Kestrell

6th Annual Virtual Reality Day – Saturday, November 19, 2022

2022-11-18T15:50:50Z

It Starts Tonight at 11:59pm EST
https://virtualrealityday.org/

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Discord Table Top Role Playing Gaming Community welcomes visually impaired players

2022-08-11T18:54:55Z

Kes: The following post is from Top Tech Tidbits, but I have no experience with the group, and I am still baffled by Discord, so I can offer no further info.

Have you ever been interested in Table Top Role Play Gaming, such as Dungeons and Dragons, but hesitant to give it a shot or didn't know how? Knights of the Braille is a community of blind, visually impaired, and sighted individuals who welcome everyone. We meet on Discord and the developers are aware of screen reader users, but check us out for yourself:
https://knightsofthebraille.com/

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The Guardians: An MIT video game to improve mental health

2021-09-25T14:39:57Z

Kes: Another game which I wish was accessible, but I'm glad others have access to it.g

https://www.fastcompany.com/90666879/the-guardians-innovation-by-design-2021

Excerpt:

There are things we should all do, ranging from managing our finances to reading more books. But let’s be honest: Playing video games is more fun than balancing a checkbook, and more seductive than reading Tolstoy.

That’s why Craig Ferguson, lead platforms engineer at MIT’s Affective Computing group, has combined the two ideas into a groundbreaking app called The Guardians: Unite the Realms. It’s the winner of Fast Company’s 20201 Innovation by Design award in the Wellness category.

The Guardians—available for free download on iOS and Android—is basically a Trojan horse mental health app. At first glance, it’s like any monster-collecting and leveling game you know, filled with cartoonish magical creatures you need to assemble to take down evil. However, the only way to actually advance in the game is to step out of it—and accept real-life, on-your-honor tasks to complete.

Scientists call these tasks “behavioral activation.” Whether it’s exercise like going on a walk, or feeding your artistic side by drawing a picture, these positive experiences are proven therapy for anxiety and depression. Plus, they can help you acquire new skills or hobbies you might always find yourself putting off. So behavioral activation is a means of self-improvement, too.

....Meanwhile, Ferguson is planning to release a more polished sequel later this year, which will usher players from an enchanted forest to a tropical island. What a wonderful opportunity for us all to get hooked on our own mental health.

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Sentinels of Freedom: Why can't Fizzy Girl fight crime by flashing her tits?

2021-07-25T17:03:15Z

Alexx just read me
this great tweet by Lara B. Sharp,
https://www.facebook.com/lara.bee.sharp/posts/10101087016372330
describing how she responded to a man's sexist comment in a parking lot by flashing him her tit, the one with the big biopsy scar on it, which resulted in a whole battle of wills thing, which is literally hysterically funny.

And I thought, hey! I have this trickster character in Sentinels of Freedom named Fizzy Girl who fights crime through non-violent means, and being able to reduce a criminal to sputtering impotent rage by flashing her tit would definitely be in her bailiwick, so I asked Alexx if it would be possible to add that action, and he said no. So then I asked if we could ask the programmers to add it, and he said "Probably not," which I think is totally sexist.

Then I had this thought of adding that whenever Fizzy Girl flashed her tits, Mardi Gras beads would fall from the sky, and evil doers would be compelled to chase after them, but maybe that's a little over the top?

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Making the Cathedral board game accessible

2020-12-09T17:05:20Z

I was reading the BoingBoing holiday guide, and fell in love with this game
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/7/cathedral

Basically, it is a wooden board with a bunh of differently-shaped wooden blocks, and you play it like Go, with two players taking turns putting down white and black pieces and attempting to occupy as much of the board as possible.

My game geek housemate, who is also old-school SCA, said it is actually from the 1970s.

I love it because it is all wood, and the pieces fit together like a Japanese puzzle box. I figure that, even if I can't make it accessible, which actually seems like an easy thing to do, I will still enjoy using it like a medieval puzzle box.

My first idea for making it accessible is to mark one of the sets of colored blocks with a tactile dot to distinguish the black pieces from the white. The pieces all have a bottom and top side, so marking the top should be relatively simple.

I've also ordered a tactile tactices graph from 64 Oz. Games, which I mentioned recently in a post. I figure I will lay it on top of the board to mark the squares.

