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The United Nations World Food Programme, for example, created a computer game to
educate children about world hunger. A commercial video game modified by University of
Southern California researchers helps recently deployed troops cope with symptoms of post-
traumatic stress disorder through play that simulates conditions in Iraq.
Corporations and educational institutions have also found video games to be useful tools.
Companies like American Express, Bank of America, IBM, JP Morgan Chase, Nokia and Pfizer
offer interactive computer training that includes game-like simulations. Educators harness
the power of video games to teach the next generation. The National Education Association
(NEA), a guiding force for instructors in schools, recommends city-building games to
improve students’ problem-solving and analytical skills.
As the population of gamers has expanded, market forces have driven game developers to
make games more accessible to this new, diverse audience. Senior citizens are keeping their
minds sharp through games offering a series of 15 different activities like Sudoku, word
scrambles and number games. Suburban moms are running diners in casual games
featuring a stockbroker who quits her day job to run a diner. Casual games have simple
rules and plot lines to target a growing segment of occasional players.
INDUSTRY GROWTH
In the 1970s, a handful of companies, including Atari Inc. and Magnavox, produced a limited
amount of video games designed to appeal mainly to young males. In the following decades,
competitors such as Nintendo, Sony and Namco joined the industry and companies began
making games that appealed to a wider audience. Today, the growth of gamers and
increased demand for games has translated into the explosive growth of the entertainment
software industry. Video games are now an $18 billion industry in the U.S. and the
Entertainment Software Association has more than 20 member companies, including
Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and Electronic Arts.
The entertainment software industry is one of the best performing sectors of the American
economy. Computer and video game companies posted record revenues of $9.5 billion in
2007 and the industry grew by 17 percent from 2003-2006, four times the growth rate of
the national economy.
The industry also adds lucrative jobs to local economies with average salaries nearing
$100,000. Computer and video game companies directly and indirectly employ more than
80,000 people in 31 states.
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