Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=304https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1384My friends and I looked for strengths and weaknesses in the SMB3 game. One of the bad things we noticed was the repetitiveness of the bosses. The level always starts on a flying ship where there are bullets and cannons firing. This is followed by a shelled Koopa that needs to be destroyed by jumping on its head 3 times. This in turn would gives you a wand that can be used to save the king who has been transformed into a spider or something. Seeing this again and again makes the game a bit boring. Another downfall is the frustration encountered when one looses all of his/her lives and has to redo all of the levels of that world. I find the game fun but also there is more frustration in this game since I end up redoing a lot of the levels. Some of the things I really like about this game are the different suits Mario and Luigi can get. These include the frog, raccoon, and flower power suits. Overall, I think this game is pretty cool.Fri, 23 Feb 2007 02:44:22 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1384&iddiary=2935https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1384I borrowed Super Mario Brother 3 for NES from the library. It’s a game I haven’t played since I was a kid. I think this game was the first one ever to have a map where the players can select the place they are going to go next. This game also has things that are new to NES and Mario Brothers including mini games. Another thing that this game has is a place to keep a store of items that the player can use before starting the level. These advancements were revolutionary to such games. Many of these strategies are still used in games today. I think this proves that SMB3 got a lot of things right in terms of making a successful game.Fri, 23 Feb 2007 02:05:57 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1384&iddiary=2928https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1223As I went through another ritual-like day of Harvest Moon game play, I got to thinking…What is the end of this game? How is the ‘completeness’ defined? In some games, the goal is to beat an ultimate boss. In other games, you may want to explore and discover all of the treasures, short cuts, and dungeons. For some, it is a combination of both. Donkey Kong, for super Nintendo, is a great example of this. At the end, there is a giant crocodile king guy to beat. But, also, every time you save the game, you are given a percentage of how many of the secrets you have discovered. I guess in that case the goal would be to get 100% as well as beat the boss (although I’ve heard that you can get over 100%...as if it wasn’t complicated enough). But with harvest moon, there is no such marker of success. Your farm can always be bigger, you can always give your wife more flowers, and you can always go and catch a few more fish. There is also the concept of playing the game in different ways. This includes making different friends and having the different wives. Or, you can just go through on life as fast as possible and see what ‘the end’ entails and see how quickly you could get there. These are all different ways to think of completeness in the game. I’m not sure for this game which one I believe fits best.Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:55:02 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1223&iddiary=2607https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1223Harvest Moon is unlike any other game I have played. It is so weird to not have an enemy in a game! No other players, nothing to 'kill' or destroy...yet so much to do! I must admit, the tasks this game has for the player are not always the most exciting. Yet for some reason I still give in to the fact that they must be done. Example? Watering the plants. After walking over each square of dirt with my little watering can for a good 10 minutes, I can't help but want to scream. Or do I? There is something strangely satisfying about doing it. Maybe its knowing that in a few 'days' I will have fruit to show for my labor (literally). But still, my main question is this…how is a game successful when it doesn’t have an antagonist (either the computer or another player)? Thinking back to some of our definitions of a game, I notice the following things: If looking at the Abt definition of a game, there is definitely some activity going on where you, as a decision maker, do or do not do things to help or hinder your life and farm. But, what is the ultimate goal? This is a bit fuzzy to me. It seems like the purpose of this game is to just exist. I guess that’s not entirely true. There are definite advancements made in the game as certain ‘life events’ occur. For example, after courting a lady for a while, you will get to marry her. After being married for a while, you will have a child. And so on and so forth. The last criteria according to the Abt definition is the requirement of a limiting context. This game has a lot of rules and restrictions to make it more ‘life-like’ including day and night, a concept of time, and limited paces and spaces for working, walking, etc. There are also a LOT of resources to manage that effect how you game play goes. So, in short, I guess it is a game. It just hits the criteria of being a game in new ways that involve a shovel and some seeds. Who would have thought this game would do as well as its doing?Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:32:34 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1223&iddiary=2604https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=573Great news! I have finally been successful in getting the longshot! Wow…5 years later! Go Nemo! While playing this temple some more. I’ve been able to narrow down the types of ‘playing’ to 2. The first type of skill that you need is BRAIN power. It’s not about who can hit the ‘b’ button the fastest. Most of the challenges are puzzles. Now, every time I go into a new room, I take a few seconds to look around and see what kinds of obstacles are in there. Are there bad guys to kill? Are there blocks that can be moved? What about doors that need to be unlocked? Or, perhaps there are crystals? Taking these things into account can save a lot of time and save a lot of headache. I tend to find these puzzles much more enjoyable than fighting 100 little blobs that come out of the round and bounce around the room. The other type of skill involves how smooth you are with the controller. I find I am most lacking in this area. Aiming at objects is hard for me. I also think that I am not very fast at reacting to attacks by enemies. Still, since there is a balance of the two types of challenges, I am able to still enjoy the game. Zelda really does have it all!Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:32:27 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=573&iddiary=2282https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=573Taking the game design has definitely started to change the way I look at video games. In Zelda, for example, I was very frustrated and was starting to think that the water temple was impossible. Now I look at the game with a new mindset… The game creator was not trying to create an impossible game. He or she merely wanted to create challenges that the player had to THINK through. I am now approaching the temple with more strategy. I am no longer wondering through random rooms. I use my map and compass to make sure there is nothing super important that I have forgotten. Already, after only 45 minutes of playing, I have gotten further than I had 5 years ago after a good few hours of banging my head against the wall. Also, I noticed that the game works very hard to give small hints as to what I can or should do next. My favorite super obvious hint came from my faery Navi who told me that MAYBE I could use my steel toed boots to POSSIBLY walk on the bottom of SOME LAKE….Gee thanks Navi. Some hints, on the other hand, were a lot easier to miss if I wasn’t watching closely. For example, there was one part in the dungeon where there is a whirlpool of water and a crystal I have to hit with my hook shot in order to make ‘something’ happen. Right after hitting the crystal, there is a mini cut scene that shows what the crystal is related to…in this case a gate that is sort of hard to see unless you know to look for it. These are great ways the game creator is able to guide the player without making them feel like someone is holding their hand but still keeps the player from getting completely lost.Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:42:59 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=573&iddiary=2264https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=573So today I learned that in order to get through the dungeon I am stuck in, I need the long hook shot thing. That got me thinking, Zelda was the first game I played where you could have a series of weapons. The ‘treasure’ hunt idea is actually quite cool. It forces you to do more than just find the bad guy in each dungeon. Some of the treasures are required to progress in the game. It’s another way to kind of give the player a path to follow in a world that at times seems too big and chaotic. Having these weapons to find also adds another thing to the list of things to do before you can call a game ‘completed.’ For example, there are some people who thing that finishing a game is when you find the ‘big boss’ and kill him. I think that really finishing a game is more about finding all of the hidden components and doing the smaller tasks as well. They are put there to enhance your game playing experience and add to the challenge…so why not challenge yourself? I’m not sure where that long hook shot thing is but I am doing my best to find it….it must be here somewhere…Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:01:07 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=573&iddiary=2231https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=573So today I started playing Legend of Zelda for N64 after having given up on it about 5 years ago. Before I talk about my game playing experience today, let me talk about my history with the Legend of Zelda series... First of all, why the fascination with Zelda? I think it comes back to my love of the 'save the princess' mantalilty coupled with the classic good vs evil combat. Zelda also has a lot of great mythical stuff in it like faeries, magical potiens, great 'worlds' and temples, and the ultimate bad guy. This was also a great game in terms of adding 'cinematic quality' cut scenes which were fairly new to me.... My sister and I began playing Legend of Zelda on Super Nintendo. Together we were fairly successful in beating that game. Then, a few years later, I heard there was going to be an Zelda game for N64 and I was super excited. When I finally got it, I was quite shocked at what I found... As a newbie to N64 and 3D games, I had a lot to learn. Suddenly, I had to change camera angles on my own and learn to 'z target' my enemies. Using a joystick was also a new experience. I got rather far into the game but got stuck at one of the dungeons and gave up. Then life got busy and my gaming days, for the most part, were at an end (except for group games like Mariokart). As I started playing again today, I spent a majority of the time relearning everything I had forgotten. I especially like the fact that I have a horse and Navi around to help me out. This world seems a lot bigger than the last Zelda game and I feel like there is a lot I haven’t found. This game is a lot more realistic than the past games. For example, there is a concept of time so that you have day and night hours (although you can sneak around that using the ocarina). I am also noticing that there are way more ‘thinking’ involved in this game than the last one. It seems like there is a puzzle or logic for every step. For ‘C’ to happen, first do ‘A’ and ‘B.’ An example is the dungeon I am stuck in. Here, the water levels are controlled by a series of levers/buttons that must be used in the right order to get through the dungeon. I am a fan of these puzzles but I feel like there is so much to learn before I get comfortable with them. I guess I’ll just have to play more and find out!Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:00:43 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=573&iddiary=2230https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=584So my Mariokarting was again solo (hopefully for the last time). This time I decided to take a closer look at why I think Mariokart has been such a hit (besides the social aspects talked about in my last blog). Racing games are a favorite of mine in general due to the fact that they are easy to learn. The idea of staying on the road while using the gas and break are easy enough to understand. BUT, Mariokart has captured so much more than that. The weaponry provided by driving over the 'question marks' definaltey add a new demension to the game. They give the player something to improve on as they play the game besides the 'stay on the road' part. Each item is good for certain types of attacks/defenses atcertain instances. Mariokart also has other little 'goodies' such as shortcuts for many of the levels, and (one of my personal favorites) the 'blue sparks.' Other little things like the 'dash' that can be achieved in the beginning of the race are things that have become legendary in the mariokart series and again can be developed and leveraged for a more intensive game playing experirence. I think by maintaining some of the traditions mentioned above while adding subtle new ones (like the blue sparks) allow Mariokart to keep coming back in newer systems. Oh, having better graphics each time is nice too :)Fri, 12 Jan 2007 05:18:29 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=584&iddiary=1365https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=584Normally I am inclined to play double dash with groups of people, however, it is just my luck that I have no one is awake to play with me at this moment in time. First of all, a little bit of background on me as a 'gamer.' I consider myself a mild expert at a few games with little or no interest in learning very many new ones. As far as mariokart is concerned, I have played considerable amounts of the game on snes, 64, and gc. My love of this game comes mainly (I think) from its ability to get a lot of people involved in the game at one time. This is especially true for the 64 and gc versions of the game. I like to think that playing video games can be a very social activity. So today, while playing all alone, I started to look for things that made mariokart favorable as a 'get together' game. One of the great things about the game cube version of this game is the different ways in which 1 up to 4 people can play the game. You can work alone, in pairs, or mix and match. For example, if you have a new gamer learning mariokart, they can work with an 'expert' by being the 2nd driver in a car. This allows them to participate by firing weapons and punching other drivers without having to be an expert themselves. This game is also great in that it allows you to pick characters and cars for your race, as well as the course on which you will race. Again, you can mix and match skill levels by picking characters and/or cars based on the experience level for each of the drivers. In short, its the costomizability (is that a word) coupled with a multiplayer design that makes this racing game enjoyable as a group experience.Fri, 12 Jan 2007 04:56:43 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=584&iddiary=1357