A Community of Learning...and stuff

Well, there's been some great feedback from the tcsgamer podcast ep1 appearing on VW....whew, dodged that bullet. It's usually ok when I post it here, because compared to Brent, my audience is relatively small. The reflection of your work gets put right in your face when a larger audience is presented. So, I'm happy with it...but there are some things that I need to do differently with Ep3. So, thanks for the feedback everyone...and again to Brent for taking the chance and putting it up there :)

In the world of conferences, there is an interested on coming up on July 12-13 in Wisconsin called the Games, Learning & Society Conference. As most know, I have a 6 year old girl floating around my house, and the amount of stuff she has learned from the computer is mind boggling to say the least. I taught her how to use a mouse and keyboard at the age of 4 and off she went with Disney ABCs, and Disney Pirate Adventure etc...it's crazy. She's also getting very good at Super Mario with the DS. The importance of using a computer and PC games as a tool for learning cannot be underestimated...not to mention the hand-eye coordination needed to play on the DS. I swear do Zeus though, if hear one peep about how video games cause wacko idiots to go postal in their school....I'll scream.

I really hope they talk about the impact that gaming has on technology in society as well. I will make a huge assertion here, only based on my gut and observation: PC technology, and consoles, would not be where they are today if it weren't for gaming. I truly think that PC gaming is THE reason why we at at the level that we are in terms of RAM, Processor and Video Processing technology. That's why I kinda get the "ohhhhh, careful what you wish for..." look when I hear some people say "PC gaming is dead....again". I'm pretty sure that we wouldn't have the 360 or PS3 today if it wasn't for advances made by the PC. I'm also sure that Toy Story, Monsters INC, Cars or any other great animated films would not have been made if it weren't for some of the breakthroughs pioneered by PC gaming designers. Yes, it would be a very interesting topic indeed for this conference.

A blog called Random Battle put up a very interesting article about his struggle between getting a job in the gaming industry but also keeping it as an enjoyable hobby. I hear you my man....I hear you. I decided long ago that working in the game industry was probably not for me. Although, I'm sure that the working conditions probably differ from company to company, working in the industry seems to be reserved for the young, kidless and those who require little sleep...I am neither anymore (cue comment from designer who's managed a great work/home balance). Of course, I'm doing coding of games on the side, yes, but that's only for the sake of coding and to keep myself from going insane in my current job. Anyway, I understand where he's coming from....even running this blog has eaten some time into my gaming. I've talked and listened to others who are far more into this industry than I am, and they all say the same thing, "I have no time for gaming". Isn't that sad? Here we all all, talking about an activity we all love, and yet we can't find the time to do said activity. Well...I hope he's able to find the right balance between gaming as a hobby and gaming as work.

Now here is an interesting article by Grimwell regarding the posting of world wide firsts in EQ2. Wow...it's really stunning to me how seriously some people take their game. I really don't envy Grimwell for being a Community Manager in EQ2, it's something that takes a really thick skin to do. Actually, there is something worse than being a CM for EQ2....being a CM for WoW. My lord...can you imagine? /shiver

D out.