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Getting Your Daily Dose of Video Games?

Posted: April 30th, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Quick Blurbs | No Comments »
If you are not playing video games on a regular basis or even attempting to play then you may be missing out on the ability to transform your design career/business through the powerful grammar, storytelling, condensed learning and rich visual environments of games.
So, do you play video games on a regular basis (or even know HOW to play)?
If not, you may want to consider getting on board (and fast)
I, for one, was never really big into “gaming” but that has been changing recently with my 14 year old stepson giving me lessons on the Nintendo Wii with games like “Call of Duty,” “Zelda” and “Super Smash Brothers”
Consider this:
“Half of all Americans over age 6 play computer and video games. Each year, Americans purchase more than 220 million games, nearly 2 games for every US household. And despite the common belief that gaming is a pastime that requires
a Y chromosome, today more than 40% of game players are women.”
and this:
“Play will be to the 21st century what work was to the last 300 years of industrial society – our dominant way of knowing, doing and creating value” Pat Kane, author of The Play Ethic.
Research has shown playing video games not only can sharpen our conceptual abilities but also enhance our creative ability for pattern recognition, for empathy, for strategic thinking and creating visual mappings among others.
And the future of gaming is just getting started. It has all sorts of rich possibilities in every industry imaginable – like medical, military, sports, marketing, etc. – where (just for starters) real life situations have the ability to be simulated.
Especially if you are just starting out in design, it would be a good idea to investigate the many art/design schools that offer degree programs in game art and design.
Here are a few sites to wet your gaming appetite:
Game Spot – http://www.gamespot.com
Game Talk – http://www.gametalk.com
Yahoo! Games – http://games.yahoo.com
Women Gamers – http://www.womengamers.com
PopCap Games – http://www.popcap.com
Wireless Gaming – http://www.wgamer.com
…now if I can only get this darn wii controller right 🙂
Doug Farrick

If you are not playing video games on a regular basis or even attempting to play then you may be missing out on the ability to transform your design career/business through the powerful grammar, storytelling, condensed learning and rich visual environments of games.

So, do you play video games on a regular basis (or even know HOW to play)?

If not, you may want to consider getting on board (and fast)

I, for one, was never really big into “gaming” but that has been changing recently with my 14 year old stepson giving me lessons on the Nintendo Wii with games like “Call of Duty,” “Zelda” and “Super Smash Brothers”

Consider this:

“Half of all Americans over age 6 play computer and video games. Each year, Americans purchase more than 220 million games, nearly 2 games for every US household. And despite the common belief that gaming is a pastime that requires a Y chromosome, today more than 40% of game players are women.”

and this:

“Play will be to the 21st century what work was to the last 300 years of industrial society – our dominant way of knowing, doing and creating value” Pat Kane, author of The Play Ethic.

Research has shown playing video games not only can sharpen our conceptual abilities but also enhance our creative ability for pattern recognition, for empathy, for strategic thinking and creating visual mappings among others.

And the future of gaming is just getting started. It has all sorts of rich possibilities in every industry imaginable – like medical, military, sports, marketing, etc. – where (just for starters) real life situations have the ability to be simulated.

Especially if you are just starting out in design, it would be a good idea to investigate the many art/design schools that offer degree programs in game art and design.

Here are a few sites to wet your gaming appetite:

Game Spot – http://www.gamespot.com

Game Talk – http://www.gametalk.com

Yahoo! Games – http://games.yahoo.com

Women Gamers – http://www.womengamers.com

PopCap Games – http://www.popcap.com

Wireless Gaming – http://www.wgamer.com

…now if I can only get this darn wii controller right 🙂

– by Doug Farrick

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