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

Neopet Update

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

game playing time this week

this week i played guitar hero 3 for about 2 hours, and prove evolution soccer 08 for about 2 hours, all on saturday night.. before i went out

arcade games


Old Arcade Games


First game i played was pacman, i used to enjoy this game a lot when i was younger, but now i just find it boring. The game does require a lot of concentration, as you have to make sure you dont run into the ghosts, and collect all the coins or whatever it is he eats. The game is also quite immsersive as you can find yourself playing it for ages, just to get the highest score. The main point of the game, is to eat all the coins, and not get caught by the ghosts, i think this game is generally aimed at anyone. There isn't really any emotional involvement, except for when you press a direction and pacman decides not to go in that direction so you shout a load of abusive words at him, but thats about it.. The game is easy to learn, all you need to know is how to use the directional buttons, and there is no Social Interaction involved in playing the game, as it is one player.




Old Arcade Games


Second game i played, was donkeykong. Where you play as mario, trying to save the princess from Donkey Kong. The game is still quite enjoyable for about 20 minutes , but then it gets old. There is a lot of concentration required, because you have to avoid the barrels donkey kong throws, whilst trying to make it up the ladders to the princess, i think this game is aimed at younger people, but older people may also enjoy it as it is so simple and easy to get into. The game is quite immersive, however i dont think you get too emotionally involved, yoy may do if your younger though. The game is very easy to learn, all you need to use is the directional buttons and the jump button. There is no social interaction because it is only one player.




Old Arcade Games


The final game i played was street fighter 2. The embedded version, is not the one i played but i put it there to give you an idea, in case you dont actually know what its like (but you should). This game is still enjoyable today, whether your fighting your way through to Bison (the boss) or you are playing against another person. There is obviously a lot of concentration required as you are trying to beat your opponent, whilst trying to not get beat yourself, and the game is quite immersive too as everyone has their own favourite character, mine being Ryu/Ken. I think the game, when it came out would have been aimed at teens, mainly boys due to the violence. The basics of the game are easy to learn but you need a bit of practice to learn all the special moves and be pretty good at the game. There is social interaction in the game, as there is a two player mode.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Technology And Modern Society

Do most people like technology?
Do they like its influence on their lives?
Do they realise the extent of its influence?

I think most people under the age of 40 like technology, and use it in their day to day lives. There is however a huge generation gap, between people who i think would be pro and anti technology. For example my mum has only just grasped the idea of the mobile phone and still would rather ring you, than text you. Another example would be my nan who whenever gets a new TV or stereo gets me to set it up for her because she claims she doesn't have a clue, but i think its because she is scared and doesn't want to mess it up by doing the wrong thing, where as someone my age would just take the thing out of the box and set it up without thinking of the consequences. So in conclusion I do think most people like technology, but some older people may be scared of it

I think most people like the luxury of technology, i.e. toaster, microwave etc. As these make their lives a lot easier, but technology can also have a negative impact. Like for example when i first joined bebo i was on it all the time, wasting hours where i could have been doing work, or something other than being on bebo! Another thing that was discussed in class was that peoples puntuality seems to suffer aswell, i.e. people will not arrange to meet each other at a specific time or place as they can text them when they are on their way etc. Another thing is that kids today seem to spend more time watching tv and playing games rather than playing sports outside, which was all we seemed to do when i was a kid. So i think in general, technology can have a great influence on peoples lives making easy work of time consuming chores such as washing dishes and clothes, cooking etc. But on the other side of things, peoples social skills are suffering aswell

I dont think people do actually realise the extent of its influence. I can review how technology is affecting peoples lives, but these people living their day to day lives with the huge use of technology do not realise how much the technology they are using is influencing their lives. Business men, dont appreciate their laptops, mobile phones etc but if they were taken off them for a day, i bet that they would then realise the extent of technologys influence on their lives, but this just doesnt go for business men, as most people today use mobile phones, and if they didnt have their mobile phone they would realise they cannot contact anyone and nobody can contact them, so by just one person not having their mobile phone on them, it can affect a lot more.

Gameplay

This week i actually played NO games, apart from the ones required for this subject.. which was no enjoyable

I guess its due to my busy social life.. HA

Avalon..

This game should be called Avalong, because of the annoyingly long tutorial at the start..

Anyway, never before have i played a game, and thought of how much i miss graphics, my god it was boring, time consuming and i dont see typing as fun.

I signed up and went through the registration etc, by the way my character is called 'Mrbatman' yes i know its a stupid name, but i got frustrated that every name i typed was not available. Anyway, the tutorial basically consisted of you reading a load of text, and then typing words like 'Nod' when prompted to do so. Then you go on a quest for a poster, which all you do is follow some guy and find a poster, then bring it back and type success and your level is updated to stray.

I then still hadn't fallen asleep, so proceeded to do the next mission, which was find the centre of some temple, and kneel in it.. after i finished this i closed the window and i doubt Mrbatman will ever go back to avalon.

So in conclusion, i think avalon shows just how important the visual aspect is to a game, as when you are depending on text it can get very frustrating!

Neo Pet Update.. Yes he's still alive

Species:
Lupe
Health:
10 / 10
Mood:
content
Hunger:
not hungry
Age:
95 hours
Level:
1