You’ve probably heard that the convenience store chain 7-Eleven has started adding video games to its inventory at some stores. Not a lot of games; just seven or so of the top sellers such as “Fallout 3,” “Gears of War 2″ and “WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009.

There’s something for online players at these stores, too: pre-paid gift cards for massively multiplayer titles such as “World of Warcraft” and the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 media networks. All the better to tap a $12 billion industry that seems to have deflected the worst hits from our flailing economy.

And if 7-Eleven can see the value in doing this, yours truly wonders why other places with high traffic volume and broad consumer appeal have not tried the same thing. Better still, why not incorporate gaming in ways that both customers and merchants can profit.

I can think of three places that could benefit from this:

Gas stations — Put casual games in fuel pumps to help customers kill time while inhaling fumes. But install them in such a way that whoever gets the high score during fillup receives a discount on their purchase, or a free tank of gas.

Taxis — I don’t know about you, but the last time I took a cab the thought of an afterlife crossed my mind. Something to distract me from the fear of slamming into the back of traffic would have been nice, like maybe a PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS. But please do not put racing games on them.

Airports — The ultimate “hurry up and wait” venues might be less irritating between layovers if they exchanged a few kitchy shops filled with hometown sweatshirts with Xbox and PlayStation gaming kiosks (Not Wiis, though; Homeland Security wouldn’t want anything on the premises that encourages people to swing their arms around wildly or take aim at targets).

Here too, the airlines could make the games really mean something if players could win ticket price discounts, frequent-flyer miles or vouchers for good seats near the plane’s exits.

So, what do you think? Are games the solution to survival in the real world, or just virtual distractions?