https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AakhFQVZM_oHZHpjczNzMl8xMDJneHBwN21kOA&hl=en
Work Cited for images used in presentation:
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/09/13/alg_red-mountain.jpg
http://www.webomator.com/grafx2/blog/retrofuturistic_city03.jpg
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/starry-night-sky-615.jpg
http://travel.sky.com/images/inspiration/global_warming_gallery/Amazon-rainforest2-rex-features-510x286.jpg
http://www.labourmarketsolutions.org/images/canada-mountains-lakes.jpg
http://image30.webshots.com/30/3/23/36/308532336HtfzRA_fs.jpg
Friday, May 21, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Pinball Playfield
I chose the Office version of online pinball. The playfield felt very simplistic, with only a few sinks and areas to score points. The background was bland (though this may be because it was supposed to be a representation of an office, which is usually very bland as well). What surprised me was that even though there weren't many tracks for the ball to go or many places to score, there were still 4 different paddles. There were 4 areas where the ball can go to on the top of the board following the initial launch from the tilt. Getting all 4 of these gave you points, but also allowed you use of an extra ball. Lastly, there were 4 bumpers down the center of the board which tried to add more variety to the board. I would describe it was free flowing, only because it was pretty impossible to judge where the ball would decide to bounce next. The game tries to keep it interesting by having lights and bells that ring when you hit a certain spot in the game. Unfortunately, I wouldn't see myself playing it for an extended amount of time because it seemed like it lacked enough lights to show me if I scored or not. The ball physics were all out of whack also, and it just bounced around like a mexican jumping bean with ants in it's pants. I would have liked to see more tracks for the ball to move through or things for the ball to hit. Also, with improved physics for the ball, it would have been nice to see the ball bounce in more interesting ways after you hit something, instead of down the drain. It just seemed like a true, bare knuckled version of pinball without too many bells and whistles. I wasn't able to get too far into the game, but i would hope that as you moved on it would have more options to keep you interested (such as multiball). Right above and between the paddles sits a wheel which is supposed to show how far you've made it into the game, but it seemed a little out of place. Numerical score was displayed to the right of the board.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Pinball Ingame Excercise
1) What is "good gameplay" when it comes to pinball game design?
For me, good gameplay when it comes to pinball game design is realism. One of the more frustrating things about the online version of pinball were the whacked out physics. Maybe it was just because I was playing various different versions of online pinball, but the ball physics were different in all of them which made it hard to time the paddles correctly. Originality and creativity was also nice to have though, with different pinball machines having different layouts for the ball to go through.
2) How do pinball playfield designers create exciting experiences?
Variety and originality. Humans are drawn to exciting noises (think casinos or arcades) and pinball machines take full advantage of that. For example, many of the versions of pinball that I played had various things that lit up or made noise when you hit them. Something that was even more exciting were when certain portions of the layout would move or have some some kind of action which changed the way you played the game.
For me, good gameplay when it comes to pinball game design is realism. One of the more frustrating things about the online version of pinball were the whacked out physics. Maybe it was just because I was playing various different versions of online pinball, but the ball physics were different in all of them which made it hard to time the paddles correctly. Originality and creativity was also nice to have though, with different pinball machines having different layouts for the ball to go through.
2) How do pinball playfield designers create exciting experiences?
Variety and originality. Humans are drawn to exciting noises (think casinos or arcades) and pinball machines take full advantage of that. For example, many of the versions of pinball that I played had various things that lit up or made noise when you hit them. Something that was even more exciting were when certain portions of the layout would move or have some some kind of action which changed the way you played the game.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Cultural Issues Essay 1438 words
Daniel Zamora
In my life, there are many examples on how playing a certain game affected the way I think about the world around me. Many people, especially those that are genuinely interested in videogames, can usually come up with a story on how a certain game changed the way it made them feel, or affected them on levels that movies or television haven’t been able to. Indeed, some of the best games I’ve played are ones where I was able to develop the character over the course of the game, building a relationship to the game world through the avatar I portrayed on the screen. There are three memorable examples that I can remember from my childhood, my teenage years, and finally my adulthood. Starting off in my childhood, the first game I ever learned was to play a game that is centuries old and is still played by people of all ages and nationalities. Then, I’d like to move on to one of my favorite videogames that I played as a teenager, which was Mass Effect. Lastly, I will cover how a game that came out last year, Assassin’s Creed 2, changed the way I think about history in general. Most good games and videogames strive to make a connection with the player, and here are three good examples of how they have affected me and how I view the world around me.One of the first games I learned to play was the wonderful game of chess. Emerging during the late 15th century, the game has been argued by some as being the greatest game of all time. It’s a game of strategy; the only way to win is to put yourself in your opponents shoes and to try to come up with a rebuttal to every possible move he can make. When my grandfather first taught me to play the game, I saw it as boring and dated. As I grew older and learned how to play better, I realized the various lessons one can learn by playing chess. One of the more prominent lessons I learned was how to put myself in another person’s shoes. I believe that being able to see the world through the eyes of another person is an important quality to have these days, because then maybe we can learn how alike we all are in our thought processes. I also learned how to analyze the “battlefield” (as I liked to call it) so that it serves me better than my opponent. My brain was able to see every possible move my opponent would make, and I would have to come up with a suitable strategy to block his moves. Not only that, but you have to see the consequences a certain move would have and how it would affect the game in the long run. In other words, it’s not only about seeing your opponent’s moves before he makes them, but also seeing how he’s setting up his chain of pieces and how to counteract that. The most important lesson learned from chess would be to never give up. Even though things may look bleak, you should never quit until the game is finally over. Some of my best losses were the ones where I thought there was no chance I could lose, since I had control of the whole board. The problem is that if I became too comfortable and I lost focus, eventually losing because I stopped thinking of every possible move that my opponent could’ve made. Lesson learned: never give up until you win or lose.
