Game Over

Well classmates, we made it! It has been a good semester. I enjoyed gaming but I still wish that I had more time to devote. The final project was a challenge and didn't really turn out to be impressive but I learned new things. I have learned a new appreciation for games in education and am more motivated to incorporate them into my classroom. Thank you all for being great classmates. I appreciate your support, especially through the MUD experience. Have a great Christmas. I'm sure I'll blog with some of you next semester. What courses are you all taking?

Game Over.

Holiday Gaming

As the holidays approach, I look forward to family gaming. This usually consists of board and card games. I love playing with our family and friends. Hopefully this year we will be playing the Wii some with our family. Wii Music (see previous blog) is a great group game. It is fun with one or two players but it is for sure a game that fits "the more the merrier!"

Last night we played Buzz Word with my parents. This is not an electronic game but it is great fun. If you haven't played, you should look into getting it for the holidays. It comes with a deck of cards, each containing a buzz word. The cards show ten clues whose answers include the buzz word in them. One team reads the clues and the other team answers. It is so fun and is a lot of laughs. It is great for multi-generational groups as my parents were able to answer references to older songs and movies and my husband and I could answer the more recent clues. Check Buzz Word out! It is great fun!

Have a wonderful, blessed holiday!

Wii Music

Last weekend we bought Wii Music. We really have had a blast with it. Players use the Wii remote to play different instruments. Once players learn how to play the different instruments, they can play in a jam session and record their video. Players can design their video cover. There are mini games which are my favorite part of the game. One minigame allows the player to become the maestro and conduct an orchestra or choir. The second minigame is Handbell Harmony. Players use the wii remote and nunchuck to strike their handbell at a designated time (kind of like guitar hero, DDR, etc.--so fun!!). The third game is pitch perfect. This game challenges players to find the lowest pitch, match pitches, create harmonies, etc. This is very hard for me. My husband is a musician and he loves the creative aspect of this game. It is great to play in a group. It has been a good purchase thus far. My dad and I jammed out to Scarborough Fair on the jaw harp and cow bell. We laughed a lot!! Check Wii Music out!

Shrek the Third

We rented Shrek the Third for Nintendo Wii. This was a fun game that kept me busy for a while. There was a sort of plot line and sense of adventure, which mad it more interesting. The game allowed players to play as Puss in Boots, Shrek, Donkey, Artie, Fiona and Sleeping Beauty. What I liked about taking on the role of difference characters was that each one had strengths and weaknesses. For example, Shrek was strong and could destroy enemies much quicker than the others but was not very quick and couldn't jump very well. However, Puss was agile and could jump high but was not as fierce of a competitor. The game took the player through different levels. Each had a new challenge. Each level has a list of objectives that the players strive to achieve. Overall, I liked this game. It was not as challenging as I had hoped. We beat it in the time that we had it rented (five days) and we really didn't play it that often within those days. I'd recommend it for rental but wouldn't buy it as one might become easily bored by it.

Coffee Buzz

I tried a trial of a game, Coffee Buzz. It wasn't what I expected but it was fun for a little while. I was expecting more of a simulation where you have to make the recipe and serve the drinks. What it ended up being was like BeJeweled. You had to make a set of three for them to disappear. You could only click on two items for them to trade places. It was not very difficult but it was decent fun. I think my husband and I are going to go rent a Wii game to play, hopefully that will go better.

By the way, what courses are you all taking next semester?

Game Creation

I worked on creating a game with that software and it was actually pretty fun. I guess a lesson that I have learned is to stay open minded. I hated the game making software and last outpost at first. I warmed up to both and even enjoyed them. I would still be playing Last Outpost if I could but it is not worth the risk of dying and losing a level again. I am really enjoying this class and am actually learning a lot about myself through it. I just wish that I had more time to dedicate to some of these projects. They are fun but I have to quit before I actually want to. Anyway, I hope that my final project turns out alright. I am afraid that I have bitten off more than I can chew. Is Dr. Miller supposed to return the contracts or do we go ahead and start? I was kind of waiting to make negotiations to the contract before beginning but time is clicking by. Happy gaming all and good luck through the rest (and fastest part) of the semester! Oh, and Happy Halloween!

