£1000 to spend on consoles & games! Help needed ...

[LeMarchand]

surely thats like studying exploitation of women and just buying tonnes of porn for "evaluation purposes and to help the kids learn"

 

Hmmmm... wonders about the possibility of getting a grant to fund such a study:madgrin:.

[MK-2]

Hmmmm... wonders about the possibility of getting a grant to fund such a study:madgrin:.

 

wouldn't bother, its the longest course in history. i've been studying it for 15 years now. lost count of the amount of late nights i've spent studying this topic.............

[copson90]

I have no clue to why, been told to find it and order it. I certainly wont complain.

[GrumbleDook]

how will buying a mega drive and playing through 10 levels of sonic help the kids evaluate the history of consoles and such?

surely thats like studying exploitation of women and just buying tonnes of porn for "evaluation purposes and to help the kids learn"

 

I don't believe the idea is to play each and every game all the way through, but by looking at something like sonic or even jet set willy you can see that skill building applies in gaming. A trick learnt at stage 2 at level 1 is the built on in level 3 and so on ...

 

You learn about engaging an audience (communication and marketing skills) as well as coding to the limitations of your gaming environment.

 

There are lots of things that can be done with this ...

[mattx]

wouldn't bother, its the longest course in history. i've been studying it for 15 years now. lost count of the amount of late nights i've spent studying this topic.............

 

Dirty boy.

[JoeBloggs]

Atari 2600 - Pac-Man

NES - Super Mario Bros (maybe Zelda too)

SNES - Super Mario World, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart

Nintendo 64 - GOLDEN EYE

Game Boy - Tetris & Pokemon

Sega Mega Drive - Sonic

[MK-2]

GD: I agree there are a lot of things that CAN be done with this, but the reality is that it will no doubt be a toy that is dragged out to keep kids quiet or to play at the end of term.

 

I see no valid point for teaching anything related to game making to have 15 different consoles and various games for each when you could either show a gameplay clip on youtube, or simply talk about it.

Unless the teacher is well clued in on every game, how will he/she know that the double jump learned in level 1 is then put to use in level 2 and heavily referenced in level 3?

[mattx]

Two good books which may help [ which I own and have read a few times ]

 

Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time: Amazon.co.uk: Bill Loguidice, Matt Barton: Books

 

The Ultimate History of Video Games: Amazon.co.uk: Steven L. Kent: Books

[edutech4schools]

BBC had those large floppy drives and a game called fruity frack. I also remember seeing a black and white video about an inch big on the bbc of the x-wing v tie fighter and was blown away as their had never been anything like it. lasted 20secs

[CHR1S]

Editing autoexec.bat and config.sys to get you the required amount of memory to get a game running was half of the fun! Ahh them were the days, oh and felt marker lines on old spectrum tapes to know where each game was!

 

Memories

[mattx]

Editing autoexec.bat and config.sys to get you the required amount of memory to get a game running was half of the fun! Ahh them were the days, oh and felt marker lines on old spectrum tapes to know where each game was!

 

Memories

 

You old fart you. Hang on - I'm an old fart too.

As for ZX81 and Speccy games - I could not afford a tape to tape so setup two old tape decks - whacked the volume up to max set one to play and one to record, shut the windows and doors and then told my parents not to go upstairs as I was 'backing up my mates tape.....'

[MK-2]

You old fart you. Hang on - I'm an old fart too.

As for ZX81 and Speccy games - I could not afford a tape to tape so setup two old tape decks - whacked the volume up to max set one to play and one to record, shut the windows and doors and then told my parents not to go upstairs as I was 'backing up my mates tape.....'

 

daley thompsons decathlon - possibly the longest loading game ever, i'm sure that one hit 40 mins, just for me to fail at the diving board every time!!

[mattx]

daley thompsons decathlon - possibly the longest loading game ever, i'm sure that one hit 40 mins, just for me to fail at the diving board every time!!

 

I knackered my keyboard and quickshot 2 playing that.

[MK-2]

I knackered my keyboard and quickshot 2 playing that.

 

sad thing is i got the emulator recently just to play that and still got right up to the diving.....and failed.

[Rydra]

GD: I agree there are a lot of things that CAN be done with this, but the reality is that it will no doubt be a toy that is dragged out to keep kids quiet or to play at the end of term.

 

I see no valid point for teaching anything related to game making to have 15 different consoles and various games for each when you could either show a gameplay clip on youtube, or simply talk about it.

Unless the teacher is well clued in on every game, how will he/she know that the double jump learned in level 1 is then put to use in level 2 and heavily referenced in level 3?

 

The interface you use for the game is key to how the game is played and experienced.

How many games in modern times have you played that you dislike the interface/controls on, but still play the game anyway?

Could you imagine playing WoW on a DS sized screen with only 4-6 buttons?

