Blog Post #1
Assignment: Pick a game not discussed by any of the theorists we've read so far. You can choose a sport, a board game, card game, computer game -- any kind of game. Using McLuhan's essay as your guide, speculate briefly (in 300-500 words) about the perceptual and social/political effects of the game. What kinds of social interaction does the game generate (or fail to generate)? If your game is contemporary (the newest Halo game, for example), what social functions do you think it fulfills? If your game is historical (Parcheesi, for example, or boxing) what social functions do you think it originally fulfilled? Feel free to think speculatively (and creatively) about these questions -- I don't expect you do extensive research.
Have fun with this!
M.A.S.H.
ReplyDeleteIf you grew up in the 80s or 90s, you probably remember this fortune-telling game from elementary and middle school. The object is to predict one’s distant future—who they will marry, where they will live, etc. It is played by at least 2 people. On a piece of paper are written various categories. The first one is always the type of dwelling you will live in—Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House. Other categories would often include whom you would marry; how many children; type of vehicle; pets; career. Besides type of dwelling (which gives the game its name), none of these categories were essential. A morbid girl, if she wished, could predict how she might die. There’s lots of room for improvisation.
Then you fill out each category with four options. You choose three, and your friend chooses 1. Again, this is not a strict rule. Sometimes there could be five options in each category, with one person choosing 3 options, and the other 2.
From there, a counting mechanism is used to choose what is in store for your future. The game is highly alea (chance) focused.
Like playing house, MASH provides a structure in which to imagine being a grown up. Players are confronted with the assumed expectations of a girl’s life--what is socially expected of her.** She is expected to get a career, drive a car, have children. On the other hand, while these categories are common, they are in no way enforced. One could just as well predict what foreign countries she will visit, what college she will go to, or what instrument she will play. Therefore the perceived expectations of grown-up life can be put into question or made suspect.
It was very common to submit options that you knew your friend wouldn’t like, giving her the chance to marry the class nerd, or become a garbageman, or my personal favorite, drive a bathtub on wheels. In MASH, life is out of your control and everything is decided by destiny or chance. This provides relief from the world outside of the game, where for good or ill, you know that adults have some amount of free will and decision-making power.
The climax of the game comes in reading the fortune, prompting laughter all around. It’s an ilinx-like bonding experience. You also get to bond over secrets shared—your friends knew who you really wanted to marry—which reinforces the exclusivity of your friendship.
**Although I knew of boys who would sometimes play this game, it was generally seen as “for girls.”
M.A.S.H.
ReplyDeleteIf you grew up in the 80s or 90s, you probably remember this fortune-telling game from elementary and middle school. The object is to predict one’s distant future—who they will marry, where they will live, etc. It is played by at least 2 people. On a piece of paper are written various categories. The first one is always the type of dwelling you will live in—Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House. Other categories would often include whom you would marry; how many children; type of vehicle; pets; career. Besides type of dwelling (which gives the game its name), none of these categories were essential. A morbid girl, if she wished, could predict how she might die. There’s lots of room for improvisation.
Then you fill out each category with four options. You choose three, and your friend chooses 1. Again, this is not a strict rule. Sometimes there could be five options in each category, with one person choosing 3 options, and the other 2.
From there, a counting mechanism is used to choose what is in store for your future. The game is highly alea (chance) focused.
Like playing house, MASH provides a structure in which to imagine being a grown up. Players are confronted with the assumed expectations of a girl’s life--what is socially expected of her.** She is expected to get a career, drive a car, have children. On the other hand, while these categories are common, they are in no way enforced. One could just as well predict what foreign countries she will visit, what college she will go to, or what instrument she will play. Therefore the perceived expectations of grown-up life can be put into question or made suspect.
It was very common to submit options that you knew your friend wouldn’t like, giving her the chance to marry the class nerd, or become a garbageman, or my personal favorite, drive a bathtub on wheels. In MASH, life is out of your control and everything is decided by destiny or chance. This provides relief from the world outside of the game, where for good or ill, you know that adults have some amount of free will and decision-making power.
