The casual game i played was Bejeweled:
http://free-online-games.nu/bejeweled.html
The only valid move is to swap adjacent gems to make three or more gems of the same color line up horizontally or vertically. When that happens, you earn points, the lined-up gems disappear, the gems above them fall and the extra space is filled with random gems. Once this has happened, there may once again be three or more gems lined up, in which case the process is repeated. This is called a "cascade". The game ends when there are no valid moves.
The game is quite enjoyable for the first 10 or 15 minutes, until the moves become harder to find.. then it starts to get boring and more and more tempting to just quit.
There is quite a lot of concentration required as you need to find a move that will make three or more gems of the same colour line up horizantally or vertically. When you get further into the game, the moves you can make become fewer and fewer so a lot of concentration is needed, this also adds to the immersive aspect of the game as well.
I think this game is aimed at anyone and everyone, there is no specific target, hence the term 'casual game'
The immersive aspcet of the game is not emotional, just a side effect of the concentration required in playing the game
The game is easy to learn, but hard to master.. you need to know what moves to make and always be one step ahead, because one move could prevent you from making another move, and then effectively end your game.
Their is no narrative in the game, just instructions to begin.. after that you're on your own
There is no social interaction to the game either, its a one player puzzle game.. usually people like to play these games by themselves anyway.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Miss Bimbo
Ok, so i registered for the latest moral panic.. 'Miss Bimbo', this game reminds me of neopets.. except its a 'bimbo'
The game is not very enjoyable, whilst i feel it puts an interesting spin on the virtual pets genre, it still is basically a virtual pet game, which i find boring and tedious as in effect you're not actually playing a game, you're merely clicking different things. Not to mention the whole point of the game is to be skinny and underweight, whilst some people would say it is funny, its poking fun at quite a serious problem among young girls.
The concentration required in the game is quite minimal as nothing drastic changes over the time you're playing, you're given goals you have to achieve at the start. I was given these goals:
1 Change your drab hairstyle to become a popular blonde with cool pigtails!
2 Rent your very own apartment. Bout time you got your own pad Goal Not Achieved!
3 Register yourself on a training course and get an exciting new job
and these are the stats of my bimbo:
Your Bimbo : bw1269
Thirst : 0 % Hunger : 0 %
Happiness : 99 %
Weight :127.6 Lbs
The target weight for your bimbo is 127 lbs, and ideal height is a slinky 5 ft 6 inches
My apartment
1 000 Bimbo Dollars
0 Bimbo attitude
The game is obviously aimed at girls, which could be the reason i didn't enjoy it. However i cant really see girls enjoying it either as it's a bit stupid
The game is not immersive at all, in fact ts hard to feel involved as you cant even relate to the game.
The narrative of the game is just text on your "my bimbo" screen, which tells you what to do, youre goals etc
There is not a huge amount of social interaction, however you can compare top scores etc with all other members of miss bimbo, which adds some form of social interaction to the game
The game is not very enjoyable, whilst i feel it puts an interesting spin on the virtual pets genre, it still is basically a virtual pet game, which i find boring and tedious as in effect you're not actually playing a game, you're merely clicking different things. Not to mention the whole point of the game is to be skinny and underweight, whilst some people would say it is funny, its poking fun at quite a serious problem among young girls.
The concentration required in the game is quite minimal as nothing drastic changes over the time you're playing, you're given goals you have to achieve at the start. I was given these goals:
1 Change your drab hairstyle to become a popular blonde with cool pigtails!
2 Rent your very own apartment. Bout time you got your own pad Goal Not Achieved!
3 Register yourself on a training course and get an exciting new job
and these are the stats of my bimbo:
Your Bimbo : bw1269
Thirst : 0 % Hunger : 0 %
Happiness : 99 %
Weight :127.6 Lbs
The target weight for your bimbo is 127 lbs, and ideal height is a slinky 5 ft 6 inches
My apartment
1 000 Bimbo Dollars
0 Bimbo attitude
The game is obviously aimed at girls, which could be the reason i didn't enjoy it. However i cant really see girls enjoying it either as it's a bit stupid
The game is not immersive at all, in fact ts hard to feel involved as you cant even relate to the game.
