When I first read Gee's chapters from, "What Video Games Have to Teach Us", I felt vindicated. After years of playing Zelda, I truly believed that there were benefits beyond the simple enjoyment of playing, and finally someone agrees with me. Games like Zelda and Half-Life, incorporate problem solving skills and reading into a fun environment.
In reading "Games as Cultural Rhetoric", I was reminded of Highlights Magazine, which also came up in my groups discussion on Everest. In Highlights, reading and writing practices were incorporated with fun and games, which I know I responded well to as a child. I especially liked the Salen and Zimmerman's discussion on Seven Rhetorics of Play, and the ideological values that are incorporated in "play". This discussion ties well with Gee's ideas on the social context of learning, and its embeddedness in a material and social world ( Gee, Introduction 7).
As with anything though, too much of a good thing can be bad. There are great benefits that can arise from using a tool like video games for educational purposes. I think that Gee addresses this in the second chapter on the ideas of active learners becoming critical learners (Gee, 39-47). Just like any tool, if used correctly, video games can be a good thing, it just depends on how people use them.
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I totally agree with your closing comment. Anything in excess is bad, and it holds true for video game too. It is the responsibility of parents to make sure that children use these games as a learning tool. And as the reward, they are enjoyable.
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