Play’s Republic

This is far from new, but I just thought I’d bring it to peoples’ attention anyway.

VG Cats, an online comic by Scott Ramsoomair, did an amusing little comic on the upcoming god (?)-game Spore. Likely to be prophetic, because, well, this is just about how much freedom Will Wright’s newest simulation will probably GIVE the player.

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=199

What makes this instance TRULY interesting is the fact that the Spore development team actually responds.

http://www.vgcats.com/news/comic_spore_Will.jpg

Early on in the course, we covered learning within games, primarily as a function of gaining faculty within a semiotic domain. We have never, not once, discussed games as learning devices used to learn about a specific type of content, however, and we especially didn’t talk about “edutainment” games. In the name of such things, I thought I’d draw your attention to this article over at Reuters about how some educators think that video games could provide a viable way of learning about “real world” stuff, like, oh, math. We’ve had these games all along and some have even managed to stick around for a very, very long time. But, games-for-learning have changed. Here’s one that UNC’s Division for Continual Learning put together to teach microeconomics at a college level. I participated in a presentation with these guys back when I worked within textbook publishing and they’re pushing a real, new pedagogy.

But, the real questions is: Will the XO play Halo?

Following up on my betalicious post and with an effort to stick to the title of the course, here’s another Halo 3 article, this time about where the game is in development. There are some nice descriptions of the work involved and it sounds like the developers are weathering crunch mode better than I am with the last throes of finals. But, most pertinent to our class is the very end of the article:

The one surprise we won’t see are any new weapons. “You’d be surprised how microscopic our hardcore players get about even the spawn points of weapons. People lose their minds if we do anything wrong. Introducing a new weapon after the fact would probably be wrong. You’re going to get the complete set on day one. It is possible to add a weapon and who knows, we might. We could theoretically add an old favorite, but honestly we have to think of it as a sport and you can’t introduce new rules to a sport.”

Nice, stable, predictable rules sets. Ah. They make the world go ’round.

World of Warcraft is just about two and a half years old, now. It’s got the largest user base by far (Community). It’s a very viable product model, and has a bustling in-game economy (Commerce). The Burning Crusade came out in January (Content). So, where do we go from here?

This article addresses a few upcoming (and one old) MMORPGs that are looking to capitalize on the phenom as well as provide some new added functionality to the mix. To me, it looks like they’re differentiating themselves by providing niche content (Context) that will be interesting to a self-selected group of people, and in a way that will cater to their specific needs (Personalization).

Marry that with some weird form of Xbox Live (don’t ask me how to combine a MMORPG with Xbox Live) and it could be the next big thing (Vertical Search).

I’m basing my thinking on this model.

I have no idea how many of you know about Video Games Live (visit the website) but actually it’s quite famous and I enjoyed ALL clips of their performances so far.  ……..And finally, the VGL comes to DC! June 29th and 30th! Is there anybody interested? For DC show, the National Symphony will perform at Kennedy Center.

For some of you who don’t know much about the enetertaining event, I link a clip as an example. Hollywood Ball Symphony performed the theme of Super Mario Bros. in LA, last year.

At the recent Serious Gamers Conference in San Francisco, Jane McGonigal gave an overview of ilovebees – an alternate reality game that focuses on collective intelligence – but is really a viral marketing campaign for Halo 2 back in 2005.  McGonigal talks of how these games can be used to teach skills focusing collective cognition, cooperation/meaning making, and coordination/formation.  http://seriousgamessource.com/features/feature_040307_sgsgdc_1.php

As I read this I kept thinking Slime Mold…but beyond that lovely image, I wondered to what extent collective intelligence tools could be used to shape behavior based on the assumption that the work is representative of a collective.  A basic assumption of players is that the game is emergent, which persuades them to buy-in to the conclusion.  What if it is not?

While Juul has moved on to discuss the cross roads of real and not real rules versus play; I found interesting that both him and Gonzalo Frasca made such an attempt to bring together radical narrativists and ludologists.  Frasca – who is said to have coined the word ludology – argues that ludology was not meant as an answer in opposition to narrativisim and further more challenges that there never has been such a divide – since it is impossible to find a pure narrativist in the field.  I found this to answer lots of questions that came popping into my head during the semester.  By seeing the difference as a “how” the story unfolds versus whether a story unfolds or not; we can insert some level of analysis that goes beyond whether the simulation is real or not.

I came across this list of 50 top gaming books – thought I would pass it on  – did not realize there were enough to determine top 50 http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3962&Itemid=2

Japanese Marketers Target Gamer Girls, Moms
By Chris Kohler

“Initially taken off guard, Japan’s game makers are now in the grip of girl fever — scrambling to market directly to women gamers who were once ignored.”

Part of what I find interesting about this is that many of the games described might be placed in the rather infamous “pink games” category which has been the subject of so much controversy and debate here in the states. (Also, yes, I’ve been spending a lot of time with From Barbie to Mortal Kombat lately. Sometimes I just don’t know what to do about this sort of this. As much as I get angry over the aggressive “pinking” of toys– I’m as appalled by what’s been done to Dora the Explorer as most feminists are– there’s also this part of me that feels like maybe you’ve got to start somewhere? I’m not sure.

To be honest, I also haven’t seen any really solid cross-section of recent stats on gaming, internet usage, technology and the spectrum of gender representation across them. I’d love to see some recent numbers, if anyone’s got a good link.