Samserai Lopez's Game Journal :)

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game
Game author (If known)
Game Studio

Original Platform
Original control mechanism when game was released
Control mechanism you used
Would the experience have been different using the original? How?

Describe game Play and mechanics
~ 150-300 words

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
~ 150-300 words

What made it fun?
~ 150-300 words

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
~ 150-300 words

How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

[Samserai Lopez]

Day 1 Card Game
Name of Game


Palace but as it’s travelled it has changed names based on region. Other names are Shithead, Ten Two Slide, Karma, China Hand, etc.


Game author (If known)


Unknown author but it is possible the game derives from Nordic games. Based on some brief research it’s speculated that it was spread and adapted by young travelers of multiple nationalities.


Game Studio


Not applicable


Original Platform


Face Cards


Original control mechanism when game was released


Not Applicable


Control mechanism you used


Not Applicable


Describe game Play and mechanics


I did some extra research just to gain a better understanding of the game and as such with most card games it is a little different than the “original” since we are all learning from other people who learned from somewhere else and some of those original rules or mechanics get muddied. Our version we played today was receiving 8 cards in hand 5 cards face down with 5 face up cards on top of those cards. We can see our cards and the face-up cards in hand, but the face down remains unknown. The object of the game is to be the first player with no cards in hand. The hierarchy of cards greatest to least is A K Q J 10 9 (so on.) The first player puts down a card and each card placed then has to be higher than the last unless you place a 2 or a 10 which resets the deck, but you have to place another card after to set the deck again. If you have doubles of a card that’s higher than what has been placed, you can place multiple. If you do not have a card higher, you inherit the deck. Once you run out of cards in hand you can choose from the face up cards making it easier for your opponents to place cards accordingly to sabotage. Once you’re down to the last face down cards it’s a matter of chance because there’s no way to know if your card is higher than what is placed previously. One deck can be used for 1-2 players but you can have up to 5 players you just have to add a deck (which makes clean up less fun.)


Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design


I’m sure this can be really cool using fun themed playing cards, but any will do. With that said, a face card is one. Now the design of the game, as far as mechanics go, is so interesting. The game sounds complicated when it is explained- at least it was for me because I am a visual learner. It is a game that is certainly better understood through a “practice round.” Once the instructions are understood, they are simple. I think having a minimal number of rules makes this exceptionally accessible. I can totally see myself teaching a child how to play this and them being able to get the hang of it, given they know how to count at least. There are really only 3 things to remember. 2 and 10s reset the game. Always place something higher. Get rid of your cards. I think what a weakness might be is there not being an automatic reset after the highest number is reach (being an ace) so that if the next person does not have another ace, you’re screwed and inherit the deck but I suppose that’s just adding another level of chance. That might just be biased because I’m being a sore loser, though :)


What made it fun?


I actually found this game to be incredibly fun. I don’t play card games often, so I wasn’t familiar with this, but that can be said for most games outside of Go Fish. At first, I was overwhelmed by the rules and instructions given but after a practice round I found my footing and was able to settle in and enjoy the game to its fullest potential. I think what makes this game exceptionally fun for me is the lack of time constraint. The game we played before was the one where you have to slap certain cards before your opponents or something to that extent. Games like that I don’t find particularly fun because there’s a 3-5 business second lag in my brain, and especially when I’m not as familiar with the rules so I have to think if it’s a slapable card. I digress. This game was easy to follow, there was enough left to chance so that the game wasn’t based on speed, skill, or strategy too much (however it could improve your game once we start getting to those exposed cards.) It’s fast paced enough to keep your attention and for a beginner there’s a chance to win making it more enticing, I think.


Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?


I think this game specifically might not be a staple like Go Fish is in terms of popularity but for card games that fall into this arena of getting rid of your cards with a sprinkle of chance are certainly influential. Like we netioned in class, there was a time when this was what people gathered to play before we had access to phones and devices to keep up distracted. This was a means for people to come together and pass the time and be entertained together. I can see this being a popular thing as little as a few decades ago compared to how it is now. In fact, card games are almost primarily things I learned from my grandfather specifically with the exception of a few we played in school as teaching aids for math. I see this being the kind of games that would evolve into multiplayer video games.


How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))


For a card game I’d say it’s a 5

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game

Backgammon

Game author (If known)

Not applicable

Game Studio

Not applicable

Original Platform

Board Game

Original control mechanism when game was released
Control mechanism you used
Not applicable

Describe game Play and mechanics
Backgammon is a two player board game that is equal parts strategy and luck. Each player has 15 circle pieces that move along a board with 24 triangles they ride on. The game itself is typically carried in a briefcase so the board is split into two parts. The pieces at the start of the game are spread about the board with a number of pieces per specific triangles. The goal is to get all your pieces into the same place at the end of the board moving counter clockwise. Rolling die is how a player is chosen to go first as well as dictating amounts of moves per dice. You can move to the next spaces as long as the space you land at has less than 2 of your opponent's pieces. If you land on a triangle with one of your opponent's pieces you get to knock them out into the bar that splits the board. When you’re on the bar at your next turn you use one of your dice to start back at the beginning as long as it’s an empty space. First person to get all their pieces to one point wins. If you roll doubles you get to go 4 times with that number.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

Backgammon’s layout is timeless. Understanding the game is fairly simple because of how straightforward the board design is set up, you just need to know which color is yours (and be able to count triangles). With a little help of the instruction manual (and if you’re slow like me, having it demonstrated helps) you can gauge exactly what you’re looking at. There aren’t too many visuals to overstimulate the player. It being portable is certainly a plus, making it a great game for parties. I even found some really nice luxury ones made of leather and stone! I feel the biggest drawback is that it’s not an intuitive game. Without the instructions, it’s impossible to figure out what exactly it is you’re doing. However, this can be said for most board games. Due to the simplicity I could see this game being customized to any colorway to match any personality, which I think is great. Because of the same simplicity, I can see it being difficult for the new generation of youths with poor attention spans having a hard time taking interest without a proper push.

