Gaming and consoles

1. Gaming and Consoles Technology Coffee Morning The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

2. From Wikipedia <ul><li>“ A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer. The term is used to distinguish a machine designed for consumers to buy and use solely for playing video games from a personal computer, which has many other functions, or arcade games, which are designed for businesses that buy and then charge others to play.” </li></ul><ul><li>… ..these lines are now becoming more blurred. </li></ul>The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

3. Remember PONG? <ul><li>The first generation consoles appeared in the 1970’s from manufacturers such as Atari. </li></ul><ul><li>I had two in the early 80’s – an Atari console and a handheld Space Invaders 1000 game. </li></ul>The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

4. The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

5. The battle begins….Nintendo and Sega <ul><li>In the 80’s Nintendo released the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) – with a front loading cartridge! </li></ul><ul><li>Sega released the master system then the Mega Drive. </li></ul><ul><li>Nintendo then released the SNES in reply - I bought one, sold it in 2000 and then bought one again in 2005 because I missed the gameplay of “low quality display” but well constructed games. </li></ul><ul><li>Heldhelds with single games (Donkey Kong) were released. </li></ul>The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

7. Consoles - TNG <ul><li>The next generation of consoles included the 3DO – When I worked in KMi we prototyped a first person shoot ‘em up game using the 3DO developer kit so that you could go around the offices and kill members of KMi! (actually it was to demonstrate use of gaming for resource discovery) </li></ul><ul><li>The playstation came along, again when I worked in Technology we had a Playstation developer system but it was too difficult to use (by most) for developing games </li></ul>The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

9. The battle rages on <ul><li>Nintendo released the 64 in response to the Playstation again I had one and still like it (64 bit gaming – but were the games better?) – cartridges versus discs? </li></ul>The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

11. The big guns arrive <ul><li>Sega released the Dreamcast which was a flop - Sony released the PS2 which plays DVD’s and became highly successful (..not just a games console!) </li></ul><ul><li>Nintendo released the Gamecube and Microsoft released the Xbox – the first hard drive in a games console! – (blurring lines between PC and console?) </li></ul>The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

13. … and here we are <ul><li>The Xbox 360 with an HD-DVD accessory, wireless controllers, Xbox Live for online gaming </li></ul><ul><li>PS3 with “tilt sensing” controllers and plays Blu-Ray video discs. </li></ul><ul><li>Wii – redesigned the controller and interface (motion and tilt sensor). Free online services, backwards compatible. </li></ul><ul><li>Handhelds are back with a vengeance - PSP, Nintendo DS and GameBoy advance. PSP plays video and allows internet connectivity. </li></ul>The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

15. Uses in education? <ul><li>You decide! – however here are some examples…. </li></ul><ul><li>Wii being used (with a special controller) to teach surgeons correct surgical procedure. </li></ul><ul><li>Nintendo DS used for learning language skills and improving knowledge generally (e.g. “Brain Training”) </li></ul><ul><li>PS2 with steering wheel and pedals being used by DVLA to teach driving skills – also used by F1 drivers! </li></ul><ul><li>I’m no expert but DfES have produced reports on this subject http://www.teem.org.uk/publications/teem_gamesined_full.pdf </li></ul>The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology

16. Do you own one? <ul><li>Anyone with a mobile phone will have some form of handheld gaming device. </li></ul><ul><li>Anyone with a computer has a gaming device. </li></ul><ul><li>Gaming devices and games applications are now ubiquitous. Can (and should) gaming be used to encourage learning? </li></ul>The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology