Water Cooler Games

by Ian Bogost May 23, 2009

Toilet Training for iPhone

Advergames, Social Games

In my 2007 book Persuasive Games, i discuss a wonderful advergame for the Britvic pacer-drink J2O. The game challenged the player to pee accurately into a toilet after drinking pint after pint of beer. The advertised product, a sort of fancy sugar water, helped with recovery in the same way ...

by Ian Bogost April 2, 2009

Reascending the Alps

Educational Games, Social Games

Whew, lots to catch up on! In the meantime, check out the best April Fools item I saw today: Alpine Legend for Xbox 360. Yes! ...

by Ian Bogost March 3, 2009

Jetset Sale, Optional Fairness

Game Design, Political Games, Social Games

I previously announced the release of Jetset: A Game for Airports for iPhone. We've finally done a formal press release about the game. As a part of that effort, we've temporarily reduced the price of the game to $3.99, so now's a good time to buy it on the iTunes ...

by Ian Bogost February 4, 2009

Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds

Political Games, Social Games

Rita King and Joshua Fouts send word that they have released findings from the "Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds project." The project explores how people can learn about Muslim cultures through Second Life. The report comes in three forms, one a written report about digital diplomacy through virtual worlds, one ...

by Ian Bogost January 22, 2009

Jetset: A Game for Airports

Casual Games, Political Games, Social Games

Over at Persuasive Games, we've launched our first iPhone game, Jetset: A Game for Airports. Here's the short blurb: A game for the frazzled globetrotter in all of us. Keep up with the changing rules of airport security on your iPhone or iPod touch. Play in airports to earn ...

by Ian Bogost November 21, 2008

My New Column: Disjunctive Play

Social Games

Gamasutra has published my latest "Persuasive Games" column, Disjunctive Play. The column mostly discusses Jason Rohrer's new game Between, but also tries to extrapolate a different kind of multiplayer experience from that title. When we talk about games, we normally use the language of conjunction, whether through accompaniment ("to play ...

by Ian Bogost November 19, 2008

Missile in the HASTAC

Educational Games, Political Games, Social Games

The HASTAC consortium has just announced a forum hosted by their HASTAC Scholars fellows on digital games, entitled Participatory Play: Digital Games From Spacewar! to Virtual Peace to "explore game innovations that surpass violent first-person shooters and military training simulations." Here's a further description: Beginning with notable exemplars of imaginative ...

by Ian Bogost September 24, 2008

Superstruct

Public Policy Games, Social Games

Game designer (and friend and collaborator) Jane McGonigal's new game Superstruct, created at the Institute for the Future, is about to go online. IFTF is casting Superstruct as a "massively multiplayer forecasting game," and uses the following rhetoric to set up the scenario: What does the world of 2019 look ...

by Ian Bogost August 13, 2008

Attention Hog

Casual Games, Social Games

San Francisco artist Chris Basmajian has created Attention Hog, A casual game about attention-driven social network culture. In Basmajian's words, "the game reflects some of the social and psychological trends present in social-networking communities. Eating its own hog feed, the game also offers extensive (almost 20) automated social network integrations, ...

by Ian Bogost July 3, 2008

Slim Jim's Virtual World of Meat Stick

Advergames, Social Games

Slim Jim, makers of fine dry meat snacks, have a launched virtual world for "people who want to explore their spicy side." This inspired locus, dubbed Spicy Town, is a "wild place where people can create a unique alter ego that’s a little aggressive, insane, adventurous, and mischievous." So say ...

by Ian Bogost July 2, 2008

Parents: Sex is Worse than Severed Heads

General, Social Games

USA Today is known for their daily infographics. Yesterday's covered "Video game offenders: What parents say they would find most offensive in a video game." You can see the results at right (click to make it bigger). It's nice that gay smooching just barely edged out "graphically severed human head" ...

by Ian Bogost June 27, 2008

My latest colum: Performative Play

Articles, Social Games

Gamasutra has published my latest "Persuasive Games" column, this one on how gameplay can literally alter the real world, not through changes in attitude but via gameplay actions themselves. "Performative" is a name for speech acts that do things themselves when they are uttered. The classic example of the performative ...

by Ian Bogost June 23, 2008

Simulating disease is nothing to sneeze at

Casual Games, Health & Medicine Games, Social Games

Liz Losh mentions and critiques a new Facebook app called Patient Zero, from VisualDXHealth. It takes the concept of viral spread literally rather than figuratively, allowing users to create a new virus, "power it up," and spread it to friends. Seems like a decent idea at first blush. The problem, ...

by Ian Bogost June 16, 2008

Rohrer sketches on Police Brutality, Immortality

Political Games, Social Games

Last year I wrote briefly about Jason Rohrer's excellent game Passage. Since then, in addition to a couple more small games, Rohrer has been writing a monthly column at The Escapist called Game Design Sketchbook. Among them, two are of particular interest to readers here. The first is Police Brutality, ...

by Ian Bogost March 21, 2008

Knowledge is Nothing. Tenure is Everything.

