Gamers playing Hellgate London for PC at PGA 2007
Evolution, Gaming, Research

Video gamers are sexy, or at least they think they are

Michael Kasumovic, UNSW Australia and Tom Denson, UNSW Australia There’s abundant research – and controversy – on the effects of playing violent video games. But, strangely, there’s precious little looking at why people choose to play violent games at all. So we, along with our ...

Gaming, Research

Video games make you less sexist? It’s not quite that simple

The latest article exploring sexism in academia suggests that it no longer exists. Some have already grumbled about flaws in the study’s design. But more than that, I simply don’t believe the finding because there is clear evidence that sexism still exists. I’ve also ...

virtual_worlds
Gaming, Learning, Research

Gamer disclaimer: virtual worlds can be as fulfilling as real life

By Michael Kasumovic Step aside Olympians – the new sporting pursuit of choice may soon be professional gaming. Electronic sports (or esports) are now mainstream, drawing more than a million viewers in large tournaments and offering prizes up to US$5 million. Unsurprisingly, pro-gamers practise for ...

GTA5_title
Evolution, News

Virtual rape in Grand Theft Auto 5: learning the limits of the game

By Michael Kasumovic and Rob Brooks Are video games societal microcosms wherein deviant behaviour flourishes and spills into “real life”? Or are they just harmless fun in which nobody really gets hurt? This endless debate usually concerns violent games; so much so that many ...





NewsEmbracing Technology in Education0

Embracing Technology in Education

A fresh look at modern education. What can games and poker sites teach? Systemic thinking, rapid decision making, psychology and mathematics. Useful resources for interactive technologies in education.

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ResearchGender segregation in e-sports is indefensible – and yet ...0

Gender segregation in e-sports is indefensible – and yet …

By Michael Kasumovic You likely couldn’t outswim Alicia Coutts or Ian Thorpe, or lift half of what Damon Kelly or Seen Lee can, but I bet you could beat them at a videogame. Welcome to e-sports, the future ...

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EducationVideogames should be a teacher's best friend0

Videogames should be a teacher’s best friend

Although videogames are seen by many as a waste of time, one thing they do undeniably well is teach. The problem is that educational games are about as much a game as low-fat ice cream is ...

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Gender segregation in e-sports is indefensible – and yet ...0

Gender segregation in e-sports is indefensible – and yet …

By Michael Kasumovic You likely couldn’t outswim Alicia Coutts or Ian Thorpe, or lift half of what Damon Kelly or Seen Lee can, but I bet you could beat them at a videogame. Welcome to e-sports, the future of competitions where size, shape, or even gender no longer

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Are you ready for the zombie apocalypse? Time to find out0

Are you ready for the zombie apocalypse? Time to find out

Your team is decimated. You’re surrounded by zombies. And they’re closing in. Normally, you lean forward, turn off your console, step away and play again once you’ve had the opportunity to regroup. But you can’t. Because this isn’t a video game. It’s real. What do you do? This is the

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Are you racist? You might want to change your avatar0

Are you racist? You might want to change your avatar

Is racism a matter of perspective gone wrong? And, if so, how can we fix it? A new study in Consciousness and Cognition demonstrates technology may be able to offer part of the solution: donning the skin of a dark-skinned avatar significantly decreased an individual’s racial biases. Given

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Videogames aren't the problem, it's in our genes0

Videogames aren’t the problem, it’s in our genes

The debate around videogames and violence is getting seriously out of control – not least in the US. Just take this recent homepage above on The Huffington Post. Hyperbole aside, videogames are (once again) being used as a scapegoat by politicians looking for a simple answer to

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Wreck-it-Ralph and Disney's portrayal of gamers0

Wreck-it-Ralph and Disney’s portrayal of gamers

I went to see Disney’s new animated movie Wreck-it Ralph yesterday with my family. I have to say, it was the most enjoyable movie experience I’ve had in a while. The story was part of the reason for this. The movie centres around a Donkey Kong-esque bad

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popular posts
Why boys need female heroes too4

Why boys need female heroes too

I love skylanders. And given that it’s more than a 1.5 billion dollar enterprise, it seems that I’m not the only one. Now, I don’t love Skylanders

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Why I want to play video games when I grow up3

Why I want to play video games when I grow up

Just like rock music in the 1950s, Dungeons & Dragons in the 1980s, and death metal in the 1990s, videogaming has been demonised by parent

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Explore popular content
Cuddlefish4 Cuddlefish!

Here is a wonderful little game that allows you to take up the story of being a male cuttlefish exploring the ocean in search of a female to mate with. It’s a fun little story that mixes human emotions with the biology of cuttlefish, ...

femaleheroes4 Why boys need female heroes too

I love skylanders. And given that it’s more than a 1.5 billion dollar enterprise, it seems that I’m not the only one. Now, I don’t love Skylanders like I do games like Deadspace, Borderlands and Mass Effect, I love it for completely different reasons. I ...

grow_up3 Why I want to play video games when I grow up

Just like rock music in the 1950s, Dungeons & Dragons in the 1980s, and death metal in the 1990s, videogaming has been demonised by parent groups. For decades, gamers were portrayed as obese social outcasts that spent hours in a dark basement hunched ...

miyc3 How I’m trying to make learning fun

**Update** If you’re interested in out how the class went, clickhere. If you’d like the manual, click here. As an undergrad, I detested labs. They were boring. Demonstrated by teaching assistants with a superior knowledge of the information I was meant to glean, somehow titrating ...

envirobear2 Enviro-Bear!

You are a bear, winter is coming, so drive around and eat fish and berries to prepare to hibernate! Alright, this may be far fetched as a science based game, but the execution is just amazing! As the say in the video: “The best ...