Virtual Community Interactive Games

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What is the future of interactive edutainment games based on what we have been experiencing on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Skype, iTunes, and other community-based Internet websites?

In 1996, I first coined the phrase “Virtual Community Interactive (VCI)” for a new genre of games and interactive entertainment. Today in 2009, I would like to present an updated version of VCI as follows.

Introduction

“Virtual Community Interactive (VCI),” a new dimension between utopia and total chaos where reality and imaginations meet, offers groundbreaking escapades that are both entertaining and educational. Mindless arcade-type computer games and boring educational software are becoming a thing of the past. Combining storybooks, role-playing games, expert systems, and the Internet, VCI takes us into the new dimension by offering the players not only a thrilling experience in the virtual world but also newfound knowledge and enthusiasm for the real world.

Virtual communities, villages, and worlds – the background

“Alexandria/Pineville Virtual Community” is an Internet site that provides information about the Central Louisiana area for both visitors and residents. “Virtual Village” is a regional information access network for San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara counties in California offering free access to local information resources. “The Blacksburg Electronic Village” is the community network for Blacksburg, Virginia. It is managed as an outreach effort of Virginia Tech, and the Blacksburg Electronic Village group at the university provides a wide range of free and fee-based services to other communities worldwide.

On the other hand, MUDs (Multi-User Dungeon) have created numerous virtual worlds based on Star Trek and other make-believe universe. Users explore a virtual world in real-time by interacting with other inhabitants and fabricated objects. A popular MUD derivative known as LambdaMOO (MUD Object Oriented) has developed its own governmental system where the populace may vote on proposed referendums. The Sims, Second Life, and the like offer the players a chance to create their own personas and virtual reality. Informational Internet sites and Internet MUDs signify the rapid emergence of global online communities that transcend nationality, race, color, sex, age, and geography.

Virtual Community Interactive (VCI) – the concept

First, VCI is a make-believe semi-virtual world bridging the real world and the virtual world. The liveliness of VCI is attributed to authentic expert systems, digitized cinematic footage, and strong storylines. Second, VCI is a community of like-minded and diverse players. Players assume various roles such as doctors, lawyers, and FBI agents in this virtual community. A series of VCI-compliant game titles provides the breathtaking scenarios for the role-playing games. Third, VCI is an interactive environment. Players not only interact with the software but also with each other via the Internet to exchange ideas, gather information, and jointly develop the community.

A new genre of interactive entertainment

Mindless arcade-type computer games have limited values and boring educational software has limited success with children. On the contrary, a new genre of interactive entertainment combines storybooks, role-playing games, expert systems, and the Internet in an innovative manner to create the next generation edutainment:

a)      Storybooks. Like good movies, storybooks with exceptional contents will continue to flourish. Digitized cinematic footage, original CD sound tracks, and a virtual time clock (the clock is ticking whenever the game is running) add a dimension of liveliness to a story. Equally important, a strong story-line glues together role-playing games like a jigsaw puzzle.

b)      Role-playing games. Role-playing encourages creativity and allows the players to express themselves in an alternative reality. But even in a virtual world, a game must follow some rules or constraints to make it worthwhile to play. Expert systems offer the players the necessary knowledge or hints in problem-solving.

c)      Expert systems. An entertaining game can also be educational. In a role-playing game, the players encounter challenging obstacles when they attempt to advance to the next chapter in a story. With built-in expert systems, the players can seek real-life expert advice in solving the problems at hand. Many players will wish to share their success stories or lend a hand to others in the virtual community on the Internet.

d)      The Internet. The VCI web server is the backbone of the virtual community. A VCI-compliant software title offers these capabilities:

- The players connect to the VCI server by a simple click on a hotspot button.

- The server automatically collects information from the software titles about game progress and builds up fictitious personal profiles.

- The players can chat with each other online.

- The players can request for a list of reputable or experienced players from the fictitious personal profiles and ask for assistance. For instance, a virtual doctor facing a lawsuit may seek advice from a virtual lawyer in the virtual community.

- Expert knowledge can propagate from one player of a software title to another player of a different software title. For example, a virtual lawyer in the virtual community transmits to a virtual doctor a document detailing a court case relevant to the virtual doctor’s current predicament.

- The players can post questions to our real-life experts such as a recommended list of readings on a special topic.

The target audiences

One large target audience for the VCI-compliant software titles is 10+ year olds whose cognitive thought, according to Swiss child psychologist Jean Piaget, has reached maturity. They also possess active imaginations and many pretend to be doctors, firefighters, FBI agents, or the knights of the Round Table, to name a few. Contrary to most arcade-type computer games that are waste of time and most educational software that are uninteresting to kids, VCI games are the more desirable form of edutainment.

While Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story, and similar indispensable software titles continue to cater to younger kids, VCI games aim for a wider range of audiences including teenagers, college students, and mature adults who need a temporary escape from all the encumbrances in the real world. In VCI, a person can be her best in brand new roles in a virtual community. In playing the VCI games, she is empowered with newfound knowledge to solve interesting problems. Although the game scenarios are fictitious, some of the newfound knowledge may turn out to be useful in her real life. In the next segment, I will illustrate the VCI concept with an example virtual community interactive game.

Links to explore:

http://www.bev.net/

http://thesims.ea.com/

http://secondlife.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_community

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LambdaMOO

About the Author

Newton Lee

Newton Lee is the founding director of the NUS Hollywood Lab for interactive and digital media research and technology commercialization, with computer pioneers Dr. Alan Kay, Dr. Danny Hillis, and Mr. Bran Ferren as the key advisors. He is the founding editor-in-chief of ACM Computers in Entertainment, a nonprofit educational publication to promote research and development in all aspects of entertainment technology.