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It's like clockwork; Moments after popping open any game that has a mature rating, my 10-year-old son seems to appear at my elbow to ask if he can play it with me. More »
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In today's episode of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Korio8 wonders if anyone else prefers subtitles in their video games, even if they can hear every spoken word perfectly. More »
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Like waves crashing against a cliff face, video games are slowly eating away at the foundations of the English language. But is that such a bad thing? Let's ask Andrew over on LittleBoBeep. More »
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Language recognition is not a new concept to video games - the first text adventures had to understand commands somehow. But researchers are trying to integrate it in more open-ended ways - allowing for dynamic conversations between players and characters. More »
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L.B. Jeffries has a nice essay up on the idea of 'games as languages' — a combination of coercing players to take certain actions and encouraging certain responses, creating a dialogue of sorts. As Jeffries says, "It’s not exactly talking to another person…but it’s not just rolling dice or pressing shoot either." As games get more complex, so does the 'language' aspect — choices are expressive elements, and the more choices one has, the more opportunities for unique combinations. Even the simplest of games involves communication — 'go here, do that.' With the influx of more diverse and user-created building blocks, it seems reasonable that the 'languages' would begin to emerge more clearly: More »
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The issue of created languages is hardy new (cf Esperanto), but I've not seen a lengthy discussion of created languages in games — the challenges and pitfalls of designing a working, intuitive, and integrated linguistic system that's really a part of a game is an interesting issue. James Portnow spoke with Richard Garriott, lead designer of Ultima, about the keys to creating an intuitive in-game language that isn't too intrusive. Portnow further muses on the 'language' of games, and how created languages can inform our design of other aspects of the user interface: More »
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In an effort to make learning Chinese less painful (and ostensibly to capitalize on the 'MMO as language learning tool' trend that's been talked about a bit in the past few months), Michigan State University's Zhao Yong (professor of education technology and educational psychology) has designed Zon!, where players can graduate from tourist to resident to citizen of this little virtual slice of China: More »
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EarthTimes.org is currently hosting an interesting article looking at the language of online games and specifically MMOs. For the long time player the article may seem a bit simplistic, but for the uninitiated, especially the non-gamers, it includes some basic useful information. It seems a bit of an odd choice for an article that is directed at non-gamers but at least it doesn't talk down to the reader or make them feel like "this crazy gaming world is something that you'll never understand." So, if you're new to the MMO scene or looking to bone up on your terminology so as not to sound like a complete noob on your first adventures in WoW, check out this article. In no time you'll know exactly what "4/6 lfm tank and dd" means and why you should care. More »
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In a hysterical outpouring of unclever, pedestrian gamer rage, Dennis over at the VG Resource Center has come up with his definitive list of gamer terminology that triggers his Tourette's and causes him to pull his panties over his head. More »
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