I have put countless (literally) hours into the video game Fallout: New Vegas. New Vegas is what is referred to as a role-playing game. As the name suggests, you play the role of a character who is destined to embark on an epic journey in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of what we know as Las Vegas… 200 years in the future. Quick back story: during WWII, instead of reducing the size and consumption of technology, we (America) based nearly all technology off of atomic power. In doing so, we drained the world’s resources much quicker and the global wars over resources took hold in the 21st century, leading to an inevitable apocalyptic war in 2077.
The only humans known to survive this event, at least in America, did so in underground vaults. It is these people that become the next chapter of human society, developing a primitive sense of community, economics, politics, etc. Because of this, all of the aspects are seen in the game. Fallout New Vegas sees several “factions” battling over control over Hoover Dam, which inevitably leads to control over the New Vegas area as it gives power to the entire area. You come in contact with multiple communities and “tribes” and have the ability to make them your allies, wipe them out entirely, or simply ignore them.
What I’m TRYING to say is… I have done a lot of critical thinking and theorizing over concepts such as economics, politics, community, etc. All of this from a game that is, in the end, based only upon entertainment. But what if a game of this magnitude took advantage of its concept and became based around… Education?
It’s safe to say that education is slightly behind on the technological scale and that America’s education system is seemingly reducing in results overall. We still have some of the best colleges and produce a great deal of bright minds, but a big problem is college dropouts, high school dropouts, etc. People who feel disillusioned with education and can’t bear to sit in a class, head in book, listening to someone speak for an hour. But what effect would education in the form of massive video games such as New Vegas have on the current state of education in America?
Let’s start at the most basic of concepts, which is simply taking education and putting it into a video game. Literally taking a math equation, and instead of having it on a piece of paper or a calculator, have it done on a TV screen. It’s already made easier on the modern mind as we can operate it with a controller instead of a pen or pencil. Also, it may be easier to keep one’s attention with the addition of some color or something otherwise appealing to look at. So, in short, just doing the same thing you’d be doing in a book on a computer (or similar medium) may increase attention/retention. Keeping in mind, retention is one of the most difficult aspects of education. You can teach someone how to fish… But it’s useless if they have forgotten everything you said the next day.
Now, take it further, with role playing games that have the ability to put you in a virtual world where “anything is possible”… What is that? It’s simulation. Something I have found with more realistic games is their ability to be 100% immersive, which apparently isn’t a word. Well, doesn’t that put a damper on my education article. Fuck it, I’m making immersive a word… Feels right. 
What I MEAN by that, though, is I am COMPLETELY engaged. When I stop playing I have an odd feeling come over me… You might experience this while watching a really good movie that you follow very closely. When it ends, you kind of forget where you are, forget you were only watching a movie, etc. And I bet after that movie, I could ask you about it, and you could give me a detailed synopsis from beginning to end. Almost like you lived through it, like a simulation.
So we have our “simulation” in place and we can make it just about anything. Video games have been the absolute pinnacle of creation. This particular video game, if played on a PC rather than a gaming console, can become an architecture’s favorite toy as a program provided by the game creators themselves allows a person to create things in the given world space… Or create an entirely new world space. Certain users have taken full advantage of the ability to modify the game and have actually created modifications that lead to an entirely new/better game, and have thus taught the developers a thing or two to keep in mind for the next game.
So, back to how this ties into practical education, you can take any class and incorporate it into a video game since a video game can be about ANYTHING. Let’s focus on, however, things that could have gone into New Vegas itself. The biggest thing might be politics and economics. The main quest line, meaning the series of quests that are necessary to complete the game and reach the endgame sequence, puts you in a political battle where you can support 1 of 3 “factions”… Or simply take over New Vegas yourself. You can choose between an army much like “Old War” America using military force to stake claims all over the southwest, a more primitive group of slavers who can sympathize with the wastelanders more but develop an evil reputation through their slavery and ruthless war tactics, or an “Old World” visionary who saved Vegas from the global nuclear war and has stayed alive via the use of advanced computerized medical technology and wishes to assume autocracy over Vegas. Pretty Hollywood, right? But still, there are options to jumble and decision making to be made and you’ll find a dozen other communities that support or don’t support the factions aforementioned.
It’s also possible to work with all factions until (SPOILERS!!!) quest lines conflict and become the antithesis to each other. Both NCR and Legion want you to kill House as House is an obvious threat to their ability to take the Dam, and working with House or for your own Vegas will piss off the NCR and Legion and they will eventually not allow you to work with them anymore… And if your reputation with them drops low enough, they’ll mark you for death and send out assassins to get you when you least expect it! C’mon, this game is great, right?
If you’re wondering what happened to the US government (since they obviously protected themselves from the nuclear devastation), they are splintered into two factions as of the 23rd century. The split occurred when soldiers discovered their fellow soldiers were being experimented on and subjected to torturous testing to essentially make super humans. The soldiers rebelled and eventually developed into the Brotherhood of Steel. The people conducting the experiments, scientists and higher ups, developed the Enclave. By the 23rd century, however, both factions would find themselves highly outnumbered and struggling to survive just like everyone else considering they are from a small group and the wasteland societies were developed from the many Vault dwellers all over America. And yes, you have dealings with both in the game but they are not in a position to fight for Vegas oddly enough.
On a personal level, I have been satisfied with supporting anybody but NCR and Legion because of NCR’s lack of support towards the poor wastelanders and Legion’s backwards thinking (though you’ll find yourself understanding their tribe a lot more and not being as appalled by the ruthless killing and slavery than you’d think). As an independent ruler of Vegas, you can become idolized (the highest form of reputation) with a majority of factions in the area and become the linking ally between them all… You can also do the same while working under Mr. House. The big difference lies in (SPOILERS!!!) having to Kill House, who could be a very valuable asset medically, technologically, and more to the wasteland, in order to take over Vegas yourself. The drawback the other way being, House demands you kill the entire Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood, whereas you can keep the Brotherhood as an ally as an independent ruler.
Video games and other interactive digital forms of education have already proven successful. I remember in elementary school learning basic math with this space video game. I’ve never wanted to do math so much in my life. You had to jump to the answer or something. It was great, and that’s just the beginning. That’s just like what I was talking about in the beginning of this article, taken exactly what you would be doing and putting it onto a digital format. Now incorporate it into a storyline… Give it purpose. I’m sure if a test was done that compared math results from kids learning from books and kids learning from digital formats that are made to be fun like a game the results would speak for themselves.
Hell, I should test my own theories and go to Vegas and start gambling with everything I’ve learned about Blackjack in this game (yes, you can actually gamble in casinos in this game). Joking, of course, but this example is more direct. I learned the basics of blackjack simply through playing it in the game. And I learned quick. Take a subject and put it into a storyline where the player is forced to understand the subject to complete the quest… See what happens.