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Endeavor Rx is the first FDA-approved video game

2020-06-19T12:21:47Z

EndeavorRx is being used as a therapy for kids with ADHD, but the genre is definitely science fiction
https://slate.com/technology/2020/06/endeavorrx-fda-prescription-video-game-adhd.html

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Nemo's War

2019-02-08T21:30:31Z

Around holiday time I read about the board game "Nemo's War"
https://www.victorypointgames.com/nemos-second-edition/
and began pestering my gaming housemates to get a copy. It came in a little over a week ago, I've played it with Alexx three times, lost twice, and already found myself getting excited about expansion packs and even found myself saying, "I think there's something wrong with these dice," despite being completely cognizant of the fact that that is a seriously delusional thing to say.

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If you're going to do something...

2019-02-02T16:19:35Z

Kes: Do you have paper for the mapping game we're playing on Sunday?
Alexx: I was just going to use some paper from my printer.
Kes [giving him A Look]: I have *real* drawing paper.
Alexx: Of course you do.
Kes: And some really nice drawing pencils. They look like twigs.
Ed.: The game is called The Deep Forest, here's a link
https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year/the-deep-forest

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So, I'm working on a design for an Alexa game

2019-01-12T17:21:29Z

The idea is to use Alexa to create a voice-based adventure game that would allow the player to explore a virtual map of the MIT campus. I am including a voice companion which can add some additional features. I'm basing this companion on the MIT mascot, Tim the beaver, and I picture him as a steampunk-style beaver, still named TIM, but it's an acronym for Touring Intelligent Machine (for screen reader users, that is spelled t o u r i n g).
If I accomplish nothing else today, I will still consider the day a big win.

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Amethyst dice

2017-12-18T14:56:00Z

Yesterday I had a small solstice and scotch party, and I gave guests small favors in organza butterfly bags Most of the favors were pins with a pagan theme, but I am pretty certain that the hit gift was the amethyst gemstone dice I gave to a housemate who is also a GM.

Since everyone kept commenting on how beautiful they were, I'm posting the link to the Amazon page in case others want to get some. Note: I spent extra time reading reviews in order to find dice that were well balanced enough to use in gaming.

Amethyst gemstone dice
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018N9IFOW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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MIT: Colloquia of possible interest

2012-10-19T19:59:23Z

1. Communications Forum | Oct 25th, 5:00 PM |
37-252
Why I Write Poems
Linda Gregerson

Linda Gregerson will discuss her new book of poems,
The Selvage,
and her calling as a poet and professor of Renaissance literature in conversation with Forum Director David Thorburn and members of the audience.

A 2007 National Book Award finalist and a recent Guggenheim Fellow, Linda Gregerson is the Caroline Walker Bynum Distinguished University Professor of English
Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, where she teaches creative writing and Renaissance literature. She is the author of four books of poetry and two books of criticism. Gregerson's poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, Granta, The Paris Review, The Kenyon
Review, The Best American Poetry, and many other journals and anthologies. Among her honors and awards are an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award
in Literature, the Kingsley Tufts Award, four Pushcart Prizes, grants and fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller, Mellon, and Bogliasco Foundations,
the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Poetry Society of America, and the National Humanities Center.

2. Communications Forum | Nov 1st, 5:00 PM |
E14-633
Digitizing the Culture of Print: The Digital Public Library of America and Other Urgent Projects
Robert Darnton, John Palfrey, and Susan Flannery

3. October 26 "The Stuff of Romance: Lyric Materialities and the Old French Romance Tradition"
Emma Dillon, University of Pennsylvania
Note: not much info, but refer to http://history.mit.edu/content/ancient-and-medieval-studies-speaker-series

4. Colloquium | Nov 8th, 5:30 PM |
32-155
Finer Fruits: Experiment in Life and Play at Walden
Tracy Fullerton
Sponsored by the Purple Blurb series. Note time.

Walden, a game, is an experiment in play being made about an experiment in living. The game simulates Henry David Thoreau's experiment in living a simplified
existence as articulated in his book Walden. It puts Thoreau’s ideas about the essentials of life into a playable form, in which players can take on the role of Thoreau, attending to the “meaner” tasks of life at the Pond—providing themselves with food, fuel, shelter and clothing—while trying not to lose
sight of their relationship to nature, where the Thoreau found the true rewards of his experiment, his "finer fruits" of life. The game is a work in progress,
and this talk will look closely at the design of the underlying system and the cycles of thought that have gone into developing it. It will also detail
the creation of the game world, which is based on close readings of Thoreau’s work, and the projected path forward for the team as we continue our sojourn
in experimental in play.

