DICE was such a great conference and this really was the stand out presentation. I was lucky enough to catch up with Jesse at the show and discuss what we’re up to and he’s a fantastic guy, as well as one of the top designers to watch in the years to come as games become even more embedded in our everyday lives, not just as entertainment but as a way of structuring and motivating our lives.

Wow, long time since last post, lots to tell, more coming soon, but in the meantime here’s something really neat:

Quest to Learn is a school established in New York by Katie Salen and co. with the aim of teaching kids entirely through games (both physical and digital). Immediately I’m reminded of The Young Ladies Illustrated Primer, and would love to see first hand how the whole thing is working out for them. From their website:

“It is a place where digital media meets books and students learn to think like designers, inventors, mathematicians, and more. Q2L brings together teachers with a passion for content, a vision for helping kids to learn best, and a commitment to changing the way students will grow in the world.”

I would SO send my kids there.

It’s fantastic that initiatives like this are getting funding and that people like Katie are putting a lot of this Games for Learning theory into serious practice. It’s one thing to put a budget maths tutor on the market, or create an experimental MMO designed to teach history, but running an entire school curriculum on play is entirely next level. Congrats Katie and look forward to seeing more!

This is really neat, not only because it makes a funny video, but because in one day (and a night) these guys tested a hypothesis and reported back some hard data on how making something fun can result in something positive (physical activity in this instance).

I’d like to see whether there was a difference if they changed the keys so that you could only play notes in a fixed scale as it would certainly make it sound a little more appealing, but may remove some of the experimental nature. It’s also likely important for the key layout – both visually and functionally – to emulate what people are already familiar with.

Practical limitations aside, its awesome to see a cool idea in this space that someone actually got their hands dirty delivering. Props to VW for getting behind it, more here:

http://www.rolighetsteorin.se/

It’s been eye opening to finally have some time to reflect over the last few months. Having gone through a pretty extreme version of The 6 Stages of a Broken Heart after farewelling the company I slaved over for 5 years, I now feel well and truly in the throes of Stage 6: Freedom. And for the first time, I’ve had space to truly reflect, to stop and consider where I want to be and what I want to do. I realised that by throwing myself straight into entrepreneurship out of university, I had little time to tune myself as a balanced, energetic, focused individual. There were whole worlds of physiology and psychology which I had neglected, compensating with pure passion for what I was doing. Some people keep this up forever, and if Straylight hadn’t have closed, there’s no telling how long I might have kept on like that. There just never seemed to be enough time. Well, I can now safely say that there has been a significant silver lining to that terribly dark cloud as I discover that spending time tuning yourself makes a remarkable difference to the world around you.

“Personal Development” stirs up some pretty negative reactions in some people. I’ve got to admit I was really embarrassed at first to admit I was listening to tapes while I ran and scrawling journals on values and goals. These actions now seem so essential that looking back on those sheepish moments I realise that I was crossing a barrier of social stigma into a new lifestyle, a new value system that regardless of how cheesy or un-cool its ambassadors may be, has been a resoundingly positive experience and I am sure would be for anyone else.

So why is it that we put up these social barriers to self-actualisation? Why aren’t more people using these tools to get the most out of their lives? Are we all just happy being struggling, flawed artists wallowing in our self pity? It’s probably not as dramatic as that, the real problem is likely a mismatch of learning tools with learning styles, and in a lot of cases a mismatch of style in general (Tony Robbins suspenders are likely a massive turn off to most fashion conscious freshmen).

In this respect, games have a serious part to play in the next wave of mainstream personal development tools. We’ve already seen Brain Age and Wii Fit become incredibly popular, and now we’re starting to see applications like Livestrong Loseit pickup serious internet cred for “gamifying” a healthy lifestyle. I’ve been watching Booyah Society quite closely as well which seems to take things to the next step. I’m really looking forward to seeing a more gamey approach to finances with something like the great Pocketsmith (developed here in Dunedin!).

Whenever I think of this stuff I always come back to The Diamond Age, and my dream to one day create The Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer :)

P.S. If Livestrong, Nike+, and Pocketsmith all linked in with Booyah, I would use that thing constantly, lets get the API cranking :)

This video from legendary game designer Will Wright hits the nail on the head in saying that Serious Games are so focused on being worthy of academic interest that they lose their playful nature. This then works against them as it is that element of play and fun which makes them potentially valuable educational tools. His quote from Rod Sterling about the Twilight Zone being “the only show that could deal with reality” (despite being a science fiction program) perfectly illustrates how we can create engaging fictional experiences that are inspired by fact that then come full circle to inspire their audience to think differently (even though they didn’t consciously come to the content for a “meaningful” experience).

