Computerspil

UK gamers dissected

The grandfather of Public Service broadcasting, the BBC, just published an impressive report surveying the habits, preferences, demographics etc. of UK gamers.

It contains bundles of well-presented facts. Like:
– Young age and chance of being a gamer correlate positively (not surprising)
– 48% of respondents were “heavy” gamers i.e. they play at least once a week and up to daily, whereas only 7% are “medium” and 4% are light. This seems to indicate that if you play then you are likely to play more than a little (it also indicates, of course, that the categories might not be entirely intuitive)
– Gender has extremely limited influence on frequency of playing
– 6-10 year olds “prefer” the PC as a platform (over individual consoles etc.) while for other age groups the PS2 takes over (although I’m not entirely sure how”Preferred device” is measured here)

Also, the report sums up interesting findings on genre preferences and gender:

Simulations and MMOGs perform equally well with males and females, while RPGs and Strategy fare only marginally better with males. Females then show strong approval for Music/Dance, Puzzles/Board/Quiz, and
Classic games. Males show strong approval for Action-Adventure, Racing, Sports, and First Person Shooters. Simulations and MMOGs seem to be key to attracting audiences of both genders equally: Sports and Shooting category games generally hold the lowest appeal for females, although it should be noted that this doesn’t mean they have no appeal: 12% of females play First Person Shooters.

Via BoingBoing

Know a game like this?

There is a scene in Babe – The Gallant Pig where the pig protagonist is informed of a password which may be used to entice sheep to give crucial help in terms of dire need.
Okay, this introduction is going the wrong way, so just forget it.

My problem is this. I’m looking for an example of a game where:

– One player does not fully know what the other player can do or where one player does not know the other player’s goal (i.e. what he wants to do)

AND

– The players are not informed of all choices made by the other(s).

An example of not knowing the other player’s goal would be the secret missions handed out before a Risk game begins. An example of not being informed of the actions of the other player would be being unable to see the other player’s section of the gamespace (as in Civilization, Age of Empires etc.).

Is there such a game?

Vivid metaphor

Sure, everyone’s ranting about the sad state of game journalism. But good researchers like to take one step back and rant about the ranting. Superb ones, it follows, talk about others who rant about ranting. Here’s what Bryan-Mitchell Young wrote:

"Complaining about horrible videogame journalism is like complaining about someone staining the couch cushion when the couch is sitting in the middle of a garbage dump. It may be accurate and a valid complaint, but it is kind of missing the point."

And I just thought that was pretty funny.

History of soccer rules

Kasper wisely informed me that soccer tournament rules regarding points awarded (to defeat, draw, and victory) were revised some 20 years ago creating stronger incentives for aggressive play (3 points for victory instead of 2). That’s a wonderful example, which certainly managed to make the thesis section I’m writing on game sum types even more confusing.

But does anyone have a reference to this rule change? Someone know a good history of soccer rules? Or a few more details to help me google?

Update (July 2006): Ah! I got it. With the help of resident soccer sage Olli Sotamaa. It’s all here.

More fun

Check out Wired’s Game Year in Review: 2010 . The game biz does sort of lend itself to satire.

"As for the current generation of video games, the big news was the long-awaited release of Grand Theft Auto: West Bloodbath. Gamers were appalled by the violence, specifically the wussiness of it. "Wait," they said. "I’m still limited to shooting, beating or running over hookers? Kill Death Die Hurt Maim let me chop off their fingers one by one while they begged for mercy, their cheap eyeliner merging with their tears and darkening the pools of blood at their feet. Are you sure Mario isn’t in this wimpfest?""