http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/video-game/video-game.html

I missed the premiere of the mini-series on November 21rst! There is a re-broadcast of the first episode (called Level 1) scheduled for December 14th at 8:00pm followed by a broadcast of the second episode (Level 2) at 9:00pm that same night. There are five episodes in all and they are scheduled for Wednesday nights. I'm including the episode summaries below.

Drawing matters for design in industry. Schematics, who create interactive experiences for the Xbox made a presentation at the conference I'm attending. They create some crazy, amazing interfaces for EA that demand that the creator understand space, visually. Wow!

Here is an interesting hardware challenge. I'm always looking for inexpensive tools that can get the job done. I've just heard about a computer now on sale at WalMart for $199.00 made by Everex. It comes pre-loaded with an Ubuntu flavor of Linux OS, GIMP open source pixel editing package, and Open Office productivity software. Would it be possible to get Java and Greenfoot, as well as InkScape running on one of these machines? It would be great to be able to configure a game-making machine for the price of a nice set of kicks.

More details on the Everex:

This was contributed to my by Devin Monnens. It's a link to an interview with the head of Nintendo, Iwata-san, where he discusses Miyamoto-san's definitions of "idea" and goals for "design". I'll include a snippet, but it's worth chasing the link. Shigeru Miyamoto created Donkey Kong, all of the Super Mario Titles, and all of the Legend of Zelda titles for Nintendo. Miyamoto-san has made some of the most important and the most fun videogames in history. When he speaks, game designers listen:

I just saw a commercial for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) college scholarship program. I quickly went online to find more details. You can find out more at http://www.chci.org/chciyouth/scholarship/scholarship.htm

The good news is that there is some money available. The bad news is that it offers a maximum of 4000 dollars per year. With current college tuition rates I don't think that this will cover all of the costs, even at a state college. Still, every little bit helps.