Question of the Day, August 24, 2010
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Fallout to teach us how to survive in a pot apocalyptic wasteland.
I am sure vital skills such as drinking from irradiated toilets and learning how to freeze time to line up a headshot with a pistol will come in very handy.
On a slightly more serious note: Bioshock and Bioshock 2 would be good ones if you wished to discuss philosophy or politics. The contrasts between Objectivism and Communism and the conflict between self interest and the 'greater good'.
I am sure vital skills such as drinking from irradiated toilets and learning how to freeze time to line up a headshot with a pistol will come in very handy.
On a slightly more serious note: Bioshock and Bioshock 2 would be good ones if you wished to discuss philosophy or politics. The contrasts between Objectivism and Communism and the conflict between self interest and the 'greater good'.
in my opinion deus ex. it could be a relevant tool in a quite a few different courses. a course on terrorism (e.g. the subjectivity dilemma inherent the discussion. Is this terrorism or freedom fighting? whats the difference? those are both questions the game deals with) is obvious but there are plenty of other possibilities. In a course on journalism on the topic of conspiracy theories, or governmental restriction on the freedom of expression. A plot analysis in English, you could add characterizations as well.
I'd be very tempted to put Mass Effect on the physics curriculum, as the science in there is surprisingly good for the most part.
Also, Psychonauts should be on a psychology course. The whole thing is about how people see each other and the world around them, subconscious fears and hidden facets of personalty. You could get a lot out of that.
Also, Psychonauts should be on a psychology course. The whole thing is about how people see each other and the world around them, subconscious fears and hidden facets of personalty. You could get a lot out of that.
Yup, Deus Ex all the way. It's one of the most intelligently written videogames ever made.Amsus said:
And the guys saying Bioshock are dead on too: moral dilemma, objectivism, socio-political dynamics.. it's all in there. The only down side is it's an 18 certificate and therefore probably completely inappropriate for anyone who isn't in further education or employment already, hehe.
Grand Theft Auto. Whilst some other games (such as the above mentioned BioShock and Deus Ex) are good to study, I think GTA could be very good.
Why? Well, it's one of the most controversial series in the world and is developed by a company who have made a name for themselves doing so. You could study the effects on teenagers, pre-teens (like 11-12yr olds) and adults. See if it affects them, see if they change because of it. See how much you can get in a game like that - Can you get more sex into it? It's a great series to do studies on, because I suspect it's had a lot of influence on the market.
And perhaps study how the protagonist is seen by the player? Do they prefer ones like Carl Johnson and Niko who, for all their killing, are pretty "straight" guys who rarely drink and don't do drugs, or do they prefer characters who are doped up to the eyeballs? Do they like the serious characters like Niko, or the more light hearted ones like SR2's protagonist?
You could also use GTA (and games like Saints Row 2 and Crackdown) to work out what gamers like in each game and blend them together to create a better game. Imagine GTA V with a customisable, fully voiced protagonist (like SR2) but with a city the size of IV's Liberty City. Imagine GTA V with San Andreas' planes and customisable vehicles. GTA's an incredibly popular series, and I'd be very interested to see what sort of results would come from it.
Why? Well, it's one of the most controversial series in the world and is developed by a company who have made a name for themselves doing so. You could study the effects on teenagers, pre-teens (like 11-12yr olds) and adults. See if it affects them, see if they change because of it. See how much you can get in a game like that - Can you get more sex into it? It's a great series to do studies on, because I suspect it's had a lot of influence on the market.
And perhaps study how the protagonist is seen by the player? Do they prefer ones like Carl Johnson and Niko who, for all their killing, are pretty "straight" guys who rarely drink and don't do drugs, or do they prefer characters who are doped up to the eyeballs? Do they like the serious characters like Niko, or the more light hearted ones like SR2's protagonist?
You could also use GTA (and games like Saints Row 2 and Crackdown) to work out what gamers like in each game and blend them together to create a better game. Imagine GTA V with a customisable, fully voiced protagonist (like SR2) but with a city the size of IV's Liberty City. Imagine GTA V with San Andreas' planes and customisable vehicles. GTA's an incredibly popular series, and I'd be very interested to see what sort of results would come from it.
Fallout. People need to know how to survive in case WW3 launches nukes that destroy everything...
Civilization and the Total War series.
Total war is the closest thing to historical accuracy that a game can get while being fun. Civ is just a great way to learn about the development of humanity and such. Both have large amounts of text that can be accessed for learning purposes.
http://beyondthescreen.wordpress.com/2007/09/09/civ-in-the-classroom/
http://www.unit5.org/anthemproject/index.html
http://ezinearticles.com/?Civilization---Changing-the-Way-We-Learn-at-Home-and-in-the-Classroom&id=4585021
http://historicalsimulations.org/serious-games/world-history/rome-total-war/
its been done. (the last link also has other games)
Total war is the closest thing to historical accuracy that a game can get while being fun. Civ is just a great way to learn about the development of humanity and such. Both have large amounts of text that can be accessed for learning purposes.
http://beyondthescreen.wordpress.com/2007/09/09/civ-in-the-classroom/
http://www.unit5.org/anthemproject/index.html
http://ezinearticles.com/?Civilization---Changing-the-Way-We-Learn-at-Home-and-in-the-Classroom&id=4585021
http://historicalsimulations.org/serious-games/world-history/rome-total-war/
its been done. (the last link also has other games)
I can't remember it for the life of me, but there was an article about a teacher who made his class play Fallout 2. It was really cool. Anyway, because of that, Fallout.
Well I've only played Fallout 3, but Bioshock goes a long way too exploring the what and why of human behaviour. I mean, the idea of creating a paradise, editing yourself to become "better", the political/social ramifications, the moral dillema faced. Also, there is a lot under the surface of that game. For example, the big daddys with rivet guns, known as Rosie. Rosie the riveter was a character for an ad campaign in WWII, to recruit women into the workforce. A friend did use Bioshock in an essay once. I would pick Bioshock over Fallout 3 at least, and I would guess over the other two as well.101194 said:
Also, while I agree Mario is awesome, it really has no place in this kind of course.
I second this notion and I move to include any of the other games that can safely be considered "artful" or "culturally relevant" as well.Milky_Fresh said:
