Assessment 1: Researching Games
MMORPG
Description: MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game, and they are the most common type of MMOG. Some MMORPGs are designed as an online browser game in order to reduce costs. However some bigger games will also have a downloadable client, because some players may want to make the game full screen, or not have the search bar above the game, so they’d use the downloadable client so none of that nonsense would appear. |
| RuneScapes in-game Skill Menu |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFpvIj5Km10 RuneScapes Historical Timeline.
Example Two: World of Warcraft is a fantasy MMORPG, and it was released in 2004/2005, it was developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, it's platforms are Microsoft Windows and OS X. World of Warcraft is an online game and therefore requires an internet connection to play it, it is a client based game, and does not have a browser version. In World of Warcraft you have different servers which focus on different tasks, there are PvP (Player vs Player) servers, Role-playing servers, and normal servers, which focus on just leveling casually. Once you choose a server you want to play on you then go to create a character from a mixture of races, however you also have to pay attention to what faction that race is in, because you won't be able to talk to the other factions members as they're deemed the enemy, the two factions are the Alliance and the Horde, the Alliance are races such as Humans, Gnomes, Dwarfs, Night Elfs, Worgens, Draenei and Pandarens, the Horde races are Blood Elf, Goblin, Orc, Tauren, Undead, Troll, and also Pandarens, (Pandarens start off neutral but then have to choose a faction to join after their starting area). After choosing what race you want to be, you then have to choose a class, there are multiple classes which you can choose from and they all have different purposes and have different abilities, to narrow it down you have the Tanks which take all the damage while battling and deal average damage, you have the DPS (Damage Per Second, also known as Attackers) who deal quite a lot of damage, you can be a close up DPS or a ranged DPS such as a Hunter/Mage/Warlock/Shaman then you have the Healers which heal, these are Priests, Monks, Shamans, and Druids. World of Warcraft's highest level is 100, the level cap was raised after each new expansion was released, the upcoming expansion named "LEGION" is raising the level cap to 110, this will provide the players with new content to play, and offer a new variety of armor and weapons for all the classes. In World of Warcraft you can do quests which give you EXP which can level you up, however some people also do Dungeons, Dungeons are like permanent events that you can keep on doing over and over again, Dungeon groups are a team of 5, a tank, three attackers, and a healer, Dungeons give your character a lot of EXP per boss in that dungeon and after completing it you gain the completion EXP as well. Once you reach the max level you can do things that are known as Raids, Raids are kind of like dungeons, except they're extremely tough and extremely long, raid groups are usually 10 man, which makes the minions weaker, or 25 man, which gives you even more minions to kill and they're usually slightly stronger than they're in 10 man raids, however you can only do a certain raid once a week, you can't keep on doing the same raid over and over again, however you can do other raids, but once you've done them as well they become locked, which means you cannot enter that raid until the lock time expires, which is usually a week after completing that certain raid, however some raids automatically unlocked on a Wednesday, so if you completed a raid on Tuesday night, you might be able to do it again once the clock strikes 12:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOlmwxLFDCk (2:15 to whenever, glimpse of WoW PvP)
MOBA/ARTS
Description: MOBA stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena and ARTS stands for Action Real-time Strategy. The main objective of the game is to destroy the enemies’ main base with the help of NPCs or bots that will spawn every so often, and go down a certain route depending where they have spawned. The character that you play will in most cases have a certain class and special powers that will give you an advantage over most of the enemies’ NPCs and perhaps enemy players depending on the class that they’re playing and what role their character has to fulfill. |
| The Blue Nexus |
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| The Purple Nexus |
Example Two: StarCraft is a Military Science Fiction RTS game, it was developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 1998 for Windows. StarCraft has three races which all specialize in different things.The race Protoss use strong units and machinery and more advanced technology than the other races, such as energy shields and a warp ability, although these are expensive and take longer to produce. The race Terrans are more on an equal ground with the other two races, they have versatile units, and ballistic military weaponry. The race Zerg uses whats called organic units and structures, these are produced extremely fast and are cheap to produce, however they're a lot weaker than the other races. A maximum of 8 players can compete in the game modes.FPS
Description: FPS stands for First Person Shooter, and is usually used in war games, these games consist of, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Halo, and Counterstrike. A First Person Shooter is characterized by an on-screen view looking through whichever characters eyes you’re playing as, you can only see what they can see, nothing more, nothing less.