 

How about looking at how Call of Duty varies between the PC and the console, what effect does the control interface have on it? Personally I have Battlefield Bad Company 2 on both the PC and the PS3. I hated the PS3 controls, I found them irritating and clunky and after a few evenings of playing barely managed to hit rank 1 or 2.... On the PC I'm almost rank 30, with 100 hours of play time logged.

 

How about looking at how Super Mario was played on the NES/SNES, compared to the latest iteration on the Wii? Are they still the same game, despite the controls? Do the controls make them better? Was one of those versions better than the latter ones?

 

How about also looking at experience of working with the consoles themselves. How does things like the load times of a modern game/console compare to that of consoles 5-10-15-20 years ago?

The PS3 refuses to let you play some games unless it updates itself every time you turn it on.

 

How did the original games consoles fit into the home life, compared to modern ones?

My parents would never have dreamed of owning a SNES, but they are looking at buying a PS3 to act as a Blue Ray player and have other functions like facebook ap, BBC Iplayer etc.

 

Having the items themselves to be tested and used appropriately in the right context cannot take the place of a Youtube clip of some German kid emo-raging about being pwned in Counter-Strike.

[mattx]

sad thing is i got the emulator recently just to play that and still got right up to the diving.....and failed.

 

I used to like the breakout game which came with the speccy demo tape.....

[MK-2]

The interface you use for the game is key to how the game is played and experienced.

How many games in modern times have you played that you dislike the interface/controls on, but still play the game anyway?

Could you imagine playing WoW on a DS sized screen with only 4-6 buttons?

 

How about looking at how Call of Duty varies between the PC and the console, what effect does the control interface have on it? Personally I have Battlefield Bad Company 2 on both the PC and the PS3. I hated the PS3 controls, I found them irritating and clunky and after a few evenings of playing barely managed to hit rank 1 or 2.... On the PC I'm almost rank 30, with 100 hours of play time logged.

 

How about looking at how Super Mario was played on the NES/SNES, compared to the latest iteration on the Wii? Are they still the same game, despite the controls? Do the controls make them better? Was one of those versions better than the latter ones?

 

How about also looking at experience of working with the consoles themselves. How does things like the load times of a modern game/console compare to that of consoles 5-10-15-20 years ago?

The PS3 refuses to let you play some games unless it updates itself every time you turn it on.

 

How did the original games consoles fit into the home life, compared to modern ones?

My parents would never have dreamed of owning a SNES, but they are looking at buying a PS3 to act as a Blue Ray player and have other functions like facebook ap, BBC Iplayer etc.

 

Having the items themselves to be tested and used appropriately in the right context cannot take the place of a Youtube clip of some German kid emo-raging about being pwned in Counter-Strike.

 

None of those things really require the console plus games though.

Control interface? Why not just show the kids the separate controllers, why do you have to then load up a game and show them that X on an Xbox controller and circle on a playstation controller do the same thing?

As for the Mario reference - that's just a game review. All you're doing is saying "I like mario on the wii as you get to move about with the controller - and the old mario graphics look rubbish". Again, sitting there playing the two adds no relevance to it. It would be like describing in a lesson how car engineering has changed and hiring out three super cars. They should be learning about the processes, not the end result.

Load times, etc on consoles don't need to be shown physically. Teachers explain a lot of things without having to physically show students, why should they put a mega drive cartridge in just to show the kids that it does indeed take 10 secs to load, just like they said it would.

As for how it fits into modern life, again i don't see how having the actual console fits in? Teacher asks "do any of you own a ps3 used as a blu-ray player?" do they need to then load up a ps3 and put a blu-ray disc in to evidence it?

[Rydra]

By the same arguement why do I need to write out those maths equations; the teacher can just tell me them.

And why read that shakespeare play, the teacher can just review and recap it for me. And why write an essay on that history topic, someone else has already written one if you look on the internet....

 

If all we ever did was point at a powerpoint, youtube clip or amazon review and said "That's it folks!" education would be a sorry place. You cannot replace experience with being parroted stuff by someone else.

 

Many people learn through experiencing things, children especially, either in it's entirety or re-enforcing what has been taught using other means.

Most of us even if we had to cover this topic would not have the resources to do it, and therefore we would HAVE to rely on external sources for our information. And we all know a lot of reviews are biased in some way or another.

Hell, why not teach ICT skills without a computer. I'm sure if you teach people the theory of it they don't need to actually USE a computer...

 

Both experience and teaching is needed. One without the other is useless. The OP has the chance to do what many of us could only dream of doing within our work environment. Yes it will require some effort and preparation on the part of the teacher, but what part of teaching doesn't?