The climax of the game comes in reading the fortune, prompting laughter all around. It’s an ilinx-like bonding experience. You also get to bond over secrets shared—your friends knew who you really wanted to marry—which reinforces the exclusivity of your friendship.
**Although I knew of boys who would sometimes play this game, it was generally seen as “for girls.”
(I'm sorry that posted twice!) = /
ReplyDeleteTwister, “the game that ties you up in knots,” is a game played on a plastic matt colored with red blue yellow and green spots. To play, two to four players must face one another on the mat, a referee spins the spinner -directing the players to place a certain foot or hand on a particular colored circle. All of the players must follow these directions at the same time, finding en empty circle on the mat that fits the requirements called out by the referee. As the game goes on, all players become increasingly uncomfortable/ and or tangled until one (or all) of the players fall, and are eliminated. The last player standing wins.
ReplyDeleteTwister teaches its players to realize they are responsible for their actions (eg, if you fall and knock everyone else over you know its your fault, but game setting enables you to laugh it off). The “landscape of the game” is neutral and equal for all players, there is no position that would give a player an advantage—the game is laid out on an equal grid ensuring equality for all players.
Taught lessons in inclusion, unlike other games, Socially, it did not require much from its players- (mentally or physically) so technically anyone could be included, unlike sports games where players were valued over other players for possessing greater athletic skills. Twister provides a neutral setting, where a balanced challenge is offered to the players- no unrealistic expectations, no real fear of letting a team down. You are inside a “magic circle” of comradery and laughter for a set time limit and when it is over, no hard feelings.
The absurd nature of the game brings players closer together. Literally, players are forced to accept extreme physical closeness, but being at such a close proximity to others for an extended amount of time, despite potential for awkwardness, this closeness enables one to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, to not take life so seriously.
RISK
ReplyDeleteRisk is a strategy game about world domination. The object of the game is to quite simply wipe out your opponent’s armies and take military control of the entire world. The act of playing RISK or putting yourself in it’s “magic circle” allows you to be the general of a large number of armies that you may station, attack, or defend with. In this way you feel very much that you are playing the “game of kings” (war) from the kings perspective. Socially this game is very interesting for two main reasons: firstly because like in war you tend to create allies and enemies, however; the way the game is set up it is impossible to stay in alliance with your opponent for the games entirety. Therefore it becomes an odd game of trust, one in witch you must always be on your toes and ready to anticipate when your opponent may break their alliance with you. One the other hand you must also constantly be thinking of when in it is strategically best to break alliances. Secondly it is fascinating to see the role of revenge in this game. In many cases I have seen players over expand and leave themselves vulnerable, after a singly targeted rampage blinded by revenge. I find these two examples of revenge and alliances particularly interesting because their presence relies on human interaction. In this way RISK becomes an extremely political game one in witch you must try to slyly gain control while constantly playing the role of the “ally”. Usually it is the player that is able to overcome his instincts to seek revenge, create “strong” alliances and know exactly when it will be most effective to break them that ends up with world domination. That said it is also important to notice that this is not a strictly Agon game, since dice play a large roll in it, therefore giving the game an element of Alea. Finally, it is interesting to see the types of qualities a young mind may pick up by playing RISK during his or her childhood. For example one my learn from RISK to be manipulative, strategically, a good politician, and even a backstabber. That said I would also point out that it is just a game and believe that it would be unfair to pin point these traits on all players of RISK.
Ki Smith
Blog Post #1
ReplyDeleteVenus .b
Well guys will be first to say foot ball was one game I played but I was also on the other side cheering. All-star competitive Cheerleading is a sport that’s more than a game. I know y’all seem bring it on. If so got a taste of how it goes down .I believe this is the only game that touches on all the category of play. In this game the cheater and spoiled spots are just a part of this arena which makes it game more interesting and for a lack of a better word fun. So who would be a cheater? Someone that stills chorography / skills the spoiled sport is someone the gives up /quits. These two people are not necessary but it seem to be a part of the way the game is design, there is no getting around them. They do have the power to change the rules of game /or try to. In this game the cheater can be forced into becoming the spoiled sport if the team filling that their actions are unjustifiable or goes against house rules. An example would be not being dressed proper, defaming the team name helping out a team that is on or in your team level division. These people also help aid in building the team morally. By giving the players rival that has a personal touch.
