Tuesday, November 30, 2010

"Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom" in the classroom!




"If there's one word I would use to describe Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, it would be "delightful." From beginning to end, Majin is a game designed from the ground up to make you smile, and in that respect, it is a magnificent success. A charming and compelling experience, if any game this year could be considered heartfelt and genuine, then this would be it."

Jim Sterling (DestrucToid)

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom has just hit stores in Europe, the 26th November 2010. It is the kind of game that you will love at first sight

In a effort to reach a wider audience, Namco Bandai bet in height (8) languages including Portuguese. So, it's available in the native languages of a maximum number of people.

Wow!! Finally Portuguese language!! It's good to have the text and the voices in the native language!




Some screens of Namco Bandai's charming new adventure game, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom. A good Narrative text for sure! And the music! Fantastic!

Let's visit the official website that describes this fantasious game!


Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom (screenshot)


With a charming atmospheric look and with what seems like an endearing and heartwarming story as opposed to a bleak and depressing one, Majin has potential to be a terrific game. 

It's a PS3 and Xbox 360 game and is available on Amazon.



Synopsis:

A kingdom has been overtaken by a substance known only as the Darkness, which envelops living beings and turns them into mindless, nigh invincible soldiers of evil. Tepeu, a young thief who can talk to animals, steals his way into this kingdom to protect his own home from decay. 

Once in the kingdom, he discovers an ancient power that has been hidden away by the Darkness, a creature known as the Majin. Together, Tepeu and the Majin must work together in order to destroy evil, rescue the kingdom, and get the girl. 

Oh, don't miss the telling story on the website. Students will love it!




The game caught my eye today with a really promising trailer, seeming to hint at a game with all the aesthetic need to gaming in school.

The screens continue this theme, with some really pretty looking backdrops and unique character designs. I think this has potential to be a cult classic, if the gameplay is as good as the visual style. 

For Portuguese students or Portuguese foreign language, don't miss the Portuguese trailer below:





This new game was released very recently. If, like me, you somehow managed to not hear about this game until today, do check it out! . It's hard not to fall in love with this beast, and I'm already drawn into the journey the game's two characters will share.

Just love it! It's so charming!  Majin, a towering beast that forges a strange friendship with a thief, Tepeu. The two characters balance each other surprisingly well, with Tepeu's cunning and speed matched by the Majin's adorable dimwittedness and hulking force.




So well! Here we are again! Games in the school! 

Ok! Do you remember Prince of Persia, no doubt! The narrative seems very similar. So, let's include some activities and enjoy a different course.  

In the classroom, begin to let students, on theirs smartphones, visit the official website "Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom" on the internet, and discover the story, the features and media.


Don't forget to get the mission on the Facebook info.  


Context:

A. Cross curricula: native language, foreign language, design, music
B. Values: cooperation, collaboration, equality, inclusion, loyalty
C. Target school group - secondary school

Some activites: 

Teaching and learning different languages (choose the languages between English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Dutch and of course Portuguese)

1. Languages courses:
1.1. Listening & comparing the translation into Portuguese or another language;
2. The Narrative text (structure);
3. Civic values: cooperation, friendship, equaliy, inclusion;
4. Grammar; vocalulary;
5. Translation exercises;
6. The creation of different characters in the design course;
7. Listen and comprehending the music composition in the music course.


The music of "Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom" was written by "fairy tale world" music specialist Sahashi Toshihiko, who has also composed music for Tokio's Disneyland. 


Share with your students the videos music behind the game here 


Be yourself creative and share some other activities with us!


Good practices!

G-Souto
30.11.10
Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®




References:


Gina Souto, Prince of Persia: an interesting narrative text, June 16, 2010
http://gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com


Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom
http://majin.namcobandaigames.com


Jim Sterling, DestrucToid
http://destructoid.com


Gameover/Sapo
http://gameover.sapo.pt



Sunday, November 28, 2010

A day in the day of the days






Noiserv is a project that appeared in 2005 when David Santos decided to join all the material that he had achieved for a long time and turned it into something real and serious. 

After that David had played in Portugal's most important alternative scene venues and quickly had become well-known in Portuguese media and audience.

Finally on October 13, 2008, the singer-songwriter had self-release is debut full-length record called "One Hundred Miles from Thoughtlessness", which was considered as one of the best 2008 Portuguese records. 

On November the record starts to be distributed in Tokyo (Japan) with Preco records, in Manchester (UK) with Piccadilly records and also in several stores around europe. 

On April 2009 was released the first noiserv single 7” in Autumn Ferment Records, U.K., with one song of "One Hundred Miles from Thoughtlessness" - "Bullets on Parade".

In July Noiserv released the last EP called "A day in the day of the days"... a soundtrack for a day in our life... 




Well, in a sunday day in the day of days... I pick "Mr. Carousel" for a sunny break, returning from cold Brussels, after "Media & Learning Conference".


G-Souto
28.11.10
Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Monday, November 22, 2010

Under Siege -1st Portuguese game for PSN3






Under Siege/screenshot

Se tudo correr como previsto, Under Siege estará disponível na PSN em Dezembro. O preço será de 14,99 euros.

Este RTS é da responsabilidade da produtora portuguesa Seed Studios.