Just had this book and page pointed out to me called Changing the Game by David Edery and Ethan Mollick. After reading through the synopsis I ordered a copy right away,

Changing the Game

From the preface:

“Games can make it fun for employees to learn how to manage a supply chain. Games can encourage customers to voluntarily spend hours learning about the features of a product. Games can encompass massive economies of virtual goods and services that are worth billions of real-world dollars. All of this, and much more, is happening right now at the intersection of business and games, and the forward-thinking companies at that junction have already begun to reap the great rewards of their effort. There are so many ways in which games are transforming the nature of work and play, that whether you work in a business, a governmental organization, or a non-profit, there is almost certainly a way to take advantage of games to better accomplish your goals.

So, are you ready to play?”

They’ve also put together a great page with links to quick fire examples of how game mechanics have been used in various forms to promote, education, and entertain, from the Google Image Labeler through to Americas Army.

Games for Non-Gamers 101

Brian Crecente over at Kotaku took the initiative to hit up the big three console makers as to the future of educational content on their system.

You can see the full interview here

Here’s a distilled version of what they said:

• They’re already doing it, and have had wild success with Brain Age, Wii Fit, etc
• Taking a broader approach to what “educational” means. It doesn’t need to be a curriculum thing, more like personal development / expression (see: Wii Music, My Spanish Coach), and games like Mystery Case Files that require more mental activity and focus, but are still primarily entertainment products
• Nice quote around how games in general can be a positive influence “Games can open up the imagination, just like a good book or movie can”

• Very committed to it as a driver in expanding the mass market relevance of the 360
• Focusing on development tools (XNA) and distribution models (XBLA Community Marketplace) that lower the cost of development for consoles, hence making consoles a more accessible platform for smaller educational projects
• While both Nintendo and Sony pointed to their links with charities as their commitment to social responsibility, it seems Microsoft are the only ones invested to pushing forward the field of developing games which specifically address an educational or social problem

• Agrees consoles are a good platform for delivery of educational content, as the Gen Y demographic are fluent with their interfaces
• Have already had some success with putting the PSP into schools
• Educational games are a “secondary” (maybe tertiary, after casual entertainment?) focus for the console, and as such will become more relevant as the PS3’s 10 year lifecycle plays out
• They see Buzz as having meaningful elements through development of general knowledge
• Sights LittleBigPlanet as “exactly the type of game with the potential to be held up as providing a positive influence”

In short, Nintendo are happy they’re doing their bit, Microsoft are investing in the progression of game design as an educational medium, and Sony seem focused on extending the value proposition of entertainment titles through meaningful content such as user-created content.

Great essay by Danc over at Lost Garden

What activities can be turned into games?

Inspired by an experience with Wii Fit, the crux of the article is that any measurable skill can form the core mechanic of a game. A wider game system can then be used to motivate the player and track their progress, providing a unique, dynamic, and fun way to pick up new skills.

The gravity of this revelation is not lost of Danc:

“As more leisure games emerge that mediate and accelerate the acquisition of skills, there is going to be a economic incentive to spread the science and craft of game design far beyond our tiny game industry. Game design is not just about games. It is a transformational new product development technique that can turn historically commoditized activities into economic blockbusters.”

Wii Fit seems to do a much better job of making this sort of thing fun, an element of the equation that I personally think is still sorely missing from Brain Age.

Wow…. WOW. This is really amazing:

Solve Puzzles for Science | Fold It

Synopsis via Kotaku :
“Could you win a Nobel Prize in Medicine for playing a computer game? Foldit is a game for the PC and Mac that takes the Folding@Home concept and adds a more human element to the mix. Instead of having a network of computers work through all of the possible shapes for folding proteins, a problem so huge it could take centuries for all of the computers in the world to solve, Foldit presents unfolded proteins to the player in the form of puzzles, on the basis that human intuition could tackle the problem much faster.”

The presentation is very tidy, the tutorials effective, the difficultly curve smooth, and even if they do go a little too far with the whole PopCap “stars bursting all over the screen makes a player feel good” mantra, it is actually a joy to play. More comments to come as I get the chance to really dive deeper into this brilliant initiative. But a question in the meantime:

“Is this classed as Collective Intelligence??

I ask because it seems this isn’t as much collective problem solving and design here as it is just brute force utilisation of a niche problem solving skill across a global population.

Remember that “game about making games” that I was gushing over during GDC? I finally found the video that they showed during the presentation online:

There’s also a nice writeup on the design process from Greg Trefry at the GameLab site:
Greg Trefry on the process of developing GameStar Mechanic

I really seriously want to get my hands on this thing.

The Guardian have a nice interview with Will Wright up that discusses his approach to game design, in particular the empowerment of the player through the provision of tool-sets and simulations that act as a platform for expressive play.

Unlocking the power of parallel play

He says of his experience designing Sim City:

“I had this little guinea pig city which I could do experiments on, which made the subject so much more interesting than reading a book. So the process of discovery, and getting other people to enjoy discovery has always been a part of it.”

I think we could probably consider all of Wright’s games Meaningful Play to varying degrees. I’m certainly keen to see whether his new Spore game can capture the imagination of the masses through its ambitious attempt to simulate ”...life from a single cell to a solar empire.”

