Thank You Jane McGonigal!

Jane Mcgonigal is famous for advocating games as a means to improve and even save our lives.  In her most recent TED talk (also above), Jane got quite personal about how her game, Superbetter, gave her hope when she wanted to die, incapacitated by a concussion.  It took a traumatic event, and the ensuing struggle for Jane to realize how powerful a simple game could be.  I too required a traumatic event to gain this knowledge, but my post traumatic growth came after my return from Afghanistan.

I was recently awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for my 2009-'10 tour to the Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan.  Our award comes now, two years later, reflecting the intensity of war during those months.  American forces surged across Afghanistan, creating the bloodiest months of the war during the time my unit was in country.  In the middle of all this, I began designing the first game I had ever designed.  As I stood guard at night, I made notes and drew pictures of what would later become ARG Zombies.  However, it wasn't until later that I realized the impact and intensity of these events.

While in Afghanistan, I stood on top of IED's that didn't go off.  I was shot at, and I saw young men die without even knowing what hit them.  I saw burning vehicles that contained the bodies of men I'd known, and I saw the dead Afghans we'd killed in combat.  I didn't PLAY a game to get over this (like Jane did)- Instead I ended up MAKING A GAME...  ARG Zombies became my Superbetter.

The more I worked on ARG Zombies, the more I saw the potential for influencing positive behavior in players.  Alternate reality games afford the unique opportunity of confronting our ideas about the world, and I knew that zombies represent the fear of strangers, friends, and family alike.  Zombies are popular now precisely because we are surrounded by so many more people than any generation before us, and we fear these people turning on us.  I grew to understand how this same root fear grows in a society- and spills over in the form of war... and, by confronting this idea within a gaming environment, I believe that games have the power to end war...  all wars... forever.

My friends and family feared that I was experiencing post traumatic stress, and developing PTSD. However, I believe that I experienced Post Traumatic Growth- instead of Post Traumatic Stress.  The symptoms are right out of the TED talk.
-I was not affraid to do waht made me happy- I wanted to make a game, and I wan't afraid of any of the challenges or the fact that I'd never made a game before.
-I understood myself better, and I know who I am- I have a wide range of experience and skill, but I am a game designer who makes games that I hope will improve the lives of my players.
-I have a new sense of meaning and purpose- What I learned about the human condition can be influenced through the experience of gaming.  I believe it is my purpose to translate that into a playable experience, that effects positive changes in players.
-I am better able to focus on my goals and dreams- Now that I know what I'm here to do... it's pretty tough to get in the way of a Marine on a mission.  I can see the path to make my dreams happen, and I am undaunted by the immensity of the task. After all...  I've got the rest of my life- plus an extra 10 years if I play the game well!

(PS- Thank you Jane!)

ARG Zombies update.

Work has been continuing on my mobile Alternate Reality Zombie Game "ARG Zombies" We have launched a closed beta on Testflight, and we have nearly completed the story for the game. Independent game production is, of course, much harder than I initially imagined... but, I have been shlogging along just the same.

My brother Trevor has been a lead game tester for the game Blacklight Retribution a free to play first person shooter from Perfect World and Zombie Studios. Today he quit his job to come work on ARG Zombies!!

This means that Tando Productions (our company) now has David O'hagan doing social media and user engagement, Trevor will be doing our sound effects and QA, and I am the director designer (and of course business guy)... So yeah- that sounds like a team to me!

Look out world... TANDO is coming!

Occupy Movement Protests

This weekend I went to check out the Occupy march in my home city, San Francisco. I ended up creating my first video blog... more to come perhaps?

Gamers are going to change the world

If you haven't already seen this link you should check it out. Gamers solved a protein puzzle, expected to help in AIDS research, in 3 weeks after scientists struggled with it for 10 years.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/online-gamers-crack-aids-enzyme-puzzle-20110919-1kgq2.html

This is concrete proof of the potential power of gaming. Folding proteins in a simple game is just scratching the surface of what gamers are capable of. I was going to write a lot more about this, but I think it speaks for itself.

Is Man Evolving a Collective Consciousness?

