Forgive this a small, digression as I briefly summarize. I confess, that when I first considered the Blogging Assignment at the begining of 670, I thought this was going to be easy, in fact I was certain this last posting was going to be cake.  Frankly it’s turned out to be the most frustrating of the processes.  For some reason, I found myself considering a bunch of okay ideas, but none so great. The irony is, that I’m sure I’d had the perfect idea for this last blog post come to me the moment I first read about it, free of pre-conceived notions.  Yet, three months, and X times Y times Z amount of gaming, motivational, fun theory later – my perspective may have become a bit skewed and complicated.  I’ve noticed this phenomenon as I’ve continued to tweak my own work in both group projects as well. The rewrites, re-edits, and reconfigurations I’ve faced-off with in my own corners of our project, have had me struggling with balancing logic against fun, against design – sometimes taking two steps back to gain momentum forward again. I liken it to strategizing while in the middle of a game of chess – but more, I think like writing fiction, in particular a script. I’ve done that a few times in my life and have learned that the art of developing, breaking and outlining stories is crucial, in part due to the linear nature of plot. Be cautious of where you step, whence you find yourself 10 blocks and 40 pages in the wrong direction needing to back track out of an unforeseen issue. To me game design has similar potential pitfalls – save the linear constraints, (which is a huge bonus). The iterative process frees many of the obstructions to creative flexibility, still I’ve found the struggle is there.   It’s sort of like an artistic struggle, challenging, frustrating and sometimes, hopefully rewarding.

Okay, what does that have to do with this last post? Probably not as much as

I’d originally thought. But the good news is my original inspiration for this story returned to me out of the blue.  And I think it’s as germane as I first considered it, at the beginning of this course. So I’m writing about a game that I’ve now twice become addicted and broken free of, called Line Rider.

If you recall with any fondness, the children’s story Harold and the Purple Crayon, you may appreciate the ingenuity of Line Rider. A simple, but ingenious idea, Line Rider is a Flash-based online game that allows you to draw a continuous path for a sled or motorcycle rider (depending on the version you’re playing) who travels along the path and picks up speed relying on a combination of gravity, momentum, energy, (possibly friction) and potentially other complex principles of Physics that may, or may not, be involved in the underlying design, depending upon which Bloggers you believe.  Frankly, “game” may not even be the right term for Line Rider, it is like a puzzle or an exercise in observation and application. The rules may not always make logical sense, but you will soon pick up on the nuances.

My most recent obsession with Line Rider came at the expense of the productivity of several of my colleagues at an Investment Bank I used to work in. (Ironically, it was the first of the big ones to fail, no doubt in part due do the distractions of Line Rider). As the game spread from cubicle to office to cubicle, throughout the floor, a dozen or so analysts, associates, VPs and even Directors joined the cult, squealing and contoring as they watched their latest creations attempt to out cool one another’s course design, while building and improving upon previous attempts. Because the free version of the game does not allow you to save games the guy at the desk adjacent to my office actually left his computer on all night and weekends with the game site screen up so as not to lose his ongoing game.

Line Rider does not come with an eraser per se, but does allow you to draw over mistakes you’ll inevitably make. What at first seems to be an innocuous bump in your line, once tested may turnout to be a lethal launching pad. Early on you simply cannot anticipate the momentum your rider may have approaching any given section. What adds to the enjoyment are the happy mistakes you’ll make along the way, something that was clearly a mistake, may cause your rider to take off in some way you’d not anticipated, allowing you to build more bridges, slopes, bumps, jumps, to take him or her in any number of directions in this infinite space in which the game exists.    Needless to say, there are some amazing compositions of Line Rider online.  Amazing.  uh…mazing.

I have never been a great student of the hard science or mathematics, so I cannot attest to what, if any, formulas or principles of design might play a role in the quality of the design of the game. It certainly is not necessary to think in such terms to enjoy process. If you’re never played it, I encourage you to try. But wait until the holidays. You’ll want the extra time to recover.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m slightly addicted to casual gaming, and Desktop Tower Defense is high on my list of favorite games. There are a lot of tower defense games out there, but Desktop Tower Defense is by far my favorite in the genre. The playing surface looks like a typical office desk. Waves of enemies (known as “Creeps” in the game) come across the screen, and your task is to stop them from reaching the other side of the desk. You can build various towers to attack the creeps as they cross the screen. There are several different types of creeps, resulting in the need for different towers. Nine types of towers have different benefits: some are inexpensive, some only attack air or ground enemies, some slow the enemies. My friends and I play multiplayer games and track our high scores using the game’s Group Scores feature so we can claim bragging rights.

