Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1189https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4173SESSION 2 I went to Strange Brew last weekend with a group of friends and this time not for a latte, but for a monopoly game session. But, it was not just a fun session, I always had the game designer or critic in me behind the game play. I was looking at the property names, cards, spaces, icons, pawns, and everything else with a critical eye. Yes, I was multi-tasking – having fun with the game and getting my assignment along the way. The game not only adds to the fun factor, but one also learns the hard facts of business – “managing your resources.” This is what makes monopoly a practical game, very different from the rest of the games in the league. Options of mortgaging your properties in the later stages to keep the game going is because of what the game can last you an entire weekend sometimes! This aspect of the game bothers me and many other players too. The game seems to have no end if you actually come to think of it. This can lead to frustration sometimes and the game loses its replay value, even though temporarily. I have grown up in India. For me, properties like Vermont Avenue or James Place would really not have made sense. I really appreciate Parker Brothers for coming up with other versions of the game, thus thinking from a global market standpoint with sensitivity towards socio-cultural diversity. The game of monopoly has many risks and rewards and the strategy is a very top priority and essential for successful game play. The concept of negotiation with fellow players is a positive aspect of the game as it creates an atmosphere of friendly competition - The ultimate objective of any game or any sport!! People all over the globe seem to love Mr. Monopoly or Rich Uncle Penny bags, the mustached man! More than 500 million people play the game and with the fun, strategy and competition the game provides, generations to come will be a part of the monopoly culture and it will remain the most popular board game worldwide.Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:09:24 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4173&iddiary=7772https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4172SESSION1 Monopoly – the world’s favorite family game is “75 years young”. That is what the mascot Mr. Monopoly on the board game says. The game was introduced in 1936 and since then it has been the most commonly played game around the globe with different versions for different countries with the country’s own currency and properties. One would generally associate games and especially board games with just kids. But, monopoly brought about a complete change to this notion. It is for all age groups above 10 years. You go to Starbucks in the U.S. or Barista in India on the other side of the globe, Monopoly is the hot favorite pass time with your coffee! Monopoly can be played between 2 - 8 people on a square board. The board has forty spaces containing 28 properties with two colored streets and four rail roads and two utilities. In addition to these, there are three chance spaces, three community chest spaces, luxury tax and income tax. The four corner blocks on the board take the special position like GO or START and free parking. Well…well…well…!! You may not go to jail ever in life, but you surely can’t escape it in monopoly. Yup, the last corner spaces are jail and go to jail. The game, like any other tradition board game is played with dice and pawns. The eight pawns that monopoly offers are: dog, top hat, wheel barrow, race car, ship, boot, iron and thimble. This is really innovative and surely gels well with the concept of the business! Buying, selling, renting, mortgaging, development, income tax….whooo!! Are all these terms associated with you when you are a business major?? Nope…these are things that you experience in everyday life and of course monopoly laid the foundation years back for you when you played it first time with your dad. At the start of the play, each player is given a certain amount of money which is in form of color dollar bills for different denominations. The players start playing by rolling the dice starting with the player throwing the maximum no and moving clockwise! Every time the player lands on a property, he has two options. He either buys it if it is still not owned or denies it and it is then auctioned off to the other players. If a player reaches a property that is previously owned by another player, he has to pay rent for the property depending on what is given on the card. The price of each property is marked by the board. If you earn all three properties on the board of the same color, you can make a house on any one of them paying the listed price. Everybody dreams of building a house on the New York avenue. But how many of us actually get to do that. Monopoly gives everybody an equal chance…!! The game continues until only one player is left on board while getting the rest all bankrupt. A single game play can last hours and even days with the world record of 70 days - 1680 hours. Whoooo… Isn’t that amazing!!Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:59:36 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4172&iddiary=7771https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4108SUPER MARIO BROS. Mario the legend in video games or if I may put it as Mario – a synonym for video games which every child or adult has at some point of time associated with the game whether figuratively by being glued to the monitor or passively seeing others play. A mention of the video games doesn’t go without the mention of Super Mario Bros. It’s been more than three decades since the creation of the character, but till today the legend lives in our hearts and minds. Not being a game freak myself, Mario of course went unheard. It was the buzz word of days of my childhood. Taking game design as a part of my course curriculum has given me an opportunity to analyze the game from various aspects - conceptual, design, and technical