Gaming Bits has posted an interview with WILL President & CEO Sharon Sloane. The interview touches on general WILL background, the results of our products, and potential future targets for WILL.
GamingBits: Who do you think can best benefit from WILL Interactive’s programs?
Sharon Sloane: These programs are all based on real incidents. They have to resonate with the target audience. We are preparing the learners for the decisions that they will face in the future. So when they are in those difficult situations, they can reach back and say “wait a minute, I remember that’s really important to think about what I want to do here, because there are consequences.”
GamingBits: How have the results been after someone goes through one of these programs?
Sharon Sloane: Very, very positive. Very powerful. People say how amazed they were by the realism of what was portrayed. We’ve also had pilot studies done by independent academic institutions, which show that we are actually influencing people’s behaviors.
GamingBits: As video games are becoming more realistic visually or immersive by engaging us in physical actions (on Wii), how do you think they are influencing us or the game ratings?
Sharon Sloane: Well, I think we need to be socially responsible and cognizant of what we’re doing when we put things out there. There is a distinction to be made between games that are made purely for entertainment, which have elements in them that quite frankly sell games. Violence is one of them. Our position is you don’t have to exploit violence or those type of things in order to have something that is entertaining and engaging. That said, there clearly is a different bar and agenda by people who are selling entertainment games to maximize their profit versus people who are trying to put out games that are beneficial for people’s lives.
Read the full interview here.