I’ve spent a lot of time playing Desktop Tower Defense, and EdTech 670 has given me the opportunity to reflect on why this game is so enjoyable. Looking at it from Keller’s ARCS model, there are several features that make it a great game.

Attention: Desktop Tower Defense is anything but boring. There are many scenarios and variations in the game to keep any player interested, plus the graphics are entertaining. And if you master the built-in options, you can add another twist by playing online against other people.

Relevance: The built-in scenarios offer goals to keep the game relevant, plus there is familiarity between the different game modes.

Confidence: There are success opportunities for players of any skill level. Different game options can be turned off or on to suit the needs of each player. Plus, players have a lot of control over the setup and outcome of the game.

Satisfaction: The score within each game is a great intrinsic motivator to perform well. And the extrinsic reward (the possibility of being on a high score list) motivates players to excel. Plus you can build equity by using the Group Scores feature to track your progress over time and with your friends.

Overall, Desktop Tower Defense is a fantastic game. I’ve introduced it to people who admit that they don’t enjoy video games, and even they can’t put it down. My only warning is that you’ll find it difficult to accomplish anything else once you start playing, because all you’ll want to do is play Desktop Tower Defense.

This is an online version of the classic board game.  We’re studying how to graph points in algebra class, so we played battleship!  To be honest, I picked the game because it’s online, it looks good, and it deals with plotting coordinates (in particular, this was a good game because the coordinates aren’t labeled, which lead to lots of confusion).

As I stood in class and watched my students play, I was amazed at how engaged they were.  These are kids that tell me everyday about their favorite game on their PSP.  Or how their arms are tired from playing Wii boxing all night.  Or better yet, how they couldn’t do their homework last night because they were up until 4am playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.  I played the game with three different classes and nearly every student was engaged.  Not just looking up front and paying attention, but eager to help a fellow player or take their own turn at the board.  It was incredible.

What makes the game really fun are the aspects of control and curiosity.  Their really isn’t any chance or luck involved in the game.  The player decides where to place his or her ships and so takes ownership over them.  The player also gets to pick which space to shoot at.  Some players opt for haphazard guessing, while others use a more methodical approach.  The best moments came right after a player would pick a space to shoot at.  Then they had to wait to see if it was a hit.   In that split second, you could hear a pin drop.  This was usually followed by a rather loud response from the class if the turn resulted in a hit.

These aspects of the game are probably true for the classic board game version too.  However, the look and sound of the online version was also very motivating for my students.  Instead of hearing another player call out “miss,” or “hit,” the game shows a splash of water or a large explosion (realistic sound effects included).  Thirteen year-old students liked this.  It offered them a fresh look at an old game which was enough to keep them interested until the game really got going.

Are you skeptical about the title of this entry?  Do you think you can beat this game?  It looks simple, right?  Well, just how much spare time do you have on your hands???  To me, this game is living up to its name!

This game is free and has been developed for the iPhone, but I was able to try it out on my computer at http://www.addictinggames.com/theworldshardestgame.html for as long as I could spare.  Although it took me 20 minutes to get to level 6 out of 30 and I had died 43 times, I would’ve tried to play to the end if I’d had more time.

The object of this game is to move your red square to capture the yellow circles while avoiding the blue circles.  Once all the yellow circles are captured, the player needs to move to the other part of the playing field, the green safety zone.  If you are touched by a blue circle you die, and immediately start the level again.  The blue circles move at various speeds and in different patterns per level.  Lastly, according to the instructions, your score can only be submitted upon completion of the 30th level, and the more you die the less you score.

The difficulty level of this game is pretty high compared to the simplicity of graphics.  So what motivated me to keep playing even though I died multiple times on almost every level I played?  This game took me to the upper most level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Self-Actualization.  Once I realized that this game is based upon pattern recognition and coordination, and the fact that I could repeat any level as many times as necessary, I saw each level as  challenge that I could confidently face head-on.  Pattern recognition is the common theme throughout all of my favorite games, and I didn’t realize it until analyzing this game from a motivational perspective.  Having the chance to use this talent (I truly believe pattern recognition is one of mankind’s innate abilities) gave me a sense of fulfillment even when I spent longer on some levels than on others.  I found myself trying the levels over and over again, bound and determined (motivated) to find the pattern and use it to my advantage.

