Gamers coming to Wayne Community College summit
By From staff reports
Published in News on January 27, 2013 1:50 AM
A doctoral student studying games with a purpose at N.C. State University has been added to the schedule of the upcoming 2013 Carolina Games Summit at Wayne Community College, to be held Feb. 2 from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Acey Boyce will discuss "Serious Games: Making Real Life More Fun," sharing his experience making games for education at both N.C. State and UNC-Charlotte. He will also talk about recent developments in serious game research, including the elements that encourage better learning and user-generated content creation in his Bead Loom Game.
The game, playable at community.game2learn.com, was developed to teach middle school mathematics within the context of creating bead loom art. Students design and share bead art with one another while learning how to graph points and shapes, and solve challenging puzzles of how to minimize the number of shapes they create to make their designs.
Boyce used Bead Loom Game to research how the addition of game elements, including in-game tutorials, leaderboards, and user design showcases, have encouraged greatly increased play and learning.
"Game technologies help people practice new skills, from flying planes to learning math, and can also encourage better behavior, choices, and attitudes -- from quitting smoking to making new professional connections," he said.
The annual Games Summit was introduced in 2006.
In addition to industry speakers, it features video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cos-play, educational sessions and trading card games.
Officials said it has become a premier gathering spot for the video game community, with more than 1,200 attending each year from around the country. Participants can compete against gamers in a variety of popular tournaments and enjoy such platforms as arcade, computer and console games with both tournament and free-play options available.
Cost to attend is $10, which includes access to all speakers, exhibitors and tournaments. Details and a schedule of the upcoming event can be found on the official website, www.CarolinaGamesSummit.com.