The Fierce Game of Buskashi is now all the rage again in post-Taliban Afghanistan, according to a story today on CNN. I guess these folks have a lot of pent-up recreational needs, and I'm guessing that there isn't an Afghan version of the ASPCA.

The course is over, but I just found a cool page that lets you create a card game just using JavaScript. Hmmmm...by changing the graphics and code a bit, you could make this into an educational game. A royal flush with U.S. presidents? A straight with planets? Something with the periodic table? If only we didn't have to sleep.

I know it's late (in both hour and semester terms), but I think this is worthwhile: I would love to see more of this type of thing - blurring the line between games and business, not just in the training/education field: Look & Feel.

Interactive fiction in z-code for the palm

z-code is a machine code that can run on many platform with an interpreter. It’s meant to be played on a z-machine – or so says the z-files and there are lots of games out there written for it. Incidentally z stands for Zork. And interactive fiction falls into the realm of text based adventure games. And now – you too can play them on your palm. You’ll need a converter. there are hundreds of games out there that you can get to from either of the sites above.

Audio Gaming
How do visually impaired people take advantage of games? Well, now there's audio gaming. I found a site that lists some games for the blind and the visually impaired written by blind and visually impaired designers. They come with their own speech synthesizer that allows Windows users with any emulator to play. You can try out a trial version.

Other companies such as bavisoft, GMA games, and Personal Computer Systems also develop these audio games specifically designed for the visually impaired.

Mix of media

Peter Gabriel has a couple of Myst like games – Xplora and Eve. These games include some stunning visuals with his music, video clips, and information from various artists. He joins a distinguished group of artists who are looking to other avenues for creative expression. Another such band is The Residents who have won numerous awards for Freak Show andBad Day on the Midway. And if any of you are wondering about the comparison, the only similarity here is that they’re both musical artists who made games.

For a look at how EVE was made, there's an article written by one of the designers.

I went to the IGDA web site and noticed a link on GDC scholarship. The IGDA's Education Committee will award 25 scholarships to send qualified students to the 2002 Game Developers Conference. The GDC is where game development professionals from around the world gather to share ideas and build the skills that the industry needs. Located in San Jose, California, this year's GDC will be held from March 19-23, 2002.
For more details on qualifications, go to Scholarship

The term "blogging" was recently given air time on the NPR show "Fresh Air."The local linguist on the show does a segment on new vocabulary born out of new media, most specifically Cyberspace. It was interesting to hear the term blog and a very lengthy description of what it means to blog on National Public Radio. For those that want to hear the segment browse here. You will need Real Player to listen.

How well do PC games translate into console games? Consoles have hardware dedicated to a particular set of graphics and control tasks, but don't have all the number of inputs (such as a keyboard) for special features. Check out the review of Half Life at the IGN web site. With enough design effort, it looks like many PC games can translate very well to the console realm.

For those interested in turning the clock back a bit, check out The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. Who says learning about other times and cultures has to involve the latest technology?

Further pursuing my interest in education regarding the military, I ran across this article in the National Review regarding America's knowledge of fighting wars. Rebuffs the notion that American society no longer has the "right stuff" for fighting wars, being too wedded to technology and commerce. He brings to light a secret resource of copious military knowledge: the techno-geek. Furthermore, "...the biggest source of geek military knowledge comes from that staple of geek culture, wargaming." Nice pats on the back for those of us that admit to resembling that remark. Also, scary to think if it's up to us to maintain the country's collective military knowledge for future generations.

Wondering about the connection between Grand Theft Auto III and the kid who ran off to join the Taliban? See Michael Medved's piece. With a rather striking anecdote, Medved describes how parents of today are forfeting their responsibility to raise kids.
I could see how some would consider the logic specious, but he still makes a good point about parents needing to be more assertive in raising their kids.

Closed Captioned Games

Yes, closed captioning like you have on TV. One such game is Activision's Zork Grand Inquisitor. You're able to turn the captioning on and off, and apparently it's a faithful account of the dialogue (unlike closed captioning on television, but that's another story). The reviewer does point out one lame thing, it doesn't state anywhere on the box that it has this capability.

Activision
Review of the game
For a list of other closed captioned games check out deafweb washington

One more article. Actually, it's a three part article. More reading for those that are interested in working in the games industry. I took this class because I thought I might want to design games. Now, I'm still unsure. But I do know that if I went into this industry I would definitely want to stay on the education side of things. Because this segment of the industry is so small (comparatively), I am a little discouraged. But who knows? I may love my Instructional Design class so much next semester, I may change my mind again. One thing I am sure of.....there are many options.

Animation Express

For those webmonkey fans out there, have you ventured into animation express? They've got some very impressive animation (flash, shockwave, quicktime) and interactive animations (shockwave). It's amazing the hours these people must spend making these animations even with the help of flash and shockwave.

Animation Express

For those Lightspan fans out there, here's a little article from KidScreen magazine. It talks about how Lightspan partnered with Sony to bring educational video games to the classroom. As discussed in class, most of the games target the K-8 market. They can also be played on Sony's playstation so kids can play at home too.

INFOCOM

While graphics are all well and good, don't you miss those text based games that challenged your imagination to create a rich environment that captivated you? I remember playing games like Zork, Enchanter, The Lurking Horror for hours. I can still see the characters created and the scenary I made. They're so vivid I could have sworn I saw them.

The one thing I don't miss is having to type in things exactly - wave the scepter at the rainbow - how many hours did I spend typing in different words to solidify that rainbow. But they provided memories that crop up every now and again. If you've ever been in the library late at night couldn't you imagine seeing the janitor with the floor waxer?

For some interesting information, articles, and downloads check out the INFOCOM homepage

I found a very interesting article that reports on a research study done in Japan claiming that heavy video game use by kids may slow brain development. Of course, the video games industry disputes the study. And of course, the study was no where near conclusive and more studies need to be done, but I thought it was interesting to fuel the debate.

Mystery House

Mystery house was the first computer game with graphics - 1987. To think, that was 14 years ago. Anyone every play it - it was great! Very crude graphics, but that there
were any at all was such a novelty and it was made for Apple. Remember those great
old computers before Macs? Anyway, if anyone is skipping down memory lane with
me you can play it once again. Download

My brother recommended this site to me. http://www.gamesdomain.com/ It's another on-line games magazine that seems pretty comprehensive. There's a lot of information about the console wars, so if you are still undecided about what to buy this Christmas, check out the articles. It also has cheats and tips for those addicts that get stuck in a game.

Another site I ran across while doing webquest research. (Note to future semesters: take the couple of minutes at the time you find the site so you don't have to play catch up like I'm doing now). We talked a little bit about the different jobs in the game design industry. http://www.gamejobs.com/ offers a search engine and a place to post your resume if you are seriously thinking of working in the games industry.

When doing research for our webquest, I ran across this site that took me down memory lane. http://www.atari-history.com/mainmenu/mainmenu.html I loved playing Atari when I was young, and I never really moved on to the Nintendo generation. This site made me long for space invaders and adventure. But I guess today's are bigger and better, and as previously blogged, very addictive.

These games are off of the same site, but are a little different. http://www.teach-nology.com/arcade/ Again, most are not that great, but there is a good one for learning the parts of speech aimed at elementary kids, and a math flash card game for elementary/middle school kids. Not my area, so I wish there was more stuff like this for jr./sr. high school.

I found some cute games at: http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/games/. Most of them aren't very educationally sound, but you should try out the Lemonade Stand game. I think it would be great for elementary and middle school math. I played and actually made money, but for kids they have to figure out how much inventory and supplies to buy before the lemons spoil and the ice melts, and how much to charge on a rainy day vs. a sunny day. I had fun, but then again, I'm easily amused.

I ran across this site recently while looking for Jr. High level learning games. http://www.bcit.tec.nj.us/KidCareer/default.htm It's kind of cheesy, but it attempts to give kids a way to think about career paths at an early age. Try it out, it's kind of cute. You have to slay a dragon, but first you have to go to dragon slaying school, and earn a degree, and explore a little village for other things to help you out.