Educational Games, Political Games, Social Games

Thanks to David Wessman on the IGDA Education SIG mailing list for pointing out Survival of the Witless, a card game about the academic tenure process. The title above was the game's tagline. It’s a brutal game, where the most common card is "ass-kissing" (to simulate the most common action ...

by Ian Bogost March 10, 2008

World Without Oil wins at SXSW

Political Games, Social Games

The Alternate Reality Game World Without Oil, in which thousands of people simulated their lives after a major oil crisis, won in the "activism" category at the SXSW Web Awards. Congrats to friends/colleagues Jane McGonigal and Cathy Fischer, and comrades-in-spirit Ken Eklund, Dee Cook, and others who were involved in ...

by Ian Bogost February 16, 2008

Dating Violence Game Contest

Activism Games, Game Design, Social Games

Brian Crecente reports that his brother has launched a flash game design contest for games on the topic of dating violence prevention. First prize is $1,000, and entires are due April 15, 2008. More information here. ...

by Ian Bogost January 7, 2008

Center for Social Media Event

Political Games, Social Games

The Center for Social Media is hosting an event, Making your Media Matter, on February 7-8 2008 at the American University in Washington DC. Among the panels is Games for Social Change: How Games and Video are Playing Well Together, which will be held the 7th at 5:30pm and moderated ...

by Ian Bogost December 30, 2007

Will there ever be politics in Second Life?

Console & PC Games, Social Games

Those of you who keep up with game industry news already know that Cory Ondrejka has left his post as CTO of Linden Lab, creators of Second Life. Cory is a respected friend, and I will be interested to see what he does next. On Friday, Cory mused on his ...

by Ian Bogost December 26, 2007

The Holidays In-World

Social Games

I hope everyone had a happy Christmas yesterday. I dug out of Jell-O and constructed Transformers pies. As Christmas recedes into memory, here's one more post on the topic. One of the genres I didn't discuss at all in my recent column on holiday games are MMOs and virtual worlds. ...

by Ian Bogost December 22, 2007

Parking Wars on Facebook

Advergames, Game Design, Social Games

This isn't the first Facebook advergame, but it's the first I've seen that really tries to take advantage of the service's social graph. There is a new A&E television series called Parking Wars, which starts in January. The subject of the show is probably the only division of the police ...

by Ian Bogost December 1, 2007

Please play Jason Rohrer's Passage

Game Design, Social Games

I am back from Montreal, where I attended the Montreal International Games Summit and spent some time with the folks at Concordia and also attended Kokoromi's Gamma 256 show. There's lots to say about all of these, but for now I want to point you to one of the games ...

by Ian Bogost September 24, 2007

Alternate Reality Games Seminar

Advergames, Educational Games, Social Games

Despite their interesting features, Alternate Reality Games like The Beast and ilovebees really got their start as marketing campaigns. Since World Without Oil, there has been growing interest in using ARGs for serious purposes. Game community Unfiction is sponsoring a one-day event, Embrace the Chaos, to help people understand how ...

by Ian Bogost September 11, 2007

Persuasive Games: The Reverence of Resistance

Articles, Console & PC Games, Social Games

Gamasutra has published my latest "Persuasive Games" column, this one on the Manchester Cathedral controversy in popular PS3 shooter Resistance: Fall of Man. I take a fairly different position than A cynic, unbeliever, or Internet troll might point out the irony of the church pointing the finger, given the millennia-old ...

by Ian Bogost August 27, 2007

Strong Speech in Film and Games

Political Games, Social Games

Just as Take Two announces that Manhunt 2 has been "revised" and ESRB rated at M, news comes that Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee's new film Lust, Caution has been rated NC-17 by the MPAA, for graphic sexuality. The difference is, film studio Focus Features is going to release the ...

by Ian Bogost May 4, 2007

Intimate Controllers

Game Design, Social Games, Women and Games

Think you've seen every kind of alternate interface? NYU ITP student Jenny Chowdhury has devoted her masters thesis work to making a videogame controller out of a bra and undershorts. She calls it Intimate Controllers. Players have to touch each other in intimate places to play games created for the ...

by Ian Bogost May 1, 2007

World Without Oil

Political Games, Social Games

A new Alternate Reality Game called World Without Oil has launched, taking on the end of oil. As described in a recent article on the game, in the game's fictional world, "gas prices will skyrocket, a dwindling food supply will rot, and the oil crisis literally will stop Americans in ...

by Ian Bogost April 28, 2007

No Marriage, Gay or Otherwise, in Middle Earth

Console & PC Games, Social Games

One of our more popular posts here on Water Cooler Games is a mention three years ago about gay marriage in The Sims 2. Just last week, Turbine and Midway released The Lord of the Rings Online, sure to become an absurdly over-discussed and possibly popular massively multi-player game. The ...