Example One: Call
of Duty is an FPS game. Call of Duty Ghosts was developed by Infinity Ward, and
then published by Activision. The games engine is an IW6, and was first
released in 2013. Call of Duty Ghosts has two modes, offline and online, and
can be played on six different platforms, such as, Microsoft Windows, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and the Xbox One. In the campaign you usually play as man
called Logan Walker, but also play as some other characters such as Logan’s
father, Elias Walker, an astronaut called Baker, and even a dog. When you play
multiplayer (online) there are a few different game modes which you can choose
from, such as, Search and Rescue, Search and Destroy, Gun Game, Cranked, FFA
(Free For All), Team Deathmatch, and many more. When playing on line you can do what is called "PRESTIGE" you can prestige once you've reached the max level, afterwards you're returned to level 1, but have a new badge, you can prestige multiple times, or you don't have to prestige at all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCGydpJXIOg (2:49 onward, first person view and what the player can see)Example Two: Halo 4 is an FPS game. It was developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios in 2012, the platforms for this game are Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game has two modes, single player, and multiplayer. In single player the player plays as the Master Chief who has to fight the alien alliance known as the "Covenant" and the Forerunners warriors "Promethean's". On multiplayer you can customize your own character as you level up, the higher the level the cooler looking gear you unlock, you can choose what color your gear is, and what badge you use, some gear is unlocked via in-game challenges. There is a variety of maps that you can play on, all having completely unique and different terrain from the others. There is also variety of game types such as Capture the Flag, Extraction, Flood, Grifball and a few more, each game mode having a completely different objective, so if you get bored of one, you can play another because they're nothing alike, so you wont find the game repetitive and boring.
Simulation
Description: A simulation game describes a very broad category of games; these are usually designed to simulate aspects of the real world or fictional world. There are many simulation games, such as Plane Simulator, Farming Simulator, Tractor Simulator and many more pointless ones.Example One: Goat Simulator is a simulation game were you get to play as a goat. Goat Simulator was designed by Coffee Stain Studios and published in 2014. The engine that this game uses is the Unreal Engine 3. Goat Simulator has two modes, one offline and one online, making it a multiplayer game too, however multiplayer just shows you other goat players, so its exactly the same as single player just more destructive goats. Goat Simulators main platform is Microsoft Windows, but was then later released on iOS and Android Phones. The game doesn’t have a specific goal, but does have a few tasks that you can complete to get points for your score. Although if you’ve ever wanted to be a goat then this is the game for you, you run around making goat noises, doing awesome goat tricks and can destroy things with your very long and unrealistic goat tongue, playing this game will also open your eyes to see how dangerous goats really are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MGAWx1nm48 (3:37 to 4:03)
Example Two: Farming Simulator was developed by Giants Software and published by Focus Home Interactive. Farming Simulator is on multiple platforms, such as iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, and a few others. All of the locations are inspired and based on American and European environments. In the game players farm, breed animals, grow crops, and sell the assets. There is a career mode in which you take on the role of a farmer, the task is to improve your farm and your machinery. There are also missions in which you have to complete a certain task in a certain allotted amount of time. There is also a multiplayer mode, but this is only available on Windows, MAC OS, Xbox One and PS4. 