I hope you try it!

This article in today’s New York Times is a wonderful coda to our session with Jesse Schell. The piece examines emerging independent voices in game design …

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/magazine/15videogames-t.html?emc=eta1

Machinarium is a beautiful point-and-click game developed by a team of experienced Czech game developers working at Amanita Design. A free demo version can be downloaded or played online at machinarium.net. The full version is $20, and if you find the demo as engaging as I did, you will consider this a bargain.

You begin the game as a disassembled robot ejected from a foreboding machine city into a vast junkyard. By clicking over various hotspots, and with the help of some limited onscreen tips, you soon figure out how to put yourself back together. You head off to the city where the backstory unfolds. There is a love interest to find, mechanical and cognitive challenges to overcome, and numerous intrinsic rewards to earn along the way.

It is difficult to describe this game without sounding trite. It’s whimsical, quirky, fanciful, original, eccentric, and incredibly charming. You must solve puzzles along the way while you explore Machinarium City, but if any prove too difficult one visual clue is available per scene and other hint options become available as the game unfolds.

The game hits the motivational jackpot. As described by Malone and Lepper*, games need to be intrinsically motivating. Machinarium is thoroughly challenging, strongly appeals to one’s curiosity, places the fate of a cute little robot directly in the player’s hands and mind, and envelops each participant in a beautifully rendered, stylized, and fantastical machine city.

Each puzzle I’ve come across has been solvable and rewarding, but not without a modest investment in time. Players are given feedback by the robot (a shake of the head) if a requested action is not possible. The puzzle or proximal goal associated with each new location introduces the right amount of uncertainty into the gameplay. As you attempt to solve each puzzle you are also reminded of your distal goal through cute visual memories that pop into the robot’s brain and onto your screen. The feedback is clear and immediate. If your idea works you gain entry into the next location, failure means you must rethink and possibly retool.

You quickly become emotionally connected and motivated to help your new friend reach his goal. If you are the type of person that likes to understand how things work, or are a science teacher like myself, this game pulls you in by appealing to your curious nature. I sometimes felt that taking a break from the game was letting my little buddy down.  I’d stare over at the screen and watch him relive his memories of happier times and I’d feel a bit guilty until I returned and got him through to the next location.

Visually, the game strongly connects to your cognitive curiosity. I often found myself thinking that I clearly understood the situation in a particular scene, only to have my first attempt at a solution fail miserably. Players must pause to take in the details within each environment thoroughly before attempting to solve a puzzle too quickly. What seems obvious, may not truly be without close inspection.

Machinarium is an emotionally satisfying and richly involving game that I highly recommend. Also check out an educational game developed by the same designers.

*Malone, T. W., & Lepper, M. R. (1987). Making learning fun: A taxonomic model of intrinsic motivations for learning. In R. E. Snow & M. J. Farr (Eds.), Aptitude, learning, and instruction: III. Conative and affective process analysis (pp. 223-253). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Teachers who want to find an interesting way to teach technological design and scientific inquiry for Grade 5-8 Science can leverage this educational game as an engaging class activity.  Called “Design a Cell Phone,” students are asked to design a cell phone that meets the needs of senior citizens.  This flash-based game is by Edheads and designed by Kim Bigelow, an assistant professor at the University of Dayton, and sponsored by Motorolla and College of Engineering at the Ohio State University.

Instructions are provided on the web site to guide teachers to use this game.  These include: (1) tips for using the game with students, (2) assessment criteria and discussion questions, (3) different design concepts catering to business people and middle school students, (4) research data supporting the effectiveness of using this game, and (5) standards the game aims to achieve for the students.

At the start of the game, students (individual or in team/group) are introduced to the idea of product design in an interactive and user-friendly interface.  They are guided through a systematic approach: (1) understand the various needs and considerations for designing cell phones for senior citizens, (2) design the cell phone by selecting from a range of parameters, and (3) evaluate the prototype by analyzing from different user perspectives simulated by the computer.  Depending on the outcome of the evaluation, students have the option to proceed to the production phase and market the cell phone or revise their designs.  When the students are ready to mass produce their cell phones, the computer will then simulate the market sales and the strength of their cell phone design will be based on the sales results.  Students can then print out the results and submit to the teacher for evaluation or grading.

I find this game to be a quality class activity. It is meaningful and short enough (10-15 minutes) for the target student group (Grade 5-8) to complete within a standard class period.  Of significance, it exemplifies the the ARCS model in motivating learners:

• Attention:  The game contains colorful graphics and made use of both text and audio to engage both the visual and auditory sensors of the students.  It is suitable for hearing impaired students.
• Relevance:  The topic of interest (cell phone) is familiar to the students and they will find it easy to put the theories into practice.
• Confidence:  The game provides a scaffolding approach to build the knowledge on engineering design.  Students can learn on their own pace and has the control to revise any area they do not understand.
• Satisfaction:  The prototypes students designed are evaluated through a computer simulation and this provides instant feedback on their learning.  Subsequently, the sales report will inform the students whether their designs are marketable or require more work.  Students who understood the design process and cater to the needs of the target audience will then be rewarded with good sales results.

Check out my cell phone and the sales results!  It’s my first attempt and I think it can be better.  Do you think you can achieve a better result?  Start designing your cell phone now =)

I came across simSchool this summer and believe it is a very useful simulation game for prospective teachers. It could be used both in teacher training programs and by experienced teachers. This is a classroom simulation program funded by the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Teach with Technology program of the U.S. Department of Education.

simSchool is an online simulated classroom experience with students from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of characteristics. The player with the role of a teacher in the game is supposed to make series of instructional decisions and needs to respond to students’ comments and questions. The player should also consider each student’s specific learning style, verbal and behavioral characteristics. In this game, player as a teacher can choose his classroom size (1, 5, or 18 students).  The difficulty level increases by number of students in the classroom. Players can choose the learning environments –urban, suburban or rural. Then they can see the students’ profiles, academic abilities, emotional characteristics and learning style. Students’ behaviors in this game are unpredictable as in the real classroom. So, player as a teacher should understand the students’ problem from his statement or posture and make decisions to help the students in that situation. Free trial (with a group of 5 students) is available on the game site. Also you can purchase this game for $12 yearly. 3000 written student profiles supported by many small performance differences between students and the tasks that teacher designs gives the players a relevant working environment.

 

If you want to read more about simSchool, visit:

http://innovateonline.info/pdf/vol1_issue6/simSchool_-__The_Game_of_Teaching.pdf

 

If you want to play simSchool, visit:

http://simschool.org/

The game Careers, was first introduced to me circa 1979.  Careers is a game where the players control their own victory conditions by setting up a formula for success in the areas of Fame, Happiness, Money, or a combination of all three. The objective was to accumulate a total number of points earned in all three (3) categories equaling 60. All paths have some prerequisite for entry, and benefits accrue from going through any of the paths more than once.  Within different occupations, the players were given the opportunity to earn points in those occupations.  For example, getting a raise in the job = Money points, starring in a movie role = fame points, while “Going to Sea” is good for happiness. The winner is the player who gets to their formula goal first.  The game has a fantasy feel to it by allowing the players an opportunity to immerse themselves in different career tasks as they move around the board.  I highly recommend playing this game with young kids.  Careers provides the opportunity for some good discussion amongst the players regarding the variety of regarding career choices and the intricacies that surround a particular type of job. A specific memory that I have while playing the game of Careers as a youngster, involved landing on a ‘Teacher Career’ space and words on the space read, “Increase tenure” were introduced to me for the first time.  Didn’t even think I would become a teacher way back when.

The recent event of the stock market spinning out of control wasn’t fun, and many experienced huge losses.  However Donald and Betty Lee Deitch, who were in that precarious boat that ended up sinking, decided to shed light on the situation by creating an environment that would allow people to experience the Wall Street game without losing a penny.

