I think it’s kind of fitting that my last blog post would be about the topic we first discussed within the first week of classes. And it’s about circles. Oh, all the opportunities for puns. But I’ll spare you that faith dear reader.

The magic circle is this idea that once we decide to get into a game we step into this area of play that immerses us within it. The magic circle doesn’t have to be just games in the typical sense of controllers and pixels, but that of any activity we enjoy. When we engage in a game of tag, we have steeped into that magic circle and immersed our thoughts, mind and actions into the game. This is a powerful idea of thought because it is in a way very true. Usually when in a game our focus is on the components of the game. For baseball players it’s predicting the pitch the pitcher will throw next, knowing what to do when you hear the crack of bat meeting ball what what you’re role in the team is when that happens.

The same thing can be said in the digital space as well .Many multiplayer games require a bit of teamwork to achieve victory. You have to know the components of your team as well as your opponents and see what can you do to help the team achieve victory. Of course not all game is competitive. Some games are there just to spend time in another reality. It can be something like Animal Crossing, where there is no goal any the only actions that are asked of you are those that you feel make you feel accomplished. Spending time in the game just catching bug is just as acceptable as hitting a villager over the head with a bug net for 20 minuets straight. (although the villager would disagree) In both cases you have entered that magic circle and are content with the actions you commit in the name of the game.

While the allure of the magic circle is enticing, it is important to remember to step out every now and again to step back into reality. Many of us do have responsibilities that require our attention, be it work or the care of a loved one. The magic circle in this sense should be thought of as portal to new lands and adventures. But soon all adventures ends and there is nothing new to explore. In those times we must return home, rest and get ready for new adventures and more lands.

After the heated moment that was the Cold War, the world has been more connected now more that ever. Much of the things we enjoy to day has to do in part with the the effects of globalization. We’re able to eat bananas that grow in the tropics and enjoy the spices of countries hundreds of miles away. The rise of the internet also made it easier to stay connected with friends and love ones and even make new ones half the world over. Along with this advancement came to the innovations undertook in the gaming world.

It’s common knowledge now that a lot of regions have localized versions of certain games to better fit the culture and demographics of that nation. For example the box cover art in Kirby games for the U.S markets are different that that of the Japanese ones. The U.S one have Kirby looking much more aggressive, as the marketers believed Kirby would be more appealing if he looked more mean and tough[1]. It goes to show that this interconnection web of connections does have an affect on the games we play. Just look at Nintendo, a gaming conglomerate that had a virtual gaming monopoly on home entertainment systems in the 80’s and still dominates a lot of the gaming world today. It was only through this idea of globalization that such a thing could even happen.

The rise of the online multiplayer can also be traced to this idea as well. Gamers are able to pay their favorite game with others in other countries due to the fact that A) the game is sold in that area as well as B) the computer or console to play it. Such a feet i s the result of companies using their power and influence to expand their market and get as many customers as possible.

There are a few people who believe that globalization is a bad idea, as we become more dependent on others for our wants and need. Such could be the case for our games as well. Imagine if cost for the next generation of games are delayed due to a labor strike at the cooperate headquarters in their home country. The reality of the situation is that globalization is only to get more and more connected as technology improves. It makes communication easier and faster, leading to more incentive to work with others more often. There may come a time where everything is so interconnected that there is little distinction of what was made where.

I cannot say whether globalization is good or bad for the gaming sphere. All I can say is that it will begin to have much more of a heavy toll on how games are made and how we play with them.

[1] Phillips,Tom,”Why so serious? Nintendo explains angry Western Kirby”,https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-04-29-why-so-serious-nintendo-explains-angry-western-kirby, Updated on 29 April 2014

The tittle may be a bit confusing, but let me explain. In the abstract of Chapter 31 of “How to play Video games” a platform is defined as followed:

“The platform is the particular configuration of hardware and software that underlies a computer program like a video game.”[1]

What I am trying to convey is how a platform (the software and hardware) allows the player to interact with the elements of the game.(say a platformer) Games in all their simplicity is nothing more than a bunch of pixels flashing different colors in such a way as to give us an experience. Yet we feel for these pixels, we engage with them, want to see them succeed (or fail), we want to interact with them and their world. But why is that?

