Groups (6 or 7)

These are for the presentations (numbering same as in schedule)

1: J. Howard, J. Teo, Patrick, S. Stevenson, Junki W, Chris R, Adam W
2: Cynthia S, Manolya B, Luke S, Julianne T, Lauren R, Deane M, Samuek B
3: Justin, Chester, Simon, Miya/Kamila, Ann, Jack C, Josh T
4: Nick S, Michael M, Kane W, Chris B, Amy H, Hugh G, Francisco C
5: Georgina M, Stephanie W, Nicholas H, William M, Matthew M, Sarah C, Joseph W,Candice G
6: Nick M, Timothy D, Stephen L, Timothy Pye, Belinda P, Amy J, Luke B
7: E. Tigani, A.C. De Mel, T.R.Jeffs, A.Capretta, J. Williams, R.Mayes, A.Bullivant
8: N. Sanders, A. Cappaletti, C. Brown, Momo, J. Garner, A. Johnsen, A. Wignall
9: D. Bickerdike, Sev. Ali, Hong Jie Dai, Daniel B, Christian D., Steph B
10: Jeff B, Yuan Liu Z, Dara A, Stephanie Y, Fandi W, Ziyi G, Tristan P
11: TeRRy IP, Alex, DK, Peter, Sam, Tim

Teams (5)

These are for the games you will develop:

A: Matthew M, Joseph W, Georgina M, Stephanie W, Sarah C
B: J. Williams, Rhyl M, A. Bullivant, C.Brown, Momo
C: Awesom-o:  Lauren R, Luke S, Jack, Rick G, Josh T
D: Kane W, Amber C, Alex W, Christian D, Dean B
E: Team Venture Go!:  Jeff B, Tim P, Miya (kamila), Stephen L, Tristan P

F: Belinda P, Amy J, Tim Jeffs, Dee, Nick M
G: Sev A, Francisco C (Paco), Daniel B, Luke B, Nick H
H: Nick Se, Nick Sa, Candy, Mikey, Estelle
I: Tim D, Will M, Cynthias S, Manolya B, Stephanie B, Julianne T
J: Dara A, Stephanie Y, Fandi W, Zigi G, Yuanliu Z

K: Amy H, Christopher B., AC D, Analisa C, Hugh G
L: James H, Sam B, Adam W, Justin T, Hong Jie D
M: Chris R., Alexander J, Jayden G, Junki W, Shaun S
N: Amy H Justin?, Chester G, Ann N, Simon H, Patrick K
O: Peter J, Terry, DK, Sam Armes and Tim

Lecture 1: 4Mar2010 Physical Games

Today we have discussed what makes a game physical. We have learned that you automatically think of childhood games (because you are so accustomed to it?) and that we can learn a lot from sports to make computer games more exciting: after all, they are often more engaging, more social, more emotional, healthier, etc.
I have shown you my definition of "Exertion Games": a computer game that requires intense physical effort from its players. This is my definition, and you do not need to agree with it, but I believe it is important that you know it.

Please put in the comments below your thoughts about this class (you heard advice on how to do it from the 2nd years). You also need to post the URL of your game team's website to the left (you would need to become an editor to do that).

Thanks for all your contributions in the class, I had a great time, and I am looking forward to seeing all of you next week.


Cheers,
Floyd

PS: For the 2 groups that present next week: Can you please make a better job in bringing a big sheet of paper (or A4 stitched together) with you, with your "the one thing we want everyone to remember from this presentation" printed on it so we can add it to the wall? I'll be there half an hour earlier if you want to setup etc.
I want you to achieve the following: If I wake up any of your fellow students in the middle of the night, and ask them "why do people play games?" or "what is play?" they mumble "there are 4 reasons, hard fun, easy fun, .... and they play out differently in different games, for example when I play WoW, there is a lot of easy fun through exploring the virtual world" or "play starts when entering the magic circle of play. That circle is evident when I play Halo because... " and then they can fall asleep again. That's when you know you did an ace presentation.


Homework

Start preparing your presentation with your group
Enter the URL of your team's blog either on the right or in the comments below and enter progress weekly
Read 2 papers on "why we play games" and "pervasive games" before next week
Bring $20
If you are presenting next week, practice!
Comment on today's lecture

About

Hi,

This is the blog accompanying the games lectures by Florian 'Floyd' Mueller, in particular "Physical Games" aka "lecture2130" in 2009 and 2010 and "Radical Games" aka "Experience Design" in 2012 at RMIT, Melbourne, Australia, as part of the offerings of the Exertion Games Lab.