The Wall Street Spin®, the first game in a series of FunSpin™ board games, was developed to accomplish just that.  The game is suitable for adult players and provides a satirical atmosphere of fun and challenge.  However several testimonials note that it’s a great way for parents to introduce their children to the realm of money and the stock market, helping to bridge the generation gap.  It also provides a parallel between something that in reality is a sore subject, taking those aspects and turning them into educational entertainment.  Although it won’t win me real money {and I won’t lose real money either, unless I play it in Vegas } it has peaked my interest enough that I will probably buy it to play!  Here’s the scoop:

• Simulates ups and downs of the market, without complex math.
• Can affect all players even when it’s not your turn, which keeps players interested in the game.
• Encourages social and negotiation skills in players.
• Fun way to learn stock terms. Hostile Takeover allows you to take another player’s stock at 1/2 price, and change the game’s dynamics. This makes the game more exciting.
• “Play” the market without risk! Novices gain confidence, while experts enjoy this Game of Strategy.
• Great as party or travel game.
• The game packaging is quite appealing, with a chic carrying case and patented spinner.  An Oscar-winning animation director collaborated with designers to coin quirky stock names.

Here’s how to play:

Set out the game board with the spinner in the middle.  Break apart 24 color stock certificates.  It’s fun, because this game has varying prices. “Play” the market without risk!

1. The object of the game is to get as much stocks and cash in 1 hr. or set time.  The player who has the most is the winner!  Set out money, cards.  Begin at “Market Opens.”

Strategy: Try to get 3 stocks in a color group, it pays more dividends.  When you own all 3 stocks, you can buy a Blue chip marker for $4k, which increases the values of all stocks in that group!  You can buy or sell with other players for 2 mins. before your turn.

2. When you land on an unowned stock, you can buy it.  If you land on someone else’s

stock, you have to pay Dividends to the owner.  The amount you pay depends on what you spin again, for example, 300 X spin (1) = $300.  Or 300 X spin (8) = $2,400!  Ouch.

3. The spinner has 3 functions:  1) Move tokens without dice.  2)  Blue Chip Spin refers to the 8 stocks in the middle. 3)  Market Spin refers to the navy blue edge, which could be good and bad spins, that affect you or all players, such as “Market Boom.” (Please refer to Rules booklet for specific instances).

4. Bull/Bear news cards bring good or bad news.  Players don’t need to know stock terms to play, just collect from the Broker, or pay penalties into the Windfall profits corner.

The best card is “Hostile Takeover” when you can force sale of a stock at ½ price!

5. Whoever lands on Windfall Profits collects $$ from the penalties!  Fortunes can quickly change.  Broker puts in $1,000 each time
after it’s collected.  Broker also gives players $1,000 when they pass “Market Opens.”

To learn more, visit http://www.funspin.com/index.html

I found this game a while back looking at idea’s for our project and just curious about different games besides the selection in the game isle. Being a fan of chess I immediately liked the initial “simplicity” of the game design but the great strategy that came with it.

Description of the game

What is Saikoro? This is a strategy game using a dice map. The movements are based on the numbers on the die. Blocking in the other player is the point of the game. This is a very recent game made in 2007.

Saikoro is a game where the dice decide how the game is played. The box is shaken before the game starts to establish the randomized playing map. It is a truly unique game experience every time you open the box. Players advance their game pieces into the die slots depending on the number die number.

Content

This game is designed for players seven years and older. The game comes with a box and an inner box. The inner box is also the game board and sectioned into 64 squares in an 8×8 format. There are 62 dice and two blank dice that are either black or white. I guess they can be called token or game piece to differentiate the other dice.

How its played

Players take turns making moves and plotting a path along the game board and replacing the die located there with their token. Moves can be made anywhere and everywhere depending on the dice selected. The player has to count out the number of steps (determined by the die) to get to that certain die. In addition,  the potential move has to lie within 6 steps of your opponent’s token. The game only has vertical and horizontal movement and players cannot cross one another. When a player is either blocked in or stranded inwhich they cannot make any further moves, the game is over and the other player wins.

Example of playing: Looking at the board on the left. The black piece can be moved to left one space, to the die with one. It is a legal move because it only took 1 move and the die was rolled 1, and in addition it is six steps within the white piece. The white piece cannot move to the two dice directly to the right it because you cannot achieve two with just horizontal or vertical movement, however, the white piece CAN move to the other two just above the die directly above it.

Critique

I thought this game was really fun.  It was super simple in design but the strategy of the game was far from the presentation. I thought this game was a great example of Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow because it was a challanging activity with a very clear goal, as well as the potential of meeting other pieces if someone really got into playing it. The replay value of this game is endless, there are so many board designs and strategies which can be applied that players will be entertained until they can’t stand the sight of red dice. Keeping the players six steps within each other develops close gameplay to keep players constantly attacking and thinking of blocking in one another. I can’t express the simpicity of the design. If you had enough dice you could make this game. Of course you wouldn’t get the cool box and originality of the game but it just shows you how generic the components are. I really like this game and would recommend it to anyone trying to get away from the typical store game isle selection of monopoly and life. Perhaps even players getting bored with Chess but still looking for a great strategy game.

