This class has truly been one of the biggest learning experiences that I have experienced thus far at Georgia Tech. Many classes have claimed to teach how to code in a language, or how to work in a team, but until each person is actually forced to put their learning's into practice, there is no way to tell if anyone retained any knowledge. Through building an entire game with a group of individuals with different skills, I have not only learned valuable coding lessons, but also valuable lessons as to how to deal with a group environment. The game we... Continue reading

For this assignment I have chosen to take a look into Second Life, a MMOW, and World of Warcraft, a MMOG. I chose these games to represent their respective categories for many reasons. The first being both are one of the largest in their respective categories. Second, both have grown well beyond the original expectation, and as such many things have spawned off which are interesting to observe and compare. Finally, I have experience with both which enables me to comment on more specific intricacies. That said I have played much more WoW than SL, so forgive me if it... Continue reading

Video games are becoming widely integrated into our society. Whether you enjoy playing the Wii at a party, are a Farmville addict, or have achieved glory in World of Warcraft, nearly every household has a form of a video game in one way or another. The question that arises would be what drives people to play the games? Jenkins argues that we are “not so much addicted to video games as they are unwilling to quit before they have met their goals.” This can range from beating your uncle in Wii Sports, or killing the final boss, but every game... Continue reading

When discussing games and how they have developed over many years, it really sparks my thoughts in terms of how we have been molded to see games in certain ways. The “popular” game is in actuality quite boring in its mechanic. The basic explanation of current popular games would spark very little interest in their base form, yet continued use of similar mechanics have produced some of the most popular games. On another level, the rules and regulations set forth in games often mold the player to continue to conform to the restrictions that society has set. I would ask... Continue reading

In 1998, Blizzard Entertainment released Starcraft, a real time strategy game, with similar mechanics to their already popular Warcraft games, but with a different storyline and different focus. The game hit home with a lot of gamers in the community, a large contributor being the built in level editor that came with the game. The creation of custom games was just as popular as the playing of the normal game, and as such Starcraft was a huge success. Huizinga seems to set out the definition of a game that goes along quite well with the RTS play style. His first... Continue reading

During my reading of Yalom's description of chess throughout history, the shift in the late 13th century from a royalty game to one of the masses I see as a key shift; one which the Catholic Church made sure they took part in. Jacobus de Cessolis of Italy in particular used chess as a way to enforce the hierarchal structure, in terms that the common folk could more easily understand. "Imagine the audience in church listening with rapt attention as Cessolis evoked an ideal state in terms of the miniature figures of a chessboard. (Yalom, p.68) The key structure to... Continue reading