Educational Opportunities in Video Games

Who would have ever thought that video games – a form of entertainment – could improve the minds of those that play them! The truth is that amid all the cool graphics, the fantastic music, and the intriguing plots, educational opportunities are abound – and to find them, one only needs to look at them a little closer.

1. Video games improve strategic thinking. Rare is the video game that doesn’t require its player to make a decision two or three steps ahead of a current situation. With constant play, players quickly learn the advantage of strategic thinking and they start to apply it to actual world opportunities.

2. Video games improve problem solving. Although the same could be said about any game, video games have proven in study after study to improve problem-solving skills. This is because most (if not all) games are centered around a problem and then challenge the player to solve it. In just one game, a player may solve anywhere from three to a hundred or more different problems.

3. Video games improve hand and eye coordination. If you find this hard to believe, pick up a game controller and try to maneuver around the game. Manipulating a game controller demands the same skills that it takes to maneuver a mouse around a computer screen.

4. Video games facilitate quick decision-making. One quality of video games that lends to quick decision making is its impromptu situations. The element of surprise is always around the corner and it’s what makes games exciting to play. To win however, players must be able to make smart decisions within a very short amount of time.

5. Video games feed the imagination. We don’t really understand the argument against things like television, videos, and gaming where people use the lack of imagination to support their part of the debate. Some people claim that video games take away from the imagination because games supply the mind with things instead of encouraging the mind to come up with these things on their own. Bear in mind that these are the same people who say a stack of blocks is sufficient to grow a child’s imagination. Of course we couldn’t disagree more. The imagery in video games only fuels the imagination and gives it a spring board to form new possibilities that might not have occurred otherwise.

6. Video games encourage exploration. In role-playing games, players must venture off the beaten path and explore the unknown. They have to open doors without knowing what’s behind them. They have to enter areas of the game without knowing the consequence. And they have to interact with characters that they’ve never met before. Inside these particular kinds of games, the opportunity to gather up the courage to explorer unknown territory isn’t just available, it’s required.

7. Video games enforce memorization. Another feature of video games is its strong influence on memorization. The terrain portrayed inside some of these games is huge, yet accessing the maps can be cumbersome and disruptive to the game. To compensate, gamers will not only memorize a large portion of the terrain, they’ll remember the tasks required to get to specific areas.

8. Video games teach consequence. All computer and video games operate off of an “action – reaction” principle. Do something, and the game will react. This is a great opportunity to learn about consequence – whether this opportunity is experienced from a gamer’s point of view or a programmer’s point of view.

9. Video games teach patience, dedication, and endurance. No great game can be conquered in a day. In fact, some of the best and most popular games take weeks or months to finish.

These are just some of the educational opportunities hidden inside video and computer games. After closer investigation, we’re sure you can find more in addition to hours of fun and amazement.

March 1, 2009 · Filed Under Computer Games and Systems

Website Building Tools

If you interested in website building for your home business, here are some great tools you might find useful to learn how to earn online, step by step. These are the tools that I use after checking out a lot of tools in the market. Hope it helps you in some ways:

1. Site Sell University

If you aren’t familiar…CHECK IT OUT! If you are… Congratulations!

Site Sell University will offer you a goldmine of information about “pre-selling” your customers and, in my opinion ( and I don’t endorse too many businesses this strongly), they have the best web hosting service on the planet for new startups, complete with mailing list features, newsletter integration, promotional tools… and much more.

I have to be honest with you. When I first came across Site Sell University, I was very excited to try it. A lot of ordinary people were raving about it. I thought if they can do it, I can do it, too.

My excitement fizzled out after a while. The reason being, I wasn’t very focused with my goal. However, after thinking about it and resolving to Take Action, I saw great results. That’s why I’m very very thankful I found Site Sell University and I’m not ashamed to tell the whole world about it. Check out this video to learn about Site Sell University in just 3 minutes.

2. Maverick Money Makers

If you are a novice at making money online, Maverick Money Makers is one site that you might want to check out to learn step by step methods. I’m a member of this private money making society online and I have learned many things from it. It’s a wonderful tool to use whether you want to start a home business on a low budget, medium budget or a high budget.