The narrative of the game is just text on your "my bimbo" screen, which tells you what to do, youre goals etc
There is not a huge amount of social interaction, however you can compare top scores etc with all other members of miss bimbo, which adds some form of social interaction to the game
Gender and Gaming
I do not agree that games consoles are for males only and females have no access to them in the home. I have a sister and when i asked her what her opinion was, she said she likes to play games, her favourite to play being Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Mario Kart.
She is not a dedicated gamer, but when she wants to play games she has no problem as my Playstation 3 is in the living room, so she has access to it at anytime, and she also has a Nintendo 64 in here. In fact i would say she has had more access to gaming growing up than i did, due to me having a console before she was born, so she always had an option of playing one.
However the console did belong to me, i would never mind letting her play it and if she had of wanted a console my parents would not have minded buying het one.
She is not a dedicated gamer, but when she wants to play games she has no problem as my Playstation 3 is in the living room, so she has access to it at anytime, and she also has a Nintendo 64 in here. In fact i would say she has had more access to gaming growing up than i did, due to me having a console before she was born, so she always had an option of playing one.
However the console did belong to me, i would never mind letting her play it and if she had of wanted a console my parents would not have minded buying het one.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Newspaper Headlines
Newspaper Headline that could be used to encourage moral panic for Grand Theft Auto IV
"GAMERS STEAL, DEAL AND KILL FOR THRILL"
Newspaper Headline that could be used to encourage moral panic for Call Of Cuty 4
"OUR CHILDREN ARE FIGHTING WARS... FOR FUN"
"GAMERS STEAL, DEAL AND KILL FOR THRILL"
Newspaper Headline that could be used to encourage moral panic for Call Of Cuty 4
"OUR CHILDREN ARE FIGHTING WARS... FOR FUN"
Violence in Computer Games
As a young teen I enjoyed violent video games, for what they were.. games. I did not see them as anything to do with real life, just something for enjoyment or recreational purposes. The violent games included Grand Theft Auto, Tekken, StreetFighter, Smackdown, Goldeneye etc.
I would not have a problem with my child playing any of these games, however i can see today that more games are a lot more realistic than the games i played back then, but i still cant see how this would affect young people as long as they are thought to seperate their real lives from their gameplaying.
There have not been any video games that have disturbed me by the violence, granted some of the violence is quite graphic, but i can determine what is real and what is not. If i was to watch someone being shot i would be disturbed and preferably not have wanted to watch it in the first place, but when i see violence on a computer screen i do not get disturbed by it as i know its not real, it is not one human being inflicting pain or violence on another human being, its computer characters they have no feelings or emotions they are just doing what the computer is telling them to do.
I do think that live action sequences and the more common use of actors in video games does make the game more lifelike and could influence people as you can be disturbed by violence in a movie. However you could also argue that the actor could separate you from the game, as you are playing as someone else, not yourself.
I would not have a problem with my child playing any of these games, however i can see today that more games are a lot more realistic than the games i played back then, but i still cant see how this would affect young people as long as they are thought to seperate their real lives from their gameplaying.
There have not been any video games that have disturbed me by the violence, granted some of the violence is quite graphic, but i can determine what is real and what is not. If i was to watch someone being shot i would be disturbed and preferably not have wanted to watch it in the first place, but when i see violence on a computer screen i do not get disturbed by it as i know its not real, it is not one human being inflicting pain or violence on another human being, its computer characters they have no feelings or emotions they are just doing what the computer is telling them to do.
I do think that live action sequences and the more common use of actors in video games does make the game more lifelike and could influence people as you can be disturbed by violence in a movie. However you could also argue that the actor could separate you from the game, as you are playing as someone else, not yourself.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Americas Army
Ok, so for this week i had to play Americas army.