by Ian Bogost April 25, 2007

ID the Creep

Public Policy Games, Social Games

Liz Losh recently introduced me to ID The Creep, a game that purports to help young girls practice identifying pedophiles online. The game is sponsored by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and The Ad Council. As Liz argues, the player really isn't forced to make any hard ...

by Ian Bogost March 23, 2007

American Idol Mii's

Console & PC Games, Social Games

I have no idea why I did this. I was writing all day, and my brain started to fry, and I went downstairs to play some Wii Play billiards. I must have been reeling still from the Life of a Mii segment, and I started creating Mii's. Somehow I ended ...

by Ian Bogost March 19, 2007

Turn It All Off, an energy savings game

Public Policy Games, Social Games

We've been a bit lax on covering games lately, and I'm planning to make up for that this week. For starters, here's the 1E Energy Awareness Campaign game about how you can save energy at work. Turn It All Off is a cute, well-produced game that does more than many ...

by Ian Bogost February 27, 2007

Serious Games book for Japan

Educational Games, Political Games, Social Games

Toru Fujimoto let me know that his new book Serious Games: Transforming Education and Society Through Digital Games has just been published by Tokyo Denki University Press. If you don't know Toru already, he's the source for serious games related material in Japan. So it's not surprising that he wrote ...

by Ian Bogost December 27, 2006

Super Columbine Massacre RPG Trailer

Political Games, Social Games

In preparation for its appearance as a finalist at Slamdance 2007 (more on that in a future post), SCMRPG creator Danny Ledonne has created a game trailer, which you can now view on YouTube. If you haven't been reading WCG for the last six months or so, you can catch ...

by Ian Bogost December 16, 2006

Raph Koster announces Areae

Casual Games, Social Games

Today Raph finally announced his new company, Areae. Click over to Raph's blog or the corporate site for links to a bunch of news stories. Raph isn't saying much yet, but... this is definitely something our readers will want to keep an eye on... ...

by Ian Bogost December 5, 2006

SCMRPG creator Danny LeDonne on violent games

Political Games, Social Games

Danny LeDonne, creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG (previously discussed on WCG: 1, 2, 3) was on KPBS public radio (San Diego) recently, where he discussed the game, as well as violent videogames in general. Danny's explanation of the game is thoughtful as usual. You can listen to it here. ...

by Ian Bogost November 7, 2006

Cruel 2 B Kind update

Social Games

Do you live or work in San Francisco? Do you need something to do on your lunch hour tomorrow? There is a game of Cruel 2 B Kind, the game Jane McGonigal and I designed/built earlier this year, running tomorrow (the 8th) at noon in SF. Sign up here. Don't ...

by Ian Bogost September 19, 2006

Want to make a Safer Sex Video Game?

Health & Medicine Games, Social Games

IGDA Sex Sig chair and author of the just-released Sex in Games, Brenda Brathwaite points us to a call for proposals from the University of Connecticut for a Safer Sex Video Game. If you're interested, act fast: there's a mandatory bid meeting Wednesday Sept 20 at 2pm ET. ...

by Ian Bogost September 18, 2006

Play (and code) the Munch Museum heist

Newsgames, Social Games

Recently I wrote about documentary games, games that depict an account of a real-life event. Silence Variations is a new one from Overdog. The game reenacts the 2004 armed robbery of the Munch Museum in Oslo, in which "Scream" and "Madonna" were stolen. The game was commissioned by Bergen Kunsthall ...

by Ian Bogost September 16, 2006

Play Cruel 2 B Kind next weekend in NYC

Social Games

Earlier this month I mentioned that Jane McGonigal and I have been playtesting our new public game Cruel 2 B Kind in San Francisco. The two live playtests we ran (well, Jane really ran them on the ground, while I stared obsessively at our server) were tremendously useful and we've ...

by Ian Bogost September 14, 2006

Montreal Gunman Aftermath

Political Games, Social Games

If you've seen the news in the past 24 hours, you've probably heard that a gunman, Kimveer Gill, opened fire at a Montreal college yesterday, killing one person and injuring 19 others. If you've read the headlines this morning, you may also have seen that the press has been highlighting ...

by Ian Bogost August 30, 2006

Playtesters needed for Cruel 2 B Kind

Social Games

Ubiquitous game designer and researcher Jane McGonigal and I have a new game and we need your help playtesting it. Cruel 2 B Kind is a new game of benevolent assassination Jane and I designed for the Come Out and Play Festival in New York. Real world games are hard ...

by Ian Bogost August 17, 2006

Have a Paris Riot

Console & PC Games, Political Games, Social Games

I've been increasingly interested in so-called documentary games (or docu-games), such as JFK Reloaded and Escape from Woomera and Waco Resurrection. In fact, Cindy Poremba and I wrote an article on documentary games that should be out in the coming months (click over to her blog for more links on ...

by Ian Bogost July 4, 2006

Top 10 Disaffections

Advergames, Business Games, Political Games, Social Games

Since we launched Disaffected! back in January, we've enjoyed a continuous stream of feedback, some good, some bad, all interesting. I've shared portions of it in private presentations, but when I showed the game at the Games for Change Exhibition last week in New York, I reminded myself to write ...

by Ian Bogost June 7, 2006

McDonald's Interactive Sticks it to McDo... or do they?

