Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/MIT catches Brawl fever with newest 'hack'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/10/mit-catches-brawl-fever-with-newest-hack/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/10/mit-catches-brawl-fever-with-newest-hack/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/10/mit-catches-brawl-fever-with-newest-hack/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are once again showing off their gamer cred with an on-campus prank (or "hack," as those princely nerds like to call it). This time, it's in honor of the release of Smash Bros. Brawl, a modest little Wii title that you may or may not have heard of. The "hackers" hung items and symbols from the game in Lobby 7 of their campus on launch day, including a Pokéball, crate, and Mario's cap.

We have to admit that we're a bit disappointed with the simplicity of this gaming prank. Hanging little trinkets is nothing compared to arming and helmeting a statue to resemble Master Chief. While we appreciate the thought, this prank would seem tame at a community college, much less one of the most competitive schools in America. Of course, we're willing to forgive and forget, if MIT's student body can manage to come up with something a little better. You raised the bar yourselves, ladies and gentlemen. Now here's your chance to meet it.

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]]>mitprankssmash-brossmash-bros-brawlsmashbrosssbbScott Jon Siegel2008-03-10T15:15:00+00:00The best thing you'll see today: John P. Harvard goes Halohttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/25/the-best-thing-youll-see-today-john-p-harvard-goes-halo/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/25/the-best-thing-youll-see-today-john-p-harvard-goes-halo/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/25/the-best-thing-youll-see-today-john-p-harvard-goes-halo/#commentsFiled under: ,


As you may already know, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a long history of pranking (or hacks, as they call them) both on their own campus and at other schools. Though there have been some real winners over the years, this new one, captured today by MIT newspaper The Tech, really takes the cake.

To mark the Halo 3 release, MIT students gifted the John P. Harvard statue in Harvard Yard with a Spartan helmet (with "Master Chief in Training" written on the back) and an assault rifle. All we can say is "Wow." We may not be able to talk to MIT students very long at parties without getting sleepy, but when it comes to pranks, it's clear that we all speak the same language: Nerd.

[Thanks, Brad]

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]]>halo3mitpranksJustin McElroy2007-09-25T13:00:00+00:00Scratch teaches game programming, commenting etiquettehttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/17/scratch-teaches-game-programming-commenting-etiquette/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/17/scratch-teaches-game-programming-commenting-etiquette/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/17/scratch-teaches-game-programming-commenting-etiquette/#commentsFiled under: ,


We here at Joystiq are big proponents of teaching via video games. That's why we were happy to stumble across Scratch, a super simple programming language created by researchers at MIT. Using an incredibly intuitive drag-and-drop interface, Scratch gives you all the tools you need to make simple interactive Java applets, complete with graphics and sound, without any advanced programming knowledge.

How easy is it? To find out, we put together the simple program shown above. It took about an hour, and that's without even reading the FAQ or watching the handy instructional movies. In fact, the biggest time expenditure was coming up with comments that would actually be useful and helpful to our readers. Like we said, we're big proponents of teaching via video games.

[Via The Tech Savvy Educator]

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]]>computereducationedugamingjavaMITprogrammingscratchKyle Orland2007-05-17T09:59:00+00:00Henry Jenkins has a blog (and a new book)http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/30/henry-jenkins-has-a-blog-and-a-new-book/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/30/henry-jenkins-has-a-blog-and-a-new-book/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/30/henry-jenkins-has-a-blog-and-a-new-book/#commentsFiled under:

Erudite academic and advocate for all things gaming, MIT Professor Henry Jenkins has started a blog titled "Confessions of an Aca/Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins." Now you can finally trash all those unofficial Henry Jenkins fansites from your RSS feed, cause this one's official. With only a couple gaming posts -- like this one on games as branded entertainment -- there's still plenty for the interested nerd to uncover and look forward to.

But the blog isn't supposed to be all about games, it's about his new book, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. We could try to condense what Prof. Jenkins is gonna be writing on his blog, but we'd only be doing a disservice to you, reader. So we'll just tease you into it: "Reduced to its most core elements, this book is about the relationship between three concepts - media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence ...."

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]]>AcademiaBooksHenry JenkinsHenryJenkinsMITChristopher Grant2006-06-30T09:15:00+00:00MIT prof. Henry Jenkins talks gaming, look at him gohttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/06/mit-prof-henry-jenkins-talks-gaming-look-at-him-go/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/06/mit-prof-henry-jenkins-talks-gaming-look-at-him-go/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/06/mit-prof-henry-jenkins-talks-gaming-look-at-him-go/#commentsFiled under:

GameSetWatch launches their new interview column with a bang, featuring a lengthy chat with Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies program and Full Professor of Literature at MIT ... oh yeah, and an influential advocate of gaming.

They cover divergent topics from his background in video games, to alternative reality games (ARGs), casual games, and that old staple, games as art, of which he says, "It doesn't matter whether there are games in the Museum of Modern Art. It does matter whether the best game designers are given enough room to push the limits of games as a medium ..."

You'd all be wise to read the (admittedly long but proportionally edifying) interview and get a crash course in where gaming stands in the bespectacled eyes of one of gaming's greatest and most visible proponents ... all for a lot less than a degree from MIT.

[Via Kotaku]

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]]>Henry JenkinsHenryJenkinsMITChristopher Grant2006-06-06T14:28:00+00:00