Educational Games Research » Gender Studies

Dartmouth’s Tiltfactor Researches and Designs Social Games

John Rice — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:32:05 +0000

I’ve been conversing via e-mail with Dr. Mary Flanagan, the founder of Tiltfactor at Dartmouth, where she is the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor in Digital Humanities. Dr. Flanagan and Tiltfactor are doing exciting work in educational gaming. One of the key areas many researchers think it’s strongest is the social arena. This is where “fuzzy” concepts that are so difficult to teach through reading and lecturing can be more effectively transmitted via gaming. Consequently, Tiltfactor focuses on social games, including health and educational initiatives. Here’s a paragraph from their website explaining the organization’s purpose:

Tiltfactor is the first academic center to focus on critical play–a method of using games and play to investigate issues and ideas. Our mission is to research and develop software and playful art that creates rewarding, compelling, and socially responsible interactions, with a focus on innovative game design for social change. We are interested in the processes through which designers imbue their games with moral, social, and political values, whether intentionally or inadvertently, and the corollary processes through which these values are interpreted by players. Our approach involves extensive cross-disciplinary work among the Humanities, Social Sciences, the Arts, and the Sciences.

The academic gaming lab is funded in part by the NEH, NSF, and Microsoft. The center has researched and developed a remarkable list of educational titles. These include, among many others:

Pox: Save the People, a board game teaching the importance of vaccinations
LAYOFF, a video game designed to educate players about the financial crisis
The Adventures of Josie True, a web game devoted to teaching middle school girls math

It’s exciting to see strong academic centers involved in educational gaming efforts like Tiltfactor is, and I encourage other educators and researchers to examine their work. As with most government funded initiatives, such as Josie True, the end product is freely available to schools and teachers. The research potential from their many efforts is considerable, and a list of selected books and articles Dr. Flanagan has written is here. Last but not least, Tiltfactor blog posts can be found at grandtextauto.

Game Meets Girl Plugs Educational Games Research

John Rice — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:08:37 +0000

I’m always interested in links to this blog and how it is used in the net’s discourse on gaming. Game Meets Girl, which is a video blog featuring commentary on games from a female perspective, highlighted my post trumpeting the fact 40% of all gamers are women or girls. Take a look at the video here.

At 40% of the Market, Videogame Publishers Pursue Women & Girls

John Rice — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:36:10 +0000

Yukari Iwatani Kane over at The Wall Street Journal reports today that publishers are introducing more video games than ever this Christmas season geared toward the female market, in a nod to the ever increasing percentage of women players. The thinking goes, with each 5% increase in female players, publishers will see an additional $1 billion in sales. The number of overall female players has increased from 21% in 2001 to the current 40%, as cited in stats from Wedbush Morgan. (I previously noted the same statistic reported by Ipsos MediaCT.)

Here’s a list of games the article mentions that are either out or forthcoming:

Charm Girls Club
FarmVille (on FaceBook)
Hannah Montana
Just Dance
Littlest Pet Shop
Petz
Sports Active
StyleLab
The Imagine line for the DS
Wii Fit Plus
Your Shape

Finally, Guitar Hero and Rock Band have cross-gender appeal.

References:
Kane, Y.I. (2009, October 13). Videogame firms make a play for women. The Wall Street Journal, B4.

ESA Survey: Male/Female Gamer Ratio is 60/40; Average Age is 35

John Rice — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:24:36 +0000

A new survey by Ipsos MediaCT for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) indicates 40% of gamers are female and the average age of gamers is 35. Other findings:

- 65% of US households play videogames

- 38% of US households own a console

- Women over 18 make up a larger percentage of gamers than boys under 17 (33% to 18%)

The new 2008 “Essential Facts” booklet by the ESA is available in PDF format here.

References:
Heflinger, M. (2008, July 17). Survey: Average U.S. gamer age is 35; 40% are women. [Online]. Available: http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/07/17/survey:-
average-u.s.-gamer-age-35%3B-40%25-are-women

Update:
Click here for info on new games designed for female players and how software companies are tackling this emerging market.