Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1250https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4238In my third session with the game, as I made my way through the school, I realized I might as well enter into more combat situations to further the game. At one point, a flashback unexpectedly came up in the game, which showed my character sitting in the cafeteria alone at lunchtime. All of the other long tables are filled with other students, while I sat alone in the corner. Some of the narrative shows that my character wanted someone to sit with him, but no one did. I figured this was a move to have players sympathize with the character and consequently with the actual gunman, but I did not feel this empathy. I could not relate to the game’s presentation or depiction of the event that day, thus I felt this was an obstacle that I wanted to finish. After this flashback, the game moves to show the two characters in a fantasy land where they wish they could live without any other people bothering them. The narrative explains that this probably could never happen, though, thus the player is transported back to the present day. The two characters realize that they no longer wish to live, thus both kill themselves. What comes next was incredibly disturbing. A number of actual photos from the Columbine shootings are flashed across the screen in a montage, which made me feel somewhat sick to my stomach. The photos were very graphic, which I found disturbing. When these were thankfully done, the player then basically enters into Hell, where I was tasked to attempt to kill Demon Soldiers, but was finally taken down. I found this game to be a distasteful exploitation of the true event of the Columbine shootings, and thankfully its crude representation of the massacre (aside from the photos) lessened the disturbing nature of the game. I certainly would not recommend this game to anyone. Mon, 17 May 2010 09:04:06 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4238&iddiary=7912https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4238In my second session playing the game, I was finally able to successfully plant the two bombs in the cafeteria while avoiding the security cameras. Making my way outside, I met up with Dylan and more dialogue was exchanged. The two then began to take out all of the weapons that they had prepared to bring for today. I assumed that the pictures of the weapons were actual photos of the weapons the two real-life gunmen used in the massacre, which added a very real and disturbing quality to the presentation. The cheerful music that played in the background during this exchange was also kind of haunting, as it was a complete contrast to the dark and once again disturbing event about to take place. Once this dialogue was finished, I was tasked with entering the school and basically initiating the shootings. Throughout the parking lot in front of the school, a handful of NPCs were running around erratically, and once I made contact with one by accident. This launched the very crude combat menu, which gave me the choice of weapon to use on the character. I reluctantly chose the manual option, as I figured I might as well see all that the game has to offer the player. Luckily the representation of the character as well as the killing animations were very crude, so this lessened the uncomfortable feeling I had knowing that this character represented an actual helpless and innocent high-schooler. I continued into the school, where more students were running around wildly. As I maneuvered through the halls of the school, I tried to avoid the characters running around as best I could. I really did not want to kill any more of the characters, not only because I couldn't bear going through the annoying combat system, but also because of the fact that I did not want to take part in glorifying the Columbine killings. I merely explored the school, unavoidably running into a random character every now and then. Mon, 17 May 2010 00:19:53 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4238&iddiary=7906https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4238Mon, 17 May 2010 00:04:28 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4238&iddiary=7904https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4238My first impression of the game was very negative. Even before I started playing the actual game, I was reluctant to delve into the content. I had heard of the game before, and I felt that it was incredibly insensitive and inappropriate to make a game about the Columbine high-school shootings. When I began to play, I realized that the game itself is not realistic. It utilizes old 8-bit graphics and text that is hard to read. I found myself struggling to make out the dialogue used in the beginning of the game, yet as a completionist gamer I felt it was necessary to try to read everything. The gameplay is simplistic, with the player moving around Reb, one of the two gunmen. Action is controlled with the spacebar, which was used for initiating dialogue or picking up items. After basic preparations before heading to school, which I was not looking forward to, the first actual mission begins. The player is tasked with entering the school and, without being spotted by hall monitors or security cameras, planting two bombs in the cafeteria. This stage was torturous. The old graphics made it difficult to tell if the security cameras could spot you, and little navigation assistance is presented. Countless times I was busted simply for not being able to tell if I was too close or not. My replays of this part boiled down to memorization of where to go and where not to go. In my first playthrough I really did not advance far into the game.Fri, 14 May 2010 16:18:24 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4238&iddiary=7891https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4206For my final day playing San Andreas, I continued to play through the missions. The next mission that I tackled was called "Drive Thru." In this mission, CJ and his friends drive to a local fast food joint to get some food, where they see a Ballers car drive by. The player then must pursue the car and kill all of the rival gang members. Once again, the mission is incredibly violent as it gives players another scenario and manner