We Got Game: Serious Gaming for Training

We Got Game is about Etcetera Edutainment's rollout of a new video game simulation for Forklift Training. Etcetera Edutainment builds video game simulations (known as serious gaming) for training purposes in manufacturing, mining utilities and health care industries where "accidents can mean hundreds and thousands of dollars in damages or even death." The heart of the article is towards the end where it talks about the benefits of video game simulations in relation to hands-on training. 1.) Simulations foster sound decision-making under pressure 2.) Mouse Click and High Score is recordable which makes training effective and meaningful for the players 3.) Demographics: More than 60 percent of adults age 18-35 actively play interactive video games.

Companies can develop training simulations anywhere from $50,000 to $500,000 and companies like Etcetera Edutainment are hoping to turn serious gaming into a very big business.

Second Life and the Economy

It's a Sunday morning and as I am having my morning cup of coffee along side my husband - me on the laptop, him reading the newspaper - I am thinking about and working on my 670 class assignments and I glance over at my husband and ask, "Honey, have you ever heard of Second Life?" he replies "Why yes, darling, I just finished reading an article about it. Here it is." What a coincidence, I thought! I should blog about this article for the EdGames blog.

The U-T article is about the booming population and economy that is growing in Second Life. Users are able to sell things in Second Life with real $$ (I had no idea you could do this!). And some are actually buying real estate. Pretend real estate!! Buying and selling virtual "stuff" seemed a little strange to me at first. But now I can see why big companies like Nike, Nissan and Amazon would use the virtual world to advertise and sell products. Now that the virtual population in Second Life has reached one million and is still growing, companies and entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the new possibilities for making money in the virtual world.

Music and Second Life

During my first foray into Second Life, one of the things that struck me initially was the presence of music. Intrigued with the possibilities I did a quick Google search that yielded some interesting results.

According to this article that first appeared in the September 7, 2006 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Second Life has already proved itself a viable way for musicians (both established and aspiring) to connect with their existing fans or an new audience.

Established musicians like Susan Vega have recently performed “live”. While retro groups like Duran Duran are also setting up shop hoping to recapture some of their 80’s glory. With authentic and far more diverse audiences so easily accessible will it be long before schools begin to use Second Life as a base for performing? The possibilities are nearly endless.

Shakespeare as a MMORPG

For those of you who don't know, MMORPG stands for Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game. Apparently, a professor at Indianna University, Edward Castronova is creating a new MMORPG based on the Shakespeare play Richard III. That in and of itself is interesting, but to make it more interesting, Castronova will actually be using this game to do social-science research. Because he can create parallel worlds with different aspects changed, he can see how it affects the players in each game.

The article also talks about how this could be used as a learning tool because players are immersed into the play. They can learn about Shakespeare's plays by actually "living" in the play itself. It gives players a feeling of living during that time period. I also thought it was somewhat appropriate to talk about teaching in virtual worlds when we're about to embark on a new project where we use simulations (similar to virtual worlds) to increase knowledge.

DNA-based computer plays Tic-Tac-Toe

I read an interesting article about biocomputing and games. Researchers at Columbia University and the University of New Mexico (including some high school interns) have developed MAYA-II, a DNA-based computer that is unbeatable at Tic-Tac-Toe as long as it gets to start first. It does take quite a while to complete a game - 2 to 30 minutes to calculate a move. The techniques used in developing the biocomputer game may be useful for computing that needs to be performed in fluids (e.g. analyzing a drop of blood) that does not need to be performed rapidly.

NewScientist article

MAYA-II Wiki

But Mom, THIS is my homework!

I saw this interesting article on the plane coming home today. It's about how video game design is becoming a serious part of computer science programs and how it is one of the "hottest" majors in America right now.

Play Infocom Games Online

I loved the old Infocom text based games but haven't thought about them in years.

After reading about the interactive fiction applications for this week's assignment, I dug around and found the following web site with a JAVA applet that enables one to play 18 of the classic Infocom games.

Play Infocom Games

Although I no longer have my small green monochrome monitor to light up my bedroom, I'm eager to get back to slaying dragons in Zork and shoving babel fish in my ears in Hitchiker's Guide. :)

Reuters and Harvard in Second Life

Read More on Reuters
CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion is an actual class offered to Harvard students and the public. Here's their blog.

