games industry Archives - Page 2 of 2 - TriplePoints of Interest

Looking For Group: Applying MMO Techniques to Learning and Business

Players of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games have long known that working cooperatively and competitively within the game space has improved not only their leet gaming skillz but also real life abilities, including leadership, communication skills, creative thinking and adaptability. Lee Sheldon, assistant professor in the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University, has taken the use of MMO design and terminology to the next level and applied it to his classroom education.

Referenced by Professor Jesse Schell in his talk at DICE, Sheldon has applied basic elements of MMOs to his classroom, including forming guilds (small groups within the classroom), quests (activities and projects – both “solo” and “guild” based), offering “Boss battles” (exams), and using XP points instead of grades. While the media has focused mostly on Sheldon’s use of a non-traditional grading system, they’re missing the bigger picture.

According to Lee Sheldon, the use of the MMO system for classroom instruction has resulted in better attendance, greater class participation and more quality coursework. By utilizing terminology that students understand, Sheldon’s ideas may help students become better prepared for the real world, having expanded their collaborative skills, adaptive thought patterns, communication abilities, and leadership.

While Lee Sheldon’s classes are specifically tailored for game design—he teaches courses in Theory and Practice of Game Design and Multiplayer Game Design—these MMO principles (and game design theory in general) could be applied to nearly any classroom situation.

It’s not so far-fetched for the workplace, either. According to IT News in Australia, companies are already adapting some of the basic tenets of good game design and applying them to the work place, even though they’re not necessarily using the terminology of “guilds,” “raids” and “questing.” Some workplace game-like offerings include clear, well-defined goals and gradual, incremental rewards, such as points for showing up on time…

Simple psychology explains the benefits of using gameplay principles in all aspects of our lives. Offer rewards, get better results; you don’t have to be Lee Sheldon to understand that.

Afterword: Later this year, Lee Sheldon will be reporting more of his findings and detailing this project in his book “Practical Game Design: A Toolkit for Educators, Researchers and Corporations.”

Waggle of Choice: Will Motion Control Decide the Future of Gaming?

[UPDATE – IGN’s editors weigh in on the PlayStation Move.]

Advances in hardware technology are encouraging gamers to get off the couch, but do the games actually warrant the price of admission (and broken lamps)? New gesture-based controls for Microsoft and Sony are novel, but in order to be truly innovative they have to benefit the gameplay. Otherwise these features will quickly be written off as tacky add-ons designed by marketing experts to keep consumers jonesing for the “next big thing.”

A few days ago at GDC I observed/tested a variety of new high-tech gaming devices, but wasn’t bowled over by any of them. Sony’s wand controller, now officially titled Move and set to launch this fall, does not seem to offer much beyond Nintendo’s Wii remote, which debuted three-plus years ago. It’s more responsive and nice-looking, but as with any of these new peripherals, there’s no way to judge the hardware in a vacuum. Rather, the software will determine the Move’s fate, and even if it’s compelling, to me this feels like a “day late, buck short” response from the historically-conservative Sony. Even if EyePet: Move is an amazing experience, the PlayStation does not stand much chance of moving in on the Wii’s immensely diverse userbase. Just because grandma can hold her own in Wii Tennis doesn’t mean that Little Susie is going to take an interest in dad’s Blu-ray playing, manticore-slaying PS Triple.

Generally speaking, hopes are higher for Microsoft’s camera-based Project Natal, but without substantial software demos, skeptics are outnumbering believers five-to-one. With that in mind, E3 2010 aught to be pretty exciting this year. With all three console giants committed to increasing console lifecycles, these unique add-ons allow developers to experiment with new game designs without starting from scratch on a brand new SDK.

While I can’t fault either company for wanting a piece of the motion-control pie, it seems that an entirely new kind of peripheral would garner a great deal more excitement and attention. As Dan Ackerman points out on the CNET Crave blog, the Wii owes a great deal of its success to its affordability and Nintendo’s reliable, family friendly reputation. The Wii-mote/Natal/Move debate will push gaming even further into the mainstream, but isn’t necessarily the be-all-end-all of gaming’s future. The dual analog-stick controller has gone largely unchanged in the last eight years. As opposed to the waggle revolution, I’d much rather see a design overhaul for “normal” controllers wherein each button, stick, d-pad and trigger is put under the microscope and thoroughly tested and refined. Tomorrow’s best console games will be played via a truly innovative controller that will take cues from the most unique and high-end PC gaming peripherals. Its weight and sensitivity will be user-customizable like today’s gaming mice, it’ll have a variety of force-feedback options and triggers will alter their “give” according to the on-screen action. Yes, this technological marvel might cost a hundred bucks a pop, but it’ll be the official controller in the inevitable two-console future – the gamepad of choice for the decidedly hardcore console.

