Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1710https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5848Game Log Time: 12 midnight - 1:30am, 28th March It was a long killing spree play session. After the discussion we had in class, I did realize how the students are represented in the game into common categories. The music set me in an adventurous mood. I tried killing the girls whenever possible because they died easily and did little damage. Also I tried entering the restrooms more because there was always some action going on in there. I never really felt guilty in killing the innocent kids. They felt more like a bunch of pixels floating around on my screen. Also them attacking us, the players, felt disconnecting to the real context and the whole situation felt more like a poorly designed simulation game. The dialogues amongst the two shooters is very convincing. It put me into the mindset of a typical teenage rebel. I could relate to a lot of what the shooters spoke. Although it may sound highly unethical, the dialogues give a general sense of justification for their actions. In one of the restrooms, the shooters let go off a boy who was being bullied by some kids. This showed that the shooters were ethical in some ways and were not just a bunch of psychopathic killers. - Siddharth Bhavsar Fri, 28 Mar 2014 19:43:29 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5848&iddiary=10223https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5848Game Log Time: 3-4pm, 28th March 2014 Super Columbine Massacre RPG! says a lot about school culture and adolescence. While playing the game, there are several cut scenes where the shooters are reminded of certain things they come across, in school. The melodic music makes you feel the emotions that the shooters might've gone through. So is it society's fault that made them do what they did? Or is it their immaturity to handle situations? If I was related to the incident personally, I would definitely go with the latter. But the former could also be true. What if they were just being picked on mercilessly for petty reasons? Or that they were genuinely smart and the peers despised them for that. Escaping from such a situation whilst in school is very difficult because you cannot leave school, nor are the student mature enough to draw the line. If the game has offended many, it has also taught many adults of what it is to be like, for a school going kid who is being neglected. It takes courage to be quiet and be a silent observer. I feel the game has given me a good perspective of the situation. - Siddharth BhavsarFri, 28 Mar 2014 19:42:31 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5848&iddiary=10222https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5848Game Log Time: 12 midnight - 1:30am It was a long killing spree play session. After the discussion we had in class, I did realize how the students are represented in the game into common categories. The music set me in an adventurous mood. I tried killing the girls whenever possible because they died easily and did little damage. Also I tried entering the restrooms more because there was always some action going on in there. I never really felt guilty in killing the innocent kids. They felt more like a bunch of pixels floating around on my screen. Also them attacking us, the players, felt disconnecting to the real context and the whole situation felt more like a poorly designed simulation game. The dialogues amongst the two shooters is very convincing. It put me into the mindset of a typical teenage rebel. I could relate to a lot of what the shooters spoke. Although it may sound highly unethical, the dialogues give a general sense of justification for their actions. In one of the restrooms, the shooters let go off a boy who was being bullied by some kids. This showed that the shooters were ethical in some ways and were not just a bunch of psychopathic killers. - Siddharth BhavsarFri, 28 Mar 2014 19:41:35 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5848&iddiary=10221https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5848Play Time: 10:30am – 11am, 26th March 26, 2014 Being a non-US citizen, I am barely acquainted with the actual Columbine massacre. So I decided to play the game without doing any research on it for the first time. The game feels just like another RPG. The 8-bit art-style makes the game feel more like an arcade game than a re-enactment of an actual incident. I did not get the significance of the rabbit that sits on the corridors of the school. Why did I have to avoid being seen by it? Maybe it is something that will tie up later in the game. I had difficulty following instructions as they were low-res and overly pixelated. The dialogues show the angst of the shooters. It tries to convince the player that their actions are justified, so the player begins to think more like them. One of them come across a fellow friend and ask him to leave. This part disconnects the long cut-scenes where the shooters express their angst towards society. Why did they have to spare him? Just because he was more friendly? Did they assume that everyone who is not as friendly or who does not comply with them are bad and must be killed? Seems like they had coping problems or just didn't know how to deal with a problem.Fri, 