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Strong recently acquired a very rare and important board game—“The Jolly Game of Goose.” The game is printed on paper with old, yellowed tape on its folds. It is a prime candidate for intensive conservation (restoration) treatment. But why is it so important to the museum?
The game of goose is an ancient children’s game, possibly tracing its roots all the way back to an ancient Egyptian game called “Mehen,” which was played in early Old Kingdom times (2686–2134 BC). Later, […]

Continue Reading about Which Came First, the Goose or the Egg? Published on:
April 27, 2010

Tactical Language & Culture Training System from Mike Elgan

Two American soldiers stand guard on a street corner in a remote village as a Black Hawk helicopter circles overhead. Onlookers, many of them armed, gather. Additional soldiers arrive, and the situation deteriorates rapidly. Something must be done—quickly. You hold your breath and step forward to address the man who appears in charge.  
Now, you might be speculating that I’m describing a scene from the hit game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. […]

Continue Reading about Serious Gaming is Serious Business Published on:
April 16, 2010

My earliest (and fondest) memories of play involve none other than the Fisher-Price Little People®. Countless hours of my preschool years were spent sprawled on the living room floor, completely immersed in a fictitious world that I created and maintained. My little hybrid wood/plastic friends could be found scattered across carpets, stairs, and countertops. They were small enough to fit in my pockets so they could easily be transported from one location to the next.
I don’t think I ever identified […]

Continue Reading about I’d Like to Thank All the Little People® Published on:
April 13, 2010

Three-dimensional games proved the hot topic at this year’s Game Developers Conference. Attendees experienced a plethora of 3-D technologies on the exhibit floor and participated in various  3-D related sessions. I’m not referring here to three-dimensional renderings of graphics in a two-dimensional display, the quality and prevalence of which have risen since 5th-generation console games ushered them in during the late 1990s; rather, I’m referring to stereoscopic technologies used most often for 3-D movies. My unofficial count at GDC revealed a dozen vendors […]

Continue Reading about 3-D or Not 3-D? Published on:
April 9, 2010

Ever since 1986, when Chris Crawford invited leading game designers to his home to discuss their work, the Game Developers Conference has been an annual forum for the world’s foremost innovators to share ideas and consider the future of the industry.
Each year at GDC, I am drawn to sessions that explore what makes for good play. This held true for GDC 2010, which I attended with my fellow CHEGheads, Marc and Eric.
Three presentations stood out in this regard. In his […]

Continue Reading about GDC 2010: Game Psychology 101 Published on:
March 31, 2010

A game is never only a game. Here’s a story about how play and culture and history are never far apart and how it’s easiest to discover this when you encounter unfamiliar rules.
Some years ago my daughter’s soccer team traveled to a tournament in Canada’s beautiful capital, Ottawa, to make a brave stand against some of Canada’s fiercest provincial players. Go Rockets! Go Blue! Hope stirred during the first half of a match with the Ontario champs as the Rockets […]

Continue Reading about The Spirit of the Game? Published on:
March 30, 2010

Your father, the King of All Cosmos, had too much fun partying last night and accidently destroyed all the stars and constellations. Whoops! Being a mighty king, you’d think he’d be able to rectify this problem easily, but he’s never been a particularly effective king. As a matter of fact, he’s not a good father, either—he definitely never liked you. He’s as big as a planet, and he doesn’t consider you, at 4 inches tall, much of an heir to […]

Continue Reading about Katamari Damacy: What’s a Pint-sized Prince to Do? Published on:
March 26, 2010

Growing up, I never owned a single video game console. I owned a few sports games that I played on my old Apple IIe computer, and I recall playing Super Mario World when I was at my babysitter’s house. But that was about the extent of my gaming knowledge. All this changed when I got married, however.
My husband is a hard-core gamer. He favors RPGs, puzzle games, and platformers and also plays his share of shooters and fighting games. But […]

Continue Reading about Neo Geo is Big Published on:
March 19, 2010

I remember the roar of the crowd as I confidently gripped the ball and took aim—the way the noises faded as I focused on my target—and the broad smile on Bozo the Clown’s face during my successful run on the Grand Prize Game.
 Though I am competitive, I’m not well coordinated or graceful. You probably wouldn’t have guessed that my greatest victory was even vaguely athletic. After all, I was the pitiful child who crossed the finish line dead last in […]

Continue Reading about I’m NOT a Bozo: My 15 Minutes of Fame on Children’s Television Published on:
March 16, 2010