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August 19, 2008, 11:17 AM ET
Professor Creates Video Game About the Lecture Circuit
When a major video-game company created a new Web site that lets visitors create their own simple games online, it invited Ian S. Bogost, an assistant professor of literature, communication, and culture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, to be one of the first to try it out. So Mr. Bogost, who is known for his work creating video games that address social issues, made one about lecturing.
The goal of the game, called Honorarium, is to assemble lectures by moving Tetris-like shapes onto a screen at the front of a lecture hall. Successful players win virtual invitations to travel and speak at other institutions.
“It’s subtle, and autobiographical,” wrote Mr. Bogost on his blog, “and its themes include work, colleagues, family, distraction, longing, goals, and regret.”
Mr. Bogost noted that many people creating games on the site — which is run by Electronic Arts, the same company that makes the popular game The Sims — are using it for personal expression rather than to create the next classic video game. One game posted there, for instance, is about a teenage girl sharing her crush on a celebrity. It’s called IM ,kissing JOe JOnas! —Jeffrey R. Young
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