Becker Video Game Design

A website of news, commentary and bibliography on digital games from Jason Rutter, Research Fellow at Catholic University of Leuven and inaugural vp of the International Digital Games Research Foundation (DiGRA)

A bibliography from a wiki on gamification also includes books related to gaming behavior, psychology and design

Invitation to list game development projects on International Game Developer's Association (IGDA) Kickstarter page, along with status of current projects.

Abstract: "There are a number of existing game frameworks that make use of simplified programming languages with the goal of lowering the barrier of entry into content creation for noncoders. However, existing tools do not support the creation of social, multiplayer games that creators can easily deploy among their family and friends. To address this, we conducted formative interviews to determine the design goals for a tool that would allow non-coders to create such games. We then created Donburi, a web application that enables anyone to design and publish a mobile, social board game."

Mass DiGi summer program including eighteen students from nine colleges

"A detailed set of guidelines has been published online to help video-games developers cater for users with accessibility issues."

next generation Wii - "motion control, touchscreen, analogue joysticks and an accelerometer," described in a video

Live streaming platform coming in October 2011 enabling multi-player gaming and viewing over the web

"a Journal on Video Games, Value and Meaning"

A journal recently launched by Mary Ann Liebert publishers features peer-reviewed articles on the application of video games to health management

Exploration of mobile games and uses in business and marketing, including "gamification." "Video games have ceased being an end in themselves; they are a front in the battle to dominate technology platforms and delve into consumers' psyches."

Presentation by Bing Wilson, co-founder of Electronic Arts, showing the use of game design principles to engage users of your product, a three pronged approach, "acquire, engage and retain"

Considering game studies in the context of "performance studies", gamers and games as "co-creators"

From Iowa State University students, Metalblast : "The game takes place in the year 2052. Plants are dying, and there is a developing ecological crisis. At the same time, an expert team of plant scientists has disappeared. The player, represented by a novice undergraduate student in the research lab, must shrink to microscopic size, enter the plant cell, rescue the lost scientists, discover what is killing the plants, and save the world - all in the game's virtual, 3-D environment. Along the way, players must solve problems and answer questions about the cell and metabolic biology. "

"In the space of several years, the Chinese games industry to reverse its market share with regards to Korean incumbents in China. We analyze the catch-up process that allowed this to happen by separately analyzing the core constituents of games (design, technology (code), content, and in a broader fashion, elements of the business model) as layered components."

Argues that stereotypes of gamers as young and male and women avoiding technology careers are not accurate, and encourages girls and women to seek out careers in gaming industry

"This is a story of four university faculty, two men and two women, and the research team they formed based on an NSF grant opportunity. There is also a cadre of university students that are learning real-world lessons on group roles in a research endeavor."

"This article is about the learning that occurs from making games, rather than from playing games. In this paper, we describe the use of Rapid Digital Game Creation (RDGC) for learning and teaching Object-Oriented (O-O) concepts. RDGC involves the rapid building of digital games with high-level software that requires little or no programming knowledge. We examine how RDGC supports the understanding of various O-O concepts. Using a theoretical framework of constructionism, we discuss pedagogical guidelines for RDGC-based learning. We suggest that RDGC is a useful pedagogic tool that complements formal programming languages and can help flatten the steep learning curve needed to learn O-O computer programming (or OOP)."

"SmartGlass, a software-based application that extends Xbox 360 experiences onto smartphones and tablets, does shine best when paired with television or movie entertainment. That's where programmers have fleshed out the most whiz-bang features at this time, but game designers have clever plans for this tech, too."

"This paper describes design issues surrounding "Data Games," small-scale, short web-based games that generate data for analysis in mathematics or statistics classes. The games are embedded in a data analysis environment. We discuss design for the games themselves as well as some curriculum and assessment issues."