A Brave New Gamer World

“ ‘We've got an entire group of people under age 30 who grew up playing video games,’ said Jim Gee, professor in the UW-Madison School of Education. ‘It's completely changing the way people think about education and the workplace.’

This ‘gamer generation’ includes some 90 million people in the U.S. alone, ages 15 to 35. In fact, sales of video games have now surpassed sales of TVs, DVDs and CDs….

A host of new data is suggesting that video games have created a new generation of employees and executives, bigger than the baby boomers, who will dramatically transform the workplace.

Researchers like John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade, authors of the book ‘Got Game: How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever’ argue that managers who understand and harness this generation's distinct attributes will leap far ahead of the competition.

Beck and Wade say these 90 million rising professionals, through sheer numbers, will inevitably dominate business and are already changing the rules. Although many of the changes are positive, such as more open communication and creative problem solving, they have caused a generation gap that frustrates gamers and the boomers who manage them….” [The Capital Times, via Library Link of the Day]