Like any big time sport, super bowl, play offs, world cup cheer has the Cheerleading World Championships . Were all of the cheerleaders from all over the world come to compete here is a link to my team this year. The commentator will help enlighten you on the scoring as well like all big games / sports it’s on ESPN. There is money, cars, rings, and gyms to be won so this becomes more that pom-poms really quick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_--yrAjWyA
Sofia G. Beer Pong
ReplyDeleteDuring High school, there was only one game that was played without shame, on a weekly basis, by nearly every one of my peers: Beer Pong. Beer Pong is a two-team sport, with a triangular rack of beer-filled cups set on each end of a large table. The object of the game is for a team to toss their Ping Pong ball into all the other team’s cups first – and the team who gets a ball in their beer has to ‘chug’ that beer. The result is a champion team, and a lot of drunk.
Beer Pong, also known as Beirut, may have originally emerged as early as the 50’s or 60’s, but has become more and more popular and now no fraternity party is complete without it. If, as Mcluhan argues, a popular game reflects and reacts to its society, I would argue that Beer Pong is almost a Meta-game; instead of merely mimicking or reacting to real life, it mimics another game. I have no anthropological standing in these assumptions, but it seems that my generation is obsessed with deemphasizing the seriousness of all things. Professional sports have become so professional, so competitive, it’s as if they have become another subcategory of the real world. They are something our fathers get pissed off about in Sports bars. They have, in a sense, completely lost the Paidia quality that Callois describes and now young people are reacting by making light of serious games in the form of Beer Pong and other drinking games. Strip Poker. Kings Cup. All of these are efforts to bring the social and the visceral back into the realm of competition.
On the other hand, this nonchalance about the role of games might, from another perspective, betoken a sense of apathy in our generation. A jadedness that came from watching the 90’s and early 2000’s, in which there has been more corrupt politics and environmental devastation than ever before. A “fuck it, let’s get wasted” attitude because the more proactive attitudes of previous people seem to have been in vain, and now we are collectively exhausted. Collectively exhausted and collectively ready to play for the sake of playing.
Lets talk about Jenga.
ReplyDeleteWith this particular game, you are given a specific amount of rectangular wooden blocks that are no longer than three inches and one inch thick. You stack the blocks on top of each other in groups of three alternating with every layer in a criss-cross motion. This forms something like a very tall “building.” The key to playing the game is for each player (however many chose to play) to gently pull the wooden block of choice away from its home and on top of the entire pile (or building). The challenge is to do all of this, as it grows into something more unstable and taller with each turn.
My first thought about how this game translates our experiences of the outside world maybe has something to do with teamwork. I’m also thinking that it also considers the idea of success through great patience’s and the fact that each player no matter how much skill and struggle is attained with their sole move, that each player is forced to trust and rely on the other (in order to keep this thing going). Maybe this reflects our society in a way. For example, a working mother trusts and relies on her job, and that it will pay her every other week or so, just as her child trusts and relies on the fact that food will be on the table each night. One thing done, or changed by a single person, will affect a vast amount of people or things in the long run. How maybe if player 1 chose the block to the right instead of the block to the left, all the blocks wouldn’t have fallen and the game would not be over. While playing the game, I also thought about how the less of a support system the building has (as the game continues and becomes less stable), the more complex the structure becomes, the more likely this leads to it’s destruction or failure in keeping together.
Jenga relaxes any sort of compulsion you would normally feel to keep things in place or straight as opposed to things sticking out and falling off, etc. Jenga mocks the feelings we have (in serious situations) of keeping things together, (or stacked), or in one place. Jenga forces us to move blocks out of place and put them in a position that is “daring,” and that might not work. It brings us out of the ordinary and out of the routine of structure. The stress that we may feel when playing is only part of the game (if this game did not matter to you whether or not it collapsed, chances are you wouldn’t be enjoying yourself very well). It is one taken lightly and maybe a type of stress that we are comforted in feeling, a mockery of it.
