Games

Thursday, 17 December | 12:45 PM - 2:30 PM | Room 414/415

Session Chair

Miho Aoki

Effects of Culture on Pre-Production Design of The HIV Game

This paper discusses the pre-production design process of The HIV Game, a serious interactive game with cultural and socio-technological implications for young people in the Yucatan. The activity involves conception of mystical characters, environments, and gameplay, along with development of pre-production assets, a movie trailer, and a clickable medium-fidelity prototype for testing.  

Students at Purdue University’s IDeaLaboratory are in the process of researching, designing, and developing the 2D animation game, which will be delivered via the internet in cyber cafés set up in four third-world villages in the Yucatan. The design process combines knowledge and measures from user-centered design, serious play theory, socio-technology, cultural implications, interactive media design, gaming, usability engineering, healthcare, and cognitive learning. While none of these areas is new, in combination they represent a novel approach to understanding and developing new ways of using interactive media to measure and change healthcare behavior of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Yucatan, and to prevent future spread of the disease. Demographic research on the Mayan culture and a perceptions-of-technology survey conducted in the summer of 2008 were used for the foundation of the pre-production design of The HIV Game.  
 
In 1984, Ryan White of Kokomo, Indiana, was expelled from school because he was diagnosed with an HIV infection from a contaminated blood treatment he received as a hemophiliac. At the time, AIDS was associated with the male homosexual community, since that is where the disease was originally diagnosed. Even though physicians said White posed no risk to others, the people in the Indiana community feared a disease they did not understand and did not want their children exposed to. It seems appropriate that The HIV Game should originate in Indiana as a tribute to Ryan White. 

The overall goal of The HIV Game is an engaging, interactive, serious online game that can modify the behavior of youths around the world to improve the quality of their lives. 

La Verne Abe Harris 
Nicoletta Adamo-Villani 
Purdue University

Voyage to the Age of the Dinosaurs: An Experiential Learning Situation With Undergraduates, Graduates, and Visiting Professionals

This project provides an opportunity for undergraduates from Nanyang Technological University's School of Art, Design and Media to acquire and practice skills on study programs and apply what they have learned within a predominantly research-oriented environment interspersed with spans of activity they would normally experience after graduation. The research phase of the project focuses on the feathered nature of dinosaurs in the early Cretaceous period. Students investigate material related to the dinosaur species and the likely terrains, plants, and other organisms present at that time. They also have the opportunity to interact with visiting expert paleontologists, educators, and computer scientists who are collaborating partners on the project.

Mark Chavez
Nanyang Technological University

Construction Trial of a Practical Education Curriculum for Game Development Through Industry-University Collaboration

In recent years, a wide and deep knowledge of game-development procedures has been necessary in order to stay abreast of advancements in game technology.  Researchers at the Tokyo University of Technology have designed a curriculum in collaboration with Premium Agency, Inc that aims to offer training in the practical aptitudes that are required in the game industry. The traditional curriculum has been augmented with lectures and exercises in a game-development context. As a result, more students are acquiring knowledge by consistently attending lectures and gaining experience in a wide range of specializations such as programming, CG, and planning.

Koji Mikami 
Taichi Watanabe
Tokyo University of Technology

Katsunori Yamaji
Kenji Ozawa
Motonobu Kawashima
Premium Agency K.K.

Akinori Ito
Ryota Takeuchi
Kunio Kondo
Mitsuru Kaneko
Tokyo University of Technology

An innovative game creator upbringing project in the Asian region

In recent years, there has been a shortage of talented game creators in Asia, because game development requires complex collaboration among visual artists, game programmers, and game designers (planners). Students need to acquire a high level of computer and creative skills, and learn how to combine technical and artistic processes. This paper introduces Digital Content Creation Camp, a program that uses console-game production technologies cultivated in Japan to expand development of game creators throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Motonobu Kawashima 
Premium Agency Inc.