Games Boom Despite Food & Fuel Costs

Today is the release date for the fourth installment in the Grand Theft Auto titles, otherwise known as GTA IV. This highly popular, sex and violence saturated series has generated plenty of publicity (mostly negative) for its publisher, Rockstar Games. Some interesting factoids can be gleaned from an article in the New York Times by Matt Richtel.

Richtel focuses on several college students and twenty-somethings who profess to barely have enough money to eat each month, but are more than willing to shell out $60 for GTA IV (or $90 for the collectors’ edition). Sales of five million copies are expected in coming days.

The so-called addictive nature of games is also brought up, with quotes from the only academic in the article:

“When gamers are in it, it’s like a druglike state. It feels so good,” said Jennifer Aaker, a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. She said players face constant challenges and receive instant feedback, a superstimulating artificial environment.

Not only is the play experience emotional, but the purchase is emotional, too, Professor Aaker said. Players want to be the first to buy the game and master it, sweeping aside the matter of affordability.

“The last thing that comes to mind is: ‘Can I afford it?’ That question isn’t even on the radar,” Professor Aaker said. “The question is: How fast can I buy it?”

Not mentioned, but clearly related to the popularity of the series is its wide-open world approach, wherein players are not required to follow any set rules or instructions. Instead, players can simply do what they want in the environment. Such approaches are also popular in MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft.

Another interesting tidbit Richtel referenced in the article is the fact the gaming industry is booming despite hardships felt elsewhere such as rising food and fuel costs. Sales of consoles and titles are up across the board; GameStop excels while other retailers suffer.

References:
Richtel, M. (2008, April 29). For gamers, the craving won’t quit. New York Times. [Online.] Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/technology/29game.html?

A New Chapter Book on Virtual Learning

I opened the mail the other day and found a new book I’ve been expecting: Virtual Reality: Concepts and Applications, edited by Pramod Rao and Sameer A. Zodgekar. Way back in July last year, I noted that the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University Press picked up an article of mine, “The (Virtual) Classroom of Tomorrow” that originally ran in TechEdge. The article focuses on the educational aspects of Active Worlds, Second Life and Dr. Greg Jones’ Created Reality Group classrooms.

The book is divided into two sections, Concepts and Applications. My article leads off the applications section, which also has several other fine chapters. Find the complete table of contents here. If you’re in the states, and you don’t mind waiting for overseas delivery, the book is only $16.50.

CFP Date Change for the ACM SIGGRAPH Sandbox Symposium

The date has been changed for the call for papers for the ACM SIGGRAPH Sandbox Symposium. The new date is April 25.

The third annual ACM SIGGRAPH Sandbox Symposium on videogames calls for papers, panel proposals, and presentations. We are looking for work that describes or illustrates innovative research in videogame theory, practice, methodologies, and criticism. Video games are a singular technological medium, comparable in cultural impact to the telephone, television or the Internet. What are the creative, technological, and commercial challenges facing this medium today and in the future? How do we relate engaging stories and worlds that leverage advances in technology? What is the continuing impact of this medium on individuals and society?

More on their site: http://sandbox.siggraph.org/

 

CFP: DIGITEL 2008

2nd IEEE International Conference on Digital Games and Intelligent Toys Based Education (DIGITEL 200

November 17-19, 2008, Banff, Canada
http://www.ask4research.info/digitel/2008/

Submissions due: May 30.

Games for Change Early Registration Open

Suzanne Seggerman posted the following on the Serious Games Listserv today:

The 2008 Fifth Annual Games for Change Festival early registration
launched today! Please join us at Parsons the New School for Design
in NYC for our annual event bringing together non-profits, educators,
game designers and activists of all stripes to explore the growing
movement and emerging field of games for social change.

We are pleased to announce our closing keynote this year will be the
Honorable Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, scheduled for 4pm on June 4th.

As well as leading scholars Jim Gee and Henry Jenkins in a keynote
conversation on June 3rd at 4:30pm.

Featured panelists include: Jim Gasperini, creator of Hidden Agenda
and Chris Crawford of Balance of Power and Balance of the Planet
fame; Ken Eklund, creator of World Without Oil; Michael Levine
Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center; Shelley Pasnick, head of the
Center for Children and Technology, Mary Flanagan Director of the
Tiltfactor Lab, Tracy Fullerton of USC’s EA Innovation Lab, and
representatives from Participant Productions, the MacArthur and
Knight Foundations, PBS, and Electronic Arts, among many others.

You will find our usual excellent blend of provocative panels,
informal working groups, funders meetings, ample networking
opportunities and the ever-popular Expo Night where you can see and
play the new games firsthand, sponsored by Microsoft.

Check out the festival site here:

http://www.gamesforchange.org/conference/2008/index.php

And don’t forget the pre-festival workshop for newbies on June 2nd. We are happy to announce that this beginners workshop for non-profits new to the field, Let The Games Begin: A 101 Workshop for Making Social Issue Games was a MacArthur Foundation DML Competition award winner out of more than 1000 applicants! A separate registration for that day will be available from the festival site on April 9th.

We are thankful for the generous contributions of our sponsors AMD
and Microsoft, as well as Parsons the New School for Design.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Suzanne