Description: The
purpose of a survival horror is to try and keep your character alive, whilst
not having a heart attack. The survival aspect is running around, trying to
avoid the monsters or whatever, and eventually escaping, preferably alive, the
horror aspect is things such as unexpected jump scares, or perhaps a freaky
looking monster that just scares the life out of you. You’ll also find that
your character in most survival horrors cannot attack the monster, this is
because they want you to feel powerless, as if you’re too weak and cannot
protect yourself so you have to run. Survival Horror
Example One: Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a survival horror game, it was developed and published by a company called Frictional Games and it was released for platforms - Windows, MAC OS X, and Linux. The protagonist of the game is a man called Daniel who suffers from amnesia after drinking a potion. The game takes place in a massive castle called Brennenburg, which is owned by a man called Alexander who we can assume is the main bad guy in the game, however you also have to solve puzzles to progress in the game. You cannot attack, all you have is a lantern and tinderboxes, however if you don’t have enough oil the lantern will run out leaving you in darkness, which will start to drain your sanity. The goal of the game is to kill Alexander and get rid of the shadow, the shadow being the big ugly monster that chases you occasionally, which honestly, scared the living hell out of me when I played it. The shadow is also known as the “Guardian of the Orbs” and as Alexander and Daniel abused the Orbs powers that is what summoned the shadow, at the end of the game you don’t know if Daniel dies or not, because the shadow apparently would never of left and would of continued to pursue you until it got “judgement”, the game ends on a cliff-hanger and it’s a wild guess whether Daniel did actually die or not because you saw him fall, but you the player never finds out what happened to Daniel after that.
Example Two: Five Nights at Freddy's it was designed by Scott Cawthon and uses the Clickteam Fusion 2.5 engine, the game was released in 2014 for Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android. The game takes place in a restaurant called "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza". The protagonist is a security guard on night shift, you have to protect yourself from the animatronics by keeping an eye on them via the security cameras located around the restaurant. The objective of the game is to survive through the night, which is 00:00 to 06:00, which is roughly 8 and a half minutes in the real world. The player is sat in an office, and cannot be moved, the only way to survive the night is to keep an eye on the animatronics, and if one of them is outside of the office door you can shut it, however this requires energy, and once your energy hits 0%, you're a sitting duck just waiting to be caught, and once you're caught it's game over, and you have to start again. The game has 5 nights which you have to survive, however if you complete the 5th night, a bonus 6th is unlocked which you can also complete, however it is a lot harder than the other nights.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOztnsBPrAA (14:40 to 16:15)
Action
Description: An action game usually focuses more on physical challenges, this may be hand-eye coordination or even reaction times. The player usually controls the main character of that game, and they must navigate through levels or missions whilst fighting enemies with a variety of weapons and attacks, depending on what game it is they’re playing. After completing each level or mission the player will reach the next level or will unlock the next mission and will continue until they have completed all the possible levels or missions that the game has to offer.Example One: Assassins Creed II is a single player action-adventure game, it was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, and was then published by Ubisoft, it uses the Anvil Engine which is
exclusive
to Ubisoft,
and it was released in 2009 and was released for PS3, Xbox 360, Windows, and
MAC OS X. You play as the protagonist called Ezio Auditore Da Firenze who
early on in the game acts like an assassin after his father and his two
brothers were hung, although he doesn’t officially become an assassin until
later on in the game. The main story in assassin’s creed II is to avenge your
father and your brothers because they were killed on false evidence, meaning
they had been set up by someone who has more power. This is what prompts Ezio
to take up the blade, to eliminate the corrupted higher power. In the game
you get Florins which is the currency used, with that money you can buy
better armor and better weapons, although there are miscellaneous objects which
you can do to get the legendary armor and weaponry within the game. The game
is diverse in a sense that when you play it, you don’t actually have to do
the missions, you can just run around killing guards and stealing Florins
from the citizens. You can also dye your robe and cloak different colors too, so instead of having a dusk colored cloak and a plain white robe, you
can have an ebony robe and a red cape, there are also special capes which
grant different benefits, such as the guards not wanting to kill you in a
certain area.
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Example Two: GTA IV (Grand Theft Auto IV) is an action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North using the RAGE engine and published by Rockstar Games in 2008 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. GTA IV is set in a fictional place called Liberty City, however its inspired by New York City. The protagonist is a Russian war veteran called Niko Bellic as he tries to escape from his dreadful past, whilst he's being chased after by big shot loan sharks and mafias that are out to get him. The game is open world meaning the player can roam the three islands freely whenever they want, even after they have completed the games main story line. The game is played in third person, there is a multiplayer feature included in this game were up to 32 players can engage in co-operative or competitive game play with one another.
