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Microsoft's Neil Thompson says educational games will cause game industry to lose money

Posted Oct 28, 2008 at 1:50PM EST by Karl B.

Listed in: PS3, Wii, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS Tags: Colin Sebastian, Microsoft, Neil Thompson

Where are all the students? - Image 1

Remember those news bits about the Wii and DS being used as educational tools in classrooms around the world? What about those educational games like Brain Training and the like? Those sound like great ways to make the non-gaming masses more open to video games, right? Well, Microsoft's Neil Thompson thinks otherwise.

It's not that Thompson is against combining education and entertainment. He just thinks it's a bad idea. Speaking at the recent Games 3.0 event, Thompson emphasized that instead of trying to combine the two, developers should concentrate on stuff that will sell, "because it costs too much money to get that wrong":

We're in the business of creating fun entertainment and the moment we try to pretend we're in the business of education we've crossed the line and it's dangerous for us as a company and as an industry.

Yeah, it all boils down to money, which is a bit understandable since we are in a financial crisis right now and hey, gaming is big business. Like analyst Colin Sebastian said, core gamers haven't been affected yet by the economic crunch, but casual and mass market gamers have gotten a bit tight with their money. Parents have also been shown to still be wary of so-called educational games. Still, didn't Nintendo's Brain Training titles sell like a gazillion copies?

Nintendo has done some great work in producing products that are both fun and educational, Brain Training is one example, but I think for us to quote this as an industry and say let's start producing edutainment type products Â– we'll lose a lot of money. I don't think it's ever been done in a clever and good way because you lose the focus of it being fun and involving.

Thompson does acknowledge, however, that games can be used in education, but finding ways to combine the two isn't the job of game developers:

Educators and government should understand what great education is in order to look at the products we produce and ask can they be used in different scenarios that can benefit children in their educational process?

Via Games Industry

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You're looking at it from the wrong perspective.

He's not "complaining" about buyers. The point is... a GAME developer should focus on what they're good at... and that is making games.

If you want to make it educational, then you need teachers, parents and professors to come up with what needs to be taught, then think about how they can make it fun.

I mean, these people went to school and got degrees in TEACHING, so who better to make an educational game?

# please — Neko Kyu 2008-10-28 16:51

die in a fire

# @NEko Kyu — StingBlah 2008-10-28 16:56

The fact that you would say something like that proves you are MUCH more immature than someone who posts 'First'. First of all, how does Aceboogz's post bother you?

# @ StingBlah — Foolmonkey 2008-10-28 17:23

First of all, he didn't just say "First." He made himself look like a complete idiot with all his phony excitement and whatnot. I'm sure it bothered you as well. People like that simply don't deserve to live. It is scientific fact!

# ... — 93pauott 2008-10-28 19:42

ohno, its the machosofts loyal neil thompson!!!1!!1!oneone!

he must be punched... in the face... FASTERRRRRRRR!!

# Actually for once he makes perfect sense — shabghai360 2008-10-28 23:51

Its true, why should a game developer need to incorporate teaching and education into a game? If he does we then have school bodies deciding what is acceptable and not acceptable for use in the classroom.

Let the education authorities look first at the games and see if there is anything they feel would be a benefit and then ask a developer to work with it.

# I'll admit — AbysmalTech 2008-10-29 02:01

it bothered me a little, but I don't think I'd take his life away for it. I mean sheesh and this is why we live in such a corrupted world now, man its so much violence

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Microsoft's Neil Thompson says educational games will cause game industry to lose money

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