Thing 15 Gaming

Hmph. I read/looked at the Second Life and Pirates stuff, and one thing that struck me right away, is that to have the full experience of a "fake" life you have to pay "real" money. As one of my colleagues says, "you have to pay real money for fake stuff." I watched Visit to Info Island, and while it was probably fun to create, it did nothing for me. (And why do they always have to use such boring music? Have they ever heard of Modulation??) I see no reason that my library should have a presence, at quite a cost, on Second Life, when they can't seem to come up with enough to pay us a decent salary, or to support a decent collection. The Pirate Puzzle might be interesting, but I prefer puzzles just for their own sake. I can't see myself paying to advance beyond cabin mate, so probably wouldn't stick around there long. This topic kind of annoys me so I'll stop here.


We don't seem to have any demand for Second Life at my library - in fact, I've never even been asked about it. We do have a lot of kids playing Runescape, and lots of the games on Nick and Disney. While they may teach some hand eye co-ordination, the jury still is out on what benefit there really is. One can find all sorts of research to support either position. We have kids here all day playing Runescape, and our internet service really slows down when school is out. I have no problem with kids using the computers, but I do have a problem with the behavior that seems to accompany a lot of the online games. "yes, you do need to let someone else have a computer now" "No, you can't call me a B...." Who knows whether it's because of the game, or just the person?

Our library has had gaming afternoons, and those have been kind of fun. Kids I know have been impressed with how good I am at Guitar Hero - (after all, I'm a music major!) and DDR looks like it would be fun, too. I haven't seen that it brings in kids that don't already come, but that may not be the case everywhere.

I do enjoy online games such as Bookworm, TriPeaks, Bejeweled, and 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, although I'm stuck on the building that looks like an anchor. And I keep wanting to organize the little Egyptian guys into their own local. I think they work too hard. :-)