Oct 18

BLOG #5

Carlo Francisco

BLOG #5
“How a Videogame God Inspired a Twitter Doppelganger – And Resurrected his career”

-Jason Tanz

 

Video game design engineers have changed up the videogame world for the better. Graphics and concepts have been built upon and consumers are now able to see gaming in a new, original, and out of the norm perspective. It was said in the article that, “Personally, I’m just a bit bored,” he said. “Bored of all the same pap that’s been popped out year after year after year.” This quote is referring to the evolvement of gaming in general. Game designers are at a continuous search in finding the next best things that consumers would potentially enjoy. It is also shared in the article, “It’s a little scary, in part because you don’t have people around you to tell you when you’re doing silly or stupid things…” Designers take constant risks when developing a video game. Video game creators use their best judgment when it comes to putting out their work. The video game world rapidly increases each year. Designers find a way to capture the interest of video game fanatics by introducing the out of the norm, new, and original gaming concept. I am personally not so interested in videogames as I was when I was younger. I guess now that I am older I have different priorities so the gaming world is a time waster for me. I commend all designers and creators of videogames only solely because it is their career.

Oct 18

Topic : Electronic Games and Entertainment – Where are they going?

YAHIAOUI Youssef

Topic: Electronic Games and Entertainment – Where are they going?

Tuesday, October 18th

Answer this question on the move away from console gaming to handheld gaming: How has this change effected us and why?

The world of gaming has evolved from consoles to gaming on handheld devices.

I think the reason why they tried to develop video games in this way is that people who make video games realized that players was restricted to play at home and they were a need to be able to play outside also.

Thus the best advantage of handheld devices is that you can play your favourite games while you are walking outside or you are going to school (Ex : Clash of clans etc.).

But the advantage of consoles is that they offer a wide range of video games and the quality is better.

I agree with the first article because video game in general has a good impact to improve some of your skills and capacity. It allows you to make sports at home so some people give up the sport outside and stay at home.

This point allows me to speak about one negative point, is that video games in general are an obstacle to social interaction and some people are so stuck to their video games that they don’t even have real interactions.

On the other hand the world of gaming can be also a place where people from different place, origin and sex interact each other just for the pleasure of gaming because it is accessible to everyone.

To finish I have to say about the argument that state that video games is an obstacle to social interaction is that to counter this argument, video games are also a way for people to meet each other and to have a good social status. For example this week at the Madison square garden there is a huge reunion between players of “league of legend” where the first will win $1.000.000 and where people come and watch the battles.

In south Korea if you are a good player of these kind of video games (league of legend, starcraft, World of warcraft) you are a big star recognized by everyone.

The world of gaming has evolved and everyone can find his place if he wants to..

Oct 18

How Has Gaming Changed Us?

Games have changed from board games, tic-tac-toe, to electronic consoles and now portable gaming devices. The growth of this gaming industry has increased and has brought people together. The generation gamers will pass down what they love to their children; just as Keith and Jordan has said in their article, families have Tv in the living room and gather together to play all types of games, no matter the medium. Gaming has also challenged us on a mental level, it give us room to think of ways to deal with situations, solve problems, all depending on what the game is about. We have to be able to pass levels, complete objectives. Ralph Koster states how his own kids play tic-tac-toe with him, and they would play all the time and he’d win, until eventually, they’ll learn the pattern and it’ll constantly be draws. Gaming has also changed by being at home playing on your tv to being portable and playing everywhere you go…. this has affected in many ways. It can be very distracting for kids and even adults to have portable devices, such as in school or your everyday travels. People get consumed and don’t pay attention to reality. But portable gaming has been dying down since last year, devices such as PSP and 3DS aren’t talked about as much and don’t get much attention as the consoles do. Of course phones now have games like Angry Birds, Temple Run, Subway Sufer, that I guess count as portable gaming…

Oct 18

Console vs Handheld

As a product of the 90s and early 00s, console games are near and dear to me. For generations, people have been using consoles to play the next big game to hit stores. However,while that excitement of going out and buying a game still exists, handheld games have taken up more people’s time in recent years. With console games, people are restricted to only being at home. With the transition to handheld gaming, people have been able to bring their virtual reality into their everyday,real world activities. Nowadays, it’s nearly impossible to take the train without seeing someone playing some sort of game, or even playing one yourself.
The idea of parents passing the gaming torch to their children is one of the main reasons that console gaming is still relatively prominent. Like the article stated, people who grew up on nothing but consoles are now having children that they can play their favorite games with.
This parent-child gaming added onto the fact that children have smartphones with games doesn’t help the fact that children are lost in realities that aren’t their own. When it was just consoles, kids would leave their house and live their lives normally. Now, they walk down the street and attend school constantly tapping and swiping away for the newest game app that has hit the App Store. Back before handheld games, people would have to wait until they got home to finish a level or defeat a boss. Now, all people have to do is take out their phones and ignore the world around them that they should be immersing themselves in.
I also found the idea of silver gamers interesting. I agree with the fact that console gaming is going to retire with a certain generation. Now that gaming apps are venturing into the real world with merchandise and more augmented realities, console gaming is slowly running its course. Once the children who play with their parents grow up, they’re going to introduce handheld games to their children because that’s what they mostly grew up on. The main market for console gaming now is YouTube, where people watch gamers play the game, so they don’t have to buy it but can still see how it plays out.
Handheld gaming has been in it for a long haul because of the ability for people of all ages to play as long as they have tablets or smartphones. Handheld games have brought us closer to entering ourselves into the world of our games than consoles ever has. Now people are patiently waiting for the next Pokemon Go augmented reality game to come out so they can make their regular lives entertaining again.