It's not just me. Over Thanksgiving, my brother introduced me to today's world of video games. Hello, my name is Christie and I'm a Resident Evil 2 addict. But, as long as I stay away from a PS console, I will be able to overcome it. He'll just have to hide it over Christmas. However, I received a phone call from my 20 year old sister on Friday. She had taken over the game her boyfriend had been playing when he left for work, and she couldn't put it down. She was calling me because she was stuck. There were locked doors that she couldn't locate the keys for, and she was calling me to see if I could remember where they were. Interesting observation for the gender games group, like me she was stuck on solving the puzzles and had to finish. Also like me, the zombies that she had to kill were just getting in her way. I directed her to a site I had found during my addiction period - http://www.gameguides.com/guides/reevil2/index.html. It's a site that gives away all the clues for most video games. So, all she had to do was log on and find out all the secrets. It takes the fun out of the game if you read through the whole site and find out all the secrets, but if you're stuck, what's a little help. Check it out!

Naked Sims? If you are a Mac user, you can downlaod a patch from http://www.macworld.com/2001/01/buzz/simcity.html and your sims will wear nothing but a smile. It also removes the blur that occurs over the Sims' privates when the shower.. :)

Asperger's syndrome - have you heard of it? Apparently it is a mild form of autism, and it is becoming more and moe prevalent, especially among children in Silicon Valley. In short, the hypothesis is that parents with highly technical abilities carry the gene, and maybe passing it on to the kids. The description of the disorder sounds very much like a description of the stereotypical pocket-protected engineer: lacking basic social skills, unable to pick up on others body language and feelings, monologues about narrow and often technical interests, along with an average or high IQ.

Tony Atwood is quoted as saying in the Wired magazine December issue that, computers "are an ideal interest for a person with Asperger's syndrome...they are logical, consistent, and not prone to moods." It's noted that many chidren on the spectrum of autism become obsessed with Pokemon and computer games, and perfer to play alone. In a related article, Oliver Morton says that a diagnosis is only given if symtoms are causing a significant impairment. It seems that the goal of the furture is to learn how to channel the abilities of autistic people, while helping them cope with the social and interpersonal skills they lack.

"Behavioral training" is being offered as part of Microsoft's health benefits for autistic children - there is speculation that Bill Gates has a degre of Autism. Perhaps combining the familiarty of the computer with game like behavioral training would be a step towards balancing the skills of people with Asperger's? More info at autism.about.com.

Somehow I started receiving Wired magazine, and never really looked at it. At first glance, it seems to be all about glossy ads, and it almost has a comic book flavor to the design. I ventured into a few issues to see what I could find for blogging fodder, and I was pleased. Almost every issue had an article or two that I really found interesting and new. I even appreciated the numerous ads, alerting me to what is new. Everything in the magazine is about cutting edge technology, and if anything, it will keep you abreast of all the latest and greatest.

Greg, thanks for the Blog about MyGradebook.com. I've been looking for something like this to hit the streets. I don't think it will be too far in the future when the schools will provide this service for their teachers...I hope. When my kid is of school age, I hope his teacher(s) use the Internet so that I can access his grades, homework assignments, attendance, special notes from the teacher, etc...

The November issue of Wired has an interesting article about wireless services, in which they talk about an original game being played with cell phones in Europe. BotFighters has over 5,000 Europeans running around trying to "kill" other players. They locate each other through their cell phones. If the player happens across a certain location, the cell phone will alert the player that he has acquired a new tool - a first aid kit, a gun, etc. Telia of Sweden has produced the game, and charges players $.16 a call - the average player racks up about $10 worth of play a month.

Here is another pattern for you - GameGamble. I was considering gift exchanges at this time of year. I think the concept of being able to "steal" others unwrapped gifts is pretty common, and makes it a lot of fun. However, at the one I attended recently, the presents weren't unwrapped till the end. "Stealing" took place on sheer speculation: if was big, or wrapped nicely, maybe its a better gift, or maybe not. Very similar to game shows: do you want to keep your accumulated money, or do you want to trade it for door number 1, 2 or 3? GameGamble is a solution to creating chance, risk and tension in a game by requiring players to choose among several options - options that they do not have a lot of information about.

You have got to check it out. In reference to Dan's recent Blog, the link he provided at MiniClip.com is great! Of course, I laughed. But, I think the educational point is the user interaction. The graphics are pretty good, but I think it is the user control (ala Dewey) that kept me on the site for more than a couple minutes. Check it out...Try the Bush Aerobics.

At the puppy park last week I was chatting with some other dog parents, and we were discussing spending holidays with parents. Seems I'm not the only one who travels a great distance to see their family and then comes home feeling a bit empty. My sister and I try to find out more about who are parents are, now that we are adults, but it is very hard to get them to talk about themselves. At turnoffthetv.com you can get a board game called LifeStories As you might suspect, the questions on the cards ask you to relate life experiences, past, present, and future goals. It would be a pretty good way to get to know your friends better, too.

In tracking down the story about Microsoft removing the WTC from their Flight Simulator games, I ran across this interesting follow-up to the blog I wrote about the first of the video-game generation being better Navy pilots than their predecessors. There's a story on the MS Flight Sim page about how the Navy will soon start testing students using 6 simulators equipped with MS Flight Simulator software. Looks like things have come full circle; military sims to video games back to the military.

Finally found another article on video game censorship that I had run across before. The interesting thing about it is how the industry is exercising what it calls "self censorship" in light of Sept. 11. One example is that Microsoft is removing the WTC from all its flight simulator programs. There are even patches to remove it from older versions.

Just when you think you've seen everything. The newest module for Electronic Arts' "The Sims" is called "Hot Date." I saw this in a store and it got me thinking; might it entice those whose social skills are a bit weak to retreat further into the world of virtual romance, living vicariously through their creations? Or might it actually be a useful tool to teach those same people how to date successfully out in the real world?

There's an interesting article here on video game censorship. There's a reference to legislation proposed by Pennsylvania Senator Jack Wagner that would "make it more difficult for minors to obtain access to graphically violent video games." Maybe our webquest play wasn't so far off?

"It doesn't matter to us who wins the war [among the console makers]," said Robert A. Kotick, chairman and chief executive of Activision (news/quote), a games publisher. "We just get the benefit of the spoils," he said, adding, "it's a great time to be in the video game business."
Interesting postscript update to my musings on the current console wars.

IGDA update!
They've contacted me and indicated an interest in coming to campus Wednesday, January 16- the week before classes start. Assuming that this is okay with the school (its slightly different from their original request and I'll have to check with facilities to make sure its still a go) I will almost certainly be here but would anybody like to assist in welcoming them to campus should I not be back from Winter break? Let me know.

Yes, Bernie, I suppose I have tended to make contributions concerning the financial side of the industry. I have not spent a lot of time in this program thinking about the proverbial bottom line but, as I want our ideas to be viable and manifest, I've thought it'd be useful to sensitize myself (and others) to the realities that enable our visions to happen. Gamasutra has an interesting article on where the game industry tends to fall short in its management practices.

It seems that the new wave of the web are these Flash mini-games. Unfortunately, it seems that most of them are for entertainment only, but it seems that if we could harness this medium for good some great things can come from it. Here are a couple that I have come across recently...

JoeCartoon,com

MiniClip.com (Depending upon your political seriousness, you might find the Bush clips entertaining).

ThreeBrain.com

Media 1st | V-SPAN | Zydacon These companies offer on-line training services and technical support. The companies tout quality instructional design with breakthroughs in video and audio solutions. Maybe someday these or similar companies will offer educational games and/or simulations as a part of their training. I think if any of us find employment with a company like one of these mentioned above, we should suggest that breakthroughs in learning can take place in the form of educational games as well.

Alas, Blogger is back up and running! I thought everyone from ED TEC overpowered the server. :-) Anyway, MyGradeBook.com seems like a neat resource for teachers who are interested in posting class information on-line. The server is secure, seems pretty ease to use, and is accessible from home, school or anywhere with an Internet connection. It is true that some students or parents may not have or want access to the Internet, but it should not discourage teachers from offering this resource for the greater good.

