On line gaming

Went to the gaming info presentation today – Kudos to Kelly. It was interesting but I probably wouldn’t/or coudn’t get involved in most of the games presented. I remember playing D&D in college and boy – it eats your life.

Part of the reason that I went is because I am of the digital divide. I live in the country and only have 28.8 baud dial up – for those who don’t know – that was the standard in 1995. And it is really sl-o-o-o-w. This means that we cannot download music (my daughter hates this) , we can’t access some websites (I don’t like this), and that we cannot use most of the elaborate game sites.

I did try the Dance Dance Revolution at the presentation- it was a good workout. Sort of like aerobics but with the competition of beating the machine. I was the only one willing to make a complete fool of myself (which I did) but I enjoyed it and might consider purchasing it for a workout machine. It’s more fun than a treadmill and my husband and daughter wouldn’t be threatened by it (I keep saying that if I buy a treadmill, I’m going to cut the plug off the TV and hook the power source to the treadmill).

The best game that I have found so far was one that my oldest daughter sent me from Ottawa. It’s an arcade style game and you can find it at http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf
It works with your mouse as the controller – no special gadgets to buy and you try to fly a helicopter. I’ll warn you – it is slightly addictive with the simplistic appeal of Pocket Tanks (for anyone who has played). My personal record is 63.7 feet. Enjoy.

I have a hard time seeing how a library could use  games and I have already posted about virtual worlds and the problems that I see with that (see Technology in use archive). I do think it is a great way to reinforce a lesson in a class. As a matter of fact, I have already recommended some games to high school teachers at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School that might apply to their class curriculum, such as Pharoh (a game to set up a working city in Ancient Egypt) for the Ancient Civilizations teacher that requires the player to balance the use of land, # of workers and urban, religious, trade and  political requirements. I will also be sending the link to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy game to the English teacher who teaches the book. I think she’ll get a kick out of it and it may have applications to her course.

In general, I feel that gaming will have most applications in the classroom and that the subject matter the libraries teach (ie research skills in the library) will be a hard subject to make interesting in a game format. And that virtual worlds are maybe not really the way we want to approach our patrons. I see the appeal – 24 hour access etc. but there really needs to be a person/persons behind it. That is what gives a library value added service – otherwise we might as well just direct our users to Google and have done with it. Also, unless the system/server is set up in Canada, the library is then subject to the laws of whatever country the server is in (i.e. Second Life & Homeland Security).