MIT Games to Teach

I'm an addict. OK, now I've said it. I'm addicted to role playing games (RPGs) like Diablo, StarCraft, and Dungeon Siege. What if a player were to put the amount of hours, thought, and money into learning that people put into RPGs?

The Games-to-Teach Project at MIT created several prototype games that they hope will "lay the foundation for next-generation educational gaming." One game, Hephaestus, is a "massively multiplayer role playing game" where players design robots to colonize a planet. This game teaches physics concepts that the players must consider in their robot design. You can view a movie online [Quicktime][AVI]. Warning: big files!

Loops R Us

From Forbes.com: Welcome to Feedback Universe:

"We are starting to rethink science in light of feedback. It is at the heart of the most compelling new inventions. And now we are seeing the first signs that it is beginning to reorganize both corporations and national economies.

"We don't even have the words yet to describe this," says Grand. "We don't yet have the names. Before this is over, we're going to need a new mathematics, a new physics, and a new ontology of the world."

As we get into simulation a bit later in the semester, we're going to be talking about modeling dynamic systems in terms of feedback loops. This article provides an interesting preview.

Dr. Roadmap's LA Freeway Game on NPR's All Things Considered

This afternoon, National Public Radio included a short report on a new board game called Dr. Roadmap's LA Freeway Game. The idea is to learn alternative routes through the LA freeway maze using a roadmap, while beating your opponents to City Hall. Dr. Roadmap is Dr. David Rizzo, a podiatrist by day and former L.A. traffic reporter (read SME). He contends, everyone in L.A. talks about the traffic but no one does anything about it. You can check out the game (or buy it) at Dr. Roadmap's web site.

Homework Can Be Fun

From CNN.com: Kids use PlayStation for high-tech homework - Sep. 21, 2002.

The software described was developed by Lightspan here in San Diego, and an Ed Tech alumna, Liz Herrick, is quoted in the story. Most of Lightspan's software focuses on development of the sort of skills that standardized tests tend to measure. Schools with low scores often have Title 1 funds to spend on technology, and I think principals like the idea of attacking the problem with a single purchase order. In this era of high stakes testing, it could be that Lightspan is destined for great success.

So Anarchists Do Have a Sense of Humor...

Here's a game to watch for on the nightly news: The Infoshop.org Anti-Capitalist Scavenger Hunt to be held at next week's World Bank and IMF Protests in Washington, DC

The Infoshop.org Anti-Capitalist Scavenger Hunt

For entertainment purposes only!

World Globe in World Bank Headquarters - 1000 points
Organize tenant's association or rent strike - 1000 points
Do childcare while others are protesting - 1000 points
Set up community pirate radio station - 500 points
Trash inside of retail chain store - 500 points
Organize workplace to strike - 500 points
Occupy offices of K Street PR firm - 500 points
Demolish government surveillance camera - 500 points each
Cook food for the homeless - 500 points
Occupy abandoned building - 400 points each
Plant trees in middle of street - 400 points each tree
... and so on.

They won't actually award points for any of this, of course, since that would open them up to criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits.

Thickening the Plot

Just came upon The Big List of RPG Plots, by S. John Ross .


"What follows is a scrap of trivia . . . my collection of RPG plots, in abstract form. I built this by examining the premises of hundreds of published adventures for all systems (including those systems dear and departed from print), trying to boil them down to common denominators. The results are presented here: arbitrary, and sometimes redundant. Nevertheless, I turn to this list when I'm stuck for a fresh premise for next week's session of my campaign, whatever that campaign might happen to be about at the time. It helps me keep from falling into thematic ruts (my least favorite kind). With any luck, it might serve a similar function for you."

If we have any RPGish e-game final projects, this could come in handy.

X-Box Consoles out, Online gaming In

Thought you might interested. It seems that the costs of developing software titles are rising as consoles have become highly advanced, armed with powerful chips that offer faster games and dazzling graphics. Microsoft is set to start an online gaming service called XBox Live around October in Japan.

Online Gaming

What Do Women Want?

From Michael Rogers MSNBC column: Girls Just Want to Have Games

"What do Barbie and Nancy Drew have in common? Besides apparent genes for agelessness, the two characters may someday be seen as crucial turning points in the evolution of interactive games for girls. Or perhaps even the evolution of interactive games for everyone."

The article contains a short version of the rise, fall and re-rise of girl games. It raises some interesting questions about gender differences and commonalities.

Pong 2002

Some of us are old enough to remember PONG. It never looked quite like this, though.

From another blog: SOS: A Card Game. It's kind of an anti-game, I think. Vague rules, no clear winner. What's interesting about this article, though, is the blizzard of comments from readers that it spawned. I was particularly interested in the mention of Spit and Bailing Wire, a Yahoo group devoted to those interested in forming a game company on a shoestring.

From ZDNet: Simulation may be the e-learning "killer app"

"Simulation-enabled content can revolutionize learning and accelerate the transfer and application of knowledge. Enterprises should leverage the scalability and immersion characteristics of simulations to accelerate time to competency and depth of competency. By 2006, 70 percent of all off-the-shelf and custom e-learning content will include some application of simulations (0.8 probability)."