The basis of any game begins with the code, a bunch of 1s and 0s used to tell a computer or game counsel what to do and when to do it. Inputs by the player are used to make certain things happen within the code and make the game work. And that’s it! That’s all to it. But of course that isn’t the real answer to why we are so engaged with the video game media we consume. The answer is creating reliability to those 1s and 0s. We play as Mario, not as some ominous blob of data that crudely looks like a man. Some part of us relate to the struggles and plights that Mario faces on his journey and want him to succeed.

That is the reason why we can’t be completely objective to the games we play. There is always an idea, a representation of something within those pixels. Such is the reason why representation overall in games is important. The creators is putting a bit of themselves and their ideals into the game they produce. If there are element that are being misrepresented, it could lead to a negative connotation within that media and crate a unneeded roadblocks between gamer and creater.

[1] Huntemann, Nina B. How to Play Video Games (User’s Guides to Popular Culture) (p. 261). NYU Press. Kindle Edition.

Personally, first person shooters are my bread and butter of gaming. The excitement of being able to land a 360 no scope from across the map is one of the few joys that could never be recreated in any other game. First person shooters come in a various flavors and backdrops, from the sci-fi space adventure to the post-apostolic wastelands. But by far the biggest use of a first person shooter is that of a military background. Be it the first World War or the modern wars of today, chances are if a period in time had firearms present there is a game based on that period in some kind of military backdrop. These games tend to be the biggest sellers in their genera, such as Battlefield and Call of Duty. But why is it that military shooters sell so well, and what’s with the glorification of military action and war? I can present some answers to that as a player of such games.

My first shooter was actually a Call of Duty game. I can’t remember the name, but I do remember it being based on fighting in World War 2. ( a common staple in many a shooter) I remembered fondly how good it felt to be taking down the virtual bad guys, only to be amazed to learn that the game was in fact based on REAL bad guys that we actually fought and WON. Little 10 year old me couldn’t believe that story, that the events transpiring before me were based on real things and just proved that the good guys always won. From there I began developing a taste form more shooters, usually in the context of historical shooters.

Fast forward to 2009 and the newest game out was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. What peaked my interest in this game was the setting of the modern day. The guns in game were way better than the bolt actions of the World War eras I was used to, and the shiny new technology of unmanned drones and sentry turrets made me feel like I could take on the whole world in the game. To boot, there was this vague story line about some all encompassing terrorist group and Russians (of course) which fitted perfectly with my elementary school level history lessons. “Hey, those are the bad guys!” I probably thought as I kindly allowed my lazer guided missile to turn a man’s innards into outnards. Little did I realize that was probably the intention they were going for.

I used to be a military head. Still kinda am. I can tell you random facts about the genius of innovation that was the AK-47 or the muzzle velocity of a M249 SAW (it’s 3,000 ft/s btw). Part of that reason was my exposure to military shooters. They presented me this cool and awesome world of explosions, violence and being the hero. A fantasy that appealed to lil old me. So when i found out that I could be a part of all that for real, I was really considering it. I was actively thinking about going into the armed forces, first as a scout sniper, but deciding I could be a decent S.W.A.T marksman. And that’s what I think was one of the goals of so much militarism in games. To convince kids like me to join up and buff up the ranks of our military, to show the world that we have a big and capable fighting force. Also from a game developers perspective this is a chance to make money hand over fist while getting some brownie points from good ol’ Uncle Sam.

In the end though I didn’t fall though with it. As i got older, I began seeing just how opposite real war and battles are from the games. There’s no regenerating health, no arsenal of high tech weapons at your sole disposal. Real fighting is so much more than that, and is something I personally hope I’ll never have to experience. Was i naive? Yes, maybe a little. Was I astonished by the allure? Kind of in some ways. But I’m not saying all games of these types are just pieces of propaganda to get people to join the military. I’m just putting out there the allure I felt when playing those games. Do I still play them? Of course. Gotta keep my K/D ratio positive. What is important to take away from this is that these games, whether intentional or not are glorifying the prospect of war. It’s important that we keep that in mind if we choose to purchase them, as well as who else will be exposed to them. Be responsible and stick to the age ratings.