The most enlightening game for me during my teenage years was the first Mass Effect (and in turn, Mass Effect 2 which just recently came out). The reason for this is that Mass Effect made me realize how small we really are. It’s hard for humans in general to see the world beyond themselves (remember how I said that putting yourself in other people’s shoes is important?), and a common consequence of seeing the world through a narrow point of view is that you don’t get to see the whole picture. We’ve been fighting each other as a species ever since the dawn of man, fighting for the resources and land on the planet claiming it for our country or religion. We live our whole lives on this planet, thinking that our lives are more important to others. When I first played Mass Effect, it made me realize how small the planet is to the whole galaxy. It’s not that I had never learned about how big the universe was, but I was never able to grasp it until I was able to fly from different parts of the galaxy, moving into a nebula, and then finally moving into a certain solar system. It made me think on how much is really out there, and taught me that we are just living on a small, pale blue dot in the expanse of everything. Suddenly, the problems in my life that I thought were such a big deal became negligible in the scope of things. I became humble that I was just a small piece of the puzzle, drawing comfort from the fact that there are so many other things I should be focusing on instead of still being hung up on the thought of an ex-girlfriend or having a petty argument with my parents.
My favorite game of 2009 had to be Assassin’s Creed 2. Despite the lack of variety in the missions of the first game, I was definitely looking forward on how they would build upon the problems of the first to make a better sequel. I was not disappointed. Not only did the game take place during the Renaissance (my favorite art period as an art history buff), but it taught me that things aren’t always as they seem. This game reignited my passion in the arts, and it got me interested in all the history that 15th century Italy had to offer. After finishing the game, it gave me a unique point of view that I never thought I would have learned from the game (spoiler alert ahead in case you haven’t played/ finished the game). As you find clues that unravel the secrets of the Knights Templar in the game, you start to build this kind of altered view of history based on a mysterious item introduced in the game as the gifts of Eden. Although I knew the game and it’s altered history was mostly fictional, it did show many figures in history in a light that many people don’t know about. For example, not many people know about Henry Ford’s anti-Semitism or Thomas Edison’s attempts to ruin the name of Nikola Tesla so that his idea of direct current would override the better alternate current. Even though it might be a stretch to say so, thinking about that made me think about how history is always in favor of the victor. In other words, United State’s history books hardly portray the points of views of the people we were fighting, only focusing on the history that they want to be pass down in history. I learned that things may not always be as they seem, and just because someone tells me this is what is right, I should always look into it myself to judge whether, based on my morals, an action is right or wrong.
Games have always had a special place in my heart, not only providing me with hours of entertainment but also weird life lessons I didn’t expect to learn along the way. Whether the lesson was to never give up, to see the world as a whole, or to not believe everything that people tell you, videogames and games have taught my valuable life lessons that I know I will carry for the rest of my life. The funny thing is that games can affect different people in a plethora of ways. Some people might play through Assassin’s Creed 2 and never get past the mindset of killing whatever moves in the game, but I think that’s an important aspect of playing a game. Everyone plays a game and gets a unique experience from it, good or bad. That’s what makes it fun, because you can always go up to your mates and debate on what you thought of the game. I just hope that everyone can at least find one valuable lesson learned from playing games, because there are so many to be found and learned.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Game Appraisal 4 The Legend of Zelda
GAME 100 EXPLORING GAME WORLDS – VIDEOGAME IN-CLASS APPRAISAL TEMPLATE
Student Name________Daniel Zamora_____________
Today’s Date____________February 2, 2010___________
Game Title Examined__________Zelda______________
Year of Publication_____________1989____________
Game Publisher___________Nintendo___________
Game Developer _____________Nintendo R&D4______________
Game Genre (e.g. shoot-em-up, racing, sports, puzzle, MMORPG, ‘sandbox’, music sequence following game (e.g. DDR, guitar hero)
Puzzle RPG
Type of game ‘world’ or environment (e.g. flat environment, puzzle/maze space, 3D world?)