with which to kill enemies. CJ and his friends open fire out of the car at the rival gang until the car catches fire. After a few seconds, the car explodes, instantly killing all of the gang members. Another aspect of the game that promotes violence is the money that is awarded to the player after each mission, for example $200 and "respect" is awarded the player for successful completion of the mission. With this system in place, there is virtually no other way to gain respect or money without completing the missions, which all promote violence and require some form of killing in the process. As a gamer, I have played a great number of videogames over the years, including this one. Having said this, I feel that I have become somewhat desensitized to violence, at least that which is present in games. The game itself, however, does not make me want to commit the same acts in real life. This is the fine line in the argument whether violent videogames make players want to explore such acts. One aspect of San Andreas that is relatively rare in games, however, is race issues. Much of the dialogue in the game, especially during cutscenes, features language that is racial and explicit. I thought this was an interesting facet of the game, considering race is usually not explored in other games. Another part of race that is represented in gameplay is that of the gang members. All of the gang members appear to be either African-American or Hispanic; this could certainly could be an accurate representation of gang makeup, particularly in the early 1990s West Coast neighborhoods represented in the game. Overall, it was nice to revisit San Andreas. The game controls, both for movement and driving, are easy to pick up, and I had no problem getting around from point to point in the open world. There is a great deal of variety in the missions, which keeps the game interesting for a long time. Through these gamelogs, I was given an opportunity to further analyze the various ethics or topics like race that are prevalent in the game.Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:18:02 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4206&iddiary=7849https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4206I continued my play of San Andreas by tackling the numerous missions that are presented to me through in-game cellphone calls. Icons appear on the radar at the bottom corner of the screen indicating where I should go. Driving controls are pretty responsive overall, but I found that the Playstation left-analog stick sometimes got me into trouble steering. As an Xbox 360 owner, I have grown accustomed to the 360 controller, so I thought the Playstation controller was a bit more sensitive. This was a minor gripe, though, as this did not completely prohibit me from successfully. One of the first main missions ("Tagging Up Turf") has players driving around to different locations indicated on the map and spray-painting over rival gang tags. Getting from point to point was easy, and the only minor obstacle was Baller gang members attacking me once they saw me tagging their turf. These gang members would immediately either open fire on me or begin to try to beat me up. I am not an expert on gang culture by any means, but I do feel that this type of reaction among gangs is not altogether unthinkable. Giving players control over these situations does encourage gamers to take part in violent actions, as it is either fight back or die. The second mission I played was "Cleaning the Hood," where players join up with in-game ally Ryder to clean out drug dealers that are negatively affecting Grove Street, CJ's hood. This is a pretty violent mission, as I was forced to beat to death coked out rival gang members, leaving dead bodies and pools of blood on the floor of their house. Players really have no other choice but to kill all of these men, as the mission cannot be finished unless done so. I can certainly see why many have scorned this game for its violent nature, yet the age-old argument can be made that it is still only a form of entertainment and not a promotion of such actions.Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:37:07 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4206&iddiary=7840https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4206 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas opens with a cutscene of main character CJ returning home from fictitious Liberty City, and the player understands that CJ’s mother has been killed in his childhood home of San Andreas. He claims he must “bury his mom” as he catches a cab from the airport. On the way, the taxi is pulled over by a couple of aggressive cops who the player is led to believe have a history with CJ. They arrest CJ, then drop him off in “Rolling Heights, Baller Country,” rival gang territory. I have played this game in the past, so I was quite familiar with the controls and the structure of the gameplay. I hopped on the bike that was left in front of me and rode off to CJ’s childhood home, launching another cutscene. The first half-hour of the game is spent allowing players to get a feel for the game, learning the controls and understanding certain aspects like driving and getting around the city. Unlike many that play this type of sandbox, open-world type game, I tend to avoid maiming and killing everything that moves, instead gaining experience through the missions that are presented to me. I didn’t get too far in the game in my first play-through, but early on there are still basic ethical situations that are indirectly offered to the gamer. One can choose whether or not to kill innocent people as they walk by; money drops from dead bodies on the ground, but it is up to the player whether or not they want to keep murdering more people, as they can raise their police “wanted” level. If the player’s wanted level is too high, they can lay low for a while until the police stop their search. This system keeps players from killing too much at once, but obviously cannot prevent players from continuing rampages in the future. Overall, it was a nice nostalgic experience returning to San Andreas, and I look forward to my next play-through. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:32:32 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4206&iddiary=7830