The Education Business Blog
My 17 year old son is in the other room using a kayak paddle with chain saws attached at either end to slice zombies in half. I’m sitting here minding my own business when out of the blue he says “Dad, this game is great for teaching time management skills.”
In Dead Rising you have 72 hours in a zombie infested town to build a bike, rescue your daughter, and escape the military. Along the way anything you find can be weaponized against the slow moving brain noshers. Shovels, gasoline, saw blades, pitchforks, shotguns, drills, buckets, are among the things that can be combined in new and amazing ways. Yes, even a stuffed moose head.
Call me a proud papa – this concept was coming from a teen who is wrestling with time management (i.e. he gets A’s when does the damn work which isn’t often enough). The fact that he was metacogizant of this while playing astounded and pleased me.
This is a game that I can safely say will NEVER grace a screen in a school building. No guidance counselor will use it to expose 17 year old boys to critical skills and concepts needed for the world of work (with or without zombies). And yet – there it is teaching him on a Sunday afternoon exactly what he needs to learn right now.
Besides – I know it is wrong – but I find the creativity involved in inventing new and ever more lethal ways to off the zombies is hilarious. To see the kayak paddle/saw combo watch the video below – NSFW.
The official trailer for the sequel (the ending is classic):