Discuss your relationship to gaming, your affinity for certain kinds of narrative over others, and they ways in which your emotions play into your gaming experience.
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As far as my emotions go into gaming experience they really are somewhat more towards just to enjoy the experience such as described in the chapter as a sense of unfamiliarity and the emotions that I would tend to describe usually fall into frustration when I find that cannot solve something or beat a certain opponent. excitement as to what occurs next when I do succeed at the preciously mentioned or a sense of either boredom or contempt when reaching the mastery stage. Why I would say that I have a certain affinity for certain games over another is that my main preference is given to the third person action adventure genre and this is because the first person I find to be not as enjoyable personally because you cannot see what you are doing and as for why this particular genre is because it can be one where depending on the game more than one element of game play genre can be incorporated into it. Rather than something like for example racing or shooter which simply just has one element to it and nothing more. As far as my relationship to it goes I have interested in it for a long time and if not for certain constraints would be much more of a hard core gamer than I am and I was able to relate to this chapter on how the narrative of the game can be important and I usually do follow the three stages that were described for games unless there is something else that I have missed.
I have often liked open world games with a main narrative, but at the same time enough sidequests and exploration to keep it from being to linear. This is because of to different desires from gaming. 1) I have always enjoyed the exploration of places I could not otherwise go. For me, an enjoyable video game experience is like going to Chicago. Its a big new place for me to navigate and learn about. I completely linear path wuld hinder this 2) I want to have a sense of completion also, so the main quest gives me that, without hindering abilities otherwise. I got to feel this fulfilled as I played games like Megaman Legends 1, Megaman Legends 2, and Fallout 3. Overalll, these games give me freedom and a sense of accomplishment.
However, that was the past. While I still love games like this, I have no moved around more, having explored new places in life and having become more accomplished as a person. That being said, I don’t mind stepping out of those things and playing more linear games such as Braid, where I am challenges by puzzles and am given more personal narratives. I don’t mind stepping out of myself, or at least restricting myself to a certain path and perspective. This has become a rewarding experience for me, being the places I am, and this sound weird I know, am stuck exploring, have there own things to offer. I have also become a very social gamer. Mario Kart Wii and 8 have been extremely fun experiences, and while I am restricted to the race tracks, the challenge of keeping up with others and the ways I move around them are plenty exciting.
Also similar to Megaman Legends 1 and 2, getting different parts for vehicles and putting them together, though I am not building from scratch, is pretty fulfilling, perhaps for similar reasons one might feel accomplished for putting together an ikea set.
Gaming is something I have always enjoyed and understood. It is something that has brought me and my siblings closer as well as showed me new innovative ways of having fun. Fun comes before everything to me when it comes to gaming. Of course I like a challenge and deep story line but I also need action and freedom in my gaming.
I don’t like games that are too confined because to me that takes away from the enjoyment.
I don’t play a lot of war games that are too closely connected to American war because I don’t even like getting remotely close to that mindset. For example my brother is 14 plays Call of Duty and knows pretty much every single gun and weapon in the game. All of these weapons exist in the real world and if he was to see one he could identify very easily. I feel those type of games almost encourage players to value these weapons and war ethics when the war is actually something serious.
I do not want to be the person who states that their life revolves around gaming, but mine truly does. It is partly what I want to do with my life when I get older, a majority of my friends are speed runners with world records, my mother worked for Namco before I was born, and the company I am most likely going to work for once I graduate is also video game based, so I believe I can fairly state that my life does revolve around gaming.
I personally get very interested in a game when it has a story mode that has a deep concept. Let’s take Zelda for example. Yes post of the games have the same general theme, but the story line is a classic one that the company itself can use over and over again and still catch the attention of fans. I’m not saying that they shouldn’t update the games they put out to suit the world of game development, I am simply stating that their story line hit the jackpot. I prefer a straight forward story line that has a few sidequests. Games like Skyrim personally annoy me because the story line is so lengthy and confusing that it is hard to stay up with. I guess one can say I prefer an either simpler or shorter story line. I also prefer when a story line can capture my emotions so I really feel as if I was the main character. This just makes the emotions so much more capable of either being torn down or brought up. I will openly admit there is some video game story lines that have made me cry before and those are still some of my favorite games. So i guess one can say I prefer relatable characters.
I play video games as a means to escape the world I am in and interact with experiences outside the realm of possibility. I want to know the characters and why they do what they do. I want to build up skills in game and out so that I can defeat what is before me. I play to live and make decisions as a character and abide by the rules of the game.
