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简·麦格尼格尔谈游戏积极作用及联系现实理念

作者:NICK BILTON

简·麦格尼格尔是游戏设计师及《破碎的现实》一书的作者,她在书中表示通过体验游戏,玩家能够完善自己的生活及解决现实问题。下面是部分访谈内容:

Jane McGonigal from zocalopublicsquare.org

Jane McGonigal from zocalopublicsquare.org

你如何成为设计师?

我当时在念研究生,我试图找份有趣的业余工作,我最终在Craigslist找到游戏设计师职位。

你在大学是否学过游戏设计?

我最初学的是物理,博士学位读的是性能研究。

你首份的有关游戏的工作是什么?

是城市超级英雄游戏《Go Game》。这款游戏有点像城市冒险游戏。你会在手机上得到文字信息告诉你前往某个地点。到达地点后你会发现一个包含更多线索的加锁箱子,然后你要继续前行。游戏灵感来自电影《The Game》。

作为游戏设计师,什么吸引你投身游戏制作?

玩家希望体验特别的内容。他们希望解决问题。这促使我加入帕洛阿尔托的未来研究所,探索新型真实世界游戏。

你所指的真实世界是?

几乎没有任何游戏能够建立游戏同现实间的联系——游戏能够消除游戏英雄角色和现实英雄事迹间的差异。所以我开始研究如何创建此纽带关系。

你是否有制作这样的游戏?

有。《无油世界》就是这类型的作品,这是款持续六周的供油饱和模拟游戏,在这款游戏中,石油消费供大于求。玩家连续登陆6星期时间,需想象自己生活在无油世界,然后记录这些经历。共有1700位玩家参与这项活动,他们制作许多视频和博文陈述自己如何体验游戏,如何想出创造性策略解决这些问题。

这款游戏如何同现实世界联系起来?

1年后美国出现真正的燃气危机,体验过游戏的玩家都能够充分运用自己在游戏中学到的节油策略。我们访问某些玩家,发现他们都有自己的应对策略,相比邻居,他们更能够从容应对。

当你告诉大家游戏对我们有益时,他们是否会持怀疑态度?

当然。有些人甚至会以异样眼光看我,仿佛我在胡说八道——通常是那些不常玩游戏,不理解游戏的群体。这些人会出现这种态度是因为他们觉得游戏非常消极;完全是在浪费时间。有些人觉得游戏非常散漫,无需动脑,有违社会规律。

那你觉得游戏不是“散漫,无需动脑,有违社会规律”?

完全不是这样。看看《摇滚乐队》和Facebook游戏;它们通常创造富有意义的社交体验。甚至连热门第一人称射击游戏《光晕》也倡导社交互动和深刻故事叙述。游戏融入众多关卡和故事叙述,堪称是宏伟教堂的观光之旅。

游戏是否对商界人士也有所帮助?

Gamifaction Movement试图帮助各公司通过运用游戏机制,将其融入购物或成就中,达到留住用户和社区的目的,这样玩家就能够通过逛商店,购买商品获得成就(游戏邦注:就像有奖活动一样)。

老师如何将这种思维运用至课堂中?

好问题。我妈妈是公立学校的老师,教3年级的学生。他们在课堂上制作1个小型在线头像,他们需要说出头像的3个“优点”,这其实是他们希望班上同学知道的他们自己的优点。游戏的目的是帮助其他学生掌握你所具备的3个优点,若能够成功帮助同班同学掌握这些优点,你就能够获得积分。这对他们来说非常有意义。

那么世界上的问题是否都能够通过游戏解决?

我们知道游戏非常具有挑战性;能够挖掘我们的潜在技能,帮我们设定雄心勃勃的目标,让我们变得更有合作精神。我书中的最后一章叫作“现实更美好”,主要是说如何将游戏玩家的技能运用至现实世界,解决实际问题。

哪款游戏是你的最爱?

这个问题很难回答。当我觉得压力很大时,我最喜欢玩《Pop It》,游戏中若玩家击中气球,就会得到奖励。这是个5分钟游戏,需要我全神贯注,能够在我感到压力很大的时候分散我的注意力。我还喜欢和丈夫一起体验多人游戏。我们常一起射击僵尸。

作为玩家,你最期望的超能力是什么?

是治愈他人的能力。但不是牺牲自己1年寿命治愈他人的模式——这其中存在太多道德问题。

你的下步游戏开发计划是什么?

我是Social Chocolate的创意总监,这是家新公司,我们运用科学和积极情绪,融入社交联系,创造提高人们现实生活,强化其现实关系的游戏。

Social Chocolate是否有推出什么新作品?