Enjoy,
Floyd

Schedule 2010

Schedule of lectures:
1.
04 Mar

1. Physicality and Games
2. Introduction cont.
3. Contributions explained

2.
11 Mar

1. Exertion Games
2. Why we play games (Group 1)
3. Pervasive Games - Games and Pervasive Games Chapter 1: Talk about the "magic circle of play" (Group 2)

3.
18 Mar

1. Games project Madness
2. How the Nintendo Wii will get you emotionally invested in video games (Group 3)
   
3. Persuasive Games: Wii’s Revolution is in the Past (Group 4)

4.
25 Mar

1. Guest lecture
2. Guest lecture
3. Guest lecture
   

5.
8 Apr (1st Apr is semester break!)

1. An overview of what physical games can be developed with Phidgets and Arduino (Group 5)
2. Exertion Games over a Distance
   
3. The potential of the Wiimote using homebrew techniques such as GlovePIE (Group 6)

6.
15 Apr

1. Games project demonstration (Team A, B, C, D, E)
2. Games project demonstration (Team F, G, H, I, J)
3. Games project demonstration (Team K, L, M, N, O)

7.
22 Apr

1. Dance Games and other Exergames: what the research says (Group 7)
2. Exertion Games: additional benefits
   
3. This might be a game ("dissertation" link, then PacManhattan chapter), tell us what you think of her analysis of PacManhattan  (Group 8)

8.
29 Apr

1. A casual revolution (Pick one chapter, I suggest the 1st one) (Group 9)
2. Dimensions for the Design of Exertion Games
   
3. Persuasive Games: The Missing Social Rituals of Exergames (Group 10)

9.
6 May

1. A theory of fun for game design, chapter 5: what games aren't (Group 11)
2. Bringing it all together
   
3. Flow in games (and everything else), explain how it relates to games such as flOw and what it can mean for exertion games (Group 12)

10.
13 May

1. Game projects presentations (Team A, B, C, D, E)
2. Game projects presentations
3. Game projects presentations

11.
20 May

1. Game projects presentations (Team F, G, H, I, J)
2. Game projects presentations
3. Game projects presentations

12.
27 May

1. Game projects presentations (Team K, L, M, N, O)
2. Game projects presentations
3. Game projects presentations

Class contributions 2010

There are four ways in which you will contribute to class:

1. Group assignment: You will form your own groups, of 6 or 7 members each, and select a topic related to physicality and games from the Schedule 2010 page that interests you.
   
   On the day when your group is scheduled, your entire group will stand in front of the class and  create a discussion around the topic with all members of the team: the goal is to teach your chosen topic to the rest of the class, and deliver the topic in a memorable way so that everyone remembers it! You can make a presentation, role-play the topic, demo it, whatever you think is most appropriate to initiate reflective thinking about it with your fellow students.
   
   You will conclude with a large sheet of paper on the wall that summarizes what you want everyone to remember!
   
   You will have 30 min on the day, so make sure your equipment is running beforehand and plan your timing wisely!
   
   This will count towards 15% of your final grade.
   
   
2. Game Project: You will present two physical games in a team of 5 (1 game mid-semester, 1 towards the end). This team should comprise of different team members from the other group assignment for your own benefit. You will let everyone else in the class play your game (or have a video of other people playing it and demo it to people on a laptop if it is unfeasible to set up in class). You can talk people through your game (suggested format: motivation, problem, approach, result, conclusion) to convince them that this is the best game ever. This is your chance to try out something new and challenging, so do it!
   
   Your game will be accompanied by its own blog, in which you will document your progress weekly. Use the blog to convince everyone that you are making the game better every week and therefore the result is the best game ever! Post your URL and team members (photos, student id) to this blog so people find yours.
   
   As part of the final demos, your blog contains two 'demo description' pages (1 for each game) that describe the games for everyone to see.
   
   Combined, this will count towards 20% of your final grade.
   
   
3. Class discussion contribution: Your contribution to class discussions will count towards 30% of your grade.
   
   
4. Critical reflection: You will write a comment about each class on the blog before the next lecture in which you critically reflect on what you have learned. You can also comment on ideas it generated for you, what you would like to hear more about, or what it inspired you, or what you disagree with. Pretty much anything goes that shows you are an adult thinker. You need to leave your blog comment in a way that clearly identifies you (so please use “Derek A.” if there are multiple Derek’s).
   
   This will count towards 35% of your final grade.