week 7

I first started exploring the social impact games without much luck. it seemed like whatever game i clicked on, the link would either be broken, or the game wouldn’t exist anymore, or something else would hinder my efforts. my first experiences with the social impact web site was not very positive. some examples of games like this included the “interactive nights out” game (what? i have to buy this?) and the media blackout game. the descriptions and reviews of both games made me really want to try to play them—and not being able to was really annoying.

anyway, i finally found a site that i seemed to be able to play. the self esteem games were actually really fun. for the grow your chi game, you had to click on the clouds that had smiles or your name in them, and avoid clicking on the clouds that had others’ names or people frowning. it was really fun—there was always this one lady who i could never remember to not click on. i got used to looking for teeth and clicking—it was basically fail-proof except for that lady who was frowning, but still showing her teeth. as i got further on in the game, there were more and more clouds, and they moved quicker. it actually was rather hard to move the mouse fast enough to click on them. instead of promoting self-esteem and growing your chi and achieving enlightenment, at the end it was promoting stress! but all in all, it was a cute game.

in the same site, i played the eye spy game. this had the same idea—click on the smiling face. only this time, they would give you a box with about 8 frowning faces in it, and 1 smiling face. this was much trickier since all of the faces changed every time and everyone moved around. eventually, though, it got easier to spot the smiling face. at the end, they showed you how your time improved through all four rounds. the old man was the hardest to find—he wasn’t really smiling, so my “look for the teeth” technique couldn’t be used on him.

then i moved on to a more educational game. i played the chemistry elemental game. it was kind of like tetris, but you had to match element from the same type (metal, non-metal, transition). once you got 3 in a row, they would disappear. again, this was really fun until things started moving faster. and it seems like sometimes the blocks would just drop down from the top without even giving me a chance to see them.

from there, i played the public policy game plan your future park. this game was probably my favorite. in the beginning, i loved how they gave you options for where to put your park, and all of these grungy places are already taken! so, i went through, clicking on the options that i thought the game wanted me to click on, but then i realized that this isn’t the kind of game where you end up with an A+ park—you can’t always choose the right answer, and there always won’t be an “all of the above” choice. so, then i started choosing the options that i wanted to see in my park, and no choice was ever the best. you either alienate the senior citizens and the teenagers by putting in a playground, or you get taxi drivers and motorists angry by not putting a road through the park. i think that this game was the best for highlighting how you can be playing a game and learning something new at the same time. i came into this not expecting to learn anything new, but through this “serious” game, i definitely did.

then i played some games that others in the class recommended. i REALLY enjoyed the super shag land game—i told my roommate about it and she started playing, too. and i also tried to get into the anti-bush game that had been recommended, but i found it hard to pay attention. the music was just a little too hardcore for my delicate ears, and it was too wordy from the beginning. i mean, what’s the point of sitting there, on a computer, clicking away, when i could have just read about all of that in a newspaper, without a soundtrack?

if i created a social impact game, it would probably be something along the lines of the plan your future park game. my friend reed has cancer, and he’s had to make multiple hard decisions this year. just like planning a park has risks and consequences, my game would, too. it would follow the life of reed—from deciding to go to the doctor after the pain in his hip has made it hard for him to walk, to making a decision regarding his hospital, to figuring out ways to raise awareness of his cancer (ewing’s sarcoma—it’s kind of rare, especially for males his age), to deciding to leave college, to putting off college for a second year…his decisions and actions over this past year have been huge and life-altering. additionally, the consequences from those decisions have also been huge and life-altering. one could ask why he put off school for another year—what does he hope to accomplish? will he ever go back to school? does he need to? right now, he’s in the midst of organizing a group that raises awareness for his cancer—what good would school do for him right now? also, his relationship with his girlfriend has suffered. reed, in his path to recovery, saw fit to remove himself from any kind of negativity or stress, but his girlfriend leads a stressful life. and part of her way of dealing with that stress was talking to reed about it. now that he “doesn’t want to hear it,” she feels restricted: she wants to tell reed that things are suffering in their relationship because of this, but how can she if he refuses to listen? a “serious game” about cancer and the decisions that one has to make when facing it would be appreciated.

game idea

For a social interaction game, I would probably make one that has to do with healthy eating habits and exercise routines. There are so many kids in the world today who are incredibly obese because their parents let them eat whatever they want and don’t make them do anything active. These kids are constantly ridiculed and made fun of for being fat and it undoubtedly affects them in a negative way. Not to mention, obesity can shorten one’s life and cause diabetes. So I want to make a game that teaches about healthy eating that can taste good too. The game might be something like where you get to be a chef and “make” different meals. As you add stuff, nutrition facts like fat, sodium, and sugar will pop up and a little person in the corner will get fatter or skinnier based on those food choices for the meal. There can also be a part where you calculate what your caloric intake should be for your age and activity routine. In terms of exercise, the game might just suggest different fun games to play outside or encourage things like rollerblading, jumping on the trampoline, etc. Hopefully simulating these activites will make kids want to do them in real life because they see how fun they are. This game would be intended for kids in middle school.

project proposal: sexuality in myspace

For my final project, I want to focus on the “culture” of many myspacers and look at how it is becoming more and more prevalent for girls as young as 13 to put provocative pictures on their pages as a way of attracting more people. I have a younger brother who is 15 and I used to go on his page and look at is friends and almost every girl who was around that age had pictures in their underwear or just a slutty pose. I don’t think I actually got a myspace until I was about 17 but even then, I didn’t find it appealing to put pictures like this up. First of all, because back then my overprotective dad seemed to have the need to search for my page to make sure it was appropriate. Secondly, because even with a normal picture of me smiling, I would, and still do, get messages and friend requests from creepy old men saying things like, “I saw your page, you are beautiful, I want to be your friend” and stuff like that. I think it’s really sad that these young girls feel the need to do this just to be accepted in the myspace community. I realize that the standards for beauty are really high these days and that girls in high school and middle school feel more and more pressure to be popular and look “hot” but it’s kind of disturbing when they are doing it to attract complete strangers, most of whom are skeezy old guys, to be their friends. I want to go through myspace and look at these profiles and try to get some statistics and decipher exactly what these girls might be thinking when they make the decisions to exploit themselves like this. I am hoping to be able to go to different girls’ pages take notes of what their pictures are like, and who and how many friends they have.

Learning Games

The first game I played was in the category of Political and Social Games. It was called the Anti-Bush Video Game. It was designed to teach people about all the bad things that President Bush has done to our country. It is a very one sided argument because it is all about how horrible of a president Bush is. When I first started playing it, I was very skeptical and bored because it was just a lot of nonsense with people talking and it wasn’t much of a game. Then, more characters were introduced and the game actually began. You have to pick a character and make it through different worlds by shooting the rich pigs. Every now and then you have to face a “master” and you have to battle them one on one and if you win then you get a key. Once you get all the keys to Voltron (master of the United States) then you can stop him. During the game, you learn about the federal deficit, land tax, dividend tax, and tax breaks. The creators included characters like Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, Howard Dean, Chris Reeves, and Paris Hilton to make the game more entertaining to play. I ended up dying before I made it to the end of the game. This game is definitely intended for older audiences because it has a lot of swearing and vulgarity in it. If one had a lot of time to sit around and play games like this, then I can see how they would be entertained by it but I just thought it was kind of dumb.
The second game I played was in the Health and Wellness category. It was called Feed the Monster and was definitely intended for kids in elementary school who were first learning about the food groups. To play the game, you have to grab food and slingshot it into the monster’s mouth. The food moves on a conveyor belt and the monster moves back and forth. There are lots of different foods including bread, yogurt, peas, watermelon, peanuts, chips, etc. The foods all represent different food groups and the goal of the game is to feed the monster one food from each group. When you have done that, then you move on to the next level. As you move up in the levels, the conveyor belt moves faster so it is harder to get the food. The monster also moves faster so you have to be able to aim so that the food hits him. There is also a time limit which gives motivation for thinking quickly. After you give the monster the food, there is a bonus question which teaches you something about the food. Sometimes it asked how the food was grown and sometimes it asked what could the food be eaten with for a healthy lunch. This game is good because it is entertaining and it teaches you about which foods fit in each group. It also teaches kids what healthy eating is.
The third game I played was in the Educational category and was called Mapojib Experience. It was a way to learn the Korean language. In the game, you watch as two people interact over food and speak in Korean. The game gives you the ability to listen to the words as they are said, see them written in Korean, and also see what they mean in English. This isn’t so much a game as a simulation that you watch and click “next.” Overall, it was pretty boring even though I did learn some Korean words.
It was hard to find games to play because most of the links either didn’t work or took me to a site where I had to register or buy the games so it was kind of frustrating trying to find three to play. My favorite game I played though was the feed the monster one because it was easy and actually seemed like a game whereas the other ones included a lot of just reading. The monster one was also fun because it was very elementary but had cute music, sounds, and pictures. I think that if someone is going to make a learning game, they should structure it like this one where it is very interactive and fun for whomever is playing.

