For my last blog , I am going to reflect on my experiences using Twine. Twine is a good platform for developing games due to its being relatively user friendly and accessible. The down load for twine is quick easy and requires little space on a person’s computer. This increases accessibility by minimizing hard ware requirements so even the potatoes can run Twine. Twine is also able to be used on almost any operating system, or in the case of Chrome books, there is even a web-based version. For running games, Twine generates an html page so that it can ran on any computer with a web browser, making it not only accessible to its creators but also its players.

In order to create a basic game, a user only needs to know a few Twine native commands. Making the learning curve to getting used to Twine start very low. The other advantage of Twine piggy backing off of html is that it is not uncommon for someone to already know, but also very easy for a beginner to get to for formatting out passages. This also allows for twine games to become very complex if the develop desires, not only can they leverage Twine’s built in variable system but they can use JavaScript to create custom scripts for their game.

Twine has several different styles of native coding it allows. At first glance this seems like a great addition because a developer can choose the style that fits their needs the best. This has its drawbacks though, it is not always clear which style the editor is using and when trying to find documentation and resources on Twine elements the different frameworks are mixed an matched together. This brings us to Twine’s documentation. While it does explain the basic concepts behind different elements. Many times the documentation is very brief and hard to navigate.

Adding external files can be very frustrating. Twine 2 does not allow the user to add any extra files in to the project they are working on, so all images must be uploaded to 3rd party websites and scripts must be typed directly into the passages. This could be seen as an advantage, since developers do not need to understand how to path to other files, but I would say it is an overall detriment. It makes adding any content outside of basic html and text a slight pain.

Overall I enjoyed developing with Twine, its simple design makes it easy to create basic stories, while the technologies it leverages makes it so that the developer can make much more than just a simple visual novel. After using twine for this course I want to continue using it to see how complex of a game I can make.

I really connected with the nostalgia topic we discussed in class. It never occurred to me that there may be different kinds of nostalgia and that people can experience it so radically differently. As far back as I can remember playing games has been a big part of my life. I can think fondly back on playing Mario Kart with friends, trying to teach my grandma how to play Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour on the Sega Dreamcast, and countless hours hiding away in my room playing Harvest Moon 64.

However, it struck a chord with me that there are different types of nostalgia and that those experiences can’t always be replicated properly. I think that’s why the indie game genre has boomed so much over the years. I have tried to go back and play some of these childhood favorites and it’s usually pretty disappointing. I’ve been spoiled with modern controls and graphics. The N64 controller was really ridiculous and not intuitive at all. Some of the graphics on these older games are so outdated, I’m amazed sometimes that I was ever able to determine what was happening on the screen when I was a kid. The control mapping is often clunky and limited. This is not to say these weren’t great games at the time they were released, just that games have advanced so much since then.

So, while I’ve never actually played Shovel Knight, I can relate with the excitement of playing a game that captures that retro feeling without actually being retro. I think this is one of the reasons I love Stardew Valley so much. Harvest Moon was one of my all-time favorite games growing up, and Stardew Valley is beautiful homage to it. It captures a lot of the same whimsy, relaxation, and appreciation for the little things in life and keeps a bit of the retro feeling by implementing pixel art as it’s graphical medium. However, there are so many quality of life updates and so many more options for game play that I don’t experience nearly the same amount of frustration as I would if I was actually playing Harvest Moon.

I’m always impressed by people that can religiously play retro games and recapture some of those nostalgic feelings. They’re so dedicated to keeping the old games alive and continuing the passion for them. I applaud them for their dedication. But I also think it’s still important to appreciate what indie developers are doing to help those of us with less patience experience some quality nostalgia.

Before I wrapped up my blog with a slight reflection on the course itself, paired with my own thoughts on gaming and gaming communities I wanted to speak one last time on the subject of my final research paper. When ending my paper I noted some facts about race, and also went slightly in depth mid paper about the players mother as a character. I felt these two topics are possible areas where I could expand on the paper in the future, particularly while showing how the player’s mother is always a nurturing symbol within the games, whereas the one father we have is a powerful gym leader who shows “leadership”. Race and Gender are two topics in the Pokemon universe that I feel me and many other fans often have overlooked as we care so little for NPC’s and rather focus on when our one Pokemon will finally evolve so we can dunk on our rival. Still, I think the interactions with NPC’s and why Game Freak chose certain dialogue, and roles for certain characters is worthy of a closer analysis in the future, and hope to one day see more criticism related to the topic. 

