Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1476https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4818Third Play: After having my morning coffee I realized I had to play Super Columbine Massacre one more time. This was a sure way to get my day off on the right note (sarcasm). Nonetheless, I began the game from where I had left off. Maybe it was due to my lack of sleep last night or maybe it was a result of the terrible traffic this morning, but when I got to playing the game my moral equilibrium had shifted. During the third time I took the game for a “joy ride” and became hostage to its commands. The first person I saw, a blond cheerleader, I killed! Then eventually came a jock that punched me and as a consequence he got what he deserved…a bullet? In the end, due to the number of casualties present as a direct result of my actions, I felt that my character had entered into a realm comparable to only that of Mr. Bin-Laden. Eventually, I entered the “hell” level and continued to kill a few demons here and there. Luckily I noticed the time and quickly quite the game, before my moral fiber had completely disintegrated. Now I sit here typing away at the keyboard, analyzing the game in detail and trying to derive any meaning from it. Besides ones that are completely unnecessary, I still cannot comprehend why this game was ever created. Therefore I have concluded that it is no longer worth my effort in trying to do so. Thus I will proceed with a discussion relating only to my emotional state of being while playing this game. When I look back at my experience throughout the game, the entire time I felt as if I were guilty. Understandably my actions were ones to be ashamed of, and this is why I actually was able to hold off the killing of innocent characters until the last day. In addition the music of the game play also affected my emotional state by inducing rebellious action. Although, I caught on to it quickly and forced by self to cognitively disregard it. With my realization of the tactics used to encourage certain immoral actions- the music, flashbacks, and quotes- I was able to hold off on the killing. As a result, I felt proud throughout most of the game since I was able to stray from the temptations of the developers. Although at the end I did ultimately kill some characters, but due to my great desire to simply complete this assignment my emotions weren’t really affected during the end. With the third day complete, I can now assure you Super Columbine Massacre RPG will never again occupy a single fragment of game play for as long as I live. This was a good assignment in exposing us to the diversity of thought in the world but now that the assignment is complete, I feel relieved and satisfied with the knowledge that I will never again play such an inhumane game again. Respectfully Yours, Dr. GameWed, 12 Oct 2011 10:13:32 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4818&iddiary=8926https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4818Second Play: After playing the game for the first time, I thought about the morality behind its creation. I found myself quite agitated and angry why someone would even think of creating such a game. Whatever their point might have been, there is absolutely no reason why anyone should have created this game or play it. In all honesty, now that it has been created I can understand why we are, in a sense, forced to play this game. With respect to the assignment, I sat down to play the game for a second time and record my experiences. Luckily, our assignment is based on our experiences during the game and since each person’s experiences are based on the decision that person has made, I decided to play the game in my own personal way. Therefore the following reflection is merely a representation of my execution of the little power that had been given to me in the game and within the guidelines of the assignment. As before, I started off making the telephone call, going to the basement and getting the bag, lighting a fire, and eventually making it to the parking lot of the school. It is worth noting that due to my previous exhaustion, this time I partially relied on the assistance of online instructions. At this point I thought to myself, why didn’t I look online for help the first time playing. Last time it had taken me half an hour to make it to the basement, and still never found the much needed bag. From the parking lot I took my next step, and after multiple attempts I placed the bombs in the cafeteria- knowing they would not explode as planned, due to my knowledge of the actual event. Eventually, the bell rang and the massacre was a trigger pull away. From this point, I took advantage of the little power at my disposal. This was to be my experience, therefore why should I conform to what the game expects of me? I began to simply walk around different location. I never shot a fellow student, and I felt as if I had accomplished something marvelous. Eventually I got caught with the guns, but this didn’t matter to me. In all honesty, I don’t know why it felt so satisfying when in reality I hadn’t changed anything. Nonetheless, playing S.C.M. for the second time I felt proud of myself. Knowing that those digital images represented a real event and a real person, I could not bring myself to shoot any of them. WHY