I really wanted to read something that was on the Electric Library site. I found you can access Electric Library, and many more periodicals FOR FREE if you have a San Diego County Library Card. Go to the San Diego County Library, and click on the Online Databases tab, and you can have access to just about any periodical your heart desires. Which is where I found this old, but witty, article. Games that teach. (use of games and simulations in training)(includes related articles) Marc Hequet, Training July 1995 v32 n7 p53(6) Bus. Coll.:88N2682.

I was looking at some of the online games that have a historical theme and ran across the Hundred Years War, an online simulation that focuses on medieval life. I just finished teaching the Middle Ages in my 10th grade world history class and some of the kids wanted explore this topic further, so I thought this simulation might be good for any of the "gamers" I have in class (other than the fact that it costs $5.95 a month after the first month) - it requires some historical background and seems to keep to the history as best as it can.

While this was interesting, what really caught my eye was an online book called The Complete Wargames Handbook written by James F Dunnigan. He defines wargames, discusses the audience, gives instructions as to how to design a manual game, and then he gets into the computer side of wargames. Through the text he focuses more on the conceptual side of wargame design and even notes that the programing is something completely different.

Chapter 2 in Game Design: Theory and Practice contains an interview with Sid Meier (creator of Civilization), The interviewer mentions the addictive quality of the game. Sid Meier explains that this aspect of the game was not anticipated but somehow came together in the game. All the pieces of the game fit together and the sum of all those pieces is the addictiveness.

As I was perusing for game information, I came across a review on Civilization III. This reviewer contends that this version is more addictive than earlier versions. Civilization III also incorporates new games and other ways to win. You can read more about this review on Civilization III Review.

The reviewer concludes that Civilization III is clever and subtle. He says the graphics aren’t that great but that’s not what this game is about. It is about addiction and it does a great job. I think that this is one element that you would want in a game especially an educational game.

According to a new article in Wired, the Army is funding the development of two combat games to train infantry soldiers. What's unique about this project is that the resulting games will run on PCs, X-Box and the next generation PlayStation. Infantry wannabes will be able to purchase their own copy without enlisting.

The Patterns group was brainstorming different types of games. We found a site called Allgame that has a great collection of game genres complete with descriptions and examples. It could be useful as a reference particularly for the e-game work.

The Weblog Article was in last week's Computer Link in the San Diego Union Tribune. Good article about the growth of blogs as a an outlet after the Sept 11 attacks.

Karen, Don Henderson, the tech coordinator for the Grossmont District (I think that's his title) gave us (Donn Ritchie's 596, Tech for Decision Makers class) a tour of Steele Canyon High School last year. He showed us some terrific stuff that the kids were doing around the county with iMovie and I don't remember all the details but he said something to the effect that there was competition of sorts- like the Academy Awards- where student work was judged and awarded. Some of the stories from these kids were quite poignant and the evening was quite dramatic for them. e.g. I think some group bought dress clothes for the kids. Have any of you heard anything about this? I'm under the impression this is a yearly event.

I don't know if this qualifies as a blog, but I was looking around for webstes for children - unique uses for the computer and perhaps motor skills development - and I came upon the Online Etch-a-Sketch site. When I was growing up, everyone had an etch-a-sketch, and it took considerable skill to manipulate the dials. I thought you might be interested in seeing that there is an online version. There is so much out there to be discovered, I think the fun and interesting things should be noted. The site inspired me and I began thinking of all the other things that could be done online.

The Quake engine is apparently quite flexible. This morning's tech news includes a blurb about the release of an expansion pack for Star Trek Voyager Elite Force. Still a shoot-em-up, but you can make the environment and people look like whatever you want!

Mike brought back fond memories of my family's visit to Plimoth Plantation. While I holed up in a hotel finishing a report, my wife and then 8-year old went to the plantation four days in a row. They were just blown away by the experience of chatting with Pilgrims who were nothing like our Thanksgiving cartoonish stereotype.