Here is a game that uses standard telecomm functions to make the game extremely interactive. It is called Majestic and the tag line is "It plays you." The real time feature means that you may be anywhere, doing anything, and you may recieve a voice mail calling you to come play the game. Just in case you weren't addicted already, I guess.

This is how they explain it:

"Majestic is an episodic online entertainment experience set against the backdrop of a grand and sinister conspiracy -- an unfolding mystery adventure that uses the Internet as a canvas for its story, weaving you through both real and fictional experiences in real time. Highly personalized and naturally paced, Majestic tailors your experience specifically to you as it dynamically changes the content of Web pages, emails, faxes, voice mails and chat conversations in order to immerse each player at the very heart of a developing story. Majestic players assume the leading role in their own adventure, interacting with other characters, uncovering clues, searching for answers, collecting and using digital objects and resolving challenges to progress through the experience. Unlike other forms of entertainment, Majestic actively pursues and interacts with you based on events developing within the fiction, creating a uniquely suspenseful entertainment experience."

I'd check it out but I'm afriad I'd be majorly addicted. Maybe after graduation.. :)

Wired magazine reports on Batman: Vengeance a new PS2 release from UbiSoft. Story line and animation were the main focus in developing the game. More than 60 animators took two years to craft over 500 3-D animated moves. Batman's cape even has its own AI, allowing it to move independently of Batman.

As we've noticed, the trend for Hollywood and the game industry to merge is coming. Suzanne Ashe says "...the game is more of a playable movie than a classic third-person action-adventure." The game has more than 30 minutes of live action shorts and 10 minutes of prerendered cinematics within the game play.

The first do-it-yourself board game is here, or at least that is how TDC Games is billing Make Your Own Opoly. The game comes with software so that you can print out quality graphics and type.This could be adapted for almost every discipline - could be a great tool for middle and high school teachers. Literaturopoly, anyone?

TURN OFF the TV should probably make reference to turning off computers as well. All of their products are billed as "family games and activities" and there aren't any traces of CD-ROMs or internet downloads.

As we were discussing in class Monday, some families are using digital games so that they can participate in an activity together at a distance. I wonder if Turn Off the TV will ever carry digital games that could enhance family togetherness.

During week six of our ET 670 course we spent a half hour or so discussing different theories of intrinsic motivation. We observed or played different games, one of which is called "Age of Empires". Anyway, I thought the game was pretty neat, although I personally did not play or observe it. I recently noticed that a newer version called Empire Earth was just released. It is real-time strategy game that lets the player control the destiny of a fledgling civilization through periods of war. There are thousands of years of human history to choose from making it an interesting foundation for a game.

Interesting information on Facial Studio, Elsa!

In the Rouse book, Chris Crawford talks about the importance of facial expressions. The following is an excerpt from that interview (see p. 285) - "The two things that we [human beings] are very good at are facial recognition and linguistic comprehension. Accordingly, those are the two things that computers should emphasize. Computer games have neither and that appalls me. Facial expression and linguistic comprehension are the two most important areas of development for the time being. Nowadays you can get excellent 3D facial models, although the expressions on them are still crappy."

How can realistic facial expressions be created on the computer? Well, that is something that the folks at the University of Pittsburg, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Salk Institute are investigating. You can read about it in the article Facial Expressions: Two computer programs 'face' off.

I also wonder if better facial expressions wouldn't make computer games more appealing for females...

I was looking for some websites to teach my students how an electric generator works and came across Java Applets On Physics. Though not a "game," they allow some interesting visualizations and interactive elements that have some strong educational implications, especially the ability to change variables and see results.

This company, Di-O-Matic recently announced the release of a powerful new facial modelling and and animation tool called facial studio. I went through the plug-in section and was laughing out loud at what you can do with this program. It is so life-like. This program allows you to create any type of person and manipulate them into different shapes. It's so cool.
Anyway, check out the plugins at
Facial Studio

Here's something new for your game development: Adobe Atmosphere. Dr. Dodge told us about it last Monday. Check it out--It looks wonderful. Unfortunately, however, for now , it is only Windows based. Here's how Adobe describes it: "Professional Web Authoring for Virtual 3-D--Transform the Web into a universe of virtual 3D worlds with Adobe® Atmosphere™. With Atmosphere, you add a third dimension to the Web experience by creating realistic and immersive environments that offer a revolutionary approach to content, navigation, community, and communication. "

Speaking of Review type sites I like this one Happy Puppy It was very user friendly, easy and quick to read--the review page had a column (frame) on the right side of the screen with: 1) a slide show of the game (very fast --even with my SLOW dial-up connection) 2) Links to Developers, Publishers, the game's Official website, 3) Genre, 3) number of Players, 4) ESRB rating 5) Overall score, then scores for Graphics, Sound, Getting started 6) Good Press 7) Bad Press and 8) system requirements.

I'm thankful for all the Game Review sites. I found this review about "Deer Avenger" at Gamezilla.com "Bottom Line: As I'm sure you've gathered, I was not impressed with this game. The graphics and sound were fairly decent but the gameplay was lacking. After a total of three hours I'd seen the entire game and will now have to put it on the shelf. My recommendation is to save your money and spend it on a new game or save it toward your purchase of an X-Box." --GAMEPLAY is important! And on the same site: "The Sims: Hot Date Expansion by Electronic Arts. Overall Score: 90 In this expansion pack to The Sims, your characters can head downtown to meet, wine, dine and romance potential amorous partners." Have any of you tried this one? How about the Avenger series?

Here's another role reversal game (and More) from from the Deer Avenger People: "Bass Avenger:"   "The roles are reversed in this hilarious parody from the geniuses that brought you Deer Avenger. Your mission: find and attract fishermen, manage your lures and successfully reel 'em in. Feel free to throw the scrawny ones back...If you're fishin' for a good time, get hooked on Bass Avenger!--One bad-ass Bass with a ton of 'tude" They also publish a 3-D version of "Deer Avenger" and "Who Wants to Beat up a Millionnaire."

So I was sitting around the Christmas tree with my Dog and five Cats going through our PeTA Holiday Shopping Catalog--and what did we find but a Game: "Deer Avenger." So I checked it out and was reminded of our Violence WebQuest -- Here's part of one review from SimonSays: "It's payback time and deer hunters everywhere are going to get what's coming. You are the deer. Armed with your choice of an M-16, a Bazooka or a sling-shot full of special deer pellets, you're the meanest kick-ass stag in the forest." and "TIE THAT BIG OLD REDNECK TO YOUR RACK!" and "From trailer parks in West Virginia to the winter wonderland of Minnesota, you can stalk everything from a cuss'n bourbon-guzzler to a proud Connecticut Yuppie in full-court Eddie Bauer. Virtual environments so realistic you can smell the stale beer." and "HASTA LA VISTA VENISON-EATER!" and "As reviewed by Elliott on January 12, 2000: I LOVE THIS GAME, IT ROCKS! - now all you need to do is make a version for playstation and let the deer have a tank, fighter jet, or at least a sniper rifle." And speaking of another subject discussed in our Violence WebQuest, the game is "NON-Classifiable"

I found a simple (and somewhat cheesy game) that we used to help model our e-game. It is called GeoGame. There are a lot of problems with it, namely it feels like it is only a guessing game, because I don't know any information about the countries and their flags.

For those of you interested (maybe just Greg), yesterday's Union Tribune sports page had ad/article for a golf game. Seemed like a pretty simple design. Designed after Yatzee, you play with dice (12-sided). So as best I can tell, not much more than a game of complete chance. But, it looks like you get a real nice set of dice abd one of those fancy dice cup roller thingys.

Casino games remain popular and at this site Uproar you can play Blackjack, Astrology Slots, Video Poker, etc.