I was interested in the “reality t.v. gaming” aspect of game design. So I Googled and Googled and discovered the inspiring, awarded, and respected game philosophy of Jane McGonigal.

Ms. McGonigal creates her alternate reality based games, while holding on to the basic history of games. She contends that popularity for all games derives from the initial intended diversion among humans to deflect poor situations within their own lifetimes. Games were used to get away from the social troubles facing people. She says they may have been invented to alleviate suffering.

One take she had which I found particularly interesting was that ARG games allow people to collectively apply their selves to a given problem while still holding to an individual performance.

She shined as the Participating Architect in the global reality game of a World Without Oil. Participants of the game lived as if they were all affected with a global oil crisis. Contributions from players began to take the form of reality for other players. Visit the site, it is truly an amazing alternate reality game.

Her most recent ARG was The Lost Ring. This was a global, multi-lingual alternate reality game that united players in a quest to recover ancient Olympic secrets. Although the game is complete, the results of the game are archived.
Saving the World through Game Design

After reviewing these games, of which I had no clue existed, the possibilitites for more global and social collaboration could lead to more unity and understanding of communal issues.  I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

I came across an interesting article by game designer Tim Lang, which I soon found was only one of his many blog posts offering tips on how to succeed in the game design industry.  This particular post was about “5 Ways Game Designers Communicate.”  Here’s a little background on Tim:

Tim Lang has been on the game design scene since 1997, and has worked on the Might and Magic series of games, as well as the Medal of Honor series.  Currently working as the Lead Game Designer for Spin Master Studio, Tim also provides his professional, insider insight by contributing posts to game design websites such as www.gamasutra.com, it’s sister site www.gamecareerguide.com, and many others.

What I found inviting about Tim’s numerous posts, including “5 Ways Game Designers Communicate,” is that you can tell he generally cares about the development of the game design community.  He shares his professional advice to other designers, particularly newcomers to the industry, based on his professional experience.

In his October 2008 blog, Tim starts by stating “great ideas are useless without great communication.”  In other words, great ideas are plentiful- it’s how the idea is executed that really matters.  Successful execution is obtained through good communication between designers and development team members; and ultimately, to the audience.  Here are Tim’s five ways game designers communicate:

1. Conversation
2. Writing
3. Pictures
4. Design Animatics (storyboards that move)
5. Prototypes

As you probably noticed, the five items above start with the most commonly used and easily accessible communication tool, and move towards the most intricate and specific tool that takes specific skills.  Each steps moves the designer and development team closer to making a concept “come to life”.  I think Tim has a lot of good insight that will help me in 670 and beyond.

The full article can be found at http://gamecareerguide.com/features/634/5_ways_game_designers_.php

Designer

A famous and very recognizable name in the computer gaming industry since the beginning is Sid Meier. He almost always places his name in front of his game titles. If you’ve ever played any of the Civilization series then you’ve dabbled in some of Sid’s creations. Meier became the second person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences hall of fame in 1999. The first was Shigeru Miyamoto the creator of Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda.  In 2008 he was given the life time achievement award at the Game Developers Conference also a major recognition in the gaming industry. The importance of his accomplishments are in the strategy game genre. His Civilization games play like modern day games of Risk. They include history, adventure and critical thinking. Users are immersed in famous world battles and try so solve scenarios by developing various units of war or signing treaties with others. Although not an educational game directory I think that Civilization is a great tool for teaching History to students.

Educational review sites

Many computer game review sites such as IGN or Gamespot don’t include educational games. Looking around I found two additional sites focusing on reviewing educational software. Although their website design and content isn’t as massive at the more main stream sites, I think they do a pretty good job at informing people into the educational computer realm. The first site is edutaining kids a small site with mini reviews on many many products. Although the website isn’t as attractive as the review sites, the amount of content that has been review makes up for it.  Another educational review site I found was Childrens Technology Review . Unfortunantly this is a pay site but seems to include alot of reviews for $30 for a pdf subscription, $54 for a pdf subscription and admission to the library of past issues and $108 for paperback, pdf and libary access. This is an online educational journal that might interest researchers, teachers and parents about the upcoming games and technology.  You can read a copy of a past issue here : May 09 Childrens Technology Review.

