Who are the gamers?
Pew Research Center Study 09/08 “53% of American adults age 18 and older play video games, and about one in five adults (21%) play everyday or almost everyday. While the number of video gamers among adults is substantial, it is still well under the number of teens who play. Fully 97% of teens play video games” Games/1-Data-Memo/01-Overview.aspx?r=1
Legend of Zelda-Twilight Princess Had 241 pages of text in the game that had to be read to finish the game.
Different types of gaming Free Cheap enough, it might as well be free Not so free
Free Chess -Still very popular w/ children and young adults players at the K-6 National championships.
Free Correspondence Games Diplomacy – The Game of Global Domination – Excellent game – jdip program is free and formats moves in the correct language – Can be played against other schools, libraries.
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- cheap(ish) gaming -Board Games -Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, 1960-All excellent board games for libraries - Older Consoles- DO NOT COUNT THEM OUT! -Folks still play them and are still crazy about them. -Not only that, but the older consoles are so cheap, you can often get them donated -some people prefer them. - Gamecube N PS
Highest cost, but best results 7 th Generation Consoles – Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS, and PSP Each has something to offer that the others do not. – Xbox 360-Good graphics, lots of titles – Wii- Most bang for buck-lots of multiplayer games – PS3-Best graphics-fewer games-built in Blu-Ray player Which one is right for you is strictly a matter of opinion.
Xbox 360
Playstation 3
Nintendo Wii
PSP
Nintendo DS
Most popular…
Most popular Nintendo DS (107 million) PSP (55 million) Nintendo Wii (53 million) Xbox 360 (30 million) PS3 (24 million) More good news-DS games are pretty cheap and there are only 8 games that are rated M.
Equipment Controllers – At least 4 – Wireless – Special controllers (Guitar Hero or Rockband) – Older controllers still have value
Cost Biggest hurdle for most libraries – Consoles are not cheap Playstation Nintendo DS PSP Nintendo Wii Xbox Playstation
funding -Donations-Never underestimate what people will give you if you ask. -FOL- Friends of the Library have greatly helped me and they are constantly named in library gaming groups as a source of funding across the country. -Grants -Best Buy in-store grant-one page application -Wal-Mart community grants-one page application -ALA grants- $5000 Verizon Grants for library gaming last year -Continuous $100 grants from Funagain Games for schools and libraries
Best practices Video Game Tournaments – pros and cons
Game clubs Nintendo DS club – Easy to do – Users bring their own equipment – DS download play Board game club – Try a new board game each month. – Get boardgamegeek.com or funagain.com