Gaming has long shouldered an unfair legacy, requiring its defenders—most often gamers themselves—to fend off stereotypes and gross misinformation. While skeptics continue to wrongfully trace the world’s ills back to the ever-evolving industry, scientists have studied the increasingly positive effects gaming can have on memory, accuracy and problem-solving.
To highlight these largely unsung benefits, gaming PC maker HP Omen and creative agency Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai created a demonstration using a tool called The Gamewaves Scanner at ChinaJoy, China’s largest digital entertainment expo.
The exhibit used cutting-edge technology to measure brain activity in real time, showcasing how people respond to moments that require teamwork, responsiveness, mental stamina, focus and memory. The experience was titled Achieving Gamefulness, and it was the start of an integrated campaign set to launch across China.
To synthesize their findings for a wider audience, HP Omen and W+K Shanghai created a trio of 30-second shorts: “Achieve Mental Stamina,” “Achieve Teamwork” and “Achieve Focus.”
The arc features a troop of gamers being led by supreme humans called The Masters as they hope to achieve the highest level of enlightenment. Their transparent heads—highly creepy in any other context—cleverly show their brains breaking down and reassembling like building blocks, synapses lighting up and bursts of activity as their PC adventures build them into cognitively stronger beings. The elaborate campaign also features appearances by professional esports gamers LoveZrr, Wink, and AmazingJ from Team RNG.
“This job was an interesting mix of technical challenges. It really had it all: a massive set build, heavy CGI, stunts … 60 lights choreographed to music and celebrity gamers,” said Alexander Mavor of The Sacred Egg, which directed the short films alongside Hamlet Productions. “We always try to achieve an aesthetic that is unique to each project. This, in particular, was an amazing opportunity to create a brand universe with its own look, tone, characters and rules. Something that is entirely unique and ownable for Omen and which gamers want to be a part of.”
Achieving Gamefulness aims to highlight the positive side of gaming by centering the player rather than the product, an approach that makes sense in a country with over 600 million gamers. Settling the concerns of those outside the community is undoubtedly important; however, encouraging gaming enthusiasts to continue pursuing their interests should yield lasting results.
