Stencyl!!!

Here's a new program we can play around with to make games for iPhone and iPad! See me for the .dmg file.

http://www.stencyl.com/help/view/getting-started-with-stencyl/

Here's the Crash Course:

http://www.stencyl.com/help/view/crash-course/

You'll see that it's similar to Scratch in a lot of way, but it comes with more options and better graphics as soon as you open it up. Experiment with it and have some fun!

Do Videogames = Violence?

 

This link says no:

http://www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/technology/ingame/link-between-video-games-aggression-untrue-study-689393

But these links says yes:

http://www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/technology/ingame/video-games-should-be-labeled-cigarettes-proposed-bill-512297
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723

What's your opinion? Post your thoughts as a comment (you have to click on the post title to comment).

Games!!

(taken from: http://gamespics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/super-mario-bros.jpg)

 

The next project we'll be working on in is 'Making a Game'. Check out the Brief here.

 

Before we get to the actual project, I'd like to hear from you about what makes a game enjoyable? We all like to play different kinds of games, like RPGs, FPS, Puzzle-games, RTS, Sports. What's your favorite kind of game? Post it on your blog (and give me some pictures, too).

 

Secondly, I want you to do some research about the good and the bad things about games and gaming. We know that there are some people who say games are completely evil and should never be used. There are also some people who say games can actually be a useful tool for education and even science (remember FoldIt?!). Find me two articles related to gaming: one that says gaming is good, one that says gaming is bad. Tell me which one you agree with and why (post the links on your blog).

 

Finally, before I see you on Thursday, make sure you have gone to this website and downloaded Scratch 1.4 for Mac. (It's about 35MB, so do it from home.) Feel free to play around with it if you have time. We'll be learning how to use it in class on Thursday.

 

For your INVESTIGATION STAGE, you'll need the following:

- Design brief

- Specifications

- Some research on how games are made

- an interview of a friend or a LS student asking them what sort of things they look for in a game

- Work Cited

Please embed it just the Investigation on your blog now.

Personal Technology Experiences

Welcome back, folks! I hope you have an excellent Winter break. There was some great blogging going on over the break, and I'm happy to see some folks using their blogs for something not entirely connected to school.

 

Please check out Nadia's post. This is something that could easily appear on an ITGS exam, since it is exactly what the examiners are looking for. Notice how she uses a personal experience and finds a way to relate it to the ITGS strands. Create a post where you are using a situation you encountered in your own life and show how technology was a factor. Be sure to include IT terms from the list.

Some examples could include:

- losing your internet connection (or your phone!)

- connecting with a friend you had lost contact with

- using games as an educational experience

- the moment you realized you were 'addicted' to technology

- teaching an adult how to use a computer

- anything else you can think of!

Post your Scratch Files to the Scratch Website

Today, you'll be sharing your game creations with the rest of the world!

 

First, you'll need to go to http://scratch.mit.edu/ and register for an account.

 

Then, within the Scratch program, choose 'Share' and then 'Share This Project Online'.

 

After that, you'll send me the link to your game and you're done!!

Games!

We're getting close to the end of the Semester, folks. This means we need to be aware of the deadlines that are coming up.

 

Games should be ready for kids to play them on December 8th (next Thursday).

All Evaluations should be done and your ENTIRE PDF should be up on your blog by Monday, December 12th!!

You must post your ENTIRE pdf on your blog (using Issuu). See this post for the instructions on using issue if you forget.

Scratch Forum

Hey folks, a lot of you have some very excellent questions about how to do certain things in Scratch.



I'd like you to check around on this website in order to get the answers to what you need. Sometimes it take a little bit of searching on a forum, but it's an important skill to develop.

Logo Games!

(taken from: http://www.truekolor.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/olympic.png)

Test your knowledge of the world's most famous logos by clicking on these two links:

Link 1

Link 2

 

A lot of these logos are definitely 'American', so don't be too discouraged if there are some you don't get. I think you'll actually be surprised how many you DO get!

Making a Game

(taken from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRqu4Aj6U5POziWTg2os0Ao-Ppss-tcCdJTVhR8mg0cnkUbxsJ1vU_K-7OxCp36zZP2BCxvUKysLtLVcx5wSl-o07_yehaitcUalKkRFoMX0h0ikfdodykcBxuX9buMS1pQfVutUV0-DN/s1600/tetris.gif)

Hey 7s!!

The next project is to make a game that LS kids would find both educational and entertaining. Make sure you've had a chance to answer the post below to get you thinking about games. Over the weekend, I'd like you to complete your Investigation phase. For this, you'll need:

- Design brief

- Specifications

- Some research on how games are made

- an interview of a friend or a LS student asking them what sort of things they look for in a game

- Work Cited

 

Please see the Unit Brief here.

What's your favorite game? Why?

(taken from: http://gamespics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/super-mario-bros.jpg)

 

The next project we'll be working on in is 'Making a Game'. Check out the Brief here.

 

Before we get to the actual project, I'd like to hear from you about what makes a game enjoyable? We all like to play different kinds of games, like RPGs, FPS, Puzzle-games, RTS, Sports. What's your favorite kind of game? Post it on your blog (and give me some pictures, too).

 

Secondly, I want you to do some research about the good and the bad things about games and gaming. We know that there are some people who say games are completely evil and should never be used. There are also some people who say games can actually be a useful tool for education and even science (remember FoldIt?!). Find me two articles related to gaming: one that says gaming is good, one that says gaming is bad. Tell me which one you agree with and why (post the links on your blog).

 

Finally, before I see you on Thursday, make sure you have gone to this website and downloaded Scratch 1.4 for Mac. (It's about 35MB, so do it from home.) Feel free to play around with it if you have time. We'll be learning how to use it in class on Thursday.

 

For your INVESTIGATION STAGE, you'll need the following:

- Design brief

- Specifications

- Some research on how games are made

- an interview of a friend or a LS student asking them what sort of things they look for in a game

- Work Cited

Please embed it just the Investigation on your blog now.

Influential People Presentations

(taken from: http://tech100.t3.com/1/Steve-Jobs.html)

Choose one of the following influential people and prepare a presentation for the rest of the class on Thursday and Friday (can be Keynote, Powerpoint, Prezi, etc). Two students cannot cover the same person, so let me know who you're presenting ASAP! As a rough guideline, your presentations should be about 10 minutes long.

1. Sergey Brin and Larry Page – Google


2. Evan Williams – Twitter NADIA


3. Daniel Ek – Spotify


4. Stephen Fry – Celebrity (Twitter)


5. Sir Howard Stringer – Sony


6. Richard Branson - Virgin Airlines


7. Yong Nam – LG NAHYEON


8. Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij - Bit Torrent/The Pirate Bay


9. Bill Gates - Microsoft DARIAN


10. Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook GEORGE


11. Steve Ballmer – Microsoft


12. James Cameron - Director (Avatar, Titanic, Terminator, etc)


13. Sam Houser - Rockstar Games YOHAN


14. Radiohead - Music Distribution


15. Satoru Iwata - Nintendo YOHANES

Focus your research with the following questions:

1) Brief background (how they started).

2) What did they do to develop technology?

3) What impact has it had on society?

4) Who else has made a similar impact?

5) Are there any controversies connected with your subject? As in, has your person been criticized by any groups for what they have done during their life?

Also, find an article about your subject (or their specific company) and lead the class in an analysis using the ITGS Triangle.

Can Videogames Cure AIDS?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14986013

 

Click here to download the game the used! (You'll need to register, but it only takes a second.)