Last Outpost Part 2

Well, friends it does, in fact, get easier. I am almost to level five. I have played for a long time. I was to level four with a gnome and died twice and then there I was back to the beginning. One of the kind, helpful people on the game recommended that I try to start over with a human. So I did. (I'm not Jah instead of JAH). It has been better. Things are going more smoothly this time. Quil has been a fun companion and Bent has been more than helpful and that's just two that I know. There have been many others that have helped me with things. I think that the most difficult part is the lack of images. I kept trying to visualize where I was in relation to other things and I was never where I thought that I was. Anyway, Bent and others were right that it would get easier. I am still learning though. Hope it is going well for everyone else.

Last Outpost

Hey guys! I'm sure you are all blogging about Last Outpost but that is the game that I have been playing so here we go...

First let me say that I have no prior experience with text-based games. I have been in chat rooms where you use different text commands, similar to LO. So needless to say, this has been new and different. Secondly, boy does this game make me feel dumb. My game time is up to 7 hours (that is extremely substantial with all of the things that I need to be doing) and I have made minimal progress. I receive a new quest and accomplish part of it and then have to call for help. It is frustrating to me how slowly I am learning this game. Thirdly, war-type vocabulary is pretty much foreign to me. I have no idea what some of the items are that are in the game so that makes it difficult to know whether or not to get certain weapons or keep the ones I have.

That's all for now. I know that there will be more. This game has been pretty challenging to me. I'm just now getting the hang of it. Not that any of them are reading but Thanks to those that have helped me somewhere along the way.

Stress Relief

My job has been kicking my butt! Teaching is really hard. I got a new student last week and my room has been a mess ever since. One student with moderate or severe disabilities should count for like 15. haha! Needless to say, I havn't been able to play games too much. However, last night I did play WiiFit for some stress relief. It was a nice escape. Games have that power with me to be able to escape all of the other chores and things that I need to do and just relax. I enjoyed playing WiiFit and getting a little bit of a workout too. I chose to do some of the yoga exercises just so that I could breathe. I also had to tell myself to quite being competitive for a little bit and just play. (There is a record board that shows scores for each exercise and I like to be #1). Anyway, hopefully I can play some more this weekend.

Nanny Mania

So, I've been working on this simulation evaluation project. One of the games that I checked out was Nanny Mania. The plot was corny but I think this game could have value in schools. The nanny had to housework within a given time in order to experience success. As the difficulty increased, the nanny was given more jobs and some of the jobs became multi-step jobs. It also began with one baby and the family grew from there. The babies provided certain tasks for the nanny such as warming and feeding a bottle and changing a diaper. As they grew, they created other jobs for the nanny (knocked over lamps, books, etc.)
I think that students in our schools now do not really understand what it takes to keep up a home. I mean, I didn't fully realize until I had one of my own but I had a general idea. A lot of students have never washed laundry, prepared a meal or made a bed. I see this as a problem. Can people live without the skill of making a bed? Yes, but we have to see the bigger picture of keeping up with a home and the tasks within that. I think that I may buy this game for my students.
This game was very good at increasing in difficulty. The jobs increased and the difficulty increased as success was achieved. The graphics were similar to the SIMS and were overall well done. This has been my favorite simulation that I have worked with.