Pretty, Pink and Pretty Smart: Computer Engineer Barbie’s Strides Send Girls on the Path to Silicon Valley

At this week’s American International Toy Fair, the Mattel Corporation announced Barbie’s latest career as a computer engineer. Decked out in a binary-print tshirt, leggings and sensible(ish) shoes, Barbie sports a Bluetooth headset and carries a pink laptop (with “Barbie” written in ASCII on the screen, cleverly enough). The Barbie® I Can Be…™ Computer Engineer Doll was created by Mattel to inspire a new generation of girls to become part of this growing profession. Let’s hope Barbie can use her computer engineering skills to inspire more girls to become part of the video game profession, a subset of the computer industry that currently has women comprising only 5% of its ranks.

Barbie’s inspiration notwithstanding, women have already begun taking a more active role as both developers and consumers of video games. The Guildhall at SMU, a graduate video game education program, has recently announced that 20 percent of their incoming class is female, and the Electronic Software Association’s most recent survey of gamers has asserted that 43 percent of online players are women. (The latter statistic could most likely be attributed to the popularity of casual games, but also may include games such as World of Warcraft, which has a surprisingly high female gamer population.)

For those who are interested in becoming part of the rising tide of women in the video game industry, the Frag Dolls blog has posted a list of 50 games industry women from whom to draw inspiration, including Corrinne Yu, the Principal Engine Programmer for Microsoft’s Halo Franchise Team and the first female Technical Lead for Microsoft Game Studios, as well as noted game designer Jane McGonigal and Fiona Cherbak, current head of the Women in Games Special Interest Group (SIG) for the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

Fiona and the Women in Games SIG are spearheading initiatives to help inspire girls and women to take a more active role within the video games industry. Most recently, she and the SIG have created GameMentorOnline to “meet the growing need for peer-to-peer mentorship support in games,” as well as the Games2Girls Program Committee, (chaired by gaming industry veteran Margaret Wallace), which is working in conjunction with the Games Research Lab at Columbia in NY to develop course curriculum to help promote video games as a profession to middle school girls. Other important programs include the Indie Women’s Game Design Competition, with winners to be announced at GDC 2010, and the Women in Games Preservation Committee, which showcases important women in games through its database and Wiki.

Join Barbie and the thousands of real-life women who are breaking the mold in the computer engineering and video games industries, one pink high heel at a time. For more information, check out the Women in Games SIG, or attend sessions at the upcoming Game Developer’s Convention in San Francisco.

“Zero” Marketing is the Best Marketing: Dark Void Zero and Instant Nostalgia [Updated]

[As noted on Giant Bomb, a Zero or “0” in a game’s title establishes that it’s a prequel or remake, ala Resident Evil 0, Perfect Dark Zero and Metroid: Zero Mission.]

Dark Void Zero is a little game with huge potential – the lovechild of retro fan-service and innovative marketing has become a very compelling title, and is likely to lead the charge for similar games. Available today for a $5 download on the DSiWare Store, it’s clearly designed to build hype for its full-priced “big brother” Dark Void, ironically released today for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC – everything except the Wii. The two games are as different as their native consoles – Dark Void is a 3^rd Person Action game (think Gears of War + jetpack) while Zero is a 2D action/platformer with a decidedly old-school look and feel. While it’s easy to write off Dark Void Zero as nothing more than a puffed-up, buyable advertisement, the game’s nostalgic details make it worth a second look.

dark_void_cover_art — Cheesy-yet-awesome "box artwork" for Dark Void Zero

Continue reading “Zero” Marketing is the Best Marketing: Dark Void Zero and Instant Nostalgia [Updated]

Google’s Nexus One – Changing the Mobile Gaming Market?

While the iPhone has taken the lead in attracting development for the mobile gaming genre, and development for the Android has been trailing behind, many folks are currently wondering if the Nexus One will be the device that truly changes the mobile game development market around in favor of the Android open source mobile operating system.

The Nexus One is Google’s latest smartphone to hit the market – releasing just a few days ago during CES on January 5, 2010. The phone runs on the newly released Android 2.1 operating system, which features a number of significant enhancements such as Live Wallpapers that are animated in the background and react to different user inputs, an Application Drawer that can be pressed to access the list of applications installed on the phone, and a Media Gallery that provides several new features allowing users to browse, edit, and share photos and videos on the phone with just the swipe of a finger.

