“Upgrade Complete” was a great introductory game into this course. Reflecting on Thursday’s reading, “Upgrade Complete” can be classified as an anôn game, because of its competitive nature. It did not take very long to complete, but for as short as it was, it had an insightful end. Without going into too much detail or description of the game, the end result was very critical of the purpose of a video game. For the entire hour or so that I played the game, I was constantly working toward the end goal, trying to unlock the last piece, even having to buy the ability to have a menu and credits to do so. When I finally finished the game, the ending was unsatisfying – it told me I should think about rating the game by how much fun I was having rather than how complex the upgrade system was. However, the game was enjoyable, but the end caused me reflect more on that critique.
Why would someone continue to play a game that is not fun? For me, “Upgrade Complete” was fun because I enjoyed the aspect of being able to improve the quality of the game throughout the game, but for someone else who would not care about the upgrades, the actual game probably would have been boring and too easy. This game is a great beginning game to discuss because it causes some typical behavior of video game culture. As Galloway says in the reading, “people move their hands, bodies, eyes, and mouths when they play video games” (4). I noticed that same behavior from myself as I was playing, for example, leaning from side to side as my ship shot at the oncoming obstacles. Another interesting parallel I noticed was the personification of the video game. Galloway discusses how “video games are actions” (2). They play and run. The dialogue, especially in “Upgrade Complete” helps magnify this personification.