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Games developer Jane McGonigal will be in town tonight to read from her new book Reality Is Broken—for a quick intro to her ideas, check out her recent, too-brief interview on The Colbert Report. As a non-gamer (I peaked in 1999 after a decisive victory in the Hallett family Tetris challenge), I found her book totally fascinating—you can read my review for a more detailed overview of her optimistic, eye-opening work. In a nutshell, McGonigal argues that since everybody plays games anyway, maybe it’s time to start recruiting 10-year-olds to fight our foreign wars considering how the qualities that make games so appealing and engaging can be applied toward real-world problems.
McGonigal’s at the Bagdad Theater tonight at 7 pm, $3 suggested donation, more info here.
And since it’s Science Pub, get there two hours early and bring a flask.
Do they get that busy? I haven’t been to one before, no idea how early I need to be there….
Alison, by reading a book you have highlighted an important difference between gamers and non-gamers…
If anyone reads the insanely awesome rants that Tim Rogers writes at Kotaku, the idea of leveraging our gaming tendencies to better our world is something he often talks about as well. I think it’s certainly a good idea; if someone can channel all of those Call of Duty and Farmville hours into… I don’t know, running farm robots and virtual peacekeeping?… well, that’s a lot of time.
Also, nice Tetris certificate 🙂
Yea, nice work with the Tetris, Alison.
I’m an investor in my good friend’s full-length movie about the world Tetris Championships, the characters involved and a bit of its history. It should be really good. I’ll let you know when it’s ready. In editing right now.
I have so many doubts gamers can collectively change the world for the better. The details behind that possibility are so beyond my scope of knowledge. Makes me want to read her book and hear her case.
@TSW: I will at least point you towards Exhibit A of gamers changing the world for good, the Child’s Play Charity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child's_Play_…)
tk.,
That’s good stuff, thanks!