Spore is coming, and whether you are an avid gamer who has already pre-ordered your copy, a complete non-gamer who has no idea what “Spore is coming” means, or somewhere in between, it is worth watching the TED talk given a while back by the game’s designer, Will Wright (see below, or if there is nothing below, click through to the post).
In it, in my opinion, Wright really makes clear the educational potential of digital games in general. And what Spore, in particular can do, is pretty amazing. Even if you have never thought much about games at all and feel like you could really not care less about them, I highly recommend this.
Just drop by the Wikipedia entry on Spore first if you need some background. And you may want to check out Maria Montessori while you are there, depending on your level of familiarity with her work. Wright says he views the games he creates as “modern Montessori toys.” He goes on later to suggest that a good game should “make the game play the player’s imagination amplifier” and that he hopes Spore will give players a little bit better calibration on long-term thinking.”
JTC
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Related posts:
- New Serious Games – Serious Games News
- British Red Cross Launches Alternate Reality Game
- 5 Learning Games for Climate Change – Blog Action Day
- 5 Games Against Poverty and Hunger
- 12 More Learning Games for Change – and a Bonus
posted on August 4, 2008
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