Student Demographics - The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game - page 203

Level 12

Student Demographics

As we saw on our last level, the first steps to designing coursework as a game are
almost exactly what we do to prepare for a traditional class. We stray only when
in the interests of knowing our audience, we determine their level of knowledge
and comfort within the world of video games. We

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ll continue our preparation by
looking in more detail at three key aspects of our possible audience: age, gender,
and income level.

Age
The case histories in this topic represent a great swath of age groups from 12 to
adults. Most of these adults are in their early twenties, although there are some
older adults as well. Let s start with younger ages (see Figure 12.1). To do that,

we will begin with an important detour.

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The Entertainment Software Rating Board describes itself as a non-profit, self-

regulatory body established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association
(ESA), formerly known as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA).
ESRB assigns computer and video game content ratings, enforces industry-
adopted advertising guidelines, and helps ensure responsible online privacy
practices for the interactive entertainment software industry.

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