Well, here is a site with a political but humorous focus. Political Humor with Daniel Kurtzman has,"Games, Quizzes, and Time Killers to test your political savvy with humorous games and quizzes, or match wits with other political junkies through laughable contests". At this site you can box/blow up/hunt Osama bin laden, play the Truth Ray game with politicians, and match dumb political quotes with their sources-- among other things. However, beware--some of the selections took a long time to download.

The Computer Hall of Fame , now located in San Diego, was founded to honor major achievements in the computer industry. The Nominating Committee selects inductees from a list of people that are nominated by members of the Computer Museum of America, industry leaders, and the general public. Selection for induction includes a significant hardware or software development, contribution to understanding of how computers affect society, or a furthering of the public good through computer technology or other criteria.

Among the inductees are Nolan Bushnell - founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater and also known as the "Father of the Video Game Industry," Steve Jobs and others. Nolan Bushnell has recently started a company called uWink - a system that allow games to be played online anywhere there is a terminal--like an ATM. Two are located in San Diego.

I found an interesting article on role-playing games via mail. They’ve been around for a long time. The format for Play by Mail (PBM) typically are war game with role-playing being a big part of it. Now it’s kind of evolved into email format. It has changed the way the games are played. Players can exchange messages within minutes. Enough information can be exchanged in a short period of time to make playing by email (PBeM)
role-playing possible. This article will give you information on what’s so special about PBeM and guidance on how to start one.

For more on PBeM, go to
Play by Email

This is the time of year when the "toy of the century" appears. Here is a site that lists the trendy games and toys for the last hundred plus years. I thought they may have missed a few from the '90s but I found it a good look back on the history of games.

Looking for a computer game that may actually enhance your health? Dance Dance Revolution is described in today's New York Times. It's seems like a large muscled version of Simon. Patterns appear on the screen and you need to move your feet to cover the corresponding spots on the floor. It's all done to techno music and it sounds as though you could work up a sweat while enjoying it. DDR is attracting crowds in Japan and starting to show up here. According to ddrfreak.com, there are 8 DDR games here in San Diego, including one here in Aztec Center. Sounds like a good way to celebrate the end of the semester!

Gender scholars take note: "DDR is one of the first video games since PacMan to attract female players in large numbers."

Lori and Dan blogged previously about students playing games in class on their TI-83 calculators. I'm proud to report that last week one of my students was designing a game in class. Turns out he was writing a role playing game. The TI-83 is quite a powerful tool (there's even software to turn one into a PDA!). With a cable and Graph-Link software you can do the typing on your computer. I offered to let him use a cable in the lab so he wouldn't need class time for typing. Check out some of the software available from Texas Instruments. This would be a great platform for distributing educational games for science and math in particular. My math and physics students are required to have one.

This from Wired News, an article on treating Game Addiction. Game Addiction can be found in even the most normal families. This addiction, if left untreated, could devour hours of a person's life as they endlessly try to advance their game self through the fun and fantasy of computer games. Beware the next victim of this tragic malady might be you.

A new computer simulation is MojoWorld Transporter. The object of the simulation is to explore realistic planets and record your travels. The images/screenshots appear 3D and make the geographic setting(s) seem like they actually could be some unknown world.

I found an interesting simulation for anyone interested in spacecrafts, safety, and physics. Your primary goals are spacecraft safety and keeping radio contact with earth. If you choose to accept this mission click JPL.

Just one more.....[8^) again from my WebQuest days. Industrial Logic This site is all about Design Patterns in simulations and games. This company offers workshops, products, etc. Although targeting primarily programmers, this site has some interesting stuff. It ties in nicely with the Prensky text in purporting the power of learning through simulations and games. Whew!... yet another blog for me!

In an attempt to catch up with my blogging, might I add...? While searching for educational games, this site came out at the top of the list: Fun Brain. Lots of interesting stuff here for kids, parents and teachers. [:^)

Here's another site I ran across while working on my WebQuest for Design Patterns. Lucas Learning provides an Educational Resource Center that offers ready-made lesson plans in math, science and critical thinking.

I saw a commercial the other day by a company called Leap Frog. They make an educational product that supports printed textbooks in multiple subjects. Learners download quizzes and games to a portable handheld device. Content is based on the current chapter the student is working on. I thought this was a great idea, very helpful. Here's the link... Leap Frog

Here is a posting I received at work. Seems to fit in with a games sort of mind frame:
Please join us for the following Computational Science Seminar featuring Rob Russ, Pixar, Inc.
DATE: December 7, 2001
TIME: 3:00 p.m.
PLACE: Robinson Auditorium (UCSD)
"How To Make Monsters Move: The Making of Monsters, Inc"

In this talk, Rob Russ, a former UCSD student and SDSC intern, will discuss the making of Pixar's fourth full-length feature film: Monsters, Inc. He will discuss the process from storyboarding to final rendering. Along the way, he will discuss some of the key technological hurdles that are unique to this movie, such as the making, animating, and rendering of Sulley's hair.

Homework assignment:
Rob will be assuming that everyone is already familiar with the movie. So, if you haven't yet seen it, please do so before December 7!

classicgaming.com is a cool site that has more information than most people will ever need about "old" computer games. There is even a place to get tips on how to fix broken equipment. Please accept my apologies if this was already blogged:)

In looking for information about puzzles for our gender webquest, I happened upon the Puzzles.com site and proceeded to play a few of these puzzles including The Marbles and Rows Puzzle and the Elephant SpinOut Puzzle. If you want a distraction from doing homework (e.g., an alternative to cleaning your house), try one of these. This site also had a link to the Puzzle Museum where I found some useful information on classes of puzzles.

(I also had fun trying to "Make a Masterpiece" referred to on 12/4 by Dan McDowell.)

I'm very interested in the creative side of game design, especially the graphics. I'm amazed at the talent that these artists/game designers have. They make the game come alive. One artist that I came across was Ryan Lesser. Very creative guy and currently is working on a game called Frequency. I'm just in awe of the talent that artists have. The graphics make all the difference in a game. For an up close look on Ryan, go to: Ryan Lesser.

For our web quest, Educational Gaming Industry, some of us are interviewing game designers. We are interviewing to find out what it takes to be a game designer and what happens on a particular day. One person we interviewed creates educational games. In interviewing her, it was interesting to note how the process of designing a game can be creative. One aspect is creating a character. When talking about creating a character, you are actually referring to the characterization, which is everything observable about a character such as what they look like, sound like, how they move, etc. Put that all together and you get a character with human heart, a character that people can identify with. For a detailed looking into characterization, I suggest the following: Building Character

While this isn't a game, I think it fits into the simulation category. Throughout my world history class, I add some art history where it fits into the curriculum. I just spent some time talking about Impressionism and Post Impressionism, then today brought the kids up to the computer lab to do some interactive activities at Biography.com. There is one call Make a Masterpiece which allows the student to try and recreate a famous Impressionist painting. You can change the brush size, the brush type, how much paint is on the brush, and the type of frame. Even my most talkative and easily distracted class ate this up! They spent a good half hour trying to create their work of art. Now the results were mixed, some were really good and others really bad - but everyone tried. Many of the students classified this as "fun" and wanted to do it again tomorrow.... unfortunately for them we will be back to the content...

A neat game or series of games that might be worth purchasing for anyone "10 years and up" is Nancy Drew. The gamer must use detective skills to explore for clues, secret passageways, hidden rooms, and anything else that will help them uncover the mystery! This series has received great reviews!

I just remembered hearing something about "Who is Oscar Lake? It's an adventure game that you can play either in French, Spanish, German, Italian, English or English ESL. I've been meaning to go over to LARC (Language Acquisition Resource Center) at SDSU. They have all sorts of language learning software, including a few games such as this one. Has anyone played this game?

Knowledge Management is a new and evolving discipline which may be a part of our futures as Instructional Designers. Here is a website that I found to be quite resourceful in learning more about KM.

Our Webquest site (on the gaming industry) is by no means done, but feedback is feedback, and the session tonight was very helpful. For instance, Paul's form referred to the "What is it?" section of our site, which was intended to cover the "what is it" of the game industry in terms of types of games and such, but he interpreted it as a purpose statement for the site. Personally, I think that's an excellent idea, so I'll do my best to incorporate that into the final product. Thanks!

