Articles on the "Tetris Effect"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect

and a Wired article on the idea of Tetris as an "electronic drug" or "pharmatronic":

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.05/tetris_pr.html

Sploder Game builder

http://www.sploder.com/

Play Tetris online

Use the online game evaluation form to examine this online version of TETRIS

Cut & paste the evaluation form questions and your answers to those questions into a new blog post entry on your blog.

Official TETRIS site

Handhelden - a German site dedicated to handheld game history and culture

Handhelden

Handheld Games, Tetris, and Audio

This weeks class will involve a review of chapters 8-12 of Ernest Adams, an overview of handheld gaming consoles, with an emphasis upon the game TETRIS.

In class activity is both creating maze-map graphics for an imaginary handheld game as well as  playing TETRIS

If time allows, we will also be using audacity and freesound org to generate videogame audio assets.

Please email me with your GAME100 class blog

I have not yet received all the blogs from students for the comprehensive list of student blogs for this class. I need these for formal grading purposes.

Please email me your blog address to

davidalbertcox@gmail.com

Today please.

DC

"King of Kong" Q&A quiz - short essay response

Class,

While watching the film, consider the questions as outlined in this online quiz

When the film is over, we will spend 20 minutes writing answers to the questions.

Please cut and paste your responses into a blog entry on your class blog. That is as you fill out the quiz short essay responses, cut and paste these into a one big new post on your Game100 blog.

Play "Donkey Kong" online

Play the game here

Today's Class - film with Q&A quiz, then "Donkey Kong" playing

"The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters"

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is an American documentary film that follows Steve Wiebe as he tries to take the world high score for the arcade game Donkey Kong from reigning champion Billy Mitchell. The film premiered January 22, 2007, at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival[1] and has been shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, the SXSW Film Festival, the TriBeCa Film Festival, the True/False Film Festival, the Aspen Comedy Festival, and the Fantasia Festival. The film opened in limited release in the United States on August 17, 2007, in 5 theaters, and by September 9, 2007, the film had expanded to 39 theaters in the U.S.[2] Later in 2007, it appeared on the cable network G4.

Movies referred to in 10/15/10 lecture

Blade Runner - Esper Photo Analysis scene

 

Post modern idea of entering the space of a photo

The Last Starfighter Trailer

Arcade gamer is so good he gets recruited to fight real space battle

TRON trailer

Programmer has to steal his data back from big firm that stole it from him, from inside his own code

 

Youtube - Strange Days trailer 

 

Recorded experiences as out-of-control commercial media

 

Youtube - The Matrix Trailer

 

The world is a simulation

 

Youtube - Quatermass & The Pit - 1967

 

Brain and dream recording devices

 

Youtube - Prof. Steve Mann - 'shooting back' 

 

Privacy activist and wearable computer pioneer turning the tables on

retail security surviellance

 

YouTube - The Lawnmower Man trailer

Virtual Reality as amplifier of intelligence and agent of posession

YouTube - Brainstorm - The Freaky Part

Recording memories and playing them back for personal understanding

YouTube - Johnny Mnemonic trailer

Courier of the future on the run for what is in his head

YouTube - Terminator view

 

From the future cyborg assassin uses Augmented Reality to navigate the world of today 

YouTube - RetroCast - Steve Mann 2004

More on the genius of Prof. Steve Mann

YouTube - Augmented Reality by Hitlab

AR - the new games development

YouTube - Layar, worlds first mobile Augmented Reality browser

 

AR in the service of PR and advertising - on your smartphone 

YouTube - Parrot AR.Drone : Augmented Reality Video Games Demo (HD version)

model helicopter uses AR to fuse real camera with computer images

YouTube - Brainstorm - The Ugly Part

 

Military sabotage as payback for hijacking research 

YouTube - opening scene of DREAMSCAPE

 

Dream penetration thriller film 30 years before inception 

YouTube - eXistenZ (1999) - Trailer

Sponsored partly by Sega, this film warns of dangers of confusing videogames with reality

YouTube - eXistenZ trailer

Sponsored partly by Sega, this film warns of dangers of confusing videogames with reality

YouTube - The Wizard movie trailer

YouTube - I love the Power Glove... its so bad.

 

Early 80s feature film is one big commercial for NES console and Mario games

 

Youtube - Inception Trailer
Dreams can be influenced, just like viral advertising

Today's class

Today we will do a brief exam review, and then we will do the exam itself which will last for one hour.

Following that I'd like you to finalize your play field map/diagrams from last week's in-class console game exercise. Once complete, please continue the same exercise using the online versions of Quake & Doom using the links in the blog entry below

12 most expensive games in Tokyo

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/10/expensive-games-tokyo/

Doom and Quake

Class,

Thanks to Chris Shuler for the following:

http://www.funny-games.biz/flash-quake.html
http://www.funny-games.biz/doom-1.html

Above are online versions of classic first person shooter games DOOM & QUAKE
which we can use to generate 'top-down' floor plans as a continuation of last week's
exercise.

Scott Rogers Talk - main points

Link to Scott Roger's blog (includes slides from the Disneyland presentation)

TOPICS:

What the heck are Weenies?

Enhanced Weenies and encountering player movement

Using lighting to encourage player movement

Posters

Alternative Maps & Posters

Presented Path & Posters

Presented Path vs. Exploration

The Power of the Path - the illusion of Freedom

Rediscovering Rewards

Thematic Level Goals

Moral Story Telling

Lesson of Main Street

Level Items

Thematic Level Goals

Illusional Narrative

Adding Danger

Applying it All

Warning/Foreshadowing

Maximizing the Path

Storytelling through Environment

Implied Threats

The Tutorial Section

Map and Discovered Information

Building Anticipation

Weenies and Foreshadowing

Juxtaposing Interior and Exterior Space

Illusional Narrative

The Clear Path Out

Scott Rogers - Games and Theme Parks

Today we'll hear Scott Rogers discuss the similarity between good game design and the effectiveness of Disneyland in building and maintaining visitor interest.

A blurb from the introduction from 2009 Games Developer's Conference:<span style="font-style: italic;">

Scott Rogers (GOD OF WAR, MAXIMO) reveals his secret weapon for designing levels: Disneyland. Learn how to inject the genius of the Magic Kingdom into your own game designs. Topics include player's thematic goals, pathing techniques, and illusional narrative. From skeletons to trash cans, there is a lot to learn from Disneyland!

Visual Pinball Creator review

http://postproduction.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=15842

Play pinball online

In-class exercise - 45 minutes.

Play at least three of the following online java pinball games and report your favorite to class afterwards.

http://www.onlinepinball.net/

http://internetgames.about.com/od/webgames/tp/freepinball.htm

http://www.thepinballzone.net/game.php?id=online_pinball

http://www.guzer.com/games/pepsi_pinball.php

Answer these questions:

1) What is "good gameplay" when it comes to pinball game design?

2) How do pinball playfield designers create exciting experiences?

Pinball history links

History of Pinball Machines

Today's class

We will be watching this movie in its entirety today.