Since this is my first column for Gamer Andy and most of you only know me from the forums, I thought I would impart a little of my philosophy of all things digital so that you can see where I get my unique, and sometimes skewed, perspective.

As the title of my column suggests, I’m enthralled by the mental image of the world as a huge digital sandbox, an enormous expanse of possibility that we are only beginning to discover and play in.

About 7 years ago, I chose my own quiet little corner to quietly build castles in the form of my own little websites and sat back to watch the goings on around me. I slowly began digging deeper, learning all that I could as I went, and whenever I found a new or better way to do something, I tried to share the wealth with as many people around me as I can. When I began teaching computers in an elementary school 4 years ago, my teaching philosophy was based on empowerment. Teach them to fish and they will eat for life and all that.  

Hmm, maybe it’s time to tell you that I like to use extended metaphors in my writing? 

Occasionally, I look around at what everyone else is doing but I pretty much don’t bother sticking my nose into anyone else’s business. I’m content in a digital world of my own construction, a utopian democracy in which every player has an equal voice, where the citizens live in relative harmony and my ideas have as much weight as the next guys.  Naïve? Maybe, but I can dream, can’t I?

Like any other sandbox, the smooth sparkling areas of promise are pockmarked with muddiness and the occasional ‘treasure’ left behind by mischievous stray cats. This, of course, is the nature of the beast. Give all people freedom and some will abuse it. 

I don’t worry about it as much as I used to and I would never suggest that any of our digital freedoms be taken away. I do believe that, as we become more information literate, we will be able to better avoid the pitfalls of ignorance (another branch of my teaching philosophy … teach them to evaluate and they won’t gobble up misinformation).
 
I originally found Gamer Andy’s while studying the evolution of Instructional Technology for a class last semester. I was writing a research paper entitled “Gender Inequity in the Digital Sandbox: Where the girls aren’t”. Sounds fascinating, yes? Since this paper was inspired by my anger at the lack of good positive (clothed) female videogame role models for my pre-teen daughter, I began my research with a basic question: “Why aren’t there better games for girls to play?”

As my research went on, it led me to the natural follow up questions (or natural for me, anyway) of “Why aren’t there more female game programmers?” and “What can we do to help girls get into the computer sciences?” I concluded that paper with the idea that empowering girls by showing them that computer programming is simply a language and fostering their natural language skills was one way to turn them into little digital divas.

After thinking on this for a few months, long after I had turned in my paper, I was beginning to feel pretty hopeless. I mean, really, how could I, an elementary school teacher, really make a difference? I could rant and rail and complain all I wanted but unless I could inspire one of my students to  become an innovative designer like Wil Wright or Keita Takahashi, there’s really not much that I could actually do. And that’s just not likely to happen.

One thing I could do, and what I would really love to do, is to learn more about programming so that I can somehow become a positive force in the gaming industry. What an amorphous goal, hunh? At this stage of my life, there is about as much a chance of that happening as Jack Thompson saying that it’s the availability of guns or, God forbid, lack of parent responsibility, and not violent video games, that lead to school shootings.

What bothers me most about industry right now is the fact that I can stand in front of an entire wall of video games, with money to spend, and not find one single thing that is really going to give me that feeling that Katamari Damacy did, and still does. It all boils down to “Why is it so hard to find good, innovative games that everyone can enjoy?”

I do have more hope for the gaming industry since coming to Gamer Andy’s than I have had in a long time. I attribute that to the people here, the gamers that really put their heart into their gaming experience, the ones that look beyond the hype and seek out new, relevant information about the industry they love and are determined to share it with the rest of the gaming world.

Over the past month or so, I’ve realized that it’s not up to the programmers to start a revolution, it’s up to us, the gamers. We need to show the industry that we appreciate the efforts of companies like Namco and Bethesda and, yes, Nintendo for trying so hard to push the envelope.  It’s time for the big boys (are you listening, Microsoft?) to take a few risks for the simple joy of gaming. It’s time to get that feeling of wonder and possibility back every time we pick up a controller.

That is what I’ll be on the lookout for, people. Games that I can enjoy right along side my kids. Games that slip under the media radar. Games that even Hillary Clinton could enjoy playing. For the most part, most will be E or T rated so if you have kids, or you are a big kid yourself, you’ll like these.

I’ll also be talking about my favorite games that offer unique stories and groundbreaking graphics. Games that are both fun and beautiful and that truly push the medium’s envelope. Games that make us eager to get back into the sandbox. It’s time for us to feel as though we are creating something amazing again.


In the next Digital Sandbox … a parent’s take on the ESRB!