Check THIS out - the new SEGA game is infected with a gnarly computer virus.

I love the articles on Wired.com, such as the one linked here. It's a great zine. It has recommendations for those of you purchasing electronics as gifts for the holidays. The article I have linked here has to do with game violence, and specifically, commentary on the next version of Doom coming out and the game Soldier of Fortune. One quote includes "Soldier of Fortune definitely reached a new level of gore," said Robert Coffey, associate editor of Ziff-Davis' Computer Gaming World magazine.

Yet another article about how video games increase aggression in children. Interestingly, this one is an APA news release. Violent Video Games

Remember when 4 colors and a moving yellow head with a mouth that devoured dots was the most amazing piece of technology out there. ClassicGaming.com is a site that takes the games of old serious. They have an article database that is updated regularly, as well as emulators that recreate all the old arcade and console classics right on your computer. They also have a museum that restores systems like the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision to there rightful place in the pantheon of game systems. Long live Pong!

Anyboby looking to get rich from their game design? Here's a website from Game Empire that might help you.

It's getting late, so naturally my thoughts have turned to "Super Munchers." I was trying to find some mention it of on the web. I guess it has turned into a Windows-only game called "Knowledge Munchers" --only $9.99. I might be tempted to buy it anyway. But in searching, I came across Phil Shapiro's homepage. He's an IT coordinator for an elementary school, and he has also designed educational software. Anyway, he describes his favorite educational software/games, and he lists some fun things (including Super Munchers), and his analyses are interesting. Be sure to check out his picture of himself when he was in third grade...

Once again I succumb to "Search Engine Sidetrack". If any of you appreciate the humor of Groucho Marx, I stumbled on his article "How I Beat the Social Game" while hunting for something else. It's a quick read and a great deal of fun for anyone as steeped in the social graces as I.

Re: APA
Did you know that the APA 4th edition will burn for almost
a 1/2 an hour in a wood burning stove?

Several people have posted sites that focused on girls and games. While looking for information on for the game violence WebQuest, I came across the GameGirlz.com site. 'Cuz Girlz Play Too! This site has reviews of games and has commentary from women. Sorry if this is a duplicate...

For those of you who do not have the most recent copy of the APA Publication Manual, you can get the latest and greatest information on how to cite/reference your Internet resources by going to APAStyle.org.

Re: JUMPSTART. I really like their product. In general, they are good for enrichment activities, but they aren't good for "teaching." The series offers lots of drill and grill/kill, in fun and entertaining ways. I particulary like their "Typing" CD - that is truly a fun way to learn how to keyboard.

"Reader Rabbit" and the "Blaster Series" are also very good for the same reasons. All three series seem to cover about the same information in similar ways.

I was at a conference for immigration providers and there was discussion about how programs can raise extra money by selling materials. I have created a few educational games to help immigrants study for their citizenship test and was wondering if anyone can suggest some local resources for selling educational materials for a small market. I think these materials would be useful to both individuals and to citizenship teachers. Has anyone had a similar experience or knows someone who has?

I just spent two hours watching my nephew play a computer educational game called "Jump Start" for fifth graders. There is a lot of great content on this game and it was quite difficult in parts. It even has a virtual museum to teach kids about famous artists. The game does through in some irrelevant activities of skateboarding and dodging falling rocks in an attempt to make it more like a video game. I found it interesting that my nephew actually dreaded these parts and tried to get to the educational parts as quickly as possible. The educational activities were much more interesting than the rest. If you are interested in finding out more about these games, check out: JUMPSTART.

Well, here is some more information on jobs that are available at Games Job News. Codemasters in UK, SN Systems in Bristol, UK, Reef Interactive in Norfolk, UK, Rapid Eye in San Diego, Dragonstone in San Diego, GameQuest in Las Vegas, Big Huge Games in Baltimore, Maryland, Pandemic Studios in California, Pandemic Studios in Brisbane, Australia. Many more!

The concept of "e-learning" seems to be a very important part of our futures as instructional designers and teachers. Currently, there are several companies that offer virtual classroom design such as: InterWise Centra & WebEx Even though break-throughs in technology make the opportunity for "e-learning" more accessible, there still seems to be an unwavering importance on quality of instructional design.

Technology was the special section topic of our school newspaper, the Falconer. One of the articles was "Web logs: diaries of the future - Blogger.com popularizing rapidly among internet users". I had no idea this was so popular among high school students. Apparently, they like the simplicity of this "quick" diary. Teens blog to each other to communicate ideas that people will only read if they are interested. They don't have to please anyone or worry about peer acceptance. First, it was IMing...now it's Blogging...what will they think of next?

Lori - you are not alone. I am constantly having to tell my kids to put their calculators away in my history classes. I think there are several draws. First, it is something they can have at school - I know at my school game boys, etc. can be confiscated. Plus, they might think that because it is on their calculators that they do school work on, it is OK. Last, students can play each other with certain games by using a cord that attaches two calculators or by just passing them back and forth. Just wait until the wireless technology found in Palm Pilots is combined with these calculators, the students are going to be able to a lot more while we try and teach. I also think that if you asked these kids, they probably play video games on their computers or Sony Playstation at home. This is just an extension of that need to play video games, even if the quality is diminished.

Suzanne's email last week was about a tv show with a teenage boy driven to murder by a video game. Bernie was talking in class last week about what games interest his son. All this got me thinking about kids and their motivations for playing games, computer, video or otherwise. Immediately, I thought of my high school students who are obsessed with the games on their TI graphing calculators during class. What is it about those games that grab their attention? Why are they so much more rapt by them than my lessons? :-)

With This Ring: the International Diamond Trade Part 1: the Debeers Corporation, and With This Ring: the International Diamond Trade Part 2: Conflict - I heard these on NPR the other day, and thought they would make a really cool monopoly/cartel simulation. The series explains who the De Beers "corporation" is and how they managed to turn diamond mining into a monopoly/cartel. This might also be an interesting piece to use in a history class when discussing issues in Africa.

When surfing for information on violence and game violence, I came across this "up-to-the-minute" United States statistic webpage regarding young people and violence Reality Clock. These statistics are tragic, yet important not just for our violence webquest, but understanding society today.

Progress Planner- Is a software program that can be used by everyone, but I thought it may be useful as a resource for the Project Management eGame team. Progress Planner helps define milestones in addition to implementing and managing projects to achieve personal and professional goals in work as well as other areas.

Gamedex– The Web's Biggest Search Engine and Community of Gamers! This is a really broad site with references to other sites, and many different reviews of games, a place to talk, where to find games, and "cheatland."

Violence in games people, have you seen Deer Hunter Avenger? The deer are armed with M-16s, Bazookas, and slingshots with deer pellets. They hunt hunters, and mount their heads. It is hysterical, but violent. The deer even have bait for the hunters – a six pack, pornography, and hunter calls – don’t ask. My dad has had it for a while – I have to admit I wouldn’t play it for hours, but it is amusing to see what they have done to the hunting genre of games. I hear they even have a some kind of Fisherman Avenger too. If you are interested here is a a review of the game I thought was very thorough.

Apparently, "the Macmillan Computer Publishing has developed the Game Programming Starters Kit 3.0 for the PC that promises to teach you how to make your own games. The kit includes Microsoft's Visual C++ 6.0 which many professional programmers use themselves, and a 3D gaming engine called the Genesis 3D SDK engine which supports 3Dfx Glide and Direct3D. Finally, the Game Design: Secrets of the Sages developers guide written by Marc Saltzman helps developers take a look behind the scenes of a 3D game to see exactly what's going on in there. If you're interested, you can find this kit at most softwares stores for $49.95 US." Found this info at a game site. Has anyone heard of this or does anyone own it?

Found a web site for people hoping to make it as game designers This site has resources, links, interviews, and tutorials. Seems like it is hosted by a software company, maybe a one-person company.

Unrelated to web searches, but just wanted to talk about a personal experience I had this weekend. I went on a backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon with a group of 12 perfect strangers. We played a variety of games each night in the absence of a Television or a Bar to entertain us. The group bonded faster and closer than I have ever seen in any situation. We often focus on games in the context of teaching content, but I think the power of games in group development is astounding. By the way, many of the games we played actually had useful content and could be used to encourage creativity (similar to the glass bead game.)

Bob,
The I spy series is really cool. There is also another series that is similar called Look-A-Likes. My kids love both. They are visually rich, and enigmatic at the same time. Very good for getting kids to look at details carefully.

For the gender group and others interested, this site
Women and Computer Science is a jackpot of articles and links about women and technology. The jpeg at the top of the site is worth the view alone. Scroll down for some interesting articles on educational games and gender issues.

For the gender group here is a good site with six or seven design principles for educational computer games for girls. It relates information from the Tech-Savy article but offers some sound suggestions for game and curriculum design.

This is an interesting article on designing educational games for children based on research in motivation and learning. Some interesting tips for the Gender group to reference.

Mike told me about a cool site womengamers. This site is devoted to games and has lots of commentary about games by women.

I just found a site called WomenGamers.com that will be of great use to Gender group. Articles, reviews and interviews abound on the site.

Here's an interesting article about computer games and child brain development. This author reports that computer games are damaging to a child's brain development and causes a stunt in development for the area of the brain that controls emotional outbursts and violence. The violence group might be interested in that bit of info. The author references a study, but doesn't give any links to the actual study, so I don't know how valid the information is....interesting view point however.

For you violence people, the episode of Law & Order: SVU that Suzanne mentioned before Thanksgiving will be on again on the USA basic cable network on Sunday, Dec. 2, at 11 pm PT/ET. It's called "Care." I know this is only a day before our presentations are due, but if you were looking for last minute examples of mass media references to your topic, this might be interesting.

As a follow-up to what Dan wrote about military simulations, they've been a staple in the flight training community for years, but are now being used for new applications. In fact, I'd bet that a lot of today's cheap, powerful graphics cards for home computers are due in large part from the R&D investments made by the military a long time ago. A major player is Evans & Sutherland, who created the graphics system for the simulators I used while learning to fly helos in the Navy. BTW, the instructors that had been around a while said that the students coming through the training pipeline at that time performed better than in years past. Their theory was that pilots who were then getting into the cockpit (late '80s) were the first to have been raised on video games, and thus had improved hand/eye coordination as well as better multi-tasking capabilities.

There is a silly game I used to really like but I don't remember the name of it. It was extremely rudimentray and consisted of a little tractor that pushed boulders into diagrams, taking care never to get backed into a corner. It's hard to explain the game, but it was sort of a spatial logic game, in 2-D, and I really liked figuring out how to get from each level to the next as they increased in complexity. Does anyone know what this game is? There are different versions of it; another version I saw had a little man who pushed round dots into configurations. If anyone knows what I'm talking about and what this game is, please let me know. It got wiped off our home computer and I really liked it. No idea how it got ONTO our computer, though.

I believe this has been mentioned before... but I just ran across an article at CNN.com (War games: Military training goes high tech)about a military simulator. The article goes on to say that it is part of the military's new training that takes advantage of the technology and takes into account the fact that many (if not most) have played these sorts of games before. Very forward thinking - since when is the military ahead of public education. There are some things I thought we could always count on.....

This post doesn't have a link, but an interesting observation. This Thanksgiving break I had dinner with family and friends and was fascinated to watch how one of the social hubs of the day was around the computer playing games. Throughout the day, everyone played some sort of game. The most amazing, however, was watching a friends daughter, who is 11, type over 45 words a minute on a typing game. I remember having learn to do that by taking a high school class on keyboarding. She learned it by playing a game.

This site is a reference site to link you to other game sites.
It touches on all the various game platforms such as gameboy, playstation, superNintendo, PC, Mac and more.
Click here

For those working on the Patterns Project -- Gamasutra.com has a Patterns page on its site. It deals with patterns involved with programming issues, but it does provide a look at another use of patterns in the area of games in general. You need to register with Gamasutra to enter, but it's not difficult (they let me in!).

Another site that offers games at a good discount price
is ebgames.com.
Have any of you gone out and bought a game since September?
I willingly admit I have.

Today's Parade magazine had reviews of their top picks for learning software. Their web site offers links to all of the products they reviewed. I Spy Treasure Hunt looks like something my six-year-old son might enjoy. Anyone familiar?

I know some of us are looking to buy computer games for friends and family.
Here is a site that focuses on games girls like by age groupings.
Just for girls

While searching for inspiration on game patterns I found this article on game design. The author, Andrew Glassner, has some interesting ideas about what's bad about the design of today's digital games.

In looking over some of the game designer job descriptions and interviews that are online, it seems to me that a game designer has to do/know a little bit of everything. They write books/novels/comics, design, consult, collaborate with others (on a limited basis), are familiar with a variety of technologies (3D, C, C+), and play games. They are also politically and legally savvy.
For example,
Michael A. Stackpole [BattleTech, and Star Wars X-Wing comics] posts some of the questions that he is asked:

Question: Do you play BattleTech?
Answer: "I have played three times, I've won each time, so, I've retired undefeated."
He explains that when the books came out-he was considered to be an expert and players would seek him out to kill him or run away. No fun!! He goes on to say that he rolls the dice to see if shots hit and to determine where they hit, so he knows his way around the combat resolution tables for the game.

He says, "Before I started writing the BattleTech novels I read the rules, moved the 'mechs about on a board game and conducted combats by myself. That gave me the basics of how the game worked and folks at FASA gave me some insights on finer points of strategy."

On the legal side, he does not read other works because he does not want to be accused of plagerizing someone else's work--in case he has a similiar idea.

Well, with all this web seaching--this may be a good time for a cookie reminder.

Quotes from Viktor Mayer-Schonberger:

"Cookies are stored in the user's computer without their consent or knowledge (First stage)."

"Cookies are (during the second stage) clandestinely and automatically transferred from the user's machine to a Web server."

"Then, whenever a user directs a browser to a certain web page from the server, the browser will, without the user's knowledge, transmit the cookie containing personal information to the Web server."

What do we do??? Check out the FAQ's at Cookie Central for some suggestions.

Want to find out when your ancestors came to the United States? The Family Search site might be able to assist you in your quest. A friend of mine was even able to get a copy of a ship record indicating the year her great-grandfather had sailed to the United States from Germany (1848).

Happy Turkey Day! I just saw an ad on tv for Friday's (tomorrow) episode of "Law and Order." During the 10 second preview, they said the story would be about a teenage boy "driven to murder by a video game?" They showed the video game and I think it was called something that had the word "quest" in it. I'm pretty sure it was a made up game. In any case, I thought the violence group might be interested.

I just received a card game at school called Flags of the World. On one side of the card is the flag of the country with an arrow indicating the direction of the flag. On the other is side is the continent of the country, a small map showing the country's location on the continent, a number to reference the country's location on a bigger map, and 2 facts about the country.

The general idea is that cards are passed out to players and they put them face up in front of them and players try to select cards they know. If not, clues are given such as the capital city. My first thought was that this was remarkably similar to the concept we are developing for our e-game on place knowledge. The second thing I remarked was that the directions provided 5 variations of the game to appeal to different styles, ages...and perhaps gender (I'm in the gender webquest group). Anyway, I thought it was a cool game.

While working on the Game Violence WebQuest, I decided that I would ask my 200 sophomores and juniors how many of them played or have played regularly games like Quake and Doom. I expected a couple, in fact, I expected a good handful, but the response was pretty amazing. Among my three sophomore classes, about 2/3s of each class has played these type of first person shooters regularly (enough to pass levels was how I qualified it) - including girls. In one class there were about ten girls who said they had gotten together with other girls to play Quake. Girls! You expect the boys...

The juniors were a little more reluctant to admit to playing these games (they mature and get cooler when they turn 16), but after a short discussion on whether or not they should be banned, more hands went up when I asked again who played these games.