Blog Post #1
ReplyDeleteNeopets is an online game that focuses on “raising” a neopet of your choice. The game is targeted towards preteens and it was massively popular when I was in middle school. By playing games within the game, creating a store, trading, and many more options the user earns “neopoints” or products to improve the life of their neopet.
The game is unexpectedly sophisticated, in that it teaches it’s young users how to run a business or strategize. To earn money or “neopoints”, the user can create a store where they can sell items to earn neopoints. By playing the game, users learn quickly what items are valuable and with are not. By learning the value of products, the user can then decide what items that wish to sell in their store. The user can search the item that they wish to sell and see average prices and calculate their own product prices accordingly. There are ways to advertise your store like you would in real life. The user can decorate their store to make it more pleasing and eye catching. If the user’s strategies are successful, then they can use their earnings to purchase luxury items such as the desirable paintbrushes that change the color of your pet. Neopets reflects real life but is more fair than real life in that all accounts being with the same settings. It teachers users to become successful through their own efforts.
Neopets is also largely based on social interaction. As McLuhan states, “games are extensions, not of our private but of our social selves.” Neopets allows for people to interact with each other like they would in the real world. You need people to buy from your store, you need people to join your guild, you enter contests where you rely on people to vote for you. There are message boards that allow for even more interaction with other users. Users can provide tips, help, and conversations with one another and may people form friendships through these interactions. It’s main social function is allowing users to develop social skills that will benefit them in the real world. Like in real life, saying or doing the wrong can lead to bitter relationships with other users.
Neopets is an “utopian vision” where players live through their neopet and give it the things that we value ourselves. By playing the game, users inadvertently learn skills that will assist them in their lives.
-Rani Khamphilavong
Thirteen or Big 2 is a card game from China and Vietnam. Here is a link to one variation of rules -http://www.pagat.com/climbing/bigtwo.html
ReplyDeleteThirteen is a competitive yet fun card game that allows for a lot of strategizing and still leaves a bit up in the air. The objective is to get rid of your cards before anyone else and like many card games requires one to keep their hand a secret from the other players. This initiates a level of competition between the players. It instantly asks for the players to put up their guards and carefully observe the others. It is a game of tactic and bluffery, so it is playful but employs thinking and sneakiness. Knowing when to “pass” is an integral part to winning the game. Not playing on a turn is often just as important or more so than playing. There is much control in the hands of the players while making the decisions that dictate the direction of the game but there is still a certain amount of information that is unknown which leaves many moves up to chance and so players can never really know if someone else is bluffing. This game does not generate any sense of teamwork unless it is obvious that one person is on the verge of winning, then the other players seemingly work together to make that impossible but they are still looking out for their own backs in the end. As with many games it is often played within groups of close friends, so it requires the players to “consent to become puppets for a time” within the realm of the magic circle of the game and turn their friends into their enemies. Its social functions are good for street smarts! I don’t know much about the origins of this game but I would not be surprised if I find out that it was somehow tied to battle tactics or like McLuhan suggested, a reaction to such. In my observation people who are mathematical and logically inclined do very well with this game.
The Mario Party series, by Nintendo, is an interesting genre of game. It is a video game based on the format and play of board games (also known as “real games”). The goal is to collect as many stars as you can, with many different opportunities to do so. The main way to obtain a star is by inching your way (by rolling a die each turn to determine the number of spaces you can move) along the board, which has several different paths, short cuts, and booby traps. Typical of Mario games, you also have opportunities to collect and win coins (through various multi and single player mini games), as well as win and purchase items. Stars are awarded at the end of the game as well, for certain achievements such as landing on the most red spaces, or winning the most mini games. Because of this aspect of the game, the one who collected the most stars during game play might not necessarily win because they might be surpassed by someone else in the after game tallying.
ReplyDeleteThe game can be played by up to four people, and requires synchronization of all the players to set up the game and get started. Once in game play, individuals can make allies, exchange favors, and choose weak links to gang up on. Depending on the game mode, you can even play teams, which really requires communication and coordination between the teammates. You have to plan ahead when choosing your path as well as navigate an ever-changing game board. You must pay attention at all times, even if it is not your turn because you never know if someone’s going to set off a trap that effects you.
