Session Two

Video Games: Changing the Day, One World at a Time.
Session 2: For Present and Future Game Developers

This second session in the Video Game series will tackle games as a vocation. If our chief end is to glorify God, there are certainly easier places to meet a calling, but few careers have the potential to teach and mold minds in the ways that this medium can. Games deliver the kind of identity-play that is necessary for deep, critical learning in any domain. Can we harness that power intentionally? Can we use games to communicate deeper truths about the human condition?

This session will address topics of interest to game developers and people who want to be game developers: Art. The Theory of Fun. The State of the Video Game Industry. Learning. The Problem of Story in Games. Gamer Myths. Social Responsibility in Entertainment. And whether or not Christians should be involved.

power point slides here

Session One

Video Games: Changing the Day, One World at a Time
Session 1: For Gamers and the People Who Put Up With Us

Is there a place for games in a Christ-centered life? A glance at any game store shelf will reveal the obvious cons: gratuitous violence and the objectification of women paired with Pavlovian reward mechanisms in the context of typical adolescent male power fantasies. That can't be good, right?

We sense that games teach something. Some fear that they teach whatever it is too well. But what do they teach? Is any of it redeeming? You may be surprised to find out who is playing, and what the gamer generation has learned.

This session will address topics of interest to gamers and people who want to understand us: Addiction. The Point of Play. Learning. The Gamer Generation. Gamer Myths. Social Responsibility in Entertainment. Worldviews in Games. And whether Jesus would've preferred RPG's or RTS's.

power point slides here

The Talks...

The talk turned into two talks - each for an hour. The first was recorded. It will eventually be available for purchase on CD at www.soundword.com (fyi none of the money goes to me and I'm not certain if the conference gets a cut). The recording folks assumed the second session was the same as the first and therefore didn't need to be recorded I guess.

Both talks went very well, and the room was packed - people had to sit on the floor. I had way too much content, which is far better than the opposite problem. By popular request, I'm going to post the powerpoints here. While I was careful during the talks to point out when I was drawing information from outside sources, I'm afraid the slides aren't as clear as they could be in that regard.

I drew on James Paul Gee's "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy" and Beck & Wade's "Got Game" for both talks, and Raph Koster's "Theory of Fun" toward the end of the second. The balance of the material and the glue that binds it all comes from my experience as a game developer and as a campus minister operating from a Reformed background especially in regard to the "all of life redeemed" perspective. In other words, bald, near-sighted itinerant Dutch ministers/professors who swear alot, drink and quote philosophers extensively (in no particular order) are my spiritual forefathers. It's why I even bother to wonder whether games are part of the Cultural Mandate and, probably, why I play a dwarf hunter as my main in WoW.

My next two posts will be the intro blurbs and links to the power points for the two talks. See you on the other side.

Jubilee 2006

Here's the synopsis of a talk I'll be giving at the Jubilee 2006 conference in Pittsburgh next weekend:

Video Games: Changing the Day, One World at a Time.

Is there a place for games in a Christ-centered life? A glance at any game store shelf will reveal the obvious cons: gratuitous violence and the objectification of women paired with Pavlovian reward mechanisms in the context of typical adolescent male power fantasies. That can't be good, right? If our chief end is to glorify God, there are certainly easier places to begin.

Yet games have the potential to teach us and mold us in ways that no other medium can. Games deliver the kind of identity-play that is necessary for deep, critical learning in any domain. We sense that games teach something. And we fear that they teach whatever it is too well. But what do they teach? Can we harness that power intentionally? Can we use games to communicate deeper truths about the human condition?

This session will touch on a wide variety of topics: Art. Addiction. The Point of Play. The Theory of Fun. The State of the Video Game Industry. Learning. The Gamer Generation. The Problem of Story in Games. Gamer Myths. Social Responsibility in Entertainment. And whether or not Christians should be involved.