首先即将问世的是《SuperBetter》,游戏灵感来自我去年的脑震荡遭遇。我病了一个月,我试图制作能够帮助我更快恢复大脑的游戏。我们目前正在进行临床试验。游戏很快会和大家见面。

游戏邦注:原文发布于2011年2月8日,文章叙述以当时为背景。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

One on One: Jane McGonigal, Game Designer

By NICK BILTON

Jane McGonigal is a game designer and author of the new book “Reality Is Broken,” in which she argues that by playing games, people can improve their lives and solve real-world problems. Here is an edited version of our talk:

Nick Bilton: How did you end up as a game designer?

Jane McGonigal: I was in graduate school and I was looking for a job on the side that would be fun, sort of a hobby, and I found a job working with a game designer on Craigslist.

Did you study game design in college?

At first I was studying physics. I ended up getting my Ph.D in performance studies.

What was your first job involving games?

It was designing missions for an urban superhero game called Go Game. It was kind of like an urban adventure. You would get a text message on your cellphone telling you to go to a specific location. When you got there, you would find a lockbox with more clues and continue along the game. It was inspired by the movie “The Game.”

As someone who builds games, what draws you to them?

Gamers want real opportunities to do extraordinary things. They want to solve problems. Seeing this led me to work at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, Calif., to explore a new type of game that involved the real world.

What do you mean by the real world?

There weren’t really any games that offered a bridge between gaming and reality — games that could bridge the gap between being a hero in a game and doing something heroic in the real world. So I started investigating how to create that bridge.

Were you able to build such a game?

Yes. I created World Without Oil, which was a six-week simulation of a peak-oil scenario, where demand outstrips supply of oil. Players signed up for six weeks and were asked to imagine living in a world without oil and document the experience. We were able to convince 1,700 people to do that, and they created thousands of videos and blog posts explaining how they were playing the game and coming up with creative solutions to the problem.

How did that move into the real world?

When we had the real gas crisis in the United States a year later, the people who had played the game were able to implement their oil-saving techniques that they had learned from the game. We reached out to some of these people and found out that they had a strategy in place and coped better than their neighbors.

When you tell people games are good for us, are they skeptical?

Absolutely. Some people look at me like I’m nuts — usually people who don’t play games very much and don’t understand gaming. These people are this way because their only idea of a game is a negative one; they see it as a waste of time. And some people think gaming is lazy, mindless and antisocial.

Well, aren’t games “lazy, mindless and antisocial?”

No. Look at Rock Band and Facebook games; they offer meaningful, social experiences. Even Halo, a popular first-person shooter, is designed to inspire with social interaction and an in-depth narrative. The game has so many levels and narratives it’s analogous to a tour through a magnificent cathedral.

Can games help people in business?

The Gamifaction Movement is trying to help companies engage their audience and community by using game mechanics and wrapping them around shopping or achievements, so you get achievements for coming to a store or purchasing things, like rewarding activities.

How could a teacher in school integrate this thinking into a classroom?

Good question. My mom is a public school teacher and works with third grade students. In class they made a little avatar online and they got to give it three “strengths” that they want the class to know they are good at. The goal of the game is to help other students with your three strengths, and then they get points for helping their classmates with the strengths. It’s very meaningful for them.

So can the world’s problems be solved through gaming?

We know games are very challenging; they tap into our natural abilities, they help us set ambitious goals and they make us more collaborative. The last chapter in my book is called “Reality Is Better,” and basically says that it’s about figuring out how to take those gamer powers and put them in the real world to help solve problems.

What is your favorite game?

This is a hard question. When my life is stressful, my favorite game is called Pop It, where you pop balloons and prizes fall out. It’s a five-minute game that focuses my mind and gives me extra attention when I’m stressed. I also like to play multiplayer games with my husband. We shoot zombies together.

As a gamer, what’s your dream superpower?

The power to heal others. But, hopefully, it wouldn’t be one of those trick powers where every person you heal you lose a year of your life — that would be fraught with too many moral problems.

What are you doing next in game development?

I’m the creative director for Social Chocolate, which is a new game company where we are using the power of science and positive emotion and adding social connection to create games that can improve people’s real lives and strengthen their real-life relationships.

Has Social Chocolate produced any new games?

The first game that will be available is called SuperBetter, which was inspired after I suffered a concussion last year. I was ill for a month and I made a game to help my brain injury heal faster. We’re currently doing clinical trials and it will be available later this summer.(Source:nytimes


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