it be when our offspring don’t know how to interact socially with each other when physically together?
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