Would You Like To Play a Game?

Today I played 3 different games that all taught each person something different depending on the situation. There were four things that I noticed with each game that came up that both divided and united these games. The first game to my right is called Stop Disasters! I believe that the target age for this group was 12 and older because of the level of vocabulary that was used in this game and the basic use of understanding what was asked of in the game. I believe that this game was trying to teach that disasters are serious, it was teaching a real life situation/scenario, and that building a community is not cheap! I believe that this game is successful because it teaches a lot about real life and the dangerousness of disasters. However, if I were to improve on one thing it would be the prices, because the price of the homes, land, and whatnot were obviously a lot cheaper than the actual price it would be.

The game to my left, Consumer Consequences, was also a game for people 12 and older. Again, many of this having to do with not only the vocabulary, but him or her would need a good amount of information to play the game. It asks questions about the amount of energy used for your lights, bills paid, etc. Usually that isn't information that younger children have. It mainly tried to teach about cutting down on energy use, increasing "green" products, and promoting environmentally healthy lifestyles. I believe that this game is successful because it shows a person how much someone is actually taking out of the earth and they may not even know it. It brings to life that the lifestyle that person may be choosing is either good or bad. I would improve this game by giving more information on how to cut back besides a general conclusion about how much you suck at life and are killing the planet.

The name of the final game is Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in the Crescent City. This game can be played by anybody, but is most likely targeted towards ages 6-8 years as it gives basic knowledge of things that one may need during a disaster (i.e. flashlight, radio, transportation). I think that it is trying to teach little ones to not be out in the dark or in storms alone, safety and preparations for storms is vital, and that the disaster of hurricane Katrina is still affecting people to this day. I believe that this concept was successful on a lower level, but it was not as effective with the cartoons because it brings a more artificial idea to the hurricane situation and may not be taken as seriously. I would possibly add some more hurricane facts at the end of the game.

Overall, I think these games did a good job at teaching, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't use a little tweaking ;).

Is this a comic?

Today I read three comics (two of them being a complete story together) and was asked to define if these three were comics and what the definition of a comic is. To me a comic is something that tells a story with pictures, but also provides a lot of dialogue. In my opinion the comic that was used here was definitely a comic because (even though it was in a different language), there was clearly a story and it had dialogue along with it. The other selection, although it being in English, is far from something that I would define as a comic, rather, I would put it more in the category of a picture book.


photo by aussigall
Although this particular reading, did tell a story, there was not a lot (if any, that I can remember) dialogue, and was not like a classic comic in which has been reviewed in class. In my opinion, neither one had a more successful format than the other each brought something that I can say that I liked. The foreign comic was enjoyable because it was much like a classic read and had a very simple layout. The other was cool as well because not only had I not seen anything like that before, but have the picture inside of a picture added a form of movement to the story that was not actually present. In addition, by allowing the reader to press the button page by page adds a little bit of excitement to see what is next rather than the basic scrolling down of any other page. I also favored this one a little more because it made the reader try and figure out what was going to come next by looking at the picture in the middle. By having the picture zoom in definitely adds a layer of drama. However, what I did not like were the awkward scenes where the picture would be in the middle of someone’s face and/or it was not as cleverly placed in the frame (such as it acting as a picture on the wall) and caused it to look slightly awkward in the reading.

Overall, these were both good pieces of work, and I could definitely see myself reading more from these authors or using some of their styles in my own work!

Do violent video games promote aggressive behavior?

I have decided for my game research topic to study the behavioral and psychological affects that game (video, or non-video) have on people. This includes all different types of game and whether it negatively or positively affects them. Today, I have decided to zero in on violence in video games and whether or not it can cause people to become or act more violent by playing them. So far I have seen some research on games where it is not so much that violence is the "problem" that is happening, but it "where hunting down and killing people is the goal." A research on Japanese and American children were down to see how more or less exposure to playing these types of games caused aggression.

It concluded that those, both Japanese and American, had become more aggressive such as: "hitting, kicking or getting into fights with other kids." More importantly "this was true even after the researchers took into account how aggressive the children were at the beginning of the study -- a strong predictor of future bad behavior." I believe that the most important part about this was the background analysis that they had done PRIOR to them studying how the children acted. If the children were concluded to just be aggressive, and they were always aggressive, then what does that prove? 

While reading this article the main points that stuck out to me that affected these children the most or were the main reasons that caused this were because of imitation, becoming desensitized to violence, and playing video games rated "M" (mature), which obviously most of them who are playing these games, are not (and won't be until the age of 40;)).

First let's talk about imitation. Children imitate-- it's how they learn! In fact, it's how we're designed to learn for a very long time until we get older. Consider how we even learned LETTERS-- through a song-- and repetition of the song. This is simple common sense of putting the two together. If a child hears his or her parent say something, they will think it is okay and repeat it until reprimanded. If a child sees something that he or she is playing, they are going to imitate it, simple as that.