As for my final thoughts, as with my last post I find myself a bit sad in that this course has finally come to a close. I have never taken a Media Study course, and being an English major I must say the entire course has been a great breath of fresh air. Cody has been an amazing Professor and has truly cared about his students during these troubling times. And though I wish I could have experienced the course at its fullest in person, the transition has been handled so well by all included in it. I’ve enjoyed watching streams, videos and playing along with each other on the Discord server, and most importantly I’ve learned something. I’ve learned a great deal about game communities, and the flaws of the gaming world, while also finally viewing it in a positive light despite these negatives and flaws. Growing up I always saw gaming as something bad, something that shouldn’t be a focus of anyone’s life, or even the focus of an hour in someone’s day. But in the last few years I’ve grown more comfortable dedicating more and more of my time to gaming, especially with friends. 

And, most importantly I feel this course really led me to think outside the box. I think one of the most interesting videos and aspects of gaming we went over was those enshrouded in “GamerGate”. After the in class discussion we had that day after watching the youtube video I sent the video to a group of my friends, and debated some of the responses that came from it and some of the interesting things the youtuber had said. I found it interesting that we had this discussion in a gaming community, on discord, of a pretty substantial size, and yet only me and my friends chose to discuss the topic. Never had I seen the topic arise outside of when we had discussed it, nor had we ever discussed the hardships of girl gamers and how certain people are targeted in gaming communities. Also of note was the absence of the members who seemed truly so interested in gaming, certainly more interested than me. It would seem that so many fans of particular franchises, stories and games are passionate when it comes to discussing said games and franchises, and perhaps even argumentative, but when discussing the hardships of others in relation to those games or to the gaming community as a whole the voices are less loud. Either way, I enjoyed the discussion the video led to, and we also analyzed the two videos that followed it for hours of that day. It was enlightening, and eye opening and made me see many faults within gaming communities as well as the one I was a part of. Despite seeing the faults though I saw so much good from others responses to it, particularly those closer to me, and learned more about their views toward the subject and how they coincided with mine. I will never forget that experience, and that’s more I can say most of my classes have led to when it comes to considering their information outside of the classroom itself.

Characters in video games are the people we are spending our time with for the duration of the game. For every good game, there is a good character. In this blog post I will discuss some amazing characters and what made them so great to begin with.

Let’s take a look at Mario. Mario is a plumber from the game Super Mario bros, who takes on Bowser and saves the princess, but you didn’t need me to tell you that. In recent years Mario has become almost as recognisable as McDonalds or Coca Cola, which for a video game character is very amazing. Mario is so popular that Japan considered using him as the face of the next Japan Olympics. But who really is Mario? Well it’s pretty sad to say that Mario actually only has a few lines of dialogue, and most of them are just expressionary sounds like “ow” or “wowowow.” We don’t need to see who Mario is as a person because his sole goal is to save the princess, and it also sometimes feels like that’s the only reason he’s here. While there isn’t much to know about Mario, he is still incredibly popular and well known. I think one reason Mario is so shallow is because he is such an old character, from the beginning of video games. When characters evolved from what were simple games, like playing tennis, it was a new concept. Mario and Link from the Legend of Zelda were very one-dimensional characters in what was a totally new genre at the time. Today, one of the important elements of a video game is the character’s personality and motivations. That is why today’s characters have more substance. 

The next character I would like to examine is the DragonBorn from the Elder Scrolls, Skyrim. The DragonBorn, or Dovahkiin, whose name is decided by the player, is a stoic hero who speaks with dragons. It’s pretty badass, but ultimately, who is he? While anyone who plays the Elder Scrolls knows that the dragon born speaks with dragons, they also decide for themselves who he’s going to be. For me, the dragonborn is a good guy whose only job is to make sure that Tamriel is safe, but if you asked some of my friends the same question they would probably say that he is more of an agent of chaos. This decision about how the character will act makes the DragonBorn perfect for every player because as a base character, you know you are all powerful, and you don’t have to make the hard choices if you don’t want to. Also, the fact that the character can be interpreted in different ways makes the game more interesting. 