Fighting
Description: This is a genre were the player is controlling a character, while engaging in close combat with an NPC or another player. The characters are usually fairly equal in power, and must execute combos, blocking, super attacks, and countering. These battles usually take place in an arena. Fighting Games usually have multiple characters that you can choose from, and they all specialize in different things, meaning the game technically speaking doesn’t have a main character as they’re all important figures.Example One: Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is based on the anime and manga Dragon Ball Z. The game was developed by Spike and was published by Namco Bandai in America, however it was published by Bandai everywhere else, the game itself can play on Xbox 360, and the PS3. The game has two modes, multiplayer and single-player, multiplayer mode is the same as playing it on single-player, however the character that you fight isn't an NPC it's a real person, who are usually a lot harder than the default "Hard" NPC difficulty, you can also play split-screen against a friend. Single-player has whats called "Arena" which is where you choose a certain NPC to fight and you'll have a bonus task on each arena mode, such as "get a 15+ combo" or "cause over 9000 points in damage to the area". The story has "multiple" campaigns, although they're known as a "Saga" and they all took place in the anime, such as the "Frieza Saga" in which you have to do a few missions in that saga to complete it and unlock new characters. In order to unlock characters you have to complete missions, some missions will unlock you a character, some wont, however there is a character that you have to basically unlock with what are called "Star Points" in order to get him because his saga is locked unless you buy it with the in-game challenge currency. In order to get Star Points you have to replay some missions on "HARD" difficulty and complete multiple objectives within that mission to unlock you Star Points, you can unlock one Star Point per challenge objective that you complete, so if you can perfect the missions challenges that's three Star Points per mission replay.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHcSz-TaMog (0:28 to 2:19)
Example Two: Dead or Alive 5 was developed by Team Ninja with the Yawaraka Engine and was then published by Koei Tecmo for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows in 2012. Dead or Alive 5 is set two years after the events that happened in Dead or Alive 4, Helena Douglas has taken it upon herself to rebuild DOATEC but she wants to use its advanced technology for peaceful means. Helena has disbanded DOATEC's Biotech team, afterwards she then declares she wants to hold the Dead or Alive Tournament 5, hosted by a man named Zack. The games story mode is presented in a hyperlink cinema style, to expand on the characters and the scene interactions. The games story line isn't in chronological order, each chapter follows different characters, and shows you the events that are occurring through their eyes. In the game there are two story lines one of them being the Dead or Alive Tournament 5 and the other one being the hunt for Kasumi's evil clone Alpha-152. The characters in each story line do interact with each other, so the stories do sometimes cross over, even if it is minor. The game also has a "Fighting" mode in which you can choose an arena, and what character you want to be and who you want to face and you get to choose what difficulty as well. There is an online feature too, which can host tournaments for 16 players, you can also practice online with other players.
Racing
Description: Racing game consist of the player going against an AI, unless they're playing online or split screen with a friend. Racing games are usually played in first or third person, the player usually plays in some sort of racing competition, racing games are also not limited just to the land, you can also have sea or air racing games.
Example One: Forza Horizon was developed by Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios, it was published by Microsoft Studios in 2012 for the Xbox 360. The aim of the game is to obtain wristbands, in order to obtain new wristbands you have to participate in races and preferably win them, which will also increase your popularity level within the single player mode aspect of the game, the game has around 300 cars that you can buy and use. The game has also introduced challenges, such as driving a Ford Mustang whilst racing a Bi-plane, however if you win you get to keep the car that you had to race in. In the game you race against AI, however there is an online mode where you can race other players to see who is the best.
Example Two: Cars (the game) was developed by Beenox, Helixe, Rainbow Studios, and Locomotive Games, the game was published by THQ and was released in 2006 for the following platforms, GBA, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii and MAC OS X. The game takes place in Radiator Springs which is a fictional place, the objective of the game is to compete in and win 50 races to assist Lightning McQueen win the Piston Cup. The game is an open world environment and has 10 playable characters that are all from the film, with the original voice actors. The game also has a few mini-games within.
Example One: Forza Horizon was developed by Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios, it was published by Microsoft Studios in 2012 for the Xbox 360. The aim of the game is to obtain wristbands, in order to obtain new wristbands you have to participate in races and preferably win them, which will also increase your popularity level within the single player mode aspect of the game, the game has around 300 cars that you can buy and use. The game has also introduced challenges, such as driving a Ford Mustang whilst racing a Bi-plane, however if you win you get to keep the car that you had to race in. In the game you race against AI, however there is an online mode where you can race other players to see who is the best.Sport
Description: Sport games simulate real sports, such as basketball, rugby and football. Most sport games have real teams and the teams real players within it, e.g. Football games contain Arsenal and Petr Cech. However not all sport games consist of the real teams and real players, they sometimes use fictional players and fictional teams.
