Disaffected! Game Information The game I chose to review is called ?Disaffected?. Persuasive Games LLC created the game and suggests that it may be used to discuss labor issues and management. It is free to play and suggests no target age. It is a game that you can download from this website http://www.persuasivegames.com/games/game.aspx?game=disaffected Game Structure and Teaching The purpose of this game is to show issues related to labor and management issues within businesses. It also has an underlying context of suggesting that monotonous work could lead to ignorance and inefficiency. Curricular based goals and objectives could be derived from U.S. History in Goal 5 and Goal 11. Both of these goals deal with industry, labor unions, movements, and other issues relating to the impact industry and manufacturing has had on social, economic, and political relationships. An indirect educational aim that this game entails is the empathy that is gained for the employees of these stores. It shows how difficult it might be to run a business with low staff and impatient people. It might encourage students to be more patient and understanding at consumer stores. Instructional uses of this game could include using it to analyze relationships between employees and bosses, and talk about the impact this has on business success. You might also be able to talk about the importance of customer satisfaction in business success. This game seems to be geared more toward high school and post-secondary education. This game does achieve some of the 21st learning skills such as communication and problem solving. Both of these skills are needed to keep the customer happy and make the simulated business successful. I think also that this game aims to suggest a new way to look at business operations and take a critical eye at the problems that employees face in big business. It also suggests that some problems are not addressed by companies and employees are forced to work in those conditions. Game Play The game starts off with choosing a level of difficulty. Next, you are given instructions on how to use the keyboard to move your ?employee?. You see a simulated store front (FedEx/Kinkos) and my game started out with two employees. The computer automatically issues problems that employees often encounter, such as too many customers at one time, boredom, and fatigue. This makes it difficult to make the customer happy. The game can be played with one or two players at one time. The objective of the game is to service the customer and get them their product as soon as possible. The computer automatically makes the customer leave if they are unsatisfied, so there is a time constraint. The game proceeds in levels, you must master the first level to proceed to the next. The game ends on the last level of game play, when you have satisfied all customers appropriately. Game Critique The limitations of the game include only focusing on the relationship aspect of the business situation. I think it could be better served if they talked more about the economic side of how the business runs. They did a fairly good job in indicating what things might help or hinder a business?s success. The non-monetary costs are low, depending on how well you play the game. If you are not that good, it might take you much longer to succeed. The cultural context of this game is very contemporary and includes only white employees, but several ethnic customers. It is obviously presented in an industrialized town/city with younger employees and older customers, perhaps sending a message about what kind of people work where. Finally, the downsides of this game could be that it doesn?t do well enough to address the economic side, and also it seems to ?put-down? service workers in retail by suggesting that they sometimes cannot do their job appropriately. Posted by amlong3 ( Oct 01 2007, 07:03:13 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Sim City Classic Game Review #3 Sim City Classic ? Ron Jones No one has done it yet, so what the heck! Game Information: Name: Sim City Classic Company: EA Games Educational use: simplified civil engineering, development of cities Target Age: seems to be young adolescents Platform: PC Address: http://simcity.ea.com/play/simcity_classic.php This game is an oldie. It looks very DOS, but it contains the basics for play. Later versions, which must be purchased and updated, are state of the art. SimCityscape is 3-D and looks really modern. Game Structure and teaching: The purpose of this game is to teach about the growth of cities from villages to towns, concentrating on economic management, rather than political development. The direct curricular aim is not easy to see. This game could align with US History or with Civics & Economics, although the age range seems to be middle school. Perhaps a magnet elective like Odyssey of the Mind would be a good fit. An indirect aim could be to have the learner make decisions concerning development, and allocation of resources. Instructional uses could be the development of cities during the late Industrial revolution, growth of cities in response to industrialization of the late 1800 to late 1900?s. I think that this game could fort the 21st Century initiative in that it familiarizes the learner with the development of societies in a technological format Game play: The object is to design a city from a bare landscape. There are forests, lakes and rivers, and the city must fit within the confines of the land. (Geography still rules!). The first step is to build a power plant, lay out residential, commercial, and industrial districts, connect them with power transmission lines and roads. The game proceeds through time increasing month by month, from the year 1900. At various times neighborhoods are built, commercial and industrial zones are developed and then abandoned. There are even natural disasters, floods, fires, tornadoes and earthquakes, programmed in that effect the developed areas. All the while the infrastructure must be adjusted, adding newer zones, building roads and power lines. The game tracks population, satisfaction levels with the city and revenues from the tax base. There are budget adjustments that can be made with spending on infrastructure and with the tax rates. Game Critique: In playing this game I found that it was possible to set up the town and watch it grow, adding development zones and spending the budget as needed, all while doing something else. This lack of rapid change is a drawback, as it could be boring to some students. On a libertarian vein, I found that adjusting the tax rate downward did not have the effect of stimulating growth nor, because of growth, stimulate revenue. This