Today's edition of the Vancouver Sun contains an editorial about the benefits of videogames, written by developer Anthony Gurr.  Gamers from the online community won't find anything particularly new or interesting here; it's simply refreshing to read something positive about videogames (and the people who play them) in the mainstream print press. 

Gurr points out that the controversial games which receive the most mainstream attention (GTA, DOOM, etc) are played by a relatively small minority of gamers.  He then discusses the educational merits of videogames.  Yes, outright educational games don't receive much developer attention, but there is a growing number of "regular" games being used in the class room setting, such as Sim City, Age of Empires, and Railroad Tycoon. 

The most interesting example is a class which performed an ethnographic study of World of Warcraft.  Finally, there's the obligatory mention of Nintendos DS, and games such as Nintendogs, Brain Age and even Trauma Center.  Whether or not gamers actually learn much from playing the games themselves, Gurr believes that "well-designed videogames can ignite the spark of learning - and isn't that what education is all about?"