Example One: FIFA 14 was developed by EA Canada using the Impact Engine, however for the new generation consoles it uses the Ignite Engine, the game was published by Electronic Arts in 2013 for the following platforms, Microsoft Windows, PS3, and Xbox 360, and then was later released for the Xbox One and PS4. FIFA 14 has an online and offline mode, in the offline mode you can do exhibition matches which allow you too choose what team you want to play as and go against, there is also career mode, which allows you to either play as a footballer, a manager or both, you get to choose your team, however you can't choose what team you want to go against, and at the end of the season some teams might try and buy you to join their club, you can either reject this offer or accept it. In the online mode you and another player would choose a team each and face each other, however there is also FUT (FIFA Ultimate Team) which is a team that you yourself have created, you can face other players online with your FUT.
Sandbox
Definition: Sandbox is an open world game, the player can the roam the world that they're in freely with no limitations, however some Sandbox games do have missions or objectives that you can also complete.
Example: Minecraft was developed by Mojang which is a Swedish company, it was published in 2011 by Mojang, Microsoft Studios and Sony Computer Entertainment, it is on multiple platforms, but the most popular platforms that it is played on are PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. However after the games success the game was bought from Mojang by Microsoft. The game has two modes, Survival and Creative. Creative Mode gives you infinite resources and you cannot die, nor do you need to eat or sleep, Creative Mode is mainly used for people who want to build a massive kingdom or building and are too lazy to actually get the materials themselves so they use this mode. However Survival Mode has monsters in it, and you do need to eat and sleep to survive, you also have to get the resources to build yourself, you also have "lives" in Survival Mode, and once you die you have to restart from where you last saved the game. Every time you create a new world the world is randomly generated, meaning the layout of the world will be completely different from the other worlds that you have played on. The game is incredibly popular among the younger generation, because its easy to play and have fun on, the game also has a multiplayer aspect to it, so kids can play online with their friends, fight the monsters and build incredibly large buildings or cities together.
Example: Minecraft was developed by Mojang which is a Swedish company, it was published in 2011 by Mojang, Microsoft Studios and Sony Computer Entertainment, it is on multiple platforms, but the most popular platforms that it is played on are PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. However after the games success the game was bought from Mojang by Microsoft. The game has two modes, Survival and Creative. Creative Mode gives you infinite resources and you cannot die, nor do you need to eat or sleep, Creative Mode is mainly used for people who want to build a massive kingdom or building and are too lazy to actually get the materials themselves so they use this mode. However Survival Mode has monsters in it, and you do need to eat and sleep to survive, you also have to get the resources to build yourself, you also have "lives" in Survival Mode, and once you die you have to restart from where you last saved the game. Every time you create a new world the world is randomly generated, meaning the layout of the world will be completely different from the other worlds that you have played on. The game is incredibly popular among the younger generation, because its easy to play and have fun on, the game also has a multiplayer aspect to it, so kids can play online with their friends, fight the monsters and build incredibly large buildings or cities together.
Psychological Effects of Games
Negative Effects:
- Staring at a screen for hours on end can cause your eyes to deteriorate meaning you might end up with glasses.
- Sitting down for hours on end will eventually lead to back ache, and in a more serious case may lead to spinal problems, because sitting down puts more pressure on your spine than standing up.
