Day 12 (Mar.13.11) - Home -1

130 - 340 PM

(I realized the other day that I had forgotten the book Why Games Matter back at my dorm so I placed a copy on hold at the library here and just a few minutes ago downloaded an audio book version from Audible.com)

1. Played the audio book in the background from the very beginning
2. Over the past week I was able to watch and read the Ten Artists Who Use Video Games as Their Medium
1. I find the idea interesting to think about, seeing as the ways that they appear as well as they ways that they play are artistically formed, an aesthetic to be liked or disliked.
2. As I went through them I had tried to pay full attention to all of them but quite honestly I preferred not to watch anymore than a few second of with sound on or off. Those games were primarily the low graphic games such as game 1, 3, 4, and especially 5 as well as 8 and 10. More than half of them I was adverse to as can be noted by the list, although the one that bothered me the least was definitely game 8 by Jason Rohrer. The reasons behind this was that it was something that I was more familiar with than the others, it was a lot like some 2D games I had watched my brother play on the Gameboy Color as well as the Pokemon games I'd played. But at the same time despite it bringing up familiarities in graphics that I had ben used to I didn't understand what it was about from the video the article provided even with the small excerpt written below it.
3. As for the ones I liked they were of the remaining numbers that I haven't listed : 2, 6, 7, and 9.
4. Number 2 by Greg Wholwend I liked because of the limited color pallet and the brighter of the colors bring direct attention to the movement during play leaving no real distractions. With this game there is an act of minimalism which I respect wholesomely as it keeps the game simple getting the skier from point A to point B while doing crazy stunts simply with a single press of a button. I was able to watch this whole video all the way through because of the attractiveness of the the sounds and the visual appeal, and imagining being able to play the game all the way through didn't hurt much either.
5. With number 6 by Daniel Benmergui I felt compelled to watch all the way through just so I could see the ending, I was very curious about this different way of approaching things. Using words and combining them with limited graphics was by no means limited in the way that the music made me feel while watching it. Another part that i don't doubt drew me in was the fact that it was a form of narrative, quite literally speaking with the player actively changing the words in order to progress. 
6. As for number 7 by Erik Svedang it was the artistic style of the game that had me hooked instantly, the painterly feel and the flowing movement inside of this 2d game was amazing and made me wish I had an iPhone for a few hours just so I can play it. That and how it seems to be a one button game was also an attractive quality.
7. In game 9 by Steph Thirion I enjoyed the interactivity of the game even if there isn't a story line or narrative driving it. Just getting to play around with how the shapes shift and change with each touch is interesting enough to keep a person occupied for quite a while.
3. I had to stop the audiobook so that I could focus on writing this response but that's fine I have the week to go through about 04:27:09 (4 hours, 27 minutes and 9 seconds) left to listen to before I can write a blog post about it.

What I still have to do for March 22, 2011 (Tuesday)

1. Finish Why Video Games Matter
2. Blog 2-3 paragraphs on why games do/don't matter
3. Complete Game "Collection"
1. Place all items
2. Repaint the simplified body of kit
3. Create an alternate version of the existing kit so that its ripped
4. Paint that
5. Write insertion code for the newer kit
6. Find and download new sounds (1 or 2)
4. Post Presentation Topic