Our Students and the Future of Game Design
In 21 minutes, David Perry manages to cover many aspects of video games for both developers and users. As I listened to him address and adult audience, I was able to draw some parallels to his experiences and how we as educators can assist our students in using their talents and interest in videogame design.
Perry’s experience into the world of videogame play and design came from introductions by his parents and school to available technology at the time. However, it was through his and his peers’ own initiatives that they studied what was available and began to create what they wanted out of the computers they were using. Now there now are currently hundreds of game design schools around the globe. However, for those students who are unable to access these institutions, educators need to encourage small scale initiatives shown by students so that creative ideas can continue to be expressed, shared and realised.
Interestingly Perry shared the statistic that most commercial videogame players are in their 30s and such the majority of the gaming market is geared toward this demographic. While videogames presented as educational may be developmentally appropriate, what youth choose to play outside the classroom is more likely to be those marketed towards adults. Again, if we allow our students to explore their creative ideas, perhaps more youth will be in a position to design games for their peers which link to real-life issues they face and wish to explore and find answers to.
Perry issues the challenge to consider what videogames will look like in ten years time. The reality is, they will look like what our students dream them to be. As teachers of current and future game designers we have the potential to influence the direction of videogames by supporting and guiding the ideas of our students.
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