Nintendo to boost Wii production

by Yuri Kageyama, AP, 4/28/07
"Nintendo Co.'s president acknowledged Friday that the shortage of the hit Wii game machine was "abnormal," and promised production was being boosted to increase deliveries by next month."

Playing Video Games Saves Family from Fire

AP, 4/27/07
"Early every morning, you can find nine-year-old Davien Hayden playing video games. This week, his daily habit may have helped save his family's life."

MIT Tech Model Railroad Club Open House

Of possible interest...

The 60th Anniversary Open House of the Tech Model Railroad Club of MIT will take place Saturday, April 28, in room N52-118 on the MIT campus (on the first floor of the MIT museum building, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge). The club will be open for two sessions, from 2-5 and 7-10 pm. This event is open to everyone, and admission is free.

We will have many trains running throughout the day, and will be happy
to show and tell you about our:
- computerized control system
- hand-laid track
- scenery
- streetcar system
- Green Building Tetris game
- and much more

You can find more information about the open house and the club in
general (including directions to our club room,) on our web page,
http://tmrc.mit.edu

We look forward to seeing you there!

TMRC

Gamers Unite

On Saturday, May 5th, at 1pm in Bryant Park in New York City, Empire Arcadia will gather as many gamers as they can. Empire Arcadia's mission statement says in part,

"We work with today's youth in shaping them into tomorrow's leaders, by providing videogame competition and social activities/play for them to experience."

The gathering in Bryant Park will be "to help push the message for non violence in our schools and to morn the loss of the Virginia Tech students."

Survey on Gaming Programs in Libraries

We are attempting to create a census of gaming programs run in libraries in 2006. I'm starting with this group, and will be spreading the word after ensuring the data looks good.

If your library ran a gaming program in 2006, please fill out this survey. You will be able to enter information about up to 5 different gaming programs (you will indicate if the same program was repeated), and if you have more than 5 different programs, you can fill out the
survey a second time for additional programs.

The data will be first presented at the ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium and will be used to drive the research agenda and as evidence to seek funding for the development of the Game Lab at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies.

Please fill out this surveyASAP!

The survey is at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=222783560244

Video of How They Got Game program @ Stanford

Video of How They Got Game program @ Stanford

Program: How They Got Game workshop with Daniel Huebner, Wednesday the 4th of April 2007 at 3pm on the 4th floor of Wallenberg Hall at Stanford University

Speaker Bio:
Daniel Huebner is director of community affairs at Linden Lab, where he seeks to bring a modicum of order to the virtual world of Second Life — without stifling its essential creativity. Previous, Daniel was a journalist, editor, and analyst for several publications, including stints at the helm of Game Developer magazine and Gamasutra.com.

Abstract:
Second Life is redefining the rules of online worlds, and in the process invaliding many of of the strategies that have thus far been used to govern online spaces. With it's mix of anonymity, real money, emergent social order, and rampant creativity, Second Life presents a potent blend for anyone hoping to bring order to the inherent chaos. From the beginning, Linden Lab has pursued a less-is-more philosophy, avoiding the urge to created strict rules and policies in favor of relying on social pressure and communication to instill values and norms into a new community. As the world of Second Life grows past four million Residents, new approaches to dispute resolution, identity, and trust are being added to Linden's toolbox.

These workshops are open to all interested parties with a strong interest in topics surrounding new media, technology, and design. They offer the chance to hear talks by industry professionals and seasoned academics, but also offer the rare opportunity for one-on-one questions as well as collaborative work.

How They Got Game is a research project at the Stanford Humanities Lab dedicated to the historical investigation of computer games and other related interactive technologies. Its diverse membership possesses varying academic interests ranging from machinima, virtual worlds and interactive storytelling.

Games, in ANY form

Rosemary Honnold, Queen of Library Programming, has posted several Jeopardy style games that you can use in your teen library programs. All you need is Powerpoint! Check it out at http://www.cplrmh.com/JeopardyGames.html