When I was done writing I finally got to see it for myself. To me the amazing thing was to imagine what these actors were experiencing. They had learned so much about that era: the names of all the other colonists and what they were like, the peculiar dialect of English that Pilgrims spoke, the art of building houses and making clothes, the details of the religious/political snits the colonists got into. If we could have kids play the role of Pilgrims and not just tourists, we'd really have something.

And to add to the list of ways to do it (besides Quake), let me point to
SCOL, a suite of tools and services created by a French company;
Coldstone, now in beta but has already been used to create a published game, and
Adobe Atmosphere, a very cool authoring tool also in beta and destined to make a big splash in 2002.

Of all these, Quake is cheapest and is available now. The trick will be in warping the program to be something more benign.

The Prensky readings have really stirred up a lot of professional turmoil for me over the past few weeks. My formal teacher training was rooted in constructivism and cooperative learning, but as the accountability and standardized test movement barrels through public education I find myself less free to teach using this philosophy. I find myself trying to come up with ideas that will introduce, teach and reinforce concepts and skills to my twitch speed 2nd graders.

But how do you create a learning environment that caters to highly mobile and tactile learners in a movement that calls for children to "bubble in" their knowledge. I currently use several manipulative-based games to teach math concepts, but I would like to carry this format over to other areas of the curriculum, while still maintaining a standards based curriculum. Not sure how to do that in a world where games are a no-no and the Internet is non-existent in the classroom...still thinking on this one...any suggestions?

Just read Bernie's comment about the Quake engine being used in a non-violent way. My vision of the History game was to use a 3-D engine to explore and interact with a historical environment, kind of like Everquest, except set in Renaissance Italy. The players could become involved in multiple aspects of the society (economic, cultural, social, etc.). If used with K-12 students in the classroom, the city could be inhabited with real cyber actors who take on the role like the actors who inhabit the Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts. The class could go on a real virtual field trip to a time period where they normally would only access in a book or through a film.

I happened across an article in Wired News that made reference to the manifestations of Osama Bin Laden in the video game world. Many people are taking out their frustration on the Saudi dissident by playing games in which they blow him up. For many game violence is a quick and often cathartic release, but does it direct their frustration constructively. One psychologist thinks this actually increases aggressive behavior instead of realizing it. The need for a Sims Osama was funny though, you could treat him poorly and watch him slowly waste away in front of your eyes.

In one of my other Ed Tech classes, we are creating a Webquest. We were discussing what the "task" should be for the students. One group member suggested having them create a game that went along with the topic of our quest. Suddenly, I had a greater appreciation for the difficulty of just "creating a game". I thought about educational content...how would it be integrated into the context of the game? What kind of game would it be? Would there be strategy involved? Board game or card game? I now realize that just "coming up with a game" is not as easy as it sounds. For me, there is now so much to consider.

I spent the weekend in San Francisco with some friends who have young children (2-3 years old) and was surprised at how much even young children were using e-games (through Sesame Street, Bob the Builder, etc) to build hand-eye coordination and to develop other skills. All of these kids also come from bi-lingual households and are spoken to in English/Spanish and English/Italian. I was thinking about the point made in the text book that language learned at a young age is actually stored in a different part of the brain than language learned as an adult. I was wondering if the same may be true with computer skills learned at such a young age through educational games.

Thanks to Ann's pointer to the Studio 360 show, I remembered to tune in yesterday. Most of it wasn't relevant to 670, but I was tickled by the segment about the Ill Clan. This is a group of guys who've taken the Quake engine and turned it into a way to make funny films. One player acts as the cameraman and records the actions of the rest. It's like being puppetmasters of cartoon characters. There's a whole world of activity like this called Machinima (machine cinema). News to me, although it's been going on for years!

It reminds me of a link that I blogged here a year ago about the use of Quake by architects to preview what it's like to move through a building yet unbuilt. Is anyone in the class a Quake player?

I'm getting intrigued. Might this be an approach to explore for the Making History Come Alive e-game groups? Of course we'd have to eliminate the weapons.

I went to the Orisinal site mentioned by Bob Faust below and played a few games. Surprisingly, the Winter Girl Puzzler game held my attention: I just couldn't quit before I moved all of the pieces into their correct positions. Although this game is not currently educational, this format could be used with pattern recognition tasks like learning about constellations.

The computer game market is definitely becoming a multi-million dollar endeavor. The days of the computer hermit pounding out code for games in a cabin in Montana would seem to be gone. One platform that may still be available to the individual designing reasonably simple games is Flash. While browsing Bernie's game blogs I found a link to a site called orisinal/>Orisinal that has a collection of Flash games. None of them could be called educational, but they do show some examples of games developed using software that is approachable to the masses.

About the golf game ... If you think that your rules are confusing to novices and find that arguments are breaking out while playing the game, then you must have developed the most realistic golf board game ever. I lost a good deal of my youth to the game. I've been "golf sober" for over ten years!

I went to the http://www.games2train.com site and "learned" about sexual harassment by playing "CubeDude" (a game similar to Pac Man). If CubeDude could reach a computer before bumping into a male or female boss, a question about sexual harassment would pop up on the screen. Correct answers would result in points.

I didn't find this game particularly engaging. (I also don't think Pac Man and sexual harassment really go together.) I sort of expected more from this site since it was mentioned in Prensky's book. One good feature was that the game had buttons with links to additional information about sexual harassment.

I had the pleasure to meet Nikos, a professional trainer for "The Director in the Classroom". I just completed a two day training course at the County Ed Office. The gist of the training was to bring movie production to the classroom so that students would take their knowledge about a subject, use higher order thinking skills, and transform that knowledge into a new media. As I sat in class I thought of the endless ways that digital quicktime movies can be utilized online in a simulation scenario. Here is his website for reference. http://www.thedirectorintheclassroom.com

Speaking of combining things, has anyone played/toyed with Puppet Motel? I still haven't gotten it, but it's by artist Laurie Anderson, and apparently you wander through a puppet motel solving puzzles and exploring. But it's not like your average game, from what I understand. It's more like performance art or something. Maybe Doreen has played it? It is from '95, so I don't know if it might seem outdated. I'm just thinking of ways to explore different topics. I was reading in Rouse last night about the designer who thinks of the topic first, and then how to best express it, whether it's through an adventure game, simulation, etc.

And as long as I've got your ear (eye), I just wanted to point you to a site for some patriotic pumpkin carving patterns to download.

I was listening to KPBS (89.5) yesterday, and they had an advertisement for Studio 360 this weekend. Saturday from 3:00pm to 4:00pm, and they said that this week's show is going to be on the merging of video games and movies, and virtual characters. It sounded interesting, however, when I went to the 360 site, the posted information is about the 10/20 show - which was on music. I'm going to listen, and I hope this week's show is on the merging of video games and movies.

There are some games that are less violent. I just found a company (Her Interactive) that makes Nancy Drew interactive mysteries. Looks cool! I'd like to try it. It just makes me regret having bought a Powerbook a little when I see all the games for PCs only.

Another couple of games that look really cool and not violent (but I haven't played them, so I can't be sure) are The Road to India and The Longest Journey. In the road to India, you explore India, and I would imagine some of the culture. I played Gabriel Knight Part 2, which takes place in Munich. You get to do a virtual tour of Neuschwanstein, you learn about Ludwig II and Bavaria in general. There was some violence, but the werewolf type that you don't take too seriously. The second Gabriel Knight (there are 3 parts) was made for Macs, but the third one, which takes place in France, is only for the PC. Sorry to be whining about the PC/Mac issue. In any case, my whole point was that there are some cool games out there that don't involve violence/gore. I guess this was a real blog in that I'm bloggering on and on!

One thing I learned about piloting games was that it is crucial to test the game out on players of all levels. In our "golf" game, for example, I was basically the test subject as someone with zero knowledge not only about golf but of how to move the pegs the correct way! Working together, we were able to make many changes to the rules to makes sure even the most novice learner would be able to play the game.

I was checking out some "girl" sites, and stumbled on this topical "game" (using the term VERY loosely): Halloween fun for girls?!. I wonder if people are shaped more by what they are exposed to, or who they are.

I'm not much a big game player. I would rather read than play games. Now I know why. I went to the Apple game trailer page and frankly, I was grossed out by all the violence and demonic themes. Even a fairy tale like Alice in Wonderland was turned into a dark and sinister game. Most of the games I clicked on (with the exception of Fly2 and Monopoly) were violent and bloody. I wonder how many females play games like this?

However, I was impressed by all the graphics and animation. It puts a player into the reality of the game. I too wonder like Avraham if educational games are anything like this. It's something to look into.

I've played a couple of games on the page including Riven (and Myst, its predecessor). They, and games like them are incredible examples of cutting edge graphics and animation. What I wonder about is long-term playability. Once I figured out how to solve all the puzzles and complete the game, I gave it away because I never touched it again.

Is there a line between the kinds of games that are interesting and engaging for a few days and are never played again vs. classics like Monopoly that are played over and over?

I grew up playing strategy games from Avalon Hill, since bought by Hasbro. They used to specialize in historically based strategy games that could be played again and again. What games have people played that blend repeat playability with cutting edge technology?

Wow! Just watching the trailers, (okay, I admit it- about a dozen of them) with everything their makers have learned from Hollywood cinema and marketing, would be an education for the trainers!

Do the educational games that Prensky recommends have the production quality that the trailers off of Apple's game trailer page have?

Many of you confess to not having played many games. As we move into the next phase of the course, it would be good to familiarize yourself with the spectrum of computer games that are out there. I just bumped onto Apple's game trailer page. You'll need QuickTime and a reasonably fast connection to appreciate this.

I was particularly intrigued by Tranquility and Fly! 2K.

How to design for various knowledge/skill levels?

I struggled with a number of issues during the design of our board game on constellations. How can we make this fun? (It seemed like a really dry topic to me at first, but recently I have been peering into the heavens at night from my front porch.) What do we want them to learn and to what detail? What design will make our game both fun and useful in an instructional setting? (This last one was tough and was the source of much debate in our group.)

As we progressed through this assignment, I began developing a sense for how to answer these questions. But, I still do have a complete handle on the answer to the following question: How can you make a game that is appropriate for learners at different knowledge and skill levels?

One way we addressed this issue was to INCLUDE the answers to our questions in the game. For example, some of our questions were about the names, locations, and shapes of selected constellations. If a player did not know the answer, that player could look at the board and find the answer. Some of our questions were about what constellations would be visible on certain dates at certain times. Again, if a player did not know the answer, the player could refer to a Night Sky tool for the answer. (A simple instruction was provided with the game on how to use this tool.)

Of course, a knowledgeable player would not need to refer to these tools. But, I am not as concerned about the frustration level of a knowledgeable player. I’m concerned about the player that recognizes he/she is outmatched and has no way to close the gap. How much fun is it to know that you have no chance at winning? How much fun is it to be frustrated by not knowing the answers to many of the questions? How can we level the playing field if our game is intended to BOTH teach and reinforce? On the other hand, it isn’t always easy to include all of the answers to the questions in the game. We had questions about the solar system in our game. The answers to these questions were not, however, contained in the game. Perhaps we could have included a 1 page reference sheet, something similar to what one might have found at the KBPS Store of Knowledge, with facts about the solar system. But, how many reference items can you include before the game becomes too cumbersome.

I would be interested in hearing others thoughts on this item. Does anyone have a good guiding principle?

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We tested our game tonight. We decided to change our game from GOLF CHALLENGE to The ARGUE GAME...The moral of the story is to test your games to work out those kinks! By the way, I won the inaugural game of GOLF CHALLENGE!

I just found the national gamers guild. It is set up like a guild, you have to earn your way up the membership ladder. They have excellent reviews of games. Check it out. Also, does anyone know of a "boy" game that is equivalent to Pretty, Pretty Princess. Yes, if you don't know what it is, it is truly as sick as it sounds, but hillarious none the less.

I love Ravensburger games. Most can easily be played at different skill levels simultaneously. So, I thought I would ask them for the directions for a game that I had lost. I wouldn't have thought about looking on the internet for directions before taking this class, but I did. The people at Ravensburger sent me a note telling me how sad it was I couldn't play their game with out the directions AND a set of English directions from Germany at no cost...how cool is that??!!

During my search for Ravensburger I learned about a game they make called Ave Caesar.This game is described on a website hosted by "Board Gamers Anonymous." It sounds very interesting. It is about becoming Caesar's favorite charrioteer racing in the Circus Maximus. It is a race game with several circuits.

Okay, didn't work. Here are the links. I guess I need remedial blogger lessons...


Reiner Knizia site:
http://freespace.virgin.net/chris.lawson/rk/index.htm

His Africa game:
http://www.goldsieber.de/grosse/africa.htm

Oops, I almost started this like an email instead of a stream of consciousness...in any case, Yiftach and I went to Game Towne in Old Town. That is a great store! I ended up buying the "Lord of the Rings" boardgame as a Christmas present for my bro-in-law. I was reading a review of it in Games magazine, and I found out that it was designed by Reiner Knizia. Guess he's pretty famous. I checked out his website. There are a lot of his games that appear not to have been translated. I didn't even realize that these games were out there! There's one in particular about Africa. It's not about colonization, but rather new discoveries (animals, cultures, etc.). My friend translated the description for me. It looks neat since it has the battlefield (--can't remember off the top of my head if this is the right term) type of board. I guess if you just go to regular old stores, you're not going to see exciting new games, just the old Scrabble, Monopoly, etc.

I'm not finding this inserting html code very easy. Hope this worked.

I'm very excited (not anguished, annoyed, bored, droopy, sleepy, sneezy, or any of the other adjectives we were faced with this evening) about 670 in general and this blog in particular.

Erin, even I'm finding the golf game intriguing (at least a little), and I'm the farthest thing from a golf fan you're liable to find. It looks like you've thought of the major points to deal with in proposing a marketable version of your game. One thing I would add is to be prepared to show why and how your game is different, better, more fun, etc. than anything already out on the market. That is, know your competition.

On a technical note, in order for any link to show up as a hotlink in the blog, you have to highlight it and enter the URL. The easiest way to do this is to hit the hotlink button in the bar immediately above the text area where you type at blogger.com. The button you're looking for is the little globe with the chain link next to it, just to the left of the bold B on the right side. When you click that, you get this nifty popup window in which to enter your URL, in this case www.funbrain.com. If you highlight the text first, the HTML code will be inserted around it. That's beginning to sound a lot more complicated than it really is. Try it, I'm sure you'll figure it out.

In the meantime, if anyone wishes to chime in with ideas on how the baseball game. Suzanne, Elsa, and I are working on could be made more fun, please do so.

I was just musing on how cool the golf game is coming along and wondering about really selling the game to a major manufacterer of educational games. I suppose a proposal would be written and the classroom board game could act as the prototype. You would then have to estimate approximately how much it would cost you, per game, to produce, and then make recommendations to the manufacturer in your favor, pricing it so that they stand the greatest chance for substantial profit gains. This would help with the marketing of a game. I was trying to find some information about marketing in this respect. Then I did some random web searching and found http://www.funbrain.com/.