"Why we play games" for non Gamers

Nicole Lazzaro president and founder of XEODesign got great reviews from people attending the Game Developers Conference (GDC):

"The most informative session at GDC. I think every designer needs to learn to 'read' this language." - Will Wright, creator of Sim City & The Sims

Therefore I am very happy that Christopher Allen was able to convince her to present her research regarding Why we play games at the May 21st Future Salon.

More details to come soon. Nicole and I are already exchanging ideas on what to cover specifically for the Future Salon. If you have any requests please bring them forward by commenting this Weblog post.

Here is her impressive biography:

Nicole Lazzaro, President and founder of XEODesign®, Inc., provides over 13 years of extensive expertise in designing Player Experiences for mass market entertainment and has consulted on games and consumer creativity products for Sony, Leap Frog, Mattel, The Learning Company, Mindscape, Broderbund, Roxio, and Maxis. She has enhanced the player experience of Sony Online's multiplayer games shows such as Jeopardy as well as pumped up the fun for more casual entertainment experiences such as Cosmopolitan Virtual Makeover 2, Mad Magazine Archive, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, Easy CD Creator, and Toast. Nicole contributed to the birth of the Bay Area Multimedia Industry by Co-Founding the Multimedia Studies Program at San Francisco State University. With over 150 classes it has trained over 9,000 students over the past 10 years. As part of this faculty she taught several classes including Interface Design and Rapid Prototyping as well as wrote the program's instructor's guide on Interface Design. As past Chapter Vice President of the IICS she also organized lectures and tripled society membership. She has spoken at several previous GDCs on the topic of Rapid Prototyping and continues give workshops and writes articles for several industry publications. Prior to founding XEODesign® in 1992 Nicole developed interactive health education games in Berkeley and was a successful consultant in New York City creating interactive media installations for Chemical Bank, IBM, the Johnson Space Center, National Geographic, and Intel. Prior to her fascination with Player Experiences and games she worked in film and earned a degree in Psychology from Stanford University.

Comments

[Play Free Games]

Great article about gaming