Aside from these dazzling enhancements, the Nexus One features some real meaty upgrades such as a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, on-chip graphical capabilities and a 480×800 resolution screen (ideal for gaming) that truly set this device apart from the iPhone. And the kicker…..Adobe has confirmed that Flash Player 10.1 will be coming soon to the Nexus One, and they promise that it will provide a consistent, cross-platform runtime across desktop and mobile devices.

This news is particularly significant because Flash-based game development is so widespread in the gaming industry, yet the iPhone doesn’t support Flash. Highly-trafficked and popular entertainment genres including social games (via Facebook, MySpace, etc.) and virtual worlds monetizing through the sale of virtual goods and microtransactions are primarily Flash-based. The opportunity to additionally monetize from the Nexus One platform is significant news for mobile game developers as well as the many Flash game developers who have held off from developing for the iPhone SDK due to these limitations.

As it stands now, the Android Market has about 18,000 apps available while the iTunes App Store features upwards of 100,000 apps. It is yet to be seen whether Google’s Nexus One will be a game changer for the mobile gaming space, but considering how fast this market has moved in the last year, it won’t be long before we find out.

Purposeful Wandering: Exploration in Gaming

I game slowly, and I don’t mind admitting it. I play games methodically, ponderously, and I like to fully explore an area before moving on. Strangely enough, though, I’m no completionist, at least in the sense that I don’t strive for every last achievement or feather or flag. No, I’m fueled by a combination of curiosity and cautious preparedness. I don’t want to rush into that next boss fight under-equipped, and I certainly don’t want to hurry past a rare item. I’d love to say that my commitment to exploration is a product of child-like wonderment, but in truth it’s been nurtured by years of gaming.

Wandering off the beaten path has been advisable in gaming since the hidden warp pipes of Super Mario Brothers (1986). Super Mario World (1990) introduced the Ghost Houses, which always featured a boring “normal” exit, as well as at least one hidden exit that would reward the player with goodies like access to the invaluable Top Secret Area. Donkey Kong Country (1994) furthered my curiosity by including hidden rewards in just about every level, highlighted by nothing but a sole banana above a seemingly bottomless pit. More often than not, the digital road-less-traveled yields a rocket launcher, health upgrade or shiny new motorbike

Super Metroid Map — Gotta Turn Those Blue Squares Pink : Super Metroid

It’s a chicken-and-egg relationship that I’ve grown to love, and when my patience and thorough searching leaves me empty-handed, it’s incredibly frustrating. I feel betrayed when I knowingly walk an in-game mile in the wrong direction and find naught but an invisible wall.

Continue reading Purposeful Wandering: Exploration in Gaming

Gifted Gamers Give Back this Holiday Season

This holiday season, while many of us were busy making lists and checking them twice, gamers across the nation were giving back by participating in events that benefited kids who won’t be home for Christmas or otherwise wouldn’t receive gifts. In the spirit of the season, we wanted to highlight some of the ways that gamers have been bringing – and can still bring – a little bit of gaming joy into the lives of those in need of a good dose of cheer.

Recently, some of the TriplePoint team attended Ümloud, a fundraiser for the popular Child’s Play charity. For a small donation, gamers formed bands and played Rock Band on stage at one of San Francisco’s most popular clubs (a short video can be seen here).

On December 9, Nyko Technologies got into the giving spirit this season, participating in the Gamers United party. Nyko provided several of their latest gaming accessories for the Teen Lounge in the Mattel Children’s Hospital of UCLA .

Game players who have been looking for a fun and easy way to contribute have been logging onto Facebook and playing BioWare Labs’ latest creation, Gift of the Yeti. Every time Gift of the Yeti is played this holiday season, BioWare will donate to Child’s Play (up to a total of $10,000). Facebook gamers have also been helping to feed and educate children in Haiti through Zynga‘s “Sweet Seeds for Haiti” program by purchasing sweet potato seeds in the popular game Farmville.

For those still looking to make a difference this season, you can still donate games, consoles and gaming accessories to the following charity organizations:

Child’s Play: Created by the team behind the popular gaming site Penny Arcade, Child’s Play has donated over 5 million dollars in toys, games and books to children’s hospitals across the US, Canada, UK and elsewhere. You can donate through PayPal, or even purchase items through Amazon.com that will be delivered directly to the hospital of your choice.
Toys for Tots: Toys for Tots collects new unwrapped toys and distributes them to needy children in the communities in which toys are collected.
Gamers United : A group dedicated to highlighting the many positive ways in which gamers contribute to society, its beneficiaries include Child’s Play, Toys for Tots and the Good Shepherd Center of Los Angeles, a center for homeless women and children.

Another way to get directly involved is to contact your local children’s hospital or community center. Most accept donations of your gently used games and gaming consoles (keep in mind it’s best not to donate “M” rated games), or better still, volunteer! Often, time is the best gift you can give.

There are so many ways in which gamers can spread the joy of videogames while making a valuable contribution to those in need. Make a difference in the lives of others, and you might be surprised how great it feels.

Desert Bus for Hope: Raising Money for Charity by Playing the Worst Game in the World

Originally part of an unreleased Sega CD title starring magician/comedian/TV personalities Penn & Teller, Desert Bus is the cruelest, most boring video game ever created. It is also at the core of a charitable effort that has raised over $130,000 in the past month, Desert Bus for Hope.

Desert Bus, in brief, is a video game interpretation of the drive from Tuscon, AZ to Las Vegas, NV. Players must drive an empty passenger bus along a straight, empty highway at no more than 45mph. The game cannot be paused, the bus drifts erratically to the right, and going off the pavement means crashing and being towed back to the start. Unfortunately for the player, the entire game takes place in real time… even the potential tow back to Tuscon.

In simpler terms, that means a player must spend roughly eight hours playing Desert Bus perfectly to reach Las Vegas and earn one point, whereupon they are then given the opportunity to turn around and make the return trip to improve their score. This can be repeated up to 99 times, assuming the player can figure out a way to survive the forty-ish days of random button presses it would take to hit that number.

Unlikely as it may seem, one group of intrepid individuals has made an attempt to do just that for the last three years. Desert Bus for Hope is the brainchild of Canadian sketch comedy group LoadingReadyRun, and they have collected over $200,000 dollars on behalf of Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play charity to date.

The total for this year’s drive stands at a staggering $138,449.68, enough to hire a team of four Desert Bus drivers (switching off at set intervals, for sanity’s sake) for five days and sixteen hours. They earned over 10 points, their scoring potential slightly marred by an unfortunate bus crash midway through the run. Breaking the $100,000 mark also added to the masochism by forcing LRR member Matt Wiggins to watch as many viewings of “New Moon” as possible in a single day… all in the name of charity.

To better involve fans and help boost support for the event, the Desert Bus for Hope site featured live camera feeds of both the game itself and the driving team. A laundry list of folks connected to the games industry called in to chat with the drivers during the run, including A Life Well Wasted’s Robert Ashley and geek icon Wil Wheaton. The DBfH team also kept fans up to date on Twitter, collecting over 2,000 followers and making their way into the trending topics for a short time.

Desert Bus for Hope’s 2009 fundraising efforts have helped push Child’s Play over $1,000,000 for the fourth year in a row, an incredible feat in itself considering that the charity was only founded six years ago. To the folks at Desert Bus for Hope and Penny Arcade, you have our heartfelt thanks for making the world a better place on behalf of gamers everywhere.

Selling the Farm: Virtual Goods Summit 2009

Unless you have been living under a social media rock for the past few months, you (or if you are not willing to admit it, “someone you know”) have most likely participated in the latest sensation to hit the games industry – social gaming. Redefining the market and shifting demographics of those traditionally associated with gaming, companies such as Zynga, Playfish, and Playdom have charged into the space by storm, and as made evident at last week’s Virtual Goods Summit 2009, are here to stay.

Uncertainty looms for the future of social gaming hits such as "FarmVille" — Uncertainty looms for the future of social gaming hits such as FarmVille

There are skeptics who believe social gaming could potentially just be a current trend. With simple gameplay mechanics and questionable depth, maintaining active users beyond a few months could pose a challenge to even the most successful of social gaming companies currently finding success in the casual market. A potentially more dangerous threat to such companies lies within questionable corporate practices, which has led to some recent backlash as exposed last week by TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington:

“In short, these games try to get people to pay cash for in game currency so they can level up faster and have a better overall experience. Which is fine. But for users who won’t pay cash, a wide variety of “offers” are available where they can get in-game currency in exchange for lead gen-type offers. Most of these offers are bad for consumers because it confusingly gets them to pay far more for in-game currency than if they just paid cash (there are notable exceptions, but the scammy stuff tends to crowd out the legitimate offers). And it’s also bad for legitimate advertisers.” Continue reading Selling the Farm: Virtual Goods Summit 2009

TriplePoint Speaker Series #3: Dan Hsu

Last week we were joined by Dan Hsu, former Editor in Chief of EGM and Co-Founder of the recently launched, Bitmob. Dan spoke with us about his extensive experience in game magazine publishing, the challenge of incorporating casual game coverage with a hardcore voice, the role he feels community has in the editorial process, what he believes the future of video game reporting will be, and much more. Please enjoy the video, and be sure to check out the unique community features Dan is developing at his new site, Bitmob.

Tag: games industry