When I asked how many people played educational type games. You can guess the response, about 2-5 hands a class.

IGDA update:

SDSU has offered to host the IGDA people. We can give them a pretty large room- over 250 person lecture hall.
The IGDA people tell me they'll get back to us in a week or two about whether they're interested in meeting here.

Here is an interesting twist on Tycoon it is Zoo Tycoon. It offers similiar issues as the other tycoons but the unpredictability of animals. It interested me based on it's Genre. The PC game site had the following review:
Zoo Tycoon's premise is straightforward enough: A zoo-themed strategy game in which you balance the delicate weights of profit with the well being of living creatures to meet your end goal of building and maintaining a successful zoo. But you'll realize how easy you had it building trains, airlines, roller coasters, and theme parks once you face the task of tending to a giraffe who doesn't like his mate or making saltwater crocodile number two--who doesn't like his water lily--happy, and all the while, patrons are screaming for more trash cans and complaining about the admission price.
If you would like more information go to the following PC Game site.

In doing some web research for the gender webquest, I came across American girl products by Mattel. They represent every stage in a girl's life and are educational and entertaining. The website lets girls meet a "real" American girl and play a game in which they get to know particular girl characters. Research has shown that girls are more likely to play games that are like their own lives and which contain characters with whom they can identify. Wow...this is theory in practice. Cool!

Charles Cameron (Hipbone), the fellow who provided much of the information we read about the Glass Bead Game, is a member of Brainstorms (affectionately called "BS" by its participants), a virtual community founded by Howard Rheingold. I am also privileged to be counted among this august assemblage, an honor I earned just by writing Howard (he's on a first name basis with pretty much everyone after one exchange of correspondence) and telling him how I thought I'd contribute to the group.

Anyway, Paul's "challenge" from way back when, how do we get from the Sistine Chapel to Sept. 11, reminded me of one of the conferences in Brainstorms, "Culture word association," where November 17-19 saw this progression (having nothing to do with Paul's thing, it just reminded me...):

Chauncy Gardner
Erle Stanley Gardner
The Canadian Gardener
The Victory Garden
The Secret Garden
Loose lips sink ships
Rosie the Riveter
Josephine the Plumber
plumb line
plum wine
Boone's Farm
Apple or Strawberry?
Fudge Ripple
coffee Heathbar crunch
Wuthering Heights

Each of these items was posted individually, with all previous items visible to the poster, and with only two or three people posting more than once in that span.

While people don't HAVE to explain or justify their associations/connections, everyone is accessible by email, and if one's curiosity is piqued (as mine has been on several occasions by seemingly random links), one can always query a poster about their rationale. Given that BS is a very diverse, international community, I've learned quite a lot and been turned on to many interesting (and time wasting) items of cultural interest to SOMEONE.

I will be happy to add links to information about one or more of those items in the list if anyone's interested. Alternatively, you could just do a Google search for the term and go hunting yourself.

Today at a faculty meeting after work, the upper grades (3-6) teachers at my school, along with the director, the science/art teacher, and I talked about how we encourage and develop critical thinking skills in our students. I got a chance to talk about Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, after showing an Internet based lesson plan, part of the CyberTrips catalog, that I'd picked up at SDCUE's Tech Fair this past weekend. Another cool thing I got a peek at at the Fair was Super Hero Creator, from the good-hearted but weak-spelling folks at Kreative Komix. Bernie and his son, Alex, did a short presentation of this cool program that incorporates creative storytelling, graphic design, and a bit of dramatic flair. As demonstrated and suggested by some of the attendees at the presentation, it could fairly easily be adapted to fit nearly any curriculum area, from mathematics to language arts, science to social studies.

The material I talked about, CyberTrip to Paris, is a binder without any software whatsoever, but with ideas about how to build a host of robust units using resources found online. The guide is good for anywhere from a short, 3-4 week unit on the City of Lights, to an entire semester or even year's worth of stuff. The folks at Classroom Connect, who publish this stuff, also put out units for Ancient Egypt, Washington, D.C., and a few other places. Unfortunately, the only direct references to this product on the Classroom Connect Web site are behind a fee-based gateway, and they are so concerned with exchanging cookies with me, that I didn't stick around all that long. For those willing to become members (free 2 week trial, I think, then you get charged), check it out. I did find lots of mentions of CyberTrips online, primarily references to the product at other K-12 schools' sites.

Just found this quote:

No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called games.
-W.H. Auden, The Dyer's Hand, 1962

Interesting, especially considering the subject of some of our WebQuests (violence, gender issues, etc.).

The International Game Developers Association, or IGDA, has some great articles, on of which is called "So You Want To Be A Games Designer?. You might like reading the article if you want to take all that we have learned and turn it into a career. I've been finding lots of interesting info on this site. Check it out.

Those of you interested in taking this class to the next level (you know like getting a job and stuff), may want to look Makegames.com. It includes interviews with game makers and an online book about the process of making games including the design and programming procedures. It claims to be a real look into the game developing world.

Did you know that studies show playing violent video games may cause children to become more likely to engage in real-life violence? For more fast facts and statistics on the affects of violence in media and video games check out: VIDEO GAMES AND CYBERVIOLENCE

I found a very useful site on game design, at the Game Dev site. It contains many articles about different facets of game design. A good source of info for the Egame and WebQuest.

For a great study on overall affects of violence and video games, check out: Video Games and Violence This is comprehensive study of how factors such as gender, social status, economics and education may affect a child's likelihood of reacting violently after engaging in violent video games.

For those of you working on your WebQuest, here is a site with kid and parent reviews of videos, games, and some websites Kids First. I have reviewed for them, and it was a pretty interesting experience.

Out of the mouths of babes...

Sage advice from a 16 year old game-playing friend of mine: "The trick is to make them want to play the game without knowing they are learning something."

People with Disabilities

In looking over some of our game analyses it occured to me that some of these games may be valuable for people with disabilities. Disabilities cover a wide spectrum, not just blind or deaf people but also people who are colorblind or have some injury where they could not use a mouse, etc.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has some guidelines to follow to make sure that a wider audience could use materials presented on the web. It doesn't have to be ugly and, in fact, there could be a separate area they could go to to achieve greater accessibility. It could be as simple as having colors controlled by style sheets or making sure all your graphics have descriptors. It just all depends on that audience.

I don't remember if I posted this article before regarding game violence, but it's pretty interesting and poses the question "What is a game?," something we should now be experts at! The article also brings up how game violence is the easiest way to create the struggle/challenge element of the game, and that's why it's so widely used. In class, we found out first-hand that it is far more difficult to create a challenge without relying on violence by exercising our creativity. Go to Salon.com Technology article to read the article.

Hey everybody. For a different aspect on the gaming world, check out Nokia Games . Most people have games in their cell phones these days, but you never really give it much thought. Considering the new technologies coming out, there may be a gaming world in every aspect of our lives. I mean, I get bored at the toaster waiting for the toast to brown - maybe the future is games associated with every electrical appliance? You never know, it's a weird world. But there may be career opportunities you never even considered...

In researching the game industry, I came across Pogo.com Games for Everyone. This company has been sold to Electronic Arts, the world's leading interactive entertainment software company - with revenues of over 1.2 billion in 1999. They develop, publish, and distribute products for PC's, Playstation, PS 2, and Ninetendo 64. The corporate background information page discusses EA.com's plans for an online game bonanza this fall season-targeted to 18-54 year olds - interested in sports and popular entertainment.

According to market research firms:

Game industry revenue is expected to grow to over $7 billion in 2000
Revenue from sales of online games isexpected to grow from 2% presently to 24% by 2002
Pay-for-play revenues up from $41 million to 360 million in 2003
Advertising at online sites up from 65 million to 409 million by 2003

There was a short interview of J. Allard, CEO of Microsoft, on Fox 6 the other day. They have 20 games online now and 20 more are planned by the year end.

At the company site, there is also detailed information on available jobs. For example, Software Design Engineer-SLC Games [developing games for the XBox] qualifications include strong math/physics background, strong C/ C++coding skills, good understanding of object-oriented architecture, 2+ years C++ coding experience, Direct X/3d Graphics programming a plus, etc.