Ben's Project & Game Proposal

Last week, while reading articles and visiting websites about issues such as the movements of both the Zapatistas and Durban Shack Dwellers, I realized that there are so many disputes and battles taking place all over the world with which I am not familiar. For my final project, I would like to find and research the largest areas of contention in the world, and maybe create something like a “top 10” or “top 5” list for issues everyone (or every American) needs to know about. My hope is to both create awareness of lesser-known global problems and offer people the means of contributing to resolving them--something like Darfur is Dying or 3rd World Farmer--but I might end up including some of the bigger issues as well.

I have not decided on which problems to address, but I have come up with a general layout for my site. I will have a general summary for each of the larger events, and each page will contain a link to a site/sites dedicated to the issue (if there are any). I want to be sure to make clear steps people can take in their daily lives to contribute to solving the problems. I may also incorporate video clips from someplace like Witness.org or YouTube.

Thinking about my project led me to an idea for a social impact game. If I were to create a game, I would make it on the issue of coffee farmers. I chose coffee as the focus for my project because Americans consume more coffee than any other people in the world, and I believe that it is incredibly important to be aware of the effort put by other people into making the products we consume regularly and often take for granted. I would find out exactly how much labor, resources, etc. go into a single cup of coffee, and maybe do a “day in the life of a coffee worker” where I would show the working conditions for pickers in the field.

In my game, I would incorporate elements from both 3rd World Farmer and The Anti-Bush Video Game. I would have an animated/visual timeline similar to that of 3rd World Farmer that shows the growing process of coffee beans, and then track the beans on their journey from the field to the cup (consumer). Beans are taken through all kinds of processing machines, collected in bags, shipped, re-shipped, and finally ground up by the person actually making the coffee drink; my game would show the entire process.

The feature I liked most about The Anti-Bush Video Game was that it had a bar at the bottom of the screen that contained links to all the important informational parts of the site. My site would also have this feature, so that people solely interested in learning the facts could do so. I would be sure to incorporate facts such as the average daily pay for a coffee bean picker, and show how much it compares to that of the average worker in America (or maybe California minimum wage). While my game might not be much fun, it would educate people about the importance of worker’s rights, and possibly inspire a search for more knowledge regarding other important issues in today’s world.

Project Proposal: Investigating Gender Dynamics in Second Life

We tend to categorize human beings according to gender, ethnicity, sexual preference, nationality, social class, occupation, etc. In Second Life people are defined primarily by what they reveal in-game: which ultimately comes down to avatar appearance. Moreover, appearance of avatars is immensely malleable.

Accordingly, for my project I am going to focus on sex and race in Second Life. I am also going to add an innovative approach by reading a wealth of journalistic blogs from Second Life players in an effort to explore other player’s gender experiences in Second Life. Thus my project will rely on blogs to study gender relations in Second Life.

I also want to explore what aesthetics come into play in terms of avatar attractiveness. For example, how does the furry subculture of avatars differ from the white female avatars or the harajukou female avatars? Are male avatars more attracted to the furry females or the white females?

There are a variety of sites dedicated to Linden bloggers, and a lot of bloggers tailor their writings to their experiences with gender in Second Life. I am planning on changing my avatars look and seeing how people respond in-world to her various appearances. I am hoping to be able to discover if the same standards of beauty that we venerate in the real world are still manifested in the virtual world. For example, when conducting research I found a study that concluded that males stand further away when talking to other males in the virtual world of Second Life and are less likely to keep eye contact, which reveals one aspect of human behavior carries over into the virtual realm.

Nevertheless, a crucial element of my project will be the various blogs about experiences in Second Life. Blogging is a way for individuals to articulate their emotions, and by studying a multitude of blogs, I am hoping to discover common themes and trends about gender relations in Second Life. I have already gathered a variety of interesting blogs including:

http://secondlife.blogs.com/nwn/

http://www.apogeevr.com/2006/03/26/my-gender-swapping-inside-second-life/

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/01/what_happens_in_1.html
http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/05/10/april-2007-key-metrics-released/

Ryan's Gaming Experience

Self-Esteem Games

There were three self-esteem games made by McGill University in which positive feedback is supposed to have a positive impact on one’s self-esteem. The first game I played was called “Wham!” The first thing that you have to do in this game is input your first name as well as the month and date of your birth. Once the game begins, you are presented with four squares into which will appear a date or a name. You have to as quickly as possible click on the words that appear in the box and each time you click a picture of a face will briefly appear. When our own name or birthdate comes up and you click on it, the subsequent picture will be a smiling face. If someone else’s name or birthdate appears, it will be followed by a frowning picture. The idea behind this game is to help people associate themselves with a good thing, in this case a smile. I am not a psych major but this all seems a little far fetched, I am sure the positive association theme does work to help people with depression, but none of these games seemed to reinforce the idea very well. It is suggested that the “patient” do this at least once a day, preferably in the morning to help them get their day started on a good note. The idea is novel, and I definitely think that a computer can be helpful in treating issues such as this, but this one in particular will not lead someone to a happier life.


Darfur is Dying

In this game you are a Darfurian refugee in Sudan and the object of the game is to help your refugee camp survive for as long as possible. Your main objective is to collect water from several kilometers away from the well, and in doing so avoid being captured by rebel factions in the surrounding area. You first select a character form the list that you are presented with, the young children are much more agile and quicker than their parents but they cannot carry as much water, so you have to pick a character that you tink will be best at accomplishing the task at hand. The next part of the game involves you controlling your character to try and avoid being captured while trying to make it to a well and back. Once back you have to use your water to accomplish various functions around the camp. What I liked about this game was that you could click on any part of the camp and a dialogue box would come up, describing the difficulties that Darfurians face in the camps everyday. There was a meter which indicated the risk of a rebel attack on the camp, and to avoid this certain things had to be done to either stave of the attack or rebuild the community. It was effective in informing people about the atrocities going on in Africa, while at the same time maintaining user engagement through various activities. To me one of the most important aspects of these games should be trying to make the user want to keep playing, and while maintaining and educational value, keep the user entertained enough to increase playing time.


McDonald’s Game

In this game you are in charge of all parts of McDonald’s hamburger production. You have to grow feed for cows, raise hormone rich cattle, hire and manage restaurant workers, and employ questionable marketing tactics. I discovered this game about a year ago and at the time I remember playing it for hours on end. It was fun trying to sell as many hamburgers as possible and if my memory serves me right I got to be fairly good at the game, helping the company to last for a good amount of time. The message about the questionable practices that McDonalds employs in both making and selling their products is presented to the user in such a way that in order to make the cows bigger and produce more meat you have to feed them hormones, or in the marketing campaigns claim that McDonald’s cares about third world nations. One of my favorite parts of the game was the evil looking Ronald McDonald character that is seen in the corporate headquarters. It really makes you aware of the fact that they have made one of the most successful youth targeted advertisement campaigns ever, leading to childhood obesity and an addiction to unhealthy foods that stays with many people their entire lives.

Michael and Ryan's Game Proposal

Malaryiana

Each year approximately 850,000 children die of malaria around the world. The most heavily impacted nations being those in Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Our game proposal would work to bring awareness to this very serious problem that faces billions of families around the world. Our game would be structured around the idea that you are a Red Cross worker that has been dispatched to Africa to organize a malaria treatment and prevention center. To fight the onslaught of the disease the player will have to overcome many of the challenges that real world aid workers face on a daily basis. In combination with actual game play, the user will be presented with questions and possible answers that will lead to different scenarios. Some examples may be swatting the malaria carrying mosquitoes with a fly swatter and using pesticide bombs to eradicate larger areas of land. There are a limited amount of species of mosquito (Anopheles) that actually carry the disease, so it will be up to the user to ensure that he or she does not eliminate all insects in the area that are vital to the local ecosystem. Other actions that the user will have to do in another part of the game is distribute anti-malarial drugs to patients in his region, using the limited funds that he or she is allocated. One obstacle associated with the use of these drugs, is that the parasite can gain resistance to them if they are used to liberally. To gain monetary resources, the player will have to kill certain amounts of mosquitoes and minimize collateral damage to the surrounding people and environment. Hopefully, this game will be engaging enough so that the user can have fun while learning about this global crisis.

