Everyone appreciates rewards. They are a standard requirement we expect after working hard at something, where without them we would have little motivation to succeed. Rewards are thus expected in every aspect of our lives, where games intentionally incorporate rewards in order to correspond to the consumers desires.
It is commonly presumed that media forms such as games are simply helping to reinforce the assumption that we are a generation of "thrill seekers", where the 'simple pleasures' gained while gaming are able to comply to the demands of the "masses" (NPR Website). This idea can relate to the concepts discussed by Steven Johnson, where he argues that games in fact supply the exact opposite. Johnson suggests that generally games are much more mentally stimulating than suspected and are in fact a key tool for 'making today's culture smarter' (NPR Website).
Games such as Theme Hospital for example may be perceived by many to be simply a source of entertainment that requires no intellect. In reality this is far from the case where this particular game demands intelligence in order to achieve, where a series of rewards such as a larger hospital, more responsibility and a quest for prestige encourage players to exercise their intelligence.
Ultimately rewards are fundamental pre-requisites in order for games to be completed successfully. Perhaps without them kids would never get a chance to expand their knowledge outside of education, and may have a more delayed appreciation for the general consensus in many workplaces, which is the idea that 'you pay for performance'(Beck and Wade 2004: pg 94).
.Beck, JC. and Wade, M. (2004) 'Got Game', Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishing).
.NPR Website. Retrieved on 7th March from World Wide Web: http://www.npr.org/templates/stor/story.php?storyId=4762320
