WE > ME
8Bit Contributor Erin Mischak
8bitlibrary.com is now located at 8bitlibrary.com
03 months ago
by JP
in #libgaming chat, #libuncon, #makeithappen, 8Bit Contributor Andrea Davis, 8Bit Contributor Beth Gallaway, 8Bit Contributor Bob Keith, 8Bit Contributor Brandon Robbins, 8Bit Contributor Buffy Hamilton, 8bit Contributor Chris Murray, 8Bit Contributor Craig Anderson, 8Bit Contributor Dianna Leighton, 8Bit Contributor Doug Baldwin, 8Bit Contributor Erin Mischak, 8Bit Contributor Jodie Borgerding, 8Bit Contributor Julie Jurgens, 8Bit Contributor Kurt Schulitz, 8Bit Contributor Laverne Mann, 8Bit Contributor Toby Greenwalt, 8Bit Contributor Tom Bruno, 8Bit Contributor Val Forrestal, 8BitLibrarian Allen McGinley, 8BitLibrarian JP Porcaro, 8BitLibrarian Justin Hoenke, adult, advocacy, ALA DANCE PARTY, Android apps, child, collection development, display, drinkup, event, family, friend, Game On! Program, goodbye sweet prince, iPhone Apps, IRL (in real life), link, list, literacy, marketing, meetup, mobile, news, Pax East 2010, photography, programming, Project Brand Yourself A Librarian, review, Storytelling, SXSW, teen, The First Day of the Fourth Month, Video, web 2.0
HEY 8BITLIBRARIANS,
So, you are reading this on the OLD 8bitlibrary.com. 8bitlibrary.com no longer redirects here (to blog.8bitlibrary.com). Here’s JP’s “farewell” post to the blog…but first, some nostalgia…
In 2009, JP Porcaro and Justin Hoenke met for drinks and found out they were both ALA Emerging Leaders for the upcoming year. Our bromance continued with daily IM chats until Justin one day said:
Let’s start a librarygarden of gaming.
So, we did. We really started taking off and getting hits when Justin made a joke on twitter:
Let’s all get library tattoos.
And I was like, YEA LET’S DO IT. And that’s how this whole thing happened…Justin & I would brainstorm crazy ideas, and if they were just crazy enough to work, i’d #makeithappen. So we started Project Brand Yourself a Librarian, librarians shared it like crazy, and a bunch of librarians got tattoos.
So from the very start, within weeks, we strayed from the original “library garden of gaming” idea.
We came up with other crazy ideas and made them happen:
- ALA DANCE PARTY (and other parties like the NJLA ones and the ACRL Social)
- #TeamRock8
- The Adventures of Flat Justin
- Think Tank (which grew into ALA Think Tank, facebook’s largest active group of international ideas-sharing for librarians)
- Cranky Kong, librarianship’s oldest blogger.
We also had lots of fabulous contributors, almost all the top names in the field of “gaming in libraries” either wrote for us or were considered part of the team.
And then we shifted from crazy ideas to more traditional ones:
- We ran the petition to start a the ALA Comic Book & Graphic Novel Member Interest Group, and with the help of everyone who sent in an online signature, we made it happen at ALA Mid Winter 2011.
- We ran National Unconference Day ’11, a hybrid online & in-person conference. We had fabulous lightning talks at it by Michael Stephens, Jaime Hammond, and Eli Neiberger.
- We became the largest active source for game reviews for librarians, and eventually lead the charge to make GameRT a reality.
- We hosted Retro Gaming Days all over New Jersey.
- Got involved in Buy India a Library.
- Launched #makeithappen and inspired MIH.
- Launched #libgaming (which has since died, sad sad…)
- We ran webinars.
In our heyday, we were getting about 4000 clicks a day (which is BIG for library blogs), and alexa.com had us listed as one of the highest trafficked library blogs. The only blogs that were getting higher traffic at the time were the ‘official’ ones; the LJ, SLJ and some of ALA ones…
Lots of success here in a short period of time, maybe moreso than any other library blog. So why did we let blog.8bitlibrary.com “die”?
- All of our contributors are doing other things.
We all got busy. 8bitlibrary lead us to publication deals, speaking gigs, new jobs, and new leadership opportunities. Now that GameRT exists, we have a more formal place to do our gaming-in-libraries work.
- Blogging is boring.
We should have figured out from day 1 that blogging was not what we were about. We were a successful BRAND, but never a good BLOG. All of the successes I listed had more to do with 8bitlibrary as a brand, and less to do with blog.8bitlibrary.com.
- WordPress sucks.