Desensitization to violence. If a child sees something over and over sooner or later it is not going to seem like a big deal after a while. Huesmann said, from the CNN article, "once you're emotionally numb to violence, it's much easier to engage in violence." Basically, if a person sees violence in a video game, they are going to applying that virtual world to real life and simply will not care just like it's unreal.

Finally, READ THE AGE LABEL! If one if rated "mature," it was named that for a reason! Mature meaning, NOT your 12 year old kid. Just like certain movies are rated to give an idea of what may or may not be appropriate, so have video games. When kids who have not fully matured see this type of behavior on these games, they begin to think that this is "normative behavior" and that's is simply the way things are. 

Now, while all of these things above do not necessarily mean that your child will grow up being a serial killer, there is clear evidence that proves otherwise. As Walsh said, "the real impact is in shaping norms, shaping attitude." If norms are not shaped properly, the virtual world will do it for them.


source: http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-03/health/healthmag.violent.video.kids_1_violent-video-video-games-game-genres/2?_s=PM:HEALTH

Straw Tower - Meaningful Play

In Game Design, we were all assigned to build the tallest straw tower that could stand for at least 3 seconds. The class was divided into multiple groups and were given a box of straws and tape. After being given this exercise we were to conclude whether or not if straw tower building is considered meaningful play or not. The word "meaningful" in the text describes it as something that is "more about the emotional and psychological experience of inhabiting a well-designed system of play" that is both "discernable and integrated." From this definition alone one can pull may reasons as to why our straw tower would be considered meaningful play. Let's start off with the "discernable" aspect of meaningful play. Discernable is defined as something in which "the game action is communicated to the player in a perceivable way." In other words, there must be a genuine GOAL. At the beginning of our tower building, Monica made it very clear that our goal was to build the tallest tower that must stand for at least three seconds. With the basic structure given to us, we were able to conclude what needed to be done and different options/obstacles to obtain this goal. The second part of meaningful play is the "integrated" aspect of the game. This means that the "relationship between action and outcome is integrated into the larger context of the game." Basically, each decision that is made throughout the process of this competition directly affects whether we would come out winning or losing. A + B = C. If we put all of the straws together + tape to hold them together = tower getting taller (and ultimately winning). Each type of "game" requires different forms or examples of what would be considered discernable or integrated, but ultimately as long as the pieces fit together into these definitions, it is, in my opinion (as supported by the book), meaningful play.

Game Research

While trying to come up with a potential research topic for gaming, there were many things that ran through my mind. Strategy, cheating, designing, skill levels, etc. However, one thing that stuck out to me specifically was human behavior. This opens up so many different things as well because human behavior can include all of those things that I wrote above as well (strategy, cheating, skill level, etc). I could write about how certain games may affect a person more negatively or more positively. If certain games promote violence more than others. If having an option to use "game cheats" on video games makes people more likely to turn into cheats/cheaters in real life or even sexual behavior as well. And, most importantly, if certain games, whether they be video or non-video games create the fantasy of being invincible and thus creating the mindset to humans that they can just hit the "restart" button in real life and get away with their actions like they do in a game. I think that this topic would be rather interesting because it opens the doors to more of the psychological aspect that takes place inside the brain during gaming and how it certain games can affect each individual or certain types of groups of people in a similar way opposed to others.

Graphic Novel Review

Today I will be reviewing two graphic novels that I recently read. I highly enjoyed both but for entirely different reasons. First, I will talk about "Brain Noodles" by Todd Cotgreave. One of the things that I liked about this story was that it had a basic story structure (beginning, middle, end), however, it was not like every other story that you would see. This story was about two college students who were out to find the answers to life using LSD. This was a pretty easy read and the creativity used in the photos showing as if you were looking through their eyes was one of my favorite parts about the story. If I were to change anything about the story I would like to have seen what the devil looked like in the car! Once the girl sees the devil, it seems like the story just kind of drops off and they don't really find any answers (which I guess in a sense, if there isn't one, is sort of an answer). But I would have really enjoyed some type of more rounded off conclusion-- but, hey, you can only have so many conclusions with LSD in the picture.

The next graphic novel I read was "Daddy Issues" by Konrad Turnball. This story was definitely a favorite with all of the twists and turns throughout the story. My absolute favorite part of the story was when the son and one of the dads that he met were talking about two different things, but they thought that they were talking about the same thing. I love when the reader has omnipotence in the story and can still be surprised-- that takes a lot of whit-- and I like whit! The only thing I did not like about the story was maybe the level of vulgarness in it. While I did not mind, I can not see everyone enjoying it to the same level as did I. It certainly takes a certain type of sense of humor to enjoy something such as this. Regardless, a good read.