Games Are Still Good For You

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It's not all guns and gore. Read on to find out how games are good for you.

2. They can help fight cancer.

There's nothing remotely playful about the silent killer, but that hasn't stopped the game industry from joining the battle.

An enterprising research team at Stanford University has seen firsthand how video games can sway the tide. Their celebrated Folding@home project features the largest distributed computing network the world has ever seen (it's even been verified by Guinness Word Records), and nearly every shred of that power is focused on unlocking the mysteries of protein folding, the key to the formation of numerous cancers.

It wasn't until they tapped into the power of Sony's PS3, however, that things began to really take off. Via a simple download, PS3 users around the world were able to donate small amounts of processing power to help the greater good. In the first month of PS3 integration, computing power across the network doubled. More recently, the project reached the unthinkable petaflop processing milestone.

Project lead and Associate Professor of Chemistry Vijay Pande was amazed.

"The recent inclusion of PS3 as part of the Folding@home program has afforded our research group with computing power that goes far beyond what we initially hoped," he said. "Thanks to PS3, we are now essentially able to fast-forward several aspects of our research by a decade, which will greatly help us make more discoveries and advancements in our studies of several different diseases."

WATCH RE-MISSION VIDEO

Software makers are getting in a few licks as well. A joint effort by Cigna Healthcare and Hopelabs, Re-Mission teaches young cancer patients about their illness through a sophisticated third-person action game. By literally blasting away malignant cells while enlisting the aid of helpful T-cells and platelets, players learn important facts about different kinds of cancer and methods of treatment. It seems to be working; findings indicate that kids exposed to Re-Mission have demonstrated increased cancer knowledge and a better understanding of their own particular care management.

3. They can raise awareness.

For most, games offer an escape from real-world ills. But some see the medium as a fantastic way to reach a generation often considered uninterested in social issues, and in turn lead a burgeoning movement of games aimed at enlightening as they entertain.

Published by the United Nations World Food Programme, the PC/Mac game Food Force requires players to help supply relief to a fictitious, famine-stricken island in the Indian Ocean. The game features an array of thought-provoking missions, from creating a nutritious diet on a budget of 30 cents a day to rebuilding a village over the course of 10 years. Designed to be completed in about one hour, Food Force is offered as a free download and users are encouraged to burn it to disc and share it with their peers. Eat your heart out, RIAA.

Targeting a direr scenario is the browser game Darfur is Dying. The winner of a contest sponsored by mtvU, the online title puts players in the role of a Darfuri family struggling to survive in the midst of genocide. While the gameplay has been criticized as being somewhat detached from the grim conflict itself, Darfur is Dying has succeeded in reaching well over 1 million players.

It's not all death and taxes...or at least it's not all death. Hitting a bit closer to home is Fantasy Congress. A playful spin on fantasy sports, the game works just like your office NFL league, but with elected officials in place of linebackers and wide outs. Players 'draft' politicians, whose performance is rated on everything from voting record to bill sponsorship. Teams can be managed just like regular fantasy squads - if one of your Congressmen starts falling asleep at the wheel, bench him! Applauded by educators and politicos alike, it's a handy way to keep track of Washington's finest (and not so finest) movers and shakers.