Tracy Fullerton, M.F.A., is an experimental game designer, professor and director of the Game Innovation Lab at the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she holds the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair in Interactive Entertainment. The Game Innovation Lab is a design research center that has produced several influential independent games, including Cloud, flOw, Darfur is Dying, The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, and The Night Journey -- a collaboration with media artist Bill Viola. Tracy is also the author of "Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games," a design textbook in use at game programs worldwide.

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Literary Games exhibit at MIT

2012-09-14T19:00:06Z

You're invited to explore the world of games + literature, with Games by the Book.

A new exhibit at MIT's Hayden Humanities Library, it's open to visitors until October 6.

Games by the Book features games and interactive fiction built around classic titles, including The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Great Gatsby, and more.

Learn more at trope-tank.mit.edu/games_by_the_book and below...

Games by the Book
September 7th - October 8th, 2012

Curated by Clara Fernández-Vara and Nick Montfort
Humanities Library
14S-200 (map)
Hayden Library Building

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Jane Austen's Rogues and Romance Facebook game

2012-07-13T12:31:15Z

Not my cup of tea, but I know one or two Janeheads (or is that Austenites?)
https://www.facebook.com/janeaustengame

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Jane Austen Facebook game to launch in March

2012-02-26T15:09:38Z

Kes: While not an Austenphile myself, I foresee many of my Fb and LJ friends suddenly becoming very very obsessed. Also, this would make a fantastic media studies paper.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/24/jane-austen-facebook-game

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The 2012 Crappy Game Complaining Marathon

2012-02-10T12:22:28Z

Kes: This is a fundraiser for the Cambridge Boys and Girls Club, but really, I think I know one or two people who are champions in this sport. It also seems like a really good exercise for people who want to design their own games and want to know what gamers hate.

"We Mock So They Can Play!"
Twelve straight hours playing games you hate? Live on Ustream? That's what our GAMBIT Game Lab is putting itself through on the 18th. A marathon of misery: the 2012 Crappy Game Complaining Marathon.

Why?

Because we love our local Boys and Girls Club. All the money we raise through our pain goes straight to them.
Donate now!
http://gambit.mit.edu/cgcm

We ask two things of you...
Donate $15 or more to the Cambridge Boys and Girls Club today.
Watch the complaining live on Ustream on the 18th between noon and midnight. The feed will go live at http://gambit.mit.edu/cgcm

We thank you for your support!
Your friends at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab and MIT Comparative Media Studies
How to Part with Your $
Visit gambit.mit.edu/cgcm.
The Cambridge Boys and Girls Club puts it to great use, funding youth programs in leadership, the arts, sports, and much more.

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Overview of MIT Gambit Lab offers podcast from former members of Looking Glass

2012-01-25T13:09:19Z

Also a link to an article about the psychology of games
http://alum.mit.edu/pages/sliceofmit/2012/01/24/diy-iap-mit-gaming/

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Tell me more about this board game...

2012-01-06T18:07:14Z

Now I want to knowmore about Roman board and dice games
http://timesonline.typepad.com/dons_life/2012/01/a-roman-brothel-token.html

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Study has participants playing Doom with their brains

2011-10-28T11:56:15Z

Last week at MIT's Emerging Technology conference, someone presented information regarding a study in which volunteers played Doom using a brain-computer interface
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/38050/Study_Sees_Volunteers_Playing_Doom_With_Their_Brains.php
Note the link to a longer Computer World article about the study.

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Playing Bioshock for college credit

2011-05-31T15:29:01Z

Kes: And the word of the day is "gamic text."

from
http://depts.washington.edu/chid/node/98

block quote start
CHID 496F
Title: CLOSE PLAYING, OR, BIOSHOCK AS PRACTICUM

As part of a continuing series on video games generated by the Critical Gaming Project at UW, will discuss, develop, and do close playing. Like close reading, close playing requires careful and critical attention to how the game is played (or not played), to what kind of game it is, to what the game looks like or sounds like, to what the game world is like, to what choices are offered (or not offered) to the player, to what the goals of the game are, to how the game interacts with and addresses the player, to how the game fits into the real world, and so on. To engage all of this, we will take 2K's critically-acclaimed
first-person shooter Bioshock (Xbox360, PS3, PC) as our central gamic text (though other supplemental games will be included as needed). block quote end

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MIT collaborates with Smithsonian on developing new science game for kids

2011-02-23T15:20:58Z

Vanished: The MIT:Smithsonian Science Mystery"

The Smithsonian Institution and MIT announced the April 4 launch of VANISHED an 8-week online/offline environmental disaster mystery game for middle-school children, meant to inspire engagement and problem solving through science.

