GameTech: Facebook head says game player could become money maker

ARE you aged 12 or younger? Would you like to become a billionaire? The path to riches and fame is a simple one. Just play games all day. Well, sort of. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, one of the world’s youngest billionaires, attributes his self-taught success to gaming.

At Facebook’s sixth ‘town hall’ Q&A session in California, he had this to say about the influence of games on children. “I do think this dynamic around kids growing up, building games and playing games, is an important one because I think this is how a lot of kids get into programming,” he explained. “I definitely would not have gotten into programming if I had not played games as a kid.”

It’s an interesting testimonial and one that, anecdotally speaking, rings true in terms of a child’s development. A child is more likely to develop specialist skills if those skills are learned through having fun. Zuckerberg said he programmed a snowball-throwing game because his sisters wouldn’t have a real snowball fight with him. Clearly, the snowball effect didn’t end there — Zuckerberg went on to develop the world’s biggest social network. “Letting [children] play around with stuff is the best thing you can do,” he said. “Most of the engineers I know, who are some of the best engineers in the world, are self-taught.” Zuckerberg grew up in a different era, however, and it does make one wonder how the current crop of young gamers will attain their skills.