Computer games are just like novels.
In both, an author communicates a theme to the user through controlling a series of events that the subject goes through. The difference is that in one, the user usually has the choice of how to get to the finish; or barring that, they have to use their deductive powers to figure out how to get to the end, whereas in the other, the reader simply digests what is told to them. In that sense, the author can more clearly and openly control the message sent.
Granted, I'm not sure if any positive message is sent when your character explores level after level of dead, hanging bodies dripping with blood; or when you use your armies to wipe out every race of people on the planet besides your own; or even when you pitch and bat your way to the league championship, completely crushing your competition.
The same could probably be said about books, films, and other modern forms of literature. Do I really need to mention the "time-is-short-and-life-sucks-so-lets-get-together-and-have-sex-
while-we-still-can" theme? But some forms disguise their moral of the story more than others, in effect making them more dangerous.
By no means am I saying we should censor everything. I don't trust any agency to be incorruptible enough to perform that task well; and it exercises our brains if we think for ourselves, and our brains need the exercise. Instead... at least once a day, take a step back, and ask yourself one of the most important questions that can be asked: What am I doing?
"What have you done?" (God, to Cain, after he had killed Abel)
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Here, check this out:
http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4345
While I agree that computer games can help students learn, I wonder if teaching through this method only will limit students' abilities to learn via other, less stimulating methods. Not everything in life can be a game, after all.
I just watched an episode of Voyager (a 2-parter called "Future's End") where the ship gets pulled back to 1996 earth. Some of the characters pick up soap operas on the ship. One of them expresses amazement at such a passive form of entertainment as television: "I can't imagine not being part of the story." (He refers to holodeck use, of course.) A different character agrees, but says that there is also something captivating about it; one can become completely swept up in the narrative. Anyway. I'm not sure that that's terribly relevant, but I found it interesting. :D
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