Can Video Games Make a Better World?

Society is changing socially and economically. An example of this drastic change are video games. Once seen as an escape from reality and a cause of lack in physical activities; video games are now used for work-outs, family get-togethers, house-parties and on-the-go thanks to smartphones. And with other drastic issues happening within society, such as education, healthcare and the economy; individuals are using video games to help make a better world.

One of these individuals is world-renowned game designer Jane McGonigal. Famous for her alternate reality games and humanitarian efforts, McGonigal believes  Four Ingredients will not only help create humanitarian causes but will make a happy and meaningful life for individuals and the world.

1. Satisfying Work
When a gamer is participating in a game they are intrigued with, they feel highly productive. "We have clear goals and a sense of heroic purpose. More important, we're constantly able to see and feel the impact of our efforts on the virtual world around us,"McGonigal  mentioned within a Wall Street interview. She also exclaimed that as an outcome, the gamer feels a stronger sense of their own well-being and are more likely to set ambitious real-life goals.

2. Real Hope for Success
While playing a video game, a gamer has strong optimism in taking on new challenges. And when they fail, they consistently re-try until they win. This strong pursuit and optimism leads players in saving Princess Peach in a Mario game, reaching the most points within Guitar Hero and even beating Metal Gear Solid on difficult (which requires ALOT of pursuit from my experience).

3. Strong Social Connection
When an individual finishes playing a game with another person, both are likely to trust eachother more. Gamers are also more likely to help someone in real life after they've played with that person through an online or video-game console.

4. Becoming Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves 
Storylines for video games have become more epic and compelling that massive multiplayer environments are invoking sensations of awe and wonder. Because of this, researchers have indicated that when a person is experiencing these feelings, there is a higher chance of that individual serving a large cause and collaborating with others selflessly. Feels like we need more people like this in the world, don't we?

These four factors are part of several alternate reality game projects that McGonigal has already applied. Two of her most popular a.r.g's are EVOKE and WORLD WITHOUT OIL.

EVOKE is best described as a ten-week crash course in changing the world. The goal is to empower people throughout the world to come up with solutions to our most urgent social problems (aka urgent evokes). As of January 2011, more than 19,000 players tackled real-world missions to improve food security, create more access to clean energy and end poverty in more than 130 countries.

The game also focused on players constructing and launching their own social enterprises. And after 10 weeks of the game debuting, more than 50 new companies were established. One of these enterprises is Libraries Across Africa which empowers entrepreneurs to set up free community libraries.

WWO is another alternate reality game that debuted in April 2007, when we experienced a substantial drop in the supply of oil. Individuals played through blog posts, videos, photo's, podcasts and even twitter. The key of the game is for players to visualize through these communication channels what would happen if the world ran it's last drop of oil. How would the lives of people change?

Players first read a news feed from other players on how a shortfall of oil was affecting their own lives and what they were doing to cope with the problem. And as the crisis continued, players updated eachother with further thoughts, reactions and solutions. As a result, the game had over 1900 players with more than 60,000 active observers with 1500 stories and solutions told.

With this kind of gaming content and collaboration, maybe video games can make a better world. Maybe we can discover the cure for cancer through a video game. But until then, hear what Jane herself has to say about this evolution of video gaming.