A bit too melodramatic, aren't we? Besides, the article has nothing to do with what you claim it does (or at any rate no more than anything else that is currently happening in the world of videogames). It is merely a fluff piece produced as a by-product of a pointless conference on educational games -- "educational" here being merely a euphemism for "boring". The hack himself sort of stumbles on this but doesn't actually realize it, and therefore doesn't bother pursuing it:
Players know that games can be hugely immersive, and can readily identify that their driving skills have been sharpened by Gran Turismo, or their knowledge of history enhanced by the Civilization games, or that they developed a new appreciation and understanding of the complexity of urban planning via SimCity.
All games are educational, in one way or another -- and the best way to make them
more educational is to make the
more fun. If you do not aim for fun and aim for anything else whatever, you will simply make a less fun game, if not an outright boring one.
I guess an article might be in order here.
Transport and Distribution Australia produced a game to help instruct transport and distribution workers in tasks like lifting freight, operating forklifts, loading trucks and identifying security threats. In the Netherlands, VSTEP (Virtual Safety Training and Education Platform) has developed many realistic 3D simulations for applications like training oil rig workers, emergency services, port authorities, hospital staff and military.
Oooh, sounds exciting. Torrent plz.