Edheads-Activate Your Mind

I was reading a friend's blog and found an amazing educational games website, Edheads . For now, there are "virtual hip surgery","The odd machine","virtual knee sugery","weather"and "simple machine" 5 educational games on it. I love the interactive animations there!!

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About Edheads http://www.edheads.org/

Edheads brings you high quality, free educational activities for your classroom

Edheads helps students learn through educational games and activities designed to meet state and national standards. We partner with various school systems in the United States, which help us research, design and test our activities every step of the way!

Not only do teachers and students appreciate our free activities, Edheads has been recognized by almost every major award on the Web for our excellent educational content!

So dive into an activity to let the fun and learning begin!

Video Games: More than child's play for leaders

I'm in Toronto for the rest of the week. This morning, as I flipped through Canada's newspaper, The Globe and Mail, a headline jumped out at me. "Video Games: More than just child's play." Perfect, I thought. I was just going to browse the web for gaming articles for the EdGames blog.

The article speaks of how a simulation was used with Ontario Power Generation, Inc.'s managers as part of a leadership-development exercise. The task at hand was turning around a failing technology company. OPG manager Judy Wood says that the intent is to "teach managers to become better decision-makers through computer simulations where, as in life, every choice has a consequence." Hopefully these managers will take the experience, the feelings, the set backs, and the consequences that were dished upon them for their decision making, and apply what they have learned to their daily job responsibilities.

The article goes on to discuss how simulations and video games have become a popular tool for training and as part of a blended learning experience in training programs.

It's a quick read, and is relevant to Allison's 685 class in that it covers some use of simulation for performance improvement.

If you're really into it, The Globe and Mail had a company create their own simulation on running a hockey team. You can play it as well on globeandmail.com.

Here is the article:
Video Games: More than just child's play

John Keller’s New Website

I stumbled on John Keller’s new motivation design website when searching the web. I figured Bernie would post it, but I’m going to beat him to it. :) I thought everyone would be interested in taking a look.

Here’s the link:
http://www.arcsmodel.com/home.htm

Simulations & Adult Learning

Kellye Whitney’s (2006) article, “Simulations Build on Adult Learning to Accelerate Skill Building Application,” explores the popularity of simulations used by organizations for adult learning. Rommin Adl, CEO and President of Strategic Management Group Inc. (one of the largest simulation and multimedia training companies in the world), is cited throughout the article. Adl explains that simulations are popular because they allow adults to “learn by doing in a risk free environment” (Whitney, 2006). Other factors that favor using simulations for organizational learning are the ability for customization, engagement, motivation for adult learners who often lose interest quickly, and tailoring to different learning styles. Popular subject matters covered are project management, business acumen and leadership; all relevant to topics we frequently discuss in the EDTEC program, in particular performance technology. In relation to concepts we have discussed in class, Whitney (2006) discusses aspects of simulations that create an engaging experience, including “high levels of competition, employ[ing] humor and us[ing] real-world examples.”

Organizational learning via simulations is pragmatic; however, there are issues that are commonly considered, such as the cost and over-concentration on technology and not learning. The cost is usually justifiable because the ultimate ROI is actual results on-the-job, but somehow we need to figure out how to measure these results. I thought Adl’s statement nicely sums up the paradigm instructional designers often face: “A lot of technology companies get hung up on the technology, and they sacrifice the basic learning objectives and application that you want to get out of it” (Whitney, 2006).

Here is the link to the online article:
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templates/clo_article.asp?articleid=1555&zoneid=180


References

Whitney, K. (2006, October 4). Simulations Build on Adult Learning to Accelerate Skill
Building and Application. CLO Magazine. Retrieved October 5, 2006, from
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templates/clo_article.asp?articleid=1555&zoneid=180

Playing Games with Kids

I came across this site Board Games To Go
and one particular podcast New Gamer and Gamer Dads that I thought was very intersting. The podcast is by Mark Johnson and he is interviewing David Gullett. They are just talking about the nature of playing games with their kids. Some of it is talking about how they interact with their kids while playing games and how playing games provides some bonding time for them. They also talked about specific games that they have played with their kids and what worked and what didn't. It definitely brought back memories of playing games with my family when I was younger and how I hope to do the same with my kids someday. I also thought about the fact that my husband and I play A LOT of games compared to most people and we thought it was great when we finally found some friends that knew the games we were playing. That is what they talk about in the beginning of the podcast since he is kind of a new gamer. Anyway, it just made me reminisce and I think it might do the same for you.