Oct 18

Electronic Games and Entertainment, Where Are They Going?

I think it’s safe to say that video gaming as we know it is long gone. “Welcome to the new-age”, as song group Imagine Dragons would sing in their hit song, RadioActive. According to Nickelodeon’s research, 34% of children under 11 have a tablet, and they are now tending to get their first smartphones as they enter secondary school”, as stated in the, “16 Trend That will Define the Future of Video Games”, article. I believe it is safe to say that video gaming is headed toward going completely digital. “As a result, this ‘swipe generation’ seamlessly navigates between the digital and real world,” says York. Creators have taken notice of that and do to realize that improvements in technology can make it possible for gamers today to have the ultimate video gaming experience. But, here aims the question, what effects will this have and why? From my own personal experience, I feel that it will completely help one to ultimately escape from reality. Growing up I used to be a video game junkie, literally, all day and all night I would sit in my comfy recliner and aimlessly play video games such as, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, San Andreas, The Sims 2, Crash Bandacolt, you name it.I loved playing video games because it was like this second world that you can completely escape in to but, what kept me grounded was the fact that their was a controller attached to the Playstation and if the box would disconnect for whatever reason, or if the game froze because of a scratch on the disk It would bring me back to reality that this is just a video game. But, with technology on the rise and as new inventions come to surface my gaming experience certainly has advanced and now you feel as though you don’t even live in the real world. Games like Pokemon, Catch Em All has had such an influence on kids, teens, and adults alike so much to the point that it has improved peoples health and lifestyle and has helped people to lose weight.

In the article, “How a Videogame God Inspired a Twitter Doppelganger- and Resurrected His Career”, they talked about how, “Molyneux had one of his craziest ideas yet: What if you made a videogame that gave players control not just of a character but of the entire game? Molyneux, along with a lot of Video Programmers are looking not only to digitize and create this virtual world of gaming but also to change the rules of the game. In the gaming world we despise being told Mission Failed, Game Over, K.O., we like to accomplish and make it to the next level, LOL. So, what Molyneux created was a world where you don’t have to feel limited, you are free to create your own story line which gives the gamer a since of belonging, and involvement.

One of my cons with this new digitized gaming is without handheld consoles how would we input Cheat codes, LOL. Secondly, for children suffering from depression, or young people who are severely unhappy with their current circumstances will they become easily addicted to this new technology? Will this have a negative affect on children completing necessary duties such as Homework? What is the cut off limit for teenager? I believe that these are assuredly questions that need to be discussed because parents may run into these issues because it is easy to become readily addicted to gaming. Some may counter and say that things like this have been going on with gaming for years even with consoles, but in my opinion it is a lot easier to get sucked into a virtual reality world. Someone literally just told me about how executives are looking to change gaming into hologram-like gaming to create the ultimate experience. Assuredly, I think its safe to say the world of video gaming as we know it has changed completely.

Oct 18

Future of Video Games

I just want to start this by saying that I kinda wish I grew up with this new generation of video games. Obviously the early 2000s was a great time to be a gamer– SSX Tricky, the Mario series, Call of Duty, and sports games like Madden and NBA 2K all were amazing (and some of those series continued to improve throughout the years). Lately, I’ve been gaming less and less because it seems that some of these series have become so repetitive and “updated” so frequently that I could hardly tell the difference or even care. But the prospect of the future of video games has me really excited, and I honestly can’t wait until certain things come to fruition.

Things like Apple’s Game Center have already introduced a component of social media into the gaming world. Friends can challenge each other in certain games and keep tabs on each other’s rankings. Gamers as creators also exists in games like Minecraft and the classic Sims series. But the most interesting and exciting future of gaming by nearly everyone’s standards is virtual reality. VR and 360 degree view also exists in gaming, though not on a mainstream level quite yet, and the idea of immersive worlds for games of all sorts (like FPS, sports, etc) could usher in a whole new wave of interest in the video game industry. Think about it, if your friend can’t meet up to shoot hoops, you could really just go in your backyard, throw on your goggles and play all by yourself. You could probably hardly tell the difference.