Life is constantly evolving. Since protein began replicating in strings, life has been adapting and moving, but towards what end? Much like a chromosome trying to understand a creature, we may not be capable of grasping the next evolution of man, but we all know it is coming.

the past two hundred years have recorded the largest changes to human society ever witnessed. Technological advances have changed the way that most humans interact with the planet. These interactions are so different that we believe ourselves and our actions to be "un-natural". While a technologically advanced object is not, by itself, natural, the drive to create and share such things is a natural drive seen in humans for ages. Like the first leg on a fish, we have sprouted a fledgling collective consciousness- the Internet.

We have all known that the Internet is an amazing technological achievement since it's early days. However, much like the first leg on a fish, the Internet has flopped around a bit. We all knew it's potential to unite people just like we know that that fish will eventually walk with ease. Technology, being unburdened with the constraints of biology, has quickly strengthened and adapted. Nowhere is this new strength more apparent than the middle east, where twitter has toppled governments. The illusion that any man has power over another instantly dissolved in Tahir square.

Mans creation of technology is natures adaptation to the constraints of our biology. Operating as a society on such a massive scale requires adaptations like the smartphone (the world in your pocket) in order to function. These things draw us together like the nervous system unites the bodies organs, toward the single purpose of life. Like a fledgling organism the collective mind has gone through some growing pains, but trudges forward up the beach. The future is never certain, but somewhere inside, the fish knows he will walk, and perhaps one day- even fly.

See Also: Transcendant Man

The Death of the Arcade

This week I found myself going to an arcade with a four year old. As soon as I walked through the door I had flashbacks to the 80’s, when arcades ruled. Children dumpped their coins into the latest video games, and roamed the arcades claiming high scores. Young social lives formed around these places. THIS used to be the place to be, but what I saw an empty arcade full of flashing lights. Regardless of the other factors contributing to the desolate scene- the impressoin had already been made. Arcade games have been replaced- the industry has moved on.

I walked around to see what games the few people (mostly hidden in the corners) were playing. Shooting games, driving games, allmost all multiplayer inherently, like racing. I started to think more about the endangered arcade game, and the future of gaming. I began to trace the steps from this place to where we are today. I thought of the children that bought an Atari/Nintendo/Sega Genesis/Neo Geo/Jaguart 64… Then everyone realized that not having to put coins in meant you needed more games. So the industry made games as fast as they could- regardless of quality. Multiplayer emerged as an important aspect, but adding controlers was nothing in the face of the mother of all platforms- the internet. Even consoles have been forced to incorporate online gameplay. Gamers are no longer satisfied being the best on the block. They want to compare their scores the the best the PLANET has to offer.

What started with kids looking over their shoulder to keep the high score in Donkey Kong, has grown and grown and broken barriers that nobody knew were barriers. Found ways to draw people together, and draw people in with all sorts of new gameplay. The better this interaction between people- the more successful modern titles are.
So what conclusions did I draw from all of this? The mobile gaming industry is flooded with over 40,000 titles… it might pay the bills to make poor quality games, but the winners in the mobile industry will innovate and find new ways to bring people together. A well made, well thought out game, that brings people together in fun new ways- a recipie for mobile gaming success!

(now I just have to make http://www.zombieapocalypsemobile.com to have all those things)

Afghanistan War Vet on Osama Bin Laden's Death.

My first reaction upon seeing that Osama Bin Laden was dead? “CRAP! This war was so close to being about peace, and now it’s about killing again.”

There is something inherently wrong about celebrating another human beings death. I absolutely understand the benefits of this particular person NOT being part of the currently alive, however the cheapening of human life in any form leads the human heart to bad places. When we cheer in the streets at his death we are telling young Soldiers and Marines that we want them to take lives, and their killing will be celebrated. When in order to end any conflict in the middle east we must start the seeds of peace where our feet are most firmly planted: Afghanistan.

Moving forward it is of utmost imortance that the focus on all sides is on non-violence, improving living conditions, and building the middle east into an educated, civilized, safe place for any human being to live. It is my greatest fear that this death will cloud the beauty of peace and remind the worlds citizens of the great violence that we are capable of- when it is of the utmost importance that we remember that humans are meant by nature to be united.