Gaming Can Be Good for You

My husband and I recently acquired a high cool-quotient when we bought a Nintendo Wii. Our nephews and younger friends are in awe. The Wii is still hard to find and when he stumbled on one at a Big Box store, my husband didn't even hesitate to buy it. Our rationale was it would get us off the couch and out from behind computer screens. The game software that comes with the console includes bowling, baseball, tennis, golf and boxing. You use the controller/remote as you would the sports equipment - swinging the tennis racket, etc. I actually was sore and stiff after my first foray into bowling.

We've all heard about the evils of virtual gaming. I wrote a cautionary post, Is Second Life the Ultimate Cyber Addiction? about the addictive potential of online gaming. I still believe that any activity that interferes with your normal life functioning is unhealthy, but it's also a matter of degree. As a response to a regular Second Life player who criticized my post for admonishing something I hadn't tried, I signed on to Second Life to give it a try. Unfortunately, some software incompatibility has prevented me from playing. But in looking into the site again, I found an interesting article, "Big Avatar on Campus." In the video, QUEST's Community Science blog producer Sheraz Sadiq visits Second Life to check out a virtual classroom on San Jose State University's Second Life campus. To reproduce the actual campus, the university purchased "real estate" from Second Life. This is distance learning taken to the next level. Sadiq interviews a professor in the School of Library & Information Science who hasn't taught a class in a physical classroom for six years. Sadiq's avatar joins the students' avatars in the virtual classroom. Amazing!

In researching the positive benefits of casual gaming, I was directed to some research by Aimee O. Jacobs of Frank PR, a London marketing and PR firm. One their clients is PopCaps, the leading developer and publisher of casual games. In a survey of over 7,000 white collar workers who play casual games, they found that nearly a quarter (24%) play casual games at work.

Even more surprisingly is that 35% of CEO’s and Senior Executives also play…at work!

Of those who play at work, the results showed that:

• 1 in 7 (14%) has played casual
  video games during a business meeting or conference call.
  
• With a massive two thirds (65%)
  claiming to do so at least once a month!
  
• 61% play during lunch or on other
  official breaks.
  
• 52% play during the workday, when
  they need a short break.
  
• 79% play at work several times a
  week or more.
  
• 53% play at work at least once a
  day.

The main reason for playing at work was the belief that casual games offer physical or mental health benefits (79%). Even the CEO’s and Senior Executives are in agreement, showing that over half (48%) of respondents who occupy a Senior or Supervisory role are actually encouraging mental breaks during the workday.

Now, all bosses and coworkers might not agree that hearing you cheer yourself on in a virtual game at work is a productive use of company time. But again, the key is moderation - not playing games to the exclusion of your work.

So I will keep working on my Nintendo Wii bowling average. So far, my highest game is a 248. Believe me, I've never bowled that well in REAL life!