Library Voice

TechCrunch has a list of “big ideas emerging in web instant messaging as it stands today and the services that exemplify them.” The list is available here, and is worth a read of libraries who are using or might want to use IM.

“In this latest Persuasive Games feature, Ian Bogost takes a look at the recently launched Wii video game console from Nintendo, and offers how it and its innovative controls could feasibly be used as a platform for serious games.”

IGN published the following articles yesterday.  Both provide a little insight into the expectations on the next-gen consoles.

• Xbox 360: The One Year Retrospective
• PlayStation 3 Launch Review

Here’s some articles/resources that might be of interest to some:

• Seven Things You Should Know About YouTube
• Seven Things You Should Know About Facebook
• Are College Students Techno Idiots?
• Disconnects Between Library Culture and Millennial Generation Values
• Are Video Games Evil?
• New Media and Learning in the 21st Century
• Games in Higher Ed: When Halo 2, Civilization IV, and Xbox 360 Come to Campus
• EDUCAUSE Quarterly Magazine, Volume 29, Number 3, 2006
• Games and Learning
• Serious Games: Incorporating Video Games in the Classroom
• Simulations, Games, and Learning

These resources and more can be found in the Information Literacy and Fluency  and Games and Gaming categories in the Educause Resource Center. 

For those who have a subscription, there is a  new article in CQ Researcher that addresses the educational value of video games. 

The abstract:

More than three-quarters of American youths have video-game consoles at home, and on a typical day at least 40 percent play a video game. Some academic scholars claim playing games is good for literacy, problem-solving, learning to test hypotheses and researching information from a variety of sources. Others say gaming may be good for understanding technical information but not for reading literature and understanding the humanities. Enthusiasts claim gaming is preparing young people for the knowledge-based workplace. Critics worry that it’s making kids more socially isolated, less experienced in working with others and less creative. Experts remain divided about whether addiction to games is widespread and whether violent games produce violent behavior. Increasingly, researchers are studying why games are so engrossing, and some are urging educators to incorporate games’ best learning features into school programs.

The article is prominently displayed on the front page of the database, and is simply called “Video Games.”

I’ve been looking for a list of games that offer cooperative gameplay in order to find some games that my wife and I can play together.  Co-op games are games where multiple players (most often, two) can work and play together as teammates.  I wasn’t satisfied with what I was finding with a web search, but a quick search of Wikipedia pointed me to the article on Cooperative gameplay.  Within the article there is a sample of video games with Co-op mode, which links to the category of Computer and video games featuring cooperative gameplay.  In the category one will find a fairly extensive list of games.  Each article for each game features a synopsis, the platform that the game can be played on, and other information that may help in deciding which games to choose.  Anyone have a favorite two-player game that is fun for gamers and non-gamers alike? 

From Serious Games Source:

Officials from major technology firm IBM have announced that the company is adopting the use of video game and virtual world technologies as a means to train new employees as well as acclimate new hires to the company’s cultural values, decision-making regimens, and required technical skill sets. The program, called IBM@Play, will be part of IBM’s $100 million investment in new technologies

The IBM@Play program will take advantage of existing virtual world platforms, such as the massively multiplayer online game Second Life as well as India’s Planeshift.

Here’s a blog that is devoted to giving relevant information to busy folks who like to play video games.  As a father of two, a husband, and an aspiring musician, playing video games often gets put on the backburner.  Busy Gamer News is a blog devoted to “news and reviews for gamers who have a life.”  The author’s purpose for starting the blog:

I started this site as an aid to adult gamers who still want to keep
one foot in the gaming world while they’re busy with work, family and
all of the other distractions of life. The news feed on this site is
short and focused only on the biggest, most useful or important
announcements and fun trivia to give you gamer cred at the water
fountain.

As I’ve wrestled with staying an active gamer myself,
I’ve found I wished someone would look out for my needs whenever I pick
up or rent games that are, in truth, often designed for kids and very
young adults who can devote a 12+ hour day to their gaming habits. Me,
nowadays, I prefer games that are easy to pick up and even easier to
put down and return to when I have a few spare moments for game time.

So I’m launching a new feature: Busy Gamer Reviews.
Each write-up is not an exhaustive exploration of the depths of a game.
Instead, it’s a brief overview with a focus on how hard it is to learn,
how engaging the early gameplay is and whether you’re going to struggle
to find a save point when the baby wakes up or you realize you’re
running late for work.

Let me know what you think and whether these help you maintain some game/life balance.

The game reviews can be found in a separate category.  The author just recently switched his blog from another site, and states that the busy game reviews should become more frequent.  I’m looking forward to more reviews, as I am definitely a member of his target audience.