Gaming (Online & Console)

Lecture/Coffee Talk:

  Lecture(s)/Demo(s):

• Gaming (O&C) Overview (10:47) | Gaming Homework  (4:10)
• via iTunes:
  • n/a

  Steve Notes:

• Have some Fun this week
• Gaming is Social
• How Pervasive is Gaming?
  • Huge Market
  • Huge Publishing Industry
  • "Dedicated" TV Network: G4
• What kind of Gamer are you?
  • Board, Card, PC, Handheld (System or Cell Phone), Online, Console, MMO (next week)
• Game System Talk
  • PlayStation (2 or 3), Xbox, Wii, etc.
  • Library Garden Post on Gaming Consoles
• Online Game Sites
  • Examples: Addicting Games | Yahoo Games | MSN Games 
  • Extremely popular game:
    • Bejeweled (History of Bejeweled)
  • Steve's Favorite game
    • Hit or Stand - Blackjack Strategy
• Games and Game News/Reviews
  •  IGN | GameSpot | Game Informer
• Don't forget those "CheatCodes"
  • G4: Cheat | IGN: Cheats |  GameSpot: Cheats
• "New" Approaches to Gaming
  • Persuasive Games (Colbert Report interview: here)
  • MindHabits

  Definition(s):

• Video Games - is a game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device.^[1] The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device.^[2] However, with the popular use of the term "video game", it now implies any type of display device. The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms are broad in range, from large computers to small handheld devices. (Source: Wikipedia)

  Lingo:

•  Basic Game Terminology, cheat, boss

  Popular Programs/Services:

•  see Steve's Notes section

  Library Example(s):

• Libraries: Ann Arbor District Library | Libraries Hosting Gaming Programs (Source: LibSuccess Wiki)
• ALA TechSource Blog Post
• ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries | Gaming, Learning, and Libraries ning network
• Gaming Presentation by Tyler Rousseau (Ocean County Library/Library Garden) (Use w/full acknowledgement)
• Information Literacy Games
  • Quarantined: Axl Wise and Information Outbreak* (No longer available)
    • http://library.west.asu.edu/game/quarantined/login.cfm (tammy/allgood)
    • Presentation/Background:  http://tinyurl.com/29js6q
  • Information Literacy Game*
    • http://library.uncg.edu/game/#

  Resources/Other:

•  n/a

Homework/To Do:

Reading: 

• Farkas. Gaming, Ch.13
• Johnson. Part 1

Watching:

• Jenny Levine. Sirsi/Dynix Institute: Gaming in the Library

Projects

• Blog Posts
  • Johnson Reading
    • From what you've read (read first), is Popular culture (games, tv, film) just a  method to "sophisticatedly deliver stupidity" (paraphrasing George Will)
  • Which console for you?
    • You're in charge of getting a gaming system for your library or a local organization (you can make your own situation, just tell me...)
      • How would you research?
      • What would your criteria be?
      • Which do you think you would get?
  • Screencast a Game
    • Play a game with someone
    • Record the game as you're playing it (or just a part of the game)(don't worry about the game's audio)
    • Create a short blog post and embed your screencast
  • Screencast best practices
    • You've now made a few screencasts, What best practices have you discovered to get your best results?
• Embed a game from Addicting Games on your wiki page

 * Games originally located at: ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries 

Suggestions:

If you liked Everything Bad is Good for You, a friend suggested Jon Katz's book Virtuous Reality: How America Surrendered Discussion of Moral Values to Opportunists: Nitwits, and Blockheads Like William Bennett

aaf08: Steve asked me to add the 'gaming in libraries' references I posted to my blog.  Here they are!  Hopefully all the links stay current.

• http://gamelab.syr.edu/ This is the Library Game Lab of Syracuse, which does some interesting research specifically about the who/what/where/why/how of gaming in libraries, from Monopoly to Dance Dance Revolution. Their podcast is pretty good.
• http://www.techsource.ala.org/ltr/gaming-and-libraries-intersection-of-services.html This link seems to be temporarily not working; all of techsource.ala.org is down right now, but when it comes back up, this is a great read! Jenny Levine wrote it, she did the Sirsidynix presentation we watched this week.
• http://gaming.ala.org/resources In particular, I liked the 'Talking Points' page here, which addresses many of the typical questions that arise from people who don't think gaming belongs in the library.
• http://www.library.uiuc.edu/gaming/ University of Illinois Library Gaming Initiative
• http://tinyurl.com/6fa7op Article on the success of the Columbus Metropolitan Library gaming program. ""I've been cultivating my core of elite tournament champions," library assistant Gordon Gavin said. "They become like little spokespersons for the library."
• http://www.webjunction.org/lotm/articles/content/443418 A great initiative to increase local literacy and high school graduation rates via gaming, by a rural library in South Carolina.
• http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/trejbal/wb/185187 This is just a "feel good about libraries" link. What really got me here was the last comment--the newspaper writer said "There was a different vibe at the library last Saturday. It was more alive than I have seen it in a long time", in reference to a gaming day at his local public library. Nice.