The multiplayer nature of the game allows people to hang out at home, while providing a focal point for the group and a solution to the question “Damn, were outta weed, what do you want to do now.” The fact that it’s a video game allows it to function differently than a board game in that it tends to the shorter attention span of our youtube using, texting, facebooking youth. Moving pictures always help, and so do loud noises and bright colors, but the fact that at the end of each turn there is an actively competitive mini game that relies on skills (and sometimes chance) really helps to keep a kids attention. Plus, its nice not to have to worry about losing all the tiny pieces, cards, and dice, or find a table big enough for the game board and game play.
Emily Cunningham
ReplyDeletePlay: Time and Space
9/24/10
Croquet is a game played by knocking wooden or plastics balls through metal wickets with mallets. The game is usually played on a lawn area and can be classified as either a recreational pastime or a competitive sport. There are two types of croquet, one called association croquet and the other golf croquet. The basis of association croquet is for one player to score 12 hoop-points and a peg point with each ball before the other player does. The difference between association croquet and golf croquet is that in association croquet the players can earn extra strokes by hitting additional balls in the game. Croquet has a history of being a social pastime. It first started to become popular in the 1860’s in England, as a sort of social gathering. It was first most popular among women, because it could be played outdoors and in the company of men. At this time, sports involving both men and women playing along side each other was not common or sociably acceptable. Even though the game does not use much interaction between the players, the pace of the game is slow and leisurely and allows for conversation. Today the croquet is played in regular world championships and international matches, bringing the game to a broader audience. It is most popular in the UK, USA, New Zealand, and Australia, who, every four years, play in the MacRobertson Shield tournament. When played seriously, however, the sport could become very competitive. Players may use their turn to move their opponent’s ball farther from the wickets, making the opponents chances of winning more difficult.
Among all the video games, first player shooting game has become the most popular and exciting game ever since. From young toddler to middle aged professional, shooting seems to be an ability and desire for human beings that is already deeply built inside ourselves. It is obvious that shooting, as a subject matter, is deeply related to us in not just basic instinct or a desire, but unconsciously growing alongside human evolutions.
ReplyDeleteShooting is an act of firing a weapon at a target. No matter a fire arm, crossbow or any sort of destructive tool, the action of performing such an activity represents the need, desire, goal of a person. Human beings are like predators, who possess the ability to hunt down their target for a purpose. As simple as that, we have needs to feed ourselves or even desires to satisfy ourselves. Shooting is a method that humans have learned from the nature and so as to our condition, ability, and thoughts. shooting can be considered largely applied in both our world and the nature.
Such action is generally connected with peace breaker or war motivator. Like McLuhan mentioned in his book, 'War is the king of games.' We have our desires therefore set sail to conquer other nations. It is something what we want more as oppose to people trying to defend themselves for survival. What is more intense than need is desire. We have to understand that desire is mostly based on fun, play or self- entertainment. It is apparently different from need. For instance, we eat because of the necessity of survival skill. Nevertheless, we want more or something better is because of desires. Shooting for example help us to reach what we need or desire, but when it appear in wars, it becomes not just an extremely powerful and effective technique, but also an enjoyable method of reaching a goal.
What's fun about shooting games in this matter? There is no need for further discussion. It is a fundamental desire for eliminating the others, absolutely critical in a war society. And what is the motivation behind the desire? Our desire of accomplishment, success, fame, reputation, and most importantly, fun and enjoyment essentially come from play. Shooting games such as Infinity Wards' Call of Duty series interact with players in a mind- blowing interface, game controls, and game concepts. A shooting game in order to be successful must make its great impact on people. It of course implies a certain aspect and perspective on what people concern and interested in. Political views, social bias, racial prejudice, and a whole lot more topics. Shooting game becomes essential as the central motif of war and desire because it fulfills the most legitimate answer of human's pursuit.