Real World Virtual Training

I just saw this company present to a conference I attended today. They take digital photos, video, etc. and recreate real life facilities virtually. The are to scale and fully operational just like the real thing. What I saw allows students to perform the actual tasks virtually. The company's website is http://www.3dinternet.com if you look in the Services menu under Interactive training and Virtual Tours you can see some samples of their work. Very cool!

They can even customize it to include real people and their actual voices. Sort of a glimpse into the future of training.

Mekong e-Sim: A Cross-Disciplinary Online Role-Play Simulation

Primarily developed by Australia's University of Adelaide and University of Technology, Sydney, the Mekong e-Sim is an online learning environment that immerses students in the complexities of authentic decision making, helping them develop the communication, collaboration, and leadership skills they will need for future success.
ELI's Innovations & Implementations series highlights innovative teaching, learning, and technology practices in higher education. Each Innovations & Implementations piece provides a practical overview of an innovation, focusing on its significance and implementation issues. Use Innovations & Implementations to explore innovative practices that might be of value to your institution.
Go ELI and download the paper

ELI is a great resource for teaching, learning and technology issues in higher education.
ELI on Games and Simulations

UK Study Supports Potential Role For Games In Class

No idea how rigorous the research is.

"The report, which included national surveys of primary and secondary teachers and school children aged 11-16, was designed to offer an overview of those participants' use of and attitudes towards commercial computer games in schools. The research also included ten case studies across four separate schools involving the use of EA's The Sims 2, Atari's RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, and Sunflowers Interactive's Knights of Honor.

...Interestingly, but not wholly unexpected, of those teachers surveyed, the most common factor cited in favor of using games in the classroom was “motivating students.” 37 percent of teachers involved in the study noted that they would not use games in the classroom, with many indicating that they believe games offer “little or no educational value.”

...The study also produced expected findings, including games being played more often by boys (50 percent as compared to 21 percent of girls), while younger children were found to be more frequent game players than those who were older....

Read more

Second Life Article

Back in May of 2006 Business Week ran a story about the online community Second Life. From a woman who has made $250,000 buy and selling virtual land to a stay at home father who makes $2,000 a week selling animations of residents (players) hugging and cuddling, the potential for financial gain is incredible. The article also briefly explores the potential ways that some companies are using this type of virtual community for online training and community building. Check out the slideshow and podcast as well as the article

My Virtual Life article

Short Podcast with the Author

Girls Creating Games

Girls Creating Games is an after-school program developed by the Research and Training department at Education, Training and Research Associates (ETR) in collaboration with the a middle school, a comunity-based agency and UC-Santa Cruz.

This program aims to promote and increase girls' skills and interest in information technologies. Activities include computer game design (using Flash), pair programming, identity exploration and mentoring from female adult role models.

The learned lessons are very interesting. Check them as well as some of games developed.

Immune Attack-educational video game

Immune attack is an educational video game created by FAS (The Federation of American Scientists). The goal of the game is to engage students in one of the complicated biology topics, immunology. Instead of reading from classroom textbooks, students can play the video game and they can learn the concept of immunology in an excited way.

“Human body tissue structures serve as the playing field in this first person strategy game where immune cells face off against bacterial and viral infections. A teenaged prodigy with a unique immunodeficiency must teach his immune system how to function properly, or die trying. Using a nanobot and aided by a helpful professor, the teenager explores biologically accurate and visually detailed settings in pursuit of this goal.”

I found this video game very interesting and exciting because the topic itself “immunology” is an abstract topic and it must hard to explain to students. Presenting this topic in an interactive manner (game, animation) makes it possible for the students to watch things that cannot be shown by any other medium. In this case, the topic is easy to learn and become enjoyable. Also, I believe audio, graphics, feedback, and questions increase the learner’s interest in the topic and strengthen their skills.
Dilek

Der Noggin-Meister

This article features an interview with Richard Tait, whose board game "Cranium" has won "Game of the Year" four times over the past five years, and has sold over 16 million copies. One of its unique features is that it allows everyone the opportunity to excel, since it challenges different areas of intelligence. Some people report that their children turn off video games in order to play Cranium with the family!