Self-esteem games

http://selfesteemgames.mcgill.ca/games/index.htm

This website had three different games. They were the stupidest games I had ever played. The first one was “Grow your own Chi”, in the game you entered you name, then every time you name or a picture of a smiling face flew by the screen you were supposed to click on it. For every time you clicked on a smile face or your name, you got points, if you clicked on a sad face you lost points. It is supposed to teach you to avoid negativity. The second game was “Eye Spy Matrix,” where there was a four by four grid of pictures. One of the pictures was of a smiling face and all the rest were negative faces. You were supposed to click on the smiling face as fast as you could. Each round had four grids and it took you fastest time and average of your times. Then you played another round, trying to improve you time and teaching you to look for positive information and avoid the negative. The last game on this website was “WHAM! Self-esteem conditioning.” In this game you entered your name and birthday, and once again clicked on them when you they would appear on the screen. The idea that it would give you links between yourself and social acceptance. The website says that these games are not supposed to increase self esteem but instead help you look for the positive in things. This was not true at all for me. I found myself very board and it in know way helped my look for the positive. I found all three very boring and a waste of time.

Ben’s Game

http://www.makewish.org/site/pp.asp?c=cvLRKaO4E&b=64401

Ben’s Game was created by a kid that is in remission from Leukemia. He created the game as his wish from the make a wish foundation. The game is designed for kids to play in the hospital. In the game you have to find 7 shields, while fighting mutated cells, and diseases. I downloaded the game and tried to play but was not any good at it. I did not get how to fight the diseases to receive the shields. Also I was really bad at avoiding the mutated cells. But over all I thought the game could be fun for kids.

Break Down

http://www.gothamgazette.com/breakdown/

Break Down is a game about New York City. It asks questions about the city’s electricity, telephone, cable, gas, steam sewage and water. In the game you are a repair man who is trying to save the city. There is an animation of a guy crawling down a sewer pipe. At each leave you are asked a question, if you get it right then you advance down the pipe if you get it wrong you have to go back to the previous level. The questions are multiple choice about New York City’s polices and facts in the different areas of electricity, telephone, cabal, gas, steam, sewage, and water. The questions were not that hard but more interesting. I was really bad at the water questions and kept being sent back to sewage. Overall I found the game very informative.

Overall, I did not really like the games I played. I found them kind of childish and boring. Break Down was the best I looked at. But on the website I noticed that I had played most of the social impact commercial games, like roller coaster tycoon, sim city, and organ trail. All of which I enjoyed. So while some of these games were very boring, I could see how others do change how people look at the world. For example when playing sim city you have to plan out the whole city. Look at where to but the neighbor hoods, the power planets, the jobs, the roads. It helps in a understanding of how a city is built.

Social impact game: SPF 101

Based on my experiences playing social impact games, I have a derived a game that is both educational and entertaining. Many of the games in the public policy category involve multiple choice questions about the topic on which each game focuses. By answering a question correctly, the player is able to advance to another level with another question. With each correct response, the character would move up or show some sign of change. If the player put the wrong answer, he or she would have to go back and select another response. While this method is effective in giving the participant a lot of information, the entertainment value is rather weak. There is no incentive to complete one question because it just takes you to another. The element that is missing is scoring or rewarding a player for his success. In addition, I feel that a greater interactive game experience is more worthwhile in keeping a player interested. With a question-type game, there is no reason to return to play the game again after completing all the questions the first time around.

I decided to make my social impact game about the dangers of overexposure to the sun that can result in skin cancer. I think that there is a largely apathetic younger population that does not realize the extreme risk involved in going outside unprotected.

SPF 101
Setting: A shopping strip on a beach front
Goal: A girl needs to get to her date’s house to attend a dance.

Picking up bottles of sunscreen and sunglasses on the way earns points.
She must avoid tanning oil and promoters with flyers for free tanning bed usage.

Different levels equate to different stages of her preparation for the dance. The character’s appearance changes after the completion of each level. At the end of each stage there is a trivia question related to skin cancer that the player has to answer correctly. If answered incorrectly, the player must repeat the level and try again.

Level 1. She travels to a clothing store to buy her dress

What is melanoma?

A. A virus that spreads during the summer months

B. Cancer of the moles: the deadliest form of skin cancer

C. A brand of tanning oil

D. A study on skin cancer

answer B: The American Cancer Society estimates that about 62,190 new melanomas will be diagnosed in the United States during 2006.

Level 2. She travels to the hair salon to get her hair done

How many people are affected by skin cancer each year in the US?

A. Less than 500 people

B. 1,000 people

C. 5,000 people

D. More than 1 million people

answer D: Studies show that more than 1 million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, with an estimated 10,590 deaths expected.

Level 3. She goes to a nail salon to get a manicure/pedicure

What is the most common of all cancers?

A. Breast Cancer

B. Ovarian Cancer

C. Skin Cancer

D. Lung Cancer

answer C: Skin cancer accounts for nearly half of all cancers in the United States.

Level 4. She goes to the flower shop to buy a boutonnière

How can you help prevent skin cancer?

A. Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

B. Cover up with protective clothing to guard as much skin as possible when you are out in the sun.

C. Use sunscreen SPF of 15 or higher even on hazy or overcast days.

D. Wear sunglasses with 99% to 100% UV absorption to provide optimal protection for the eyes and the surrounding skin.

E. All of the above

At the end, she arrives at her date’s house. Based on her level of sun exposure, she can either go out to the dance, or she is diagnosed as too red and exhausted for her date.

Stealth Education and Battling Cancer: The Power of Social Impact Games

I never knew that it was possible for video games to have an educational dimension. Of course I have always heard the theories that gaming improves hand eye coordination and reasoning ability, but I always assumed that those were far fetched theories my brothers used to wield my mom into allowing them to play video games for one more hour. However, after exploring the education and leaning games on the social impact site, I have come to realize that video games can have intellectual facets. Thus I found it essential that social impact makes a point of emphasizing how it strives to catalog video and computer games whose primary purpose is something other than to entertain.

MeChem
I spent a long time on the HAGames site just because I was fascinated by their commitment to “Stealth Education” which is using games to teach middle schoolers math and science. The “stealth” component comes into play for the games are educational yet they are so fun that kids don’t even realize that they are learning (because we all know that in the eyes of a seven-year-old, when something is educational it becomes repulsive). The non-profit organization the Liemandt Foundation funds the Hidden Agenda program and the HAGames site. The site claims that its inspiration was to make learning fun for kids who enjoy playing games more than listening to teachers. Additionally they emphasize how these games help middle schoolers learn subjects that otherwise would not “stick” through memorization or reading.

As such, I decided to play “MeChem” because I noticed that it was the winner of the Liemand Foundation’s first “Hidden Agenda” content in 2004. This award is interesting for it is given to a game which succeeds in concealing its educational motive so that kids are drawn to it without the knowledge of its rewards. “MeChem” is directed as middle schoolers just beginning to learn chemistry. Players equip their characters, known as “mechs” with armor and weapons and then battle one another to see which is stronger. However the chemistry comes into play for players build their armor based on elements.

When I was playing this game I was fascinated by how fun it was. The game begins with the statement “you may build your mech from a full range of components” which essentially means choosing a name and model for your mech. However, the assemble process gets more complex as the player must decipher which element would be most conducive to creating the armor necessary for the task at hand (for example one would not want to create a mech with an aluminum body if they were going to have to endure fire because aluminum is a metal and metals conduct heat, and consequently the armor would melt). Here is an example of the choices for armor construction: http://www.hagames.com/games/mechem/mechem.swf?userid=juju&hadata=875x9x1&classid=9&classcode=class1&school=school1.
Thus this type of thinking serves to reiterate how computer gaming can actually lead to…gasp…learning!

