Bogost

Make-up blog post: I wanted to comment on Bogost's chapter of Habituation. This was by far my favorite chapter because it conveyed an interesting point in such a simple way. Bogost said "a game needs to be easy to learn but hard to master." This is so true for the majority of quality games we see today in GTA, Zelda Series, Pokemon, etc. The game is intended to be hard enough to become "addictive." There were many other chapters I found insightful but this was the most intriguing. I also just wanted to say thanks to Kyle and everyone in the class for making it such an interesting semester. I learned a lot into a subject I was previously very unaware of.

Bogost - The End of Gamers

In the concluding chapter of “How To Do Things With Videogames”, Bogost analyzes the future of the games industry and gamer culture. He reveals that games are becoming more and more popularized and more mainstream throughout society than ever before. He exposes how technology like the internet, television, and computers used to be something ‘special’ and exclusive and are now a part of daily life for many people. Bogost illustrates that indeed games are coming to this. They are no longer going to be something special and unique, serving a particular purpose. Games are now and will be serving many different purposes, representing many different things as they become more mainstream. He says that this will thus put an end to gamer culture, as less and less individuals will be identifying with games as their primary media diet. Now people from all different walks of life will be partaking in games. He suggests this is both a positive thing and a negative one. From my perception of the reading, Bogost wishes in a sense that games would remain more exclusive and ‘special’, but at the same time he seems to admire the fact that games are making such an impact on society and culture. In a sense, I feel the same way. I think that classic gamer culture will eventually die out, while games become a positive mainstream part of people’s daily lives.

Snapshots and The Personalization of Media

In Bogost’s chapter on snapshots, he reveals the fascinating similarity and difference between snapshot photographs from 19^th and 20^th century Kodak and today’s various game making software. When Kodak developed the snapshot beginning with the Brownie camera in 1900, it changed the way photography was used by consumers as a medium. These personal, affordable cameras made photography available to the public and introduced the snapshot – which allowed for regular people to capture the precious moments in their lives with practically no photography skills needed. Today’s game making software allows for regular people with practically no computer or gaming skills to create games and use media the same way that Kodak’s snapshots did. The fundamental difference between Kodak’s snapshot camera and today’s game making software is that game making can never be fully automated like the camera. Cameras are a mostly automated process while computers and game making require uncommon skills and programming of some sort. Snapshots personalized photography and cameras in the sense that regular people could take personal photos of moments of their lives that are significant to them, in a simple and affordable way. Today’s snapshot games and media allow personalization in multiple ways. Social media is very personalized. Some games like Sims Carnival deal with personalized topics and allow for users to interact and personalize the game itself. It is fascinating that snapshots and snapshot games aren’t simply just pictures or games but are pictures and games that can be personalized and used for a variety of different purposes.

Snapshot

When I read Bogost's chapter on Snapshots it made me really think about the idea of what a snapshot truly is. It means more than just taking a picture that gives you a "Kodak Moment", it means something that is meaningful to you even when it could mean absolutely nothing to someone else. It has sentimental value and although it could mean nothing to your friend John, it could mean a fond memory to you. The personalized levels of "Little Big Planet" tell stories from their creators and offer a inside peak into a specific part of their lives. I believe this kind of storytelling is remarkable and an extremely innovative idea that connects us as gamers on a level that otherwise, could not be established within the previous boundaries of gaming. This facilitation of personal connections throughout gaming has the potential to unite gamers from around the world on a personal level. It has the ability to show gamers the underlying unifying factors that us humans all have. This kind of connection can always appeal to people because everyone has these similar characteristics. These basic connections can be explored through expression from the players and can be interpreted from the other players who play these forms of expression. When Kyle talked about the boy who wrote about the death of his brother I realized that this is relatable to everyone. After all everyone has lost someone and that universal truth makes this story relatable, although we may never truly understand what it's like to lose someone like a brother, we can all relate to the loss of loved one. The snapshot chapter certainly got me thinking and I find it one of the most interesting things I have read in this class. I never realized how personal something in a video game could be until I read this chapter. I really enjoyed reading it and it has forever changed my perspective on "snapshots", specifically in gaming but in general as well.

Rise of the Videogame Zinesters

The games we played in class this week related quite well to Anthropy’s text “Rise of the Videogame Zinesters”. In her text, Anthropy spoke about the nature of videogames, including insight into their strengths and weaknesses. She described how videogames have strengths in story-telling abilities, especially in regards to the aspect of role-playing games. Videogames allow for player’s interactions, within the boundaries created by set rules. In describing the weaknesses associated with videogames, Anthropy points out that videogames aren’t yet very developed and progressive in their possibility spaces, plot lines, and characters because of the lack of diversity inherently brought on by many videogame creators whom often tend to be white males offering narrow perspectives. She elaborates on this topic by revealing that the ‘Big Games Industry’ adds to the problems in videogames by imposing a false sense that the knowledge needed to create games is not attainable without special institutional instruction. This makes way for ‘wannabe creators’ to be hired by big gaming corporations to be put to make games under ridiculous working conditions and long hours. Anthropy also compares and contrasts videogames to film. She describes films as media that tell static stories with no possibility for audience’s interactions, while videogames allow for audience/player interaction. A film is just a static pre-scripted story altogether, while in videogame the player can make their own story in a sense, within a given possibility space of set rules. My favorite piece from the text was when she spoke about games as culture and how games tell stories that illustrate the values of their creators in a unique way, which I believe is the most interesting and unique aspect of videogames. They let you see inside the mind of their creator, in a sense.

