Ender's Game was a perfect introduction for this discussion about the intellectual development of the brain with simulations. The "game" that Ender plays in various simulations throughout his life was intended to serve as practice and training for actual combat. In the beginning, Ender's games could be seen mostly as combat drills as we would see in the army today with mock battles, while near the end he would be given a computerized station in which he would remotely command his troops. This means of controlling his army is very similar to Real Time Strategy games (or RTS games for short) such as Blizzard's Starcraft or Warcraft. All of Ender's life, war has been a game, in fact most of what he knew about life was a game.

The story itself implies that games are parallel to reality, Ender becomes unable to discern between the real war and the games he had played. He proves to be an extreme, fictional example of the training aspects videogames may have. There are a few discrepancies that must be addressed between our RTS games and Ender's games before understanding the underlying principles of the teaching aspects of videogames. First, Ender trained mostly with games that he needed to play, and games that were intended to train people to fight wars effectively while most of our games are for entertainment and competition. Second, Ender's games were identical to the wars he fought, while our videogames may strive for realistic gameplay, it is the player who must absorb the useful information and be able to apply it in different situations correctly.

With the understanding that Ender's Game is a purely ideal example of my discussion, it can then be relatable to our videogames. Just as chess has been hypothesized to enrich people's ability to compete in the business world, RTS videogames inadvertently train us to compete and dominate our opponents with wits, speed, skill, and experience. Before we play one of these games for the first time, we may have heard as children to "try our hardest and we will be rewarded" by our superiors, but we never really knew what it was to succeed. RTS games put you in a position, where you and only you are responsible for your outcome, which will be an immediate result. These games will put you in an atmosphere in which you are expected to understand and overcome your adversary, while learning how you may react given a specific situation. You are given goals to attain, materials to succeed, and an adversary that has the same drive as you.

If applied outside of the videogame, these lessons are invaluable to the player in their development through life. With immediate results from a win or a loss of a game, a goal completed with new rewards that little other people have, or being ranked higher and higher with more effort and new strategies people will begin to discover the reality of the "game" that is required to be played for college or for success in life. If a player is able to learn and apply what they have learned, as Ender unknowingly did, one can excel in their studies as they develop new strategies to destroy their opponent: the exam. Or, to become an above-average student with the understanding of handwork and determination. The gamers have experienced what it means to compete in new environments, who they are when placed under demands of people that may be twice or 3 times their age as Ender did, and what it feels like to be successful- or even one of the best.