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12th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards to Honor Missile Command/Tempest Creator Dave Theurer With Pioneer Award, First Amendment Lawyers Ken Doroshow and Paul M. Smith With the Ambassador Award. Theurer to be Recognized for Creating Classic Arcade Titles that Paved the Way for Shooters; Doroshow and

"developers analyze their finished game and everything they did during its creation. Postmortems can be very helpful because they provide insights and tips that you can use in order to not make the same mistakes… or get ideas on how to do certain things when developing a game."

A forthcoming online class led by Maria Droujkova, creator of NaturalMath, exploring the role of online communities facilitating math game creation and development by students and teachers. (2/3/12, 1PM EST)

"The 12(th) Annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA), the peer-awarded highest honors in video game development, have revealed the recipients of two of its Special Awards - the Pioneer Award, given to developers for creating breakthrough video game genres or concepts, and the Ambassador Award, given to those who have helped the game industry advance to a better place. "

IARPA contract to Raytheon, videogames developed for training, emphasis on cognitive bias in decision making

"Organized by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, GDC 2013 is the game industry's most comprehensive and longest running professionals-only event where game developers converge for a week of learning, networking and inspiration. GDC 2013 will take place March 25 - 29 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. Session proposals can be submitted via the official GDC website at www.gdconf.com. PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1ifpS) "

VIDEO game developers at Nottingham Trent University scooped top awards at a design event. The teams of designers were challenged to create new games in just 48 hours. One Trent team took first prize at the IndieCity Global Game Jam category for their multiplayer game Flerbs, in which players have to guide jellies from one flag to another.

Report of a research study on how developers of 200 classic video game titles receive no royalties from publisher, followed by interview with author on why this is the case

Abstract: "Video games that customize to a player's experience level and abilities have the potential to allow a broader range of players to become engaged and maintain interest as they progress in experience level. A game that uniquely customizes the player's experience could attract additional demographics to gaming, which will result in a distinct edge in marketability and potential revenue. This thesis examines a subsection of adaptive gaming systems from the perspective of identifying game factors that alter the level of difficulty. Our focus is to provide a solution useful to both research and commercial gaming communities by developing a system that simulates results offline yet can be integrated into online play. While online performance is the main goal of an adaptive system, the offline simulation provides several benefits. Offline simulation allows the elimination of insignificant factors from inclusion in the training and evolution phase of machine learning algorithms. In addition it provides commercial games with a useful tool or method for performing game balancing and level tuning. To test our approach we designed a test-bed version of the game Pac-Man. The experimental testbed alters environment variables to evaluate their effect on a set of selected response variables. Observing the results of several response variables provides the potential to represent multiple player states, though our focus is on controlling the difficulty for a player. The testbed will simulate the actions of both Pac-Man and the ghosts over a variety of different settings and strategies. The evaluation of a factor's significance and its effect size are calculated using a factorial analysis approach. This method allows the identification of factors relevant to both individual strategies, and the set of all player strategies. Finally, as a proof of concept for both the online and adaptation prospects of this method, we developed a prototype adaptive system. Utilizing the releva

Athens, Ga. - A team of University of Georgia researchers has been awarded a $500,000 small business grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to develop interactive educational software aimed at teaching high school students how the five senses work in the context of the brain and how neurons work.IS3D LLC, a partnership founded in 2010 by eight UGA faculty and staff members, will develop the software with input from high school teachers and students in Atlanta and northeast Georgia.IS3D will design a game based on the five senses, along with a series of interactive case studies that will allow students to explore how neurons work. The software will be tested in classrooms to gauge their effectiveness in helping students learn and whether they improve the students' engagement in science curriculum

Carroll and MATC will offer joint major in video game development WAUKESHA, WIS.- On Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, representatives from Carroll University and Milwaukee Area Technical College will meet on Carroll's campus to sign an articulation agreement for a joint program in information technology with an emphasis on computer game development.

Abstract: "When developing serious games the most complex task is the alignment of instructional teaching methods and the game itself. To address this issue, we propose a shared language modeling approach for educational instructors and game developers. The language is based on so called serious game bricks, composites and rules. Combining these pedagogical and story elements allows the domain experts to create serious game patterns. The use of those patterns supports the development of serious games that are both entertaining and present specific educational objectives"

From the introduction "The method described in this review is based on the Machinations tool, written based on the book by Dormans (2012) and the accompanying paper, also by Dormans (20 11). After having researched the necessary elements to create this tool and created the first iterations (Dormans, 2008; 2009), Dormans created Machinations as a response to the call of Doug Church (Dormans, 2012, 21) for "formal abstract design tools" whi ch Church (1999) posted on Gamasutra, a game developer website. Machinations is a framework that uses automated, interactive diagrams to simulate and test the gameplay of a game before development, to see if there are any serious flaws in the design and if the game would have plausible (and more importantly, entertaining) progression and emergence. The diagrams represent the flow of resources in a game during, and the feedback structures that exist in, the gameplay, which can be interacted with during the d iagram's runtime."

