radio667
08-13-2009, 07:02 PM
from g4tv.com ........... Corporate analysts and rah-rah Capitalism types have always encouraged fellowship among worker-drones. It used to be trust falls, and drunken Christmas parties, but, according to CNET (http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10308711-235.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1) some employers are actually encouraging employees to play video games together. (Your employer, however, does not encourage this behavior; in fact, why are you reading this? Get back to work, serf!)
One huge advantage gaming offers over more traditional “getting to know you” work activities is that gaming is usually done sober. There’s a lot less risk of a drunk driving calamity after an all-office Mario Kart throwdown than there is after a happy hour drink-off. But gaming also offers employees a chance to let off steam by breaking the hierarchy of the office. In Left 4 Dead, the boss is the best player, no matter whose name is on the office door in the real world.
As you’d probably expect, the companies on the cutting-edge of this trend are tech companies and game companies themselves, where employees meet for hierarchy-free frag sessions with upper management in games like Left 4 Dead and Combat Arms.
Kim Pallister, the director of content planning at Intel's visual computing group, spoke to CNET about her firm’s game use. “We do quarterly gaming nights where we'll...get over a hundred people participating. We'll set up...high-end PC gaming rigs for multiplayer, and we'll have consoles set up for things like Wii Sports, Rock Band, Dance Dance Revolution, etc. It's not only good for team-building, it gives everyone a chance to 'eat our own dog food' and see how games play on our hardware."
That’s all nice for companies that make games and game equipment, but what about run-of-the-mill wage slaves? I wonder if this trend is extending into more mundane workplace. At G4, game-playing is part of the gig (don’t hate!), but what about your office? What’s the game situation where you work? Do you openly game, or are you more sneaky about it? Do you see any signs that at-work gaming is becoming acceptable?
One huge advantage gaming offers over more traditional “getting to know you” work activities is that gaming is usually done sober. There’s a lot less risk of a drunk driving calamity after an all-office Mario Kart throwdown than there is after a happy hour drink-off. But gaming also offers employees a chance to let off steam by breaking the hierarchy of the office. In Left 4 Dead, the boss is the best player, no matter whose name is on the office door in the real world.
As you’d probably expect, the companies on the cutting-edge of this trend are tech companies and game companies themselves, where employees meet for hierarchy-free frag sessions with upper management in games like Left 4 Dead and Combat Arms.
Kim Pallister, the director of content planning at Intel's visual computing group, spoke to CNET about her firm’s game use. “We do quarterly gaming nights where we'll...get over a hundred people participating. We'll set up...high-end PC gaming rigs for multiplayer, and we'll have consoles set up for things like Wii Sports, Rock Band, Dance Dance Revolution, etc. It's not only good for team-building, it gives everyone a chance to 'eat our own dog food' and see how games play on our hardware."
That’s all nice for companies that make games and game equipment, but what about run-of-the-mill wage slaves? I wonder if this trend is extending into more mundane workplace. At G4, game-playing is part of the gig (don’t hate!), but what about your office? What’s the game situation where you work? Do you openly game, or are you more sneaky about it? Do you see any signs that at-work gaming is becoming acceptable?