Controversial Video Game

"Bully" is a coming-soon video game in which the player is a kid at a boarding school fighting back against other kids. It is programmed to be released this October and there have been a lot of controversy including lawsuits to block their sale.

Parents and teachers are afraid "Bully" is going to be a bad influence to kids despite the fact that the game has been described a facilitator of social networking and skill development.


You can find a trailer of the video game here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8561906399665007149&q=bully

Educational Games Video

Educational Games Video
This video includes a discussion of the opportunities that exist for major game developers to create educational content. Some of the reasons mentioned for the lack of development include the popularity of violence in games and false notions that there is no market for educational games and educational games cannot be engaging. They go on to discuss the importance of educating school administrators, teachers, and parents about how some video games are aligned with state educational standards to help challenge they myth that games do not have educational value. The video shows some examples of educational computer games that simulate the Revolutionary War and WWII to teach about history, politics and economics.

Current Events Games

This free article from The Wall Street Journal Online discusses free web games based on current political or news events. Some are spoofs, but others are meant to educate people about current events.

surprising game topics

I was wondering to myself when I saw my sister reading my neice a religious childrens book if that was actually a popular fad. I was so surprised to see when I looked up spiritual and religious board games that there is NO shortage of them, and in every kind of topic. For instance, check out these new age ones, they crack me up:
http://www.newage-online.nl/index.php/cPath/117/sort/2a/language/en
-Nelly Aragon

East joining West in video-game world with a new infusion of Japanese flavor

A piggyback to Marci's comments I found this article on the SD Union-Tribune site talking about Japan's influence on American pop culture. It refers to kids who grew up playing "Final Fantasy" and "Pokemon" have paved the way for more games with a greater Japanese influence. One game in particular "Okami" uses the ink-and-watercolor art of old Japan. I saw the trailer and it reminded me of Speed Racer cartoons I watched as a kid before there was video games. The writer rates three games with Okami receiving 4 out of 4 stars. "Rule of Rose" and "Cooking Mama" didn't rate very high. It would be interesting to know if the games actually taught something about Japanese culture as a by product of playing them or do gamers only focus on the goal of winning. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/tech/20060927-0704-games-japan.html

Donald Clark Plan B

Donald Clark Plan B

Cooking Mama

Cooking Mama is an educational Nintendo game created by Majesco. I read some posts at the Serious Games Initiative website about this much anticipated game and its mini cultural controversy. It is evident that the game has an international audience; however, there is skepticism surrounding how popular this game will become in the United States because the recipes are supposedly Japanese. It is interesting, somewhat obvious, and important to recognize how culture can affect the outcome of a game.

Without actually playing the game, it’s hard to know what recipes are really included in the game. The Majesco website indicates that players can “create 76 different, real world dishes from fried eggs to cabbage meat rolls.” While cabbage meat rolls may not be the most American dish, one would think that with the freedom to mix and match 76 different dishes, players would be able to create American meals. The game sounds very appealing especially because of its real world-like features, such as cooling the food down by blowing into the Nintendo microphone.

Here is the Serious Games Initiative website:
http://www.seriousgames.org/index2.html

Also, check out the Majesco website to read more about the unique features the game offers and watch a video of the game in action:
http://www.majescoentertainment.com/catalog/works/cookingmama_ds.php

Daily mind stretches

Over the summer, a friend turned me onto these little ditties. Pattern recognition puzzles.
daily set games
I found them challenging and fun. Easy to get into flow with and easy to get out and onto to something like work. After getting the hang of it, I noticed my brain shifting and going into some other mode. Much of the time it's engaged with language-based activities or activities that have some language component. Here it's purely visually-based patterns. I haven't tried out any of the others and I've since abandoned this one too. Not much of a puzzler...

