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Feb 14th, 2008 at 15:58:30 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
GAMELOG #2
GAMEPLAY
Playing the game the second time, I played the other two games, baseball, and tennis. Baseball and tennis were both similar in their game play. Beginning baseball, I tried to hold the remote just as you would hold the baseball bat, to create a better effect, but I found that just holding the remote in my hand produced the same effect. Again I went online and played with baseball cheats, I learned to do a special submarine pitch, a screw ball, and a splitter pitch, all greatly affected my game play. By this time, I had a better understanding of the remote. I was had greater control on the flicking of my wrist, and understood that’s what’s really created the positive effect.
Tennis is rumored to be the best game, so I was excited to play this one. Tennis was a lot of flicking my wrists, and sadly there wasn't many cheats online. I really enjoyed tennis though; I found it to be very lifelike and realistic. I thought in tennis especially that there was good linkage between cause and effect. When I flicked my wrist appropriately, my player responded accordingly, and again this allowed for great interaction with my friends, and effort on my part.
DESIGN
The Wii is a great design. The players are realistic, meaning the cause and effect, the game was exciting, had a great social atmosphere, an ease yet, a degree of learning required, this game had distinct rules, there was variable outcomes, with the player invested in those outcomes, and there was no real life consequences. By Juuls definition, this is definitely a game, a great one at that.
First let me comment on the social atmosphere, which I kind of peeked to in my game play descriptions. Whether you’re playing the game, or watching the game, you’re into it. I was talking to the TV as if my players could here me, I was taunting my opponent, and I took extreme pride in my victories. Even while watching, I was cheering and taunting like at a live football game. Considering the magic circle concept, I would definitely say that even people not playing at the time, were apart of it. Even when we took a break to go eat, we were still discussing it, talking as if we were members of real teams that had just come out victorious, it was really interesting.
Aside from the social interaction brought by the game, there was the general ease of the game, and the learning capability. When starting the game, you pick up the remote, and just start swinging it. I am sure a lot of people like I did, tested out whether or not actually swinging the baseball bat, like a baseball bat was more effective then just holding the remote. You easily learn though how to hold the remote, which buttons you hold down to, with to let go to, and its not a frustrating learning experience either. Usually, playing competitive games like madden, by the time you use all the buttons and features right, your already losing without the possibility of beating your opponent, but in playing the Wii, even if you lose one game, its such a light, social atmosphere, its just like a simple, aww man, well now I got it. I definitely enjoyed that.
Rules, by Juuls definition, a game requires distinct rules, and again Wii definitely had it. In playing all the games, there was a clear understanding of what you had to do to win, what you were capable of doing and what you couldn’t. And since the games were realistic, common games, the rules were obvious and understandable, and coincided with the design rules.
The other element I commented on, and thoroughly enjoyed was the game environment, and how though you were playing a game, and you were invested in the outcome, once you leave the game space, you leave the game space. Your game play experience bears no weight on your finances, or relationship status, maybe some slight taunting here and there, but nothing serious. Through this though, there is still different possibilities, and your invested in their outcomes, you have to options, either win the game, or lose the game, but within, there is so many options, no one game experience would be the same. No one boxing match, baseball game, or any of the other games, is gonna be the same, even if you tried. Overall I thought this game was very well designed, and I really enjoyed it.
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Feb 14th, 2008 at 15:25:07 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
GAMELOG #1
SUMMARY
The Wii sports allows you to play a variety of sports games on the Wii console. Wii sports includes tennis, golf, bowling, boxing, and baseball. The Wii is designed to simulate actual playing of the game, with a special designed motion censored controller.
GAMEPLAY
This was my first time ever playing with a Wii console. One of my friends has one in the dorm, and ranted and raved about it, so I tried it. I started playing this game, by trying the golf. Golf is my favorite actual sport, so I was really excited to play the simulated version. I attempted to hold the control as if it were my driver, because I thought that would give me the best affect. I found it somewhat annoying, because it didnt give me the affect I wanted. Theres a power meter that measures how far your ball will go, and if you swing too high, the ball doesnt give you the affect it would if you were actually at the driving range.
