FTW: Gaming for Learning

In Games of Empire, Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter offer a radical political critique of such video games and virtual environments as Second Life, World of Warcraft, and Grand Theft Auto, analyzing them as the exemplary media of Empire, the twenty-first-century hypercapitalist complex theorized by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. The authors trace the ascent of virtual gaming, assess its impact on creators and players alike, and delineate the relationships between games and reality, body and avatar, screen and street.

(via @courosa) Inside Edition with an article about Nintendos big success in America. Filmed in 1988. This video has it all

" In googling "Racism Resident Evil 5, "one of my first hits was this video on YouTube. Warning: sexist, heterosexist, and racist language!"

"Don't play video games yet? Then it's time to get with the program - just try not to jab the console too hard"

It's an introduction to what many of us have either experiences first hand, have friends who've experienced abuse online, or we have read stories about it. The article notes that game developers are trying to crack down on it:

"Below is a list of selected reading materials that are helpful to understanding the culture here at The Border House. This is not a comprehensive list of great anti-oppression blogs (of which there are many!), but a collection of mostly 101-geared articles and communities that should be helpful to people new to these topics."

"The Dante here is no poet but a crusader - and a bloodbath ensues"

"The Border House is a blog that celebrates diversity in gaming from a wide variety of cultural angles. We aim to be a friendly space for women, feminists, people of color, gay, lesbian, transgender individuals, those with disabilities, and any other marginalized group and their allies to read news and opinion on and discuss video games, MMORPGs, virtual worlds, and social media. Our goal is to provide up to date relevant news and opinion journalism without cultural bias and using a feminist lens."

"The way we breathe is central in regulation of attention and emotion, cognition and memory, and social and emotional intelligence."

First things first. Get into a World that has epic goals with massive emotional, social and cognitive domains. Following that experience, Second Life might actually mean something. Secondly - more information wrong, have more goals that are relevant to what you're looking into.

"formal avant-garde explores the essence of the videogame medium (e.g. action, procedurality, story) and that the political avant-garde challenges or critiques technoculture through the videogame form."

"Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" - coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment. "

The future of video games is social.

A list to identify and connect educators (k-12 and up) who are researching and/or using games for learning - in school, out of school and otherwise. Please add your name, contact info and project to this list!

"a long-running survey study of MMO players. It is currently in hibernation mode. There will no longer be updated findings or surveys, but all information accumulated will remain available and comments will remain open."

Joining the spirit of the article, then, I'd like to say that while I read this pretend piece of news, and I did notice that it doesn't exist, I am not willing to spend real money on it. The article is just a goofy, unreal plaything produced for people who waste their days in the fantasy world where the New York Times is treated as if it is were a source of unbiased information.

Michaël Samyn relates Arthur Schopenhauer quote to game design: "Happiness does not exist. There is only suffering. Sometimes the suffering is reduced a little. When this happens, we call it happiness." (via Tony Walsh)