Kat's blog

just in case anyone is on here, this is INSANE!!!! there are like 6 or more (6 is how far ive gotten so far) but really, is this nececcary?

http://www.wegame.com/watch/I_wanna_be_the_guy_pt_1/

YAY i finished the game!!!!!

when reading Cathy's book, i didn't really notice the adverts that were a source of controversy in the articles we read. apart from naming specific colors, most of the advertising in the book seemed necessary. just like in many movies and videogames, some advertising is necessary. if a character is walking in Times square, i would hope to see real advertisement on the billboards. the advertisement adds to the level of immersion in the game (just like Zach said about the advertisements in football video games, like madden). however, when advertisement is either unnecessary or way too obvious, this level of immersion backfires. when either an actor or an avatar breaks story in order to advertise something, immersion is completely broken. for instance, in "Transformers", the advertisement for Chevy was ridiculous. every scene seemed geared on advertising either a Chevy car or a Chevy truck. An example that has both necessary and unnecessary advertisement is "Guitar Hero". the advertise3ment for Fender and Gibson Guitars is everywhere, however, it is a necessary advert. the unnecessary adverts are those for "Amp" and "Mountain Dew" drinks.  read more »

After reading Nikki_00's blog "going beyond internal interactivity", I couldn't help being reminded of almost every game on the Game Boy Advanced (GBA). In the GBA, when you start up, it is extremely easy to change the date/time, since you normally start in the main menu (this can be changed by the users preference, but it can still be easily accessed). With most of the games running time-based, it seems really easy to cheat. For instance, in "The Sims 2" (I don’t recommend playing it), you run a hotel and there are certain things you can only do once a day, and the rest of your time is spent cleaning (I Really don’t recommend playing it). Well, if you are like me and want your money ASAP, you may be tempted to well, "Time travel" as it’s called, by pushing the GBA's date forward one day. In doing this, 90% of the time, some sort of consequence happens (i've had times where the consequences didn’t happen, I’m not sure why). In "the sims 2", the bus boy calls you a cheater, and an alien invasion comes and you have to get rid of them (which is Very annoying), and you cant do what you wanted to do in the first place; collect your money.  read more »

Galatea for me took quite a while to get used to. i had to click on the different links below the game screen to try to understand, first of all, what to say. you couldn't really walk around, or else you would just end the game. the only things you could do were "Read _______", touch _____", "ask ____ about ______", or "tell ____ about ______", making it more of a conversation than a game. On top of the awkward game play, if you say the wrong thing, the game just ends. for instance, if you ask Galatea about sex, the game just ends. i didn't get very far in the game, since i was impatient and couldn't think of anything else to ask. every time i tried to ask or tell Galatea something, the game never really let me ask it and it never got me anywhere. Galatea never had a clear cut path to getting to the end or even furthering the plot, whereas in other games, such as doom, a definite path allows the player to get to the end.  read more »

Adventure was quite an experience for me. having never played a text based game, it was very different from what i have experienced in the past and present. it was surprisingly fun. having the story played out in my head was like reading a novel that literally puts you in the middle of it. needless to say, it wasn't an eassy game. however, although it lacks a basic story line (a basestory line found in most adventure style games found today), it, to me, is considered a story. being an existent in my own mind and making my own movements and actions literally made me in control of the entire story. the search for treasure isn't the first thing you find out about, and to be honest, it took me about ten minutes to find out where the heck to go.  read more »

As I was playing my Xbox 360 this week, i began thinking "when did video games become male-dominated?". Between graphics in the games, westernized views of beauty and even the Ability to play female characters, the whole concept confuses me. Video games started as a sexless idea- the documentary even said it was part of women's liberation- the first thing a woman could actually beat a man in an equal playing field. But it seems that when characters were introduced, the male became the center of the gaming world. Could male dominance stemmed from women's unwillingness to play the games, or just from men trying to repress women again?  read more »

As i was reading the Metapictures chapter about picture theory, i was reminded of the painting classes i had taken in Community college and of the difficulties artists have in creating their artwork. the author of the chapter was telling his interpretations and the interpretations of others about a comic of the Egyptian art class, when i was reminded of my past experiences in art. the difficulty faced by most artists is trying to find a subject matter that is not cliche and that can be interpreted as what you truly mean. now, this may not seem difficult, but believe me it is. it is near impossible for an artist to get their point across, and only their point. if you ask anyone their opinion on a piece of work they will take their own interpretation of the work (this is why it is best never to show anyone any art work that has any particular meaning to you- the first lesson in painting) the interpretations reminded me of how difficult it actually is to send your message across only using art. i say art because even literature is up to interpretation.  read more »

so, weve all seen the animator vs. animation (AvA for short in this) in class, but, whilst searching on the internet,i stumbled upon another of the AvA series: animator vs. Animation 2 (apparantly there is a 3, but they were all removed from youtube...its a mystery why). the "victim" in this is named instead, "The Chosen One" (cue evil music). this story, however, is much more in depth than its counter part. the chosen one in this animation in fact does battle with the mozilla fire fox, AIM guy, and all sorts of other desktop paraphernalia. the animator, however, tries to get help using AIM from his buddy, but before the transmission is sent, the AIM screen is used as a weapon. anyway, i wont spoil the ending (which is 200,000 times better than the first in my opinion).  read more »

holy heck. i have played alot of games in my day, but wow, that was just trippy. between the music and the random videos, game, game, game, and again, game is one of the strangest looking games i have seen. the random quotes are so incredibly random ( it has been agreed that the direction of heaven is up and that lions are there eating cake with bunnies?) that you just have to stop and say wow. the gameplay was simple enough, but i dont think i learned any kind of moral like we had in passage. that game was possibly the most random thing i have played, but it was ok (except that i went the wrong way at the last level and was shipped back to the past...damn)

Can life possibly be as boring as passage seemed to be when we played it; side-scrolling until we eventually expire after five measly minutes? Why, yes it can! the basic principles of passage got down to the nitty gritty point of life, which is just getting through it. Yes, nothing really in-depth happened...our two "heroes" (and "heroine", if you so choose) never had a kid, and in the case you chose to be a bachelor, you died a virgin, but is this really what life is about? in a biological sense, we live to reproduce, but humans aren't as primal as animals and some go through life just fine without children. No, passage passes all of the hype of life, making us all (maybe) see how fast life goes by and how simple it actually is. i believe that passage really gets the importance of life across well- even though there are obstacles in the way, you need to live life the best you can, and get as far to the right as possible before the timer hits 5.