WOULD ANYONE CREATE THIS GAME??? After the game play was complete, and while I’m sitting here typing this reflection, I find myself wondering what my actions will consist of tomorrow. Hopefully I stick to my “game plan” but then again it was actual quite boring just walking around for the last couple minutes of the game… Morally Yours, Dr. GameTue, 11 Oct 2011 22:32:45 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4818&iddiary=8908https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4818First Play: In order to give an exact portrayal of my experiences of this game, I find it necessary to begin from the day it was first assigned. When hearing the game title, I initially found it a bit disturbing and thought the professor was joking. I couldn’t believe that a person could create a game that depicts such a devastating atrocity. Reluctantly, I visited the site in an attempt to figure out how to play the game and to my disappointment I found out that it must first be downloaded. Although this was a class assignment there was no way I would download this game, even if it was created with good intentions. As a result, all three days of playing Super Columbine Massacre RPG will be experiences within the game lab. Since this was my first time playing S.C.M. I went into the game lab not knowing what to expect. With the help of the lab technician, I began my journey to hell. From the onset, the game disappointed me with its graphics. This was absolutely nothing what I was expecting due to the fact that so many people already knew about the game which allowed me to think, that due to its popularity graphic quality must be good. As a direct result of the quality, I had now entered the time space continuum and was transported back to the stone age of video game development. After a few eager clicks of the spacebar my character was in, what seemed to be, his bedroom. From here I walked around clicking away at the keyboard in hopes of figuring out how to play the game. Eventually I made my way to the phone and had a quick discussion with my partner, ultimately deciding to meet up in his basement. Due to the quality of the graphics, maybe it was the computer, either way, I quickly grew tired of continuously trying to decipher what the program was telling me to do. Finally, I left his bedroom and made it to the basement. At this point, things took a turn for the worse. In the basement I looked for a bag that I had to fill up with guns. Not to keep you waiting, I will give you the gift of a one sentence summary: I, once again, walked around the room carelessly pressing buttons on my keyboard and running into walls hoping to find the elusive bag; ultimately never finding the bag and ending the game precisely 35 minutes later. Upon reflection of my experience, I noticed something positive that came from playing this game- we were able to find a game that is even more morally corrupted than GTA San Andreas. I’ve heard a few people say, “It’s a bad game, but it does raise some valid political points.” What?? If this game raises any valid argument or presents a useful perspective, I’m sure there are alternative methods that may be just as effective, if not more, in their presentation. We don’t have to relive such a horrific crime more than once, moreover take part in the digitized portrayal of the killing of innocent students from the killer’s perspective. From the beginning I knew that I would absolutely abhor this game, and I look to my next play with hesitation. Until next time, Dr. GameTue, 11 Oct 2011 18:02:52 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4818&iddiary=8897https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4752I have finally finished day 3 of playing Grand Theft Auto S.A.-Thank God! After my second day of playing the game, I got so tired of doing the same thing over and over again that when I started playing this morning I was just counting down the minutes. In the beginning I decided to once again attempt finishing the mission I left behind during my second day of playing, although I simply could not bring myself to continue through with it. As such, I once again began my rampage in search for some sort of excitement or challenge which I could derive some sort of satisfaction from. As expected, I quickly grew tired and took a look at the clock, hoping I had played for at least 30-40 minutes. To my surprise, I found out that I had actually played for almost an hour and fifteen/twenty minutes. I guess my cognitive attraction to the game lie buried deep within my subconscious (I hope this isn’t true). In retrospect, the fundamental reason behind my abhorrence to the game was a result of my previous discussion of its marketing and its lack of an intellectual objective. Being a business student, opportunity cost, benefits, and costs have been ingrained within me and I couldn’t help but try to judge the game for what it was offering me (the pursuit of self-interest). Therefore, every time I played this game I tried to calculate the benefits of playing vs. the costs. After my quick analysis of the games offerings, I came to the conclusion that the costs of playing far outweighed any benefits. In playing this game, I lost money, sleep, and increased agitation while I had gained at most five minutes of satisfaction. Therefore, through my perspective, luring