Mostly puzzle/maze, but there are more «open» areas between the castles
Perspective taken by player (e.g first person, third person perspective, top down, isometric) in relation to main player controlled character.
Top down
Gameplay – what does the player have to do?
The player has to save Zelda
Is the gameplay intuitive? (i.e. is it easy to understand what to do without instructions?) describe.
It's pretty self explanatory in my opinion, but I've heard of people getting lost in the game and not knowing what to do next
Is the gameplay patterned (game does the same thing over & over) or is it random (happens differently every time?)
The enemies will spawn in the same place, but they react differently depending on how you react to them
What does the type of graphic approach used as well as the audio tell you about the limits of the technology at the time the game was published?
Its classic late 80's videogame, with the same being told for the audio and graphics
Describe your views about the game from the point of view of
a. ease of play
I found it hard to play the first time around, especially in the later dungeons
b. enjoyability
Ive always enjoyed every Zelda game because of its puzzles
c) level of engagement/immersion
Ive found myself feeling like im in Links shoes, so yes, the immersion is there
Had you played this game prior to this time? If so, when?
Yes, i've played it a couple of times since I was 10
Describe other games it reminds you of. How does it do this?
It kinda reminds me of other topdown RPG like the first Final Fantasy games
Student Name________Daniel Zamora_____________
Today’s Date____________February 2, 2010___________
Game Title Examined__________Zelda______________
Year of Publication_____________1989____________
Game Publisher___________Nintendo___________
Game Developer _____________Nintendo R&D4______________
Game Genre (e.g. shoot-em-up, racing, sports, puzzle, MMORPG, ‘sandbox’, music sequence following game (e.g. DDR, guitar hero)
Puzzle RPG
Type of game ‘world’ or environment (e.g. flat environment, puzzle/maze space, 3D world?)
Mostly puzzle/maze, but there are more «open» areas between the castles
Perspective taken by player (e.g first person, third person perspective, top down, isometric) in relation to main player controlled character.
Top down
Gameplay – what does the player have to do?
The player has to save Zelda
Is the gameplay intuitive? (i.e. is it easy to understand what to do without instructions?) describe.
It's pretty self explanatory in my opinion, but I've heard of people getting lost in the game and not knowing what to do next
Is the gameplay patterned (game does the same thing over & over) or is it random (happens differently every time?)
The enemies will spawn in the same place, but they react differently depending on how you react to them
What does the type of graphic approach used as well as the audio tell you about the limits of the technology at the time the game was published?
Its classic late 80's videogame, with the same being told for the audio and graphics
Describe your views about the game from the point of view of
a. ease of play
I found it hard to play the first time around, especially in the later dungeons
b. enjoyability
Ive always enjoyed every Zelda game because of its puzzles
c) level of engagement/immersion
Ive found myself feeling like im in Links shoes, so yes, the immersion is there
Had you played this game prior to this time? If so, when?
Yes, i've played it a couple of times since I was 10
Describe other games it reminds you of. How does it do this?
It kinda reminds me of other topdown RPG like the first Final Fantasy games
Friday, January 29, 2010
Game Appraisal 3 Donkey Kong
GAME 100 EXPLORING GAME WORLDS – VIDEOGAME IN-CLASS APPRAISAL TEMPLATE
Student Name___________Daniel Zamora__________
Today’s Date____________January 29, 2010___________
Game Title Examined_________Donkey Kong_______________
Year of Publication_________________1981________
Game Publisher_________Nintendo____________
Game Developer __________Nintendo_________________
Game Genre (e.g. shoot-em-up, racing, sports, puzzle, MMORPG, ‘sandbox’, music sequence following game (e.g. DDR, guitar hero)
Platform
Type of game ‘world’ or environment (e.g. flat environment, puzzle/maze space, 3D world?)
Flat enviroment
Perspective taken by player (e.g first person, third person perspective, top down, isometric) in relation to main player controlled character.
Side Scroller
Gameplay – what does the player have to do?
The player has to save the princess from the gorilla, while avoiding barrels and fire balls.
