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A small orange cone rolls down the law slope into Cascadilla gorge

In a lecture titled Sex Differences in Video Game Play: What the industry doesn’t know about why girls don’t play first person shooters, John L. Sherry began with the 35-year age divide among gamers. Most people who play video games (gamers) are under 35 years old. The older generation generally experiences video games in a fixed, different way. Thus, dynamic new technologies are best suited for the younger generation.

Sherry gesticulates to make a point

“Games are a simulation of the real and the unreal,” said Sherry. So, by encoding education information into the framework of the world, you can use video games to teach. Even a biology textbook could, in theory, be converted into a compelling game. But first, it needs to be well understood why boys and girls react differently to different kinds of games. Girls, for example, like puzzle, quiz, and board games, while boys prefer sports, fighting, action, or FPS games. Both sexes equally enjoy racing, simulation, and mmog games.

Sherry offered four solutions to the gender-gap:

1) Ignore the differences when making a game
2) Make different games for girls and boys
3) Make everyone play games targeted at girls
4) Figure out why girls and boys play differently and use that information to design a cross-gender game

He spent a good deal of time classifying the teenage response and debunking popular myths. For example, girls and boys now spend approximately the same number of hours each day playing games, although they subjectively report their time use differently, boys playing “lots” of games, and girls playing “some” games. Also, “Violence doesn’t make [a game] any more or less interesting,” said Sherry.

When you think about the point of a game, you run into difficulty. “What do you say,” asked Sherry. “I was able to manipulate pixels so I got new pixels? Yeah!” Ultimately, he concluded that “it’s not boyness and girlness that determine who can play: it’s underlying behavioral abilities.” That means that games in the future may test players for their skills and interests before the game starts and tailor the environment specifically for their strong points.

If you’d like to hear the lecture yourself, please view this mp3 recording of it. It’s approximately 40mb.

Tonight there was a panel discussion at Noyes Community Center about the assault that occurred last Saturday on West Campus. About 30 members of the community–mostly Cornell staff and a handful of students–joined Vice President Susan Murphy, Judicial Administrator Mary Beth Grant, Dean of Students Kent Hubbell, and Captain Kathy Zoner to discuss the incident. The basic facts were reviewed, followed by a question and answer session in which questions of community, race, and campus safety dominated.

The only new information released in the discussion came from Poffenbarger’s release of certain information. Judicial Administrator Grant said, “Nathan Poffenbarger was temporarily suspended (pending a full hearing on the merits) on Feb. 18, 2006. The judicial administrator will pursue the matter in the campus judicial system after the criminal matter has been resolved.” Gwen Wilkinson, District Attorney, plans to see the case in court this summer.

Mary Beth Grant, Kent Hubbell, and Susan Murphy

When asked about the weapon used in the stabbing, Zoner refused comment, citing the current active investigation. However, a young Asian girl in the audience expressed concern over her safety without a weapon:

I can understand why some students want to carry a weapon, because things like attitude cannot be that easily changed. This is the type of crime where I am very concerned. I came from a place where I had rocks thrown at me because I’m Asian, so I come here and I realize that this is all happening again. I myself am having doubts if I should be carrying a weapon.

Other audience members commented that students have either been increasingly carrying small knives and other weapons for protection, or seriously considering it. However, CUPD representative Zoner was quick to point out that carrying any tool which could inflict damage to another person was illegal on campus.

About Holiday, Murphy indicated that he has been released from the hospital and is recovering well. His wound, which affected a lung, will take time to heal, but he is expected to “recover completely.” Murphy also promised to lead a Cornell contingent up to Union College to watch Holiday’s next play.

For more information, please feel free to download a recording in mp3 format of the forum.