AlbegrArcade
I also enjoyed the game AlgebrArcade. Before beginning, players are confronted with the slogan “Beat the game – learn equations! The most fun you'll ever have with algebra!” I don’t know about you, but I would never associate “fun” with algebra. However, after playing, I realized that this game makes the concept of “fun math” a reality. Playing the game involves going around and using algebra to open the locks on treasure chests. While this sounds pretty unoriginal, there is a time limit that forces players to think quickly. Fusing adrenaline rushes with treasure hunts and algebra is guaranteed to create an entertaining educational experience.

Ben's Game
The greatest game I played was Ben’s Game. Ben’s Game was heartwarming and truly served as a representation that video games can make a positive social impact. Ben Duskin was nine-years-old when he came to the Make-A-Wish foundation with the desire to create a video game in which players battled and destroyed cancer cells. Ben wanted to create this video game because he thought it would be a helpful coping strategy for kids like him battling cancer. Ben reasoned that by playing a game that fights cancer cells, children would be able to relieve some of the pain and stress involved with treatment. Surprisingly, Ben’s Game did not receive a lot of support initially. Most people agreed that it would cost millions of dollars and create several years to create. However, Eric Johnston and his company LucasArts were determined to make Ben’s Game a reality. They worked side by side and were eventually able to create the game just as Ben envisioned it. Thus it was incredibly inspiring to read Ben’s doctor’s comments that the science for Ben’s Game came largely from what Ben learned himself in the course of treatment.

The directions for Ben’s Game are creative and I found myself more obsessed with various monsters than actually battling them. The object of the game is to destroy all mutated cells and to collect the seven shields that provide protection from common side effects of chemotherapy. The shields are guarded by a “monster”:
• Colds - Iceman Monster
• Barf – Robarf Monster
• Chicken Pox –Big Chicken Monster
• Fever - Firemonster
• Bleeding – Vamp Monster
• Hair Loss – Qball Monster
• Rash – Tornado Monster

Three health levels serve as ammunition in the game:
• Health you get from the hospital
• Ammo you get from the pharmacy
• Attitude you get from home

I suggest you all check out this game: http://www.makewish.org/site/pp.asp?c=cvLRKaO4E&b=64611.

Not only is it imaginative and entertaining, but it allows you to realize that sometimes social impact games can truly help terminally ill children battle their illness. It all starts with a brilliant idea, just like Bens…

Gaming Diary

The first game I played what 3rd World Famer. In this game you started with 4 people (Your immediate family), and 50 dollars. You then had to choose what to plant, and see if that would bring you more money. After a few rounds, I got my total up to $187 which made me really excited. I then filled my fields with crops to see how much money I would get this time. Unfortunately, a militia came to my farm and took everything I owned. If that wasn't bad enough, my youngest child died because I did not have enough money to pay for medical checkups. This game was a big eye opener to show the struggles of families, and horrible situations that are pressed upon them.
The second game I played was Feed the Monster. This game was for children to learn about nutrition and healthy eating habits. You were able to feed the monster different foods that scrolled across the bottom of your screen. Once you fed your monster, a popup window would give you information on what type of food it was. It would tell you if it is a good choice for snacks, and what vitamins and nutrients that food provides. If you fed the monster a sugary food, it would tell you what a better alternative would have been. This game is very good for introducing young children to healthy eating habits. I believe it is very important since obesity is becoming a huge problem in our society.
Another game I played, was Super Shag Land. I am also happy to see that Andrea played it and enjoyed it as well. I found the game to be hilarious, but like she said "it got the point across."
The last game I played was Oregon Trail. This game took me back to my days as an elementary student trying to get my covered wagon across the river without it breaking. In this game, players get to determine which way they want to travel, buy tools that would be needed on the trip, and design your family. Things that occur during the trip range from snake bites to death. However, this game does not make me think about it more than just being a game.

Final Prject Proposal

Looking at other posts I saw that other people also wanted to look at Facebook, but in my project I want to focus more on various problems Facebook poses for the users as a result of being so public about our social activities. Looking just at what happened here at Santa Clara with the theme party which became public after multiple pictures of the participants were posted on Facebook, I would want to focus on of this has influenced people to change their profiles or if they feel like their privacy has invaded because they have a right to post their own pictures. Also emerging from this debate is the fact that now anyone can be members on Facebook, not just college and high school students, meaning that anyone (your boss, coach, teacher, potentially your parents) could be checking up on people's social activities through Facebook. Because of this, for my project I would like to examine these risks to our privacy (or if we even have the right to assume that we have privacy on the Internet) and then look at how it influences people to behave as Facebook members. In doing this I would conduct research on the whole Facebook phenomenon, and also observe people's Facebook activities, and also interview people on their opinions on this question and how it has influenced their own behavior.

Allie's Game Experiences

I played three games from the list of games. I found it hard to find games, because not all of them worked. So I didnt really get to oplay the ones that I found most interesting.
The first game I played was a self-esteem game.
http://www.socialimpactgames.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=208
It was fun, and pretty easy. You had to click on the smiling gfaces or your name when they appeared. You got 10 points for each and if you hit the wrong thing then you got negative 10 points. The goal is to get 100 points, I ended up with 200 :) I didnt really see how this game worked, and I didnt really think that it was that addicting, so I moved onto another game that I tought might be a little more fun.
The next game I decided to play was a game against hate.
http://www.socialimpactgames.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=79
This is a little more interesting just because you watched a film and chose situations for the character to do. It wasnt a real game though. There really wasn't anything that you had to do. Every now and then it would ask you to chose the way to go with a situation and in the end those decisions would choose how the rest of the film would turn out.
The thrid game i looked at was the relaxation game.
http://www.socialimpactgames.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=212
It is suposed to make you relaxed and what not, but i think it makes you more sick. YOu are flying through space, and I got sick. But I guess I can see how it could possibly make people feel relaxed.

I did not get addicted to any of these games, and I think that the key to online games is to have people relaly enjoy them and want to play them all the time. I have friends who play games online and actually play them all the time. Then they go out and buy the new versions that aren't online, and I guess that this is what the games are for, they are advertisments for the games so people will want to go and buy the real thing. I also have friends that play poker online and actually make and lose money, this shocks me cause why would you ever put money down on a game, when you arent there and you cant see if it is even real people playing on the otherside. Online gaming has just never really interested me that much.

Social Impact Game Proposal

For a possible social impact game, I would like to propose a game that would give insight and educate people on the foster care system and the impact it has on the children and families. As a former foster family, I have personal insight to the hardships and difficulties that children who are forced to move from family to family with uncertainty of if they will every find a permanent home, when they will see their biological siblings, or if they will one day return to their biological parents.

In this informational game, the player would choose from a variety of children who come from a variety of personal situations that would contribute to the reason for why they are in foster care in the first place. Some of these reasons could be abuse, death of a parent, or termination of parental rights to name a few. With these reasons, the player would also learn a background story to their player, which would provide answers to their behavior, where they will be placed, and where they come from. I'm not totally positive of how the final logistics of the game would work, but I would want the game to be about the player finally being able to settle down and be placed with a family that in the end adopts them. In route to this final destination, the child will have to overcome hurdles such as being placed from house to house, trying to feel comfortable and trusting of the people they are placed with, developing a relationship with their new parents and siblings, and overcoming emotional and psychological problems that emerge over time.

Like the Third World Farmer game that I played earlier this week, I would want this game to be more informative and educate the players more on the person's experiences, instead of trying to be fun, as it can open eyes to the hardships to the foster care system. I think that this game is especially relevant today as adoption seems to be a new trend that has emerged because of the movie starts today who are all adopting children from other countries causing people to not really even think about the thousands of children in our country that are stuck in the foster care system looking for their own family. Many of these children are stuck in the system for years, and continue to wait longer as they get older because a majority of families want to adopt a newborn, not a 13 year old kid. Hopefully a game like this would help to just generate awareness about this reality.

Michael's Game Diary

Better Business Game

Initially I wanted to play a military game (to do my part in the war on terror and spread oligarchy around the world) but I couldn’t figure out how. So I figured the next best thing to the military is—corporations. In this game you are a Corporate CEO and must learn to “manage social and environmental issues in a business,” while making your stakeholders happy. Your tenure as CEO is supposed to be twelve months, at the end of which you attend the Annual General Meeting and face the stakeholders with the goal of balancing out their expectations and needs.