What’s great about it is that it has tons of resources like videos, audios, ebooks and many other tools which makes learning so easy. It has quick money blueprints that you can implement and skillset videos that will help you develop your skills as you grow your business. Above all it has mindset coaching which is very vital for your success. Mindset represents 80% of our success and strategies only equal 20% so this is an amazing tool for your business growth and success.

It’s the best one you’ll ever need to create an income online. Yes, this online coaching club will charge you $97, but it has a 60 Day Money Back Guarantee with no questions asked so what have you got to lose? If you try it, you can create an income you have never imagined you can have. I’m an insider so I know. Of course you have to TAKE ACTION for it to work as this is not a get-rich-quick scheme type of club. TAKE ACTION and you’ll see RESULTS!

What you will discover inside the club (among many other things) is the ability to help other highly successful companies in promoting their products and get paid a handsome commission for every single bit of business you help them get.

It’s pretty cool that you don’t even need your own product isn’t it?

You see, companies are rapidly moving toward a new model of marketing, and that model is based on people like YOU to get the word out about their products.

You can do this anywhere in the World. You’re no longer an employee, you can be a partner! When you sign up now, you are becoming a partner of a company working for yourself! You can start building your financial future.

3. The Minisite Formula

Another great product for novices is The Minisite Formula. It is one product that teaches you step by step to build your online business. I’ve checked it out myself and I’ve learned many things from it. It’s a great tool to use whether you want to start a home business on a low budget or a high budget. What’s great about it is that it’s a video course which makes learning easy. This video course was launched in 2009 and has a lot of new information like Web 2.0 that are used these days.

The Minisite Formula is unlike any other course because Joel Peterson is not promising you a site that make thousand of dollars a day, or even $10 a day but only $3 a day.

The system is actually teaching to build a mini-site in half an hour that make you $3 a day consistently. You might think that $3 a day is not a lot but what if you have 100 sites or 1000 sites. It will be $9000 a month if you have 100 sites and $90000 a month if you have 1000 sites.

The main product contains over 5 hours of “Quality” step-by-step video training on EXACTLY how to build a mini site empire. Everything is organized to optimize the user learning experience and keep people excited. Extensive helps and resources are available in the download area. A Top-Notch product that is worth 10x the price.

4. Micro Niche Finder

If you have an online presence, one of the many ways that people will be able to find you is through the search engines. Search engines list you in their sites according to the keywords that you use in your website.

With Micro Niche Finder, you can get the jump on the competition and profit from a goldmine of under-the-radar niche markets.

Uncover Completely Overlooked Niche Markets that are so Profitable You’ll be Absolutely Shocked at How Easily You Found Them. (you’ll find so many profitable niche markets your biggest problem will be deciding which one you want to exploit first!)

Micro Niche Finder is guaranteed to “sniff-out” red hot, low competition, high demand keyword phrases that you can turn into quick profits. Here are just a few of the ways you can use Micro Niche Finder to create New Income Streams:

- Create articles to promote affiliate programs and collect regular commissions.

- Create Adsense content pages that pay you residual ad revenue.

- Create eBay feeder pages and make money when new users register for eBay.

- Create Squidoo Lenses and claim your share of the profits generated by the traffic.

- Create niche market private label rights packages and sell these rights for a quick profit.

- Find Unregistered Domain Names that have Built-In Profit Potential from Type In Traffic.

- Find New Markets that are just Begging for Hot New Info Products that You Can Create and Sell.

5. Fat Cat Blueprint

A great blueprint for anyone, whether novice or expert in making money online. If you want to start a high profit online business, Fat Cat Blueprint is a must read. It's simple, straightforward, and just about anyone can do it. I've personally checked out how his system works, so I know first hand that it can work for others. So check it out right now – grab this opportunity with both hands.

The above are the tools that have been profitable for me in my website building. You can copy this formula or you can make your own. However, remember that you need to FOCUS and be COMMITTED to your end goal. NEVER GIVE UP! Success won’t come overnight but I promise you, if you TAKE ACTION, you will see RESULTS!