Game designer Jane McGonigal’s TED talk presented a view on technology and the gaming industry that I had never heard before. Having never been a particularly avid gamer, I was interested to see someone with charisma and social skills that was a game designer and spokesperson. I always had the stereotype of the middle-aged man with no social skills and living in his mother’s basement as being the game designer or avid gamer type. McGonigal argues, “games are essential to the future survival of the human species.” This struck me as odd because, not being a gamer myself, I always saw them as a luxury for those who had much more spare time than I do and an escape from reality for those who have nothing else going on. Thinking of games as an essential part of humanity was new to me, but after hearing McGonigal’s lecture, I recognize that it is much like Ellen Dissanayake’s argument for the necessity of art in the human experience. Problem solving is a skill that is vital for all of us, and something that we all use in our daily lives, regardless of culture or any other factor. Until watching McGonigal’s presentation at TED, I had never considered the possibility that games could be more than mindless entertainment. Although I doubt I’ll be suddenly turning into a gamer, I have to say that McGonigal’s talk gave me a new perspective on an industry I knew little about and a new respect for those who consider themselves gamers.