Some of you may have noticed that we enjoy hosting gaming events here at the Mudd Library. While we know video games can be a lot of fun, we also know that they provide a wide range of research topics. For all your video game research (and non-research) needs, the Mudd Library has recently added a Nintendo Wii and a growing collection of video games to our collection. The Nintendo Wii and games are available for loan for Lawrence University students, faculty, and staff. Of course, we also have some excellent books on the topic.
The following are a few neat examples of video games integrated into art, culture studies, and even science:
Long March: Restart: MoMA exhibit by Feng Mengbo. This exhibit depicts “the massive military retreat of The Chinese Communist Party’s Red Army, under the command of Mao Zedong and others, that began in 1934” through the media of a video game (see MoMA PS1 Blog). The viewer interacts with the exhibit by playing the game, displayed on a 80’x20’ screen, with a wireless controller.
Computerspiel Museum: Not just an exhibit, but a whole museum dedicated to “digital interactive entertainment culture”. Their newest permanent exhibition, Computer Games: Evolution of a Medium contains more than 300 interactive exhibits depicting the “cultural history of computer and video games.”
Foldit: Like puzzle games? Then why not “fold puzzles for science”? This game was designed by the Departments of Computer Science & Engineering and Biochemistry at the University of Washington, with the purpose of attempting “to predict the structure of a protein by taking advantage of humans’ puzzle-solving intuitions and having people play competitively to fold the best proteins” (see The Science Behind Foldit). The game designers can use the knowledge unlocked by players to research cures for diseases such as HIV / AIDS, Cancer, and Alzheimer’s.
