So I stopped by the local Barnes and Noble today, and picked up a pictoral history of World War II, which I couldn't put down until the last page. As I was reading about the various battles, I kept having flashbacks to my gaming experiences in "Call of Duty 2" and "CoD: World at War." It may sound silly to suggest this, but I think my understanding of history was enhanced by those video games.

I remembered laying prostrate in the snows of Stalingrad, dodging enemy snipers. Or repeatedly attempting to storm the defenses at the Parliament building in Berlin, only to fall time and time again. Of course, they're video games, so the so-called "hardships" I endured were only virtual in nature. Nevertheless, they gave me a glimpse, an experiential reference from a first-person perspective, of how challenging it must have been to survive in those circumstances.

In turn, reading about World War II battles gave me greater appreciation for the "Call of Duty" games themselves. The fact that images of World War II could evoke memories of my experiences in a video game made me realize how much care and effort must have gone into bringing those battles to life in a convincing way. It goes to show, I think, that video games are not necessarily all ***** and giggles all the time, that they don't have to glorify violence for violence's sake, that games can have some educational value on a visual and emotional level.

Have you ever played a game that taught you something or made you appreciate something more, from an educational perspective?