<p>I could see some RPGs (roleplaying games) helping with literacy. With some of them if you can’t read the text, there’s no way of knowing what your next task/quest is supposed to be. I remember a Super Nintendo game I had where you were sent to find all kinds of wacky items, including Trout Yogurt . . . Good times!</p>
<p>There are even some text-based RPGs that have high literacy as a prerequisite, but lots of boys get involved in, say, the complex battle system.</p>
<p>And then there’s [Hamlet:</a> The Text Adventure](<a href=“http://www.versificator.co.uk/hamlet/]Hamlet:”>http://www.versificator.co.uk/hamlet/). ;)</p>
<p>^That is AWESOME.</p>
<p>I’m fond of [Lusternia</a> - Age of Ascension](<a href=“http://www.lusternia.com%5DLusternia”>http://www.lusternia.com), myself.</p>
<p>Geo, you raised a good point and started a very interesting thread!</p>
<p>Perhaps a related point is that too many kids feel pressured to only do things which look good on an application? If playing video games is fun and a pressure release valve, isn’t that sufficient?</p>
<p>Yes, many games as noted, involve creativity. And, with the popularity of the XBox live network, kids now play not just solitaire but online with people all over the world while talking to them. But there is nothing wrong a kid wanting to do an activity that has no school sponsor or college tie-in.</p>
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Pressure release? I’m still beating myself up over the chess game I lost this afternoon…</p>
<p>OOOh I haven’t seen a good text game since my days of sneaking onto the arpanet and playing Adventure. That was cute.</p>
<p>Video games an EC…I dont think they are…unless the student is writing programming…</p>
<p>I think culturally gaming is viewed as a leisure/hobby…nothing more than watching tv…</p>