As time went on, games became more popular and widespread. What was once a hobby enjoyed by a select few with the time and resources soon flourished into a whole subculture that had regular tournaments with thousands of fans and cash prizes in the hundreds of thousands. Accessibility to games became easier and even transcended generational gaps. Indeed a culture and fan-base rose form these event, and as with anything that develops a large and loyal following a hierarchy has developed in the gaming sphere. Sure, many of us argue over the better console or game, but even in those arguments there still exist that hierarchy. I’m of course talking about the distinction between casual and hardcore gamers.

The terms are rather loose in their definition, but in general a casual gamer is someone who plays games in a casual manor with relatively little gaming experience or experience in a game with a “low barrier of entry. ” An example of such a game would be Tetris, as the concept is simple and easy to learn compared to the mechanics required to play a first person shooter .(Running, movement, aiming, shooting, aiming and moving, etc.) Hardcore gamers are those who have put in hours into a game to understand how to be an effective player. Think of those like your traditional pro esports players.

Within this hierarchy there seems to be a resentment towards the casual players to the hardcore gamers, and many hardcore player would say that some casual players aren’t “real” gamers. This idea of being a “real” player breeds a culture of exclusion and toxicity as many hardcore players feel that their favorite game is being encroached upon. That is how the ideology of the “filthily casual” came to bear roots in some online circles after all. This idea of “casual vs hardcore” serves to only divide gamers and create unnecessary areas of toxicity and sexism. In a research report by Lina Eklund she found that:

“Consequently, the tropes of women as casual gamers
and men as hardcore hide the fact that the casual game category as well as
traditional games are engaged in almost equally by men and women.[1]”

This distinction in all honestly does nothing more than exclude many gamers from a game-space that they could add to and be a part of. In all honesty gamers should see the increase of players coming to their games as a compliment, especially those games focused on a multiplayer model. This gives their favorite game developers more clout and finicial resources to either improve on the game they have now or create a new version of their game that can have more features and even more polish.

When It comes to the game-space in the future, I would like there to be a utopia that is accepting of gamers of any creed, race, sex or religion. These places are areas where we go to to forget the woes of our day or to catch up with friends we no longer can see on a personal basis. I hope that in the future the distinction of casual and hardcore games will cease, and that we can all be just “gamers.”

[1] Eklund, Lina. “Who are the casual gamers? Gender tropes and tokenism in game culture.” Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The changing gaming landscape. Ed. Tama Leaver and Michele Willson. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. 15–30. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 24 Feb. 2020. .

Coding has been the backbone of computer work that makes literally everything in our modern world work, directly or indirectly. Code is one of those things that can be easy to learn, but difficult to master. Take it from me, as I get excited when I create a for loop that doesn’t break after it’s third iteration. Code in of itself is a whole language that transcends borders and can be learned, given you have the time, resources and dedication to learn. At least that is what I thought until I learned that most major code is actually made in American English.

Julianne Tveten outlined in her article “Code is Political” that the major coding languages like C++ and Python are ONLY available in English. A lot of the functionality of these codes demand that you have some working knowledge of English to perform certain commands and actions. It was through the article that I learned about قلب, a computer language completely written in Arabic[1]. It seems that many of us naive English speakers take the language for granted, and don’t even realize it. My coding know how is pretty basic at best and utterly useless at worst. Even now I just barely speak English as a naive speaker. I could not imagine having to learn another language just to another language.

I believe that the coding world should be more inclusive and accepting of others as much as possible given the fact that the internet is a place that brings a lot of people and cultures together. There could be coders in France who have the ability to create amazing new things for us on the internet, but are unable to due to this barrier of entry. I understand that this is a challenge that has plagued the field of computer science since the introduction and creation of the computer. There are some solutions already in pay, but I believe that there needs to be a united front to deal with the issue at hand.