Game Development

Last year I was introduced to a program called Scratch by Bernie Dodge in an Edtec 700 class. This program allows students to apply game development and coding into one fun activity.  Instead of taching a child about how to code a game, there are various puzzle pieces that fit together to create various motions.  You can make a cat meow, walk around the screen or even disappear. This program being the fun factor in teaching kids how to develop games at an early age.

Daniel also posted a great article about the Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology that also looks on a research organization that focuses in game design.

Conferences

On the subject of Carnegie Mellon, the Game Education Summit is a conference on the topic of educational gaming.  This two day conference gives various presentations from various developers in education and the game industry. This conference is young and only in its second year of hosting. “The Game Education Summit is the only conference where the video game industry and academics from around the world can come together to have meaningful conversations about the future of game development” (GES, 2009).  This might become the go to conference for anyone in the development of educational game design. I read previous articles about incorporating educational games at E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo but it was never a popular subject due to the more mainstream games. The GES conference might allow developers usually busy with promoting other products at E3 to really sit down and think about educational gaming.

Miscellaneous

My first article seemed to contain too much technology and not enough educational based information to fulfill the assignment. If you are interested in the future of optical head tracking, please go read my other article.

“Gaming is actually a very important part of my life. I think the reason for that is that I was very severe  dyslexic. I couldn’t read, really.” – Jordan Weisman, Game Designer, Entrepreneur.

While looking for information on famous game designers, I came across an article on famous people with dyslexia.  One of the featured people was Jordan Weisman, CEO and founder of Smith&Tinker.  Weisman is the former creative director for the Microsoft Entertainment group who helped launch the XB0x.  He has won over 100 awards and was inducted into the game designer’s hall of fame.

The article focuses on not only on Weisman’s achievements as a designer, but also on his near inability to read as a child.  He suffered from such severe dyslexia that he was barely able to read.  He learned how to “cheat” at reading in order to get through school.  As a junior counselor at a camp in high school, he discovered Dungeons and Dragons.  He says his imagination was inspired like never before by D&D, but unable to play at first because his normal way of “cheating” at reading wasn’t cutting it for playing the game.  For the first time, he wanted to read.

Weisman went on to found five different companies and some of the largest game franchises, Crimson Skies, Shadowrun and BattleTech/MechWarrior.

Through the initial article, I found a link to the original interview.  Weisman credits one of early teachers for, in his words, “realizing there was a chance I was not stupid” and encouraging him to get tested for a learning disability.  He also tells the story of getting his first games sold.  He published some special designs and scenarios at home and sold them to a local toy store.  Eventually, he asked where they bought their toys from and traced the distribution chain upwards.  He approached the distributors, sold his games directly to him and the rest is history…

Both the dyslexia article and original interview were very interesting.  So frequently only the negative sides of gaming and video games are discussed in the media.  Weisman is an example of some one who games inspired to read, regardless of how much of a struggle it was.  At first he may have just wanted to read the rules of D&D, but that lead to other fantasy literature including Tolkien.  I’m an avid reader and I’ve never been able to make it through Tolkien, so I’m always impressed by people who can.

The rest of the interview focused more on specific games of Weisman.  I’ve never played them, but it was very interesting to read about the fictional world he developed to support the game Battle Tech.  He also discusses how the experiences his children had with gaming inspired him to create the WizKids Inc.

For some of us, the prospect of completing a semester of game directed curriculum is a challenge, to say the least.  Still, there are people who thrive on games.  My nephew was an avid online game participant for years.  On more than one occasion, I discussed with him the possibility of following his dream of game design.  To my dismay, he chose a more contemplative career in religious studies.  If he were to have known about this institution, the outcome may have been different…

The Art Institute is an example of an institution where you can receive up to date instruction on game design.  It offers a variety of degree programs including bachelor of science in not only game art and design, but also in visual and game programming.  Courses for these degrees cover a wide range of topics from conceptual, to design to skills.  The progression of courses indicate a detailed look at the process of game development, from understanding design, color and success, progressing to specific game skills such as game modeling, game prototyping and game mapping.

