“Museums, for their part, see video games as a medium that encourages visitors to interact with art at a fundamental level. ‘Museums are followers,’ said Mr. Manetas, the New York artist, in an e-mail message. ‘Digital is fashionable, and they also hope to attract sponsors and public.’ But he added: ‘They are also like mothers who want to play Doom with their son, hoping to communicate with him. They just ruin the game.’”
usablegames.com
“This is a forum to discuss the user experience of interactive entertainment. Interactive entertainment is becoming an increasingly important feature of the wired and wireless world. Entertaining content offers the kind of engagement and stickiness that creates devoted and frequent users. This group is interested in how end users can be involved in the design and evaluation of interactive entertainment such as games, gambling, interactive advertising, and electronic toys. It is a ‘platform independent’ forum, discussing user experiences across (and between) Web, mobile, interactive TV, and dedicated appliances.”
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The Appeal and Usability of Games Interfaces
“I’d Rather Play Computer Games Than Do Real Work! (Wouldn’t You?): Given the choice of playing a computer game or doing some more serious computer application, I’d generally choose to play a game. And I know I’m not alone in this choice. What is there about games that makes them so appealing? Playing is generally more appealing than working, certainly. But is there more? As part of the research association with Rensselaer’s distance-education program in Human-Computer Interaction, I’ve started to explore computer-games interfaces — their appeal, usability, and supportiveness — to try to understand how we can make human-computer interaction, in general, more effective.”
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Stories on a Rail
“What good is storytelling in an action game? Steven Johnson looks for answers in the new game Oni… ‘One of the best fundamental principles that anybody ever expressed to me about game design is that games should teach you how to play them,’ says Hardy LeBel, designer of the newly released Oni, from Bungie Studios. An action title deeply influenced by Japanese animé films like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, Oni follows the story of a young cybernaut named Konoko and her battle against an industrial espionage outfit called, predictably enough, The Syndicate.”
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Let the games begin
David Strom’s Web Informant: “My friend Marc Prensky has written a wonderful and thought- provoking book entitled, Digital Game-Based Learning. Here is a short compilation of excerpts and ideas from the book that should stimulate your own thinking about how we learn and how corporations can become more effective at training their employees.”
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Erasmatazz Library
“A huge collection of documents on interactivity, design, and storytelling. There are nearly 3 megabytes of material here, almost all of it text.”
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AIGA : Gain
“AIGA Journal of Design for the Network Economy is a twice-yearly print and web publication dedicated to exploring the content and consequences of experience design, a new discipline that has emerged from the needs and forms of communication in the network economy.”
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Start-Up 2000
The Game”After all I’ve learned from my computer, the latest lesson was still a shock: I’m a miserable failure. At least at running a start-up tech company. Thanks to the French PC game ‘Start-Up 2000,’ a business-management program produced by the Paris-based ht
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The Art and Science of Level Design
“A designer with tremendous traditional art or architectural experience will not succeed if he cannot grasp issues such as framerate, gameflow and pacing. A designer who understands these elements yet has no architectural or art experience is doomed to fail as well. …The best level designers are never afraid to step back and re-evaluate their content. Often this requires a period of respite from the work in question; distance can clear up a clouded mind. A great designer isn’t afraid to throw content out or re-work a concept that needs attention.”
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Artificial Emotion: Simulating Mood and Personality
“Characters that display emotion are critical to a rich and believable simulated environment, especially when those characters interact with real people possessing real emotions. Emotion is the essential element that creates the difference between robotic behavior and lifelike, engaging behavior.”
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