I love any game with an immersive experience. But mostly I love RPGs because they are rich with story (usually) and move at a slower pace so I can take in the world. I like how they reward me for going off the beaten path by giving me an item I might have to pay for elsewhere. Many other games have these elements, however, RPG which came out of the Adventure genre are more known for this. I like the epic scale that RPGs take and how tightly they bring the story together while still allowing you to roam.
RPGs bring out my emotions like no other game genre. I laugh, cry, and even have mental breakdowns from time to time. I am or am with these characters on an adventure and experience their struggles. I know their beliefs and morals and see their deepest thoughts. I feel, at least like a best friend to the characters I play as. Video games, especially RPGs, give me a safe place to pour my soul out and feel for a while. Playing a game again is like visiting friends or family, they are a part of my life.
My relationship to gaming is not really a close one. I think it used to be a lot closer when I was younger. Even in my early 20’s, I went through a long stretch of unemployment and played Crash Bandicoot for about five hours every day (and yes, I’m ashamed of that). As I got older and busier, I played games less and less. I also haven’t owned a console for a long time, and I think that helped distance myself from games. Now I only really play games on my phone, and only when I’m waiting for something or have nothing to do.
I enjoy fun action-adventure games over anything else. The types of storylines I like are ones in which the hero is searching for something so that their world can be restored to what it once was (which is pretty much every game, I know). I don’t really like violence that much, so I prefer games that are colorful and have visually appealing characters. I also like games in which you are “behind” the character…not necessarily POV, but where you are “following” the character (again, that’s pretty much every game out there). I have absolutely no interest in those POV war games, they make me extremely nervous because of the realism and the feeling that I’m being stalked by the enemy.
When I play the colorful, fun games that I like to play, I feel happy and at ease. I don’t get ticked off if I can’t make a jump or beat a boss. I play games like these to escape from reality and the day-to-day stresses of life, so my emotions really don’t play into my gaming experience. I usually forget anything that was bothering me when I play something like Spyro or Beautiful Katamari. I let games like that affect me (positively) more than I let my emotions affect my gaming.
I can relate to this in that this class has been my first major experience with gaming in a while. I went through a period previously where II often played Mario Kart Will with family or stayed up at night playing Fallout 3. Now I am going back to them for research rather than escape, though that used to be the reason. Granted, I still get a sense of that from Mario Kart 8, even if I write about it after.
My relationship to gaming is a relatively nonexistent one. I do not play games often enough to have much of a relationship to them. However, whenever I do play games, my favorite type to play are when the narrative is rather open ended, allowing for the player to advance the storyline however they choose. I feel like this allows for the person playing the game to explore how they would actually behave in a situation like the game presents you with. I find playing a completely planned storyline gets boring, especially after repeat playings, so these kinds of narratives keep the game interesting and allow you to play differently every time you play the game.
The only time I play video games is usually when I’m feeling anxious or I’m angry about something and want to just distract with a mindless game. These emotions usually subside as I play, but in the beginning they can make me really get into whatever game I’m playing. They just make me yell at the screen and/or the people I’m playing with if I’m playing an online game. It’s all harmless though and I usually feel better at the end. But since I don’t really hold games very highly in my life, these are some of the only times I really play games. I used to play games a lot more though when I was younger, however I’m not sure if I could precisely remember how different emotions played into that experience.
For as long as I can remember I have played video games. Today I have a few games that I play depending greatly on my mood. I play different games though different phases. Lately I play Titan Fall (A First Person Shooter) as well as Battlefield. Before that though I would bounce back and forth between Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, and Dead Rising. I switch back and forth based on what game style I wish to play. When I want to “just play” I will put in one of my First Person Shooters, where as if I’m wanting to live out an adventurous fantasy I will put in one of my narrative adventure games. I really enjoy open-ended games that loosely wrap around a narrative game, allowing me to expand on specific experience I wish to feel. Most games I play I feel a slight connection to the character, I built my character to play how I want it to play.
I am not very attached to gaming or video games at this point in my life. At a younger age, however, I was more attached and emotionally involved with video games. In particular I was very emotionally involved with Madden Football, MVP Baseball 2005, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for the Playstation2. The more competitive games like the sports games used to get me very worked up. I always like the competition of sports games and how I could imagine my own story lines to accompany my teams. I used to put a lot of time in setting my rosters and developing my players to get better. I would stay up late and play those games for hours. As I got older though, my gaming activity levels decreased and I lost interest in most of those games.