Is the gameplay intuitive? (i.e. is it easy to understand what to do without instructions?) describe.
It's pretty self explanatory. You jump over things that can kill you, and you push your character in the direction that gets you to the princess
Is the gameplay patterned (game does the same thing over & over) or is it random (happens differently every time?)
From what I see the barrels and fireballs have a pattern that they follow. You can handle every level in a few different ways, especially later on when you reach the elevators.
What does the type of graphic approach used as well as the audio tell you about the limits of the technology at the time the game was published?
I can definitely tell by the graphics that this game was made in the 1980s. The visuals and audio were as good as they could be considering the time and technology
Describe your views about the game from the point of view of
a. ease of play
Maybe it's just because I havent played Donkey Kong in a long time, but I gave up trying to beat the first level after dying 3 times. i felt as if jumpman (mario) was moving slower than usual, or at least not being able to jump as high as I remember. (always gotta blame the lag)
b. enjoyability
I got over the game pretty quick. I know that it has a lot of history with gamers, but I wouldnt see myself playing donkey kong for a long period of time
c) level of engagement/immersion
Because i gave up on the game really quick, I wasnt able to get that immersed into it
Had you played this game prior to this time? If so, when?
Yes, Ive played it a couple of times before maybe 8 years ago
Describe other games it reminds you of. How does it do this?
It reminds me of Donkey Kong and Mario, probably because they go off to have their own series of games
Student Name___________Daniel Zamora__________
Today’s Date____________January 29, 2010___________
Game Title Examined_________Donkey Kong_______________
Year of Publication_________________1981________
Game Publisher_________Nintendo____________
Game Developer __________Nintendo_________________
Game Genre (e.g. shoot-em-up, racing, sports, puzzle, MMORPG, ‘sandbox’, music sequence following game (e.g. DDR, guitar hero)
Platform
Type of game ‘world’ or environment (e.g. flat environment, puzzle/maze space, 3D world?)
Flat enviroment
Perspective taken by player (e.g first person, third person perspective, top down, isometric) in relation to main player controlled character.
Side Scroller
Gameplay – what does the player have to do?
The player has to save the princess from the gorilla, while avoiding barrels and fire balls.
Is the gameplay intuitive? (i.e. is it easy to understand what to do without instructions?) describe.
It's pretty self explanatory. You jump over things that can kill you, and you push your character in the direction that gets you to the princess
Is the gameplay patterned (game does the same thing over & over) or is it random (happens differently every time?)
From what I see the barrels and fireballs have a pattern that they follow. You can handle every level in a few different ways, especially later on when you reach the elevators.
What does the type of graphic approach used as well as the audio tell you about the limits of the technology at the time the game was published?
I can definitely tell by the graphics that this game was made in the 1980s. The visuals and audio were as good as they could be considering the time and technology
Describe your views about the game from the point of view of
a. ease of play
Maybe it's just because I havent played Donkey Kong in a long time, but I gave up trying to beat the first level after dying 3 times. i felt as if jumpman (mario) was moving slower than usual, or at least not being able to jump as high as I remember. (always gotta blame the lag)
b. enjoyability
I got over the game pretty quick. I know that it has a lot of history with gamers, but I wouldnt see myself playing donkey kong for a long period of time
c) level of engagement/immersion
Because i gave up on the game really quick, I wasnt able to get that immersed into it
Had you played this game prior to this time? If so, when?
Yes, Ive played it a couple of times before maybe 8 years ago
Describe other games it reminds you of. How does it do this?
It reminds me of Donkey Kong and Mario, probably because they go off to have their own series of games
Game Appraisal 2 Sonic the Hedgehog
GAME 100 EXPLORING GAME WORLDS – VIDEOGAME IN-CLASS APPRAISAL TEMPLATE
Student Name___________Daniel Zamora__________
Today’s Date____________January 29, 2010___________
Game Title Examined_________Sonic the Hedgehog_______________
Year of Publication_________________1991________
Game Publisher_________Sega____________
Game Developer __________Sonic Team_________________
Game Genre (e.g. shoot-em-up, racing, sports, puzzle, MMORPG, ‘sandbox’, music sequence following game (e.g. DDR, guitar hero)
Platform
Type of game ‘world’ or environment (e.g. flat environment, puzzle/maze space, 3D world?)
Flat enviroment
Perspective taken by player (e.g first person, third person perspective, top down, isometric) in relation to main player controlled character.
Side Scroller
Gameplay – what does the player have to do?
The player has to get from one point of the map to the other and collect as many gold rings as he can.
Is the gameplay intuitive? (i.e. is it easy to understand what to do without instructions?) describe.