2006 Toronto Independant Games Conference

This is a summary of a presentation given at the 2006 Toronto Independent Games Conference (August 31-September 2). It is an interesting list of ten points which independent educational game developers should consider when marketing and planning a game directed at a K-12 client.

Games to Improve the Internet

I read an article about Luis von Ahn, a Computer Science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who just won a MacArthur Fellowship.

Dr. von Ahn is credited with inventing a new field in computer science known as "human computation," which uses novel techniques, including games, to harness computational abilities of humans to solve large-scale problems computers cannot yet solve.

His games include the ESP Game licensed by Google, and his new game is Phetch. The outcomes of these games are used to produce phrases to label images and to describe them for visually impaired Internet surfers.

Games Tackle Disaster Training

I thought this was interesting. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,69580,00.html The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is funding a series of computer games to help prepare health workers and other first responders facing bioterror attacks, nuclear accidents and pandemics. A multiplayer prototype is being developed to train teams of health specialists to work together. They are also looking at natural disasters thanks to the results of Katrina. Maybe the next head of FEMA will have to pass a simulation before they get the job, at least they have some experience.

Game Mechanics

Just came across a very nice list of Game Mechanics on the Board Game Designers Forum. What's a game mechanic, you may well ask? It's an element of game structure that describes, for example, how cards are drawn, or how the abilities of pieces differ from each other.

The referenced page is part of a wiki, and so not all pages are complete. It's a great resource, though, when you're at the early creative phase of developing a board game. It provides a pool of ideas that probably go beyond what's already in your head.

Cooperative vs. competitive games

While browsing through the internet on games, I found this great article on cooperative games. The idea is that too many games depend on aggression and competition dividing the world into winner and losers, and yet we know that with the information explosion of the last decades, collaboration and cooperation become necessary in our working and learning environment. We can argue that competition is also healthy and just as necessary as cooperation, but the question that is important for gaming design is whether playing a cooperative game is as much fun as playing a cooperative game. I ask those of you who are experienced game players to give me some insights into your experiences and reactions to playing both types of games. After reading this article, I decided to experience it for myself and purchased the game called “LOST”, which I hope turns out to be an example of a cooperative game. I will report on my experience with this game in a future comment. Here is the link to the article about cooperative games.

http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/FamilyPastimes.shtml

Bookstores to sell the XBOX?

Microsoft has been brewing up the XNA for a bit. It's a free software download that allows users to create their own video games, specifically for the XBOX 360. Some universities will be using it to teach game design classes (according to Microsoft).

Game software typically uses rarely-used or completely customized platforms that cost obnoxious amounts of $$. This translates to needing a few million bucks just to get a rough draft of your idea. Now, Microsoft is giving the platform away. The development software will be free, but sharing your newest first person shooter with others and/or your xbox will cost $99 anually.



I've downloaded "Game Studio Express" and plan to try it out this semester. Maybe I'll make a few million dollars on the side with our class project.... Maybe I'll spend 4 sleepless days and night to wind up with a red dot that chases a blue dot on a grey background.

Games industry is failing women

I recently posted about this BBC article.

Can a Game Make You Rich?

I hope so. Today's mail brought word about Motley Fool Caps, a game that gets smarter about stocks as more people play it.

How does it work? You get yourself a free account and pick a stock. Predict what direction the stock's price is going and when. Your prediction is stored away and evaluated on an ongoing basis. The system shows players a summary of everyone's predictions, and each player is rated based on how prescient they are. As time goes on, players whose predictions are more accurate get higher ratings and their predictions are weighted more heavily.

So... over time, the system will show you the consensus of the best stock pickers, thus pointing the way for you to invest better.

It will be interesting to watch this. Will it turn into a vehicle for the bandwagon effect where lemmings run even faster towards the cliff? What complex behavior will emerge from this fairly simple game?

I'm getting an account. See you in Tahiti.

Games as Mind-Warpers

Get ready for a fresh round of debate about violence in video games. News is out today that the sociopath in Montreal who shot 20 people listed an online game about Columbine as his favorite.

Who knew there was such a game? What kind of heartless dope would take the time to design such a thing? Politicians are going to use this as an opportunity to grandstand and offer more legislation restricting violent media, nibbling away yet again at First Amendment rights. Passing laws is easy. Changing the culture is the real challenge.