Starting with pokemon at a very young age, I think I’ve grown up with handhelds as my primary way to play video games. I wasn’t allowed a console til I was in third grade, so the only way I could play all the great N64 and SNES games were at friends’ houses. So, being a gathering of two or more people, we more often than not engaged in bouts of Super Smash Brothers and Donkey Kong 64, or played co-op on Kirby on the SNES. The Pink Panther was a single player platformer, and while I was itching to play as well, I pressed the B button on the SNES controller. And lo and behold, PP starts to glide through the level. It was a very bizarre way to find a glitch. But from these experiences I think I’ve been shaped into a casual/multiplayer gamer. I enjoy the occasional solo game, and most often if it’s open world, but I usually stick to RPG’s, simple iOS games or platformers for a few moments of entertainment here and there. I know all the greats and enjoy everything about them that is not the game itself, such as merchandise, movies, books, etc, but I’ve never had the itch to buy a console that I didn’t want to play most of the games for it. Well, I take that back. I bought a PSP.
Thinking about the sort of narrative I like too is tricky. I like games where you completely step into the shoes of the character and can customize them and their abilities any way you see fit. I loved playing as Snake in MGS3, but it doesn’t feel the same when Link can be renamed as yourself or your character in Pokemon the same, and each of their abilities entirely your own. There isn’t the same freedom. It’s not YOUR story, it’s someone elses story that they invite you to play as well.
I haven’t had much emotional connections to many games recently. I always love and care for my pokemon, and the heartfelt moments of Link and his comrades in the Wind Waker brought me to tears. There’s a real payoff when you beat a Zelda game. But with MGS, Kojima’s directorial habits take over during the cutscenes, so you can press a button or two during some of the big action moments but the story pretty much drives itself without any input from you except to get from point A to B. I guess most games go that route, but Pokemon and Zelda just feel much more immersive and personal, rather than just watching an interactive movie.
Funny enough, my emotions are a very heavy factor whenever I am interacting with an artistic medium, especially one as interactive as video games. For me, well I don’t know how much this applies to other gamers, but I actually care a great deal about story, characters, settings, and the overall feel the game gives me. This can affect my emotions and in tern my emotions affect how I view the entire game. For some reason if a game does not engross me in some way, it becomes harder for me to see a reason to return to the game. Now this doesn’t mean that I automatically consider the game bad or mediocre even, I just lose the incentive to return to it after I finish it.
The funny thing is there are weird exceptions. Games like mario, sonic, and zelda for example don’t really have great stories at all. So aside from being games I enjoy for their gameplay, what keeps me coming back to them? Well in mario’s case I enjoy the overall weird setting. In the case of zelda where the characters aren’t all that great and technically neither is the story, but the setting really works for me alongside all the lore that goes into the world within the game itself. In the case of sonic, I really enjoy the characters and their interactions and I always love seeing them.
Other games are good but don’t really resonate with me for reasons I don’t personally understand myself and therefore can’t really name what they are because often times I won’t even remember them.
My relationship with gaming began about as soon as I was able to actually play games. It started off with the Super Mario Brothers series on the NES, which will always remain dear to me and I will continue to play for the rest of my life. I don’t think the story has a whole lot to do with why I like it so much, rather than the gameplay is fun wether your by yourself or playing with others, and it’s equally as fun to play every time you fire it up. The first game I can think of that was heavily story driven would probably have been Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360. This game came with 4 disks, however I only made it to the second before another game took over my attention. Other than that, the only two games I have played in which I actually cared about the story were the Halo series and Skyrim. I was in love with Halo from the first time I played it, and just like the idea as a whole. I don’t think it’s necessarily the way in which the story was told, rather than I enjoyed what the game was about and its gameplay was really fun. Skyrim has an incredibly interesting (main) storyline, but the best thing about Skyrim is to an extent, you can control the story. You could play through the game without doing the main story, or could do the main story without doing the side stories.
Rather than rewrite everything I just put above, I’m going to leave this down here. I just remembered what off and on consider my all time favorite series I have ever played, which is incredibly story driven. This game is Kingdom Hearts (both 1 & 2, I haven’t played the handheld games). It sort of intertwines Disney with Final Fantasy, and combines characters from about every disney story ever with characters from (or characters drawn similarly to) Final Fantasy. (( STORYLINE HERE –> “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts#Story”)) This particular game offers a story that is pretty deep and reflective on life, friendship, good/evil, and right/wrong. It has a lot of inspiring quotes, and is a game in where I actually care what was happening in the story and what was happening with the characters.
Aside from Kingdom Hearts I have never really gotten emotionally connected to a game, unless I was playing an FPS online against other people. I typically do very well online while playing, and when I come across someone who can continuously outplay me it can be relatively infuriating. Depending on my surroundings, I will find myself yelling at the television or getting visibly mad. I can hold these feeling in however, so I only act this way when I’m by myself or with a friend who acts the same way.