Thing 15: Online Games

What is Second Life (SL)?
SL is a 3-D multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) gaining popularity among educators. It is becoming a venue for online learning, collaborating, and networking.

I did not load Second Life at this time, but I did...
read Doug Johnson’s article called, “The One-Afternoon SecondLife Tour” at Education World.com and visited ISTE’s SL website but I did not join in.

What is Puzzle Pirates?
Puzzle Pirates is another massively multi-player online roleplaying game. Gamers create and customize their own pirate, collect booty and join player-run crews. In this social online world players engage in commanding fleets of warships, swordfights and card games, among endless other activities. Puzzle games are launched during these activities that can result in victories and the accruing of great fortunes to the gamer and his/her fellow pirates.

I did not create a pirate...but I did spend a lot of time navigating around the puzzlepirate.com website.

My comments on MUVE gaming
Games used to be where you sat down after dinner for a few hours and played something - with or against important people in your life. You finished the game and got up and did something else.

These new virtual games don’t end. They are played with strangers - not face to face, the old way - but with a SCREEN inbetween. They build and build on themselves into infinity and addiction, in many cases.

To what avail? for all the wasted hours and wasted creativity? Who is REALLY benefitting? I feel society is losing.

What is the Wii?
I like the Wii - it gathers people together in the same room.

The Wii is a social gaming experience using a remote and nunchuk and gaming console to play. According to the Nintendo ad, “You just don’t play Wii, you experience it.”

I went to the Official Wii Website and watched 3 videos.
One with friends enjoying wii scuba diving, one with two girls who sang and danced to boogie, and one with a couple playing Super Mario Galaxy.

Fun. I want to play!