Salienta-se a compatibilidade com o Move, a inclusão de um editor e a integração com o YouTube e as redes sociais.


Under Siege is the first Portuguese game for PlayStation 3-exclusive real-time strategy (RTS) game. Under Siege is from the Portuguese Seed Studios It's possible that Under Siege would be available on PSN in December for 14,99 Euros.


Expected the compatibility with the Move, the inclusion of an editor and the integration on Youtube and social networks.


The screenshots of the game look quite gorgeous already which is always a good sign don't you think?
Oh! The in-game Editor enables players to create their own maps and share them with the world.


Kari

Kari is her name! She's strong and determined. She's the daughter of the leader of a small village on the edge of the Citadel's territory. Read more

Are you curious about the story? Well, you can read it here.

And for now, view the intro of Under Siege below





“Under Siege features an original world, unique gameplay elements and a control scheme designed with a console controller in mind,”- “We are also working on implementing a large number of multiplayer and community features with special emphasis on user generated content.”


Mr. Ribeiro (Seed Studios)

Oh! Don't miss the "Under Siege" on Facebook or Twitter




G-Souto
22.11.10
Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

References:

Game over/Sapo

Under Siege official website


Saturday, November 20, 2010

Perfect Gwyneth Paltrow!





Gwyneth Paltrow sings the theme of Country Strong (2010) at  CMA Awards 2010 last 10 November. Just gorgeous isn't she?!

G-Souto
21.11.10
Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

(because it's saturday and I love music) 

Friday, November 19, 2010

Put your hands up for Moodle

These Taylor University students are pretty adamant on convincing their faculty to make a switch to Moodle from Blackboard.  
They list a few negative characteristics of Blackboard and tout their perceived ease of use when accessing Moodle courses, resources and grades.  Then they put it all to music and auto-tuned it.
It’s pretty brilliant, I especially enjoyed that they were able to rhyme “permalink” in the song.
Joseph Thibault



G-Souto
19.11.10
Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

References:

Moodle News

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A new way to teach Biology?



Photo: Robert A. Lue

 An image from the video “Powering the Cell:Mitochondria.”


Animated images depicting how cells internalize molecules on the cell surface. 





It can play a significant part in education. The Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson is leading a project to develop the next generation of digital biology textbook that will integrate complex visualizations as a core part of the curriculum. 
Called “Life on Earth,” the project will include visualizations from Mr. Berry and is being overseen by Dr. McGill, who believes it could change how students learn biology. Read more...
“I think visualization is going to be the key to the future,” 
Dr. McGill

And what do you think? 


G-Souto
17.11.10
Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

References:

New York Times/Science


Monday, November 15, 2010

It's a Book!







Can we resist this video? Impossible! Such a cute motivation to have our students immersed in books. 


Why not to show it in the Literature classroom?! You will see the good results!


G-Souto
15.11.10
Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Jane Moinhet "Home"




http://www.cduniverse.com

She may not look like it, but singer Jane Monheit is truly an old soul. 

Lee Mergner

Jazz vocalist Jane Monheit celebrates the tenth anniversary of her remarkable recording career with her most mature, heartfelt album yet, Home, a collection of standards that represents a passionate return to her roots as a jazz musician. 





Home finds jazz vocalist Jane Monheit celebrating the golden age of the jazz standard. The first album Monheit has produced for herself, 2010's Home finds the lauded singer performing a variety of classic American popular song standards. Included are guest appearances by such notable jazz musicians as guitarist John Pizzarelli, trumpeter Joe Magnarelli, violinist Mark O'Connor, and others.


“This is a project I’ve been thinking of for a long time...an album of songs and a group of musicians that are deeply important to me. There was no need to discuss what should or should not be included, or who should play....this is clearly me, from the heart. My relationships to these songs and my love for the people playing them make this album what it is.”

Jane Monheit


G-Souto
13.11.10
Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

(in a rainning saturday evening, wonderful sound)

References:

JazzTimes Magazine

Amazon.com


The Engage Quality Awards 2010



http://www.engagelearning.eu

The ENGAGE Quality Awards recognise excellent contributions from teachers, educational practitioners, game developers and producers to the quality of game-based learning. The aim of the awards is to make the quality issues related to games and learning process by using GBL a visible topic and to increase the awareness amongst learning organizations, schools, teachers, learners, educators and practitioners, industries, and players about the educational potential of GBL.
The Engage Quality Awards will be granted in three categories:
Best Practice Award
Learning games Quality Award
Games inclusion Award
The deadline for submissions to the "ENGAGE Quality Awards" has been extended until 15th November 2010. For further information, read here




Computer games are beginning to break out from their console and entertainment world, and finding more constructive applications in the worlds of business and education. 

Using video games to supplement and inspire in-classroom education is more and more used for pilot teachers who try out new school models. 


Pilot teachers are finding ways to use video games to enrich and inspire interest by students in core curriculum topics.


Be a pilot teacher! 



"We have been consistently impressed and surprised at how leading  educationalists  have been adapting off the shelf video games to engage their students in rich leaning experiences“.

David Yarnton, 2010, Nintendo UK



G-Souto
10.11.10

Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

References:

EuroNews