 

Oct 18

Electronic games and Entertainment

Electronic gaming has changed a lot over the years and now more than ever. It’s easier to be able to play games now with your iphone or tablet and even a system like PlayStation 4 or Xbox 1. Now these systems are turning into a phone or a tablet because you can use apps and watch so many different things on them. For example the Xbox one has the app called Netflix and you can watch it on your tv. This is the future , turning console systems and making them as similar to your iphone or tablet. In the article it states how parents are now helping their kids play these games because they used to play it themselves. “Children aged 10 or under take most of their gaming recommendations from their parents”. This is true because a lot of the young parents are used to playing a lot of games , men and women. I think this is great because games bring the family together in most cases. When I was young playing games, my parents would never play with me and would tell me to stop playing most of the time. This is the future of gaming between the parents and the kids. As far as console to handheld , I personally like console better. It looks better and is more fun to play to me. I like playing my Xbox one with my friends instead of a Nintendo ds or something like that. The console systems are not going anywhere because I love them more than a handheld device.

Oct 18

It’s All About The Game$

The gaming industry is rapidly growing to a huge and profitable market, passing Hollywood as the fourth biggest entertaining market in the world. It earned $91.5 billion in 2015 and is projected to hit $107 billion by 2017 (Business Tech). YouTube content creators and Twitch streamers can make anywhere between $70,000 to over $1 million dollars a year. Being a gamer no longer has that stigma of having “no redeeming social value, that they are damaging to the mind, and that they are incapable of being art,”  O’Reilly, Theory of Fun.

“Titles like Destiny and The Crew have emphasized the sense of socializing, sharing and connectivity. Forthcoming co-op titles are likely to build on the idea of multiplayer titles as social rather than just gaming experiences.” The Guardian

Console gaming which includes VR is expected to account for $25.1 billion and smartphone gaming $20.6 billion in 2017. With more people owing more smartphones than consoles, this shows the likelihood (which I don’t want to happen) that smartphone gaming can one day surpass console gaming.

Pokemon Go the popular smartphone game, was released in select countries in July 2016 has been downloaded over 500 million times world wide. The game was referred to as a “social media phenomenon” by ABC, which has brought people together from all walks of life.

The gaming industry is an evolving mechanism, it adapts to the technological advances we have today. Games were played on disks, cartridge, cd’s, blu-rays, downloads, and now in Virtual Reality. We’re in a new generation of gaming. “We’re now seeing the first generation of parents who grew up playing games themselves and are passing that passion and knowledge on to their children,” Allison York, Director at Nickelodeon said. And I couldn’t be more excited.

 

 

Oct 18

video games

Do you remember the days of fighting over the t.v. with your siblings? When one of you wanted to watch cable and the other wanted to play video games. Today, I don’t think this happens much anymore. According to the article on theguardian.com, each household now has an average of 8.4 digital gadgets (according to Nickelodeon’s figures, drawn from its own surveys as well as Ofcom figures), but they’re closer than they’ve been for years. Through a recent survey of UK families, the channel found that 75% of parents they surveyed now play video games with their children, and that children aged 10 or under take most of their gaming recommendations from their parents. While everyone now has their own portable devices, the fact the parents act as “video game mentors”, it helps bringing families closer. There is no one means of playing video games; through pc, console and now mobile devices. Also, the current consoles have built-in social sharing systems, so players can easily take screenshots and videos and distribute these on social networks without leaving the game.

Oct 18

Electronic games and Entertainment

The move from console gaming to handheld gaming. how has this change affected us and why?

Console games were very popular in the 90’s into the early 2000’s, Where one would have to sit behind a television in order to play and enjoy video games. PlayStation and Xbox were the most popular names, which allowed user to purchase multiple CD’s which featured a variety of options to choose from.  Over the years, games came already installed into the console but still gave the user the option to purchase games of their personal liking. Eventually everything became computerized, allowing gamers to communicate with each other from totally different parts of the world and were able to play against each other or as a team. As time progressed and technology was advancing, handheld games made its entrance into the gaming world. With the rise of smartphones and everything becoming portable, made it even easier for one to adapt to a handheld game. they are much cheaper than console games and the gamer are not stuck at home all day behind a TV screen. As handhelds became the new thing, so were casual games such as Angry Birds, Candy Crush, Moshi Monsters etc. Which are available in applications, and can be easily downloaded onto a handheld device. In the article “Future of Video Games Trends” which states that 34% of children under the age of 11 have tables and are expected to have smart phones within their first year of secondary school. giving them unlimited access to games 24/7, these game developers are also beginning the incorporate themes into toys, for example angry birds, which I personally feel might be a little distracting academically. Handheld games have affected us in a way that we now can not be focused on what’s really important, face to face communication has decrease,  handheld video games is the new entertainment.

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