¡Videojuegos!

I've never thought about videogames as a learning experience, besides the ones specifically made for learning purposes such as Clue Finders or Oregon Trail. The article Dream Machines, however, talks about many positive aspects of videogames in the new generation. It compares how older generations may read the manual before beginning a new game, but younger generations simply learn the rules by playing and making mistakes. They learn what to do through the experience, and their knowledge of the game continues to build as they progress. Gaming is a way to express creativity and innovativeness; you must devise a plan to carry out the actions or quest that you want to accomplish. You get to choose how you want to do things. Some people may explore all the possibilities and various ways of accomplishing one task just because they can. Others may find one way to accomplish a task and then move on, never worrying about it again. Gaming really lets people explore their minds and express themselves.

Dream Machines also talks about how the older generations see negative aspects of games, "they're violent, addictive, childish, worthless..." rather than seeing the positive aspects, "creativity. community, self-esteem, problem solving..."

"Games aren't just fantasy worlds to explore; they actually amplify our powers of imagination."

This really made me think about videogames in a different way that I have before. I've never been against them, actually I've always quite enjoyed them, but now I can recognize their benefit. I like to play Animal Crossing on the Gamecube sometimes when I'm super bored. One day I was playing, and I realized it was a very pointless game, but it was still enjoyable for some reason. It's all about the imagination, and being put inside of a whole other world, even if you still are doing everyday things... or walking around picking weeds from the ground.