CGT 04

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CGT 04
Carrie HeeterBrian WinnTelecommunication,
Information Studies, Media Rhonda Egidio
Education Michigan State University Partially
supported by a research grant from the National
Science Foundation
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ALIEN GAMES 1 Men Define What Is a Game

• Todays games are not girl-friendly
• Most computer games today are designed by men for
  boys and men
• They often have subject matter of interest to
  boys, or feature styles of interaction known to
  be comfortable for boys
• A questionWould games be different (alien?) if
  women and girls designed them?

American Association of University Women, 2000
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ALIEN GAMES 2 Learning Games Are No Fun

• Todays learning games are easy to learn, fast to
  play, and boring.
• They involve only a few forms of fun, mostly
  puzzles and trivia games. They rarely involve
  high stakes, aliens, for far future scenarios
• Girls like todays learning games better than
  boys do.
• Two questionsAre learning games invented by
  girls and boys fun? Would you learn from them?

American Association of University Women, 2000
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STRANGE BUT TRUEGirls liked the games better
than boys did!
Girls liked the (mostly academic) games we played
at camp better than boys did, with the exception
of Adobe Atmosphere. Girls liked Galactic
Civilization and Adobe Atmosphere less than the
other games. 5th grade boys loved Atmosphere.
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Dr. Evil Stinky and the Poison Cake
Imagined by Solar System 6
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Dr. Evil Stinky and the Poison Cake
Competition Cooperation Social Interaction Danger
Violence Aliens LearningRoles Goals
Imagined by Solar System 6
What feels weird or good about this game?
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Space Pioneer Learning Adventures Game Design
Camp
40 boys and girls (5th and 8th graders) came
together for two weeks to work in same gender
groups (with a teacher facilitator) to design
space related educational games
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The Great Probe Mission
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Guided Brainstorm 1 Science Content
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Brainstorm 2 Backstory Game World
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Brainstorm 3 Players, Missions, Goals
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Brainstorm 4 Navigation, Interface Interaction
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Brainstorm 5 Graphics/Look and Feel
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Brainstorm 6 Sound
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Virus FightersThe defeat of Juppa
Imagined by Frozen Eclipse
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Never Safe in Space
Imagined by Rocket Lions
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The Universal Mission
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Mars Tycoon The Race to Save Humanity
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Going back to the target population
These game promos will be shown to hundreds of
middle school children, to see whether kids
prefer games designed by their own gender.
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SO WHAT?
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Thank you!
This project was partially supported by a
research grant from the National Science
Foundation. For more information, please
visit http//spacepioneers.msu.edu/ Or contact
Carrie Heeter heeter_at_msu.edu Brian
Winnwinnb_at_msu.edu Rhonda Egidio egidio_at_msu.edu

Michigan State University