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In a book every gamer and every anti-gamer should read, author Brian Johnson argues that in fact, Everything Bad Is Good For You. It's a good book, and he makes the case for the internet, television, movies, and video games and how they've grown more intelligent and thought provoking in recent years, offering interesting and meaningful mental stimulus. I totally agree with this thesis, especially the parts about the internet and video games. As he points out, video games are hard. They require not just hand/eye coordination, but also problem solving skills and sometimes great stories. So it should come as no surprise at all then that UC Berkley is offering a course in Starcraft.
I spent many a thrilling hour playing Starcraft the real time strategy game that has the balance between the three factions so good that it has spawned ongoing competitive leagues in Korea and was a huge factor in the spread of online PC gaming in that country. I've seen the web sites where master strategists break down battle plans to the second in order to pull off the perfect Zergling rush. But I couldn't take this class, because it's students are expected to know Calculus and Differential Equations, and I'm not entirely sure what either of those things really are. It makes perfect sense though – it's possible to learn through careful, detailed study of just about anything, and Starcraft offers the more interesting and varied source material than say, dividing 7 apples and 9 oranges among 5 friends or the arrival times of east and west bound trains traveling at different speeds.
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2009.