Gaming Journal #1

Firstly playing the three module games was fantastic. All different styles i.e. Doom II - F.P.S. (First Person Shooter), Civilization II - turn based strategy and Samorost 2 - Point and Click web browser. Great way to start a module!

What are games? According to Wolf and Perron, "One of the reasons why video games are called games is precisely because the repetitive training of coping skills is an important element in many of those activities covered by the term "games" (pg139:2003).

Ludwig. J. Wittgenstein was a philosopher who had a theory towards 'games' as a whole but this also can relate to 'computer games'. To him games had no common feature and no real defined margins. Wittgenstein believed that games are defined by not one particular concept but by 'family resemblances'. Games of a similar style or genre may seem the same but don't share the exact same features, they have 'family resemblances' which are elements that are shared.

My main focus with this entry is on First Person Shooters. I played Doom II : Hell on Earth on the PC and also Black on the PlayStation 2. Doom II was the first game that I played, released in 1994 and seen as a new revolution in the gaming industry. Myers stated, "Doom (1993) and Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994) represented a peak in the development of the 3d shooter" (pg 104:2003). This game was different to all previous of this genre because it had new technology, a graphics engine with enhanced capabilities to create more exciting environments and increased the opportunities for ideas with relation to levels, characters, weapons and so on. It was also one of the first online multiplayer games developed.In January 2006 Black was released and this game too looked like a step up and advance in technology with its mind blowing graphics and fully interactive environment (much like in the TV advert; LINK BELOW), its seems as if you are actually in the game and that for us now has similar impact as Doom did at its time. This game Published by EA (Electronic Arts) and developed by Criterion Games according to IGN has a "highly-evolved graphics engine" (http://uk.ps2.ign.com/objects/668/668817.html), providing excellent visual effects and environments of game play.

Although these games are different for example Doom is about killing aliens and monsters in a fantasy world and Black is modern day without aliens, they have similarities. These overlapping 'family resemblances' like the fact that there both F.P.S's and the aim is to survive by killing all in your path means they have share features like 'families' do. Thus you cannot really define a game, only describe it.

BLACK TV AD: (http://www.visit4info.com/static/advert_pages/30498.cfm?back_page=advertiser_pages/ElectronicArtsSoftware.cfm)

References:

Wolf, M. J. P. and Perron, B. (2003). The Video Game Theory Reader. London: Routledge

Myers, D. (2003). The Nature Of Computer Games Play As Semiosis. New York: Peter Lang Publishing