Jane McGonigal
Encyclopedia
Jane McGonigal, Ph.D. is a game designer, games researcher
, and author, specializing in pervasive gaming and alternate reality game
s (ARGs).
McGonigal writes and speaks about alternate reality games and massively multiplayer online gaming
, especially about the way that collective intelligence
can be generated and utilized as a means for improving the quality of human life
or working towards the solution of social ills. She has stated that gaming should be moving "towards Nobel Prize
s." McGonigal has been called "the current public face of gamification
".
She has taught game design and game theory
at the San Francisco Art Institute
and the University of California, Berkeley and she currently serves as the Director of Game Research & Development at Institute for the Future
. In 2006, she was named to the MIT
Technology Review
TR35
as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35.
Additionally, she has collaborated on commissioned games for the Whitney Museum of American Art
and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
.
and alternate reality games but also at games more widely. Using current research from the positive psychology
movement, McGonigal argues that games contribute powerfully to human happiness
and motivation
, a sense of meaning, and the development of community.
The book was met with a favorable reception from The Los Angeles Times
, and Wired
, and mixed reviews from the New York Times Book Review and The Independent
. The book received criticism from some quarters, notably the Wall Street Journal.
in English from Fordham University
, and her PhD
in Performance Studies
from the University of California, Berkeley
, in August 2006.
Game studies
Game studies or the new modern term "gaming theory" is the discipline of studying games, their design, players, and their role in society and culture more broadly...
, and author, specializing in pervasive gaming and alternate reality game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
s (ARGs).
McGonigal writes and speaks about alternate reality games and massively multiplayer online gaming
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
, especially about the way that collective intelligence
Collective intelligence
Collective intelligence is a shared or group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making in bacteria, animals, humans and computer networks....
can be generated and utilized as a means for improving the quality of human life
Quality of life
The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...
or working towards the solution of social ills. She has stated that gaming should be moving "towards Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
s." McGonigal has been called "the current public face of gamification
Gamification
Gamification is the use of game design techniques and mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences. Typically gamification applies to non-game applications and processes , in order to encourage people to adopt them...
".
She has taught game design and game theory
Game studies
Game studies or the new modern term "gaming theory" is the discipline of studying games, their design, players, and their role in society and culture more broadly...
at the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
and the University of California, Berkeley and she currently serves as the Director of Game Research & Development at Institute for the Future
Institute for the Future
The Institute for the Future is a Palo Alto, California–based think tank established in 1968, as a spin-off from the RAND Corporation, to help organizations plan for the long-term future....
. In 2006, she was named to the MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
Technology Review
Technology Review
Technology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey...
TR35
TR35
The TR35 is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.Some of the most famous winners of the award include Larry Page and Sergey Brin , Linus Torvalds , Jerry Yang , Jonathan Ive , Mark Zuckerberg...
as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35.
Games
| Year | Title | Organization | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Find the Future: The Game | New York Public Library New York Public Library The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries... |
Director |
| 2010 | Evoke | World Bank Institute World Bank Institute The World Bank Institute is the capacity development branch of the World Bank. It provides learning programs, policy advice and technical assistance to policy makers, government and non-government agencies and development practitioners of developing countries... |
Creator |
| 2009 | Cryptozoo | American Heart Association American Heart Association The American Heart Association is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas... |
Director |
| 2008 | Superstruct | Institute for the Future Institute for the Future The Institute for the Future is a Palo Alto, California–based think tank established in 1968, as a spin-off from the RAND Corporation, to help organizations plan for the long-term future.... |
Director |
| 2008 | The Lost Ring The Lost Ring The Lost Ring was an alternate reality game initiated by McDonald's, as part of their marketing for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. A co-production between McDonald's, AKQA, and Jane McGonigal, the game was notable for its global scope: taking place across six continents, in seven... |
McDonald's McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948... and The Lost Sport |
Director |
| 2007 | World Without Oil World Without Oil World Without Oil is an alternate reality game created to call attention to, spark dialogue about, plan for and engineer solutions to a possible near-future global oil shortage, post peak oil... |
ITVS Interactive | Participation architect w/ Ken Eklund |
| 2006 | Cruel 2 B Kind | Concept and design w/ Ian Bogost Ian Bogost Ian Bogost is a video game designer, critic and researcher. He is a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a founding partner at Persuasive Games... |
|
| 2005 | Last Call Poker | 42 Entertainment 42 Entertainment 42 Entertainment is an American company based in Pasadena which specializes in creating and producing alternate reality games . The company was founded in 2003 as an independently-owned, creative content and interactive agency under the name 4orty 2wo Entertainment. The company started with a... |
Live Events Lead |
| 2005 | PlaceStorming | ||
| 2004 | I Love Bees | 42 Entertainment 42 Entertainment 42 Entertainment is an American company based in Pasadena which specializes in creating and producing alternate reality games . The company was founded in 2003 as an independently-owned, creative content and interactive agency under the name 4orty 2wo Entertainment. The company started with a... |
Community Lead/Puzzle Designer |
| 2004 | Demonstrate | ||
| 2004 | TeleTwister |
Additionally, she has collaborated on commissioned games for the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
.
Writings
On January 20, 2011, McGonigal's first book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make us Better and How they Can Change the World, was published. In this book, McGonigal looks not only at massively multiplayer online gamingMassively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
and alternate reality games but also at games more widely. Using current research from the positive psychology
Positive psychology
Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology whose purpose was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in...
movement, McGonigal argues that games contribute powerfully to human happiness
Happiness
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
and motivation
Motivation
Motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...
, a sense of meaning, and the development of community.
The book was met with a favorable reception from The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, and Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, and mixed reviews from the New York Times Book Review and The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
. The book received criticism from some quarters, notably the Wall Street Journal.
Recognition
| Date | Award | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Named in O: The Oprah Magazine "2010 O Power List" | Named in O: The Oprah Magazine as one of twenty important women of 2010 on the "2010 O Power List" |
| 2008 | Named one of the Top 20 Most Important Women in videogaming | |
| 2008 | South by Southwest Interactive Award for Activism | Awarded for World Without Oil World Without Oil World Without Oil is an alternate reality game created to call attention to, spark dialogue about, plan for and engineer solutions to a possible near-future global oil shortage, post peak oil... |
| 2006 | Listed on MIT Technology Review Technology Review Technology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey... 's TR100 |
Named one of the world's top innovators under the age of 35 by MIT's Technology Review Technology Review Technology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey... . |
| 2005 | 2005 Innovation Award from the International Game Developers Association International Game Developers Association International Game Developers Association is the professional society for over 10,000 video and computer game developers worldwide.It is incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization.... and a 2005 Games-related Webby Award. |
For I Love Bees, the Halo 2 Halo 2 Halo 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios. Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004, the game is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved... promotion. |
Education
She received her BABachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English from Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
, and her PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Performance Studies
Performance Studies
Performance studies have been growing as an academic field since the 1960s. Performance studies believe in the social act of Doing as it takes performance itself as the object of inquiry.The process of defining it becomes a practice in performance studies itself...
from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, in August 2006.
External links
- Jane McGonigal - you found me. Jane McGonigal's Official site.
- TED Talk: Gaming can make a better world (2010)
- IT Conversations: Interview on Alternate Reality Gaming (2007)
- Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, ISBN 1594202850, 2011.