Questionut from the BBC

This game is pretty neat. When I saw it’s quirky mystical graphical style and it’s exploratory, intuitive interface, I immediately had very high hopes. Too bad those hopes were almost completely dashed when I was halted by none other than the infamous Multi-Choice Challenge! This is a fantastic example once again how far too many developers are interested in making things visually intriguing, and then running out of time to actually think about how to integrate the educational content into actual gameplay contexts. The actual learning component always seems to be retrofitted, like all the ugly rusting air-conditioning units that line the exterior of Shanghai apartment blocks.

However! I do like this more than Brain Age for a couple of reasons:
– There’s a world which you can escape into and visually it’s really neat, so it doesn’t feel nearly as much like work.
– They mix knowledge testing with skill testing and intertwine both with the visual surrounding.
– They also place many of these multi-choice questions in real life contexts.

It’s just such a shame as I just don’t see how they failed to connect together all these things into a cohesive experience.

P.S. There’s a big difference between learning games, and testing games. Where are all the learning games!?

Cool stuff from GDC:
– More thinking is being done around the interaction between games and serialized content (e.g. TV programs and comic books). In particular, Larian Studios have a really cool online world for kids in Belgium which interacts with a TV program and shows off kid-created content.

– Microsoft are using a game called “Bug Hunter” to increase productivity and reduce bugs in its Windows Defect Prevention team

– Games in academia, in particular the adoption of tools such as XNA in the Computer Science classroom, are proving fruitful in attracting and retaining students, as well as pushing up grades

– “Emotiv Systems”:http://www.emotiv.com/ unveiled the next generation of human-computer interaction with their headset controller that allows you to play games with your mind! While it seems the hardware needs a little tweaking before being released to the public late 08, their demo successfully showcased the ability to move objects through 3D space just by thinking about it (support for The Force Unleashed must surely be round the corner)

– Havok are releasing the binary version of their physics suite for free, allowing unprecedented access to an industrial strength physics solution for the independent game dev community

– Portal rightly took home top honors at the Game Developers Choice Awards. The line for their postmortem on the game engulfed North Hall at 4pm on Friday, which was novel considering the final sessions of the conference are usually quite a docile affair

So we’re here at GDC and its kicking off brilliantly with the Serious Games summit in West Hall. I’ll try to give updates on talks, people, and general discoveries that have relevance to the Meaningful Play message throughout the conference.

I was really looking forward to the opening talk for the Summit by Ben Sawyer and Peter Smith that aimed to look at the current state of the Serious Games industry, and the way we define the scope of the field. While they gave quite a nice overview of where games are being used for applications other than pure entertainment, they didn’t actually make much progress as to whether “Serious Games” is in fact the best definition for what we’re trying to do. For anyone that’s read our paper on the issue, you’ll know that we’ve put that definition on our blacklist for bringing up way too many negative connotations when presented anyone outside the industry.

On a lighter note, it’s not even lunchtime yet and I’ve already seen what is sure to be one of the coolest things at the show. Katie Salen (Parsons School of Design) and Greg Tretry (GameLab) presented their quite stunning game about making games: Game Star Mechanic.
Aimed at children in the 10 – 15 age group (I think), the game is presented through a beautifully rendered stream-punk-esque Anime World, drawing in any kids who might even be slightly interested in the YuGiOh or Pokemon franchises (which I think must make up around 70-80% of American kids). The story revolves around warring factions of Mechanics, who each think they know how to design the best game (each represents a different style or genre). The player is tasked with exploring these worlds, and fixing broken games. As they use subsets of the tools to make broken games playable again, they’re introduced to new elements of the game construction system. Before they know it, they have all the skills to start making their own games, without a single piece of code, and all playable by simply flicking a big EDIT / PLAY button always present at the top right of the screen.
Unlike other “simple to use” game creation tools (like Game Maker) this game doesn’t require a single piece of code to be written, and is all driven by and drag-and-drop, slider based interface.

Really quite amazing, and from the videos they showed us of the game’s in use in the classroom, the kids absolutely love it as well.
Other interesting developments of the day include Submarine training simulations, an open critique for a redistricting game, and a meditation game that you play with your heart rate!
Neat stuff. More soon.

Creator’s of America’s Army, Virtual Heroes, have used their platform to create a virtual training environment for customer service:

HILTON GARDEN INN® UNVEILS ULTIMATE TEAM PLAY

Besides the fact that they chose a terrible name for the game, and made a dubious claim that their game is the first application of games in the hospitality industry (how about The Kitchen guys!), it’s good to see big players like this break out of the military space and look at more mainstream applications for their technology.

It will be very interesting to see how their branching dialogue system pans out, as simulating realistic human behavior is just a little tricky. I’ve got to say I was pretty impressed by Mass Effect, but I’m assuming this scenario will call for more direct repsonces quoted stright out of the Hilton 3-ring binder.