Next I played the bowling game. Playing bowling was fun. At first I had no real strategy, I was just kind of swinging the remote, and I didnt really understand the strategy of using the remote. I would hold the button too long and end up with akward late throws, without the affect I wanted. I thought the game was easy to learn and adapt too, and I think thats what really made me want to keep playing. As I continued bowling, my skills progressed, as did my scores, and I just wanted to keep playing and keep playing. I think this game had a more realistic affect then the golf game and I appreciated that.
I must note, that while playing these games I expierienced an excellent social atmosphere and sense of learning. I played for a long amount of time, without even noticing, and I felt like I was actually being productive without being productive. Specefically I mean I was up and moving around, and interacting with my floor mates, and I felt productive, but I was playing a video game.
After playing the bowling for a while, I tried the boxing game. Boxing gave me a lot of control over my player and there was a lot of cheats I could use online. I made myself a pro and added points to my score, I also learned to hold the remote to block certain attacks and jab punch better. Boxing found a way to increase my social atmosphere while producing an extreme sense of competition and adrenaline, this was my most exciting game play expirience yet.
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Feb 8th, 2008 at 02:19:33 - The Sims 2 (PC) |
Gameplay #2
GAME PLAY
Playing the game the second time, I had a greater grasp of the games concept and quickly settled into a routine. Settling into the routine wasn’t a good thing though. I got kind of bored after a while, all I did was go to work, and make sure everyone was fed, rested, and took care of their bathroom urges. In order to better the game, I started testing the amenities in my home. From painting, to playing computer games, I found more options of things to do, even throwing house parties, and going into town. All of these things and different options made the game more exciting. With all these different amenities and options I had a lot of fun playing the game.
The other option I took advantage of in this second round of gameplay was the pet feature. Having a pet also opens up more options and creates excitement in the game. Having a pet, you meet other pets, and other pet owners. Also having a pet makes going into town more exciting because you can buy products for your pet. Another thing I liked about the pet was that they were another area where players can achieve some type of social gratification and acceptance.
DESIGN
I appreciated the overall design of the Sims game. I liked the way the game was designed to simulate real life. And I appreciated the direct cause and effect action. In some games that simulate life, there is no direct connection and a series of unrealistic causes and actions. In this game, when you ignore a request to go to the bathroom, or leave the person unfed for a while, there is a direct, realistic result, and it affects your game play.. That element of the design was definitely one of my favorites.
Another element I really appreciated was the personalization capabilities. This game allows players to design single characters and whole families. You can make players that directly reflect you and your personal style, or someone you admire, which makes game play more interesting. Also you can design your home from the ground up. You can design your childhood home, or the home of your dreams. The personalization capability really helps the player feel like their apart of the game, and not just as a player, but a creator. This investment in the game makes the game play experience more important and personalized, and creates a special social experience for the player.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 8th, 2008 at 02:22:43.
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Feb 8th, 2008 at 01:26:21 - The Sims 2 (PC) |
Game log #1
SUMMARY
The Sims is a real life simulation game. In this game, players live, work, and function as citizens in real society. This game has grown and expanded, you can add a variety of expansion packs, granting players additional options. The pets version of is the same basic concept expect you can add pets to your household. With the addition of pets, there is additional features for purchasing pet products and servicing your pets.
GAMEPLAY
Playing the game, I spent a large amount of time on designing my character and my home. I realize that you could just go ahead and play with a pre made person, or move into a pre made house, or even take over a pre made family in a pre made house, but I choose to create my own. Creating my own players and home was a lot of fun. Designing them helped me feel some form of ownership over the game and my game play experience. Also designing the home, and my family helped the anticipation to grow.
After spending an extensive amount of time designing the house, I began “playing” the game. Most of the games I am used to, are like Mario kart, where they have specific tasks and goals, built in challenges and such. In the case of the sims I realized there really was no guidance, or missions, or bosses, or anything like that, so I didn’t understand the goal of the game. I played the game for about an hour, and then realized the point of the game was to survive and function. It took that long just to get a grasp of the games goal. Originally, I felt like the game had no built in rules, but after I realized what the goal of the game was, I enjoyed playing it a lot more.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 8th, 2008 at 02:24:00.
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ms_jasmin has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 8 days |
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