Quality Sources

I felt it was about time that I list some of my favorite locations to find information about video game research.

The first is the Academic Co-Lab of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Here I have found many professionally written papers, and research from not only the James Gee, but also Constance Steinkuehler, Kurt Squire, and other professors and students from the program.

My second favorite is LibGaming. It is both a Blog, and a Google Group.

Next I would select PEW Internet & American Life Project. The research completed by this group is both valuable and authoritative. PEW is a non profit research center associated with the Metropolitan Library Systems of Illinois.

A similar organization the Entertainment Software Association publishes studies completed about gaming and the people who game. I find this less authoritative, due to its small sample size for all its surveys.

One could not go without linking to the podcasts from MLS or ALA’s Teen and Technology Institute. Also attributed to the game researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the conference GLS. (but you have to wait to purchase tickets.) In addition to this I also find Wired News, Terra Nova, and Joystiq quite helpful, filled out by some Google Alerts.

Lastly I feel I must mention Game Research .com. I have not explored the site as much as I would like, but feel it will serve me well in the future.

Art and Technology combine

I discovered a neat new tool to access Flicker photos. I see a real potential for this in creating photo Mosaics. I personally do not create art, but enjoy those elaborate pictures made entirely of pictures. I hope many art teachers incorporate this technology into their classrooms.

In other news:
I have reason to believe my husband is destined for great things
Two articles today relate to some activities he is currently trying to become a part.
First he is an independent game designer. He has the entire gaming section checked out from the local library(50 titles) This article from Wired says that new, innovative game design is coming from the indie game developers. I am proud to say I’m married to one

The other area he is going to be involved is with Lego Mindstorms. Glendale Library is short on volunteers, and he is eager to participate. It essentially is about building a robot out of Legos More info can be found at Wired.

Reviewing Reveiwers

 

Game Reviews are similar to book reviews, with more focus on the technology of creating the game. There is a large variety of sources to choose from, mostly found online. The audience is the consumer. Reviewers tend to give opinions about where the game is worth purchasing, or renting. The majority of reviews outline the entertainment value, graphics quality, and other aspects that motivate purchasing. Game Rankings, has compiled the authoritative reviews to create an overall ranking for games. Quality games from these reviews are defined by game design, not content.

Common Sense Media is a site that focuses on content. It is designed for parent use. The idea is that parent volunteers will rate media based on “developmental criteria recommendations from some of the nation’s leading authorities” The media is organized by age, not related to the ERSB ratings. Three ratings On, Off, and Pause explain the potential offense. Anyone can add personal reviews to the site, as comments. There are sections for the official review, adults, and children. Include on the site is links to media related research.

There are no criteria listed for their reviewers, but their number one belief is “We believe in media sanity, not censorship.” It is meant to allow parents and educators to make informed decisions about what their children are consuming. Looking over the site it appears to be most helpful for younger children. Most games are listed under a younger age than the ERSB, reviewing mostly educational games rather than console games.

This social software empowers parents, but the question is its appropriateness for selecting video games. Both Game Rankings and Common Sense Media have an intended audience other than libraries. Hopefully with a combination of the two we can make informed decisions about what the library should collect.

 

Library 2.0

I am still very Hazy about the real definition of Library 2.0, but I read a post this morning that was very interesting based on modifying the library for this model

Jenny talks about Casey Bisson’s re-designed catalog at ALA TechSource

Rumors

We are on the verge of a console shift. The three major companies are releasing their next generation of game systems. As with any change, rumors will frequently be found, especially about Nintendo who is very secretive about the technology they will use. As librarians, we should pay attention to the source of news, and help our patrons identify facts from speculation.

Most of these are started by people looking at patents and drawing conclusions from them. Normally these rumors are incorrect, but frequently teens will believe them.

Nintendo in general denies all rumors whether true or not. Sony, who makes PlayStation, and Microsoft, who makes the XBox, are more open about confirming rumors.

The latest rumor that has been picked up is about Apple. See link

Most of the speculation about this patent refers to its use a game system. We will not know for sure whether this is to be used for games or other programs, but if this technology is used for game design, it could mean a different genre of games. Much like the old Kirby Tilt n’ Tumble.

Since many rumors are translated into news articles, I wanted to explain where rumors come from, so that we will be able to assist in finding truths.

Last.fm

I use a variety of social software. I’m a regular on the Dominic Deegan forums, enjoy listservs, and Google groups, and yahoo bookmarks. For me its not only about connecting with people, but sharing. I am on so many different computers I have little pockets of the web I save myself on. Because I use both Macs and Windows I needed to find music that was accessible on both. I found Last.fm over a year ago, and was hooked. Only since I began my Masters I haven’t had time to listen to music. I’ve been listening to audio books. I loaded them onto my ipod through itunes, and have been devouring them at a high rate. Only thing is Last.fm has been tracking it!

I was shocked when I saw my pages. My husband is longed on most of the time with feldar_99, so things we both listen to are reflected there. I’m childlit. I had completely forgotten about Last.fm, but now I found it again I think it could be a way to connect with patrons. If librarians included something like the Last.fm song tracking we may interest more patrons to want to converse with us. It could also go the opposite way and get us fired for listening to _____ and upsetting a parent who’s teen mimicked the librarian.