Other courses offered through this program give us an insight into the skills and education needed to become a top level game designer.  College English and Effective Speaking are included, as well as a visual language and culture class.  These type of course illustrate the importance of a clear communication method which would span the different cultures of participants.   College algebra is another interesting course requirement, based on the knowledge that games are often structured around an algebraic or geometric scheme.

Skills play a large role in this degree program.  There is a wide range of skills including materials and lighting, designing 3 D environments and sculpture for animation.   There are also courses which help the learner put everything together, such as courses on lighting, languages and layout.

I found the courses which are included in this program of study to be extensive and interesting.  Although I would not be a candidate for the program, it is one that a potential designer would find to be useful.

The Walt Disney Company, committed to producing “unparalleled entertainment experiences”, spearheads technological advancements in family entertainment. Walt Disney Imagineers, the masterminds behind theme park design and development, set the trend for theme park entertainment by developing attractions that are driven by the current consumer market. Such is the case for Disney newest rides which combine rider interaction, 3-D, and even 4-D technology, like Toy Story Mania!.

Here, guests wear 3-D glasses aboard a spinning vehicle equipped with a spring-action shooter to launch darts at various targets and gain points, while traveling through multiple virtual environments based on carnival midway games.  Guests aboard the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, pilot their own Star Cruiser while zapping targets and racking up a personal score. Riders can even e-mail their Astro Blaster score and continue the battle online in their home.

Although passive rides like Pirates of the Caribbean will continue to have its place in Disneyland culture, these new “gaming” rides allow guest manipulation creating a personalized experience each time, no ride is ever the same.  Such innovation adds to the magic we come to expect from Disney and extends the experience by creating entirely new options for guests.

Dave Arneson, 1947-2009, Co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons
Dave Arneson was a creative spirit who developed many of the original, fundamental ideas of role-playing: that each player controls just one hero, that heroes gain power through adventures, and that personality is as important as combat prowess. Dave created a game called Blackmoor, which is known as the prototype for all (role-playing game) campaigns since its creation.

Dave also taught students how to accurately document and create balanced rules sets, in a class called “Rules of the Game” at Full Sail University.

Dungeons and Dragons was actually rejected by more than one publisher and Arneson did not have the money to pursue publication. An investor finally provided the funding to publish a single print run of 1,000 games and all 1,000 copies sold out within a year. Arneson continued to develop the D&D game with its co-creator in a company called TSR, but after about a year with the company, Arneson left to pursue an independent career in game design. Arneson had a tense relationship with his former partners, and they went through several lawsuits and out of court settlements.

Arneson at one point created his own game company, Adventure Games, where he created several successful games. But again he chose to sell the company and get out of the corporate world, returning to work as an independent game designer. He clearly was never happy as a 9-to-5 worker in anyone’s office.
Dave continued to play games for the rest of his life. Upon his death last year, his daughter noted that he really just wanted people to have fun in life.

A small Seattle-based company called Sabi has recently teamed up with Microsoft to develop an interactive drawing/reading program called Itzabitza for the Microsoft platform. The game is unique because of its ability to recognize drawings and create interactions with the drawings that have been created.

The goal of this educational egame is to inspire creativity and promote reading in target audience of children ages 4+. As children draw, their drawings come to life. The program is able to recognize what has been drawn with the help of a drawing recognition program incorporated into the game called Living Ink. Because the game can recognize what has been drawn, the characters in the game can interact with it in natural ways. So for example, if a child is asked to draw a house, the computer will recognize the various elements that compose the house that is drawn and insert interactive components. A door and windows will appear, and once they have appeared, they can be opened. If the child draws doors, windows, or chimneys for example, the program recognizes them and uses them in the story. The characters can enter the house that has just been drawn by the child, climb the stairs, and be visible in the window on the second floor.

Children play the game by initiating quests. Each quest will prompt them to move or to draw. When they draw, their drawings become a part of the story. Part of the motivation, in addition to seeing your artwork incorporated in a story, is that you can only proceed to the next quest, or story line, after you have received enough stars. This unlocks the next quest.

The game has received high praise as an enticing way to inspire kids to read. Words, when they appear are clickable and can be read aloud. As the child begins playing, words will appear that will begin the quest. Once a child chooses a word, the child is prompted to do something related to that word.

More info.
Itzabitza Website
The Itzabitza Blog
Itzabitza Video Demo – Highly recommend the demo video. It’s pretty amazing.

Heidi Thibodeau AKA Heidi Beezley