While these two characters are widely recognizable, they are far from the only ones. Nintendo is the best at making characters that are recognizable everywhere because they are oriented for kids but parents watch their kids play and become familiar with these characters as well. They also market the characters with toys and other experiences.

The video game market has been ever expanding so that every player can play, and this can be shown in cheaper release costs of certain platforms, and the availability of online sales and purchases. But cost and access to platforms is only a few of the many ways video game companies opt to include everyone. In this blog I will be talking about the many ways that companies are trying to include everyone in the fun with games.

One major event in recent years is the Xbox adaptive controller. The Xbox adaptive controller is a fully customizable, DJ board sized game controller that allows the user to make it easier for a disabled player to play. Depending on the limitations a person may have on their ability to use traditional controllers, many can make the adaptive controller work for them. This could include people who only have the use of one hand or who have less strength or limited mobility, or even no hands at all.

Most people don’t need to use the adaptive controller because Xbox controllers have been made to suit a wide range of abilities and include some people who are disabled in some way.  There are many people who have a disability and they become incredible gamers using the traditional or adaptive controllers. 

In May of 2018, Xbox aired an advertisement for the controller that put out a message saying that video games are the way people bond, and that helping kids who are handicapped play games is crucial to their social development and feeling included in developmental activities. I think that what Xbox did is a massive breakthrough in getting everyone involved in the fun.

Another huge accessibility update that many people don’t talk about is the increased sensitivity of controllers. I was diagnosed with ADHD and a fine motor skill impediment, so playing games has been difficult because my reaction time is quite delayed. I find that in recent times, or at least since the Xbox1/PS4 release, I have been able to keep up with my friends’ skill levels in games because the controllers are more high-tech and sensitive to actions. This is also true for me when I game on the computer because I purposely purchased a keyboard that was more sensitive to touch, and I have actually noticed that my typing speed has gotten significantly better since I purchased it.

I think that at the rate we are going, soon it will be widely accessible for everyone to play games at a competitive level. I know that with the “primitive” gaming consoles, my performance was far lower due to my limitation, however since the newest generation of consoles came out, and the technology became much more responsive I have been able to keep up with my friends when we play competitively.  I can only imagine that the feeling I got when I first experienced playing a game more like it was intended can only be far greater in people who previously were not even able to play games.

The console wars started far before my time, and truly began almost as soon as video games hit the market. The Atari and the Sega Genesis came out around the same time and this principle also began the idea of console specific games. In this blog I will outline what makes certain consoles better than others, or at least why there is even a fight to be had in this regard.

First of all, I am biased. I own a Playstation and a PC. So disclaimer, not everyone is going to agree with me.

The Xbox 1 is one of the newest consoles on the market with its soon-to-be predecessor the Xbox series X. the Xbox has been held in great regard as a very good video game system that performs well. The Xbox also has many fan-favorite exclusives like Halo and Gears of War, which drive some of the fan base to purchase this over any other console. The Xbox 1 actually only plays games in 720p, compared to the Playstation which plays in 1080p, but the difference is almost nonexistent to the naked eye. This fact alone, even though being so trivial actually led many people to purchase the Playstation instead, because many people who play video games want it to look as good as possible. This is why many people buy gaming computers over consoles, because they can have more of the processing power in the hands of the consumer and are not limited to the limits of PS4 or Xbox. 

The PS4 is a worthy rival to the Xbox. While Playstation has many games that are exclusive to it, to me they do not compare to the Xbox exclusive games. This is okay because most major developers want to release the best games on both consoles so they can make more money. The Playstation 4 sold me personally because of their free game of the month and subscription to PS Now which allows users to play older games from their Playstation 4. This was very quickly replicated by Xbox. 

And finally we come to the PC. As a PC gamer I am almost obligated to say that PC is the best, and it really is. The selection of games on PC is far greater then Xbox or PS4 because many indie developers will release games only on PC. Not only that, but you can also customize a PC however you’d like and if you don’t have enough money for an Xbox or PS4, then a cheaper gaming computer actually may be a better deal. Plus the magical 3 words. No monthly fees. Xbox and Playstation both charge a whopping $50-60 a year to use their online services, whereas PC does not have this monthly payment because Steam is free to all users.