Rise

Today’s class was awesome! We played games that Anna Anthropy referred to as “folk games” in her book “Rise of the Videogame Zinesters”. I found the reading assigned for the book to be very interesting and the games tied in quite nicely. Anna’s argument was that videogames are still not in a mature stage yet because of the lack of diversity in its characters and plots. She says that this is due to the limited perspectives that videogames are created by because all the current videogame creators are currently white males. She gives lots of interesting facts and reasons as to why this is so, such as the loop from engineering days to modern day computer access, that make sense and gives you a whole new look at videogames. My favorite quote of the reading was how Anna describes art, she says “creation is art”. If this is so then there is no doubt that videogames are artworks and there should not be so much debate when it comes to deciding this. She also argues that with the release of new programs that make it easier for everyday people with no programming knowledge to create videogames, she hopes to see an increase in perspectives. She compares this to film and youtube, saying that not all youtube videos created by users are gems but a few will arise due to the sheer numbers of created content. I totally agree with everything Anna says in her book and find her to be very insightful. I really can’t wait to keep on reading and if the book’s class discussion involves more game playing, then it is definitely my favorite material we have covered thus far.

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Unmanned

The game unmanned was extremely appropriate for the reading this week. The game starts off with a guy who possibly is dealing with PTSD and has to balance his life between home and work. This is very similar to the magic circle and how sometimes real life permeates through the magic circle and can affect the virtual reality that is created. I thought it was interesting that in the game every response from both sides of the game affects the possibilities so greatly.  Some responses, for example, can either piss the co-worker off or have her react the way she typically would. The key to that game though is trying to figure out who this guy normally is and try to find appropriate ways to respond so that everything seems normal. When Jose hit on the co-worker, she reacted as if it’s never happened before, so therefore the characters average behavior doesn't consist of hitting on his co-worker. When you discover that you have to change the way you answer from that point on in order to win the most medals. The messages that this game tries to convey towards its players are mainly about war veterans and current soldiers. It shows their struggle for normalcy and the balance of having that normal life while also going to work and "manning" the unmanned drone. I thought it was funny that they put a video game within the game. I thought it was pretty funny that it acted as a Call of Duty clone considering the game that we were playing was an army game. Overall the game was certainly a different take on a typical army game and certainly showed me a different perspective on the whole thing.

Unmanned

Unmanned is a good game to analyze the reading we did this week. This is a man that looks like he just got back from war. Mimicry I think is one of the elements that seems most evident throughout this game. After the player realizes that the character in this game is a soldier, the player begins to play as she thinks a soldier would react to the types on situations encountered during the game. This is also a game of chance. There's not competition with other players but the choices on the sentences can change how the game turns out. For example, when I started to play the game, as I was 'driving' the car and making selections on the sentences,  I was taken to a screen where I had to guess the lyrics to a song. The things the character says also affect the outcome of the game. I also found that there was a sort of vertigo to this game. This happened in the scene where the character had to keep an eye on a target but to not shoot. I found myself wanting to shoot just like I said in class and this made me more curious about the game and the outcome of my action throughout.

Unmanned

I personally found the game Unmanned to be quite unique and unusual. It reflects the ideas of Caillois very well. His formal structures of agon, alea, mimicry and ilinx are present throughout the game. Alea and mimicry are most notably evident in multiple points throughout the game. The game runs on chance basically, as if rolling dice. Each interaction the player has with the characters is based on chance and your interactions influence whether or not you win medals in the game. Mimicry is clearly illustrated in Unmanned, as the player is given the options of responses that their character can say and follow along with. The character in the game mimics the player's responses and interactions accordingly. It was very cool how you can choose to be a soldier and literally live his day in the game, from waking up and shaving to killing terrorists and interacting with fellow soldiers as well as family members.

"Unmanned"

The game “Unmanned” was a unique game that reflects the work of Caillois perfectly. Caillois talks about how you can classify games into four different categories: agon, alea, mimicry, and ilinx. These categories do not usually define the game exclusively but more as an element of the game. In “Unmanned” I believe it uses many of the structures Caillois describes.  I found that agon was the most present of the four types because the whole game is based on competition. You want to play well in each step of the game so you can achieve a medal at the end of the round. The whole basis of the game is to win as many medals and complete the game with superiority. If you do not do well in one stage and you go to play again you will most likely try harder and use different techniques to improve your score and how competitive you are in the game. Alea is shown through the game by how it is based on how you choose to answer the questions it asks or your conversations with other characters. This is all based on chance, and the player becomes passive in affecting the outcome of the game because once you choose different responses you do not know how that will affect the game.  “Unmanned” uses mimicry by allowing the player to mimic the idea that they are a solider. Mimicry in a game allows the player to shed his or her own identity and to fully become another character in order to participate in the game world.  Lastly ilinx or the element of vertigo I find shows up in “Unmanned” as discussed in class, at the very beginning of the game where you see the avatar sleeping and you are a part of his crazy dream that makes no sense. This situation could cause slight panic or anxiety in the fact that you do not know what to do and people in the dream are attacking but you can do nothing to stop it. I thought “Unmanned” was a fun game and that it was interesting how different the play through can be from one person to another.