- Video Games can lead to violent actions, funnily enough there isn't a lot of evidence to prove that is a true statement. ""The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior ... and decreases in ... empathy and sensitivity to aggression," said the study.However, even after more than 20 years of studies, the APA says there still isn't enough research into whether games cause actual criminal violence. To reach any conclusions about whether playing a first-person shooter will increase the likelihood that someone will shoot people in real life, there need to be more studies." Source: http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/17/technology/video-game-violence/- If you're a teenager and love to play games so much that you neglect your school work this will lead to getting bad grades, and could ultimately effect your future. "Academic achievement may be negatively related to over-all time spent playing video games. Studies have shown that the more time a kid spends playing video games, the poorer is his performance in school. (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Gentile, Lynch & Walsh, 2004). A study by Argosy University’s Minnesota School on Professional Psychology found that video game addicts argue a lot with their teachers, fight a lot with their friends, and score lower grades than others who play video games less often. Other studies show that many game players routinely skip their homework to play games, and many students admitted that their video game habits are often responsible for poor school grades." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Playing too many games may lead to social isolation because you will start neglecting the real world, and start living in the computer world, which will make your social skills deteriorate. "Too much video game playing makes your kid socially isolated. Also, he may spend less time in other activities such as doing homework, reading, sports, and interacting with the family and friends." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Excessive amounts of playing time will eventually start to effect your concentration span. "Although some studies suggest that playing video games enhances a child’s concentration, other studies, such as a 2012 paper published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture, have found that games can hurt and help children’s attention issues — improving the ability to concentrate in short bursts but damaging long-term concentration." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Younger children may sometimes get confused with what is reality and what is fantasy. In some cases the child may do something dangerous that he can do in the game, but obviously not in the real world, which could lead to serious injuries.
- In some cases excessive amounts of gaming can lead to health problems e.g. obesity. "Video games may also have bad effects on some children’s health, including obesity, video-induced seizures. and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders, such as tendinitis, nerve compression, carpal tunnel syndrome." Source http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Whilst a child is playing an online he may be playing with a bunch of ruffians, this could lead your child to learning bad language and aggressive behavior.
- A serious addiction to video games may lead to minor depression and anxiety, this also affects their social standards, making it hard for them to socialize which gives them social phobias. "A study by the Minneapolis-based National Institute for Media and the Family suggests that video games can be addictive for kids, and that the kids’ addiction to video games increases their depression and anxiety levels. Addicted kids also exhibit social phobias. Not surprisingly, kids addicted to video games see their school performance suffer." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
Positive Effects
- Gamer's can recognize patterns and puzzles fast. "Games have internal logic in them, and the player figures it out by recognizing patterns." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Gaming can improve your thinking giving you fast judgement and the ability to make fast analysis and decisions. "Sometimes the player does this almost every second of the game giving the brain a real workout. According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led by Daphne Bavelier, a cognitive scientist, games simulating stressful events such as those found in battle or action games could be a training tool for real-world situations. The study suggests that playing action video games primes the brain to make quick decisions. Video games can be used to train soldiers and surgeons, according to the study. Importantly, decisions made by action-packed video game players are no less accurate. According to Bavelier, “Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Gaming can improve peoples situational awareness. "Defense News reported that the Army include video games to train soldiers to improve their situational awareness in combat. Many strategy games also require the player to become mindful of sudden situational changes in the game and adapt accordingly. Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Playing games can improve your strategic skill, this is because some games require a strategy to complete a certain mission, so you have to think hard to come up with the best plan, this leads to improving your general strategic skill, you can then use this in the future.
- Most games nowadays do have a social aspect in them, for example World of Warcraft, in World of Warcraft you can talk via keyboard or a mic, you can also add friends on it, and create a Guild in which people can join, and a Guild is like your own little community. Although most gamer's are referred to as loners, they're actually the minority in the gaming community.
- Look at it this way, at least your child is playing their drag racing game where its totally harmless, however there are some people in the real world drag racing on the streets which are dangerous and could lead to some serious injuries. Another thing is drugs are replaced by games for gamer's, so gaming a lot is stopping them from doing drugs and illegal things.
- Playing games can also increase your child's determination to do something, in a game they wont give up until they get this legendary sword of whatever, this will come in handy when they're grown ups because they'll have incredible determination.
- Gaming believe it or not can actually improve some peoples concentration especially when it comes to reading.
- Gaming can improve your memory capabilities. "Playing first person shooter games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield series enables the player to effectively judge what information should be stored in his working memory and what can be discarded considering the task at hand, according to a study published in the Psychological Research." Source: http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
- Playing games can improve your reasoning and your judgement. This will benefit you when you're older and are debating whether to buy something or go ahead with a certain plan with you your business or game.