Overall, I would recommend that everyone get a console and a PC because consoles are easier to play with friends whereas PC has many more uses besides video games. But if you do not have enough money, I think a PC is the better deal.

RPG games are my favorite genre of games. Who doesn’t want to live a completely separate life from the one they do now and be a character that has badass abilities and talks to cool people?  In this blog post I will discuss some of my favorite RPG games and why they are my favorite.

First and foremost, I consider Elder Scrolls Skyrim to be my favorite RPG game. The game is about being a character who is the dragon born and has the ability to speak dragon, which comes off as powerful speaking magic to humans, known as thu’um. In this game you are able to do a wide range of quests and missions to make your character much better and stronger. But it is not the main story that makes Skyrim awesome, it is the amount of side quests that there are in the game. There is a whopping 500 hours of gameplay if you decide to take on every single quest, and that’s quite a lot considering many games that come out now are boasting about 40-50 hour gameplays. This game definitely made an impression on me when I first began playing RPG games. 

The next RPG I would like to discuss is Fallout. While Fallout is made by the same company as Skyrim, the gameplay elements have many key differences. For example, Skyrim focuses mostly on hand-to-hand combat or sharp weapons like axes and swords, but Fallout takes place far in the future and mostly features guns and explosives. This game is just as long, and feels like there is some tension in the world, which is exactly what I like in games. A sense of place in an RPG game is one of my favorite elements because it makes your actions significantly more important in the game.

Finally, on the topic of having a place in the world in RPG games, there is The Witcher. The Witcher is a game about a monster hunter for hire that experiences immense racism everywhere he goes for siding with the side that pays more. However Geralt of Rivia actually shows that he has his place in the world by solving many problems along his travels and killing bad monsters everywhere he goes. This game was also so beautiful that the player almost feels guilty using fast travel because they may miss out on the scenery around them. This game was one of the first games that i got so lost in that I forgot what day it was in the real world.

Overall, most RPG games are here to take you for a ride in someone else’s shoes and I’m excited to see what the next few years of RPG games hold. Considering the technology that is coming out soon with the PS5 and Xbox Series X is supposed to be much more powerful, I hope to see a lot more new concepts and ideas in the next generation of RPG games.

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.

Diegesis is the principle of what is known to the character, whereas non-diegesis is when things are unknown to the character. These principles confused me at first, but recently I have been able to distinguish what is diegetic and what is not, so for this blog I will help clear up the confusion that I once had. 

Diegetic elements are things that are known to the character and the audience together. This can be something as simple as a sound or as complex as a secret that is unravelling before the character’s eyes. As long as it is clear to both us and the character it can be categorized as diagetic. Simple right? 

Well non-diegetic elements are elements that are only known to outside observers. An example of non diegetic elements would be narration or background music that isn’t available to the character. 

Let me give you an example.

Stanley walks down the street with his two friends. They are reading texts as they walk and laugh and things that are going on with their friend group. One friend decides to turn the song 

Funkytown on from his phone, everyone dances. 

These are all diegetic elements because we know that this is happening. But when you look into the situation there is a lot more going on behind the scenes. You may realize that Tammy, the girl sitting next to Stanley, has a crush on him, but neither of them have stated anything about this, however we know because of context clues. That would be considered a non-diegetic element, because we know that this is going on, but Stanley has no idea and Tammy has never stated this fact verbally. 

What makes non-diegetic elements harder to detect is sometimes they may even appear as diegetic elements. Though it is clear through all of Tammy’s body language and actions that she likes Stanley, because it is not common knowledge to the viewer or the people in the scene, it is considered non-diegetic. 

There are many examples of non-diegetics becoming diegetics, for example when a character breaks the 4th wall, it becomes unclear whether his actions are known to the characters, or if only we know the information that the character shared when they broke the 4th wall. 

The way that I have learned to distinguish between them is by viewing the characters reactions when something happens that is unclear if it is diegetic or not. This tip works for most things that aren’t background sounds, as sometimes background sounds are made in a way that compliments the scene and goes with the actions on scene, which can really be confusing to tell if everyone hears it.

I find that most cinematic elements tend to be diegetic, because it is more natural for the writers to tell stories where everyone knows what it happening and the story line can develop. But with video games, it is important that some elements are not known to some of the characters, especially when building quests. In general it is hard to show something on a screen that is next to characters but also unknown to all of them.

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