Cooking Mama

Okay, so one simulation that I did not have great luck with is called "Cooking Mama" for Wii. I like silly games better than any sort of sports or (sorry Dr. Miller) comic-related game. So I begged my husband to rent "Cooking Mama." I agreed to let him choose a "manly" game while I indulged in a guilty pleasure, silly game. Well, it was pretty disappointing. The game took you through the processes of cooking recipes. The Wii remote became whatever tool you needed from a spoon to stir to a potato peeler and so on. The recipes took the player through each step to prepare, fix and serve the food. The food covered a plethora of cultures and styles. I felt like the game was packed with some great ideas for a simulation. (Cooking is a great life skill for my students with special needs). However, it just wasn't executed well. The narrator was annoying, the graphics were not impressive and the dexterity required with the Wii remote became frustrating (required ridiculous accuracy). It was frustrating and annoying. Someone needs to take this game/simulation and develop it. I think the creators are on to something but fell a little short. Do we learn how to create games in this class? (haha! I wish!)

Brain Weight

I'm still playing Big Brain Academy for Wii. It is due back tonight so I have to get my last hoorah with it. I have really enjoyed the mental challenge that it has created. My brain weight has increased and my letter grade has come up a whole letter! I'm going to retest tonight before we take it back. I've enjoyed being challenged intellectually. It is a great game that I have really had fun with. It could be a possibility for the classroom.

More games

Here are some more games that I have been playing...

Big Brain Academy: I love this game!!! It is played on the Wii gaming system (it may be available for other systems but I'm not sure) and is the most educationally appropriate game that I have found for this console thus far. On this game, you take a test and you are given your "brain weight". The test has five components: compute, visualize, identify, memorize and analyze. You are measured in each of these areas. Then you are able to train your brain in each area to make your brain bigger. You can also race your friends in different activities which got pretty competitive here in our house. The activies are fun and stimulating. There are different abilities levels that challenge young and old. I could pretty easily see this game being used in a classroom as a "I'm finished, now what?" kind of activity as well as a whole group or small group instructional tool. Has anyone else played it?

Starfall.com reading activities: This website has some great reading activities that students see as games that facilitate basic reading development. I would like to use it some more with my students but it is not age-appropriate for them. I hope that those of you who teach younger ones will be able to use this with your students.

Not a good blogger...

Hello all! I apologize for the lack of blogging. I have had blog sites for a long time and have never been good at keeping up with them. I never was a journaler either. Like all of you, I have been busy. I am trying to figure out how to manage my time between a new teaching position and all the it entails and grad school. Hopefully I will do better. Although this isn't gaming related, it is technology related--One of the things that has taken a lot of my time is the school website. The library-media specialist caught wind that I had some experience with websites. Several weeks later, she and I have created a whole website for Russell Middle School (check it out at www.russell-ind.k12.ky.us/rms/ and let me know what you think.)

Anyway...games... I have been playing some, but not as much as I would like (I could play some games all day if I'm not careful)! Here are a few that I have experienced in the past few weeks:

WiiFit: What a brilliant piece of technology!! When we first got this game, my husband and I were amazed. The game comes with a balance board. Once your Wii character is registered in the program, you are measured, which includes your weight, center of balance and BMI. Wow!! I was not prepared for that. The game allows each character to set fitness goals and timelines. The workouts are divided into four categories: Yoga, Strength, Aerobics and Balance. The yoga portion is great because you cannot easily cheat. The poses that you are required to make are measured by your center of balance. The stength exercises are very challenging. The aerobics and balance activities feel more like a game than a workout, which I liked. Needless to say, I have become sore from this game before. I am looking for application in my classroom (any suggestions are welcomed) so that my students can benefit from this game. Many of them see the physical therapist and/or occupational therapist so I think that there is application that is worthy of some instructional time but I am still weighing this out.

Geometry Galaxy: Well, I'm not even sure if this is the game of this game. I rented it for the Wii system in hopes of a semi-educational game but was wrong. It was not what I had hoped so not much time was spent on this game. Someone should create some more educational games for Wii. I am dying to try it in my classroom and if proven effective write a grant for one to stay at school. So far, I'm not sure that adminisrators and others who might observe the class would deem this gaming system educationally appropriate at this point. I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for some educational games. (If you know of any that I am just missing, please let me know).

Hello Fellow Gamers

Welcome! This blog was established for EDUC 688 to discuss and critique games and simulations in regards to educational value and purpose.