Business Games, Political Games, Social Games

This post has been updated, please see below. This story has also been updated, please read here According to their website, McDonald's Interactive was founded to help the parent company strategize about future markets. Yesterday, they announced their "intention to split from McDonalds." Why? Said co-director Andrew Shimery-Wolf: "We can ...

by Ian Bogost May 21, 2006

Columbine, Videogames as Expression, and Ineffability

Political Games, Social Games

A few weeks ago I wrote about Super Columbine Massacre RPG. The game puts the player in the shoes of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and attempts to paint a picture of their motivations, plans, and actions on that terrible day. It's a controversial topic to be sure, but exactly ...

by Ian Bogost May 3, 2006

Columbine RPG

Political Games, Social Games

I've just learned about the Super Columbine Massacre RPG. It's a deep and complex account of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre interpreted in the style of 2D role-playing games. The game has been out for at least a year, but this is the first I've seen it. After Gonzalo's ...

by Ian Bogost April 17, 2006

Calderoids - a different kind of mobile game

Social Games

Almost two years ago, we covered Pac Mondrian, an interpretation of Pac-Man through the lens of modernist painter Piet Mondrian. The arts collective Prize Budget for Boys is back with another videogame/art mashup. Calderoids is am interpretation of the classic arcade game Asteroids through the lens of American sculptor Alexander ...

by Ian Bogost March 4, 2006

Accordion Hero - Leben Sie Der Traum!

Health & Medicine Games, Social Games

Bavarian videogame satirists Schadenfreude Interactive have announced their most recent parodic homage, Accordion Hero! Polka your way up from Der Rathskeller to Oktoberfest in Munich! From the amusing "product page": Hit all the right notes and get the crowd on their feet waving their beer steins in unison - you ...

by Ian Bogost February 2, 2006

Molleindustria's McDonald's Game

Activism Games, Advergames, Political Games, Social Games

Just two weeks after we released Disaffected!, WCG amici italiani Molleindustria have released another specimen in the now-rapidly-growing anti-advergame subgenre, this one a scathing critique of the McDonald's corporation. Visit the "official" website to play. The game requires the player to learn and master all the complex techniques of a ...

by Ian Bogost January 30, 2006

What worries the Virtual Magic Kingdom? Impropriety, but mostly sex.

Advergames, Console & PC Games, Social Games

A little more than a year ago, I mused open-mouthed at Disney's intention to create a Habbo Hotel-like virtual world. Then back in May we announced the launch of the beta of Virtual Magic Kingdom (I was so disappointed they didn't call it Marketingland). We logged over 100 comments on ...

by Ian Bogost December 30, 2005

Is your PC ready for the Rapture?

Religious Games, Social Games

For those of you who don't know it, Tim F. LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins have penned some 14 novels about life on earth after the rapture. Taken together with the associated kids books, graphic novels, audio books, fresh poultry, armored cars, vacation timeshares, and dutch ovens, the series has ...

by Ian Bogost December 15, 2005

Sex, Violence, and Videogames on Nerve

Social Games

Nerve magazine is running a special video games issue this week, which includes, among other things, a review of Façade and a "panel of experts" discussion on sex and violence in games. I'm one of the participants in the panel, along with Steven Johnson, Eric Zimmerman, Henry Jenkins, Brenda Brathwaite, ...

by Ian Bogost December 12, 2005

Amazon.com Wishlist Game

Game Design, Social Games

Here's a new game I just invented that you can play this holiday season, or anytime. All you need is a web browser and an Amazon.com account. It's part gift economy critique, part Oulipian writing. How to play: Go to the Amazon.com Wishlist page. Under "Find a wishlist," enter a ...

by Ian Bogost November 7, 2005

iBelieve - social commentary goes meta

Political Games, Religious Games, Social Games

I'm breaking the rules a little with this post. It has very little to do with videogames. But it's too good to pass up, and it does relate to the broader themes of our project. In a brilliant move, artist Scott Wilson created iBelieve, a cross-shaped lanyard and cap for ...

by Ian Bogost August 18, 2005

Why the IGDA's new Sex & Games SIG goes limp

Advergames, Social Games

Gamespot reports that the IGDA has launched a special interest group (SIG) for sex in games. The SIG even has it's own blog, Sex & Games, which strikes me as a great idea. Here's what they have to say about their goals: The Sex SIG welcomes everyone interested in the ...

