[OPLINTECH] Games/Teen-Focused Software & Computers

[Chris Krumnow]

Here are a few ideas...

Have you looked at the Alienware alpha? The $600 version would work for 95%
of the steam games. I don't see Deep Freeze being your issue here. Keeping
the kiddos away from the adult games shouldn't be a problem with the
windows 10 store or steam. Both have a way to set up child accounts and a
lot of great games available, especially with the potential of Xbox
anywhere. I think your problem will be game saves and account access.

As far as games are concerned, the kids are going to want whatever is
popular, all "M" rated games. Steam also has a lot of software available.
The software is a lot less expensive than adobe. There's always alternative
open source software like Gimp, Inkscape, Sketchup, and Sea Monkey. For
both games and software, why not let the kids request them? This way you
aren't spending precious resources on software that isn't used. You can
always check with the local high schools as well.

Thanks,
Chris Krumnow
IT Specialist
Defiance Public Library System
Work:419-782-1456
Cell: 419-956-2767
defiancelibrary.org


On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 11:41 AM, Jordan Cooper <jcooper at myacpl.org> wrote:

> Thanks, Sam and Chris.  Sorry for the long response time; I'm sure you
> guys know how it is to be pulled in a hundred directions at once, ha.
>
> I don't know that we have a clear mission statement, per se.  I guess our
> goal is to create a digital space that provides access to things that the
> teens wouldn't otherwise have access to, both for leisure/recreation and
> school or personal projects, whether that's because it's cost prohibitive
> for them to own it or they don't have a computer capable of running it,
> etc.  We want to have a mixture of both utilitarian software, like the
> Creative Cloud stuff, as well as a variety of games.  We're going to be
> doing standard stuff, like Minecraft and Roblox, but do want to expand on
> that.  We're trying to stay away from most of the stuff that would garner
> an M for Mature rating, but that's about where we're at.
>
> Is that helpful at all?
>
> Thanks,
>
> *Jordan Cooper*
> *Technology Associate*
> Athens County Public Libraries
> jcooper at myacpl.org
> (740) 590-1643
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 11:13 AM, Chris Krumnow <
> ckrumnow at defiancelibrary.org> wrote:
>
>> Jordan,
>>
>> What is your goal for the project? Are you trying to attract people to
>> play together at the library instead of using their rigs at home? The goal
>> of your project will effect the types of games I would suggest.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Chris Krumnow
>> IT Specialist
>> Defiance Public Library System
>> Work:419-782-1456
>> Cell: 419-956-2767
>> defiancelibrary.org
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 8:10 AM, Jordan Cooper <jcooper at myacpl.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> So I've been working on a plan to create a cluster of teen/young adult
>>> computers for one of our branches.  We're getting a handful of really nice
>>> computers, the kind that a nerdy gamer type like me is incredibly jealous
>>> of, but we're looking for ideas for games and other software that would be
>>> useful.
>>>
>>> We're trying to stay away from the ultra violent stuff like Call of
>>> Duty, etc., and I was hoping one or some of you guys might have had
>>> experience installing and maintaining something like Steam with Deep
>>> Freeze.  We're also going to install things like the Adobe Creative Suite
>>> and want to put constructive software like that on them to facilitate
>>> learning and creation/maker stuff.
>>>
>>> Do you guys have any ideas?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> *Jordan Cooper*
>>> *Technology Associate*
>>> Athens County Public Libraries
>>> jcooper at myacpl.org
>>> (740) 590-1643
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> OPLINTECH mailing list
>>> OPLINTECH at lists.oplin.org
>>> http://lists.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/oplintech
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.oplin.org/pipermail/oplintech/attachments/20160825/b4d4f163/attachment.html>