Set-up Notes:

Clips:
LOTR
NMC: Second Life
Rollercoaster Tycoon
K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

1

You can discover more
about a person in an hour
of play than in a year of
conversation.
Plato

K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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An Hour of Play
Katrin Becker

The Current State
of the Art in
Gaming
and Games for
Learning

K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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Would you teach using this
(or any) man’s work
without having read any of
his works or knowing
anything about him?

K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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Harlan Ellison
When I reviewed television, people said
"If you hate television so much, how
come you've got a television set in
your house?". Stephen King even said
"You know, Harlan's got a big TV.".
Yes, that's right. I try to be courant.
I try to know what it is I'm talking
about. I am not like many people who
give you an opinion based on some
sort of idiot hearsay or some kind of
gut feeling you cannot validate. When
I give an opinion, I do my best to
make sure it is based on information.

http://harlanellison.com/home.htm

K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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Information
on Which to Base Opinions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

The Hype & The “Reality”
Preoccupation with Games (State of the Art)
Learning and Games
Games of Interest
Serious Games
Reason for Optimism
Questions, conversations, debates…

K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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The Hype &
The “Reality”

K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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Is it better to discuss it, or
ignore it?
K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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Dawson College, Montreal

The Hype

Sept 13 2006
Both the BBC & CNN were quick to
report that the shooter played
violent video games.
He also wore a long black coat.
To their credit, the CBC did not.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/09/14/gunman-shooting.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/09/14/montreal.shooting/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5346110.stm
K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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Dawson College, Montreal

The Reality

Columbine Massacre Game voted one of The 10 Worst
Games of All Time (PC World)
“Do violent video games inspire horrific, violent acts in the real
world? No one really knows for sure.
Do horrific, violent acts in the real world inspire violent video games?
Absolutely.”
“Like the developers of JFK Reloaded, another recreation of a historic murder, the creator of
SCMRPG claimed lofty aims. On his Web site…
Ledonne says the game “asks more of its
audience than rudimentary button-pushing and
map navigation; it implores introspection.”
‘…as a game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG is
appalling.’
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127579-page,1-c,games/article.html
K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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Hype AND Reality

US Congress launches probe into
virtual economies. (Oct 15 2006)
“In Second Life up to US$500,000 in
user-to-user transactions take place
every day, and the economy is growing
by 10 to 15 percent a month.”
http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2006/10/15/us-congress-launchs-probe-into-virtual-economies/
K.Becker TERA ’07 C&C

AN Hour of Play

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The Myth

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AN Hour of Play

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