The Threefer
May 1st, 2008 kbyorick
In all of my blogs, I seem to really ignore the design of the games. I never focus on the technical aspects of what goes into designing a game. This may be due to the fact that I had never had any experience with video games before this class so I do not understand all of the intricate inner workings of the gaming industry. The only design elements I have commented on are the game world and how it is designed as well as how the “narrative” or character development reflect the design within the game, mostly in relation to other games we played or studied.
The aspect of games that I focused most of my attention on was the social message or lesson that is revealed through the game, when one existed. For example, the Baron and McDonald’s game both had lessons to learn, one moral and one about the corporate world and its functions. FreeCiv also had underlying lessons about government, it shows how difficult it is to design a civilization and keep it going.
Another major theme in my blogs is how the games relate to real life in different ways. FreeCiv because of the fact that it is supposed to mimic real life decision making and the McDonald’s game because it reflects decisions in corporate America. Passage was also a game relating to real life because it reflects that no matter what you do, you will eventually die, nothing can change that. It gives some perspective to the fact that some of us work really hard to succeed and others just skate by in doing the minimum to survive; in the end we all die.
One thing I did talk about a couple of times is flow, especially when discussing that particular game. It is a concept that everyone is familiar with but I had never thought of it having a name or being studied. There are some games that definitely try to create a flow within the game and others, especially the counter games that seem to try to do anything but create flow.
Over all, I learned more than I ever wanted to know about video games but also a lot of interesting things about other aspects of life, like culture and the evolution of technology in general. I think because I did not have a background with video games I was able to really relate what I played to the world outside of games, converting it into something I understood.
Entry Filed under: Game Log
