Devicezero Game Dev

Excellent video on game mechanics design by Will Wright.

Gabe Zichermann on how games make kids smarter.

Awesome web game dealing with death and personal discovery… Play: The End

Michael Highland’s film “As Real as Your Life.”

Part documentary, part narrative, and part animation, As Real as Your Life chronicles one video game addict’s experiences and explores the personal and social repercussions of spending more time playing in the virtual world than in the real one. The film brings to light the enormous potential for video games to change our society, and aims to start conversations about the role video games play in our lives.

An excerpt from the video is featured in the excellent TED Talk video: David Perry – Are games better than life? Both videos are a must watch for game developers.

Another excellent video from Extra Credits concerning game design and education:

Jane McGonigal says 10 years of scientific research show that playing video games is actually the most productive thing we can do. (05:22)

I have not read the book but it sounds kind of interesting. I think she is trying to use “violence in video games” to boost her book because it is always a hot topic.

View the book on Amazon: Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

I recently joined Gameful (it’s free):

Gameful is an online “Secret HQ” where you can connect with other people who believe in the power of games to make us better and change the world.

It is a great resource for game developers to discuss ideas and collaborate on projects. My user name is ej2, if you would like to friend me.

Why I Quit WoW And Started Working Out – Interesting article about game addiction and how one man broke free of that addiction:

Ultimately, you have to ask yourself: do you want to do something real or something fake? You can’t do both at once. Every day you face this decision.

Found on Gadgetopia: Why [insert MMORPG here] is Addictive

Great article this week on Experienced Points, about how clear choices can improve game play:

For me, a better system would be one where the decisions are easy to understand but difficult to make. Decisions that are interesting for players are things like:

• Ranged weapons with better distance but less damage.
• Melee weapons that deliver better damage per second but cause fewer (or less severe) critical.
• Armor that reduces incoming damage but slows your own attack speed.
• Items that will boost your magic potency but reduce your mana pool.

These are all good tradeoffs, and players could have a lot of fun agonizing over choosing the item that best suits their taste and playstyle. But as it is, the only decision players are given is to decide if they care enough to look this one up on the wiki and run the numbers.