The internet was created with the idea of freedom in mind. It was created with the idea that anyone can crate what they can with their talents. But if we stifle the talents of others due to this unnecessary justification, can we really see that goal come to life? I would love to see more promotion of code converts, programs that allow the programmer to make code in their native language and convert the result into something that anyone can pick up and work on in their OWN native language. Such a task may be enormous and even costly, but I believe that such a task will bring us closer as one, as our world become more dependent on everyone working together.

[1] Tveten, Julianne, “Code Is Political,” https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3dak5w/code-is-political, published March 1, 2016

Back then during the infancy of games players were usually given a preset, defined character with already established looks, personality and range of actions. For a long time this was the norm. Since his introduction into the world Mario “Jumpman” Mario would always be easily identified by his iconic red hat and outfit under a set of blue overalls. His popularity let to always sporting the same outfit from title after title. Sure in some games he got some new moves and abilities, but the outfit always reamined the same. You could never play Super Mario World in, say a nice fancy tux and a suave tophat. Such an option had to be programmed into the game, and the space was limited on early gaming hardware. Programmers had to make due with what was given to them and was tasked above all to give an amazing gaming experience, so some features had to be cut.

Fast forward to now and the gaming hardware of old has been replaced with the new computers and transistors of today. There was a lot more space to work with, and a lot more opportunity to add more. More features! More levels! Even more adventures! And with that added space we soon begin to see more choices in representation. Particularly the rise and importance of the player avatar. Webster’s dictionary defined avatar as:

“An incarnation in human form; An embodiment (as of a concept or philosophy) often in a person“

It’s interesting to note that this word “avatar” was chosen and standardized in much of gaming culture. Perhaps it was due to it’s implied divine origins, where the player is God in this digital realm and all who inhabit it are mere playthings to be used and discarded. Maybe it was just really fitting to describe this thing which we create and grow attached too. Whatever the real or underlying reason, it can be agreed that the idea of recreating ones self into an environment that we rule is appealing and entertaining. Even more entertaining than that is the idea of putting everything on random and seeing what absolute beauty of horrid monstrosity you’ll create. It all depends on how much you actually care about your avatar. As quoted from Adrienne Shaw in her work “He Could Be a Bunny Rabbit for All I Care!”:

“Even if I decide to choose a seemingly random selection of options from a
character-customization screen, I must momentarily reflect on how
much I care about how I am represented in the game space. It is
the notion of player self-representation that determines whether a
person in a game is an avatar.[2]”

The beauty of gaming avatars of today is the fact that they are your creation that you bring to life! You can customize them with the limits of the game, and connect with them in so many ways. Want yo self inset yourself in a game of Skyrim? You’re allowed to do that! Roll-play as a slicked tongue bruiser in Fallout? You can achieve that! Just want to see if you can recreate a face that looks like a hamburger in Mii? That is valid too! The power given to the players of today allows for some much more inclusion within many gaming spheres. Customization is what you make of it, and using it as you see fit is what I believe to be one of the greatest progressions in representation.

[1] “Avatar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avatar. Accessed 11 May. 2020.

[2] Shaw, Adrienne, “He Could Be a Bunny Rabbit for All I Care!” pg 102, University of Minnesota Press, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central

Since the early days of gaming, the general idea has always been that games for more of a boy thing. Many of the arcade cabinets of old had a focus on attracting a male audience, be it the bloody and graphic contents found within a Mortal Kombat game, or the prospect of overly sexualized female characters next to the tough, muscular men in Street Fighter. These ideas has led to a crowding out of the female demographic, as well as reinforced the ideals of toxic masculinity. Over the years, however, this idea of masculinity has been constantly changing to be more inclusive, real, and overall a more healthy outlook of what it means to be a man. To explain this change, I wanted to talk about a game series that has been with me for the formative years of my life and has changed and differed as much as i had. That game is Jak and Daxter.

