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Online Reading and Listening
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shawn rider dot com
Shawn Rider - "writer, artist, teacher and programmer" -
on his personal website offers a wealth of information on the
gaming world along with info and links on many, many other tech
and non-tech interests. Shawn is currently a Web Technologist
for the PBS production TeacherLine and is the founding editor of
GamesFirst.com, "a long-running independent videogame review
website." |
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The Blurring of Work and Play
Nicholas Yee offers a concise analysis of the
phenomenon of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games
drawing on the work of Julian Dibbell and his own research.“The
blurring of work and play in MMORPGs has three primary forces -
economic profiteering from the sales of virtual goods, the
growing resemblance of play to real work, and the embedding of
real work into these environments...”
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A Rape in Cyberspace
A disturbing look at a severe (common?) case of
sexual violence in one online gaming community by author and
veteran gamer Julian Dibbell (Play Money - see below). |
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Dream Machines
Check out the essay by Will Wright in Wired on
the potential and possibilities of video gaming.“The human imagination is an amazing thing. As
children, we spend much of our time in imaginary worlds, substituting
toys and make-believe for the real surroundings that we are just
beginning to explore and understand. As we play, we learn. And as we
grow, our play gets more complicated. We add rules and goals. The result
is something we call games. Now an entire generation has grown up with a
different set of games than any before it - and it plays these games in
different ways….”
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Spore - A True "Video"
Game
Listen to and view a demonstration of the new game
“Spore,” by it’s creator, Will Wright, creator of the
Simms games. In this game the player controls the
evolution of creatures, cultures, and a world. |
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Digital Game-Based Learning
Educators are discovering the power and potential of
digital games as learning tools. Check the article by
Richard Van Eck.“With the widespread public interest in games as
learning tools, DGBL proponents now need to explain why games are
engaging and effective and how those principles can be leveraged to best
integrate games into the learning process.
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The
Association for the Study of Play
“TASP is a multidisciplinary organization whose purpose
is to promote the study of play, to support and cooperate with other
organizations having similar purposes, and to organize meetings and
publications that facilitate the sharing and dissemination of
information related to the study of play. TASP publishes a regular,
extensive newsletter that includes book reviews, research updates in
different disciplines, and other information. In 1998, TASP began to
publish an Annual Volume of Play and Culture Studies.”
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Lego Serious Play and Art Lab
The Centre for Creative Media Research, based at Bournemouth
Media School, is collaborating with the Lego Group to
explore the ways in which creative construction of objects
can unlock feelings and insights into everyday experience,
and people's learning. |
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Mind Maps - Visual Complexity
VisualComplexity.com intends to be a unified resource space
for anyone interested in the visualization of complex
networks.
Mind Map Examples
Examples of Mind Maps that have been drawn for a variety of
different purposes. Some are hand drawn and some have been
produced on the Mind Mapping software, MindManager.
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Books to Explore
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REFERENCE
Ray, Sheri Graner. Gender Inclusive Game
Design: Expanding the Market (1st Edition). Charles
River Media, 2003.
DESCRIPTION
"Women and girls of today are more tech savvy
than ever before and research shows that they currently make up
over 52% of Internet users and 70% of casual online gamers. Why
then, is the game industry still producing computer games that
primarily target males ages 13-25?" (Book description)
Buy on Amazon.com |
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REFERENCE
Brathwaite, Brenda. Sex in Video Games
(1st Edition). Charles River Media, 2006.
DESCRIPTION
"When is sex appropriate in a game? How far is
too far? ... So far, there are no definitive answers to these
questions. Sex in Video Games provides insight into this issue
and presents guidelines and answers by studying the history of
sexual content use in games and within the industry itself."
(Book description)
Buy on Amazon.com |
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REFERENCE
Taylor, T.L. Play Between Worlds:
Exploring Online Game Culture. MIT Press, 2006.
DESCRIPTION
"Refuting the idea that playing video games is
an act of isolation undertaken by teenaged boys in dark basement
rooms, Taylor presents the world of online gaming as a thriving
social scene where players create friendships that transcend the
digital domain." (Publishers Weekly)
Buy on Amazon.com |
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REFERENCE
Dibbell, Julian. Play Money or How I
Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot.
Basic Books, 2006.
DESCRIPTION
"Funny and uncommonly thoughtful, Dibbell
takes us into the computer fantasyland, introducing us to
real-world game players, virtual economies and the places they
interact." (Publishers Weekly)
Buy on Amazon.com
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REFERENCE
Ackerman, Diane. Deep Play. New
York: Vintage, 2000.
DESCRIPTION
A naturalist and poet, Ackerman describes
various forms of “deep play” (also known as “flow”) from rock
climbing to experiencing the outdoors.
Buy on Amazon.com
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REFERENCE
Castronova, Edward. Synthetic Worlds.
Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2005. On reserve.
DESCRIPTION
text
Buy on Amazon.com
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REFERENCE
Chaplin, Heather, and Aaron Ruby.
Smartbomb. Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 2005.
DESCRIPTION
Explores the current culture of
videogaming—it’s creators and players.
Buy on Amazon.com
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REFERENCE
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Beyond Boredom and Anxiety.
San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1975. UI Library, BF515C85.
DESCRIPTION
This book reports on the research on “flow.”
Buy on Amazon.com |
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REFERENCE
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly.
Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.
New York: HarperPerennial, 1996. LCSC Library, BF408C77.
DESCRIPTION
“This book is about creativity, based on
histories of contemporary people who know about it firsthand. It
starts with a description of what creativity is, it reviews the
way creative people work and live, and it ends with ideas about
how to make your life more like that of the creative exemplars I
studied” (1).
Buy on Amazon.com
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REFERENCE
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly.
Flow, the Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York :
Harper & Row, c1990. NIC Library, BF575.H27
DESCRIPTION
text
Buy on Amazon.com
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REFERENCE
Lytle, Donald E. (ed). Play and
Educational Theory and Practice. Westport, Conn: Praeger,
2003. UI Library, LB1137P5555.
DESCRIPTION
This is Volume 5 of Play & Culture Studies
supported by the Association for the Study of Play (TASP).
Buy on Amazon.com
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REFERENCE
Mergen, Bernard. Play and
Playthings: A Reference Guide. Westport, Conn: Greenwood
Press, 1982. A history and reference on children’s play in
America. UI Library, HQ782M47.
DESCRIPTION
“This work surveys a wide variety of
writings oon children and their behavior in an effort to
understand what has been meant by the word play and what play
has meant to children” (1).
Buy on Amazon.com
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REFERENCE
Ortony, Andrew (ed). Metaphor and
Thought (Second Edition). Cambridge University Press, 1993
(first published in 1979).
UI Law Library, BF455.M47.
DESCRIPTION
A collection of essays on metaphor in
language and thought by psychologists, linguists, philosophers,
and educators.
Buy on Amazon.com
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REFERENCE
Sutton-Smith, Brian (ed). Play and
Learning. New York: Gardner Press, 1979. Proceedings of the
third Johnson & Johnson Baby Products Company Round Table
Conference.
UI Library, HQ782P515.
DESCRIPTION
Talks and discussions on aspects of play
ranging from “Speech Play and Verbal Art” to Csikszentmihayli’s
concept of “Flow.”
Buy on Amazon.com (Out of print: title not currently
available)
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Contact Us
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E-mail Us
Please email us if you have an online game or relevant
resource you would like linked to this site. |
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