Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=655https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3044Gameplay: Session 2 This time around, I was on vocals instead of drums, which made the gameplay a lot more enjoyable because it was easier and it was something I was a little more familiar with. It was still a little difficult to make out the prompts for what my tone and pitch should be, but when we stuck to songs that I already knew by heart I was pretty successful in my gaming endeavors. Another thing that was more fun about being the vocalist was that I had more freedom of movement in the actual space where we were playing, so I could get really into it and rock out some more. All in all, Rock Band is an alright game for me, but definitely not something that I'm super stoked on doing. At least not when I'm sober...My friends had a blast, though, because it is by definition a social game, so it was pretty easy just to dismiss trying to get the music right and just be dance-y and stupid with my friends while pretending we were rock stars. Design: Though I'm not personally a huge fan of actually playing Rock Band, I think that the design of the game is awesome. First, you have the avatars which are incredibly expressive and realistic in their movements and behaviors. Like with the Wii, I think that one of the huge bonuses of Rock Band is actually being able to envision yourself as a physical component of the game world, especially since you're mimicking the movements of the avatar in the real world game space you occupy. Another really cool aspect of the game are the little mock instruments - the drums and the guitars and the microphone. Using these as your controllers instead of hand held devices really adds to the sense of game engagement that the avatars also contribute to. It's interesting and fun to feel like you actually are inside of the game, and forget the real world surroundings you occupy when you're focussing on your instrument and trying to become skilled at it. The game gives the player a lot of freedom and control of the way the game unfolds, which I also like. First is the ability to download new songs, so you're not restricted at all in terms of what you will be playing. Additionally, your skill at your instrument determines the way the music actually sounds, so (like a real band) you're actually hearing how you as the player contribute to or detract from the success of the band, which is pretty innovative in my mind. All in all, the innovative and unique design elements of Rock Band essentially MAKE the game, though for me personally they don't actually compensate for the fact that I'm a sucky musician and therefore a bad player of this game.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:40:17 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3044&iddiary=6033https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3044Summary: In rockband, the player uses peripherals modeled to resemble actual musical instruments to attempt to play along with an avatar rock band that they see on screen. Certain parts of the instruments are color coded, and as the player plays certain colorblocks will scroll along on the screen -- it is up to the player to hit the right color at the right time to make the right sound that the song they're playing requires. Gameplay: I was playing drums during this game, so I had a bass pedal as well as the little flat drum panels in front of me to attempt to play along. This was the first time I've ever played this game, and I'm a super uncoordinated person, so it was frustratingly difficult for me to get the hang of it and the rhythm. I kept on hitting the panels a second or two too late, and repeatedly needed to be "saved" by other players. I was pretty self-conscious about all of this, too, so that made the gameplay not so fun for me. I maybe would have had more fun if I was on a different instrument, but this time around I was just too self-conscious and bad at the game to enjoy it. One thing that did make the game a little bit more enjoyable was interacting with the characters on screen. I got kind of a kick out of watching my avatar playing drums, even though he sucked at it. Also, my friends told me that the drums are usually the hardest to play anyway, so this made me feel a little bit better. One thing, though, that really annoyed me was that I had a hard time actually hitting the drum pads!! I kept on missing and hitting the side of it. Also, I had a hard time keeping in track which panels were which colors, so even if I could've hit blue (for example) in time, how the hell am I supposed to remember which one's blue!!! All in all, it was a learning experience and hopefully when I play tonight it will go better.Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:52:53 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3044&iddiary=5697https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2751Session 2 Gameplay: This time around, my neighbor and I chose to play table tennis and the tank game. In table tennis, the gameplay is essentially the same as air hockey - you pretend that the wii remote is the paddle and move it back and forth to hit the ball, or press A when it's your turn to serve. The tank game is a little bit more complicated to play - we ended up taking out the stick controller, which has a little joy stick on it that you use to move your tank around the screen, while you use the wii remote to aim on your target (the enemy tank), and the trigger to shoot. The goal is to shoot the tank before it kills you or your partner. Design: I'm going to write this entry on all the games I played during the two sessions, since they were all relatively short in their gameplay sessions and share a lot of the same design elements. My favorites in the wii play series were definitely the balloon shooting game, air hockey and table tennis, for different reasons. I really liked table tennis for the