THE LAST WORD
Pawns
&
'Pac-Man'
by David Pierson
esides fulfilling a psychological need, coin-op
video games may actually be fulfilling another
role in society-that of educating our youth.
First, it should be conceded that video games, more
than being psychological safety valves, more than
becoming teaching aids, are chiefly designed and
engineered to be fun. But the nature of video games
today is such that other social payoffs-especially in
the areas of education and emotional release-are so
interwoven with the pure fun for which the games
were consciously purposed as to be inseparable.
. Actually, this happened by accident. But it is the
nature of the beast. So whether the industry, the
players, and society are aware of it-or even accept
it-there's more to video games than what meets the
eye. Something purposeful is happening in the brain
as well.
Let's take the example of chess, a game which
demands intense intellectual gymnastics but which is,
by its very nature, seemingly irrelevant to any other
human activity or function. The skills of a master chess
player do not lend themselves directly to the arts,
science , politics, athletics, economics, philosophy, or
any other avenue of human thought or achievement.
Fianchettoing the king's bishop or sacrificing a
pawn for an attack can hardly be said to have direct
corollaries in real life. Yet there is hardly anyone who
would argue the game does not train the mind in
some almost imperceptible manner.
The ability to abstract, project, analyze , imagine,
and then solve a problem-all within the confines of a
predetermined logic-contributes to the educational
value of chess, as if the game needed in some way to
articulate its educational role.
A master chess player (or checker player or any
other games player for that matter), whether he is
conscious of its effect or not, continues to use in ·his
work the same faculties and abilities he has exercised
in his recreation . So it is with chess .. . or video games.
It coyld be strongly argued that the ability to
analyze a position on the chessboard, perceiving the
weaknesses and strengths therein , and then solving
that chess problem is infinitely more educational than
the rote retention of names and dates like Louis XIV or
B
1066.
The same holds true for coin-op video games . The
challenge inherent in games-to spot trends, ten-
dencies, and patterns on the video screen-and to
react correctl y-creates a propensity in the player to
deal in a problem-solving manner in other disci-
plines, with other systems of logic.
And when one considers that the player is actually
interacting, competing against expert programmers,
many of whom have advanced degrees in science and
computer engineering, it is easy to see that maybe
there are a lot of worse things our children can be
doing with their time-like sitting catatonic in front of
their television sets or memorizing dates in ancient
history.
However, society is still under the mistaken
impression that education must be boring to be
effective. That does not necessarily mean that all fun is
educational. But the prevailing opinion in American
society , that education only takes place in the school-
room and should be boring , is equally wrong-headed.
Regrettably, we look upon education as something
that has to be approached with the same enthusiasm
as going to the dentist...five days a week for twelve
years!
With the curious marriage of microchip technology
and game playing, however, it can be argued that
learning can be fun. Players are lured into applying
and exercising their mental energies on various
systems of logic. Each game, after all, has its own rules,
parameters , forces, goals, and challenges. Thus, each
game offers still another system of logic that the
player must first understand, then analyze in order to
succeed.
Video games, like chess and other board games,
allow players to exercise the same abilities that allow
the truly educated man (or woman) to move from one
discipline (like economics or science) to another (like
metaphysics or even the arts) and still be able to apply
his abilities effectively.
It just so happens that, with video games, it's fun in
the process. Perhaps chess and Pac-Man should be
taught in schools as examples of how to analyze and
then solve problems on the abstract level!
Again it is naive for the video game industry to
claim it intended to fulfill such a vital role in society
when it first set out. Like other industries, coin-op
entertainment was looking to make a buck. Never-
theless, the industry has accomplished the unintended
result as well. In the same way , video game technol-
ogy has sneak ed up and educated pla yers , whether
the y were aware of it or not. The games have sneaked
up and positioned this industry in a role it never was
aware it could fill-that of educitor.
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