Just Another Meme Vector

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Just Another Meme Vector

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Coming up
Game demographics Who plays?
Game dynamics What makes games fun?
Some examples of a maturing medium
The future Where games are going
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Demographics Who?
The average age of a British gamer is 31.
What age is the average gamer?
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Demographics How Many?
What percentage of the UKs population is
composed of gamers?
Gamer has played video games in the last 6
months, on any platform
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59
40
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There are currently over 27 m gamers in the UK.
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How much do they play?
Of the UKs entire population (gamers and
non-gamers combined)
. . . 48 play at least once per week
. . . 7 play 1-3 times per month
. . . 4 play less than once a month
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Demographics Who?
of each age group in UK playing games, 2005
. . . whats behind the shape of the distribution?
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Demographics Who?
. . . this shape is a growth bulge.
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What about the girls?
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Gaming Attitudes
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Gaming Attitudes
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Summing Up - Gaming Demographics
Gaming isnt just for kids
Gaming isnt just for boys
The average game player is 31
The average game buyer is 38
The gender split is pretty even
Most people take games seriously
We are in the middle of a demographic shift from
a society of non-gamers to a society of gamers.
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Coming up
Game demographics Who plays?
Game dynamics What makes games fun?
A maturing medium Some examples
The Future Where games are going
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Why does this game suck?
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Why are games fun (or boring)?
Games are puzzles
Games are about pattern recognition
Once youve got the pattern, the game is boring
In tic-tac-toe, there are only 26,830 possible
games
(Chess 1050 possible games)
. . . so it gets boring pretty fast.
Raph Koster, Game Designer
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This game is about the geometry of tetrads
Once you can rotate tetrads in your sleep, the
game becomes boring
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This game is about precise aim and timing
Once you can shoot so straight youre invincible,
the game becomes boring
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This game is about thorough exploration
Once youve explored everywhere, the game becomes
boring
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Fun is Learning
Games are challenges
To overcome the challenges, you must develop
skills
Gameplay is the process of practising and
applying these skills
Thats why key moments in gameplay are
achievements I got it! I beat level 10!
The process of gaining skills is what makes games
fun.
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This feeling is your brains reward for success.
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Three Learning Modes
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Games are the most advanced form of
investigation. -Albert Einstein
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Thats why were interested.
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But can a game really deliver journalism?
. . . or any serious message, for that matter?
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Games are stupid, right?
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Not all of them.
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In some games you have to perform subtle, complex
tasks.
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Sim City Is About
Tax policy
Infrastructure networks
Zoning laws
And it sold 18 million copies
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Games are Teachers

• Game challenges can be very sophisticated.
• To complete them successfully, you have to learn.
  
• You can learn about all sorts of things.
• How about some examples of games teaching
  socially relevant lessons?

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Coming up
Game demographics Who plays?
Game dynamics What makes games fun?
A maturing medium Some examples
The Future Where games are going
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Genocide
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Darfur is Dying Cost 25,000 Took 10
weeks 250,000 hits per month
Over 2 m unique viewers in 2006
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Conflict Resolution
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The War on Terror
A game making an editorial point . . .
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Fast Food Economics
(Another editorial point . . .)
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Historical Debate
(How is this different?)
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Coming up
Game demographics Who plays?
Game dynamics What makes games fun?
A maturing medium Some examples
The Future Where games are going
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Prediction is very difficult, especially about
the future. - Neils Bohr
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The medium will mature further
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Movies, 1927
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The Return of Social Gaming
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A Good Year
growth in each medium in UK, 2007
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Virtual Worlds
Normalized
Integrated
Taxed
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Ubiquitous Gaming
This woman (and others like her) is hacking real
life to become more game like
Convergence waning of the console
Browser-based, Flash taking over
Reality is the interface
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Alternate Reality Games
Using massively multiplayer game dynamics to
motivate, inspire, lead large numbers of people
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Further Reading
Raph Koster, A Theory of Fun for Game Design
Steven Johnson, Everything Bad is Good For You
Jane McGonigal, Why I Love Bees
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For links, slides and more info,
http//trippenbach.wordpress.com