Capcom Adds Learning to Mainstream Games

Capcom is creating  “subliminal mind programming techniques.” It's not as bad as it sounds.
The “techniques” are actually part of Capcom's new educational program, developed with University of Portsmouth e-learning professor, Nipan Maniar. The professor is now helping Capcom's European division add subtle lessons to their major releases, hopefully creating educational games kids actually look forward to playing.

The idea struck Capcom research manager, Rhys Cash, while play testing the company's Wii game, We Love Golf, and noticing that to do well players had to make complex calculations on the fly.

“Things like how spin affects the flight of the ball; it's incredibly complex physics that people understand instinctively. We just want to point that out to gamers so if they're learning about, say, parabolic motion at school they'll be able to say, 'that's just like the golf game I played.'”

According to the Guardian, Capcom faces an uphill battle in changing many teachers' opinions on videogames in the classroom, with a 2006 survey finding 37% of teachers did not want gaming in their classes. Though Capcom doesn't need to worry much about perception as these games are meant to teach on their own, without an educator guiding the student through the game's lesson.

The benefits of the program speak for themselves, which could be the reason Capcom's PR department seems to have slept through this one. Good intentions or not, the phrase, “subliminal mind programming” is a risky description from the company famous for Resident Evil.

[Image Source: SiliconEra]