You have to enter your name, so I chose “Dick Cheney” who was this old CEO of this company called Halliburton. My company name— Cheney PLC. On my first day I received a “Dear Dick” letter telling me the board just approved a corporate social responsibility statement, and that the company wanted to operate with integrity and avoid destroying the environment or human rights…and that the success of the company was the most important thing. What follows for the rest of the game is a series of questions concerning day-to-day decisions you have to make as CEO. The chart graphing the satisfaction of all the different stakeholders you are responsible for (e.g., customers, employees, neighbors, opinion formers, and shareholders) becomes hard to read after a while because everyone has different interests in each question. So, I stopped paying attention to it.

I did what the real Dick would do—only worry about the line on the graph that matters, the light peach one representing shareholders who represent profits. All my decisions were to ignore the new corporate social whatever it was called because I knew it was a contradiction to begin with, and sure enough—my highest approval ratings were from the shareholders. I was also described as “charismatic” and Cheney PLC was a company “to look out for in the future.” But seriously, if anyone wants the real challenge of navigating this huge contradiction, you should. The game has an easy and visually pleasing set up and progression, and at the same time, has many important environmental and social justice issues in it. It's just not the right platform for me. No thanks, false corporate hope.

Find Your Inner Republican

Since my first game was way too hard, I thought I would chose one that seemed easier. This one consists of answering 10 questions about different issues with answers provided by past and present NYC republicans, with the goal of trying to find and nurture your inner republican. The first is your opinion on what the role should be between the federal government and NYC, with 4 answer options ranging from using “the law of the jungle”--so that maybe NY shouldn’t survive because some things don’t survive, to believing the government has a moral obligation to treat NY as an equal partner. I chose the former because I thought that was what my inner republican would do. It turns out the ‘law of the jungle’ quote was actually from good ole’ Richard Nixon! You can’t get more upstanding and honest than that.

I won’t ruin too much of the rest of the game for everyone because it is really fun to see who your answers belong to in real life. A silhouette of your character has body parts put on it from different republicans after each question. I got Bloomberg’s nose after I said education boards should be dissolved and all kids should have to take standardized tests—which he apparently makes 3rd graders do. But there are some better republicans, I guess. After I said that immigrants contribute more than their share to society, I got La Gaurdia’s chin. There is also a ‘learn more’ button where players can read about each answer’s original speaker and about articles on each subject. Overall—fun, interesting, simple though deep, sickening, etc.

Monster Nutrition

After this I spent far too much time clicking on games in the political section that weren’t available, required downloads and still didn’t work, or had to be paid for. Out of frustration, I clicked on this kid’s game about nutrition in the Health section and heard this really great song that I listened to for about 15 min. Yes, “Feed the monster. You have to the monster” over and over again sounded more and more brilliant with each passing loop. Everyone should go here to listen to the song, and the nutrition info can just be an added (but not a necessary) benefit. In fact, the song turns into some drum and bass and bubbles sounding catastrophe when you start playing and it ruined the game for me. So I went back to the game intro and listened to the acoustic “Feed the Monster” some more while I had some cookies and silk.

Alexandra & Julianne's Social Impact Game Proposal

Social Impact Game Proposal: Up and Close and Personal with Eating Disorders

Idea:
Our idea for a social impact game is one that would teach adolescent and young adult females about the dangers of eating disorders. We developed this idea after reviewing the games in the Health and Nutrition section of the Social Impact Game website. Essentially, this game would allow a player to select a character, who is either battling anorexia or bulimia. We are still mulling over the logistics, but essentially when a player gets a character they would receive a variety of information about their personality and family background. The reason for this stems from the fact that eating disorders are instigated by a myriad of factors; many of which have to do with genetics or the need to control. Thus by becoming acquainted with their characters personality, the player would be able to get an intimate glimpse of the complexity surrounding these disorders. Each character would come with a short story about their illness and their life in general. After making their selection, the player would go on to explore a “day in the life” of that particular character. This game is essentially a virtual world in which players embody characters dealing with eating disorders. The player would be able to interact with friends and family of their character and experience school activities.

Essential Elements of Our Game:
The most important aspect of this game would focus on how these characters approached meals. In response to breakfast, lunch, snack, or dinner, the game would announce what choices the character would usually make and then allow the player to make healthy choices for themselves. The hope would be that players of this game would acknowledge how terrible eating disorders are, especially when they experience the meal choices available to these women. Players would win the game if they were able to choose healthy meal opinions for their character for an extended period of time. As players begin to make their character eat healthy, they would experience different responses from friends and family, encouraging their efforts and discussing this prevalent disease.

The Social Impact of Our Game:
We believe that this game is very important because so many women our age and younger are dealing with eating disorders. We saw games on the social impact game website that taught children how to make healthy eating decisions and even games targeted towards adult nutrition. However, no games specifically addressed the issue of eating disorders, which we believe is one of the most serious threats to young women today. Additionally, a vital component of the game would be the information layers receive about eating disorders. Players would be acquainted with the staggering statistics of eating disorders in addition to learning about the devastating effects it has on an individual’s health. By providing this information the game would be living up to the standards of social impact games: which fuses learning with entertainment.

An Influential and Didactic Gaming Experience:
We feel that this is a devastating problem that needs to be addressed, and by turning this into a social impact game, we are confronting this issue in a unique an interactive way. The game would focus on helping the characters overcome their disorder. Thus in order to do this the player would have to choose healthy meals and sit through therapy. We feel that by being acquainted with an eating disorder on this level and working to help their character recover from this life altering illness, players would receive an educational and empowering gaming experience.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I want to concentrate on the well-known Facebook and Myspace and its connection to age and generations. Most of us have one or even both, and I want to know how and why people use these two sites. I want to know what their age (or maturity level, priorities, etc.) have to do with their participation in Facebook and Myspace. I want to know what site these different age levels prefer and for what reasons. What do each of these two sites provide in their social circle. Now that Facebook is open to high school students, does it replace Myspace altogether or does it add on to their social networks? Does one “graduate” from one to another (like how we might have when Facebook was only open to college students)? For what reason would people use both sites (Do they post pictures on one, and keep in contact with friends on another)? Which do they feel is more popular for what generation? Do they feel an obligation to be on one or the other because other people are? How is it that we have come to the point where some of our peers say that they would give up Facebook or Myspace in observance of lent? Why do people who see each other everyday (such as high school students going to the same school) feel the need to still comment on each others pages and obsess over these sites? Is there a “cool-ness” factor in having a Facebook or Myspace? Do they read conversations between two people that have nothing to do with them? What’s considered snooping and being nosey?

For this project, I would be mostly interviewing people as my research. I will ask these questions, along with others, to people of different ages from high school students to college graduates. I even know some high school teachers who had Myspace, and want to know why they do it. There are students everywhere that check their Facebook or Myspace daily (or even more than once a day) for new comments, pictures, or friend requests, and it’s a pretty big phenomenon.

Ben's Gaming Diary

The first social impact game I played was Darfur is Dying (which, to my surprise, was created by MTV). The storyline for Darfur is Dying is very straight-forward and simple: first one chooses a character (there are 8 from which to choose, with ages ranging from 10 to 30). The first task is forging for water, one made difficult by the roaming Janjaweed militia, which kills the character if it is found. In order to survive, one must run across a barren desert landscape, hiding behind plants to escape detection. Once the water is obtained, it must be brought back to the village, where the rest of the game takes place. There, one must manage the food and water supplies and the shelters (which are always in need of repairs), and try to produce as much goods as possible before militias raid and destroy it all.

When I played Darfur is Dying, I didn’t think it was all that great. As I was running around looking for water, I was caught by the militia. My character (12-year-old Jaja), I discovered, could no longer be used; I had to choose a new one, and it was at this point that I started to look at the game in a new way. Jaja was dead, and I was a little disturbed by this…kids in Africa actually die looking for WATER.

I was hit with a similar feeling when I tried to select Rahman, the 30-year-old man, to forge for water. A message popped up that said older men don’t usually forge for water because they are easily seen and caught by the militia. I was amazed; I just can’t imagine this game as a reality, yet it is a daily reality for so many.

The rest of my time was spent trying to keep the town functioning for 8 days (I never did). I was really impressed with the layout and user-friendliness of the game; the creators incorporated educational elements very effectively (in order to decrease the threat level for the town, one must choose between four or five different ways of actually contributing to the real Darfur conflict). I thought that of the three games I played, this one was the best, and I highly recommend it to everyone.


The second game I played was The Anti-Bush Video Game. This game was pretty goofy (the main characters are Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, and He-Man, and there are random Star Wars elements incorporated throughout), but it was actually one of the more educational ones I came across. In it, one guides the characters through different levels of the White House, encountering “bosses” ranging from Tom Ridge (head of Homeland Security) to George HW Bush. The emphasis, though, is on the shortcomings of George W Bush as a president. Gamers are exposed to tons of information about the Bush administration, such as the effects of the actions of Bush and who benefits as result of them.

Most of my time spent on this game was not in actual play, but in reading up on the information. The best feature of the site was the menu bar at the bottom of the screen, which allows for the immediate transport to the informative parts of the game. I played the game for awhile (up until the part about the Estate Tax), and then decided to just read the rest. I think this game proved to me the effectiveness of game-based learning; my favorite part was the interactive graph that lowered as one learned the extent of the national debt, brought on by the actions of Bush.


The final game I played was 3rd World Farmer. It was similar to Darfur is Dying in that it simulates “third-world” conditions and gives the gamer a reality check. You start out with a family of 4, a little money, and a few slots of land on which to build buildings and grow food. You then purchase different crops, and your turn is over. A year’s worth of events are simulated, and you are given a progress report on your farm. You learn whether or not your crops did well, and there are many possible outcomes (but there is rarely a positive outcome, as in real life). Scenarios include militias raiding the farm and eating all the food to exporters demanding low prices, thus resulting in low profit.

The experience was definitely an eye-opener for me, because it made me realize the reason we have cheap fruit, vegetables and materials here in the US: exploitation. As I went through the many seasons, family members got sick and died, (I didn’t have health insurance to protect them, militias took everything I had grown, and the oppressive government limited my profit. I was offered money to sell some space where chemical waste would be dumped, and even though I never accepted the offer, it was enticing (and I know people struggling to put food on the table for their families in real third-world countries would have a much harder time turning it down). I strongly recommend everyone who has complained about overpriced food to take a few moments and play this game.

My Social Gaming Diary

1. Nutrition: Feed the Monster (Health)

This game is supposed to teach children about proper nutrition. It was a very elementary game that required very little skill. The goal is to simply feed a monster food from each food group of the food pyramid. A monster dances back and forth across the computer screen, while the player uses a slingshot to grab onto food items and catapult them towards the monster. Food is continually passing along the bottom of them screen and players are supposed to select nutrition food to feed the monster. Cookies, milkshakes and other junk food passes by alongside vegetables, fruits and whole grain products. Players are supposed to select the healthy food that is part of the food pyramid to toss at the monster. You win by select one food from each food group and successfully feeding it to the monster. The difficultly in this game was actually aiming the slingshot towards the monster and firing the food at him. If you miss you have to keep trying until you hit/ feed the monster!

2. Madrid

This game was intended to be a memorial for the March 11, 2004 train bombings in Madrid. As soon as you enter the game you are met with screen of people holding up memorial candles for the dead. Each person is wearing an I heart T-shirt from a different country or state, such as I heart NY or I heart Paris. The people are of all different ages and have sad expressions on their faces. The object of the game is to click on the candles they are holding to keep them burning brightly. You have to keep clicking as fast as you can so that the wind, which is the only sound effect of the game, will not blow out the memorial flames.

There is a bar across the bottom of the screen that marks the players progress in the game. If you fill up the bar completely you have won. This was a very challenging task however. I found it extremely difficult to keep all of the candles burning bright enough to fill up the bar. The point of the game was expresses very well though and overall I found it to be a great memorial for this tragic event.

3. Oregon Trail

I decided to play this game because I remembered playing it in elementary school! (I’m also from Oregon). This game is supposed to each players about the Oregon Trail and how pioneers traveled West from the Mississippi to the Willamette Valley. Players get to determine the route to take, obtain and use supplies for the trip and design characters. Players encounter numerous problems along the way such as sickness, death and other challenging obstacles. I enjoyed playing this game again because it is informative, but in an undercover way. When one is playing the Oregon Trail, you do not realize that you are learning about how the pioneers traveled across the early United States.

Alexandra's Final Project Proposal

For my final project I want to focus on the users of facebook and gender. Specifically, how do female users of facebook differ from male users of facebook? What are the primary reasons men and women join facebook and how are these reasons different? What are the functions of facebook that men and women like best or use the most? How are these different? Which sex spends more time on facebook and why? Do women upload more photos then men? Which sex uses facebook as a dating tool? Or do both and how do go about this?

I want to research these questions and write a critical hyperessay in response to them. I also want to interview SCU students and ask their opinions on these topics. I might even video tape some of the interviews and upload my video to my website. I may even include a blog where facebook users can post their opinions in response to gender differences and facebook usage. I think this is a really interesting topic that has not been explored in detail. I believe this topic is prevalent and should be investigated because facebook is one of the largest social organizations that college students belong to and it is important to acknowledge and understand how men and women’s usage differs.

Self-esteem games

Reading SKWOK's post, I was interested to look into the self-esteem games. I think that their goal is largely important for today's society where insecurities run rampant. The efforts of MindHabits Inc. are backed by extensive research in the field of psychology that suggest such games can make a person feel more secure and confident. Feelings of self-doubt derive largely from anxieties about whether one will be liked and accepted by peers. For the most part, people are aware of these concerns; however, social insecurities can influence people's feelings and actions without a lot of deliberate thought.

I played all three of the self-esteem games to find out logistics behind their work. The main proposition being tested is if a person wakes up and does this game for five minutes, he or she will be happier and more confident for the rest of the day. I am unable to confirm or deny the validity of such a hypothesis, but I can see where the researchers are coming from with their analysis. Seeing smiling faces and pointing them out in a crowd is a good way to make yourself focus on the positivity around you and ignore the bad. Yet, I'm not sure that this observation is essentially connected with building self-confidence. I also found it hard to see the direct correlation between clicking your own name and happiness. Maybe it's like matching your name with a happy face. I think that this theory is definitely something that needs to be tested further with such repetitive playing.

The Gaming World

I more or less wandered through the list of games, randomly clicking on whichever ones peaked my interest. The first game that I played was called “The ESP Game.” I’m actually not all that sure what the point of this game was. You’re basically paired up with another person online, and the both of you are given the same images. You try to describe the image while also guessing how your partner is going to describe the same photo as well. You keep entering words until at least one of your words are the same, all while avoiding “taboo words”. It’s like a mad rush to type as many descriptive words as possible, hoping that your partner thinks of the same words as you. This game is actually really addicting. I had to force myself to stop playing and remember that there was an assignment to do. Still, I can’t figure out the purpose of it, or why this is considered a “social impact game” at all.

The Anti-Bush Video Game
The Anti-Bush Video Game was actually surprisingly interesting. It held a lot of information about the Bush reign. As you go through the game, it tells you about the taxes and economic decline that occurred. You end up learning quite a bit, including the fact that Bush had declared he wouldn’t touch the social security fund, and yet a year or so later, broke into it, and then took our country into an economic decline. You have to shoot the “pig” politicians, and get past the different bosses as The Hulk, Mr. T, Christopher Reeves, and various other characters. It even has Bush and his wife talking about having more children for the sake of continuing their family line, in which you have to shoot them as they’re pretty much pumping out children.

Self-Esteem Games
These games I actually found really funny, but not quite fun. I wonder if they actually help you with your self-esteem. There are three separate games, and in the first one, Grow Your Chi, there are clouds with photos of happy, sad, or angry faced people, or names. You have to click on all the happy faces and on your name only, getting minus points if you click on any others. In the second game, EyeSpy, there is a square full of different people who all have angry, sad, or neutral faces. You have to find and click on the one happy face as fast as you can. There are rounds, and you can see if you improve between each of the three rounds. I guess I could see how these could improve your self-esteem, but I’m not sure if they had worked on me.

McDonald’s Videogame
In this McDonald’s videogame, you have to run a working McDonald’s chain from the crops and cows, to the slaughterhouse, to the marketing of the product, and workers. It’s funny because in order to fatten up the cows faster, you can add industrial waste or hormones to the cow’s food. You also have to control the office side of the company, including the public relations aspect, where you choose who to bribe: politicians, climatologist, health officer, or nutritionist costing from $200 to $300 a month. You find that doing this is important, because the cows need to eat soy, and you only have so much land, and sooner or later need to cut down the forests and/or villages to fill their needs. Either that, or you need to increase the hormones in the food to have a faster turnover rate of the beef, involving the health officer, and so forth. It’s a fun way to make fun of McDonalds. At first I didn’t realize (despite the mean looking Ronald McDonald) that this game was to show the wrongdoings of McDonalds, but got the picture quickly enough.

Queer Power, Welcome to Queerland
The point of this game is the continue to change orientations and roles in order to reach an orgasm. No one has a fixed sexual orientation, and you have to change it according to your partner’s current (and changing) role in order to get the sexual satisfaction that you want. It says that the initial choice between “dick-lover,” “pussy-lover” and “other or confused” affects your desire for/towards your partner, but I have yet to figure out how it does. The game is very derogatory, but it somewhat gets the point across, the point being that sexual orientation doesn’t matter (and yet it does because you have to change from male to female in order to have a sexual experience with your partner).

Social Impact Games

I have always been more of a visual learner, preferring to learn through films and pictures as it helps in my personal retention of the information instead of just reading a text book or journal article. Because I prefer to utilize such modes of education, I was particularly interested in what these social impact games would have to offer and what they could possible teach me. Some of the games I thought were very interesting and had the potential to be very informative and helpful in communicating important ideas. On the other hand, there were some games that I did not understand how they could be classified as a social impact game, like for example the Self Esteem Game from McGill University that supposedly just by clicking the pop up words as fast as we could, we as a player were making positive associations and thereby creating a high personal self esteem level. To be honest I didn't feel any better about myself after that game, but just like I had wasted my time...

The other games that I chose to play were the health and wellness game called Ben's Game, The political game Third World Farmer, and the Education and Learning game Tropical America.

Ben's Game
I was attracted to this game at first because of the story behind its creation. Created because of the wish made by 9 year old Ben Duskin, who is currently in remission from leukemia, to the Make a Wish Foundation to create a game for kids like him to provide a way fight back against the cancer and to relieve the stress and pain caused from the treatment. In this game, the player acts as a hero is trying to fight against the mutated cells. To stay healthy you have health from the hospital, ammo from the pharmacy, and attitude from home all which can be diminished and kill you because of the cancer cells and electrical barriers. As you fight the cancer cells you can collect tools and shields that aid in your battle. While this game was pretty basic as you just zip around the cells, I did find it pretty entertaining like a some of the video games I have at home, and could see how this game not only teaches players about the effects of cancer, but provides an escape for younger children who are afflicted by cancer.

Tropical America
This game was created the history of South America and its struggles against the Spanish. Created by Los Angeles based teachers, artists, writers, and high school students, this bilingual and thematic history game works by having players navigate through different scenes of history and make decisions about what they want to do. Through the course of this game, the player comes in contact with characters who will ask questions about different historical aspects and the player is supposed to answer. Done in plain black and white, and the characters move slowly from location to location, I personally found this game very boring. While it was a bore, I will say it did offer some interesting facts and insight as to what took place in history during this time. For example, after I was captured, I was led to a torture room where I was forced to pick my torture, which ranged from burning, stretching, beating , and asphyxiation. I guess this is game provides a way to learn about these historic events, but it just moved to slow.

Third World Farmer
This game was by far the most education in my opinion. As an African farmer this game aims to present the reality behind the challenges that these Africans face on a daily basis. During the game, I was a farmer who was struggling to keep my family alive despite the poverty and conflict imposed by African society. Civil War, disease, and droughts were constant issues that made the struggle to survive even more difficult. I thought this game was the most interesting and important because it demonstrated the endless cycle of devastation that is occurring in Africa today and that were hear about all the time, but don't quite understand the magnitude of the problem because we are at such a far distance from the problem. Through this game, players are able to get a deeper look into devastation that is actually some one else's reality,

Play this game!!

A game that I truly enjoyed was Super Shag Land, an online game from the Netherlands illustrating the importance of using condoms and not drinking when you have sex. Despite the irregular content of the game, it was really engaging and almost addicting to play. The character is a naked man (or woman) who must run through labyrinths obtaining condoms for points. He must also avoid missionaries as well as assorted alcohol. The game goes through 6 levels before the player reaches the final tunnel of love. If his score is high enough, he gets to take his prize. However, if he encountered too much alcohol without enough protection, he is considered unable to perform. It's hilarious, but it gets the point across.

Video Game Learning

I am a firm believer in the educational value of video games. Video games have been integral to the shaping of my persona into who I am today, and video games have been the stimulus for much of the knowledge and understanding I hold today. Successfully playing video games involves a learning process, and for many games that learning process can be very difficult. As one plays more and more video games, one learns more and more useful strategies, problem-solving methods, creative processes, and leadership skills. Also, video games have a useful physical aspect as well, quickening reflexes and improving hand-eye coordination.

One of the most useful and educational experiences I have had in the video gaming world is one of those mentioned by the "Game-Informed Learning" article: communication amidst the social structure of a game. When I first discovered online gaming, I was often looked upon because not only did I act like a 13 year old (I have an excuse: I was 11 years old! <_<) but I also communicated like one too. Flaming, insults, and arbitrary bans were common occurrences to me. If I wanted to be accepted and not remain a "newbie" forever, I would have to learn to communicate, and learn fast. So not only under the conditions of the game, but also under the conditions of the community, I learned both the game and the society surrounding it, and soon became one of those elitists lording over the newer players. While the end result was not as noble as a result could be, I picked up many useful skills along the way such as interpersonal communication skills, a knowledge of online etiquette, and a dramatic improvement of my writing skills.

Of course, this kind of learning also creates conformity and a homogeneous culture. Everyone wants to be like the elite, and everyone strives towards that, because the culture of gaming is skewed towards "if you're not an elite, you're a scrub", and all gamers know the inherent horror of being labeled a scrub. Thus, everyone seeks to escape from that "scrub" role and aspire to the "elite" role, and the easiest way to do that is by emulating the current elite, resulting in a culture in which everyone can look the same.


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I spent quite a long time on the Social Impact Games site. The three games and categories of games that I found most notable were...


The Anti-Bush Game
http://www.emogame.com/bushgame.html

This game was actually entertaining to play - and I learned a lot. At first I thought the stuff in this game couldn't possibly be true, but I did a bit of research and every single fact corroborated. This administration has truly been one of the worst ever in the nation's history in terms of economics, international prestige, civil rights, common sense, and just many other areas. The creatively named Anti-Bush game presents all these facts in an easily understandable and interesting way... although the portrayal of some of the characters is just completely over the top.

Also, Voltron would never deign to serve Bush.

Eyewitness - The Nanking Massacre
http://www.mic.polyu.edu.hk/nanjing/index.asp

While this game hasn't been released yet, I can't wait for it to be released. Now who here has actually heard of the Nanking Massacre? No one? That's around right. US history textbooks commonly leave out or downplay the importance of the Asian theater of World War II. Whenever people think of WWII, they think of the cruelty and barbarism of the Nazis, but never think of the Japanese, whose actions definitely were as horrible as the Nazis. The Japanese "3 All" strategy (Loot All, Burn All, Kill All) in China led to the deaths of over 2.7 million Chinese citizens. How many more were wounded, displaced, and had their lives irrevocably ruined is a countless number. The most horrible action of the Japanese was the Rape of Nanking, which was, quite literally, a 2 week long killing spree illustrating the worst of human nature. Over 300,000 civilians lost their lives as Japanese soldiers burned, looted, and raped their way through the Chinese southern capital of Nanking. Tens of thousands of women were raped and brutalized, and there were confirmed accounts of "beheading contests" in which Japanese officers would compete to see who could behead the most civilians with their swords.

And so many people don't even know about this, or the Japanese's governments efforts to hide the fact that it ever happened. In the latest edition of the standard Japanese history textbook, no mention of this or other Japanese wartime atrocities are even MADE.

It's good to see video game developers creatively fighting against the ignorance propagated by the Japanese government and trying to bring awareness of this horrifying event to the world. Never forget.

The last game I found interesting wasn't really a game, but a genre of games. The little "Christian quest to heaven" genre of games was sort of amusing. They weren't very good, and it seems like a mockery of the Christian faith at times... reminds me of a game I saw a few days ago which was a take-off of the Mortal Kombat style of fighting games - except the characters were the Biblical characters. Both types of games achieve the same purpose: cheapening the religion and relegating it to a silly little video game.

Video games can be serious business, but these are just awful.

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Social Impact Game Proposal

My idea for a social impact game would be similar to the photography game of the Nanking Massacre I covered above. The concept would be similar, but the stage would be several other events that have escaped the public's eye. There are many tragedies that have gone unseen, and a video game would be a good way to expose those tragedies to the public.

Of course the easiest tragedy to create a game out of is the Iraq War - and there's realism there, as "embedded" journalists take fire every day just like the United States troops. It wouldn't be a stretch to have a video game based on the journalistic experience as the player would take photographs of the gradually unfolding disaster that Iraq has become.

Game Time

So, you want to be a BROOKLYN Judge?

This game is essentially a quiz making fun of the corruption of the New York Supreme Court. The player answers questions and the drawing of the character in the sidebar receives different novelties when the questions are answered correctly. As the game continues, the seemingly upstanding candidate transforms into a convict behind bars. It is a clever little game, but I think it is targeted at a very specific audience. I didn't realize this game was a mockery of Brooklyn judges until I got a few questions in and was consistently getting the answers wrong. The explanations of the answers are amusing in their sarcasm. For instance, it says party loyalty and the ability to raise funds are more important than any judicial qualifications.

The final screen reads Congratulations! Your term in office has won you a term in jail.

But it's not the way it has to be...

Thus, the game portrays a sense of unease with the current judicial situation in New York and promotes a change for the better. I do not think that it really advocates much change, and acts as more of a joke than a serious petition for betterment of New York society.

The Oregon Trail

I was very excited to come across this game in my searching, because I played it a great deal in my elementary years. Although I was not able to relive the joy from this particular site, I am very familiar with the obstacles of the trek west. I played this game in my 5th grade class as a simulation of traveling on the Oregon Trail. The participants in the game must deal with rattlesnake bites, trading with natives, and hunting. The most suspenseful part of the journey was seeing if your covered wagon could successfully ford the rivers. I think that much of the success is based on the fact that the various members of the family can get sick and die. I don't remember the animation being particularly impressive, but in such a life or death situation, the suspense was enough to keep us intrigued.
My experience with the Oregon Trail didn't end there. This past summer, I even babysat a 6th grade boy who would play Oregon Trail for fun at home. His attraction to the game was the hunting. The mouse cursor acts as the gun to shoot the wildlife flying across the page. With every hit, birds and bison collapse to the ground. I think that this ability to kill is sadly something that has contributed to the game's appeal. It seems death is characteristic of the more advanced video games that have been successful. The fact is that this game still appeals to youth today, so the creators of Oregon trail were on the mark.

I also found the game WordMunchers, another childhood favorite.

Earthquake in Zipland

This game entails a journey that is designed to help children ages 9-12 cope with divorce. The game begins in Zipland, an island comprised of two parts held together by a zipper, which represents the marriage of the parents. An earthquake rips the island into two, leaving the king and the queen on separate islands. The character in the game sets out on a quest to build a new zipper and try to re-combine the two islands so that life can go on as before. The player ultimately learns it is not his responsibility nor is it a realistic mission.
Zipland is a game that takes insights from the fields of clinical psychology, family therapy, child therapy and divorce therapy in order to help children with a new changing lifestyle. Theoretically, this game supports a good cause with its ultimate goal being to aid in dealing with a broken home. However, I think that its effectiveness largely questionable. Whether or not it affects any change toward improving children's coping skills is difficult to determine. Parents may buy into the game solely out of guilt. I think it mainly serves as a distraction from the reality of divorce.

Article Annotations

The Yes Men

I say yes! So I’ve been terribly afraid of my own identity theft for years, too many 20/20 specials I guess, but I think that this is great. The Yes Men’s mission is “Identity Correction” or to expose people, organizations, and institutions for what they really are. The hijinks portion of the site, where I read about Yes Men going in and doing their best to expose the DOW, Bush, the WTO, and others, particularly humored me. The Yes Men did their best to convince the media that the WTO decided to disband and to promote a pro-global warming campaign. Funny stuff.

Maquilla Violence in Mexico

This article dives into a story about a plan by Mexican government officials in conjunction with a maquila magnate to rape and imprison a woman who had exposed some of the haunting practices occurring in maquilladores. The article then takes a broader look into the sweatshop boom in a post-NAFTA Mexico. Its pretty haunting, and makes me once again said about the globalizing economy.

Mother’s Day Vigil for Peace

I think that Indymedia can be really beneficial for a lot of reasons. This article in particular really would only be found on an independent media site. Announcing a peace vigil would seem to threaten a lot of the neutrality that mainstream media sources hope to look like they’re maintaining.

Rise of the Internet’s Police State
Its interesting to step back from time to time and ask myself how much information can really be obtained about me. Reading this article kind of scared me, especially since it debunks Google’s privacy policy as not so private and I use google for email, as my primary search engine, a calendar, and to find the latest Paris Hilton sex tapes. I was surprised by how much information the internet really tracks on me! Ah!

The Zapatistas Movement; A revolution to make revolutions possible

I read the article on the Zapatistas movement, The Zapatistas and the International Circulation of Struggle: Lessons Suggested and Problems Raised. The article raised the poetic and romantic nature of the movement. The movement rejected the dominate revolutionary strategy of usurping the state power and promotes the anarchist ideal of autonomous community organizing. This movement is about the self-determination of the indigenous people of the world to take control over their lives. It is a model that many revolutionary youths in the first world have tried to accomplished, activating community members to solve community problems through programs such as Food not Bomb (which provides food for homeless population in the community, it is deemed illegal by the government, I wonder why) and Cop Watch, a program for citizens to monitor police authority and make sure that they are treating people justly.

While there are many romantic ideas about the revolution, there is still a lot of problems that exist within the movement. One of which is the female representation in the movement. It is crucial for revolutionary groups to fight the oppression from within. The women caucus model seems to be making progress and this model is followed by many organizations in the first world. One person I came across on the Zapatistas website was Ramona. She is a comrade of Marco and she represented the Chipas community during a meeting with the Mexican Government. She was a key figure in the movement to represent the indigenous women's voice. After 10 years of combating liver cancer, she passed away in 2006. I found this story very inspiring. It is apparent that Subcommandante Marco is an educated, fair skinned intellectual, I think the fact that the movement is not only about his words but also the voices of the indigenous people shows us that another world is possible.

Internet has also played a huge role in the uprising. It is amazing how they have utilized international support to the movement, which was largely successful. It forced the Mexican government to engage in conversation with the Zapatistas in good faith. I also think that it is kind of sad that the indigenous movement cannot really achieve full self-determination; the movement still relies heavily on international supporters from the first world. It is ultimately this power structure that hinders the self-determination of the movement; ironically, the Zapatistas won some substantial victories through international support. Does the third world liberation movement have to rely on the support from industrialized countries to succeed? I really hope not.

The use of internet also made me question who this Marco is. He is obviously knowledgeable about the media and the political climate of industrialized countries. he showed tremendous understanding of the media and how to manipulate it (His picture is even on Marie Claire, a fashion magazine). He was also successful in defining the anti neo-liberalism movement and sparked a tremendous victory in Seattle, Cancun, Geneva and Montreal to shut down the WTO IMF and world bank. The Zapatistas were successful in defining the struggle, and pushed for the 21st Century version of the class struggle from below. The movement objected the traditional Marxist approach and proposed a new idea of international solidarity that overcome class divisions and also linked the traditionally conflicting movements (the labor and the environmental) to fight a common enemy.

We all know that we are not operating in a vacuum. While the Zapatista and the global anti-capitalist movement has made some tremendous victory in the past decade, the ruling class will and can react quickly to this strategy. The Us government in response to the popular uprising has been negotiating bilateral "Free trade" treaty, which makes movements such as one against WTO harder to crystalize. It is hopeful, though, to see that organizers from around the world are fighting the same fight. The South Korean laborers and farm workers are militant as usual and have been staging tremendous protest to shut down bilateral negotiations that exclude the affected communities from the bargaining table. I think it is a good time for us to reevaluate our strategy and to keep the momentum rolling.