by Ian Bogost August 2, 2005

Farming, Gender, Narcotics, and other related things

Console & PC Games, Educational Games, Social Games, Women and Games

Last week Natsume released new versions of Harvest Moon: Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life for GameCube and Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town for GBA. I hesitate to say that I'm a "big fan" of Harvest Moon, but like Animal Crossing it's a game that charms and allures me, ...

by Ian Bogost August 1, 2005

Plush Therapy

Health & Medicine Games, Social Games

I've mentioned before that my father was a psychologist (now retired), and so I'm always amused by therapy humor. In fact, I think the first thing I ever had formally published was a cartoon in a local psychological review. I think I was 8 years old. How perverse is that. ...

by Ian Bogost July 25, 2005

A wee cup of Hot Coffee

Social Games

We haven't discussed the whole GTA: San Andreas Hot Coffee saga here on WCG, partly because the story was still unfolding, partly because all the usual game sites (not to mention the bungling normal news sites) were over-reporting on it. I did a couple interviews on the topic last week, ...

by Gonzalo Frasca July 7, 2005

All work and no fun...

Social Games

1up.com has a great feature on MMOG sweatshops, Third-World based companies that "farm" currency and valuables from massive multiplayer games in order to sell them online. This is one that traditional Marxist would love: not only poor nations are doing jobs, but they are also having dirty fun for them! ...

by Ian Bogost July 5, 2005

Façade Ships!

Console & PC Games, Social Games

After 5 years of development, Andrew Stern and Michael Mateas have released Façade, their one-act interactive drama, under their new aptly-named shingle Procedural Arts. You can download Façade for free, or if you don't want to wait for all 800MB of it, you can order a 2-CD installer. Those of ...

by Ian Bogost June 27, 2005

Virtual World Tourism

Console & PC Games, Social Games

Wired News just published a story in which I'm quoted on the new GamePal account rental service, a system that allows players to pay a fee to visit MMOGs with characters of their choosing. Here's how Wired explains it: GamePal customers pay a $300 deposit, $150 for the first month ...

by Ian Bogost June 11, 2005

Beer, Nudity, and Pac-Man

Advergames, Social Games

Surely this must be the first ever advergame that draws a direct correlation between drinking beer and getting women naked. Undress Me is a Flash game with simple inverse-space invaders gameplay, similar to Ferry Halim's Apple Season. The game features the Czech beer Pilsner Urquell, and the player's goal is ...

by Ian Bogost June 2, 2005

E3: Gamics software

Console & PC Games, Social Games

I'm finally getting back to posting my E3 news. Newcomer Planetwide Games is releasing an MMOG called RYL: Path of the Emperor. It's main novel features are guild wars and player-to-player combat, plus a $1 million tournament. But the most interesting feature doesn't have anything to do with the game ...

by Ian Bogost May 19, 2005

E3: The Bible Game

Console & PC Games, Educational Games, Religious Games, Social Games

I'm running a bit behind with E3 coverage, but I'm going to try to catch up today. While everyone else covers the predictable stuff, I'm going to try to share my impressions of the more unique games on the floor this year. I knew about The Bible Game from Crave ...

by Ian Bogost May 14, 2005

Does expression come in HD too?

Console & PC Games, Featured, Social Games

By now, most of our readers have heard and seen Microsoft's official unveiling of the Xbox 360, their next-generation console. Following through on Xbox chief J Allard's depressingly trite future vision for videogames at GDC, the focus of the Xbox 360 is visual resolution and graphical clarity. Microsoft's Robbie Bach ...

by Ian Bogost April 11, 2005

Police Profiling Game

Public Policy Games, Social Games

NorthJersey.com reports that New Jersey State Police has commissioned a game to help state troopers understand and counteract racial profiling. It's a significant project, with $650,000 committed to WILL Interactive to develop the game. I'm not sure how much of a game it will be. The article tells the story ...

by Ian Bogost March 24, 2005

Hold the meat

Activism Games, Social Games

Vancouver-based Veggie Games specializes in "games that promote kindness and compassion towards the animals that share our planet, and increase awareness about environmental issues." Their recent release Steer Madness allows the player to take the role of Bryce the Steer, who you can pilot to rescue animals, deliver soymilk, protest ...

by Ian Bogost March 20, 2005

Halo for Jesus

Console & PC Games, Religious Games, Social Games

This is different. The Christian Post writes on How to Witness Using Halo 2, a rather bizarre account of how youth ministers are teaching kids to use Halo 2 to "testify the faith." Apparently the ministries really don't like Halo 2 (on account of its violence), but they perceive the ...

by Ian Bogost March 17, 2005

Drug Power-Ups

Console & PC Games, Social Games

Today's NY Times reports on new games that allow players to take drugs as a part of the gameplay (thanks to Jane). Narc, a game about arresting drug dealers, allows the player to take the drugs they confiscate. Each drug temporarily improves gameplay but also has side effects. A digital ...

by Ian Bogost February 27, 2005

Are casual games a salve for film licenses?