Definitely. I see the game as seeing how fast you can go without losing rings. If only Sega would learn that thats what players loved about the Sonic series, instead of the latest batch of crappy sonic games that theyve had over the past few years
Is the gameplay patterned (game does the same thing over & over) or is it random (happens differently every time?)
Even though the enemies might spawn in the same place every time, there are always multiple ways to get from A to B. In other words, I can play the same level 5 times and probably find a unique path to get to the end each time
What does the type of graphic approach used as well as the audio tell you about the limits of the technology at the time the game was published?
At it's time, the speed and graphics of the game were impressive. The audio in terms of its technology is similar to any other game that came in the early 90s
Describe your views about the game from the point of view of
a. ease of play
Like most games, the beginning levels can be easy. Sonic can't die as long as he has 1 ring, so that helps with its ease to play at the beginning. In later levels though, water can drown you no matter how many rings you have, and that adds a certain level of difficulty to the game because not only do you have to run fast through these parts, but also make sure your accurate when you jump on objects or at avoiding enemies that will slow you down
b. enjoyability
Ive never played any Sonic game from beginning to end, mostly because I get tired of not being able to pass those water levels. Most of the time youre concentrating on running as fast as possible and not dying, which i suppose can get repetitive for some people
c) level of engagement/immersion
I for some reason cant get that engaged into sonic, maybe because half the time i have no idea where im going (other than running to the right towards the goal)
Had you played this game prior to this time? If so, when?
Yes, I played it on the Sega Genesis when I was around 7ish
Describe other games it reminds you of. How does it do this?
Its obvious that it tries to compete with the other popular side scroller at the time, Mario. Other than that, on the top of my head I can't think of any other game that has the character running super fast, but there are games that try to mimic the feeling of moving really fast. An example of that would be Capcom's new game «Dark Void» which has the main character using a jetpack and being able to fly through the air.
Student Name___________Daniel Zamora__________
Today’s Date____________January 29, 2010___________
Game Title Examined_________Sonic the Hedgehog_______________
Year of Publication_________________1991________
Game Publisher_________Sega____________
Game Developer __________Sonic Team_________________
Game Genre (e.g. shoot-em-up, racing, sports, puzzle, MMORPG, ‘sandbox’, music sequence following game (e.g. DDR, guitar hero)
Platform
Type of game ‘world’ or environment (e.g. flat environment, puzzle/maze space, 3D world?)
Flat enviroment
Perspective taken by player (e.g first person, third person perspective, top down, isometric) in relation to main player controlled character.
Side Scroller
Gameplay – what does the player have to do?
The player has to get from one point of the map to the other and collect as many gold rings as he can.
Is the gameplay intuitive? (i.e. is it easy to understand what to do without instructions?) describe.
Definitely. I see the game as seeing how fast you can go without losing rings. If only Sega would learn that thats what players loved about the Sonic series, instead of the latest batch of crappy sonic games that theyve had over the past few years
Is the gameplay patterned (game does the same thing over & over) or is it random (happens differently every time?)
Even though the enemies might spawn in the same place every time, there are always multiple ways to get from A to B. In other words, I can play the same level 5 times and probably find a unique path to get to the end each time
What does the type of graphic approach used as well as the audio tell you about the limits of the technology at the time the game was published?
At it's time, the speed and graphics of the game were impressive. The audio in terms of its technology is similar to any other game that came in the early 90s
Describe your views about the game from the point of view of
a. ease of play
Like most games, the beginning levels can be easy. Sonic can't die as long as he has 1 ring, so that helps with its ease to play at the beginning. In later levels though, water can drown you no matter how many rings you have, and that adds a certain level of difficulty to the game because not only do you have to run fast through these parts, but also make sure your accurate when you jump on objects or at avoiding enemies that will slow you down
b. enjoyability
Ive never played any Sonic game from beginning to end, mostly because I get tired of not being able to pass those water levels. Most of the time youre concentrating on running as fast as possible and not dying, which i suppose can get repetitive for some people
c) level of engagement/immersion
I for some reason cant get that engaged into sonic, maybe because half the time i have no idea where im going (other than running to the right towards the goal)
Had you played this game prior to this time? If so, when?
Yes, I played it on the Sega Genesis when I was around 7ish
Describe other games it reminds you of. How does it do this?
Its obvious that it tries to compete with the other popular side scroller at the time, Mario. Other than that, on the top of my head I can't think of any other game that has the character running super fast, but there are games that try to mimic the feeling of moving really fast. An example of that would be Capcom's new game «Dark Void» which has the main character using a jetpack and being able to fly through the air.
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