I used to love flipping through the dictionary to find new words. Not all of them were useable—at least not in everyday conversation—but still interesting to come across. For example, I remember finding “snickersnee” and thinking it about the greatest word ever—the sound of it, the definition (the art of fighting with knives), the etymology [...]
Archive for the ‘Gaming’ Category
Just a final thought on Jane McGonigal’s Reality is Broken (from my previous post), that she presents wonderful thoughts on the use of games—or, on the efforts spent playing games to be put toward solving societal problems. However, one of her fundamental positions that I can’t agree with tends to be her convenient positioning of [...]
Game Analysis, Part 3: America’s Army
Posted: February 12, 2012 in GamingTags: America's Army, video games
(Continued from Part 2.) Creating a Compelling Training Tool So far we’ve looked at America’s Army mainly as a recruiting tool. Additionally, the game serves a secondary function, made possible due to its intentional design as a highly realistic military experience: that of an effective training tool for active military. Once players complete basic training, [...]
Game Analysis, Part 2: America’s Army
Posted: February 12, 2012 in GamingTags: America's Army, video games
(Continued from Part 1) Creating a Compelling Game 1. Game Engine: Utilizing Existing Hardcore Tech Where America’s Army meets these demanding criteria first comes with the underlying game engine the developers licensed. The Unreal game engine offers a solid foundation upon which the designers have created an experience with at least baseline comparable graphics and [...]
Game Analysis, Part 1: America’s Army
Posted: February 12, 2012 in GamingTags: America's Army, video games
The following was submitted to my communications class; rather lengthy for a blog, so I’ll break it up into various parts here. There’s an obvious trick behind America’s Army. The U.S. Military (U.S. Army specifically, in the role of “publisher”) is not trying to be particularly secretive, but the trick is fairly fundamental to the [...]
A Tale of Two Games
Posted: January 8, 2012 in GamingTags: Cheap Ass Games, Kill Doctor Lucky, Munchkin Quest, Paizo, Steve Jackson Games
Through the holiday break, I managed to play a couple of games: one with family, one with coworkers. One game proved a fairly resounding success, one proved something of a misfire. Kill Doctor Lucky The first game: Kill Doctor Lucky, I’d played several years before when it was originally sold by Cheap Ass Games. Like most of [...]
