Cow Clicker really hit the nail on the head when it came to mocking a Facebook game. I’m all for video games, especially first-person shooters like Call of Duty, but when it comes to something like Farmville, I don’t find it appealing. There is no challenge. You click and click, and click, oh and click. Then you have to log on within a certain time frame to click again or your plants die. There’s no competition, no skill needed (or skills learned). Just a brain-dead game.

I’ve always had video games in my life and always played them competitively. Xbox Live has been taking my money since Halo 2. Role-playing games and other “single” player games never seemed appealing to me. Truth is, they’re lonely. Besides Grand Theft Auto, the only games I play are online/multiplayer. I like knowing that I’m competing with real people. This is what I would call “social” gaming. Farmville, though played on a social network, is really just about comparing scoreboards, which is the same as playing Pacman alone in an arcade.

I think Jane McGonigal’s “Gaming Can Make a Better World” was the most interesting read/watch of this week’s material. Her positive outlook on video games made me feel better about the countless hours I’ve spent with a controller in my hand. But I think her most interesting point was finding out what gamers are so good at. She settled with four general benefits of gaming. Now I agree that gamers can benefit from playing but I think it all depends on the player and the game. Studies show fast paced shooters can increase efficient eye tracking and increase night vision while games like Age of Empires increase strategic thinking. Now a game like Farmville…I don’t see any benefit at all.