Game designed to help combat culture shock

Written by Joe Martin

May 1, 2007 | 17:05

Tags: #arrest #big #culture #education #law #richard #shock #student #teaching #university

Companies: #bbc #game #india #uk

A computer game has been designed to help international students get to grips with British culture, the BBC reports.

The game is set in a 3D re-creation of the University of Portsmouth and gives players the task of getting through a day at the University while being exposed to some things that foreign students may not be used to. These include seeing women drinking and smoking and couples kissing in public.

One of the game's designers, senior lecturer Nipan Maniar, said that he too suffered from 'massive culture shock' when he first moved to England from India seven years ago.

"It was not just the environment I was in, but the teaching -- the relationship with tutors was very informal... So we thought we could devise a game that they could play on their mobile phones on the way here so they would know what to expect -- so they don't get so much of a culture shock."

A version of the mobile game, which has been received very well by students, is planned to help British students also. It is now in its final development stages and Maniar is hoping a commercial sponsor will step forward to help take the game the final mile.

The culture differences between India and the UK were outlined recently when an arrest warrant was issued for Richard Gere after he publicly kissed Shilpa Shetty, the Bollywood star who appeared in the recent Celebrity Big Brother.

Glad that games are increasingly finding a home in education, or think that the two should be kept seperate? Let us know in the forums.
Discuss this in the forums
YouTube logo
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review

October 14 2021 | 15:04

TOP STORIES

SUGGESTED FOR YOU