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Since I was little, games as a form of entertainment has grown from an insignificant past time into becoming the worldwide phenomenon it is today. As a child of the eighties, new technologies were very common place in an average household like the one I lived in. These new inventions – like the VHS and later DVD, CD-player and MP3 or the home computer – were all important steps into changing the way we live and spend our lives today. None of these however seem to have had the same radical effect on people as games have. Nowadays, children and adults alike from all walks of life, spend countless hours adventuring and playing. Even though portable music players are seen everywhere and television is bigger than ever, playing games is the one that I believe involves us the most.

I have been documenting games in movies since back in 2003 and one of the most important changes I’ve seen so far is the way games are featured in movies and television. Back in the early eighties, when home consoles and arcade games were in one of their biggest peaks, games in movies were often shown as a part of the youth culture. Kids of the eighties loved to spend their time at shopping malls or at fast food restaurants and this was often the place for arcades.

Nowadays, almost every single TV show and a large number of movies have product placed consoles, handhelds or games in them. Arcades are very rare, but somehow almost every kid seem to be aware of, or, are playing video games. They often know about game companies like Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft as well as bigger franchises like for example Mario, World of Warcraft or Halo. Also, when it comes to product placement it is almost certainly always one of the big three that are shown – Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft. This isn’t so strange since they are the main manufacturers of home game consoles.

With all the 10s of millions of Americans playing online war games in gaming communities, it seems there is a tremendous amount of brain power being expended each and every day. These humans are learning to adapt, fight, strategize, and make decisions on the fly – with one goal in mind; to win, and, winning means scoring the most points, eliminating the most enemies, and surviving to fight another day, which does indeed sound a lot like the real thing – that is to say; war in the real world.

Training the military strike teams using simulation works and is a wise use of such technology. From logistical work to the tip of the sword simulation and online community gaming should be tapped to do this training. That makes sense right? Sure it does it makes sense on so many levels, and thus, I am pleased to say that it’s now being done.

In fact, there was a very interesting article published not too long ago in Homeland Security News titled “New Anti-Piracy Tool: 1,000-Participant Internet Wargame” published on May 10, 2011″ which stated; “The U.S. Navy is recruiting a community of more than 1,000 players from across the U.S. government to collaborate on solving real-world problems facing the U.S. Navy: high-seas piracy; the participants will be asked to suggest ways to combating piracy off the coast of Somalia.”

In discussing this concept with a fellow think tanker, Troy Laclaire, we had considered who the participants are scheduled to be, and perhaps which groups were excluded, why, and even why they should have been included in this Massive Multiplayer Online War Game Leveraging the Internet or MMOWGLI. As you may well know, Troy is an expert on online gaming communities. Troy said he believed the idea was interesting yet also noted;

You might have noticed lately that there are many more video games store today compare to twenty years ago. As computer technologies improved over the span of 30 years the game industry has also flourishes and this resulted into superior game consoles and games with higher resolutions. A lot of these stores don’t just sell newly released games but they also sell older and second-hand games which makes it reasonable even for gamers who are on a tight budget.

Since all the major video game companies such as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo has created some of the most phenomenal game consoles such as the Xbox, PlayStation, and Wii respectively, the insatiable demands for newer and improved games has greatly contributed to the multi-billion dollar video games industry. The success of these large corporations has also contributed to the creations of many video games store that popped up throughout the world and helped distribute myriads of games titles and game related accessories.

The advent of high-speed internet connection has also made the online video games store more accessible and efficient at the same time. Avid and seasonal gamers now have the luxury to try out upcoming game titles so they can determine if they want to buy the game in the future. Gamers also no longer obligated to drive to the nearest shopping mall because they can now buy them at the comfort of their home. However, some fear that online stores might affect the sale volume of games in many brick and mortar stores who rely mostly on people who visit their store.