Capture the Flag
ReplyDeleteCapture the Flag is one of my most favorite games as a kid, it‘s was one of those game that everyone played as a kid. You have two teams as big as you want, each team has a flag or some kind of marker like a pool noodle and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's base, and bring back to their own base with out being tagged. Enemy players can be tagged by players in their home territory; these players are then, depending on the agreed rules, out of the game, members of the opposite team, or in jail. The a jail is the area in addition to the flag on each team's territory.
In this game theres always the cheater and a spoil sport. The cheater is a person that wont go to jail when they are tagged, they’ll run out of the agreed bounders of the game and come up from behind to get the flag. The spoil sport is the one that just stands there and refuses play or when they get tagged they get mad and leave the game. Then there are though’s that work together, using some of there teammates like ponds in a game of chess, using them as a distraction while the fast players sneak past everyone and captures the flag. As McLuhan says in his writes “games are extensions, not of our private but of our social selves.” What ever position you take playing the game it shows what kind of a person you are and how you handle day to day life. It shows the team players, the leaders, the follower, the cheater, and of cores the spoil sports. All players in which makes up society and the bigger game called life.
-Jacky Safer
In South East Asia there is a game called Tien Len. The game is played by four people, everyone is dealt thirteen cards. The game starts with the person dealt the three of Spades, the card is laid down and the next person has to beat that card. The three of spades is the lowest card, and the two of hearts is the highest card. The Spade is the lowest, clubs are the second from the lowest, the diamonds can only be beat by hearts. The object of the game is to be the first person get rid of all thirteen cards first. After the three of spades is played every one lays down one card at a time. When someone plays a card that no one else can beat then that player can lay down anything within the realm of the rules. The possible plays are a pair, three of a kind, or four of a kind. A sequence of three or more. If someone lays down a three, a four, and a five then the next player must beat that with a sequence of three cards. This game is usually played for money in places like Vietnam. The game moves fast, and it makes for a fun time even if it is not for money. The game is all about strategy, and it’s wise to keep what you have a secret. This game employs extension of the mind. When playing Tien Len one must use extension of the mind. Extension is necessary in this way because to play you will need to be able to mold your mind to process what hands other player may have. I would call this intellectual empathy. This sort of empathy requires acute attention to be paid to the number of cards remaining, their suit and color.
ReplyDeleteCourtney C.
ReplyDeleteIn McLuhan's essay he says "A game is a machine that can get into action only if the players consent to become puppets for a time." In Larping, specifically the group, LvL5, everyone who participates must agree to become a "puppet" for atleast 2 days. They specifically instruct the participants to emote and experience the game as their characters, with minimal interruptions for the 2 day duration of the game. The game is based on the Nordic style of a progressive live role-play that works with "bleed". Bleed is what happens when the character of the player starts affecting the player in their own lives. I experienced Level5 last weekend at the gallery I work at when they held a workshop for participants before an event in San Jose this week. I can say that this game honestly forces the character's to fully commit to "becoming puppets" for the time being. So much so that it becomes difficult to differentiate between the character and player. What is interesting about this game is that they do not encourage the players to completely forget their original self, but rather to base their character off of themselves, and teach the players that our day to day activities and decisions are actually meaningless. They use this technique as a tool for self-exploration as well as experimentation.
The game requires intensive trust between their characters/players so much so that before the game actually starts the players must complete an activity called the "trust walk" where you walk up to each individual player, stare them in the eyes, and say either "i trust you" "i dont trust you" or "i dont care to say if i trust you". Once all of the players trust each other, their characters have developed enough to the point for the game to become real, and playable.
Assignment #1
ReplyDeleteElliott De Aratanha
Counter Strike: Source
Counter Strike: Source is a multi-player video game, specifically a FPS (First Person Shooter), in which two or more human players engage in a gun battle as either a Terrorist or Counter Terrorist. The objective of the game varies depending on the specific map that is being played, but the general concept is to eliminate the opposing team with the various guns available. The first element to note is that the way the player interacts with the virtual environment is from the first-person perspective, which “create[s] the impression that the player can look right, left, up and down within an on-screen world that appears to envelope the player, creating a stronger illusion of presence.”(King & Krzywinska) This helps facilitate the extension of the individual into the game world, and heighten the game experience.
