Getting Game

John‘s been playing a lot of Worlds of Warcraft lately, ostensibly as research.  Clarence talks from time to time about educational gaming.  Others have mentioned the idea that we can teach with immersive games, too.  I got it, and agreed, intellectually speaking.  But I didn’t see us quite there in terms of logistics, practicality, and technology.  Then I read this story about James Cameron’s current projects  in Businessweek today:

 Cameron has more than a passing interest in simulation and
next-generation games. A former physics major at California State
University, he once served on the board of NASA. Aiming to shoot all
his future films in 3-D, he has helped pioneer a whole suite of 3-D
cameras, tools to capture actors’ performances and import them into
simulations, and various post-production techniques. Cameron now sits
on the board of Multiverse, a startup that helps developers create
their own games in return for a cut of the subscription revenues.
"You’re seeing what hundreds of thousands of people in this game
environment can create," he says.

Other big directors are glomming onto MMOGs. Imagine Entertainment, the
company run by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer that created the TV show 24, has teamed up with producer Jim Banister, Halo
creator Alex Seropian, and others to develop a sci-fi reality show
called XQuest. If it flies, contestants will occupy a cramped
spaceship-like module for a month. Its flight simulators will subject
them to rocket-like conditions, including six Gs of thrust. Players
will ply the galaxy while following the rough contours of a plot.
Outside the ship, online gamers will track the crew’s mission and
ultimately board their own PC-based spaceships to rendezvous with
contestants in shared, simulated space. The next season’s cast, in
theory, is chosen from those who show the most skill playing the game
at home.

    Boy was I wrong.  I totally get it now.  More later.