Psychological Effects
When people play games excessively for hours on end with no breaks or anything, it can damage them mentally, whether they actually notice this or not. One of the main psychological effects is the sound, this is because sound is extremely important in a video game, it may mean that a bad guy is around the corner, or an enemy is attacking you, or perhaps you found a secret treasure or got a grand reward. If the player memorizes these sounds almost perfectly, in some cases when the player hears a similar sound in the real world he might freak out because he might truly believe there is a monster chasing him or that somebody is trying to kill and he needs to get out of there, or the player may react strangely when he hears a sound that's almost identical to the sound that he hears when he finds a hidden treasure in the game. "The use of sound in video games does a lot to immerse the player in the game-play. Sounds within the game are used to re-enforce the players positive and negative thoughts about their performance in the game. According to technopedia, “game designers strive to create a complete environment using audio and visuals”. They state that sounds are embedded into the game to “match the motion” of the surrounding weather conditions and moving clouds. Using sounds like this makes the player become more immersed as the sounds and visuals work together to make the game seem as realistic as possible. When we look at how the use of sounds in games over time from simple beeps in early games to provide the player with auditory feedback to today’s soundtracks and totally immersive sound you can see how much effort has gone into using sound to make players become more immersed in the gameplay. Sounds provide a better experience for the gamer and is used to enhance the emotional experience during gameplay. Mark Grimshaw from the University of Bolton states that games use music “to function as a reward mechanism in game design and possibly allowing for reinforcement learning” in his article on “Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments”. These studies show that the use of sound is used to make the player think both positively and negatively during gameplay depending on their experience. The audio then allows players to learn what they have done well and not so well in a game." Source: http://www.contentedwriter.com/psychological-effects-of-computer-gaming-on-individuals-and-society/Task 3 and 4 Potatoe Dash
The art style is non-photo realistic and cartoon like, extremely simple designs making it child friendly, the background which is the sun and the blue sky stay still and don't move, the trolley on the other hand does move and the camera follows it, showing you more of the terrain as you progress further on that level collecting Potatoes. The reason why I have chosen such a simplistic design is because it'll be a lot cheaper to make, and I didn't want to over complicate a child's game, I wanted them to understand what was happening and how to play the game, so I chose rather simple colors and an extremely simple controlling mechanism to move the trolley, touch an arrow and that's the way the trolley will move, down will brake the trolley, and up with jump once you've unlocked it. The idea of the game is super simple, all you have to do is go over the potatoes which will pick them up, and get to the end of the level to grab the holy potatoe which will then unlock the next level for you. Although later on there will be small obstacles standing in your way, however I believe a child would be able to surpass them easily making them feel more superior than they actually are, is there an evil JANETTE in your way? Just jump over her, or if you like jump on her and watch her go "Splat!"
Game Story for "Potatoe Dash"
One day Frederick "Potato" Skausor, commonly referred to as the "Potato Maniac" was on his way to his favorite shop, "Potatoes R' US" to buy a whole new batch of Potatoes so he could make his favorite food, Potatoe on Toast. On the way out of "Potatoes R' US" his trolley of potatoes was about to be hit by a car, so Frederick valiantly saved them by pushing the trolley out of harms way, unfortunately putting himself in danger, the car tried to brake... But it was too late, Frederick was lying on the floor of the car park, his lifeless eyes staring at the trolley of potatoes that he had saved. But he had not been forsaken by the Lord of Potatoes, he had been reborn, his soul was transferred into the trolley he had saved. In his new found body, Frederick had a mission, to venture the world, whether it be the mountains or the ferocious seas, or even the entire galaxy, Frederick was out to collect every single potatoe he could find... He wanted the title "Lord of Potatoes" it gave meaning to his new life... "Frederick the Lord of Potatoes" sounded so rad that he set off right away! But soon after the government caught word of the Trolley "stealing" potatoes, so they had to take initiative... They got JANETTE, the old lady from next door who absolutely hated Frederick because he'd always come round in the night and steal her potatoes, and cloned her... creating EVIL JANETTE's, which endeavored to stop and destroy Frederick. Can you help Frederick become the Lord of Potatoes? Will you put a stop to the EVIL JANETTE'S?
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