Aside from the violent premise of the game, there is a very social element embedded in the gameplay, which is that of verbal communication. The ability to communicate with other players, creates many social interactions ranging from team strategy to insults or taunts. Because of this talk, the meaning of the game can extend beyond that of a shoot-and-kill cops and robbers game; “The meaning of playing Counter Strike is not merely embodied in the graphics or even the violent gameplay, but in the social mediations that go on between players through their talk with each other and by their performance within the game. Participants, then actively create the meaning of the game through their virtual talk and behavior.” (Newman)
Just like many games, the ability to communicate with other players in Counter Strike can help build tight communities of like-minded players, or create rivalries. One of the challenges for a lot of players is finding the right 'magic circle', or server, that fits their playing style or has like-minded people playing on them. This can sometimes be a difficult process, and may involve the player operating in a 'solo' manner, until he is recognized by the other 'regulars' on that server. One of the quickest ways to gain respect on a server is by proving your skill at the game, or by being a good teammate and completing mission objectives. It's entirely possible to have a team win while riding on the shoulders of one good player, but the core of the game is based around effective team strategies, and when there is fluid communication within that team, they will utterly dominate the game.
The team aspect can be taken to another level of competitiveness, or unity with clans. Clans are essentially an organized group of players that play with each other as well as socialize outside of the game itself. Some clans focus on competition, practice strategies, and arrange matches against other clans, while others are more focused on enhancing their gaming experience by having a sense of familiarity with the people in their group.
The in-game talk facilitates other forms of interaction outside of the game as well. This can include online forums, which are a great place for people to share gaming strategies with other players, share custom maps, or even host topics of conversation completely unrelated to Counter Strike itself. Players can even interact in person by organizing LAN (Local Area Network) parties, in which they can play the game in the same room, as opposed to only over the internet. LANs are how most professional competitions are played as well.
Sources:
Geoff King & Tanya Krzywinska, "Gamescapes: Exploration and Virtual Presence in Game-Worlds", in Tomb Raiders & Space Invaders. Videogame Forms & Contexts, New York: I.B. Tauris.
Talking About Videogames" in James Newman, Playing With Videogames, London: Routledge, 2009. ISBN 78-0415385237.
Purnima Malik (puma)
ReplyDeletePlay: Time & Space - Blog post #1
Badminton is a game I’ve loved and enjoyed since childhood. It intrigues me because I was surprised when I’d learned that it was considered a “real sport” at my high school, which had try-outs and an actual team that would compete with other schools. It was shocking simply because I’d never taken it seriously and only played it in the comfortable space of my yard at home; I used to play with my siblings and friends unlike I had when I played in the basket ball and soccer team. I had never tried to really compete with the people I learned to play this game with and now look at it as a leisure activity or game to be played when family or friends gets together. Badminton however is a real sport with a specific kind of court space, laws and specifications: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton
It fulfills a social function of beings able to interact with people that are physically adept with a general capacity of strength and reflexes, allowing for a wider range of players- making it a more universally tolerant game. Historically, it comes from British India and was played by the upper class English people who had lots of time on their hands with all the help from their Indian slaves. It was initially played with balls of wool, establishing its dainty or 'sophisticated' nature. Today the shuttlecock still resembles the non-threatening tactility of wool balls but is simply more functional. Overall it is a very soothing game because of the delicate equipment used in its play. The actual title of the game evolved from being “The Game of Badminton,” to “Badminton” in the late 1870’s. Today I feel that it is taken more seriously and is definitely considered a sport due to its sport like nature. With practice, Badminton players learn to be swifter in their reflexes; it is a quality that comes with practice and is not innate to the general public.
To me, it is simply a physical activity that can keep me occupied in a lighthearted manner. It is a fun game to play because I don’t take it seriously or have ever kept score in the way that I do while playing other sports. When I loose there is nothing substantial to loose as it does not label me as less capable in any particular field. I have only gained newly released endorphins in my body and a nice time spent with another being.