Advergames, Casual Games, Emotion in Games, Game Design, Social Games

With the Oscars poised to air tonight, it seems an appropriate time to meditate on the fate of film license games. I've written before on Hollywood's propensity to use games as a film marketing tool, as have I mused on the dangers of games mixing themselves up with film licenses. ...

by Ian Bogost February 21, 2005

Burger Man, the Super Size Me game

Advergames, Social Games

Super Size Me, the popular documentary film about the health effects of a massive fast-food diet, has an official game. It looks like it was a promotion for the DVD release, so it must have been around for a while already. (thanks to Nico) It's cute and has good production ...

by Ian Bogost January 17, 2005

More Game-based Charity

Public Policy Games, Social Games

Two more examples of game-based charity. First, Xenopi Studios, who publishes and distributes games online, has announced the "Good Samaritan Games" Initiative. They plan to donate at least 10% of sales to charity, with a new charity or non-profit selected at some (yet undefined) interval. Second, Shooter Group, who also ...

by Ian Bogost December 30, 2004

Pac Modrian gets ink the Grey Lady, bank on Ebay

Social Games

The NY Times ran a story this week, which discusses the artistic merits of the game and offers some insightful observations on the relationship between games and art. The article also quotes and links to a discussion about Pac Mondrian held here on WCG back in July. But perhaps the ...

by Ian Bogost November 20, 2004

Fishpong to Break the Ice

Social Games

Those wacky MIT Media Lab folks are at it again with Fishpong. It's a tabletop installation that responds to magnetically tagged cups to allow you to bounce fish around in a simulated aquarium. The purpose of the game is "stimulate informal computer-supported cooperative play (CSCP) in public spaces such ...

by Ian Bogost November 9, 2004

Grand Theft Auto for Counseling

Social Games

MSNBC.com has published a story by frequent game journalist and cool cat Tom Loftus on gang experts' reactions to GTA:Vice City and San Andreas as There's a lot of media effects-type arguments in the story, but more interesting are the gang counselors who are actually using the Grand Theft Auto ...

by Ian Bogost November 2, 2004

Gambling Away Your Friends

Social Games

Fantastic. Friendster Pachinko lets you gamble your friends (or someone else's friends) as if they were pachinko balls. A great example of a data visualization, and a great commentary on the uses of social network software to boot. (via Joi Ito) ...

by Ian Bogost October 31, 2004

CFP: Ludologica Retro

General, Social Games

Videogame researchers longing to sport your striped polo shirts and off-the-shoulder oversize sweaters, wait no longer. While a little out of bounds of the usual themes of WCG, I want to announce the call for papers for Ludologica Retro, Volume 1: Vintage Arcade (1971 - 1984) a spinoff series of ...

by Ian Bogost October 27, 2004

How the Stupid iPod Photo is Like the Stupid Games Industry

Game Design, Social Games

Today, Apple announced the iPod Photo. iPod Photo is available in 40- and 60GB configurations, and comes with a new color LCD display capable of displaying 65,000 colors. You can view your image library on iPod photo, 25 thumbnails per page, and you can connect the iPod Photo to a ...

by Ian Bogost October 8, 2004

Play Games for Charity

Social Games

Extra Life for Kids is a game marathon organized by the Children's Miracle Network and Georgia Tech's Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. You can make donations or sponsor local marathons by donating food or games. Give US$30 by November 1 and you get a cool What Would Mario Do? T-shirt. Disclosure ...

by Ian Bogost October 2, 2004

Catching up with the Sims 2

Social Games

I've been too busy to notice, but The Sims 2 has been out for about 10 days now. Mia Consalvo points to an MSNBC report that claims the game has sold 1 million units already. We started a discussion here on WCG back in July about gay marriage in the ...

by Ian Bogost September 21, 2004

Orgasm Girl

Game Design, Social Games

Ok, so this is just straight-up porn. "Orgasm girl is the hottest lesbian angel around..." But, it's quite interesting as a kind of procedural sex toy. Good God, I really said that. Anyway, if you're not at work, try it out (as it were). ...

by Ian Bogost September 13, 2004

One-Joystick Bandit

Social Games

Just in case there's anyone left out there who thinks games can't motivate real-world action, check this out. Atari has just announced that it plans to release casino slot machines based on their vintage arcade games. Appropriately, the first will be Pong. I hope they're all quarter slots. It's worth ...

by Ian Bogost September 8, 2004

F*ck the Vote

Game Design, Political Games, Social Games

We had a lively discussion recently over on Grand Text Auto about representations of sex in gaming, and I now officially feel stupid for not thinking of a way to tie the topic into political games. Why, you ask? Because now there's Votergasm, a website devoted to increasing voter turnout ...