Abstract: "The Global Games Jam (GGJ) attracts many people who are passionate about games development , co ming from a range of educational backgrounds. Therefore , the event can be experienced by novices and student developers as an opportunity for learning. This provi des an op ening to promote themes and ideas that could help form future thinking about games design, emerging as a form of induction on key design issues for new practitioners . Such an approach aims to raise awareness about issues which learners c ould help develop and take with them into industry . However, t he experience itself affords a deep experiential rhetoric and dialogue with experts that could be an effective pedagogical tool for issues seldom addressed deeply in formal educational settings . This pape r describes an account by one such individual, being introduced to game accessibility through participation in the GGJ . As such, it is not intended as a rigorous empirical analysis , but rather a perspective on one way a game jam can be experienced , invitin g further research on the topic."

Abstract: "Design techniques can have an important effect on how video games teach and players learn. The ability to harness these techniques in the design of educational video game can impact the motivation and engagement of playing and learning by creating more options for players to connect with game content as well as to other players. This article focuses on the design phase of the game development process and highlights the role of some techniques that can be used to design a successful educational video game (guidelines and design patterns). These techniques provide information on good practice and form a basis for evaluating the educational video game quality, acting as useful tools for developers to enhance video game playability. To this end, we have presented a set of guidelines and design patterns in order to provide an acceptable level of playability and, in this way, a better player experiences and learning achievement."

Abstract: "This paper describes the creation of a 2D game engine, the ULL Introductory Game Engine (UIGE), for use in an introductory video game programming course as part of an undergraduate computer science curriculum. Having the right tools available can make illustrating the concepts of game development and design substantially easier. In creating the engine, a number of factors such as ease of use and accessibility, were considered. Furthermore, course instructors must determine how much assistance (in the form of tools for the engine) is too much assistance, as students may miss core principles if development with the engine is made too abstract. Successful implementation of tools like UIGE allow students to produce games quickly and the concepts of game development to be taught more effectively."

From the abstract: "Model Driven Engineering (MDE) goes some way to provide the techniques required to generate a wide variety of interoperable serious games software solutions whilst encapsulating and shielding the technicality of the full software development process. In this paper, we present our Game Technology Model (GTM) which models serious game software in a manner independent of any hardware or operating platform specifications for use in our Model Driven Serious Game Development Framework."

From the abstract: "Objective: We report the design of a trial to assess the educational efficacy of InsuOnline, a game for education of primary care physicians (PCPs). The goal of InsuOnline was to improve appropriate initiation and adjustment of insulin for the treatment of DM. InsuOnline was designed to be educationally adequate, self-motivating, and attractive. Methods: A multidisciplinary team of endocrinologists, experts in medical education, and programmers, was assembled for the design and development of InsuOnline. Currently, we are conducting usability and playability tests, with PCPs and medical students playing the game on a desktop computer. Adjustments will be made based on these results. An unblinded randomized controlled trial with PCPs who work in the city of Londrina, Brazil, will be conducted to assess the educational validity of InsuOnline on the Web. In this trial, 64 PCPs will play InsuOnline, and 64 PCPs will undergo traditional instructional activities (lecture and group discussion). Knowledge on how to initiate and adjust insulin will be assessed by a Web-based multiple choice questionnaire, and attitudes regarding diabetes/insulin will be assessed by Diabetes Attitude Scale 3 at 3 time points-before, immediately after, and 6 months after the intervention. Subjects´ general impressions on the interventions will be assessed by a questionnaire. Software logs will be reviewed. Results: To our knowledge, this is the first research with the aim of assessing the educational efficacy of a computer game for teaching PCPs about insulin therapy in DM. We describe the development criteria used for creating InsuOnline. Evaluation of the game using a randomized controlled trial design will be done in future studies. Conclusions: We demonstrated that the design and development of a game for PCPs education on insulin is possible with a multidisciplinary team. InsuOnline can be an attractive option for large-scale continuous medical education to help imp

Collaboration between startup and institute