Week 10: Gaming & Virtual Environments

Activity 1:

Some games I checked out:

Zuma:

A pop-up game that's quite addictive! Requires good hand-eye coordination. The game's interface is pleasant looking to the eye, too.

Line Rider:

Ride the lines! This game is great! Draw lines on the screen and watch the little line rider dude fly around!

Blackjack (via Yahoo! Games):

I played some Blackjack and lost about $100 fantasy dollars. This games was fun, but a little slow loading.

Virtual worlds:

Finally, I was able to attend one of the gaming sessions which covered WoW and Second Life. The presenters did a great job of showing the group what these games are capable of. If I don't start to play these specific games, I am definitely going to play a game soon, perhaps something like Civilization IV. Thanks to all for getting me interested in gaming again!

Activity 2:

Games and virtual worlds are exciting! I think that they have the potential to increase a library's visibility within its community, and are also a good way to get people come to the library. Games and virtual worlds, if well-designed, can be great learning and educational tools because they involve things like reading, problem solving, coordination, and social interaction. I also think games and virtual worlds can be excellent ways for one to learn new technology skills (programming, Java, etc.) that can help in other work-related tasks.