To my surprise i actually quite ennjoyed this game, and it is surprising because i am not the biggest fan of first person shooters.. mainly because im crap at them and would rather play pro evo(hint hint caroline)but yes, american propaganda aside i thought this was a relatively good first person shooters, however dont take my advice to heart as its well known im not an expert on these types of games.
Obviously there is a fair amount of concentration required, due to you not wanting to be shot in the head, even when you think that theres no one around, there could be someone about to snipe you in the head.. so yes concentration is required, however the concentration required helps you get immersed in the game, which then contributes to the enjoyment factor.
I think this game has two target markets, firstly obviously then being the first person shoot enthusiasts, however i also think this game has a lot of american nationalism to it and could possibly have an interest withing the american nationalists, i.e. right wing... *cough* rednecks *cough*
The game is quite simple to learn, with the basic first person shooter controls on the keyboard and mouse, however some people are better at these games than others, and im not one of them
The games narrative is not so good, i dont think it helps the game in any way
The social interaction of the game is the same with most first person shooters, over a network!
To my surprise i actually quite ennjoyed this game, and it is surprising because i am not the biggest fan of first person shooters.. mainly because im crap at them and would rather play pro evo(hint hint caroline)but yes, american propaganda aside i thought this was a relatively good first person shooters, however dont take my advice to heart as its well known im not an expert on these types of games.
Obviously there is a fair amount of concentration required, due to you not wanting to be shot in the head, even when you think that theres no one around, there could be someone about to snipe you in the head.. so yes concentration is required, however the concentration required helps you get immersed in the game, which then contributes to the enjoyment factor.
I think this game has two target markets, firstly obviously then being the first person shoot enthusiasts, however i also think this game has a lot of american nationalism to it and could possibly have an interest withing the american nationalists, i.e. right wing... *cough* rednecks *cough*
The game is quite simple to learn, with the basic first person shooter controls on the keyboard and mouse, however some people are better at these games than others, and im not one of them
The games narrative is not so good, i dont think it helps the game in any way
The social interaction of the game is the same with most first person shooters, over a network!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
National Treasure 2 Games
Ok, so this week i had to play games from the film National Treasure 2. I actually found most of the games to be quite disappointed, not that i expected much in the first place. However two of the puzzle games weren't bad, and two of the action games weren't bad either, the curse of isis, and the racing game in london were both enjoyable for five minutes, which is what they lasted. Obviously they are not going to make very long games as all these games are, are promotion material for the movie National Treasure 2.
The concentration requred in the action games is not much, as they are generic run and jump or accelerate, decellerate games. The puzzle games require quite a lot of concenration. In one of the puzzle games you had a keypad and a set of boxes laid out like the keypad, then the boxes would light up in a sequence and you then had to type the sequence in order onto the keypad.
The games are obviously aimed at the same people the movie is aimed at, which is kids, id say 5-12 year olds, however the puzzle elements can be a bit harder so perhaps they are aimed at a higher demographic
There is no skill really required to play the game, you will pick it up on the first go
The narrative is only a guide to how to play the game at the start of the game, there is no voice over or anything like that
All the games are one player, so there is no social interaction involved.
These games have nothing to do with treasure hunts, they are all just basic games that are being associated with the National Treasure franchise
The concentration requred in the action games is not much, as they are generic run and jump or accelerate, decellerate games. The puzzle games require quite a lot of concenration. In one of the puzzle games you had a keypad and a set of boxes laid out like the keypad, then the boxes would light up in a sequence and you then had to type the sequence in order onto the keypad.
The games are obviously aimed at the same people the movie is aimed at, which is kids, id say 5-12 year olds, however the puzzle elements can be a bit harder so perhaps they are aimed at a higher demographic
There is no skill really required to play the game, you will pick it up on the first go
The narrative is only a guide to how to play the game at the start of the game, there is no voice over or anything like that
All the games are one player, so there is no social interaction involved.
These games have nothing to do with treasure hunts, they are all just basic games that are being associated with the National Treasure franchise
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