The blog was constantly marred by slow load times, login problems for contributors, and errors on the user and contributor end. Anyone who was a frequent contributor knows what I mean when i say “500 Internal Server Error”
- We have better places to “publish”
Blogging is NOT publishing. We’ll get some game reviews actually published via GameRT hopefully soon!
SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE 8BITLIBRARY?!
When Justin posted this on the new 8bitlibrary.com, people FREAKED out (they though we were killing everything, the facebook page, the twitter, the tumblr (which is now the main site) and the blog) and I had to write this.
Where we’re left without the blog is where we always belonged: as the party people of librarianship. So we’re still gonna do all the stuff we used to do, like ALA DANCE PARTY, Project Brand Yourself a Librarian, and all the Think Tanks and subsequent parties…but we won’t have to worry about keeping up this illusion that we’re a “professional” library blog.
We’re still here.
#partyhard and #makeithappen,
JP
Gaming Reader’s Advisory SMACKDOWN
412 months ago
Calling all 8bit contributors and readers – time for some friendly competition! Working together, we can compile an awesome list of Reader’s Advisory recommendations based on our favorite games. Here’s how to play!
Leave a comment on this post with the following info:
- First, the game you’re using as a jumping off point. You can use console, PC, MMORPG, board games – whatever floats your boat – and give us a few words about why you love it.
- Then, three recommendations based on #1 – a book, a movie, and another game. Also, a quick explanation for why you chose each.
Next – the friendly competition part! Others will reply to your post giving your RA a score, out of a total 15 possible – 5 for synergy (“Those recommendations TOTALLY work together!”), 5 for originality (“Dude, I NEVER would have thought of that!”), and 5 for pure AWESOME (“OMGWTFBBQ, I need to go get those RIGHT NOW!!!”).
Winner gets eternal 8bit glory. All participants benefit from each other’s kickass ideas.
Let’s do this!! And I’ll go first…
8bitlibrary’s Games of the Year
21 year ago
2010 has been a pretty erratic year for gaming. The mobile and downloadable market has shown that you don’t have to create an triple-A title to be great, or to capture the hearts and wallets of people who don’t even consider themselves gamers. Whoda thunk that with new Mario, StarCraft, and Call of Duty titles, so much of our game time would be spent on Angry Birds? Along with all that’s occurring in screen-based gaming, board games seem to be enjoying a renaissance. At MPOW’s National Gaming Day event, the number of people looking wanting to play non-video games was exponentially larger than those looking to jam out on Rock Band. In the wake of all this change, the one thing we must never lose sight of is the ability for a game to surprise, and the titles chosen by 8BitLibrary writers are no exception.
The following are selections for our fave-rave games of the year. These aren’t meant to be consensus picks, nor should this be mistaken for a definitive list. I just asked people to submit their choices, along with their justifications. Beg to differ? Have something else to add? You know what to do.
- Fallout: New Vegas (Erin Mischak)
- Just Dance (Laverne Mann)
- Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Justin Hoenke)
- Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX (Toby Greenwalt)
- Red Dead Redemption (Chris Murray)
- Rock Band 3 (JP Porcaro)
See the full reviews after the jump.
Zombies @ your library
61 year ago
In case you haven’t noticed, zombies are so hot right now. In movies and books, in flash mobs and on college campuses, even in social networking, they’re everywhere — shouldn’t they be @ your library, too? Gaming is a great way to bring them there!
Zombies have an incredibly rich history in video games, reaching all the way back to Zombie Zombie on the ZX Spectrum in 1984. Some of today’s hottest titles are zombie related, like Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, the Resident Evil series, the House of the Dead series, Dead Rising and its sequel, Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse – Nazi zombies even make an appearance in Call of Duty: World at War. Zombies show up in other types of games as well – they appear in Magic: The Gathering, D&D, and even in board games.
As I’ve discussed before, video games are a great Reader’s Advisory tool – why not use a zombie gaming night to introduce patrons to other zombie-themed materials they might enjoy? Maybe someone who’s never picked up a graphic novel could be enticed by a copy of The Walking Dead. A DVD display could spotlight the original Romero archetypes, feature some campy classics and introduce a few exciting new takes on the genre. Zombies are running rampant in fiction these days – I’m sure you already have a few copies of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on hand – so you could assemble a veritable smorgasbord of undead delights (my favorites are those by Max Brooks, Z.A. Recht and Jonathan Maberry). Zombie fiction is an excellent gateway to the larger world of horror writing, so you might want to add a few non-zombie titles as well to see if you can pique some interest.
The undead are everywhere these days — don’t miss the opportunity to bring them into the library as well!