leads me to suppose that the game was designed by people who disregard the Laffer Curve?s proven benefits. Posted by rejones ( Oct 01 2007, 03:23:13 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Climate Change Game Name- Climate Challenge Company- BBC Stated educational use- Global Climate Change Target age for use- Middle and High School Cost- Free Platform- web-based Game structure and teaching- The goal of this game is to provide students with the knowledge to make a decision on the issue of global climate change. This is a subject that is currently being debated in the political arena. Some direct curricular-related educational aims could include- understanding the subject of climate change, learn how to examine the research and science of global climate change, and evaluate possible solutions for this issue. I think that this game should be used in a civics and economics course or a geography course. Students would learn how human activity not only has an impact on the environment of their country, but it could impact the entire global community. Some informal learning activities could be presented by allowing students to have the opportunity to debate each other, after this activity. In my opinion, this would allow students to voice their opinions and support them with evidence from their research. The 21st century teaching and learning aims that would be covered by this game would include- information and communication skills, thinking and problem-solving skills, and creativity and intellectual curiosity. Game Play- This game is easy to assess, you can go to the BBC website and play the game. First, you will select a player. Your goal is to lower carbon dioxide emissions, since you are president of a European nation. There are five areas which are; national, trade, industry, local, and household. Under the national section, the player can introduce a new fuel tax, privatize electricity, and plant small forests. Next, you can examine the trade section. According to this area, you can send foreign aid. The industry area has the following options- subsidize aviation, switch from coal to gas, and promote industrial energy efficiency. The local section allows the player to improve building regulations, build more roads, invest in water infrastructure, promote cooperative wind farms, and build affordable housing. And the household section allows the player to promote recycling. Each of the subsections provides the player with the positive and negative public opinion on these issues. So, this game challenges the players? decision making skills as well. Game Critique- This game really does not teach students about the subject of global climate change. Instead, it should be used as a tool that would reinforce a lecture of a video on the subject. I think that this game is perfect for a geography course, due to the global impact of climate change. The game is free, so you would not have to worry about purchasing the software. Also, you could implement this game in a computer lab, since students could access this via the Internet. Posted by ltwhites ( Oct 01 2007, 02:32:55 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

The Sims by Rachel Palmer Game Information: I observed a male playing The Online Sims game. Electronic Arts is the creator of this program. The company is one of the largest developers with over $3 billion in sales in 2007. I was able to download a trial version of this game. To purchase the game there is a $9.95 monthly charge. Game structure and teaching: The objective of the game is to create a virtual identity and survive in a virtual world. There were not any clear educational uses stated. Upper middle school and high school students could play this game fairly easily. The player does learn to make economic choices in this game. I could see this game used in a high school accounting class. Game Play: In The Sims players don?t die. You could play the game forever. The objective of the game is to create and sustain a ?Sim?, or virtual person. The player had a week to use the trail version of the game. During that week the player was able to create one Sim, purchase a property, find a job, and create two friendships. The player had to maintain levels of certain functions for the Sim such as fun and hunger. Critique: The reason I chose to observe a man playing this game, is because this is considered a female game. This particular player seemed more interested in set up a home and getting a job than in meeting other players. When the player was approached by another player, he was not interested in creating a relationship. Instead the player wanted to gain information from the other player. Posted by rkpalmer ( Oct 01 2007, 10:05:01 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Stop Disasters Game Review Stop Disasters is a simulation based game created by the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and the Playerthree Company. This game is available online for free, but requires the use of the most to date version of Flash Player 7 or higher. It is a single player game where the goal is to try to prevent many natural disasters include earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes and wildfires that effect different areas around the world. Each of these five scenarios take approximately 20 minutes to play, and the games can be played on easy, medium, and hard difficulty levels. The game was designed for the interest of children between the ages of 9-16, but it is suitable for all ages because of the educational content. There is no distinct end of the game so it can be played indefinitely, but the end could be considered when each of the five scenarios has been successfully completed on each of the three difficulty levels. One of the unique characteristics of Stop Disasters is since it is on online based game the web site will save your best scores, and it allows you to play against people all over the world. Stop Disasters has a lot of educational value that it can offer to anyone who plays the game. The basic goal of the game is to protect the area from the natural disaster. This can be done by providing the locals with evacuation instructions, education, shelter, hospitals, and certain defenses against the storm. This has to be done while operating within the $35,000 budget. In the game you not only have to protect the area from the storm, but to also develop the area to meet the basic needs of the locals. In the online game I played I had to protect South East Asia from a tsunami. The objectives were to build 2 schools, 3 hotels and a hospital while still providing defense mechanisms. When you make a good move the computer prompts you with key facts which give