Throughout the class we've learned many things about game design. We've learned how design in game is not random, and how character design can entirely change the perspective of a game community. We've learned to watch out for certain behaviors within game design groups, as well as to watch out for falling into production traps. We've learned how games target certain audiences, and how there are audiences just waiting for games to be made for them. We've learned how to keep things in perspective, and to not be stubborn – to try many things as well as let go of... Continue reading

As I treaded on the vast plains and wastelands of World of Warcraft and the near infinite spaces of Second Life, I noticed that players in these two environments exhibited both similar and different behaviors. In both worlds, players often changed the gender of their avatars, and both role-played to fit different roles or made no attempt at all to hide their true self. At the same time, players formed different types of social structures within each world, and ran both according to the limits of their space as well as their own, self-created rules of their enclaves. In both... Continue reading

Prince of Persia is a game by Ubisoft published in 2008. It is a game that, while enjoyable and offers beautiful environments to explore and simple, forgiving gameplay mechanics to coax in more casual players, finds itself rooted in many of the gender and cultural stereotypes that plague the digital game industry today. Gender stereotypes of the game are seen in full force, creating a perfect example of the “hegemony of play” (Fron, et al). For example, the way the main female character, Elika, is dressed. She wears an extremely revealing blouse, added on with the fact that her clothing... Continue reading

In this blogpost, three movements are discussed: the Spacewar movement, the fluxus movement, and the New Games movement. The Spacewar movement, as characterized by Stewart Brand, is the emergence of video games on computers, originally as something that motivates and stimulates production of something useful. From this movement I will examine Spacewar itself. The fluxus movement is characterized by the change of preexisting games into another, building upon the base to express an idea. From fluxus I will examine Liquid Chess. The New Games movement is known for its more involving social interaction between its participants, and where the player... Continue reading

Super Mario 64 was released for the first time on June 23, 1996 (Japan, North America received it in September) as a launch title for the Nintendo 64. It was the first 3D version of Mario to be released, and eventually became one of the most revolutionary games of all time. It was particularly revolutionary for me, as well, for Mario 64 was the first console game I came to own. I poured hours into gathering the game's 120 stars – and enjoyed every moment of it. For me, this was the ideal game. While reading writings by Huizinga, Caillois,... Continue reading

Through various medieval royal marriages, the chess cultures of different areas often intertwined and have grayed in their distinctions. I will be focusing on the cultural role of chess in the kingdom of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her family during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Focus lies mostly on England during the rule of Eleanor and France during the rule of her great grandson, Louis IX. During this time, English and French chess culture was influenced greatly by their respective rulers. During the rule of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the game of chess was reserved mostly for the first row of... Continue reading