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Midterm Reviews

Ribbet (Ian)

Bonus levels definitely add something extra to the game as far as stimulating playing time. Innate rewards increase playtime for the target audience.

Simplistic game design is good for the older target consumers, but it may be a little too simple and players could lose that initial interest.

Familiar gameplay(checkers) style can sway other audiences who like those kind of games to play into the new design but same concept as Ribbet

Roomate Rumble (John)

The edgy plot/backstory is rather unique and a great idea to simulate a situation tha tmany people might have to face someday in their life.

Hiding the roomates actions is a good idea because seeing what is going on around you would hinder the fact of actually discovering something that has gone wrong in the dorm.

The stereotypes are a very cool way of creating players. Sort of like Snowboard Kids in that they all had their own unique characteristics.

Game For My Mom (Tim)

The adventuring part of the game is a good way to add to the gameplay. the grading system is defintely a fair system, but I think it should include whether or not the image is centered in the frame.

Unlocking new areas will definitely entice furhter gameplay, and acts as a good innate reward system.

The educational benefit is a good addition and could help when trying to attain a sponsoring company. Educational companies or National Geographic may be interested.

Triangles (Kieth)

It is definitely correctly categorized when he said it was a “time-killing” game. The simplicity however may be a factor in getting people to keep playing. I thnk that an interesting interface, color pallete, and overall design of the shapes would help the game.

The interactivity of actually moving it around would probably work best if it was on a Wii system. I cannot see a mother paying for a system or having an “iphone” as he stated so i think the best way to present the game is on a cell phone or a cheap way of production.

The scoring system is rather simple, it would be nice if there were some bonus levels or surprises involved to keep the players interested.

Stampin’ Up (Jim)

Incorporating their real-life activities into gameplay is a great idea. The Scoring/Reward system might be a bit much for the older crowd(mothers) to handle as far as uploading images and filetypes, making an account, ect…

An exciting factor for the mothers is definitely that they get to add a homemade touch to their greeting cards, or birthday tags.

Must make sure that the computer interface is simple enough for the average stay at home mother to be able to navigate. It cannot resemble anything like Photoshop or Fireworks.

CONCEPTS IN VIDEO GAMES

Bloxorz huh? Well I see Bloxorz as one of those kind of games you just play to kill some time. You can become completely immersed in the game, not due to any other factor than the pure frustration it provides. The game has a sort of trickiness to it that can make you really want to just beat it; and I don’t mean just beat the game, but beat the crap out of the computer because its that frustrating. I personally am not a fan of puzzle games, but compared to other flash games this game was rather bland. There is no sense of imagination involved in it. You are literally just rolling and tumbling a stone into a hole… Come to think of it, it seems quite sexual in nature.

My roomate caught a glimpse of me playing Bloxorz and he was rather intrigued by the concept because I feel its one of those things the human mind just thinks it should be easily able to conquer. After expressing my frustration and lack of skills in the game, naturally my roomate wanted to prove hes better, so he tested the game out. Also, another noteworthy thing that I saw in the game was the transitions when both completing a level, and of falling off the edge. When you fall off, the tiles trickle away as do your hopes of successfully completing the level. When you do complete the level the tiles raise up in a swirling motion as if you are rising to the top as a champion of some sort.

The whole idea that is built into the game concept that it is something you SHOULD be able to do easily is huge for the game. People will keep on playing and playing until they realize why it is that they are having trouble with something they perceive to be so simple. In short, the complexities of how simple the concept is is genious. Overall though, I did not find it enjoyable persay, though I would play again simply if I was just trying to kill time before something.

Ok, now its has got to the point where its ridiculous. MTV or Music Television doesn’t even have music on it anymore. All of these reality shows that are faker than Pamela Anderson’s chest are pissing me off. They are all so obviously staged, and yet apparently America still watches them… Whats wrong with you America??? Can’t you see right through it???

This is one of the most hysterical things I saw. I cannot help but wonder why a serious news station would cover media like this. Also, I feel that this is somewhat racist in that it makes African Americans look like really dumb people.

I enjoy these caveman commercials because it is nice to see a bit of humor in what is considered serious buisness. At least now when your paying your car insurance, Geico can give you something to laugh at and lighten your mood.

Real life advertising experience.

A few weeks ago i was hanging out with my friend Mike Beach, a marist Digital Media graduate. He works for Grey, a huge global advertising company. We sat there for a few hours running through pitches for him to use for the new Captain Morgan campaign. Captain Morgan was changing their whole advertising slogan from “got a little Captain in you?” to the idea of “Legendary Nights”.

I came up with a few ideas which I thought were pretty good and relevant to this class’ material. One of the ideas I told him for a commercial was:

- It opens with a guy in a casino sitting at a slot machine, and he orders a Captain Morgan and Coke. He gets his drink and pulls the lever, striking it rich. Confetti, ribbons, ect… The scene cuts away to him laying in bed in his hotel room waking up the next morning, and he turns his head to his side and sees a beautiful girl in bed next to him in her underwear. He looks at the camera and nods his head as if to say ‘yeaaahhh… im the man.’ Then he turns toward the rest of the room and the camera zooms out to reveal dozens and dozens more beautiful women sprawled out across his entire hotel room. onto the screen comes the Captain Morgans logo with the caption … “Legendary Nights”

Gene Simmons and Army Propaganda??

A few weeks ago I was watching an episode of “Gene Simmons and the Family Jewels” and I was surprised to see what I saw. Unfortunately I couldnt find any vidoes of this. The whole episode seemed to be one be form of propaganda for the Army. It started with Gene’s daughter having to write a report for school on the army. Due to Gene’s celebrity status, within 24 hours they were wisked into nearby camp Pendleton where they were to learn about what its like to be in the Army. Gene and his daughter are escorted around the camp and take part in a series of activities such as a replication of Boot Camp. Every aspect of a soldier’s life was pretty much glamourized. All tasks that were once thought of as hard for a soldier to do was reduced to a simple task, it made it seem as though life in the Army was a grand ol’ time, and a piece of cake.

Wow. Really Corona? lol. Forget about being discreet about selling sex, lets take it to a whole new level. This ad sells a lustful lifestyle attached to it. What I hear is ‘Drink Corona and get laid!’ possible? yes. likely? doubtful. C’mon America, can’t you see through this lame attempt at advertisement? no? guess not since Corona is one of the most popular and prestigous beers among all of America. Teens, Adults, even the Mexicans love it.

This Hollister ad without a doubt is not selling clothing, considering the only clothing shown is the top of the girl’s bathing suit. Rather the ad is selling another lifestyle. It sells us the idea of being one of the beautiful people. In a round about way this ad says to us ‘Hey, come shop at our store and you will be beautiful, and maybe you’ll even meet another beaultiful person, and have a beautiful relationship, and you can play on a beautiful beach like we are.’ Hollister just sold you “beauty”.