Treasure Huntin’ in Second Life

One of the other activities that we have been undertaking has involved the idea of going on a treasure hunt in the Second Life environment. So far, Fiona Littleton has devised two such hunts and has given the players just a brief clue to get them on their way. These being: High above the chapel […]

WebQuest DSV

Over the last few week on the “Introduction to Digital Game-based Learning” module, we have been given numerous opportunities to look at an assortment of games with a view of developing an insight into how they might help with learning. Not only are we grappling with the nebulous concepts of “play”, but also discovering how […]

The Language of Play

Reading this week’s papers from Pat Kane (2005) and Brian Sutton-Smith (1997) were a sheer joy and delight compared to the James Newman chapter the other week. I think the issue between these three writers is one of how an argument is being presented to the reader. We start with Sutton-Smith (1997) who sets that scene […]

Dearth on the Nile

I chose Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” – the computer game that is, not the book, film, play, an episode from the TV series or, more recently, a graphic novel that have lent itself to the Christie brand – for two simple reasons: I like murder mysteries and this story is very familiar to […]

All work and no play?

Although I have been keeping up with my course readings, writing regular posts into my blog and doing a spot of game creation using Google Earth, this course has given me an opportunity, or is that licence?, to reacquaint myself with computing / video / arcade games that I haven’t really touched since my very […]

Videogames: A tug of war

Let’s get one thing clear. I’ve never read anything by James Newman before other than “Chapter 2: What’s a videogame? Rules, puzzles and simulation” – without reading Chapter 1 or a preamble, it’s hard to say where James Newman sits on the pantheon of videogame scholars. To say that this chapter iritated and angered me […]

The Hidden Rules of Pac-Man

Before I launch into my (recent and past) experiences with Pac-Man, the arcade game developed by Namco, I would like to say something about this week’s reading, Chapter 7: “Video Games” from Greenfield (1984). Greenfield (ibid, p. 88) makes an important statement by saying that “children with a television background develoop a preference for dynamic […]