Developed and curated by MIT's Education Arcade (a research group in Comparative Media Studies) and the Smithsonian Institution, VANISHED is a first-of-its-kind experience where participants become investigators racing to solve puzzles and other online challenges, visit museums and collect samples from their neighborhoods to help unlock the secrets of the game. Players can only discover the truth about the environmental disaster by using real scientific methods and knowledge to unravel the game's secrets.

To navigate through the mystery game's challenges, participants will gain access to Smithsonian scientists from such diverse disciplines as paleobiology,
volcanology, forensic anthropology and entomology.

Potential participants can sign-up for VANISHED at
http://vanished.mit.edu
beginning March 21.
[Kes: Although you can currently sign up now ont he Web site to receive notification of when the game officially starts.]
( more info below cut )

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MIT: colloquia on Shakespeare and videogames, today

2011-02-17T12:58:16Z

Kes: The recording of this should be posted to the CMS site at some point later--I'll post a link to it when it goes online.

Join us today at 5pm for a look at...

Theatre and Videogames as Performance Activities

Featuring Clara Fernández-Vara of
the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab (gambit.mit.edu).

CMS Colloquium
02.17.11 | 5:00 PM | MIT Building 2, Room 105

From Elsinore to Monkey Island:
Theatre and Videogames as Performance Activities
with Clara Fernandez-Vara, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab
What do Shakespeare and videogames have in common?

Clara Fernandez-Vara, a Comparative Media Studies alumna, explains her journey from researching Shakespeare in performance to studying and developing videogames. Applying concepts from theatre in performance illuminates the relationship between the player and the game, as well as between game and narrative.

Videogames are not theatre, but the comparison gives way to productive questions: What is the dramatic text of the game? How does this text shape the actions of the player? Who are the performers? Who is the audience? These questions will be addressed in the context of adventure games, a story-driven genre where the player solves puzzles that are integrated in the fictional world of the game.

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Adding accessibility features to Echo Bazarre?

2010-10-28T15:06:13Z

A week or so ago Alexx posted about
a Web game called Echo Bazaar
http://alexx-kay.livejournal.com/297897.html
and how he thought it could be made accessibile with relative ease.

I encourage blind readers interested in accessible games to follow the link to the game's forum and either add your comment or vote up Alexx' suggestion (I found this latter task to be kind of confusing myself but I did add my own comment to the thread's vote).

Also, don't bazaar and bizarre sound almost identical with a screen reader?

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MIT Gambit lab to host game marathon for Haiti relief

2010-02-26T18:08:59Z

The Gambit Lab at MIT will be the scene of
the 2010 Complete Game-Completion Marathon
http://cgcmarathon.org//Home.html
to raise money for Partners in Health in Haiti. You can contribute to this weekend-long fundraiser at the
Partners in Health website.
https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/haiti-relief?outreach_page_id=2187
and the marathon Web site includes a Web cam so you can follow your favorite team.

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The psychology of MMOs

2010-02-08T16:31:50Z

Jim Fructerman, founder of Bookshare.org, posted
a brief commentary on the book _Total Engagement_
http://benetech.blogspot.com/2010/02/total-engagement.html ,
contextualizing the psychology of MMOs within the corporate sphere.

block quote start

The thesis is simple. Millions of people pay each month to participate in massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). I've tried them, and I have friends (and kids) that have been totally sucked into them. They punch a bunch of psychological tickets for humans: the game designers know what they're doing. The book discusses how this is done:

* an epic story line(we're saving the galaxy from the Crumlons)clear paths to advancement, with transparency about your skills and performance
* intensely meritocratic societies called guilds that work together in groups to accomplish major tasks
* strong social interactions with other people
* the ability to try, fail and try again rapidly, learning quickly
* the option to try on leadership roles

For many people, these games are where they come alive and truly experience their potential to solve problems, meet challenges and lead a team.

And then they go into the modern workplace, which is frequently as stultifying as these virtual worlds are thrilling. Fail!

Read and Reeves are convinced that at least some smart workplaces of the future are going to adapt some of the ways of the games to more fully engage their employees and become more effective as economic organizations. They don't have a magic formula for how to do this, but do invest a great deal of time ana! lyzing what makes people inside these games tick and how those! concept s transfer to the workplace.
block quote end

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Independent Game Festival winner: The Devil's Tuning Fork

2010-01-19T22:36:05Z

Kes: Although this is a game which features visualizing sound, it's not really accessible to blind gamers, although the soundtrack is pretty creepy
http://www.devilstuningfork.com/about.php

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