Tag Archives: jesse schell

Making a game for change? Don’t make it about the change

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This week I had the good fortune to attend the Games for Change festival at the New School’s Parsons School of Design.  The festival opened with two statistics: over half of the presenters were women, and there was more diversity among presenters than ever before. Games, many said, are at the center of the tech universe, making up a $90 billion + market. And we are just at the start of the game revolution. Over two days at the festival, I was able to catch a variety of presenters, from an Italian protest artist to a virtual reality demo involving … Keep goin’

Speeding motorcycle: it’s just a bike

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Back in college, I worked full-time to pay for my tuition and books, my apartment, and everything else life charges you (food, clothes, cupcakes). My daily commute from the University of Washington to my job in Seattle’s industrial area did not allow much time between classes and work to worry about finding (or paying for) parking. Until then I would bicycle commute about 20 miles round trip, which wasn’t that fast (or pleasant behind semi-trucks for roughly half of the trip). So, I did the only logical thing: I signed up for motorcycle school, a one-day intensive training. Then, I … Keep goin’

Can gamification solve our problems? Week 3.

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You’ve seen your Facebook feed. It ain’t all fun and games out there. Could Gamification be applied to topple the oligarch?  Defeat the mortal enemy? Can gamification solve our problems? Well, let’s see. What is gamification, anyway?  According to Merriam Webster (sorry Wikipedia — I’ve moved up) gamification is “the process of adding games or game-like elements to something (as a task) so as to encourage participation.” What are game-like elements? Game-like elements include PBLs (points, badges, and leaderboards), a collection of things (coins, fake cash/gold, etc), and customization (making something uniquely yours) among other things. Certainly the newly emerged … Keep goin’