Problem-solving problems? Solved!

The one element of video game play that's often overlooked by the hostile media is problem-solving. Virtually every game out there requires its participants to employ problem-solving skills in some fashion. First-person shooters require split-second determinations concerning trajectory, novel approaches to attack strategy, and in team play, assault coordination based on limited intelligence. Real-time strategy games are all about unit deployment, resource management, and long-term planning. Puzzle games demand mastery of the unique mechanics of the particular title being played, and many -- and I'm thinking of Braid, here -- require lateral thinking.

Oliver Wendell Holmes may not have foreseen the advent and rise of the video game, but his famous quote certainly applies here: One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. Young, impressionable minds, used to confronting problems on a regular basis through video games, can become used to thinking of the world's problems as solvable, nothing more than temporary setbacks awaiting the proper application of intelligent viewpoint to destroy. That's one of the particular joys of the video game: they are, essentially, challenges from the developers to you, the player, to solve the problem they've put before you; a problem with an implied solution. Video games can get kids used to exercising their critical faculties to approach any situation, no matter how seemingly hopeless. The key, of course, is making plain the connection between game world and reality, but that's nothing more than a matter of metaphor.

Clearly, there is more at work in video game entertainment than is displayed on the surface, but that's frequently the case when examining entertainment of any sort. Perhaps this is a case of looking for meaning where there might just be randomness, but none of these conclusions are any more far-fetched than linking homicidal behavior to gameplay, a lie all-too-easily swallowed by an ignorant public, and fostered by a sensationalist media.

The fact of the matter is, strong cases to prove a point can be made using any platform; it wasn't too long ago that heavy metal -- and indeed rock 'n' roll in general -- was demonized for inducing anti-social and violent behavior in otherwise "innocent" teens. Before that, comic books were on the hook for corrupting America's youth. Let's face it: people will fear what they don't understand, and fear masquerades as anger. It's far easier to destroy than to build, so that's the response we see time and again. But developers are parents too, and there are far more educational video games than ever before, so perhaps we'll see a change sweep the nation, where games stop being vilified and blamed for aberrant behavior, and instead studied properly and utilized for their unique strengths.

Hell, there's going to be a Wii in the White House soon. Barack Obama's daughters will grow up with video games in their lives, and they'll certainly be in the public eye for a long time to come. Let's make 2009 be the Year of Change we've been promised, and teach our kids to play intelligently and mindfully.