November 2007 — News
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Getting Started with Videogame Development
Many students have Xbox or Xbox 360 consoles at home. Microsoft's XNA Developer Center (http://msdn.microsoft.com/xna/) offers free downloads of tools that enable students to create games for their Xbox. Games created for the platform can be uploaded and shared with other users and with Microsoft software engineers.
Commercial game companies also hire designers and artists to support their game development. Graphics and sounds obviously add to the entire gaming experience. There are additional tools are available to assist in the game development process. Open-source paint programs (e,g, GIMP, http://gimp.org/) allow users to create backgrounds for 2D games. Sprite editors (e.g. Allegro, http://ase.sourceforge.net/) or GIF animators (e.g. GIFWorks, http://www.gifworks.com/) can be used to create images or characters for games. Music editing programs (e.g. Audacity, http://audacity.sourceforge.net) can be used to compose soundtracks or sound effects.
Game engines also exist that allow students and teachers to create or modify existing games. Open-source game engines include Unreal Tournament (http://openut.sourceforge.net/), IRRLICHT (http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/), the Quake engine (a basis for many other games; http://www.idsoftware.com/business/techdownloads/), and Second Life (http://secondlife.com/developers/opensource/).
For a more detailed list of game development software and tools, see http://www.ambrosine.com/resource.html.
Practical Suggestions for Videogame Making in Teaching & Learning
1. Immerse yourself in educational gaming. This consists of two steps. First, if you have not already done so, play some educational games. These could either be games developed for education or games that educators have used in education (NobelPrize.org for some examples). Second, explore resources on educational gaming. Join a mailing list--http://www.seriousgames.org/ has a good one--read an educational gaming journal (http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Games_Resources.html), or visit a blog (e.g. http://edugamesblog.wordpress.com/).