Broadening the Experience: Games as Readers’ Advisory
72 years ago
I was inspired by Liz Danforth’s article and Justin’s response — how can we as librarians broaden the experience of gaming for our patrons, and empower them to connect their passion for games with other things that might interest them? Liz had some great suggestions (I’m particularly intrigued by World of Warcraft and Philosophy), one of which was to pull books from the shelves to put out during gaming events. This idea, coupled with the “Like this? Try this” concept that Amazon and Netflix have used to great success with their recommendations, led me here:
Bioshock is one of my favorite games, so I thought I’d use it as a jumping-off point. What books would I suggest for someone who enjoyed the game? Well, Atlas Shrugged is a natural choice, as it was one of the primary inspirations behind the game. But Chuck Palahniuk‘s books also might be of interest — they’re edgy and violent, and have some amazing and unexpected twists, so it’s the narrative structure that’s the tie-in here. Fight Club and Choke are both excellent, with great movie adaptations.
Speaking of movies, what about suggestions for them? Visually, Bioshock gives us a lot to work with — Metropolis is a classic that also inspired the makers of the game, and City of Lost Children has some of the same thematic elements, as well as a dark, fantastic steampunk setting where Big Daddies would fit right in.
But “broadening the experience” doesn’t mean we have to leave out other games — as Craig’s last post illustrates, games are evolving past button-mashing to become rich, immersive story experiences. Craig gives some great suggestions of other story-rich games that Bioshock fans might enjoy. In terms of gameplay, Dead Space covers a lot of similar ground, and has the same dark, ominous feel that Bioshock cultivates so well. An older but extremely well-received game that combines the dystopian theme with role-play and first-person shooter elements is Deus Ex (and its sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War).
Any popular game could be a starting point for a display or recommendation list. Try it — what would you recommend for someone who loves Modern Warfare 2, Mass Effect or Assassin’s Creed?
IRL: Gaming at the Newport Beach Public Library
02 years ago
Reference Librarian Allen Kesinger is such an avid gamer, he has a Vault-Tec bobble head keeping watch over his cubicle. That alone was enough to make him my personal hero, but there’s another, even more important reason why I admire him: Kesinger brought gaming to the Newport Beach Public Library.
In early 2009, Kesinger went to his library’s board with a proposal for a pilot program to add games to the library’s collection. He had done his homework, checking out what other libraries were doing with gaming, and he made his case: gaming has a wide audience, and bringing games to the library would add value for patrons. Gaming’s not just for kids anymore – just ask Jack Davis, the 86 year old man who rolled 40 perfect games in Wii bowling.
The board gave Kesinger a $1,500 budget to get started, which he used to purchase 40 games for the top 3 platforms: PS3, Xbox360 and Wii. As the games could only be rented by patrons 18 and over, Kesinger included popular rated M games, basing his first purchases on his own personal collection. The games were an immediate hit, and now that the program has proven itself, the board has approved a budget increase, which Kesinger plans to invest mostly in Wii games, the library’s most popular titles.
In addition to lending games, the NBPL has hosted several gaming events. They held their first event in March of 2009 in honor of Teen Tech Week, and have since held another “study break” game night. Their next event will be an intergenerational game night, a “bring your parents” evening where old school games will have a place of honor right beside the newer titles.
Kesinger has big dreams for gaming at the NBPL. He hopes to grow the collection enough to earn its own shelf space, eventually adding PC and Nintendo DS games, and someday even making DS consoles available for check-out on weekends. He even imagines LAN parties on the library’s 30 internet access computers, with dozens of gamers settling in for an evening of WoW, Call of Duty or Left 4 Dead. I hope he makes it happen – because when he does, I will be there!
Here are a few of Kesinger’s tips for librarians looking to start a gaming program at their library:
- Talk to your staff – you might find some “closet” gamers who would be interested in helping and could make some great suggestions.
- Use online resources to build your proposal and your collection. The ESA’s website is a great source for statistics on gamers, which can be useful in your pitch to the powers that be. Websites like GameRankings.com can help you figure out what’s popular when the time comes to buy your first games.
- From a collection development standpoint, don’t be afraid to reach out to adult gamers with rated M titles – Kesinger has had great success with them.
- Use comment cards to gauge patrons’ reactions to your game program! Kesinger has had only positive feedback – and requests for more games!—and the comments help him continue to make his case to grow the program.
Allen Kesinger is a Reference Librarian at the Newport Beach Public Library, an SJSU MLIS grad, and an all-around standup guy. You can contact him at akesinger@newportbeach.ca.gov. Thanks so much, Allen!
Do you know a library or librarian doing awesome stuff with gaming IRL? Let us know and we’ll spotlight them here on 8bitlibrary.com!