Industry News - Obama's connections with technology

Regardless of how you feel about Obama or his politics he hasn't been known to be a huge gaming advocate, but he has been known as someone that understands technology. Upon entering the White House he openly complained about the technological limitations of the White House saying, "It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari."Â

Obama has always had an appreciation and understanding of technology, his campaign was run by people that were technologically savvy and his methods changed the way in which future presidential campaigns will be run. However, during his first years, videogames were something Obama just wasn't familiar with, in his words, videogames came across as harmful distractions to education and achievement. "I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox," This kind of quote wasn't uncommon for Obama, but it was an annoying association for those of us that love playing games.

Thankfully Obama seems to have changed his mind about gaming by transitioning the medium from an enemy to a possible ally. Last week Obama announced the launch of the National STEM Video Game Challenge which consists of two different contests for different sets of mind. The Youth Prize is a contest aimed at children in middle school, while the Developer Prize is for experienced game developers challenging them to design an educational mobile game.

It'll be interesting to see what games get designed and whether or not these will succeed as educational instruments.

To read more about the Youth Prize, http://www.stemchallenge.org/youthprize/