Mr Richards on technology, information, and people
RuminatingSep 27, 2009
Game post redux
Subject: An idea about getting the next generation online
Dear Nick,
I recently read your book, Being Digital, and have seen your TED talks on YouTube. They’ve given me an idea I’d like to share with you: People have an assumption that games only entertain, or at best, educate the end-user (i.e. the player). However, I believe games have the capacity to provide answers to questions posed by researchers in economics, computer science, behavioral science and more. While helping the academic community, we could also help get laptops into the hands of children who can’t afford them, through your OLPC program.
Computer games provide an entertainment platform enjoyed by millions of people all over the world. Sid Meier’s Civilization, an example from the real-time strategy genre, is the type of game where players assume the role of a nation-state and develop infrastructure, build a military, research technology, and cultivate diplomatic ties with other nation-states. Nation-states are pitted against other nation-states, and with the advent of online gaming over the Internet, this typically means human players versus human players.
Now what if a game, like Civilization, were to integrate real-world data during game play? What if you tied in-game “weapons,” such as fiscal and monetary policy, to projected benefits? What if choices made in-game had outcomes that hinge on different factors like time and level of implementation? For example: having X amount of workers at full employment, at Y technology level, will deliver Z amount of financial benefits. These benefits then allow for additional technological advances, military upgrade, asset purchases, and/or trade advantages.
Each player implements a slightly different model, and the best one wins. You could even set up differing gaming scenarios where “weapons” have different effects, thereby settling the controversies of whether these projected benefits are accurate. The final result is a gaming-research application executing millions of human interactions, testing pertinent scientific research questions asked by the world’s leading scientists?
Data collected from the online play would then be available for academic study. Economists would have the ability to develop models and test them. Computer scientists, especially those working in artificial intelligence, would have invaluable data to analyze and work with. The possibilities are vast. And financial gains can be used to help get more of these laptops out to more children.
Game development, essentially the central tool for data collection, may be contracted to an existing game development company like EA or Blizzard. Perhaps they’d be interested in a partnership where they could subsidize the cost of the laptop while introducing the next generation to their IP. And what a philanthropic gesture that would make!
I can attest to your goal of one laptop per child, having been fortunate to having a computer in my household growing up. There is nothing quite as powerful a tool to help educate and inspire children, and propel them into the careers they choose.
So what do you think ?
Best Regards,
Mr Richards
Dear Nick,
I recently read your book, Being Digital, and have seen your TED talks on YouTube. They’ve given me an idea I’d like to share with you: People have an assumption that games only entertain, or at best, educate the end-user (i.e. the player). However, I believe games have the capacity to provide answers to questions posed by researchers in economics, computer science, behavioral science and more. While helping the academic community, we could also help get laptops into the hands of children who can’t afford them, through your OLPC program.
Computer games provide an entertainment platform enjoyed by millions of people all over the world. Sid Meier’s Civilization, an example from the real-time strategy genre, is the type of game where players assume the role of a nation-state and develop infrastructure, build a military, research technology, and cultivate diplomatic ties with other nation-states. Nation-states are pitted against other nation-states, and with the advent of online gaming over the Internet, this typically means human players versus human players.
Now what if a game, like Civilization, were to integrate real-world data during game play? What if you tied in-game “weapons,” such as fiscal and monetary policy, to projected benefits? What if choices made in-game had outcomes that hinge on different factors like time and level of implementation? For example: having X amount of workers at full employment, at Y technology level, will deliver Z amount of financial benefits. These benefits then allow for additional technological advances, military upgrade, asset purchases, and/or trade advantages.
Each player implements a slightly different model, and the best one wins. You could even set up differing gaming scenarios where “weapons” have different effects, thereby settling the controversies of whether these projected benefits are accurate. The final result is a gaming-research application executing millions of human interactions, testing pertinent scientific research questions asked by the world’s leading scientists?
Data collected from the online play would then be available for academic study. Economists would have the ability to develop models and test them. Computer scientists, especially those working in artificial intelligence, would have invaluable data to analyze and work with. The possibilities are vast. And financial gains can be used to help get more of these laptops out to more children.
Game development, essentially the central tool for data collection, may be contracted to an existing game development company like EA or Blizzard. Perhaps they’d be interested in a partnership where they could subsidize the cost of the laptop while introducing the next generation to their IP. And what a philanthropic gesture that would make!
I can attest to your goal of one laptop per child, having been fortunate to having a computer in my household growing up. There is nothing quite as powerful a tool to help educate and inspire children, and propel them into the careers they choose.
So what do you think ?
Best Regards,
Mr Richards
posted by Phil # 9:11 PM 
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