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Exercise 8.7

With an analog/board such as ours, feedbacks are limited to visual and tactile for the most part. Since our game is based on betting , the tokens used for betting could be used as both tactile and visual feedbacks since you are touching them and then viewing the results afterward. Since one aspect of the game is memorization, the card is flipped over so you can’t see the rank of the card, but you can still see the type of player on both sides to make memorization a little less taxing. THis acts as a visual feedback.

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Exercise 4.3

     All games played require some sort of skills in order to play, whether they be as simple as reflex and timing or something more elaborate. Simulation racing games such as Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport require a certain kind of overall vehicular control. Knowing when and how to brake or accelerate in the most efficient way possible without losing control of the vehicle is key. Driving fast and recklessly will get you nowhere. 

    Skills such as puzzle-making incorporated to fast-paced game could keep players on the edge while giving them diverse gameplay, which i feel is key to keeping a gamer entertained.

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Focus: Stand Your Ground

     Stand Your Ground is an action-filled, free-roaming battle competition in a table top board game format. The amount of players range from 2-4. The object of the game is to defend your stronghold using defense pawns , while at the same time, using offense pawns, trying to take over your opponents’ strongholds. The most intriguing aspect of the game to be implemented is the “free-roaming” characteristic. No more abiding to squares or triangles for movement. Any moves made will be done so by using special movement rulers when given a distance to move. Adding the “free-roaming” aspect will make it seem more similar to a digital game, and by adding variables of discovery and power-up pickups, it’s sure to fascinate.

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Exercise 3.12

Two zero-sum games that I can name off the top of my head are the games Connect-Four and the card game War. Two non zero-sum games I can name are the Final Fantasy game series and Gran Turismo game series. The main difference between the outcomes of these games is in games like Connect-Four and War, there is only one set way to go about playing the game. Maybe some variation, but not much. With games like Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy, you can upgrade and play in a large amount of varieties. Also, there is no definite win or loose in either games. Losing a race or fight in either game will not put you back to square one even though it may impact you negatively.

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Exercise 3.3

Single Player vs. Game: - Metal Gear Solid Series -Asteroids, Missile Command, older arcade games -Luigi’s Mansion.

Multiple Individuals vs. Game: -Fantasy Sports Leagues -Black Jack

Player vs. Player: -Tekken Series -Billiards -Arm/Thumb Wrestling -Gran Turismo series -Ping Pong

Unilateral Competition: -Dodgeball -Charades -Couldn’t find any examples other than what’s mentioned in the book, but aspects of multilateral competition could be be transformed to to this with just some slight rule changes.

Multilateral Competition: -Super Smash Bros. series -MarioKart -Power Stone series -Clue -Uno -Rummy -Go Fish

Co-op Play: -Lord of the Rings video games -Army of Two -Left for Dead series

Team Competition: -Online Play-Centric games such as Call of Duty Series and Battlefield series -Pictionary -Trivial Pursuit -Scattergories

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Exercise 2.8

     One the most gripping and dramatic video game stories I’ve experienced is Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater. It is one of the reasons I love the game so much; awesome gameplay and lots depth in character and story development. The main premise is that The Boss, Snake’s mentor, pretends to defect to the USSR, when really she is ordered to do so by the U.S. government in order to cover up their wrongdoings. There’s a lot of emotions and confusion that Snake (the main character) goes through whenever he encounters her, specifically the last battle when she comes clean with him, yet still makes him fight her to the death. There’s just a lot of attention to detail in the game that it could be it’s own separate movie and be just as entertaining. 

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Exercise 2.3

Pac-Man: Consume all of the pellets in the grid without being killed by the ghosts.

Tic-Tac-Toe: Align 3 X’s or O’s in row (diagonal, horizontal, or vertical) to win the game.

Guitar Hero: Finish the song without failing (by not executing enough notes).

Smash Brothers: Put as damage on every opponent to project them off the map and be the last person still on the map in the end.

Uno: Be the first person to run out of cards to put down.

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Game Journal #1

     The game I chose for my first Game Journal is a video game I have for the PS1 called Crash Bandicoot: Warped. This game has a lot goals and challenges to take on, but isn’t a very hard game, which is why I feel it it was so such a popular game in its day. The controls of the game are quite simple: there’s a jump button and two attack buttons and you maneuver using the d-pad or the joystick. You can sort of combine certain attacks/maneuvers to execute higher jumps and stronger attacks. 

     There are five areas of play, and within each of them there are 5 levels to pass and a boss fight at the end. There are handful of goals that exist in every level. In order to pass a level, you simply have to find the pink crystal and finish the level alive. However, there more things you can achieve by being a little more attentive. One of those goals to be met is by smashing every box in the level. At the end of the level, there’s a hologram that tells you how many boxes you smashed out of the total. If all are smashed, you receive a diamond, on top of the pink crystal. Again, the diamond is not a necessity in order to continue with the game. Also, at the end of every boss match, you gain either a new ability or a enhanced version of one you already have.

     As stated previously, it’s not a very difficult, but it has it’s challenges. The main goal is just to survive, and there are many ways to die. Sometimes you’re running away from a dinosaur trying not to be trampled, sometimes you’re facing a bombardment of enemies where you have to simply take them all out, or you’re going against the environment and trying not to slide off a cliff or stabbed by booby traps in the floor. If you have complete control over the character, Crash, then you will have no problem traversing any of these obstacles.

