Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=129https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1312I would never choose to play this game - an RPG is fine - kind of fun to read the story text - watch the cut scenes - play a little - watch the cut scenes - read some more text - but it's a little disconcerting when you go into the graveyard and get eaten by zombies, then try again, and get eaten again. Probably would be a good idea to look at the manual and figure out how to stay out of the graveyard.Mon, 12 Feb 2007 03:50:38 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1312&iddiary=2805https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1311There is a respect stamina muscle fat sex appeal right away the game gives off a counter culture vibe when there is the sound of spray painting as the Rockstar logo is "painted" on the screen. The copious beginning title credits sends a message that the makers of this game consider themselves as or more important than the game, which is probably a good thing considering the typical way that game developers expect their workers to sacrifice everything for the game. The cut scenes seem to play into every cliche and stereotype in the book, but the fact that one can skip through them seems to me to be good design. The first cut scene introduces the main character Carl, the voice is familiar - IceT - ? further indicates the gang oriented culture of this game. Next cut scene features a shakedown of Carl by some dirty cops, who confiscate his drug money, apparently thinking that Carl still owes them something, they hassle him about his activities and then throw him out of the moving car into an alley in a rival part of town. Instructions appear and gameplay is simple. Seems like pretty good game design b/c one can simply begin to play without consulting the manual. Movement is smooth and true to human. We get on the bike and ride to the end of the alley and stop. The sound effects include the sounds of the cars going by, and the voices of people around. We sit there for a while and suddenly there are three gang-looking black men surrounding us. There are talking trash - and one of them has a gun. Suddenly there are gunshots. We are hit and bleeding. We get off the bike and start running. We go to a car and hit the X button. We get in and start driving. we are on a downward spiral - we crash that car - and get into another finally making it to our destination. The car catches fire and blows up and we are dead.Mon, 12 Feb 2007 03:43:01 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1311&iddiary=2804https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1311There is a respect stamina muscle fat sex appeal right away the game gives off a counter culture vibe when there is the sound of spray painting as the Rockstar logo is "painted" on the screen. The copious beginning title credits sends a message that the makers of this game consider themselves as or more important than the game, which is probably a good thing considering the typical way that game developers expect their workers to sacrifice everything for the game. The cut scenes seem to play into every cliche and stereotype in the book, but the fact that one can skip through them seems to me to be good design. The first cut scene introduces the main character Carl, the voice is familiar - IceT - ? further indicates the gang oriented culture of this game. Next cut scene features a shakedown of Carl by some dirty cops, who confiscate his drug money, apparently thinking that Carl still owes them something, they hassle him about his activities and then throw him out of the moving car into an alley in a rival part of town. Instructions appear and gameplay is simple. Seems like pretty good game design b/c one can simply begin to play without consulting the manual. Movement is smooth and true to human. We get on the bike and ride to the end of the alley and stop. The sound effects include the sounds of the cars going by, and the voices of people around. We sit there for a while and suddenly there are three gang-looking black men surrounding us. There are talking trash - and one of them has a gun. Suddenly there are gunshots. We are hit and bleeding. We get off the bike and start running. We go to a car and hit the X button. We get in and start driving. we are on a downward spiral - we crash that car - and get into another finally making it to our destination. The car catches fire and blows up and we are dead. The emergent complexity of GTA seems endless. In one session I just ran all over the place, and the game just plays along with me. The game doesn't seem to be time-based - and that seems like a good thing for someone like me that likes to look around and mess with the rules. The culture of this game is deeply rooted in crime, violence, and plays upon the negative media representation of young black men, police, and women.Mon, 12 Feb 2007 03:39:02 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1311&iddiary=2803https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=871Second and subsequent sessions: There is only one active character in the game of Katamari Damacy, which the player controls in order to roll the ball. The ball is really the main character. It might be a more interesting if there were other characters rolling balls around, and that you have a chance to roll them up too! I think it might be more fun if the gameplay were faster, that is, if one could roll the ball faster, but the pacing may be well-suited to younger kids. The game may be more interesting if there were more going on - more challenges than the rolling up things in an alloted time, which gets a little weary especially for one who is not very good with a joystick in the first place. A main source of the game's conflict comes from the cutscenes featuring the tirades of the King when it might be better if the conflict were focused in the the actual gameplay. More conflict might also be created by giving more points for certain items, and this would also increase the emergent complexity by offering more alternative outcomes to gameplay. The game does seem to flow well, but was a bit frustrating when failing to beat the clock. I think some other device for getting through the levels would be better than simply being time-based. This player was interested in looking at all the things in the level and rolling them up but this became a bit mundane after a while partly because the objects were everyday things like matches, animals, and food. The cute factor does wear off after a while. Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:24:52 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=871&iddiary=2077https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=871Katamari Damacy Session 1 Never played this game before. My friend is here with me and loves this game so I let him play while I take notes. The first thing that hits me is the solo male vocal music introduction, ala Bobby McFerrin. It is pleasant and disarming and very simple. The colors are bright and childlike. There is encouraging text from the King, giving instructions and such, he’s your dad afterall: but then there are the zingers, “your absent-mindendness”, but this banter is balanced with some downright poetic passages in the backstory. The text is reminiscent of text-based chat room text, and other components like the various sizes, and variety of objects reminds me of a board game. The lure of possible presents is enticing, and the camera can actually take pictures of gameplay. There is the sound of dj scratching as the text writes out across the screen, pushing the X button will skip this animation (text writing out) and puts the entire phrase up at once. This is good for when you are playing to win the same object for the 5th or 6th time, to skip through quickly. I ask my friend Phoenix how I can avoid dying, and he says, “you can’t die.” Well this is definitely my kind of game. Not violent, not silly, rolling a ball around picking up stuff. Fun.Sun, 21 Jan 2007 04:44:33 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=871&iddiary=1932https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=351Second Session today lasted 90 minutes during which time I played 10 games. By the tenth game I was able to get through the first 7 or 8 levels fairly quickly but couldn't get passed level ten. Still I think it's important to conduct analysis from the perspective of someone who does not score easily. There are some really beautiful objects in this game, and they were very distracting - I wanted to look at them rather than destroy them. There is little emergent complexity in REZ since gameplay is fixed, however, being distracted by the beauty of the graphic art may have contributed to the overall experience in an unusual way. The cutscenes were interesting but might have provided more information about upcoming actions. I would enjoy this game more if I could fly around more, and interact with the objects rather than destroying them. Also, the sound elements were not all that engaging and might be more interesting if there were more variety. The vibration pulses with the music and is also synchronized to getting hit. It is a little distracting with all of the other stuff going on and I prefer having it switched off. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Mon, 29 Jan 2007 20:32:14.)Sun, 14 Jan 2007 02:30:11 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=351&iddiary=1484https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=351First Session: REZ What follows are comments over a one-hour session. I am not a gamer, per se, but there are certain games I like a lot, Jet Set Radio and Gran Tourismo are two - skating and racing respectively. For me, the more abstract and ungame-like the better, that is, eschewing rules in favor of a more alternate reality type experience than a death and destruction scenario. Rez has been referred to as a "fast-action shooter" - it is an FPS for the most part, which gets old after a while. There's only one character, the shooter, who "flies" forward only - the graphics are very "griddy", that is, a lot of wireframe, a sort of unfinished look, although the targets are more elaborate. The story is fairly simple: fly forward, shoot stuff, make music. don't get hit. simple. Gameplay is tied to generating accents to the techno music playing, that is, trigger=handclaps, scoring=synth and percussion lines, etc. Some levels are much easier to get through than others and this helps to keep things moving along. Game three - get to level 10 - intuitively I being to simply smash down on all four cursor directions leaning harder towards the way I want to go - my thumb gives out and I have to switch to forefinger and then to middle. The music is getting more and more intense and pulsating, with more elaborate sections for high scoring. Game 5 : can't get past level 10. Now I'm hungry and am craving cheese - I must snack.Sun, 14 Jan 2007 01:50:39 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=351&iddiary=1483https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=353I love this game because I am a roller skater, and defacing public property is a lot of fun. This was just a test entry on the first day of class and can be deleted but I don't know how. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:53:44.)Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:38:08 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=353&iddiary=1037https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=353This entry is a mistake and can be deleted. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:56:20.)Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:37:16 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=353&iddiary=1036https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=353This entry is a mistake and can be deleted but I don't know how. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:57:12.)Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:37:06 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=353&iddiary=1035