[game_edu] Games in the Library

[Ian Schreiber]

Depends on the nature of your program and purpose of the game library.

For example, if you have a game design degree that has students dealing with lots of board games and 2d games, you'll want to have your library stocked with games of those types. If you've got a 3d art/animation degree, then current-gen console and PC games may be the primary focus. If you do a lot of historical game studies, spring for some vintage consoles and games, maybe even some from other areas of the world that never made it to your home country. If the goal is just to have a fun space for students to play (and maybe use that as another bullet point in your brochures to attract new undergrads) then you might be better off with a smaller number of critically-acclaimed games and higher-end flashy hardware to play them on. And so on.

At the very least, start with any games that are "required playing" for any of your courses. Ideally, any game you plan on discussing or examining in any course in the entire curriculum should be in there.

Also note that you should be able to add to the library over time, so I think instead of trying to come up with a comprehensive list of "must have" games, better to concentrate on getting the infrastructure set up: ability to house games, allow checkouts, replace anything that gets damaged/lost/broken/stolen, and have a mechanism for adding new games later. Then, if you discover a game that should be in there, you can add it whenever. (I've even toyed with the idea of charging a "lab fee" for classes that use the game section of the library, and using that fee to purchase new games on a regular basis. Science and engineering classes with lab do this already at many schools. Think of how fast you can build a decent library if you get $25 per student per course in your game program...)

- Ian



________________________________
 From: Steve Graham <skudge at gmail.com>
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org> 
Sent: Friday, March 9, 2012 12:41 PM
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Games in the Library
 
Actually, this raises a question I'd like some (lots!) of feedback on:

What games are *essential* for the library?

Take that however you will, but please let me know what you think! If you don't want to respond publicly or clutter the list with too many responses, email me directly (skg at dsu.edu). I'll aggregate and post any responses I get that don't go directly to the list.

Cheers!
skg


On 3/9/2012 9:05 AM, Jose P. Zagal wrote:

> ...

> 

> 

> Obviously, YMMV w/r to which games you think are good/bad, but it's definitely a lot more than only FPS games.

> 


-- steve graham
associate professor
computer game design
dakota state university
skg at dsu.edu
605-480-6603

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