For those of you who don’t know Jak and Daxter was a game series made for the PlayStation series of consoles by Naughty Dog, the same game developers who made some popular games like The Last of Us and the Uncharted Series. Jak and Daxter tells the journey of series protagonist Jak. In his first game Jak was a teen aged boy of some fantasy race of people who looked like humans but with long, pointed ears and various hair colors. In his first game, his good friend Daxter gets transformed into this weird creature, and the journey of the game is to find a way to transform him back. The game was pretty impressive 3d platformer that utilized the game environment to create interesting puzzles and situations. Combat consisted of using punches and kicks to defeat enemies, which usually went down in one or two hits. In game, Jak was a mute who had no dialog outside of his yells and screams as he fought enemies. He was pretty much a blank slate of a character when it came to personality, but even then he showed traits of stereotypical masculine behavior. Jak has a natural drive for adventure and is shown to be quite heroic, even almost getting the girl at the end of his adventure, before being comically interrupted by his friend Daxter.

The second game in the series, Jak 2, takes the series to a much darker and gritter place. The world of Jak 1 is replaced with an urban, authoritarian mega city where class divides are present and serious themes such as enslavement and genocide. The new setting also ages up Jak to that of an adult, who is no longer mute and full of rage and anger. This game also introduces us to the use of guns, which will be a series mainstay. Jak himself takes on more stereotypical manly traits, such and always being angry, always ready for a fight and just overall aggressive. If that isn’t enough he’s also caught in a love triangle between two equally sexually suggestive females. These personality traits follow our hero all the way up until the last game in the series.

Jak: The Lost Frontier is the final game in the series, and relaxes some of the masculine traits that Jak processes. For starters he really isn’t the main focus of the game. That tittle goes to Kiera, once the object of Jak’s affection now a very capable inventor and designer. Kiera also ends up being the person that saves everyone at the end of the game as well. Jak, as charater is a bot more toned down. He’s less angry, being more suave and joyfull at times. The whole love triangle thing no longer exists, and while before he seemed to always have a plan, in this game it seems that he improvises most of the time to get things done.

Although there are more prominent examples of changing masculinity, I find the Jak example to be close in personal to me because that is what I grew up with. A more realistic and all around better example would be Joel from The Last of Us. An excerpt from the book “How to Play Video Games” describes the character of Joel as follows:

“As the primary playable character and central representation of masculinity in the game, Joel is often presented as being vulnerable, imperiled, and victimized by a bleak existence. Much of the violence that takes place—while admittedly cinematic—is neither glamorized nor heroic.[1]“

What it means to be a man has been changing with the times year by year and generation by generation. These expectations and assumptions are presented to us thought the media of entertainment and game media. As many of us may at one point create something that will be presented to the world, it is important that we look at what we create and asses if it is either breaking the mold or enforcing the rules of old. Either way, we should do so responsibly and with the best of intentions.

[1] Huntemann, Nina B. How to Play Video Games (User’s Guides to Popular Culture) (p. 104). NYU Press. Kindle Edition.

Back in the times before Columbus discovered the Americas, the Aztec people used to play a game we now call “Mesoamerican ballgame.” The rules were are not quite know as they constantly changed throughout time and weren’t really recorded well. From what we do know we know that it was some mix of handball and soccer, with players limited to using their hips and forearms to hit a rubber ball into a circular goal suspended on a wall. We also know that being the looser was not in any one teams best interest. Sure we hate loosing games now, but back then being the loosing team could mean loosing your life. (Especially if you was a prisoner of war)[1] While many players don’t have to face that now, there is still that pressure for some who game professionally. Take for example one of the best Smash Bros. Melee players Hungerybox. Hungerybox made a name for himself in the Melee community by rising the ranks in torment play. Originally an underdog with humble beginnings, Hungerybox became a force to be reckoned with as he developed his play style: a more slow, defensive play style that focused on punishing bad plays and escaping whenever possible. This generated a lot of hate for him, as Melee was seen as a more fast paced, combo focused type of game. Fans and spectators alike would boo Hungerybox and wanted nothing more than his downfall, even going as far to throw a crab at live crab at him after he won a tournament[2].