way that it makes use of the space on the screen. Your mii is being watched as he plays by all the other miis in the game - I even recognized a few of my friends' avatars in there, which was cool because you feel the sociability of the game even despite (or in addition to) the person you're playing with. I also think that the design of the wii remote is especially innovative, not just for these games but in general, because it's so easy to use and so adaptable - you can hold it like a paddle, aim it like a gun, tilt it as though you're bearing down on the throttle of a motorcycle, and so forth. Another game that I especially thought was well designed was air hockey, if anything just for the adaptable control (you can tilt your paddle) and the sheer fact that you can score on yourself, which made the game more fun to play socially since it gave everyone the chance to make fun of me, which I always like. The game that I thought was least innovative in this group was the balloon shooting game, since it's basically a rip off of tetris and doesn't take as much advantage of the cool wii remote as it could. This is made up for, though, by the cool level design and story of the game. I really like the way that it incorporates your characters into the game - on the third level, you can earn extra points by shooting the target that has your opponent's face on it, yet lose points if you shoot one with your own face on it. In the final round, also, the goal is to shoot alien ufos before they abduct your wii characters, which is pretty funny but also kind of disturbing when you hear the wiis screaming after being abducted. In all, there's not really much room for a lot of narrative in wii play because it's essentially just arcade type games adapted to the wii console. The wii remote, though, and the game's integration of the player via her mii are what sets it apart from other games. I love, love, love the wii because it is so easy to use and the remote can be adapted to suit just about any game, even sport type games (table tennis, air hockey, bowling) because the way the player uses the remote mimics exactly how one would play the game in real life, which I think is awesome. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:52:06.)Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:51:00 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2751&iddiary=5170https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2751Summary: Wii play is essentially a series of a few different games that the player can choose to play, I played it with another person. You can either play air hockey, using the wii remote as your paddle; table tennis, also using the wii remote as a paddle; the tank game (whose goal is to destroy a tank before it destroys you by shooting it), and a few other games. The goal of the game will differ depending on which game you choose, but for the most part the objective is to gain points by beating your opponent at your game. Gameplay: At first, as I always am, I was a little intimidated by this game because I am a novice at all things video game and technology oriented. With coaching from my neighbor/opponent, though, I became a little more comfortable with these games. First of all, let me just say - I love the wii!! I know I've said it before, but the control makes it so easy for anyone just to pick it up and play the games with no experience needed. We started by playing air hockey, which is essentially the same as in real life, you just move your arm back and forth and pretend that the wii control is your paddle, and you try to hit the puck into your opponent's goal. Needless to say, I scored on myself like three times during this game because I suck, but it was still a lot of fun. After this, we played a game that's essentially the modern version of duckhunter (from atari), except that you start out shooting balloons and graduate to targets, cans, ducks and eventually aliens that pick up your mii characters. I was a lot better at this game, since there's no real way you can harm yourself or score against yourself, and actually ended up beating my neighbor at this round (it might have something to do with the fact that she was simultaneously drinking wine and playing, but I'll take points where I can). My neighbor and I played both of these games successively until we reached the forty five minute mark, and decided to leave a couple of the other games to play on the next game play session, which occured earlier this evening. Needless to say, the first time around I had a ton of fun and wasn't really focusing at all on winning or scoring, just on learning how to use the control and actually achieve the desired effect.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:30:01 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2751&iddiary=5162https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2411Gamelog entry 2, metroid prime pinball Gameplay: This time around, I was a little bit more on the lookout for new and more interesting types of missions and found a few that appealed to me more than the others I had tried before. One specific mission - Phendra drifts - was a lot of fun because it incorporated a lot more elements into the gameplay rather than just being a standard pinball game. For example, it allows you to control two sets of clackers (one on the top screen, one on the bottom), there's a boss type monster, and the ability to regenerate your health, activate force fields, etc. Of all the missions available in pinball, I thought that this one was the most fun and it was the one that I played the majority of the time, because the other missions are very easy to get bored with as there is no need for concentration or strategy. Design: I thought that one of the best elements of this game was the way that it makes use of the DS's two screens, and it would have been better if more of the missions could complicate the gameplay in the same way as