Why Serious Gaming Shouldn't Be Taken Seriously

Thom Kevin Gillespie. "Why Serious Gaming Shouldn't Be Taken Seriously."
Not only can gamers play, they can create...and for free. All we need are the machines for this increasingly marketable skill.

What Led to This:
--Video projection, paint on the wall/paper image projected.
--Video diary of a violent, cloistered neighborhood, that brought everyone into the library...and they kept coming back.
--Latchkey kids in unscripted situation ~ game design is perfect for this. He had kids move robots around the room, made them talk.
--Entertainment expands this idea.
--Studying a game is playing it.
--DS2 may be the future ~~ a hand held world.

Design:
1.) Big table with markers. It's that simple.
2.) Run through ideas, collaborate, create a 10 page pitch. This takes dozens of hours. Temas coalesce around the best ideas. Many sessions of 5 hours each is the norm.
3.) A game takes 1.5 to 3 years and 50 designers to develop.
--Games for Gangs: great idea, but needs lots of time & effort.
--Jellyvision in Chicago does the "You Don't Know Jack" games. Harry Gottlieb, presents
wonderfully. He will also accept pitches (from patrons)!
4.) Games fail most often due to social, rather than creative, problems.

Open Source Game Design Items:
--Game Engine Blender
--Photoshop Gimp
--Illustrator Inkscape
--Flash osflash.org
----MIT's Scratch allows kids to make games on their own!
----Squeak "programmable toolkit that enables kids to create their own games, animated stories, and interactive art."
----Alice is another great all-in-one.
**As good as professional tools.
**Can be used to design "big games."

Games Pay Big:
--Developing flash, team-building, financial, workshopping, management, etc. skills.
--Blender & Gimp-masters often get hired for 2D and 3D animation jobs.
--Creating financial and intellectual property.