Becker Video Game Design

Abstract "In this white paper we introduce Situational Games (sitgames). Situational games are played for a reason, on the spot, and in interac- tion with the actual situation at that spot. We argue that the elementary properties of sitgames make them suitable for rst class serious digital games with quantiable results. Situation provides a point of reference for the assessment of events and discourse, while interaction (gaming) provides the necessary active attitude to actually achieve a change in behaviour. Both are occasions of \the book is better than the movie".

"Driven by an initiative of the Adult & Paediatric Diabetes Psychology Service of New Zealand, research has been performed to develop new mechanisms, in the form of computer games, to educate children and teenagers about living with diabetes. Aimed at achieving maximum education effectiveness, the ultimate goal of our research is to develop innovative machine learning algorithms that can be used in games to improve their ability to learn about the changing needs of children and to incorporate this intelligence into the game interface. We also plan to collect and report on the information collected from testing our computer games within a small group of children who have been diagnosed with type I diabetics. "

"Jonathan Mak sighs. After three years of work, development on Sound Shapes is finally wrapping up. And yet, Mak and co-creator Shaw-Han Liem don't seem particularly relieved. "At this point, all you're seeing are problems," says Liem. "It's hard to appreciate how cool it is sometimes, because all you're dealing with all day are issues."

More Than $100,000 Awarded to Students and Educators by The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and E-Line Media WASHINGTON, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The winners of the National STEM Video Game Challenge, a competition to motivate interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by learning, playing and making video games, were announced today at The Atlantic's Technologies in Education Forum in Washington, DC.

"This thesis proposes the development of a video game platform to increase the publics knowledge of required protective actions in the event of a nuclear terrorism attack. Current scientific analyses have identified elementary steps the public should take to increase the likelihood of survival in the event of a nuclear terrorism incident; however, a knowledge gap currently exists with regard to the publics understanding of these required actions. Unfortunately, todays preparedness initiatives do not have the efficacy required to impact significant improvements in this area. Video games, more specifically a sub-genre of games known as serious games, are uniquely postured to address this knowledge gap. Not only do video games provide a motivating, enriching and engaging educational medium, but also they are unique in that they address the emerging educational needs of todays games generation, which desires more interactive educational environments since they have been immersed in technology for the majority of their lives. As such, leveraging this technology can help close the current knowledge gap and increase the nations resilience to nuclear terrorism."

"ARM (Adventure Running Machine) is a game engine and editor which can be used to build top-down adventure games without knowing how to program. It includes documentation and tutorials for using the software. Games built utilize the HTML5 canvas for playability in most web browsers."

"Abstract-Implementations of mobile games have become prevalent industrial technology due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices. However, simultaneous-movement multiplayer games - games that a player competes simultaneously with other players - are usually affected by such parameters as latency, type of game architecture and type of communication technology. This paper makes a review of the above parameters, considering the pros and cons of the various techniques used in addressing each parameter. It then goes ahead to propose an enhanced mechanism for dealing with packet delays based on partitioning the game background into grids. The proposed design is implemented and tested using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi communication technologies. The efficiency and effectiveness of the design are also analyzed."

"This project created an Application Programming Interface (API) for a simulated modular digital game system. Each module consists of a triangle that displays colors at the center and edges, monitors an input and signals from the surrounding modules, and communicates with a computer controller. The API allows users to develop game programs for the system. The simulation runs the game files and displays the results. The focus was on practical coding and design of an instructional game system. The challenges in creating such a system provided a valuable learning environment for us in the areas of user interface design, system tool management and design, human computer interaction, and designing educational platforms"

"The evacuation of complex buildings is a challenge under any circumstances. Fire drills are a way of training and validating evacuation plans. However, sometimes these plans are not taken seriously by their participants. It is also difficult to have the financial and time resources required. In this scenario, serious games can be used as a tool for training, planning and evaluating emergency plans. In this paper a prototype of a serious games evacuation simulator is presented. To make the environment as realistic as possible, 3D models were made using Blender and loaded onto Unity3D, a popular game engine. This framework provided us with the appropriate simulation environment. Some experiences were made and results show that this tool has potential for practitioners and planners to use it for training building occupants."

"About this Project: I love playing video games but I'm regularly disappointed in the limited and limiting ways women are represented. This video project will explore, analyze and deconstruct some of the most common tropes and stereotypes of female characters in games. The series will highlight the larger reoccurring patterns and conventions used within the gaming industry rather than just focusing on the worst offenders. I'm going to need your help to make it happen!"

"On May 29th, 11am-1pm PDT (2-4pm EDT), you'll have the chance to join leading experts in health and health care games-including game designer Jane McGonigal, Lygeia Ricciardi of Health and Human Services, and researchers from IFTF-in a live Webinar discussion to explore opportunities for using games to improve health outcomes."

"Kellian Adams worked at SCVNGR Inc. for three years in the museum department before striking out on her own in January 2012 to found Green Door Labs Inc. in Cambridge to create location-based educational games. So it's no wonder that her first collaboration was with one of the country's foremost museums - the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York."

"3D GameLab is a quest-based learning platform for teachers and students of all ages "

Editorial by Timothy Loew, executive director of Mass DiGi, encouraging Massachusetts to tap the state's game workforce potential and avoid mistakes of Rhode Island in financing 38 Studios

"This study evaluates player's performance respective to three visual search conditions in a railed shooter game. Each condition alters the presentation of elements according to the similarity theory of visual search, which distinguishes how easy or difficult goal-relevant targets (T) are from non-target distractions (NT). Significant performance differences are found for accuracy, XY screen position of mouse clicks, and level time. The benefit of this approach identifies performance tradeoffs in visual design with implications on game balancing."

From the abstract: "A serious game for construction planning and scheduling education must provide an authentic environment for gameplay. To achieve this requirement, the game environment must be created from CAD drawings of a real project. The game engine must have components for providing timely scaffolding and support to the user. Storing the vast amount of data for a real project requires data structures optimized for fast rendering at the same time easily accessing and manipulating building elements and element data. This paper discusses a game engine developed for creating construction planning and scheduling educational games. The game engine is designed from scratch for performance and flexibility. It includes a component for directly importing data from a Revit model for building the game environment, interfaces Microsoft Project for scheduling, includes a feedback module, and a scoring system for measuring user performance."

"Starting today and continuing through June 1, a group of indie game makers is cutting prices in select digital distribution markets as part of the "Because We May" campaign. Ron Carmel, co-founder of 2D Boy (makers of World of Goo), came up with the concept behind the initiative, which is intended to celebrate distributors who allow price flexibility. "We believe that developers should have the freedom to price their games how they like, without interference from the online stores that sell the games," reads a statement on the event's homepage.

embedded games in Facebook status updates and news feeds

Forthcoming game from Funcom: "Massively multiplayer online MMO veterans know how questing traditionally works. You stumble upon a hub of non-playable characters with golden exclamation points over their heads. You scoop up every task they offer, then you spend the next few hours grinding them out as efficiently as possible, sometimes while simultaneously watching TV. The Secret World changes all of that by restricting the number of active missions you can have at one time. While some players will find this too limiting, I think it's a good thing. The Secret World is a story-driven game, complete with cutscenes and voiced dialogue. Many of its missions require attention, thought, and the occasional Google search."

Quotes Timothy Loew, Mass DiGi, on failure in Rhode Island and effective role of government promoting game industry