When
Date: Wednesday, 18 April 2007
Time: 12:00 ? 2:00 PM
Where
University of California, San Diego
San Diego Supercomputer Center Auditorium
10100 Hopkins Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093?0505
Visitor Information
Sorry, but You Can’t Do That: How We Make Sense of Video Games
“We have yet to see a Citizen Kane of video games.”
In this talk, I will argue that there have been many Citizen Kanes of video games. By this, I mean video games created with a deep understanding of the medium, while simultaneous pushing the boundaries of what video games can be: Examples such as StarCraft, and the Legend of Zelda and Grand Theft Auto series fit in that category. These are, however, also Citizen Kanes in the sense that they are hard to play, and that they speak primarily to a specialized market of players with prior experience with video games.
Compared to other media, video games are really missing The Da Vinci Code or Night at the Museum: somewhat shallow but easily enjoyable games that require no specialized knowledge to use or understand. The question therefore becomes to understand gaming literacy: to identify the conventions and cues that trained gamers understand, but which are incomprehensible to the uninitiated.
By playing games with the audience, I will illustrate what it means to be literate in video games, what happens when you pick up a game, how a player makes sense of a game, how small changes in a game design can radically change the gameplay of the game, and how the player changes his or her understanding of the game over time.
Thinking Outside The Game Box
Judith Faifman, an educator and codirector of the Digital Cultures Research and Design Group, will follow with a discussion on the impact of video games on modes of thought. Faifman will also discuss how literacy in new media can promote social inclusion for students from low-income and minority families.
Faifman has sought to integrate new, digital cultures into existing educational environments. Her group is collaborating with the National Ministry of Education in Argentina to develop youth-media production. She is seeking to provide solid, theoretical foundations for digital, pedagogical practice for social inclusion.
I’m not sure I necessarily agree with the statement that the game industry is missing “somewhat shallow but easily enjoyable games that require no specialized knowledge to use or understand.” Wii sports is ridiculously intuitive – anyone knows how to swing a tennis racket or the basic motion of bowling – and it’s pretty clear everyone agrees that the “wiimote” constitutes significant innovation. Further, it’s likely that this console will inspire more simple, intuitive game design that takes advantages of the Wii’s unique controller and brings in the entry-level player – to wit, that’s most of what the console was designed for.
We agree – the Wii and casual games are part of the return to easily playable games that discussed in the talk.