Anyway for your viewing pleasure I link to my husband and I’s profile

http://www.last.fm/user/feldar_99/
http://www.last.fm/user/childlit/

Nintendo Video Game News

This is my first post here- I welcome feedback if you dislike my format.

I wanted to share some information about the future of Nintendo’s video games. They currently are leading the way with new innovations.

1) They have three gaming machines GameBoy, DS, and Gamecube. The new Revolution will be available before Thanksgiving 2007.

2) The DS is a wireless machine, that can access any wireless network using Wi-Fi. GadetSpy published a report about using the DS to locate Wireless Networks, and control computers virtually. It is currently being re-designed to be sleeker.

3) Little News about the GameBoy was released in 2005. Now it seems that Nintendo may re-define mobile gaming in the car and in your pocket with the smaller GameBoy micro

CC Meeting

I didn’t overwhelm the CC staff. Instead they want to meet with me Feb 6. Look forward to further announcements.

In other news Beth has invited me to the greatest honor yet-She has accepted me to be a contributor for the LibGaming Blog.
This comes on the heels of my “accidental” sign-up for assisting in creating an ALA gaming event for 2007.

I suggested the program-was asked to help-then became a part. I forgot how easy it is to get involved in something. I did this kind of organizational involvement in high school, but for me this is a million times bigger. Its a good thing that I have been slowly working up to this point by doing little things that needed to be done. I think that’s really the only way to get somewhere though-you start small and just keep doing what you can. If you are persistent it all works out in the end, and you make new friends along the way.

Google releases Chinese censored search engine

I received the news that Google is assisting Chinese censorship. At first I will admit I was angry, but I decided to research the facts.

I discovered that this is the only
way that Google will be accessible in China. In 2002, the Chinese
government blocked the website, and at times redirected it to a
government search engine. All search engines that are used in the
country must meet the government’s strict guidelines. I agree that it
does seem awful that Google is conforming to the Chinese standards, but
we must also boycott Microsoft, Yahoo, and most businesses that
compromise values to sell their product to the Chinese people or use
Chinese workers to make parts of products.

China’s government censors not only search keywords, but bloggers. This
article is by Chinese Bloggers illustrates issues with China’s
firewall. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4650158.stm

Doing a parallel search for “keywords” in both www.google.cn and
www.google.com comes with similar results. The biggest impact is the
news page. Comparing a search for Tibet on the different pages, one can
see a depressing difference.

As advocates for information, our real battle is against China’s
Communism and not Google. China’s firewall censors everything Google is blocking. Google is only meeting the Chinese government’s standards.

It would be like Random House or HarperCollins publishing a classic that had words taken out of it. The same classic available with the words crudely marked out with a permanent marker. I would hope that we would not boycott the publishers for providing better quality materials to the readers than what would be available otherwise.

CC Developments

I received great news back from CC today

This is J***** B****** from the C C Public Library. —- ——- has forwarded me your emails. I wanted to keep you up to date on what the Young Adult department will be doing this summer. We have tentatively scheduled three gaming programs this summer. They will be on a Tuesday afternoon in June, July and August. Our first program will likely be a Dance Dance Revolution program, but we do not have any definite plans for the next two programs. We would love to have your thoughts about what would make our programs be as successful as possible. We are very excited to be doing these programs and feel lucky to have a volunteer to help us with these programs who is also excited about gaming in the library.

Please let me know if Tuesday afternoons is a good fit for your schedule. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

I responded with a probably overly lengthy response, but you can ignore at your discretion

I am happy to be working with C C as well. Tuesdays work fine for me. I have been reading a lot about these programs lately, and developed many thoughts of my own. I don’t mean to overwhelm you, and I will write down my thoughts so that we may work out what will be best for C C.

To make DDR the most successful I believe you need two things-quality pads, and free water. The highest quality pads are expensive and I do not have more than the plastic ones. Hard metal pads are ideal, Ann Arbor uses $300 pads that can stand being run over with a truck. DDR Freaks (http://www.ddrfreak.com/events/events.php) is an ideal place to advertise a tournament, if you are interested in a tournament.

I own many Multiplayer games for the GameCube that could be used for tournaments or social play. Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers are popular and provide fun group play. Other games that are more enjoyable with friends are Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2, Kirby’s Air Ride, and Metroid Prime 2’s Multiplayer option. Super Smash Brothers and Metroid Prime are both rated T.

If it is possible I believe teens would enjoy the opportunity to have multiply games to play at the same time. DDR runs off the Playstation, and the multiplayer games I have are on the Gamecube. If two projectors were set up I believe the teens would enjoy having the same events three times this summer.

Other options would be providing Board Games or Computers for the teens to use while waiting for their chance to play. The Game Preserve at Fashion Mall has limited space for events, and may know of individuals looking for a place to play, that we could invite for this event.

Advertising the event is key to its success. Other libraries have designed a symbol for the gaming events, and promoted in community. One YA staff, with administration permission, intrigued High School Students during lunch by setting up DDR for play and announcing the library event. I am thought it maybe a nice contest to allow the teens to design the posters/symbol.

If you want, I can talk to the local gaming stores in Indianapolis about support for the events. It upsets me to suggest you to spend money for pads, posters, and tournament prizes, when no-one mentioned money.

Please tell me if I’m being to forward. I’ll keep the rest of my ideas to myself as not to overwhelm you now.