Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=889https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3465After playing this game for some time, I started to take in consideration the creator’s intent for this development. Since this was based on a very serious event in our time, there are some responsibilities I feel that should have been taken upon. Those responsibilities should be to those who this involves directly. The families and community affected by these events. I would not assume anyone affected would want to play this game and take on the role of the killers. Part of this responsibility would be to not only try and recreate things as accurate as possible, but to do so in the right context. The victim’s names were not used, and there were not many details involving specifics of the victims. The real names of the shooters were used and supported by actual pictures of them, which I feel could have been avoided however I understand the use. Most importantly the real affects of the incident should have been kept in mind throughout the creation of the game. After the shootings there was a sequence where we see people making speeches on gun control, violence, and a Christina based community. This allows for the player to actually see the lasting affects from the event in a very realistic way. I still do not understand why the game was actually created. As far as I am concerned no one needs to experience that event, even if it is just a game. I do not feel there was enough detail or information presented to give any sort of value to the game play. For twenty minutes you go around and shoot people getting rewarded. I did not feel that I learned anything from playing the position of these two men. It did give a different point of view, but not one that was detailed enough as to why they would do such a thing. There was a lack of information as to the whole point of the game. There was no major obstacles or bosses or anything of that matter, however that does go back to the fact that it is representing an actual event. Yet if this game is meant to entertain for whatever reason, or even get a specific message out, it fails to do so. All it creates is a sick feeling that you are actually experiencing this specific RPG. Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:05:58 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3465&iddiary=6486https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3465My second time playing the game, I noticed a lot more violence. The first ten minutes or so were merely setting up the events of that day. Conversations between the two characters took place and also setting up the scene, and or bombs in this case. Once the objective became to actually go around and shoot the students or faculty members, it became violent in a sense of feeling completely wrong about doing it. Yes we were shooting innocent people, but it was not violent in how we see violent games today. IF we categorize a game for being violent, it is not just because of the subject matter, but also has a lot to do with the graphic design. More games today you see a lot more blood and gore and details involved. This game however was violent not because of the graphics or detail, but because we were shooting and killing innocent people for no reason at all. Adding the fact that this was an actual event that took place just made it worse. As you kill more people, you get rewarded with more points, and items. The game encourages the player to kill as many people as they can, thus rewarding them in return. If video games really influence those who play them, then this should really screw someone over. How could someone feel right about taking part in a game based off an actual event, which rewards you for the amount of innocent people you kill? In comparison to the GTA games, where you can also go around and kill innocent bystanders, it is not in the same context. In the fictional world there are no rewards for your actions. In the real world/ real event there are rewards for these actions. Technically it should be the other way around, but I do understand the point that the developers are really trying to show the true events. It could be done with out the idea of rewards. It might have been rewarding for the actual shooters every time they killed someone, but I don’t think it was necessary to the game. Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:37:03 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3465&iddiary=6482https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3465After my first experience with playing the game Super Columbine Massacre RPG! I felt really affected by the sense of realism. I have never heard of the game, or even knew of its existence until we talked about in class. When I went to the web site to download and play the game for the first time, I felt very uncomfortable. I did not want to take part in the experience at all. How could someone make something like that? Do they not consider anyone who can possibly be extremely affected? I was just stunned at the concept as a whole. Since I had to play the game, I decided to see what it was all about for as long as I could. As soon as I started, the realism of the events of that day caught me completely off guard. I was very surprised that the pictures used for the two characters (and real shooters), Eric and Dylan, were actual photos of them. A long with being surprised, I did in a way expect the developers to go that far. If you’re going to go far enough to create the game, you might as well use the actual photos. I was then taken back by the conversations that were taking place in the beginning of the game. You start in Eric’s room, and have a phone conversation with Dylan. There are fowl words used as they talk about how “today is the big day”, and “they deserve to die”, “what do you think they will do when were gone?”. The fact that we were sort of seeing what we never could or will be able to see happen to them personally before the shooting, gave an unbelievable sense of realism. We were listing in on these conversations that are very informative on the characters personally. I almost felt as if I was not supposed to take part in it. I then was told to get the bombs out of the car and set them in the place noted. When we got into the cafeteria to place some of the bombs, I felt sick to my stomach. I remembered where I was when this all took place, and what I was watching on the news. The cafeteria was main area of destruction. Placing those bombs knowing what was going to happen brought all those very real memories back. I don’t know how someone can say “ hey lets make a game on the massacre that happened at Columbine”. It wasn’t just any normal occurrence. It was something that touched close to everyone. It caught many off guard. At what point do you think that it is wrong to expose such an idea of what happened from the killers’ point of view on such a real and horrible event? I personally could not see any good intention from this game. It just seemed like a pessimistic utilization of the event. Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:17:40 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3465&iddiary=6481https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3404For my third journal entry I would like to talk about violence and how it is presented through Grand Theft Auto. Violence is something that is strongly represented in various occasions. As Nico we are allowed to run rabid around Liberty City and highjack cars, ignore every traffic law, run over pedestrians, and beat the crap out of random people on the street. Not only do we get to do those things freely, we also are presented with missions to accomplish throughout the story, these missions include killing every man on the most wanted list, stealing objects and money, and many other activities. The presentation of Violence is a theme that has been debated many times concerning GTA. Some news stories include teens that have gone on mass robbery and reckless driving sprees stating that they were influenced by the game. This is not the only game that has been said to influence young adults to do “in moral” or “unethical” activities. It becomes so enjoyable during game play that we sometimes imagine that it could possibly be just as easy to do those things in real life. One specific moment that I remember from one of the shorts during the game, is when Roman picks Nico up from the airport, he steps out of the car obviously under the influence, and pulls a bottle out from the vehicle and starts drinking. Gamers are presented with the visual of drinking and driving. When I think about Nico and his morals or ethical rules, I consider the Utilitarianism belief. This states that a person’s goal is to find happiness and prevent unhappiness. So if Nico comes to the decision of robbing a car or killing someone, he or you the player must make the choice, choosing which ever one will fulfill the characters needs. This is something that I found myself involved with time and time again. While taking on the identity of Nico, I was confronted with choices of killing or high jacking for the gang, and I knew what choice I had to make in order to make Nico happy, even if I wanted to do what I would consider “the right thing”, I knew what Nico would consider is different. Since Utilitarianism says that an action is good if its net effect is to produce more happiness for yourself and others around, Nico had to chose the more violent route more often.Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:47:50 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3404&iddiary=6332https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3404First I would like to say that for my first entry I had the wrong name for the main character. I accidentally said that his name was Tony when it is really Nico. Now moving on. The second time visiting Liberty City during my Game play of Grand Theft Auto, I wanted to take specific notice on the role and presentation of ethnicity in the game. I found this to be a major part of the game. The main character we take the role of is Niko Bellic, loosely referred to as an “Eastern European” immigrant. Niko works for the “Bratva” which is the Russian Mafia, working on various assassinations and other odd illegal jobs. He arrives in town by boat and gets picked up by his cousin Roman, also of Eastern European decent. Roman brings Nico back to his apartment, which is very diverse, and not so upper-class residential area. It is obvious that foreigners mostly occupy the area, we can tell because we can hear the comments and voices of pedestrians around us. Also one of the secondary characters we meet, Michelle, when talking has a dominant Hispanic accent. This is no surprise considering that one of the previous GTA games have Latino and African American gangs as the community focus. One of the plot points we encounter during game play is Roman dealing with Albanians. He says, “ Let me know if you see any of those Albanian scum bags walking around”. So we are introduced to the Albanian street gang who deal with illegal loitering. We are presented with a very negative stereotype of Eastern Europeans. They are all involved with some type of gang/mafia or illegal activities. Their “jobs” are to go and kill one person or a group of people because they have not paid their debts or something to do with trafficking objects. The way that the characters interact with one another reminds me of the Social Contract theory. This theory stats that the moral rules are those that are necessary if we are to gain the benefits of social living, also that it is for the groups mutual benefit if others follow the rules as well. So Nico, since he is part of the Bratva, is following the moral rules set by those of the gang. He must kill and fulfill his duties since those are the rules he has to follow. Rights are closely tied to duties and that is certainly the case for Nico.Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:56:41 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3404&iddiary=6329https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3404This was not my first experience playing one of the many Grand Theft Auto games, so I had an idea of what I was getting into. First I would like to mention how impressed I am at the design aspect of the game. It was presented more in movie form then in a standard role-play game. There was a definite Act 1, Act 2, Act 3 structure to the storyline. This provided great introductions to the location and characters involved. There are many different ethical situations happening throughout the game play, however for this journal entry I would like to focus on the topic of Gender. This is a theme in the game that I feel is very dominant and makes many statements concerning the idea of male and female roles in society. One of the first visuals we get is a women in leather bed wear whipping a man in leather underwear. Not only is this demeaning to women immediately but it sets the scene for the type of people and the social class they are apart of. The instruction booklet that is given with the game is designed to be a “Liberty City Guidebook”. Inside it shows different restaurants and social facilities you can visit. One of the advertisements is “ Honkers Touchy Tuesdays! Honk! Honk! At last you get to honk our honkers with open palms and no grabbing! We are the Breast in town”. The picture that goes with this advertisement is one of a girl in underwear sliding down a pole. So actually before you even start the game you are under the impression that girls are objects of desire for our protagonists and that since there are many of these strip clubs and cabaret bars in the area, we know that this is not a very classy neighborhood, so the people in the neighborhood must be of a lower social class. Not only does the game provide a poor image of women, but also a poor image concerning the gender role of men. Since most of the main characters are men, we are only allowed to play the role of a male figure that is shown to be the dominant male role. In one of the opening scenes, our main character Tony makes’ statements to his cousin asking were “Barbra big tits and Angela who sucks like a vacuum are”. Right away we get the impression that these guys are scumbags, and that their only objective is to get some action. We also see the main character steeling cars, killing and beating up other people, and dealing with other illegal activities. We really don’t get a look at the good side of this guy, therefore my immediate impression was not a good one. Even though this is just a video game, I feel that the way they represent men and especially women, is very unethical, however in some ways it is a realistic interpretation considering venues and people like this do exist. Is it really necessary to show the extremes? I would have to say for sale purposes that people want to see the extremes and interact with them, because sine it is only a video game, there are no real life consequences.Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:08:50 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3404&iddiary=6324