28 Mar 2014 19:40:28 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5848&iddiary=10220https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5796Game: GTA San Andreas Date: 3rd Feb - 2014 Time: 10 - 11pm The next mission was to save Sweet from a gun battle. I was advised to load myself before the battle, but I had enough weapons from the last drive-by shootout against the Ballas. I reached the shootout spot. I had to kill the players who had a red arrow pointing over them. I just drove over them. It reminded me of a scene in the move 'The Pianist', where a German officer runs his vehicle over the Jews without any remorse. The sound of the bones crunching under my tires felt a little annoying. It actually felt unrealistic. I wondered if a person in real life would come under a car, how would the driver and the victim react? Im sure the pain will be excruciating and will make the victim scream to the top of his lungs. However, I was skewing away from the magic circle of the game by thinking more rational. Finally I thought, 'these are gangstas, they are born rough and tuff', and got back to being bad. Tired with the missions, I went wandering around the city. I used some cheats to get into some action. The responses from random NPCs in the game always feel fresh and funny. 'Underwears are overrated', said a random person when I walked out of my house after saving the last mission. I did not enjoy playing the missions this time. It felt repeated and silly. I've noticed that the game doesn't reward the player much. Maybe this is the reason why some people enjoy doing more random things than playing the missions. I took a sniper and began shooting people from a very far range. It was funny to see some people running in fear and some others walking casually as if nothing took place. Finally I was 'wanted' 4 stars and the helicopter started chased me. I took my bazooka and shot it. After a few moments, an entire army of police were behind my tail. I crashed in the divider and got arrested. What next? Alt+F4 - Siddharth Bhavsar Wed, 05 Feb 2014 12:18:28 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5796&iddiary=10155https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5795Game: GTA San Andreas Time: 9-10am Today I was asked to look after my sister Kendl. I first needed a low rider to blend with the gang that she hangs out with. The low rider mission was fun. The music went well along the. The gameplay of the mission was flowy. Then CJ meets with his sister's boyfriend Cesar. Cesar tries to pose a clean image in front of CJ. He assures him that he is not fooling around with his sister and plans on marrying her. To think of it, anyone would have acted like Cesar in front of their girlfriend's brother. In such cases, it puts the person in a dilemma where on one side, he wants his sister to be happy, and on the other side, he wants his sister to be safe. After that, I went on a mission with Ryder to rob a war veterans house. It had a sneaky stealthy gameplay. The noise level and the time limit made me a little nervous. Ryder portrays a very friendly nature. His light hearted abuses, personal and philosophical remarks gives him a strong and unique personality. On the other hand, Big Smoke and Sweet feel more mature. I continued the game by the Og Loc's mission. OG also has a unique and strong personality like Ryder. The initial conversation between smoke and OG gives a sense that OG is of the 'all talk and no action' type. Nevertheless, he is part of the hood and is treated like one. The bike mission that followed was a more skill intensive mission. It takes you through narrow lanes and inside buildings on a bike. Although the aim is to let OG get close to him so that he can shoot him, the biker can never really get close until the very end. After I reached, there is a storm of gunshots which can get you killed even while getting off your bike. - Siddharth BhavsarWed, 05 Feb 2014 12:16:46 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5795&iddiary=10154https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5792Game: GTA San Andreas Time: 12 noon - 2pm Sticking up for the hood, shootin them Ballas, going all gangsta again. Sorry for that, but GTA San Andreas never gets old even after playing the same linear story for about the 4th time. The story started on a serious tone where CJ visits the funeral of his recently deceased mother. Living away from home for a while, he notices how his 'hood' loses its power over the community and decides to stay around and fix things. The old aliased graphics felt a little annoying at the start. But as I played more, the story drew me in and I started focusing more on my character's role than the graphics. The cut-scenes were ever entertaining and juiced up the setting of the game even more. After about 15 minutes since I started playing, I felt a sense of responsibility and loyalty towards my 'homies'. The dialogues amongst the NPCs and CJ gave a sense of a reunion of a family after a long time. The light abuses also added to the vulnerability of the characters showing the long term friendship. The disconnection between me and CJ broke and I played every mission like I was battling for my own hood.Sat, 01 Feb 2014 19:08:10 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=5792&iddiary=10145