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FINAL PROJECT

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Project #6 Part 1: Idea Justification Essay

     For my final project, the destination I intend on documenting is Niagara Falls. It is a very large space, so there is a lot to be interpreted. My plan is to have a video/audio experience that goes in and out from the real to a distorted, subliminal documentation. Feelings of suspense and fear maybe incorporated. It would be easy to document such feelings due to the vastness of the space. 

     For my project I will be borrowing idea from the reading "Image Simulations" by Rosler. Using the idea that much of what i may be documenting may actually be unreal. Possibly pushing the boundaries of reality as far as to make the viewer not believe in anything being viewed because of it's manipulation beyond recognition. Also, using the fact that what was filmed, itself, was merely a representation and, therefore, making a representation of a representation, which will distort the imagery.

     If all works, the viewer will be presented with a comparison of both the "first" representation of the space, and the "second" representations of the space, both contrasting each other as dramatically as possible.

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Project #5: Audioscape

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Landscape Tour Essay #2: Naval and Military Park

     For Project #5, I chose to visit the Naval and Military Park. When I arrived, I realized that it was probably a poor decision, due to the lack of interesting noise in my opinion. Just rain and cars. Other than that, however, it proved to be somewhat interesting. Not as much the area itself, but rather the things relevant to the Navy and Military. First thing I saw were the two jets propped like models airplanes. Made me wonder if they were replicas or actually jets that were used to kill for the interest of the U.S.A. Kinda funny how these machines of death are praised. My dad and little stepbrother went on a tour there. I Wonder if they ever brought up those kind of realities during the tour. Anyways, still visually interesting.

     I didn't expect all of the ships and things to be so accessible. If I really wanted, I could literally jump on to one of the ships from the fairly minimal fencing protecting the ships. I'm sure people have done it. If I was with some friends, I probably would. It's pretty out in the open, though, which would worry me. Looking at everything so close up made things almost seem fake. Like I said before, I just kinda assume everything is a model of some sort and the thought "why would the real thing be here?" crosses the mind. Thinking back on the term Aura, you experience something first hand when you're not used to experiencing things first hand and it loses it's aura because you expect it to be fake. Or maybe it's part of the whole aura experience, that surreal middle stage of realizing reality.

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Landscape Tour Essay #1: Central Terminal Train Station

     Out of any piece of abandoned architecture I've encountered in person, Central Terminal is probably the second most intriguing (next to FLDDSO's abandoned psychiatric complexes in Rochester). The actual abandonment of such a large structure is amazing, but what is more disorienting is the "societal" abandonment. Once booming with human commerce and prosperity, now left to rot, with the occasional pointless gathering to make Buffalo feel better; as if they are using it to it's full potential. Society has endured such a shift, that something so useful has now been rendered useless. What did it? The internet? Suburban growth? Airplanes? Who knows. It is now nothing and no one cares about it. 

     Quite depressingly, the neighborhood surrounding Central Terminal sets the mood perfectly. I took the bus and walked to get to the location, so I had plenty of time to really let things soak in. Expecting more industrial surroundings, I thought it would be a more busy area than it was. Walking up the road approaching Central Terminal, a tiny, abandoned ice cream stand caught my eye. It made me feel uncomfortable. As I continued, I started noticing that there were a lot things abandoned. Lots of houses boarded up. It made me feel more uncomfortable and I contemplated whether to continue since I was on my own. I'm not a stranger to the inner-city scares, so I kept on. As I was getting closer, the top of Central Terminal slowly became visible, as if it were the main stronghold of a local village.

     I finally got close to the structure and it was as big as I expected. There wasn't any security so I was able to walk up the drive way and experience it's largeness. What was most interesting (and I wish there  were better conditions for me to explore more due to snow and cold) was the lower area where it seemed the trains would stop. I wanted to walk out on to the tracks, but that probably would've been illegal and unsafe, so I didn't. The styling of the building reminds me of something out of a comic book. Very retro and Art Deco, as is other older architecture is in Buffalo. A thought that always crosses my mind is that if an interesting building like this is abandoned, why not let people explore it to it's full potential? Though it may seem like an irrational thought, and for the most part it is, I feel like it also makes sense. Why not experience it while you can? I'm sure the city of Buffalo will fail to utilize the building in a productive manor, so they'll probably bulldoze it in another five or ten years, anyways.

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Assignment #10: Paglen's EXPERIMENTAL GEOGRAPHY Response

     "The Production of Space" seems to be how humans interact with and utilize space. Technically, the space is already here. The space itself is not being produced, but more humans are producing ways for the space to benefit themselves. With that "production of space" is also the utilization of the space. The space is not "happening" unless there are people using it as intended. Both entities are reliant on each other. No space=no people. No people=no space.

     By asking "How is Art?" rather than "What is Art?," Paglen is suggesting to take into account all the different factors that came together to help form a specific piece of art. Knowing the way an art space comes forth can be more interesting than what an art space already is.

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Project #4: The Travelogue

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Project #3: Video and the Landscape

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Assignment #8: "Video Black: The Mortality of the Image" Response

     "The Last Image" could perceived as the self-realization of an ending. A sort of point of no return. It is confusing to really decipher what the real point is. The quote at the beginning seems to exemplify the acceptance that goes along with "The Last Image." The way the color black is correlated to "The Last Image" is fitting due to the connotations the color black brings with it. It's a fitting end.

     In regards to "The Temporary Image," it seems he is explaining the coming and going of images in a film. The image is is only there a split second, only to return if played back again, though the entire film itself is not as temporary.

     Image Mortality may not be as permanent as it was then. With the marvels that computers and modern technology can perform, people can play back video for hours if desired, even live T.V.