by Ian Bogost September 3, 2004

Games Gone Wild

Console & PC Games, Social Games

Aptly named Topheavy Studios has released The Guy Game for XBox and PS2. It's basically Girls Gone Wild meets You Don't Know Jack, a quiz game in which spring break girls expose themselves. But pay attention Guys ... during the Bonus question, you must play as a team to boost ...

by Ian Bogost September 1, 2004

Bureaucracy Games

Public Policy Games, Social Games

Yesterday I spent three hours at the Georgia DMV getting my new drivers license. Three hours. That's one hour waiting in line outside the office, one hour waiting for my number to be called, and a third hour waiting for my license. Gimme that old time bureaucracy. I saw a ...

by Ian Bogost August 25, 2004

Beer, nudity, and wet towels

Advergames, Social Games

Must be good, right? Swedish spirits company Åbro has made a great little game based on the age-old wet towel in the locker room game (it must be "age-old" right? The ancient Olympics were all nude after all). The company has an ongoing soccer (football for the rest of the ...

by Ian Bogost August 10, 2004

Drunkenness and Bush-Bashing

Political Games, Social Games

In this age of strained international relations, there's at least two things Americans and Europeans can agree on: drunkenness and George W. Bush both make hilarious subjects for videogames. From Severin Gehring comes Home Run 2004. The concept is simple: you are a drunk partygoer at Wagenschenke trying to make ...

by Ian Bogost July 25, 2004

Religion and Games

Religious Games, Social Games

Two notes on this topic. First, a reminder that next week, from 29 July - 1 August, is the Christian Game Developer's Conference in Portland Oregon. It's not too late to register, and the cost is a very reasonable US$40. Second, Gamer Dad has a great article up about representations ...

by Ian Bogost July 13, 2004

Classic Gaming meets Modern Art

Social Games

And now for something completely different. Arts collective Prize Budget for Boys offers Pac-Mondrian. Here's the group's statement: Pac-Mondrian closes the perceptual distance between fine art and video games by combining Piet Mondrian's Modernist masterpiece 'Broadway Boogie Woogie' with Toru Iwatani's classic video game Pac-Man. The project offers gamers a ...

by Ian Bogost July 2, 2004

No gay marriage in The Sims 2?

Console & PC Games, Social Games

WCG friend and cool cat journalist Clive Thompson wrote an article for Slate a while ago about gay marriage in videogames. Now he's noticed that the Maxis FAQ on the game no longer talks about gay marriage. Sez Clive, I wonder if Maxis has changed its mind on this -- ...

by Ian Bogost June 9, 2004

Queer Power, the transgender videogame

Social Games

New from Molleindustria: Queer Power, a transgender videogame. "They fornicate following their highly changeable desires." ...

by Ian Bogost May 23, 2004

Create your own cereal box ideology

Advergames, Game Design, Social Games

Ok, it's not really a game, and it's a bit metatextual for this forum, but I'll bite anyway. PBS Kids has a really cool section called Don't Buy It, which teaches kids to think critically about media and become smarter consumers. They recently launched Freaky Flakes, a gadget that lets ...

by Ian Bogost May 16, 2004

Separation of Church and [Virtual] State

Social Games

As previously discussed here on WCG, Ship of Fools is launching an online Church, called Church of Fools. The New York Times published an article today (free registration required) about the virtual church. Dan Hunter asks an interesting question over at Terra Nova: My question is why they go to ...

by Ian Bogost May 7, 2004

Homestar Runner for Atari 2600

Console & PC Games, Social Games

For those of you who enjoy social criticism the Homestar Runner way, Paul Slocum has announced that the first official Homestar Runner video game will be available in June... only for the Atari 2600. The game was designed by Slocum and Homestar Runner creators Matt and Mike Chapman. According to ...

by Ian Bogost May 4, 2004

Getting Off in Virtual Worlds

Console & PC Games, Social Games, Women and Games

Ah, irony. Just as TL Taylor launched a discussion on Terra Nova about women players' ability to birth in-game offspring in the forthcoming Wild West SIM MMOG, I got an email about the new Massively Multiuser Online Adult Environment, The Red Light World (warning: nudity). If you're over 18 and ...

by Ian Bogost May 2, 2004

Scale and Ideology in Political Games

Political Games, Social Games

Nathan Combs writes the latest chapter in the book on politics in virtual worlds over a Terra Nova. Says Nate, ... could the next step for an MMORPG be a "simulation meets political role-playing?" Analogous to a Live Action Role Playing (LARP)? The problem is that its hard to get ...

by Ian Bogost April 22, 2004

Wired on Political Games

Activism Games, Newsgames, Political Games, Social Games

Wired News ran a nice article today on Playing Games with a Conscience, featuring quotes from myself, Gonzalo, and Noah Wardrip-Fruin, our friend from the field and Grand Text Auto. The article features Gonzalo's September 12 as well as Educational Simulations' Real Life 2004, which we discussed recently here on ...

