Georgia targets violent video games - Tech News - CNET.com.

First Indianapolis, then Garden Grove, California, and now an entire state. I suppose that if this happens enough times, the incentive for each new game to outdo the violence of last one will begin to be outweighed by legal hassles and diminished distribution. Maybe... being the optimist that I am, games will have to compete instead on cleverness, storyline, or something else less toxic.

M.C. Escher is quoted as saying, "My work is a game, a very serious game."

If you've ever seen his work, you'll understand. Here's not so much a game as a diversion, but interesting nonetheless: http://www.zillions-of-games.com/games/escher8.html

New semester, and always new games: http://www.technosphere.org.uk/index.htm

Very cool, free, AI world you populate with creatures of your own creation (from a limited amount of template parts provided) who then email you to let you know how they're doing! Looks like a great time waster.

PeopleCards.net :::: The Official People Trading Card Submit your own game
ideas!

PeopleCards are far more than a collectible trading card. They are a great way to get to know complete strangers while making friends with the people you share them with. Groups of people can enjoy PeopleCards just as much as an individual by playing some of the games we have discovered along with games that people from around the world have suggested. This section features a monthly game focus along with listings of other ways to play with PeopleCards.

You are encouraged to develop new game ideas with your friends and send them to us. We will post your ideas to share with other collectors.

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.