Unlike the standard sports of play, esports is, in a sense a bit more personal when it comes to player-to-crowd relations. Take for example that many professional esports players are also popular streamers. When they go live in their stream, they get to notify the great number of fans that they have that they are out playing a game they both like and they should join them. Not only that but the fans will even have the chance to chat with them as well. This medium of streaming makes the experience all the more personal for the both the streamer and the fans. That’s why it comes to no surprise that the fans feel that they should have a larger say in the experience. Sure, when you watch a football game and a player makes a bad call or throws a bad pass, you may feel that you could have done better if you was there. But when you’re in a stream, you have the opportunity to tell the player “Hey, you dun goof.” There’s a greater chance for the audience to have an effect on the field of play, and this in turn can affect the actions of the star players.

Esports is still relatively new and young compared to the traditional games of old, and only time will tell if the medium will garner the attention and respect it’s deserved. While there are negatives associated with this form of massive play, it’s important to note that with time and a strong community effort, the realm of esports can soon be competing for the viewership of old traditional sports as well.

[1]   Petrus, Monica “The Brutal and Bloody History of the Mesoamerican Ball Game, Where Sometimes Loss Was Death” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/meso-american-baseball, published 1/9/14

[2] EmpLemon, “there will Never Ever be another Melee player like Hungrybox”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmLSJrA0n9w&t=32s, published 1/26/20

With any video game, setting is an important and basic concept that can set the tone and feel of how the player interacts with the elements found within. Whether is’s going on an galactic adventure through the cosmos or surviving the brain eating horde in the fields of 9th century Europe, settings in general gives us information about the world we inhabit and find ourselves in. Even simple games like tag are limited by the field of play! Game designers and level creators are more aware of this than anyone, as they are the ones creating the landscapes and challenges that the player will have to face. In come cases, this means crating a hallway or room with some statistically placed walls and pickups and populating the area with enemies. Sometimes even a boss with a unique gimmick. Other times however, they take the level and scenery and use it to tell a story, or show how things are changing. A personal example of mines was playing the game inFamous. In the game, your actions had a effect of the world depending on if you was playing the good or evil route. As you did bad actions, your character would wear darker clothing, look dirtier and the world around would look worst for wear with increasingly darkening skies and more dystopian looking buildings. Compare this to the good route, where the skies start parting the dark clouds and the city, while still rundown looking, shows signs of rebuilding and progress. These elements show that your actions have active consequences, and the game designers want you to be aware of that.

Setting too can also tell an underlying story. Such is the case of Bioshock Infinite. In this game we play as Booker DeWitt, a former detective trying wipe away his dept by taking on a mission to find a girl named Elizabeth on the floating city that is Columbia. It’s important to note now that the game’s developers, Irrational Games, were an American company. This comes into play very early on in the game when we are first introduced to the city of Columbia, a steampunk-esque city that somehow feels so advance for it’s time, yet oddly fitting in the themes of 1900’s America. The city is busing with old Colonial architecture and a somewhat similar motif of redesigned American flags, all while robo-officers patrol the streets. The setting is familiar enough to understand the general theme, yet alien and new. It makes the player want to explore and see what chain of events let to this environment. That is the importance of showing, and not telling. As quoted in “How to Play Viedogames,”

“There is both enough consistency and ambiguity present in the design of the geography to keep players speculating without ever being able to establish definitively how Columbia’s buildings are arranged. This makes Columbia appear larger than it is (because no single map contains it all), and it suggests, too, that there may be areas the player has not seen.[1]”

With the right setting, you can craft a whole world that is not only immersive, but also have meaning and creates interest for the player. Sure, not too many players are too focused on the backdrop, but if the elements show themselves without saying a thing, you know you have created an enticing world to explore.

[1] Huntemann, Nina B. How to Play Video Games (User’s Guides to Popular Culture) (pp. 77-78). NYU Press. Kindle Edition.