Playing at Science – Tomas Rawlings

Earlier this month, we looked at the winning game for the Longitude Prize’s search for a game to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance. As a lead up to this, at the beginning of the year, our very own Dr Tomas Rawlings wrote an article for them on the subject of how video games and science can work together.

As Tom is the Design and Production Director of Auroch Digital, and the creator of its initiative GameTheNews, he is often asked to talk or write about his experiences with gaming being used to tackle news topics and how successful this can be.

(Image from http://fold.it/portal/)

In the article, Tom references the case where gamers, through playing the game Fold-It, deciphered the structure of the Mason-Pfizer Monkey virus. This was a problem that had been left unsolved for over 15 years, showing not only that games can be a successful way to increase awareness of a difficult topic, but also by using games to approach a problem from a different angle and different set of eyes, we can begin to solve problems that conventional methods have yet to crack.

Click here to read the full article.

source Game The News http://ift.tt/2akqh6f

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Educational Apps and E-learning – When is it too Much?

There is lots of talk about the benefits of using gaming as a very effective platform for encouraging audiences, particularly young audiences, to engage with serious topics. As this has become more and more popular, the use of games and apps for education is at an all time high. However, we still don’t really know how much is too much for little people to be spending in front of a screen, or what damage that can do.

A recent article on mosaicscience.com discusses this at great length, with the main point being that the growth of tablets, apps for children and technology for under-3s has been so fast, research hasn’t had a hope in keeping up.

There are some suggestions that for children under the age of 3, too much screen time can lead to issues such as ADHD as they become used to fast, vibrant images which don’t reflect real life. Whilst the article touches on problems such as the addictiveness of rapidly triggering the reward pathway in their brains, it seems that the biggest concern amongst professionals is the lack of interaction with other people that children who are exposed to too much screen time will get.

To read the full article click here.

source Game The News http://ift.tt/29SK1Q7

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Superbugs – Can You Defend Humanity Against the Resistance?

The resistance to antibiotics is a big problem, a problem that the Longitude Prize feels is so big that in 2014 they launched a challenge, calling all innovators from around the world, to help them tackle it before 2019. The multi-million pound challenge brings the focus to creating a diagnostic test which reduce the prescription of antibiotics when they are not needed, and therefore slowing down the rate of resistance.

Part of this challenge was a task to create a game which would engage young people and raise their awareness of the issue. In response to this task, games studio, Preloaded, created the award winning game, Superbugs. A game in which the player must fend off the drug resistant bacteria in a colourful petri dish setting.

Experts estimate that by 2050, these drug resistant superbugs could kill up to 10 million people per year. So it is vital that awareness is raised and gaming is becoming an increasingly popular way to engage, particularly young audiences, in serious topics.

 

source Game The News http://ift.tt/29OE6dw

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The Perfect Game if EU Want Control Over the Referendum

The build up to today has been relentless with both the leave and remain campaigns picking up speed and all the polls showing it will be close, very close.

Earlier in the week I tweeted that we’d missed a trick in creating a referendum game, turns out Buzzfeed got there first with their game, Brexit Ballot Bonanza!

Either you’re bored of hearing about it or trying to take your mind of the results so you’re brain doesn’t implode from the stress, this is the solution. A simple game of catch the ballot. Choose a side, leave or remain, and catch the falling ballots in the ballot box.

Highly addictive, this should keep you busy until 7am tomorrow morning! Go to Buzzfeed’s website to play.

source Game The News http://ift.tt/28Qaz2b

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Trump’s Had a Heart Attack!

Unfortunately not in real life but in the latest update to Surgeon Simulator he has and you’re the surgeon operating on him! He needs a heart transplant and you decide whether he has a heart of gold or a heart of stone, or you could just do neither and slap him round the face with a steak while he dies on the table. What would you do?

In general news games are a niche market but really, it only takes a news story to become big enough and pretty much any games studio would be willing to add a special level, mode or character to their game to stay ‘current’. This is a prime (steak pun intended) example, along with Angry Birds releasing a special edition to support the charity, RED, and Europa Universalis offering free DLC for International Women’s Day.

source Game The News http://ift.tt/1XcmsVJ

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Apple and the Political Debate

With our personal experience of Apple’s policy on games and politics, Endgame:Syria, it’s nice to see that with enough push from the online community they will relax their stance. Although it does beg to wonder why this is still on a game by game basis and why Apple have taken this stance in the first place. Especially when it seems that certain games slip through the net.

In May 2016, Wired featured an article around ‘Liyla & the Shadows of War’, a heartbreaking game created by Rasheed Abueideh, based on actual events during the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine. Apple originally rejected Rasheed’s submission to the App Store on the basis that it could not be categorised as game due to its political nature. After an online outcry, the decision was recently overturned, however this is not the end of the issue. With another game, ‘Israeli Heros’ (an Angry Birds style game where your goal is to fling cartoon missiles and “destroy our enemies”) being categorised as a game since Oct 2013, it does make you wonder what’s going on with the decision making process on these game, buy hey, at least they can admit when they’re wrong.

Click here for original Wired article.

source Game The News http://ift.tt/1U2EaJe

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Government Propaganda and Gaming

Propaganda is commonplace in any war but it would be nice to think that we wouldn’t fall for believing the enemy is dropping poisoned sweets by fly over to poison our children any more. The fact is, we wouldn’t, as with everything propaganda has to move with the times to stay effective.

Recently, Reuters posted an interesting podcast where they talked with George Weidman about games being used as propaganda. Taking a look at games which the FBI and PETA have created in order to get their message across about extremism and animal cruelty. They also make some interesting points about a game with a very strong message, IS Defense, which puts the player in the position of defending Europe from Islamic State armies.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

source Game The News http://ift.tt/1UVSh3A

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