 |
|
Feb 21st, 2008 at 01:07:43 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
Game log #2
Game play:
The next hour of game play was different because my friend had to go home, so I played Wii Sports by myself. The game had gone from friendly rivalry, to extreme solo standard play mode. I mainly played bowling, because it was a bit challenging in the sense that I don’t have a good sense of angles, so, I could never get all the pins. Training mode really helped changed my poor wii bowling skills, and I really appreciated that aspect of the game.
Wii Boxing was definitely a workout. I used not only the wiimote, but the nunchuck as well. Although this sport was more physically draining than the others, it was still comparable to the other sports in difficulty, fun, and design.
Design:
Wii Sports really paid attention to defining aspects, rules and structures of classic sports. The tennis court, for example, was correctly positioned in terms of where the doubles lines where, net placement, and avatar placement. This attentiveness to paralleling reality with the game world really made the game easier to get into, and understand.
The “mii” characters, which were not in play, were incorporated into the game play really well as audience members in the tennis stands, to team members in baseball. This incorporation, I believe, makes the player feel more connected to the game, because a sense of a support group is induced.
Another aspect of design, that really differentiates the wii, itself, not only in Wii Sports, but also in other games, is the wireless remote technology used with the wiimote and the nunchuck. The use of motion by the player and it’s parallel on the screen, is a new technological development in design that attracts gamers, and brings gaming out of this “zombie like” perception, into a more physically active perception.
add a comment  - read this GameLog  |
|
Feb 21st, 2008 at 00:07:08 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
Game log #1
Summary:
Wii Sports presents the player with classic sports such as tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing. The player uses the ingenious wireless wiimote and nunchunk attachment to parallel motions on screen with tangible movements in the real world. Each game features a standard play mode, training mode, and multiple player options.
Game play:
Wii Sports grabbed my attention wholly when it had a mode for creating a "mii" because I'm a sucker for personalization. Making your own "mii" was so funny, because all the options you can choose from when creating your character are so cartoonish, but, if chosen properly, can actually resemble people's facial charactersitics and body type well. My friend and I spent like half an hour doing this, adding and subtracting different noses, lips, mustaches, etc.
We then started to play Wii Tennis, which was fun for me, mainly because I play tennis in real life, and was happy to see that you could put top spin on a ball to confuse the opponent. The only thing that bugged me was the fact that i couldn't control which direction my mii was going, and my back hand didn't slice as well as real life. All in all, the first hour of gameplay was fun, and I beat my friend at doubles.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 21st, 2008 at 00:44:48.
read comments (1)  - add a comment - read this GameLog |
|
Jan 26th, 2008 at 00:24:23 - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) |
Game Log #1
Summary:
The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, is a fantasy RPG that puts you within an ominous story line. The game opens up with a scene perceived as Link's dream of a girl being swept away from a castle on a horse, and then an obvious villain chasing after her. Link is also in the dream watching this. Then the Deku tree has a fairy go to Link to start the adventure. Link must go to the Deku Tree, but before you can leave the forest, you must attain "rupee's," or money to buy a shield, and you must also find a sword. Basically, you gain rupee's by cutting up plants, throwing and breaking rocks, and finding them randomly in houses or treasure chests. The style is very "fantasy" oriented with fairies, elves, and enemies that are plants.
Game play:
Since I had not played this game since I was in elementary school, I was very excited. The intro was mysterious and provocative in the sense that it really made me want to find out more about Link, the "girl," who I obviously assumed as Zelda, and how the game would play out. I also questioned why Link was fairy-less in the beginning, and why he was the "chosen one." When I started to play, I also realized that Link had been ostracized from the rest of his kind, and that he had a social life with a girl. Since I am a hopeless romantic, I really liked this aspect of social interaction. Since the game just throws you into Link's life, you have to figure out what you need to do by talking to other characters, learning how to throw and break rocks, and search through other peoples houses. The fairy is helpful in the sense that she makes you notice things you might not have noticed previously.
Once I had gotten the sword and the shield, I was finally able to pass through the gate to the Deku tree. Before this, I did not have a sense of endangerment. Once I was through the gate, I faced a new enemy, which was a plant that burst out of the ground and sprayed green toxic mist at me. I exclaimed an "agh" and then killed it with my sword. This was really fun, I was glad that I had to fight in a non final fantasy "pick and choose" style of fighting. The game forces you to think quickly about button combo's and direction.
The game is in a puzzle sort of style, which is fun but frustrating at times. It took me a while to figure out certain things, but once I got it, I had a sense of accomplishment that was great. I also stumbled, in an accidental seeming way, into hidden passageways with treasure boxes. This eased the frustration of not knowing how to get from one part of the map to another. In the end, it was very fun and the anxiety of being killed was exhilarating.
add a comment - read this GameLog |
|
Jan 19th, 2008 at 22:33:20 - Rez (DC) |
Game log #2
-Game play:
After writing the first game log, and having a cigarette, I was feeling calmer and more ready to take on"Rez." At this point, I had gotten to the 3rd area, and the speed of the game had intensified. "Rez" is definitely a stress reliever in the sense that it is stressful in itself. The virtual world around my character changed colors more rapidly and became a bit more confusing as enemies started to not only appear in the distance, but from all sides, next to, under and from behind. This addition was fun, in the sense that more difficulty had been added.
After the first few area's a "narrative progression" started to appear. While the game just kind of flings you into a virtual world filled with enemy's, music and colors, as the game continues you start to learn that killing as many enemies you can, as fast as you can, unlocks more worlds you can play. The point is to build your skill levels so you can take on more and more at once. From what I could gather, the story line is the basic, travel through worlds, kill the enemy, beat the boss, to find the key to new worlds with different shapes, colors and sounds.
The game play is definitely fun. I enjoyed the new enemies that were attached together in dragon formation and the way overdrive just obliterated the enemies in one astounding hit, producing an epic concert orchestra sound at the same time. Also, the explosions and such from hitting the enemy felt more dramatic and visually pleasing.
-Design:
A particular design element of "Rez" that made it especially fun, or "good," was the fact that it was 3 dimensional, yet unrealistic, in comparison to "our real world." It was technologically advanced looking, for it's time period of course," kind of like traveling through the BIOS system of your PC. Since I'm a girl who like bright colors, I of course loved the grid lines and shapes in hot pinks, white, bright blues and lime greens. The purples were a nice add as well.
The game creates conflict by making the enemies harder and harder to lock on to. It also starts to introduce enemies from different directions, which confuses you at first, but once you get it, the added difficulty is fun. Also, I noticed that as I progressed through worlds or "areas" within the game, it took more than one shot to kill enemies, or to gain the access key, while speeding up traveling time.
The tone of the game is very high tension adreniline rush, for me. I suppose the speed, the matrix style world, and the fast oncoming enemies induce this tone of high tension. You have free time to rest between levels, to enjoy the visuals and a "chiller" beat, but not much. Again, you are rushed through the world and it is very fast pace at times. It can be a little hard to handle, but I liked it.
All in all, the game was simple by modern standards, but the speed and the sounds made it interesting. It did not utilize realistic artistry, but kept to a basic generic style, with pumped up pace, and music coordination. My verdict: Simple, sweet, to the point, and fun.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 19th, 2008 at 22:36:12.
read comments (1) - add a comment - read this GameLog |
|
|
 |
| dawndawn's GameLogs |
|
dawndawn has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 5 days |
view feed xml
|
| Entries written to date: 5 |
|
