Ludology.org

Chewy and game paintings

The word is out on the street that I'm not a big Star Wars fan (yes, I'm a nerd and proud of it but not the LOTR/STARWARS kind.) Still, this Chewbacca (I hope I spelled it right) is just too cute.
rI just got an email from Jeremiah Palecek, a Czech artist and I was browsing his art blog. Some of his paintings deal with videogames. By far, my favorite one was his piece on Road Rash - but it seems that I'm not the only one who liked it.

The New York Times on serious games

The New York Times published today an article by Clive Thompson on serious games. It features a lot of games in the scene, including Food Force, Peacemaker, A Force More Powerful, Darfur is Dying, Under Ash and my team's very own September 12 and Madrid. It also quotes a lot of friends from the field. I'm really glad that the field is taking this kind of coverage.

rAs a sidenote, the article got me thinking about a topic that has been on my thoughts recently. Henry Jenkins makes a valid point about the lack of documentation of the effectiveness of these games. I agree with Henry and people who know me know that I'm the first to argue that there's a lot of hype surrounding serious games. However, while studies about effectiveness do not necessarily worry me, I am not that sure that we desperately need them. What got me thinking about this was a disclaimer in the box of 'A Force More Powerful' (a game that I'm looking to play with as soon as a finish this dissertation chapter). It basically tells players that they do not guarantee the effectiveness of the teaching of the game. I assume that you have to read this within the US context, where everybody is afraid of being sued. Still, here's my question: should serious games be simply considered tools of persuasion and measured accordingly? Arent' this games ALSO a cultural genre that is emerging? I wonder if the audience (players in this case) doesn't also learn to be persuaded by new communication genres as these get established.

After all, advertising and propaganda have evolved through history. Advertising generally frames itself as such and people have learnt that it has some rules of its own. This makes me wonder if it is such a big deal to measure serious games effectiveness. Serious games are a statement on their own, besides their content. My own agenda here is not as much making a game that will make you switch from Opinion A to Opinion B. I'd rather make games that encourage players to think. If that contributes to changing their opinions, fine. But as I always say when I talk about campaign videogames: a game is not going to change anybody's vote. That being said, neither will an ad, a jingle or a debate. It's all those things together than can have an influence on a voter. A game can simply provide with an experience and some information. Don't get me wrong: it can be a powerful experience and powerful information. But I wouldn't lose any sleep over figures. Besides, marketing people will end up doing that. I hope they have fun with their rulers.

rrbtw, this probably was a post better suited for Water Cooler Games. Oh, the headaches of having two blogs... :)

Observatorio de Videojuegos

If you are looking for info in Spanish about videogames and education, you'll love Observatorio de Videojuegos. It's hosted by Alejandro Piscitelli and Pablo Mancini and it's part of Educ.ar, the Argentinian Government portal for online education. It's great to see Argentinean tax money at work.

Fun is not fun anymore

Finally, some hard evidence of what many of us have been claiming for a while now: fun is totally overrated. Or, to put it in a more clear way, fun is not really what we think it is. Clive Thompson at Wired reports on this paper (.doc) written by Finish researchers (including Aki Jarvinen and Jussi Holopainen) and presented at last year's Digra conference. According to the researcher, failing at a game is also a source of pleasure. I don't think that the problem here is that this is counterintuitive but rather that we have been -wrongly- assuming that fun equals with winning (another example of how hard core bias have tainted our concept of gaming aesthetics). Of course, if you TOTALLY suck at the game you are not going to enjoy it that much, at least not for a long time. However, try to pay attention at people playing party games, especially those involving performance such as DDR or Eye Toy: there's always some player who is really bad at the game but turns his goofyness into his strength.

Takara's Koedachan "Apple House" toy

You may not know it but for a couple of years I started a small toy collection. Every once in a while I bought a new toy that grabs my attention and I decided to share with you my latest purchase. I called it "Apple House" because the packaging is in Japanese and I at the moment of buying it I had no idea who the characters are were. I made a short video where you can see the toy in action. You can also get a more detailed view of both the toy and its packaging here.
rThe toy uses a mechanical/magnetic system similar to the one use in music boxes that include dancing ballerinas. The little girl figurine included a magnet on her feet so if you turn the pink flower on the top you can make her walk around the house. She will walk from the tea table towards the bed and, how cute is this, she'll fall sleep. By rotating the wheel on the other direction, she "wakes up" and walks back to the table.
rThere is another figurine that looks like a squirrell to me. It cannot walk but can both sit by the girl's bed and has its own bed on the bottom of the toy.
rIt is an extremely detailed, beautifully crafted toy. The packaging shows a second, redhead girl figurine, which makes me think that this is part of a set. The bottom of the toy shows (C) 2004 Takara. It's made in China but the packaging is in Japanese. The original website printed in the pack is www.takaratoys.co.jp but it seems that since then the company may have been bought by Tomy because now you get re-directed to TakaraTomy.co.jp.
rIt seems that the characters or show is called Koedachan. You can also play a set of short, cute Flash games. It seems that you can also buy larger doll houses. And here you can get a description (in Japanese of course) of all the characters. It seems that I was right and this is part of a set: here is a list of multiple similar Koedachan little doll houses including the one that I bought.

1st Uruguayan Videogame Contest

Both the Dow Jones and the Nikkei are down because major game companies are trembling in fear about the nascent Uruguayan game industry (Go charruas go! :) Well, maybe not yet, but we'll have our day, just take my word for it. Meanwhile, the great news if you are Uruguayan is that the LATU and ORT are organizing a National Videogame Design and Creation contest. Here's all the info that you need (in Spanish). The folks at Powerful Robot will be helping at the reviewing board (no, we are not taking any bribes at the moment.)
rOn a more serious tone, this is really great news. There are tons of brilliant people everywhere that just need an extra push to get into game development. It's not easy since it requires a qualified team, so hopefully events like this will provide the little spark that will get the whole gaming world on fire (thanks Juan Grompone for the link.)

Game/Play

Game/Play is an exhibit that is touring the UK, so if you are fed up of gravy and really hot weather, this is your chance to actually enjoy your off-continental summer. And you may get a chance to play with Mary Flanagan's Giant Joystick! (pictured here) among other cool stuff by people like Julian Oliver and Mateas&Stern (and many others!) Check out their website for a downloadable catalog and keynote texts by the artists.

Are games getting easier?

Here's an article by Mark Raby that makes some excellent points about what we all have been suspecting for years: games are indeed getting easier. Raby points out many of the factors that lead to this evolution. Even though I do not necessarily share some of his nostalgic need for harder games, the article is well laid-out and deals with a very relevant topic.

Computer games for disabled or underrepresented people

From the anouncement: Games development is perhaps one of the least explored areas of accessible design. A new aesthetics theme at the upcoming 9th International Computer Games Conference to take place in Dublin from 22nd to 24th November 2006, will provide an opportunity for contributors to address a broad range of questions in the emerging area of accessible computer games design.
rIf you want to learn more about the conference track on games and disability issues, click here.

Super Monkey Pacman

And I thought I had seen it all. Watch this monkey play Ms. Pacman. The Japanese voiceover makes it even more surreal. The perfect video for these holidays.