kids to a costly game may very well be considered as unethical as manipulating a person into signing a contract for a venture which you already know will be unprofitable. All in all, through the 3 days that I played this game I probably derived some sort of pleasure/ utility for at most 15-20 minutes. The unlimited use of stereotypes, offensive language, and atrocious criminal acts without consequences, I found revolting. Consequently, as you might have guessed, I look forward to not playing this game anymore and the still open possibility of discarding it for good. Sincerely, Dr. GameWed, 28 Sep 2011 10:04:10 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4752&iddiary=8834https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4752Day 2 After playing Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for the first time in what must have been 4 years, I have to admit, picking the game up and playing it for “Day 2” came about with ease. With respect to my initial evaluation of the game, as being a game developed and marketed by ethically challenged individuals, the second time around left a much lesser negative impact on me. This must have been a result of my low expectations set forth by my “Day 1” experiences. Unfortunately my eagerness to quit the game, the first day, as soon as the 30 minutes were complete left me with an unsaved game. Starting from scratch, I once again began increasing my respect levels while in desperate search for finding out the objective of GTA San Andreas. Eventually I reached a challenge which required that I spray paint different locations within the city; sadly I wasn’t able to find any of my destinations. Thus, I began creating my own challenges such as how high I could get my wanted level to- ethical? After committing genocide and beginning to feel tired of doing the same thing over and over again I began to reflect on my experience. While playing this game I had shot, ran over, knocked out, and stabbed hundreds of people- did this foster any feelings of guilt or remorse? Nope! So why did I not feel anything while the images I was witnessing images which were representations of some of our biggest fears? The answer to this question, I believe, lies in what I said in the first paragraph: I knew what to expect. When I played this game during day 1, I couldn’t believe the things I was hearing and the seeing. But now with my expectations set at a certain level, my actions within the game represented a lack of humanity. At this point the ethics of the game come to question. Simply said, my day 1 experiences desensitized me to the images I was viewing during day 2. Therefore, the risk video game developers run when creating such games, is creating a completely desensitized person out of the players that are constantly exposed to their products. Sincerely, Dr. GameMon, 26 Sep 2011 23:42:27 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4752&iddiary=8792https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4752Dear Reader, It has been many years since I have played G.T.A. San Andreas, and now I was a bit excited to play this game from the perspective of a sociologist. The first few minutes were spent getting used to the controller and shuffling through my miniscule collection of videogame memories in search for the objective of this game. After committing a number of felonies, a level which in reality would result in capital punishment, I remembered the map at the bottom right of the screen and began my trek through the ghetto to CJ’s house. In 45 minutes of playing this game I had completed one mission and part of the second. At the end I was left with multiple questions and no answers. What is my objective in the game? Why did Ryder send me to get a haircut that I didn’t want? And most importantly how could my parents have bought this game for me when I was in eighth grade? Once I began to play this game there came a point at which I was actually frustrated at how so many of my peers played this game when we were all barely teenagers. The language used is vulgar, improper, and offensive. In addition, from what I witnessed, there is no useful objective and ultimately playing such a game serves to purpose. In 45 minutes of playing San Andreas, I never once encountered a white character or a black one that used proper English. Simply put, this game is a collection of stereotypes regarding black people and poor neighborhoods. As a result of this experience, I truly believe that the marketing for this game was unethical as is the game itself. From what I remember, there weren’t too many people above the age of 18 or 20 that played San Andreas yet everyone under 15 couldn’t stop talking about it when it first came out. This leads me to think that the marketing for this game was unethical since it targeted individuals who were still not mature enough to evaluate the game for what it is: a vehicle for stereotype distribution. Nonetheless, it was rated for mature audiences; but their marketing was so effective (unethical) that if a parent didn’t buy the game for their young boy they ran the risk of out-casting their child from his social surrounding. Now I must go and earn some more respect points…see you tomorrow. Sincerely, Dr. GameSat, 24 Sep 2011 10:05:38 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4752&iddiary=8757