By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Dave Munger: Video Games: Are the Myths True?, Cognitive Daily December 20, 2005

Good discussion of an essay by Henry Jenkins intended to dispel the myths about the role of video games in causing aggression and violence. What I like is not so much the thrust of the argument - because I think that the relation between games and anti-social behaviour is misrepresented and overblown - but in the rigor applied to the reasoning. Bad argumentation helps nobody, whether or not it supports your point of view. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Kyle Gabler, Kyle Gray, Matt Kucic and Shalin Shodhan: How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Days: Tips and Tricks from 4 Grad Students Who Made Over 50 Games in 1 Semester, Gamasutra November 25, 2005

This is a fun article, and not simply because of the goofy games described in passing. It offers some good insights into things like game design, such as: "You only need a few days. It seems like a natural and comforting thing to say, 'Hey we made a great game in one week. Therefore, if we spend TWO weeks, it will be TWICE as good!' Of course this isn't the case. We found that generally any gameplay idea can be prototyped effectively in less than one week. Extra slop time tends to yield diminishing returns." Via Peter Rawsthorne, who also sent along this link about the same group of designers. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Sande Chen and David Michael: Proof of Learning: Assessment in Serious Games, Gamasutra October 24, 2005

I don't really like the author's distinction between 'serious' games where "serious games have education as a primary goal while video games focus on entertainment." That said, this is nonetheless an article worth reading on the task of evaluating educational achievement within games. Methodologies (which will be familiar to game players) include passage through tutorial sessions, game scoring, levels, completion evaluation and more. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Dave Cormier: Living the Game - Modelling in Ed-tech, Dave’s Educational Blog October 4, 2005

Dave Tosh points us to this new blog by Dave Cormier and in turn I link here to his latest post, a reflection on whether those who promote ed tech should model it. More...

Il existe des jeux vidéo auxquels on joue sans voir le temps passer, alors que d'autres sont abandonnés sans regret après quelques minutes. Nos expériences antérieures de jeu affectent nos choix et pratiques ludiques postérieures. Ainsi un «hardcore gamer» est parfois plus exigeant et regardant sur la qualité ludique, l’univers, le gameplay ou la scénarisation d’un jeu. Plus...