Here at the Games-Learning-Society Conference in Madison, Wisconsin there has been a lot of discussion and presentations related to how games and education should mix. We’ve got your standard games and education evangelists (like Jim Gee, Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman, etc…), a plethora of academics presenting research, and a few folks like me who mainly design games. The conference seems to be part pep rally, part best practices, part mingle fest, with not enough attention given to “how to talk to school administration about putting games into the classroom” and “when and when not games should be used in the classroom.” The conference center was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (and it shows, truly special architecture) and so I’m worried he’s rolling in his grave as I never heard a single person mention form has to meet function in game design (especially for education). That’s really my only criticism at the moment, on the whole the conference was a joy to attend. I’ll post more in the coming days about specific lectures and the conference highlights.
Author Archive for Charley
Live From Madison: A First Impression Response to the GLS Conference
Published by July 11th, 2008 in Current Events and Opinion. 0 CommentsAdam Parrish gets a nice shout out from GrandTextAuto.org for his thesis “New Interfaces for Textual Expression.”
Ian Bogost has already expressed some love in the comments, too!
Cracked did yet another list, but this time it actually brings up some interesting questions/complaints:
7 commandments all video games should obey
Thanks to Teo for bringing this article to my attention.
New Game Review: Outside
Published by May 5th, 2008 in Readings, Frontlines of the Non-Digital and Links. 0 CommentsOutside, a decent but far from perfect game according to this review.
What Happens When the Magic Circle is Pulled From Beneath Your Feet
Published by May 4th, 2008 in Current Events and Frontlines of the Non-Digital. 0 CommentsMoments after a horse named Big Brown accomplished a feat in the Kentucky Derby that only a great horse could accomplish (win from the 20th and last gate), the runner-up Eight Belles — a competitive filly — fell to the ground as she was ridden out long past the finish line. Two broken ankles. Within moments, she was euthanized before Big Brown had even reached the winner’s circle.
I was at the betting window when I had heard the news. I had just watched the race in person and screamed for joy as I saw the filly cross the finish line to complete my exacta. Trying to beat the rush of fans collecting their winnings, I stood in line and watched a monitor for the results to become official. The man behind me seemed frustrated and disappointed about something — and those are very rare feelings for anyone standing in line to receive their winnings. He then told me that the filly had just been put down. I told him it couldn’t be, that she finished 2nd. I was sure of it. The gutsy little horse that I had promised all of my betting friends that “she’s so competitive, she’ll die trying to win this race” had just ended her short life. Suddenly I too was a little less giddy about my winning ticket.
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Frontlines of the Non-digital: the Electoral & Democratic Delagate Systems
Published by April 24th, 2008 in Frontlines of the Non-Digital. 3 CommentsAs many of you know, I created a game called Political Capital to serve as my thesis at ITP. It’s a game about running for President — or more specifically, the game expresses the electoral system and the political election process at a surface level and plays something like Risk. Lately, because I will be presenting my thesis soon (May 6 at 12:20pm) and also because of the topsy-turvy nomination process the Democrats are serving up, I’ve been thinking a lot about our political election systems. I figured it was time to dedicate a post to them and begin a conversation among game designers of how we can improve what we’ve got. Lord knows there’s plenty of room for improvement.
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More on Decision Making & Game Shows
Published by April 10th, 2008 in Readings, Theory/Research and Links. 2 CommentsFrom the NYTimes:
And Behind Door #1, A Fatal Flaw
Basically when you are presented 3 blind choices (where one offers a reward) and you randomly pick one (door A) — but are then shown one of the duds (door C) now leaving only 2 choices (door A or B) and are given a chance to rethink your selection — you should ALWAYS change your pick (door B).
Frontlines of the Non-digital: Hedging Our Bets
Published by April 4th, 2008 in Current Events and Frontlines of the Non-Digital. 10 CommentsSo I’m in a bit of an interesting quagmire: remember my post a few weeks back about the NCAA tourney pools? Well, low and behold, I’m in 4th place in a 250 person pool with quite a bit of *cough* pride on the line (enough for the IRS to be interested, let’s say). It’s an interesting dilemma that might be best phrased in this way: if someone walked up to you on the street and offered you a month’s rent but you had to flip of a coin to get it, would you risk that OR take half of a month’s rent guaranteed without having to flip the coin? This is basically what hedging a bet is all about, because only fools would flip the coin.
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Frontlines of the Non-digital: March Reading
Published by March 25th, 2008 in Readings and Frontlines of the Non-Digital. 2 CommentsNice article in the latest April issue of Scientific American entitled: How Game Theory Could Stop Sports Doping, by Michael Shermer. He basically uses the prisoner’s dilemma and Nash’s equilibrium to explain (and pose a solution to) the problem of athlete’s use of performance enhancing drugs. The article is a good primer on what drugs are used in sports, how they enhance performance, and the underlying motivation to use drugs and keep secret the abuse. His five point plan to curb doping is a bit idealistic, but in theory he has some solid ideas. A must read for anyone who is concerned about the state of doping in athletic competition.
Frontlines of the Non-digital: March Madness Edition
Published by March 16th, 2008 in Frontlines of the Non-Digital. 1 CommentCollege basketball hysteria will soon cripple the nation (in this week alone, about $3.5 billion worth of productivity will be lost to the sport) and so it’s time to stop and take a close look at what it is about the sport that has people going mad. As a devote Kentucky Wildcat fan, I’m sure I could wax something eloquent about cinderellas, buzzer beaters, and the beauties of the zone defense (wink, wink Dave Hickey); but most fascinating about the next week (really next 3 weeks) is how folks who aren’t remotely fans will become caught up in the tournament. The reason? Largely because they joined an office pool and filled out a bracket trying to predict the outcome of the 64 team tourney (actually 65 but who’s counting). What’s with these damn office pools?
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