The Game Journal

September 12

2006-04-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

Our discussion last week about ideological games / simulations, including September 12 very much peaked my interest. It quickly became clear to me during our discussion that having control of an underlying set of assumptions that drive a simulation can be very powerful. I can think of numerous contexts in which this ideologically-driven simulation idea could eventually be a strong force in shaping public opinion, encouraging debate, etc, or as Frasca writes "If video games are indeed persuasive tools, then they can be used for conveying passionate ideas." I spent some time playing September 12th this week and even more time exploring this idea of ideological games and the potential ramifications of this genre.

I am quite interested to think further about the specific educational theories that this may intersect with and the relevant advantages and potential risks associated with it.
September 12th is simple, straightforward and not at all cumbersome. In fact, the simplicity of the message is what is perhaps most striking. Intrigued...

GTA - trying to navigate the world

2006-03-06T11:03:00.000-08:00

So I intentionally selected GTA as a game to play because historically games in fictional worlds with a high degree of player movement have not kept my attention for too long. I seem to get frustrated easily by an extreme lack of structure.

GTA was a bit of an exception at first, especially because the suggested assistance and explanation only show up after you experience many of them first on your own. In a way it is a very "constructivist" approach - of learning by doing and then reinforcing what you have just experienced. While frustrating (and quite time consuming) at first, it has thus far created a better long-term game experience. I am now somewhat in the know on the fact that there are missions in the game and that some guidance will be provided by the game 0n ways to feel like i'm making progress

GTA - First Attempt

2006-02-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

So here goes -- the sports gamers first attempt to sort out this world of Grand Theft Auto. This whole concept was new - a world where you can explore freely with very few limiting constraints. As a lifetime sports gamer and board game player, this vacuum of rules and time constraints, etc felt really awkward at first.
GTA felt like more of a movie / storybook at first, with the background being introduced through short clips, a feature that reappears throughout the game i'm told.
i dove right in without reading the instructions really, just tried to learn by doing - it was a mixed bag. I quickly got a handle on how to ride the bike and control it, how to steal cars and drive those without knocking over too many pedestrians / light posts.
clearly there is much to discuss about this game, and i intend to spend much time exploring both the violent, gang-like subtext as well as the various play modes.
For now, it was just an initial immersion, where every once in a while i was bored, started fighting with someone or killing them for no reason at all. Then I would be sought after by the police and would spend some time trying to avoid them. I was successful at times, though it did feel a bit unstructured and uncomfortable for me to not have a specifric objective.
This will likely all change once i become familiar with the Missions that the player is supposed to complete in order to unlock more levels and eventually "master" the game.

truly, a new experience

Play Log #2 - Human vs Machine

2006-02-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

The Game Journal

As I was once again playing NCAA Football 2005 I was faced with a relatively new experience -- switching from a human opponent to a computerized opponent in the middle of a game.
While I have had numerous experiences of each separately, it doesn't happen all that often that I can directly compare the 2 with the same team, in the same game environment and against the same opponent.

some initial reactions:
-reduced motivation to win set in immediately and i was less focused when calling plays, thinking about strategy,etc against computer
-game came down to the final series and even final play at the buzzer, however lacking a human opponent significantly reduced my anxiety / excitement etc.

Play log # 1

2006-01-30T10:39:00.000-08:00

So I was comfortably at home the other night doing work on my couch when I get a call from a friend who wants some advice on how to optimize recruiting in NCAA College Football 2005 for PS2. He's only 2 blocks away as it turns out, so rather than do the responsible thing and chat on the phone for a bit and get back to my work, I get dressed, walk over and proceed to spend a number of hours in front of the screen.

I felt like a freshman in my college dorm all over again. First I spent an hour guiding my friend through the Recruiting process - a part of the game that only occurs if you make the commitment to Dynast mode, whereby you follow a college football team throughout the season, and then into the offseason. The offseason consists of activities well beyond standard game play (this is a football game after all, not a strategy game).
So we spent an hour trying to convince 25 of the top fictional high school athletes from around the country to commit to play for the Cal Berkeley Bears. A process that involves 5 weeks of making scholarship offers, allocating points to each recruit, choosing one of available selling points (location, school prestige, etc) and then anxiously awaiting the responses.

I find it interesting, that it is actually this "strategy" component of a standard sports game, which actually commands far greater interest from players like us. This is in my opinion the most compelling and rewarding part of the game , having played many dozens of games and a number of complete seasons of College Football in Dynasty mode. It serves as a realistic way to simulate the off-field responsibilities of a head football coach.

An hour later, the recruiting class was complete, one of the top 15 in the nation according to the fictional poll in the game, and we moved on to thinking about next season.

Test Post

2006-01-30T10:32:00.000-08:00

Just testing to make sure the showtime27 Game Journal is up and functional !