you tips as you progress within the 15 minutes before the storm began. During the game you are in charge of providing the area with as much protection as you can provide. This includes developing the area with houses made of sticks, concrete, wood, and bricks while still reaching the games objectives. Therefore, the ability to learn how to budget is the key point of the game. I believe that this game would be very beneficial for an economics, science, or a social studies lesson that deals with natural disasters. It really provides a lot of insight on to the natural disaster that are prone to certain areas, and the defenses that can be used in order to help prevent as much damage as possible. These defenses include upgrading the existing facilities such as the community center, placing seismic sensors in the ocean, filling the water with mangrove bushes and breakwaters. Then on land you can build sand dunes and palm trees on the beach while putting trees inland. It is really geographically correct because you can only put certain types of vegetation in certain areas. Both developing and defenses options are allotted a dollar amount, and come out of that $35,000 beginning budget. Therefore, this game really provides a lot of importance on budgeting by determining which action is most appropriate for your budget. This game is great to meet the 21st century skills of critical thinking and problem solving in order to help students become more interested in the business community. As I played the game I realized that this would be an appropriate game to play with a class of economics, science, or social studies students. Since it was developed by the ISDR the game is educationally based, but I believe that it would be appropriate for the classroom. The game is not too difficult to play, but it is rather difficult to learn how to successful play each level. At the end of each of the scenarios it provides you with a detail about the amount the damages of the storm. These facts are presented as if the media is reporting on the storm because it looks like it is the cover of the news paper. It provides the amount of the storms damages, the total number of deaths, the amount injured, and then how successful you were based on a monetary amount. Then it determines if you failed or passes your mission in order to move to the next scenario. This was a very fun and challenging game to play especially because you can determine which difficulty level you would like to play. I don?t believe that students would have a lot of difficulty learning how to play the game, but it can become very frustrating putting that much time into the game to only realize you failed your mission. Therefore, I believe that I would recommend this game for any middle or high school economics, science or social studies classroom. It really does a good job providing information on geography, natural disasters, budgeting, and many other facts that can be used for educational purposes. This is a real user friendly game because it gives a lot of key facts and is very simple format that makes the game easy to understand. Therefore, I believe that Stop Disasters is a game that can provide a lot of educational value to many different classrooms. Posted by klmaxwe2 ( Oct 01 2007, 07:46:15 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [1]

Discover Babylon General Information: Discover Babylon was developed as a joint effort by the Federation of American Scientists, Cuniform Digital Libratry Initiative, Walters Art Museum and Escape Hatch Entertainment for the Learning Technologies Project. It is available as a free download at www.supersmartgames.org or the Discover Babylon website at www.discoverbabylon.org/index.asp. The game's stated purpose is to expose players to "Mesopotamia's diverse contributions in writing, mathematics, literature, and law...". Discover Babylon is targeted at 8 -14 year olds and is only available for Windows operating systems. Game Structure: The game operates in a scavanger hunt format in which the player must navigate through time, accomplish tasks along the way and find a missing archaeologist. Throughout the journey, players accumulate points for information uncovered while on their quest to visit Mesopotamia's key cities - Ur, Uruk, Babylon, Nippur, and Nimrud. The game does address several of the objectives of the NC Standard Course of Study for World History. Discover Babylon is appropriate for middle school through high school students and even adults who desire to learn more about Mesopotamia. The game does meet the requirements for 21st Century Skills by requiring players to solve problems such as bartering for food and understanding of geography. Game Play: The game begins with the broadcast of an earthquake in Baltimore which was created by a time shift attributed to an archeaologist who has time traveled to the past. The player begins his quest in a museum. He must navigate his way through the museum to find hidden items that make time travel possible. Once these items have been found, the player time travels to Babylon and assumes the identity of a 12 year old boy. There he learns what life was like from schooling to aquiring food in the city market. After each phase of the time travel is complete, the player leaps through time again to a different city, assumes another identity(such as a 13 year old fisherman) and continues his quest to find Professor Dax in order to bring him back to the present. On each leg of the journey, the player can choose to explore his envirionment further or continue his search for Professor Dax. The game concludes when the Professor has been found. Additionaly, the amount of points the player earns is dependent upon how much information he gathers/learns during the various phases of time jumping from city to city. Game Critique: Discover Babylon is a resource that all social studies teachers can implement in their classrooms. Cost is not a concern since it is free. The game can be downloaded by students for play on their home computers as well. Discover Babylon is fantastic way to introduce students to ancient civilizations. Students will learn and understand more about Mesopotamia from this game then they ever could from reading a texbook or watching videos. The one drawback of the game is the amount of time required to download (approximately an hour). If a teacher is planning to utilize the game in her classroom, the download needs to be completed prior to the day of intended use. The next time I am scheduled to teach a World History Course, I will definately include this game in my unit/lesson plans. Posted by japrober ( Oct 01 2007, 12:44:18 AM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]