Next-Gen Video Games Offer New Value to All
July 31 2008 / by jcchan / In association with Future Blogger.net
Category: Metaverse Year: 2009 Rating: 4
Coming soon to your living room: a wild safari in the scorching African savanna starring you, armed with nothing but your camera. Afrika is the next step in a generation of video games that seek to become more than just entertainment and can actually make you smarter.
Afrika, the latest game by Rhino Studios, is set to be released in Japan on the PS3 in late August. You play it from the perspective of a nature photographer and naturalist armed with a Nikon stalking realistic wildlife in painstakingly recreated savannas. The photos you snap are saved like a lexicon, or Africa-pedia, where you can read up all about the real facts of the animal. The PS3’s multi-cored cell processor is being utilized to is fullest potential to recreate the complex AI and behavior of the animals in mirror world fashion, and it’s is just one of many in the increasing trend of video games that are as educational as they are made to be entertaining.
Because the game is not about rifles or grenades, it is perfect for younger children who can learn about Africa’s wildlife in a fully immersive 3D world rather than a bread-and-butter textbook. And what a field trip it is without all the expenses and dangers of being there.
But using video games to teach isn’t a new idea. An all-girls junior high school in Japan have already been using Nintendo DS’s to teach English. The verdict? The students feel right at home with the new devices. Katie Salen, a game designer and director of the graduate Design and Technology program at Parsons School of Design, is leading the way in using video games as a foundation for education for an accelerating world. Her goal is to open a school based on gaming literacy.
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