[Luke_T]

I think it's also going to be an easy way of exciting kids about what could be a very dry module very much simply comparing and contrasting from reading about it and doing research ... it's not like they're going to spend the entire 60hrs (i think) they're supposed to spend working on that module playing games, but having the hands on experience will complement the research and give their work a depth that would otherwise be lacking. Hopefully it will also be fun :-) And we shall enjoy assisting the teaching staff in this project. If for no other reason than to see the incredulity on some of these kids faces :-)

[GrumbleDook]

@MK-2

A breakdown of how you would work on Mario then ... with the growth of the various Mario game there are some consistent items across all the various versions, such as turtle shells to destroy things, which means that as the students are playing the game they are not just going from stage to stage, but they are looking at how the interface is built on a certain platform, how the controls allow for certain movements and how those movements determine strategies.

 

You can then progress through each version (and the spin-offs including MarioKart) to see how the interface has changed, movement has changed and what that has subsequently allowed the player to do when given various scenarios within the games. This is also relevant where some of the games are no longer a linear platform of "you must do x before you proceed" but more open ended (allowing for multiple types of gameplay).

 

You then get a chance to see who skills are learnt within the game and how this differs from game to game on the different platforms, partly because of what the consoles are capable of (including how the controllers are used) and partly because of how ideas for games have developed over the years.

 

It is the same as just watching a film and going, "yeah ... there were lots of strange people in it!" instead of watching and analysing Blade Runner as a typical film of the genre and how it led to developments within other films.

 

The same way things changes with black & white films, Film Noir, Technicolor, Cinemascope, etc all the way to HD, the latest incarnation of 3D ... the activity alone is not the point of it all ... it is the study and analysis along the way that make the difference.

[mattx]

If all we ever did was point at a powerpoint, youtube clip or amazon review and said "That's it folks!" education would be a sorry place.

 

Education is a sorry place.

[mattx]

@MK-2

A breakdown of how you would work on Mario then ... with the growth of the various Mario game there are some consistent items across all the various versions, such as turtle shells to destroy things, which means that as the students are playing the game they are not just going from stage to stage, but they are looking at how the interface is built on a certain platform, how the controls allow for certain movements and how those movements determine strategies.

 

You can then progress through each version (and the spin-offs including MarioKart) to see how the interface has changed, movement has changed and what that has subsequently allowed the player to do when given various scenarios within the games. This is also relevant where some of the games are no longer a linear platform of "you must do x before you proceed" but more open ended (allowing for multiple types of gameplay).

 

You then get a chance to see who skills are learnt within the game and how this differs from game to game on the different platforms, partly because of what the consoles are capable of (including how the controllers are used) and partly because of how ideas for games have developed over the years.

 

It is the same as just watching a film and going, "yeah ... there were lots of strange people in it!" instead of watching and analysing Blade Runner as a typical film of the genre and how it led to developments within other films.

 

The same way things changes with black & white films, Film Noir, Technicolor, Cinemascope, etc all the way to HD, the latest incarnation of 3D ... the activity alone is not the point of it all ... it is the study and analysis along the way that make the difference.

 

And there was me thinking it was just a computer game.

 

If you want a proper breakdown of Nintendo - then read this book:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Game-Over-David-Sheff/dp/0340599820/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295980928&sr=1-4

 

Again, another one I've read.

[Arthur]

Would using emulators be an option? You can get a second-hand Xbox and mod-chip for around £40-£50 and play games from the following consoles or computers.

 

Sega MegaDrive / MegaCD / MasterSystem / Game Gear

Nintendo SNES / NES / N64 / Game Boy Advance / Visual Boy

Sony Playstation

SNK Neo Geo / Neo Geo CD / Neo Geo Pocket

Atari 2600 / 7800 / ST / Lynx

Commodore 64 / VIC-20 / PET

TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine) / SuperGrafx

MSX/MSX2/MSX2+

Intellivision

Amstrad CPC

Amiga

Apple II

... and many more.

 

I use mine to play SNES and MegaDrive games and it is fantastic.

[GrumbleDook]

And there was me thinking it was just a computer game.

 

If you want a proper breakdown of Nintendo - then read this book:

 

Game Over: Amazon.co.uk: David Sheff: Books

 

Again, another one I've read.

 

Sat on my shelf waiting to get past the trash fantasy and biographies I am reading atm.

 

Have you also had a look at The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses: Amazon.co.uk: Jesse Schell: Books ... I managed to grab a look at part of it a few months back it is quite an interesting read. A fair blend of what goes into making it work.

[mattx]

Sat on my shelf waiting to get past the trash fantasy and biographies I am reading atm.

 

Have you also had a look at The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses: Amazon.co.uk: Jesse Schell: Books ... I managed to grab a look at part of it a few months back it is quite an interesting read. A fair blend of what goes into making it work.

 

Thanks for the heads up on that one. Its now on my order list - I've just finished the Stig Book [ Ben Collins ], now getting through another Bee Keeping book for my sins, then it's the Blair Book [ 3 quid off the Book People ] After that it's a book called 'Delete This at Your Peril' [ as suggest by another Edugeek member ] then I will get to the one you have suggested.