The Counting Kingdom: learning math could be fun

What an excellent surprise one student brought in the last “gaming analysis” class. The Counting Kingdom is an educational game for kids (6 to 8 years), that teaches basics concepts of sum and equations using a tower defense mechanics. It’s very easy: you need to cast a spell using some magic scrolls to stop the monsters. Each monster has a number of strength and the player needs to sum the scrolls to make an equal number and eliminate the enemy. Check the gameplay:



That’s a great example of how we can use a game-based learning strategy. It’s important to mention that a game like this one does not replace a math class, but it helps to complement and reinforce the studied ideas.

#GoGamers

Sound as a gameplay element

As in movies, sound is an essential component for videogames. Games like God of War even using an orchestra to record its soundtrack, and war games like Call of Duty recreate each detail of sound inside a battle camp. But some games like Beat Sneak Bandit (Simogo Games, 2012) use the sound design as a component for the gameplay.



In this very fun game, created for smartphones and tablets, the player is invited to control a bandit trying to invade different houses in a fixed screen interface. The idea is to move the character tapping the screen to the rhythm of the beat. One music beat equals one tap on the screen, so it’s important to be careful not to go off the rhythm. And here's a hint: try to beat your foot on the floor simultaneously with the beat of the music; this helps to keep your concentration and not miss a move. You can check the gameplay below:



Another good example that we can bring into our discussion is Zapp Zerapp, a board game with a curious sound component. In this example, players roll two dice for numbers from two to thirteen and simultaneously start picking up one of the thirteen wooden containers and shaking them. Inside the containers are one to thirteen lead pellets. Players are trying to select the container with the highest number of pellets, so long as it doesn't exceed the result of the dice. (source: Boardgame Geek)



Games that work auditory and tactile stimuli are even widely used with visually impaired children. Therefore, it is important to observe more carefully this kind of playful experiment. And this will be the subject of a future post.

Wait for it.

E3 2012 - The E3 of Disillusion

I want to share an excellent text from the site Gama Sutra (original link here)
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by Kris Graft

I started writing an article that was along the lines of "The top five takeaways of E3 2012." That included trends such as connectivity and integration of products (SmartGlass, PS3/Vita cross-play), Sony and Nintendo's lack of a spotlight on dedicated handhelds, and how there was little at E3 in the way of emerging business models and platforms.

Forget that, this is how I really feel.

E3 2012 was finally the E3 of my disillusionment with the so-called triple-A video game industry. And yes, it really did take this long.

On the grand stage in L.A., at the event that I've heard called the "Super Bowl of Video Games," the world's biggest video game publishers made clear at whom they would direct hundreds of millions of dollars of investment: Bloodthirsty, sex-starved teen males who'll high-five at a headshot and a free T-shirt.



What sealed the deal for me was this apparent obsession with violence and vulgarity. Violence in media doesn't bother me. Some of my favorite media (including games) utilizes violence in a very directed way. Self-aware gratuitousness can get a point across. Use violence as a satirical tool, by all means. Use it as a way to develop a tame character into one that becomes a psychopathic murderer.

But why use violence as a tool for narrative or storytelling, when using it as a marketing bullet point is so much easier?

Outside of Nintendo's dry product overviews, the main press conferences at E3 looked like a pissing match of who could say "fuck" more (ooo, bad words!), and who could show off the fanciest, highest-fidelity, most realistic up-close-and-personal (and virtually non-interactive) kill animations.

It's really kind of a shame. If you actually got to see some of these games beyond the trailers and scripted gameplay demos at E3, some actually weren't non-stop slaughter-fests, at least not to the degree to which trailers implied. Some of the violence, in context, made sense.

But if you were an average Joe who strolled into one of these E3 press conferences, and saw hundreds of people hoot and holler when a guy's face gets blown off in high-resolution detail, you might think you walked into an ancient Roman coliseum.

E3 2012 was unabashed pandering to the lowest common denominator, more than ever before. The video game industry wants to be respected as a medium that can be held up to the same creative standards as a New York Times best-selling book or an Oscar-winning movie. Instead, the games industry is complacent in further developing its relegation as a semi-interactive Michael Bay mocking bird.

I want to tell people who watched the livestreams of the press conferences that this is not representative of today's video game industry. There is so much good, so much innovation, so much progression that is happening in other areas of the industry. And people in these emerging areas are actually making some bank.

Attend a conference like CES, you can get an idea of what is sharpening the cutting edge. Go to Game Developers Conference, and you can hear the people who are working directly on games, and understand the challenges they are up against in an industry that is almost overwhelmingly -- yet beautifully -- dynamic in terms of business and creative.

Go to E3 and try to identify trends, you'll soon realize that you're looking into the past. E3 2012 could've been E3 2006. It is a museum without the informative placards. It's an archaeologist's dream. It's a reality show starring a washed-up rockstar. It's old gameplay. Old themes. A parade of old business models meant to pacify retailers, patting them on the head to assure them that they will be as relevant five years from now as they are today. E3 2012 was a fool's circus, more than any other E3 that I've been to. It insulted my intelligence, and insulted my enthusiasm for video games.

I have a friend who is working on a rather well-publicized game for a major handheld platform. He saw the intricate neck-stabbings, the bows and arrows, the line-up-your-reticle-on-that-guy's-head-and-repeat "gameplay," and the press-a-button-to-begin-a-kill-animation "game design." He said that seeing these games made him think, "I sure am glad that I'm making an actual video game." Anyone else who is making actual video games should be just as proud.

If you witnessed E3 as an intelligent enthusiast of video games, you realized the sad truth: The joy is dead, delight is gone. Joy and delight just aren't worth the monetary investment anymore for big-budget games. Joy and delight are replaced by "I fucked your shit up, and I'm a bad-ass, let's crack open a Dew." It took all of these games in one place for me to finally, reluctantly, admit that this is what triple-A video games are now. At least that's how E3 and triple-A game publishers apparently want to portray the world of video games. Are you not entertained?