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The early reports, and later confirmation, of Muammar Gaddafi's death at the hands of Libyan rebels flashed on news channels, websites, Facebook and Twitter this morning. And by next week people will be playing the computer game version of the death. More »
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After the Supreme Court announced its decision regarding a California law that would have imposed state limitations on children's access to certain video games, a deluge of reactions flooded the Internet. A Google News search shows the variety of opinions, which range from celebration of video games' affirmed first amendment rights to lamentations of the victory of violence and gore. More »
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A few months ago, my studio Persuasive Games made a simple newsgame for CNN, which they published as Presidential Pong. For those of you unfamiliar with the genre, newsgames are a simple type of political game akin to the editorial cartoon. More »
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Ian Bogost is the guy behind a lot of newsgames and training games - and has managed to attract enough attention thanks to some high profile partnerships that he'll be appearing on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report this coming Tuesday. He's also come under some hefty criticism from people both inside and outside the gaming industry - most recently, in a Slate article titled (in part) World of Borecraft. Bogost has already responded to the Slate article, but he digs a little deeper in a new Gamasutra piece that explains his reasoning for just not really caring what the more traditional forces in industry think. Namely, games aren't some monolithic construct that are either/or: either fun or educational, either fun or a total snoozefest, and dammit, there's room for all of them. More »
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A rather lofty order for a video game, but Changemakers and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are sponsoring a competition and putting up prize money ($15,000 in total) to see who can present a game that will make an impact on health or health care - that doesn't just mean newsgames or the like with varying degrees of interesting content, but even games a la Dance Dance Revolution that (surprise!) turned out to be a novel way to get couch potatoes moving. More »
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In a stark counterpoint to the Slate editorial entitled 'World of Borecraft,' Gamasutra has their own feature - this one on the rise of serious games and how video games don't have to be fun, at least not if they fall into the 'serious games' category. Talking with some heavy hitters in the serious game development world, they touch on a number of topics - including the sometimes scathing criticism from other parties in the more mainstream gaming worlds and the fact that serious games desperately need a 'success story' to prove their value, since they "mostly grab headlines and have little real impact." More »
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Slate has a fun (and scathing) article up on 'the problem with serious games' - with companies like Persuasive Games getting quite a lot of press recently, newsgames and 'serious games' have also been getting an increasing amount of press. The problem, Justin Peters says, is that "making games educational is like dumping Velveeta on broccoli. Liberal deployment of the word blaster can't hide the fact that you're choking down something that's supposed to be good for you." Peters concedes there are games like Civilization - fun and educational. More »
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Via GamePolitics, yet another entry into the world of newsgames/edutainment (I hate that word) - this time on the oh-so-thrilling, yet vitally important issue of redistricting (called, creatively enough, The ReDistricting Game). Well, it's not just politically aware, internet-enabled citizens who are finding out the level of thought that goes into "creative" redistricting; it "was recently shown to members of Congress by Rep. John Tanner (D-TN). Tanner realizes that his colleagues are unlikely to be swayed from the practice, which is less politely known as gerrymandering." More »
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With the press that 'newsgames' have been getting lately, it's no surprise that people are starting to look at 'tabloid games,' too. Newsgames or not? Are they the virtual equivalent of The National Enquirer? Can you really put a 'Paris Hilton is going to jail!'-themed game on the same level as any of the recent games tackling problems like a global oil crisis, peace in the Middle East, or importing contaminated food? Over at Gameology, they have this to say: More »
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The NYT and Persuasive Games have a new relationship, and Times Select subscribers can now get access to 'newsgames' via NYT's editorial pages. While several newsgames have been getting press in recent months, this marks a first for newsgames really going mainstream. The first game published is called "Food Import Folly," with obvious ties to the current tainted imported Chinese goods headlines. More »
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Ian Bogost writes that his studio, Persuasive Games, just released their latest newsgame, Bacteria Salad. More »
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