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8bitlibrary around town
4Hey all, wanted to share some updates with you about what our contributors are doing in libraries and beyond:
- Justin Hoenke was on Good Day Maine last week promoting the new Portland ME Public Library’s Teen library program. You can watch the video here.
- JP Porcaro just wrote an article for School Library Journal titled The Pokemon Generation which you you can read in its entirety here.
- Craig Anderson‘s 8bitlibrary.com article titled Why Nobody Plays Second Life has lead to a two-part guest post on the Library Journal “Games, Gamers & Gaming” blog. You can read Nobody Plays Second Life (part one) and Nobody Plays Second Life (part two) at those respective links.
- Today is 8bitlibrary.com contributor, 2010 Library Journal Mover & Shaker and creator of #andypoll Andy Woodworth‘s birthday. Happy Birthday, dude!
- We’d like to welcome some new contributors: Eli Neiburger, author of Gamers…in the Library?! The Why, What, and How of Videogame Tournaments for All Ages, High School Librarian Buffy Hamilton, of the Unquiet Library, Brandon Robbins, who has already posted lots of great video game reviews here on the 8bitlibrary, Harvard University librarian Tom Bruno (aka @oodja on twitter), and Stevens Institute of Technology librarian Valerie Forrestal. Welcome to everyone and glad to have you aboard.
- RedheadFangirl Laverne Mann got to meet graphic novel superstar writers the Luna Brothers. How cool is that?!
Hope everyone has a fun week! JP
R.I.P. to online play for Halo 2
1Well, 8bitlibrary.com, this is it. The last day to play Halo 2 on Xbox Live.
We would love for you to leave a comment in the comment box. Memories? The good times; the bad? Was this the first game you spent considerable time playing online? Do you remember where you were the first day you ever went online with Halo 2? How about your very first online frag in Halo 2?
And for those of you who really aren’t vested in the game, the main character was featured on the cover of Library Journal in 2005. My own personal analogy for how important Halo 2 was to online console gaming: Halo 2 is the Super Mario Bros 3 of online play.
On behalf of everyone here at 8bitlibrary.com, Thanks for the memories, Halo 2!
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?
Game-as-Media & the need for professional reviews.
42 years ago
Justin’s terrific 8bitlibrary.com posted link about needing more Gamers in the library field screams for more on the topic of “Game-as-Media”.
As I’ve posted before, libraries and schools need to view gaming as media (just as we view a printed book as a media form, a film as a media form, an album as a media form…).
What I think I failed to convey in my first post is that game-as-media is separate from the game’s content. Video Games are not a genre, just as books are not a genre. We cannot fairly assess the content of video games until we recognize those games as a new media.
Once schools and libraries accept gaming as a new media, the realization that unique information communities exist around video games will help the game-as-media cause. These communities and bodies of information are no less legitimate or important than any other communities we serve in schools and libraries.
So let me make two statements:
- Video games are a media unto themselves.
- The library profession needs experts in this media, just as we have experts in other media (like books and films).
I’ve already explained the first statement. As far as the second statement goes, librarians are music aficionados, film buffs, and the most avid readers around. However, it is very difficult for libraries to truly give gaming a fair shake if library professionals aren’t playing games.
My solution to bridge the gap between these two statements is to have a proper, professional outlet for reviewing video games. Librarians can’t read every book. Nor can they play every game. Some may not play any games. Reviews in outlets such as LJ and SLJ will give game-as-media the legitimacy it deserves, and will remove the veil of mystery that surrounds gaming in the library community.
Collection Development is heavily influenced by professional reviews. In order for libraries to develop meaningful collections, we need to adopt the game-as-media view, and have experts in the field reviewing games for the rest of the library community.
For the time-being, though, we’ve got a growing library of reviews here on 8bitlibrary.com and a great slate of contributors.