Second Life in the News

I came across this article the other day about Second Life. Normally I would have never looked twice but after discussing Second Life in our first class session it definitely caught my eye!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14783327/

The New Monopoly

I found this article "Would You Like Fries With That Monopoly Game?" and I thought it was very interesting since the idea of curb appeal had been brought up in class as another factor to consider. Basically, it's an article about the new Monopoly Here and Now Edition. They have replaced some of the old tokens with newer, more modern (and some name-brand) objects, such as a Starbucks Coffee mug and McDonald's french fries. They have also replaced the railroads with airports and some of the other properties will be replaced with cities such as Las Vegas. Finally, the other major change is that you will get $2 million for passing go instead of $200. It also says in the article, that unlike other special edition versions of Monopoly (Simpsons, Star Wars), this is supposed to be mainstream and not a limited edition. I don't know that I have a problem with this as much as a thought/question. Monopoly is one of the most popular games in the US. It has had such an impact that the phrase, "Do not pass go, do not collect $200." is part of our everyday language (or at least I've used it). So, is this version of the game too commercial and contemporary and will that cause it to lose some appeal? A lot of people play games to kind of "escape" for a few hours from their everyday life. Will the modernization of such a classic game cause that to be more difficult because we will be using a Prius instead of a vintage race car and a Labradoodle instead of a Scottish terrier or will this newer version appeal more to the younger generations of game players and make the game even more popular?

It's not the game, it's the experience of playing the game!

I wish I read David Warlick's blog entry on Games in Classrooms? or Classrooms in Games? before class yesterday. He comments that younger teachers grew up with video games as part of their culture, so their comfort level with games is leading to greater integration of games in the classroom. Warlick's concern is that games might get placed in the classroom for the sake of having games in the classroom. He believes

"... that the key to using games in our classrooms is not the game, but the experiences of playing the game that make it so compelling. If we can identify and understand those experiences, which are probably pretty fundamental, and then integrate those experiences into our learning environments, then we may hit on something profound in terms of preparing children for their future."

"Saving the world, one video game at a time"

I ran across this article from the New York Times which provides some great examples and links to socially responsible and educational video games. While the article doesn’t go into detail about instructional design theories it does provide an interesting perspective on creating games that elicit decisions about complex political situations.

Article about Massive Multiplayer Online Games

ComputerEdge's current issue (Sept 8, 2006) shows the article "Internet Gameplay of MMORPGS and Multiverses" in its cover. I read the article and found it interesting to get a perspective of how video games are developing (i dont know much about this topic).

http://webserver.computoredge.com/editorial/prg/online.mv?zone=SD&article=toc&session=4507406E000DE95200006FE600000000

Do Games Enhance Sociability?

Now that the semester has started and a new round of EDTEC 670 is underway, it's time to rev up this blog again. What better place to start than this Reuter's article summarizing a recently published study. The key quote:

"'By providing spaces for social interaction and relationships beyond the workplace and home, MMOs have the capacity to function as one form of a new 'third space' for informal sociability,' Steinkuehler and Williams write.

While such sociability won't offer 'deep emotional support,' they add, it has the benefit of exposing players to a wide range of viewpoints and a more diverse social environment."

The researchers based their findings on a two year study of players of Asheron's Call. Without having read the original article yet, I have to wonder about the extent to which the social talk among players had anything to do with the world outside the game. If one becomes a social maven in a simulated world, to what extent do the skills developed generalize to face-to-face interactions?

Games For Change

Still unsure if games and simulations can promote positive change in learners? The recent Games For Change conference (June 2006) brought together many game and sim designers working to expose learners to current, real world problems. You can find a more in-depth article here.

Kid with video problem

Just thought I would pass along this link; its quite disturbing. From all that we learned in Games and Simulations, I am wondering what motivator this kid is experiencing that keeps him playing the game (although the game is far from "educational")? He is way past his frustration level.

If you can't view the video, it shoes a teenage boy being taped by possibly hidden camera (parents????). He swears repeatedly, hits and kicks the screen, screams, slams things down, picks up the TV and looks as though he is going to hurl it across the room, and screams at a friend calling on his cell phone "didn't you hear I said I was busy!!!"

xbox kid