Are You Game?

Some government agencies and companies are kicking around the idea of turning the desktop into a game where employees interact in a game format all day. "There's a lot of interest in games and work being one and the same," says Ben Sawyer, co-director of The Serious Game Initiative, an organization that studies how electronic games can be used at work. 

The graphical user interface-as-game idea appeals to the military, which has a young, mostly male work force. Microsoft is considering incorporating video games into its development process, and IBM is interested in virtual work-related issues. "People are starting to understand that [play is] not divorced from work," says Chuck Hamilton, who manages learning strategy at IBM Canada's Innovation Center. 

Video-gaming on the job makes sense to John Beck, co-author of The Kids Are Alright. Video games "are played at such a young age that the brain's neuropathways are being formed around game logic," Beck says. He sees room for everything from desktop finance and accounting to sales games. 

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Corporate America is perfecting the art of real-time data delivery and thinking about the next step: perfecting the art of real-time work flow. Still, many seasoned corporate executives don't like the idea. "Game sounds frivolous. The term gets resistance," Beck says. "That [older] generation may have to move on before this really takes hold."