Nat’s Weblog

At class tonight, I wandered around to see how people were experiencing RuneScape, Second Life, Guitar Hero, the Xbox version of Dance Dance Revolution, and other games. I’ve spent my share of time playing games, mostly strategy games like Civ 3 (and prior versions), so I didn’t feel compelled to actually play any games, but I enjoyed looking over shoulders to see what was happening and to talk about the things we were seeing. Chris (Bomba Charger) and I were lucky enough to attend the end of a ballet in Second Life, but we couldn’t see much of the dance through all of the name boxes. It was nice to see so many avatars in one place, but they were busy applauding the ballet, so nobody would talk to us. I definitely think there’s a place for games in libraries, including board games. From my own experience with strategy games, I know that some games require a great deal of thought and attention, as well as critical thinking and a lot of decision-making. At my old job, the president and I would often discuss corporate strategy in terms of strategy games, since we were both avid gamers at the time. He was the ‘conquer and pillage’ type while I was the ‘research and develop’ type, so we complemented each other well. The problem with some strategy games, though, is that you can sometimes learn what it takes to beat an AI without necessarily learning fundamental strategy. I don’t mention this as a criticism of the notion of gaming in libraries or to say that good skills can’t be learned, but I’ve always been disappointed by games that turn out to be puzzles. I guess that’s a bit tangential…

One thing we didn’t discuss in class was that game mindball. I think this looks like a great game, but the price tag ($20k) is a little bit off-putting. It looks as though the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry has bought one. Does anybody know if it is open to the public? If kids began learning this kind of subtle self-control on a large scale, I think it could lead to sci-fi cultural possibilities…