with a critical eye. GAMING SESSION 1: Mario and his younger brother Luigi, both plumbers from Italy live in the mushroom kingdom reigned by King Koopa - a dragon like figure. Mario’s aim is to save the beautiful Princess, Toadstool or Princess Peach, who is kidnapped by Koopa. He has to successfully cross eight worlds to finally reach the “damsel in distress.” En route, each castle is protected by dragons (minions) with super powers like shooting fire balls. Mario gathers all energies and powers by eating various kinds of mushrooms while finding his way out of sewers and tunnels. Mario collects coins which add up to an additional life with every 100 coins. To get rid of the enemies, i.e creatures coming out of the dirty sewers, Mario jumps on them smashes their head and keeps going. The journey of the little boy is very exciting with a different theme of each world like the water world, ice world and of course the fire world etc. and Mario strives through it all. With nothing as sophisticated as the PS3 Dual shock, I was all geared up for a headstrong start of super Mario with my Logitech game pad… Select : 1 player game World: 1.1 “…..tdtdtdtdtdtdtdtdtddd…..” I had only three lives to begin with. How on earth was I supposed to cross 8 stages and save the beautiful Princess with those ugly creatures coming from every nook and corner of the kingdom? But Thank God! There were at least some things in my favor too. Yes….the gold coins among the brick walls and the mushrooms. Yes, they made Mario bigger and equipped him with firing abilities. I was enjoying every jump, every smash but…. there came a pit and I fell into it. L Left with just two more lives. I started all over again. But this time was better. I accidently bumped into a brick wall and there came out a slightly different mushroom. Eating that up gave me another life…Wow! That was cool stuff. I was beginning to unfold the mysteries of the mushroom kingdom…J But there came a pit again and I couldn’t manage to jump over it “…doop….” I fell again! L Giving it yet another try, this time with extra level concentration, I managed to master the moves and crossed the small pits on my way. Did that mean that it made my life easier? Naah… there came bigger pits and uglier creatures. ”…Doop…” I was doomed again and this time for a Sunday breakfast to one of the ugliest turtles that came out of the tunnel L and there it went… GAME OVER! GAMING SESSION 2 Huh…. did that mean I gave up? No way… I was finally living my childhood and Mario was undoubtedly addictive. I didn’t think even once before starting the game again and this time with a lot more enthusiasm. Also, being totally engrossed in the game I had forgotten that I was playing for an assignment and needed to look at the game from a game designer’s point of view. The controls of the game are simple with forward, backward, jump, fire and speed buttons on the game. With such easy controls of the game, the challenge lies in the adept of moves and timings and finding the mysterious shortcuts and way outs from various stages. The second session was equally intriguing as the first one. The manner in which the mysteries of sewers and tunnels or the hidden “One up” mushrooms and coins were unfolding at each accidental step was amazing. The absence of a map in the game created the ambiguity and added another level of fun to the gaming experience. The originality and unfamiliarity of the new enemy characters made the game special. The goofy looking characters like turtles, ducks and frogs added to the comical background. I had finally crossed the first world, when I experienced something totally unexpected. Treading through the wonderland, happily eating mushrooms, collecting coins and shooing away all the ugly enemies, I entered a tunnel which led me to the water world. Mario was now swimming instead of jumping around. That was so cool! I was excited to see the all fresh background and creatures. They were getting better and prettier. Turtles and ducks were replaced by jelly fishes and flying fishes. The music score changed too and it was an altogether new experience. The innovative ways of defeating the enemies by climbing on their backs or eggs than actually killing them as it would be in other stereotype game plays, adds to the fun. Even though the game sticks to 2D, the design team has done a great job in making it lively and vibrant. The background is simple and flat with a play shadow and gradient at some places like tunnels and sewers, to give it a 3 dimensional or rather 2.5 D effect. Seeing the gaming scenario of today’s times, the graphical effect of Mario can be improved upon even though remaining 2D is not a problem. We can enhance the backgrounds perhaps with a more glossy look to keep the legend alive for the generations to come. The animation of the figures accentuated by the sound effects for every jump, bounce, spin or power up, is very basic yet powerful. This is another arena for improvement with the latest and high tech animation software’s and techniques. CONCLUSION Nintendo Wii recently produced the New Super Mario Bros. that too in 2D. Contrary to the massive 3D development in the gaming and film industry these days, 2D won the rounds in this case with the launch the game which won the best game title recently. During the two gaming sessions, I found that I was playing the same levels over and over again, but I continued to find them equally interesting, difficult and as fun as they were in the first round. There aren’t many games that provide the level of fun or replay value of the Super Mario Bros. Playing Mario for the course has given me an assignment for submission and a favorite past time for after school hours and weekends. J If the New Super Mario Bros on Wii is a testament to the lifespan of our favorite Italian plumber, then I wouldn’t be surprised to see him living for another 25 years! (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:04:08.)Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:02:04 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4108&iddiary=7674