by Gonzalo Frasca April 20, 2004

Games go to Church

Religious Games, Social Games

Ship of Fools, a hip Christian online magazine ("the magazine of Christian unrest") will launch Church of Fools on May 11th, 2004. It is going to be a 3 month online game project. They have a project description and some pics. The projects builds up on The Ark, a Big-Brother ...

by Ian Bogost April 14, 2004

Real Life 2004

Educational Games, Political Games, Social Games

Educational Simulations has released Real Life 2004, "the life simulation that gives you the opportunity to learn how people really live in other countries." From the USA Today review: This software creates a powerful learning opportunity for teens to experience other cultures. By allowing them to live another's life, the ...

by Ian Bogost March 18, 2004

Gay video game characters

Console & PC Games, Social Games

The second issue of Armchair Arcade is out, including an article on Gay Video Game Characters by Matt Barton. ...

by Ian Bogost February 16, 2004

The continued plight of mobile games

Social Games

Today, an announcement from Nokia and VU Games about their new N-Gage title, Crash Nitro Cart: The Crash Nitro Kart on the N-Gage game deck ushers in one of the most advanced 3D Kart racing worlds ever developed for a portable gaming device, delivering connected, over the air features through ...

by Ian Bogost February 14, 2004

Women Dominate Online Games?

Game Design, Social Games, Women and Games

A recent AOL Study claims that women over 40 are more likely to play online games than any other demographic. Even though men spend more time on the Internet each week than women (23.2 vs. 21.6 hours), female game-players over 40 spend the most hours per week playing online games ...

by Ian Bogost February 11, 2004

IM Virus Osama Game

Game Design, Political Games, Social Games

A strange group called BuddyLinks has an Osama game (WARNING: if you click, do not play the game! read on!). The REALLY fascinating thing about the game is that it spreads itself through a virus that sends AIM instant messages to everyone on your buddy list when you play the ...

by Ian Bogost January 31, 2004

Exercise Games

Social Games

Dance Dance Revolution, the Sony EyeToy, and the new ToySight all use physical movement as an input source. Some of these games require create a quite strenuous, aerobic experience, especially as the player gets better at the game. We've been dancing around this question for a while, but reports have ...

by Ian Bogost December 21, 2003

More Grocery Game and me in the NY Times

Social Games

I was interviewed for a short NY Times article on the Grocery Game. It's a nice little article and good to see this interesting game getting press. I also learned that the people who made the game are redesigning it to be more game-like, which is interesting. I'm trying to ...

by Gonzalo Frasca December 3, 2003

Game against music piracy

Social Games

Kids: stealing music is wrong. That's the message that a PC game reported by Mercury News seems to be conveying. The article claims that the game was not developed by the RIAA but from a small Cambridge, MA startup. It is not clear if the game is already available in ...

by Ian Bogost November 12, 2003

I laughed, I cried ... I fired 500 rounds?

Emotion in Games, Social Games

Andrew stern reopens the continued discussion on the absence of human emotion in games. There's a lot to be said on this topic, but I'm only going to make a few comments right now. First, I think it's a dream to think that there will be some renaissance, some incredible ...

by Ian Bogost November 9, 2003

The future of women gamers

Console & PC Games, Game Design, Social Games, Women and Games

A new, longish article on Game Girl Advance talks about the future of women gamers. It focuses specifically on the future of women console gamers, and I'd like to submit that this is the primary flaw of the article. Put more simply, I'm suspicious that the future of women gamers ...

by Gonzalo Frasca October 26, 2003

September 12th reaches 100.000 players

Activism Games, Newsgames, Political Games, Public Policy Games, Social Games

100 thousand persons have played Newsgaming.com's September 12th during the last few weeks. When I launched this journalistic/political game I knew I was taking quite a risk with its design/scope, but I am thrilled at seeing how well it is performing. So far, reviews have ranged from “an interesting experiment ...

by Ian Bogost October 25, 2003

The Grocery Game

Game Design, Social Games, Women and Games

I recently found out about The Grocery Game on a parenting/education message board. The website gives subscribers access to a special grocery list, sorted by store and US location. The list is designed to maximize savings through strategic use of coupons and stockpiling. It's admittedly not an electronic game in ...

by Ian Bogost October 24, 2003

Rock, Paper, Scissors as a decision-making tool

Social Games

Heard on NPR today, a report on the 2002 Rock Paper Scissors Championship. The Managing Director of the World Rock Paper Scissors Society, Douglas Walker, praised the social benefits of the game: When you really get down to it, the primary purpose of the World Rock Paper Scissors Society is ...

by Ian Bogost October 22, 2003

Health Games Discussion List

Political Games, Public Policy Games, Social Games

Ben Sawyer from Digital Mill and the Serious Games Project announces a new listserv on Games for Health. Here's what Ben sez: This new listserv will allow a unique community of game developers, researchers, policymakers and healthcare professionals to explore how to work together to utilize games and game technology ...