I am really interested in the new x-box by Microsoft. It seems to be a leap ahead of PS2 or Nintendo for what it can do. Has anyone actually gotten their hands on the system yet?

If you are interested in web-delivered games or simulations, check out the Survivor games (yes, Survivor again!). They have some FLASH-based games. I tried out the Photo Shoot game. The game itself isn't very interesting, but the artwork is a good example of the realism that can be delivered via the web for games and simulations.

My e-game history group has been viewing other games...the competition you could say. One game we've actually played thanks to AG is Where in Time is Carmen SanDiego. The premise is you are a time pilot sent back in time to catch one of Carmen's cohorts and fix a problem they created. I was a little bored playing the game to be honest and I was also a little frustrated because there weren't any directions on what to do many times. I did a lot of clicking and messing up. In fact in ancient Egypt I competely destroyed the pharoh's body that I was trying to mummify because I resorted to the "let's see what this does" strategy of trying to figure out what I was supposed to do. The head priest yelled at me twice...complete turn-off to the game. This definitely helps to direct us on what we could make better should we go in this direction with our game development.

In with the Gender equity group, I found a interesting committee that was formed hoping to bring more women to the gaming industry.
The Women In Game Development Committee investigates ways of making this happen. It was started by two women already in the gaming industry Sheri Graner Ray and Heather Kelley. For more information seeIGDA (International Game Developers Association) site.

My roommate just bought a new game called Empire Earth and is completely addicted to this game. The game revolves around building an empire (civilization) from the stone ages through time and into the future. When I said it sounded like SimCity, he replied "kinda, but more in depth and you can go to war against another civilization that another person is constructing…that’s what makes it fun." (I knew there had to be a shot-em-up aspect to the game for him to like it so much.) He and his two friends have been holding competitions for days playing against each other for hours upon hours. I have yet to play the game but after talking to him about it and viewing the web site, (They even have their own blog right on the site) I just might have to play. However getting him to share could be reminiscent of fighting with my little brother to play Super Mario Brothers when we first bought our Nintendo.

OK, I happened upon this Dukes of Hazzard website which is a Sony Playstation site for the game Dukes of Hazzard II: Daisy Dukes It Out. You can discuss the product, submit a cheat/FAQ, and look at (or write) reviews of the game. Then they have a drop down menu where you can skip to other forums and guess what was an option? The Xbox! It's everywhere. Little did I know...

My family has enjoyed watching Survivor through all three versions. They seem to have found a good formula in picking a blend of personalities that will insure some interesting interactions. One observation that I have made might have some impact on the broader world of games. I'm convinced that the producers decide to change the rules from time to time when they feel the game may be headed in an uninteresting direction. A week or so ago they actually tricked the players into rearranging the teams. It looked like an alliance of young slothful players was going to vote off their older tribe members and in the process probably assure their own defeat. It seems like an interesting concept -- changing the rules to keep the game interesting. There is nothing new about changing the rules, but with computer AI models perhaps e-games could predict a players course of action and alter the rules of the game to make it more difficult. As long as the game didn't permanently move a person out of the channel, it could prove interesting.

Oh, as for Grand Theft Auto, a friend of mine has played it. She said it's funny, but it's also kind of scary. I guess you go around stealing cars and doing "jobs" for some sort of mafia boss or something. You just carjack anyone you want, unless you run into a mafia guy. Then you get beaten up. If your health declines, you can hire a prostitute and go somewhere secluded with her in your car. Wholesome fun, huh!

For the Project Management Group: Did you see the article in the UT today called "Simulator brings biz world to CSUSM"? It's a computer simulation where you are a CEO. Sounds pretty cool!

Has anyone out there played Grand Theft Auto 3? I haven't played 1,2,or 3. Does anyone know how popular it is? It sounds unsavory, but it has a great review.

Kristine,
My friend's 10 year old son loves Roller Coaster Tycoon, and her husband loves it too (40ish). I played it for a while and thought it was great. I would recommend it to anyone who likes building things. Roller Coaster Tycoon is explained in the Rouse book as well.

I don't know anyone who doesn't like the SIMS, but I haven't played it. I know three families who have it, and two of the families didn't want their children under 14 or so playing it.

So there you go!

This is in response to Reed and anyone else interested.
MSN did a review of the new arrival of Microsoft's Xbox on Nov. 15 and Nintendo's GameCube on Nov. 18
The article stated that, "they bring a powerful new options to gamers, and creates perhaps the toughest battle yet for control of the console market. Take a look at our series on the consoles, the hottest games and the struggle for dominance in this multibillion-dollar industry."
This link takes you to a review site of the games.

I read an article by David Walsh, Ph.D., the president of the National Institute on Media and the Family. In the article he talks about the point I was trying to make with my "You Don't Know Jack" blog. Even when games are just disrespectful and not violent they may also be harmful.

"What qualifies as extreme is related to the definition of normal. If normal behavior is kids treating each other with some respect, then the extreme might be a verbal outburst, a kick or a punch. But if putdowns and "in your face" behavior is already the norm, then the extreme behavior is going to go farther over the edge."

Did you know that there is actually a new type of addiction caused by video games? It's called stimulus addiction and it mostly affects boys, according to the Media Awareness Network. Stimulus addiction means "you increasingly need more powerful images in order to respond emotionally to the game."

I checked out the article Kristy referenced in her last blog on Games and Violence. In the article the author states that 49% of kids prefer electronic games including violence and 2% prefer educational games. The author doesn't elaborate on the specific games he is calling violent and the ones he is calling educational, but I have to wonder if this is really about all of those things we are learning that make games fun (interactivity, challenge, etc.) Nowhere in the literature does it say that games have to be violent to be fun, but unfortunately game manufacturers that put violent content in their games are better at making their games fun than educational game makers. I think some people have the misconception that a game can't be fun and educational. It is our job to prove them wrong!

The adventure game The Road to India (first mentioned by Suzanne Bacon on 10/24) is reviewed in this article on the womengamers.com site. It turns out that this game is played entirely from the perspective of Fred Reynolds whose fiancee has been kidnapped in India.

In the article, the reviewer states that "while the main character in this first-person game is male, the appeal of the game is gender neutral...." Can this really be the case? While the game looked interesting and I would be willing to play it, I would prefer to play it from the perspective of a female. And, what about the preferences of younger females? Would they react more strongly to this single perspective? It seems that the best approach for creating a successful adventure game whose intended audience is both male and female is to develop a gender neutral story (i.e., where the main character can be either a male or female).

I've been doing research for my egame group, but along the way I kept getting distracted by on line comics. In this month's "Wired," (That’s a link to an older article-I don't think you can get the current issue on line for free) there's an interview with Scott McCloud, who wrote "Understanding Comics." I'll have to read it once school is out! In any case, in the interview he talks about the future of comics on line. I find it especially interesting when he talks about the freedom of space that you have online with a comic (they can be 100ft long if you like!). But it's tricky to design the right way so that there's not a lot of scrolling and not a lot of time to download. I read "When I am King," which people have probably heard of (warning: Scott McCloud describes it as a "wordless, oscillating, scatological sex farce...that could exist only in a digital environment"). I also checked out McCloud's homepage to see some of his work.

In any case, I see this relating to games in many ways, including: designing appropriate, efficient, and elegant user interface/controls, breaking free from the conventions of paper based things --how to explore the potential of the web, making effective and gripping stories that don't take a lot of bandwidth or words necessarily. I'm thinking about the connections between comics and games. I think people often dismiss both categories as frivolous, but obviously this is not always the case. Scott McCloud's interview is a good example. The interview itself is done in comic form, but he makes some very valid and intriguing points. The same is true for "Maus" by Art Spiegelman. It's a comic book/graphic novel about the Holocaust. When I tell people about the book, they look very uncomfortable about the idea of a Holocaust comic. But it’s a really touching story about the artist's father, who was a Holocaust survivor. I can bring it to class if people are interested.