the Phendra drifts mission did -- by allowing you to play on both screens rather than just watch on the top, play on the bottom. It also made good use of the hand controls of the DS, because the right and left buttons on the top of the DS are really similar to the hand position you would use if you actually were playing pinball in an arcade. The game was also pretty interesting because of the use of space and the graphics. Since the DS is so small and uncomplicated, I pretty much assumed that the graphics would be similar to a gameboy or something. But, I actually thought it did a pretty good job of giving the player a sense that he or she is interacting with the world of the game, which is especially nice because it actually is a world - there are little bugs, sometimes it rains, there are bridges, etc., rather than just presenting you with a screen that looks like a pinball machine from the arcade. All in all, this game was pretty good for what it was, but still not great because in the end I don't think there's any way to make pinball that interesting. But the DS gave it a good shot!Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:58:16 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2411&iddiary=4592https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2411Summary: In Metroid Prime Pinball, the player chooses which type of mission they would like to play, which is essentially choosing what you want the display and theme of your pinball game to be. I chose the Pirate frigate, because I'm a sucker for pirates. The objective of the game is to use the right and left controllers on the top of the DS to manipulate the little clickers on the bottom of the screen and keep your ball in play, as well as to maximize the amount of time spent playing and possibly get more balls in play. The longer you play, the more points you earn. Gameplay: I actually think that the DS is a really great platform for this game, because there are two screens (one on top, one on bottom) that allow you to see what's going on in your virtual pinball machine. The top screen offers a much larger range of vision and keeps the game interesting, while you can focus on the bottom screen when its time to hit your buttons and keep your balls in play. At first, I found this game to be a lot of fun because of all the little things that pop up in it - sometimes, random machines, robots or parasites will pop up and try and attack your balls, and you can score extra points by hitting the ball into special little zones on the screen. After about 20 minutes or so, though, it can easily get boring. I found myself just randomly hitting the buttons to keep my clackers in constant motion, and that was the only strategy necessary for me to win. On the upside, though, if you get bored with one type of mission (pirate frigate) you can choose a different type of mission (artifact temple) to keep it interesting yet still be playing, essentially, the same game.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:16:48 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2411&iddiary=4585https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2139Gameplay During our second round of bowling (which occured late yesterday night), I had significantly more fun than I did on the first round. This is probably for two reasons - first, because I was already familiar with how to manipulate the wii remote and strategies that had worked well for me in the past, and secondly because there was wine involved. This made us all more likely just to mess with the game - throwing the balls backwards, spinning them, etc. I really, really like this game for its sociability and easy-to-use nature. Design I love the design of this game. The gameplayer is able to design a videogame version of herself that then steps up and plays when she does. It's pretty realistic in its depiction of the bowling alley and you are able to interact with the prop-characters that are bowling around you. For example, if you toss your ball backwards, all the other characters in the game jump up and spin around. It's cool that the player has a sense that the game is interacting with them and what they do, not just presenting a virtual world that is unaffected by her actions. The only potential downside of this game that I can see is that it probably wouldn't be much fun to play individually. The nature of the wii, though, fosters social gameplaying so for the most part I don't really think this is an issue because most people who buy/play wii are probably doing so with the intention of playing it socially. It was nice to have the competition between friends, especially with the presentation of strikes in the bowling game. If a player gets three strikes in a row, they get "Turkey," which is cool because there was a continual sense of anticipation whenever each one of us got two strikes in a row. Overall, this game is easy to play, tons of fun with friends and wine, and cute and funny. I love the wii-me option and the ways that the game allows you to screw with it (tossing the ball backwards, etc.). I love wii bowling!!!Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:31:16 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2139&iddiary=4099https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2139Summary In Wii Sports, bowling, the gameplayer plays in an interactive bowling game. He or she stands up in front of the television, positions the player in whichever position they think is best suited to bowling a srike using the A button and the directional buttions (t-shaped), then they assume the bowling stance that is natural to them. Next, they press down on the trigger and actually bowl, releasing the trigger when their arm is back in the starting position. The objective of this game is to win as many points as possible by knocking over as many pins as possible. Gameplay Initially, I was pretty wary of this game because I'm bad at videogames in general and sports in specific. However, I played it with my neighbor and two close friends and they assured me that even a novice could easily pick up on how to play the game pretty quickly. Once I got a good understanding of how to focus, change my player position and swing my arm without feeling like an idiot in front of all of them I actually found myself having a really good time. This game is super easy to pick up, and really fun to play in a social setting. The flow of the game was really good, because we were all hanging out as friends while also completing my homework assignment. Also, we were listening to Stereolab, which provided nice background to the interactions of our onscreen selves. What I especially liked was just how individual-oriented the wii is, it was great to see a cartoon version of myself and my friends bowling together. All in all, I had a lot of fun and will definitely be playing this even when I'm not having to blog about it.Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:22:55 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2139&iddiary=4096https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1828Sorry, I misunderstood the assignment and didn't realize we had to have two game playing sessions in our logs. GAMEPLAY This time around, I was actually a little bit more into the game and personally invested in it. I started out bored, but decided to up the ante and set it on a little bit more difficult level. For the first few games, I found myself just randomly trying to fit the blocks together like pieces of a puzzle. After that, though, I started to strategize and anticipate what types of openings I should leave available on the bottom level while keeping an eye on which shapes would be coming next (based on the little indicator box on the upper right hand side of the screen). Also, I found myself playing more quickly than I had before, and feeling a little bit more anxious about whether or not I was sticking to my strategy. This helped me to play better and increase my score, but also left me feeling a tad bit lame for being at all emotionally invested in tetris. GAME DESIGN Overall, I feel that the design of the version of tetris that I've been playing has a number of weaknesses. First, there is the fact that there is not much space on the screen in which to maneuver and for this reason it's easy to become bored, because every new challenge is essentially the same as the last - except maybe a little faster (based on levels and how long you've been playing). Also, it almost seems like the game is designed to encourage short gameplaying sessions, because after a certain amount of time the speed of the blocks' descent increases and the frequency with which the player is faced with certain difficult-to-maneuver shapes also increases. For example, I had been playing for a while and the speed of descent of the shapes increased in an almost comically obvious way. Directly following this, I was barraged with a ton of "Z" shaped blocks one after the other. Of course, I failed this level soon afterwards, because it's impossible to fit shapes together that are all the same. I felt like tetris was screwing with me. On the plus side, though, this type of design does encourage more creativity and strategizing in the game player. So, essentially, in my book the up-side of tetris is that it could be viewed as intellectually productive in its ability to encourage creativity and problem solving abilities in the game player. Much in the same way as those little block puzzles (where the kid has to fit certain shapes into their corresponding nook in the gameboard within a specific time limit) are used as educational tools in kindergarten and grade school.Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:25:34 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1828&iddiary=3838https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1828In Tetris, the gameplayer is faced with a screen that is blank at first. Then, different shaped blocks fall down that screen and the gameplayer is able to manipulate their shape using the controls A and B, as well as their direction of descent with the arrow buttons. The objective of the game is to gain points by manipulating the shape of the objects in such a way that they form an unbroken line (or a series of unbroken lines stacked on top of each other) on the bottom of the screen. The level of difficulty the gameplayer chooses controls the speed at which the blocks fall. I was honestly pretty bored while playing this game, and was glad that I could do it with one hand so that I could smoke a cigarette (or several) with the other while I played. Of course, I was probably bored both because I'm twenty two years old and it's a one person game. I know that the game design of tetris has been changed, though, so that with more sophisticated devices (like an xbox, for example) the gameplayer has the option of 3-D tetris, multiple players, etc. This is definitely a good change, because the overall objective of the original tetris as it was played on my gameboy is not that engaging for the player - there's nothing at stake (other than your dignity, but really, you're playing tetris, so it's not like you're that awesome to begin with), it doesn't require that much skill and you're interacting with inanimate objects (blocks) rather than, say, people on a quest for something. On the plus side, however, is that it doesn't take a lot of prior experience to become good at Tetris, anybody can do it with a relatively high amount of skill with little or no familiarity with the game. Also, there's the kitsch factor, which is always a good thing in my book. It could either be really lame that I just played Tetris for 45 minutes, or it could be awesome. It's up to interpretation, which I like.Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:22:25 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1828&iddiary=3617