It's crack down day!

Serious games: games that have some sort of message
Fun games are just pure entertainment
Serious entertainment however is much, much more
Games = corruption of youth
but then, excess of any one thing is not good and games are of course included
flow: the force/state of mind when time ceases to exist and you just go with it...i.e. when playing a video game and unable to stop until you beat it
No other media captures attention like games which I suppose is why there are so many educational games for children these days.

Graphic novels can tell stories that are just as deep as (real) novels but get a bad rap as being just for kids, so adults don't take it serious: it's a comic book not a book. This problem is also attributed to video games: can't possible be serious because it is, after all, a game.

September 12 game: the goal is to kill terrorists in the town. There are many civilians in the town, too, so it's impossible to take out a terrorist without "taking out" some townspeople too. Every time you kill a civilian, they turn into terrorists. The more you kill, the more terrorists you have. You cannot win this game. You just create more terrorists until there are no civilians left. After every missile you deploy hits, a group of civilians gather to cry. After the sobs, the game make a chirping noise as the criers become terrorists.
Violence breeds violence!

Madrid is the candle game; keep the flame (and the memory of the person it's lit for) burning. Message: it's impossible for one person to keep all the candles lit! The instructions say "you have to keep trying" but the player burns out and then the candles burn out and the people/candles/memories fade to black.
Now we're playing some games on powerfulrobot.com but my favorite game from last semester, Cambiemos, is no longer available to play. :( The only game that worked at this computer workstation was the Howard Dean game for canvassing. I'm kinda glad because the Powerpuff girls game looks very frustrating whereas Dean was more droll. These little games are perfect for simply killing time without any real purpose. I liked the Dexter game, too, as I recall but I couldn't load the plugins for that and many other games. I've never liked the repetitive games because there's no room for my imagination; I don't even play solitaire (on the computer or with cards). Little time killers hold no interest for me outside this class; I just don't get it. I'd rather read a book or an interesting article (or even sometimes a gossip column).
But if I've got a couple of hours to pass, I do enjoy World of Warcraft. It allows room for my imagination within the game. I can quest or explore or level or go to an arena or make stuff or just socialize. My characters can even enjoy a party and get drunk while socializing. And there are a myriad of ways to defeat enemies and those ways keep increasing as my character levels. It's not just a time killer because I'm fully engaged in the game. I guess that's why I like it. It's not just mindless tedium; I can mow the lawn or fold laundry or do dishes if I'm just looking for mindless tedium and those activities are useful!

Powerful visual messages can be acquired from video games I suppose but they're really just not for me. And no, I don't click on the mini-games within ads that flash across my screen while I'm waiting for my pictures to load on my myspace page. Games are not just entertainment; educational games are not just for learning. They blend the boundaries between fun and learning.