Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Larry Dailey April 2nd Lecture

1. what did you learn about games and serious games in this lecture?
2. what issues related to games was covered?
3. what did you learn about the discipline from which the class was drawn?


From professor Larry Dailey I learned that games cannot be seen as only surface deep.
Professor Larry Dailey exposed the hidden meaning behind most games.
Dailey showed how games relate information journalistically through the games intent.
One example of a journalistic games was the 'Vegas Sucks'. In this particular game the object shows how Vegas utilizes water from other places in order to stay a float.

I learned that games can connect with the outside world by showing media intrest in the object or learning outcomes of the games.
I feel Larry's lecture was well put and showed many good examples of how journalism can be implimented in the gaming world.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Lecture February 26

1. What did you learn about games and serious games in the lecture?

2. What issue related to games or serious games was covered?

I learned that people have a different outlook and idea on where you draw the line between what art is and how it, if so it pertains to the gaming environment.
The question of what a computer is also came up; both questions however were meant to stretch and test the idea of a serious game and if it can contain both elements of art and/or 'computer science'.

3. What did you learn about the discipline from which the class/lecture/colloquium was drawn?

I learned that people have very different perspectives on what art is and how it is summed up. Bing an art major I found it hard to sum up the concept of art.
Also, computer science and the idea of knowledge being the backbone of it, barely hits the surface of, "what a computer is?".



An idea that I had for a serious game is to take news worthy stories and create tasks related to the news worthiness of the story.
For example: The president having to decided how to bring the troops home. There could be different consequences actually related and you could see past actual footage.
Or the war, something that happened yesterday could be used as an online stragdy game for tomorrow.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

feb 5th lecture

Response to Serious Games lecture on February 5Th; Joe Delappe:

1. What did you learn about games and serious games in the lecture?
2. What issue related to games or serious games was covered?

I learned a lot about contemporary artists and their work through the medium of serious games.
The idea that games can be paired with social and political issues was very interesting. Instead of the games giving rise to a hero, artists introduced the concept of contemporary work through the idea of current issues such as war. Through this context, Joe introduced another idea; the idea that real violence is almost muted through the use of video games.
Example of Tekken Torture Tournament brought the concept of violence through gaming to a new level by actually introducing a game that inflicted pain when your subject was hit.
Isometric Screenshots by John Hadcock brought war photos into the virtual eye. Taking the idea of an emotional war photo and introducing it into a virtual context the idea of virtual violence is challenged by its once had emotional effect. Would and does it still rain the same effect?
Raid Gaza was a game in which social and political issues were brought virtual. By creating a serious game out of a current situation we can see how contemporary artists are using today's issues and playing with their role in a virtual society.

3. What did you learn about the discipline from which the class/lecture/colloquium was drawn?
I learned how the contemporary artist uses today's social and political issues as a foundation for questioning their effect in a virtual environment. Introducing such agendas as war and violence have two different effects in real and virtual life.
By the artist inflicting actual pain through the simulation of a virtual fight the viewers perception is challenged.
By the artist taking something as simple as Mario Clouds the viewer's perception is once again challenged from something ironically known to something unknown.