Komensky Creator Parents,
I am very excited to begin our first long-term project with this amazing group of students. As I’m sure you have heard by now, we will be creating our own video games.
The video game industry is one of the largest money making industries in the world. Profits from the sales of video games are comparable or greater than the profits of major Hollywood movies. Blockbuster games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops ($1.5 Billion) and World of Warcraft ($10 Billion) (BusinessInsider.com) shatter sales records and indicate that the video game industry is alive and well.
On top of their profitability, video games continue to become part of our everyday lives. Titles like Angry Birds or Candy Crush have become a part of our collective experience. Water cooler conversations have switched from, "Did you catch that game last night?" to "I can't believe you beat level 141!" Studies show that 83% of smart phone owners play, at least, one game a week (Mashable.com).
The popularity and profitability of gaming will help to keep this industry booming for a long time. It will be their challenge to gain insight into this exciting and challenging field by creating and marketing their own video game. We will examine trends and themes in video gaming. They will test and experiment with different programs to help develop games. Once their game is completed, they will need to market and advertise their games. They will need to set up a system to receive and monitor feedback from their audience.
The students will be expected to do a great deal of this project outside of school. This will include:
· Using computer programs (such as Scratch or Gamestar Mechanic) to develop the game,
· Sharing their game online,
· Developing print and video advertisements.
Students have not been asked to continue researching the old Nintendo games listed on the Komensky Creators website. However, I do encourage them to look to those games for inspiration, so they should be allowed to play the games as a substitute for video game or TV time at home. However, game playing is NOT mandatory. Students have also been given directions to use YouTube as a resource to learn how to use the game building programs listed on Phase 3 of the video game assignment. All approved websites are listed on the Video Game Assignment pages of the Komensky Creators website.
It is expected that the students will do each piece of their project independently or with their partners and meet all deadlines. Because our time together in school is very limited, any students missing two work deadlines will be removed from the class. Currently, all students should be testing out the game building websites and creating a test game.
Please visit our class website (komenskycreators.weebly.com) for updates and to see pictures of the kids and their hard work. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone or email.
Sincerely,
Mr. Palles
[email protected]
I am very excited to begin our first long-term project with this amazing group of students. As I’m sure you have heard by now, we will be creating our own video games.
The video game industry is one of the largest money making industries in the world. Profits from the sales of video games are comparable or greater than the profits of major Hollywood movies. Blockbuster games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops ($1.5 Billion) and World of Warcraft ($10 Billion) (BusinessInsider.com) shatter sales records and indicate that the video game industry is alive and well.
On top of their profitability, video games continue to become part of our everyday lives. Titles like Angry Birds or Candy Crush have become a part of our collective experience. Water cooler conversations have switched from, "Did you catch that game last night?" to "I can't believe you beat level 141!" Studies show that 83% of smart phone owners play, at least, one game a week (Mashable.com).
The popularity and profitability of gaming will help to keep this industry booming for a long time. It will be their challenge to gain insight into this exciting and challenging field by creating and marketing their own video game. We will examine trends and themes in video gaming. They will test and experiment with different programs to help develop games. Once their game is completed, they will need to market and advertise their games. They will need to set up a system to receive and monitor feedback from their audience.
The students will be expected to do a great deal of this project outside of school. This will include:
· Using computer programs (such as Scratch or Gamestar Mechanic) to develop the game,
· Sharing their game online,
· Developing print and video advertisements.
Students have not been asked to continue researching the old Nintendo games listed on the Komensky Creators website. However, I do encourage them to look to those games for inspiration, so they should be allowed to play the games as a substitute for video game or TV time at home. However, game playing is NOT mandatory. Students have also been given directions to use YouTube as a resource to learn how to use the game building programs listed on Phase 3 of the video game assignment. All approved websites are listed on the Video Game Assignment pages of the Komensky Creators website.
It is expected that the students will do each piece of their project independently or with their partners and meet all deadlines. Because our time together in school is very limited, any students missing two work deadlines will be removed from the class. Currently, all students should be testing out the game building websites and creating a test game.
Please visit our class website (komenskycreators.weebly.com) for updates and to see pictures of the kids and their hard work. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone or email.
Sincerely,
Mr. Palles
[email protected]