Video Game Lessons
There is a lot of wisdom to be held in video games. Somewhere between lines of code, numerous pixels, and gamepad input are lessons being written. What if I told you video games are actually fables? How does the saying go? Experience is the toughest teacher. Experience gives the test and then teaches the lesson after. Right you are Oscar Wilde. We experience life lessons in a myriad of forms. Parents, school, church, friends, and work provide training to prepare for success. The earlier we learn the morals of the stories the better we can avoid the harsher consequences of our own mistakes. Enlightenment exists in different places. George Washington had a cherry tree. Luke Skywalker had sacred Jedi texts. I have video games. Below are lessons found from my childhood video games.
If at first you don’t succeed… The classic NES release title Super Mario Bros. teaches us how to learn from our mistakes. The repetitive nature of Super Mario Bros. gives young gamers opportunities to make mistakes, analyze what to try differently and replay. We also learn how some answers we are looking for are not always where we first thought. Thank you Mario, but the princess is in another castle. Patience, practice, and persistence help anyone.
Read the directions. E.T. wasn’t a terrible video game. People opened the box, plugged in the cartridge, didn’t understand how to play, got frustrated, and returned the game. If only customers had taken the time to read the directions. E.T. wasn’t just an action game. It was an adventure game meant for you to make discoveries and explore the world. It states this in the directions. Reading the manual, you will also find that the directions clearly explain how to complete the basic object of the game. I was in 4th grade when I beat E.T. and did it simply by reading and following directions.
Standing on the shoulders of giants. I told the story of my first time completing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Blackout arcade in Gering, Nebraska in an early Cache-All Podcast episode. I always seemed to run out of quarters at the same spot. One fateful visit to the arcade, a seasoned player finished playing at that same location giving me the opportunity to start where I usually ended. This allowed me and a few others to complete the game for the first time. I would add “part B” to this lesson, which is to be appreciative and respectful of the work done that helped you along the way.
Surround yourself with great people while understanding their strengths and weaknesses. Jim Rohn says we are the average of five people we spend the most time with. This concept certainly applies to Tecmo Super Bowl. Bo Jackson and QB Eagles can provide a lot of firepower. If they are fatigued, they need to be aware of LT and David Fulcher. The Bills or 49ers might be better options with more complimentary pieces.
Take things slow and do one thing at a time when life gets overwhelming. Blades of Steel was my first exposure to the game of hockey. I was terrible when I first started playing. I received a NES controller for a gift that featured a slow-motion mode. Basically slow motion rapidly pauses and unpauses the game repeatedly, giving the illusion that the game was in slow motion. It would become annoying with games sounding on pause, and you would need to turn the volume down. Playing Blades of Steel in slow motion allowed me to figure out what was happening, see the ice easier, and react better. Eventually I was able to play the game at regular speed with ease.
Mistakes stand out more than triumphs. If you carefully cross an icy road, and on the last step fall on your butt, people will laugh because they notice you fell. You notice your mistake because you have a bruise. Think of all the careful steps you successfully completed up to that point that went unnoticed. What better game illustrates this than Tetris? A record of every mistake you made is left on the screen for you to see, giving you fewer opportunities to do something right. We all make mistakes, and it is important that we acknowledge and learn from them. It is also important to recognize and celebrate successes.
There you have it. That’s my list, obviously retro gaming inspired as they are games I played growing up. Do you agree or disagree? Do you have examples from games that you can draw life lessons from? I’d love to hear your examples!
