Shakespeare & Computer Games

A new arcade game named “Speare” brings Shakespeare and Old English to the computer generation. Speare uses space ships and high technology to target children who spend a great deal of time in front of the computer to introduce them to Shakespeare and build on language skills. It’s an educational game that takes advantage of online play to recapture those lost hours of escapist immersion. You collect words and phrases that allow you to build on your classical language abilities but for players it enhances the power of your ship, sophistication of your culture, and improves your score. Literacy content (words and phrases) and performance (game play) work hand-in-glove to provide an enjoyable experience that results in increased knowledge and skill sets. This is more than drill-and-practice as the educational component is weaved into the game play. An audio system allows players to hear words in use, letting them take the correct usage with them when they step away from the computer. Combining the old and the new is a sign that we’re learning to integrate game technology as opposed to showing off with it. Remember the dancing gophers on every web page? It’s nice to see that some developers are thinking beyond storage schemes for packing pixels (Oooh pretty water!). George Lucus did well to slap some rust on those droids. It made the Star Wars universe realistic and science fiction a viable form of story telling. Like the film industry, computer games will have their day.

Read more at Reuters | Read more at Canada.com
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