Video Games Are Good For You!

I ran across this article at some point in my twisty and convoluted day.

In brief?

Video games increase the "skillz" not just in gaming, but also teach important lessons usable in the business world.

Some excerpts:

* "The people who play games are into technology, can handle more information, can synthesize more complex data, solve operational design problems, lead change and bring organizations through change"

* "Gamers are better risk-takers, show particular confidence in their abilities, place a high value on relationships and employee input and think in terms of "winning" when pursuing objectives."

Yeah, that's right. Gamers rock, toots.

w00t!

So think about that next time you hear of legislation like Washington House Bill 2178 that would make game makers liable for "desensitizing kids to violence" and "making" them do violent stuff. News Link Joystiq Link

Firstly, from the nightly news to Hillary Clinton, the game most people bitch about that's "turning" kids into violent little monsters, is Grand Theft Auto III. Sorry, folks, if "kids" are playing Grand Theft Auto III then it is a parenting thing, not a game manufacturer thing. The game has an M rating, which means it's recommended for people seventeen and older. If a parent lets their kid watch an NC-17 movie filled with explicit sex and violence (heck, if the parent PURCHASES the movie for the kid), is it the movie's fault or the parent's fault?

Secondly, if you HIT someone with a baseball bat or shoot someone... That is not a "Video Games Desensitized Him" situation... That is a "The kid was fucking nuts" situation.

Let's not go and blame everything but where the problem really lies, okeydoke?

Anyway, that's my two cents. Rock on.