Category Archives: First Readers

Seeker post actually. I’ve been following the Total War series since the very first Shogun: Total War Then Medieval: Total War, the one I played for the longest period. Both of the above, despite their respectively taking place in Japan … Continue reading →

http://armorgames.com/play/10638/sugar-sugar In class on Tuesday, we talked extensively about how video games can be relaxing. Personally, I find video games to be relaxing when they provide the player with a pretty simple task. It becomes relaxing for me when performing … Continue reading →

In Bret Baker’s First Readers Post entitled “Relax!” he reminded us that there is a fine line between causing relaxation and frustration in a medium that requires action. Casual games are often looked at as examples of relaxation in video … Continue reading →

In chapter 15 of How to Do Things with Videogames Bogost touches on the controversies of sex in videogames. He touches briefly on the hidden sex scenes in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Mass Effect, but then goes on to … Continue reading →

Bogost talks about the relaxation aspect of video games in chapter 13 of his book. He names a few games that were made for relaxation such as Wild Devine, Cloud and flow. From his descriptions it seems that Wild Devine … Continue reading →

All of the games required for playing were mentioned in the readings for Tuesday except for one, September 12th. The game tried to label itself not as a game but as a simulation, that would shed light and insight and … Continue reading →

In this week’s reading of Ian Bogost’s, How To Do Tings With Videogames, I found myself pondering his chapters on Texture and Throwaways. At first glace I was intrigued by Bogost’s title, Texture, for the chapter. I really did not … Continue reading →

One topic that was brought up in class, but skimmed over was the subject of empathy which Ian Bogost highlights in How to Do Thing With Videogames. Bogost states that videogames usually place us in roles that let us fulfill … Continue reading →

One of the chapters from the Bogost readings that we did not discuss much on Tuesday was the Chapter on “reverence”.  In the chapter he talks mostly about spiritual reverence within the game Resistance, and its controversy with the church … Continue reading →

In the first chapter of Ian Bogost’s How To Do Things With Videogames, Bogost discusses the place and controversies of videogames in the art world.  Do videogames belong there? Are videogames even art?  The second is a question he addresses … Continue reading →

In Ian Bogost’s “How To Do Things With Videogames,” Bogost discusses the idea of analyzing videogames using “media microecology.”  “Media microecology” focuses not only the medium and its message, but also the specific functions and properties that make the medium … Continue reading →

Ian Bogost’s “How to do things with videogames” investigates the various applications of videogames using “media microecology”.  This focuses on specific components and analyses them closely to see how each part fits into society. In the chapter about music, the … Continue reading →

Ian Bogost’s “How to Do Things with Videogames” investigates the varieties and applications of videogames using the concept of “media microecology”, in which specific aspects of a medium (in this case, videogames), are focused on and closely analyzed in order … Continue reading →

The blurring of the lines between casual and hardcore gamers has created a new type of gamer, the so called “Mid-Core Gamer”. As Wikipedia defines “A core or mid-core gamer is a player with a wide range of interests and enthusiast toward creative and … Continue reading →

The second chapter in “A Casual Revolution” by Jesper Juul discusses the differences between the stereotypes of casual and hardcore gamers and actual casual and hardcore gamers. He notes and expands on five characteristics of a game that determines its … Continue reading →