What made it fun?
Once I got the hang of how the game works, it was really interesting trying to balance strategy with luck. Every time I thought I was getting the hang of it and might have the chance to win, something would happen that would set me back because I wasn’t protecting my pieces as well as I thought or because my opponent was rolling better than I was. I think the most positive aspect is that even though it was my first time playing (and I was insanely confused for the first five or six turns) it was still a game I had the chance of winning (at least with another inexperienced player). I find strategy games hard to have fun with because I don’t have particularly great foresight to be able to strategize how to slight my opponent while pushing myself forward. I can usually only do one of the two, which means I almost always lose. The luck aspect changes that.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
With a game like backgammon, you don’t need as much to get the game started: the board itself is fairly simple (I could draw one up in less than five minutes), and you only have two types of pieces with color differentiating the two. I feel early on this would make it much easier to acquire and share with others to spread popularity. Because of how easy distribution could be with a game like this, the number of people who have access to this game would make this influential because of how popular it could become. Now if you consider mass-producing games like this and putting it into a carrying case, you could take to a friend’s dinner party and introduce to others, it’s no wonder the game is still popular even after all this time. Backgammon itself fits into the history of games because it has gone through its own evolution as time has gone by to make it more accessible and easier for veteran and new players alike. I’m sure game-makers take inspiration from that evolution.

How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

I give it a 4 out of 5- it's fun the first time but I don’t think I can see myself playing 11 times in a row.

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game

Asteroids


Game author (If known)

Lyle Rains, and Ed Logg


Game Studio

Atari


Original Platform

Arcade game


Original control mechanism when game was released
Control mechanism you used
The original mechanism was buttons on an arcade game cabinet/mechanism. I used a keyboard.

Describe game Play and mechanics
Asteroids is a game where you are this A shaped ship that starts in the beginning. You can rotate left or right to point in any direction or thrust to move forward. You can also go into hyperspace, where you disappear then reappear at random, which holds a risk. You’re surrounded by asteroids and saucers that float around you at various speeds. The saucers shoot at random places. Letting any of these objects touch you result in a death. You start with 5 lives. You’re able to shoot in the direction you’re facing. The object of the game is to destroy the asteroids and the saucers with the “fire” or shoot mechanic. It breaks your asteroid into smaller pieces, so it takes a few shots fired to clear a path. You accumulate points. I suck at it, so I had to do research to see how it ends- you get new lives after 10,000 points and the game resets after your last ship dies- which to my understanding means it just goes forever until you die.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

Asteroid is probably one of the simpler designs in a game, but in the era of pong it has more visual interest comparatively. There is something beautiful about how simple it is. The ship you’re in is literally just the letter A- how crazy is it that with 3 lines they’re able to portray a rocket so effectively. At no point do you question what exactly you are. The asteroids are such silly little shapes that look like what happens when freshman box model for the first time and have the craziest Ngons in their topology. It’s the shape that happens if you play with the line tool in Microsoft Paint. And despite that it still reads as an asteroid. The spaceship is one of the only things that is a bit more detailed and accurate that requires almost no interpretation. Even the font is classic. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of weaknesses to the design given the time at least. Compared to games we have now I can see where younger generations wouldn’t like it because of the obsession with photorealistic blah blah blah. With that in mind I think there’s something truly genius about how effective the simplicity is.


What made it fun?
I think that Asteroids is different than a lot of the video games we’ve played up until this point. The learning curve is certainly not a particularly steep one compared to the other space related ones we’ve seen. At least in my opinion as someone who isn’t as video game savvy as my peers. I will admit I have played this game before so I’m sure that helps. The ease into getting “good” so fast makes this particularly fun. It is also faster paced than any of the other games where you have to wait a few seconds for a ball to hit or spaceship to move etc. It picks up in speed quickly so it’s far more engaging especially with that 15 second attention span social media has created in this generation (which is sad, but I see myself losing interest in other games when they don’t pick up like this one did.) This game is one of my favorites of the classics growing up.


Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
I did some outside research to better understand where Asteroids fits in the narrative of how we got to where we’re at and how it compared to games in its time. From what I’ve gathered some of what makes it special is the easy learning curve that still poses a challenge. The high score board on the arcade games themselves helped to expand the friendly competition from just the player and their friends to something larger scale and the use of vector graphics that wasn’t present before. We had smoother images rather than just pixel art which was pivotal. It was technically open-world considering you’re floating in open space which was a new concept among games that were set in one constant location. It was also the first to use screen wrapping, where you appear on the opposite side of your screen when you float off screen. For its time, the game was futuristic compared to what else was on the market. Despite its age it still holds up today which goes to show how genius the concept an execution was and still is.


How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

I would give this 5 stars.

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game

PacMan


Game author (If known)

Tohru Iwatani


Game Studio

Namco


Original Platform

Arcade


Original control mechanism when game was released
Control mechanism you used

Original controls was a joystick and various buttons on the arcade system. I used a mouse/keyboard it was horrible. I’ve played with a joystick and it is way cooler. Especially the little lollipop top type that's on the original. It sucked on PC.

Describe game Play and mechanics

PacMan is a game with a disk-shaped yellow circle guy that likes to eat little dots on the screen. You’re in a maze and have to eat the dots while escaping from the 4 colorful ghosts that will kill you if thy touch you. However, if you eat one of the larger dots those give you a taste for little ghost guys, so you get to eat them too now. The way you differentiate no touch ghosts and yummy eat ghost is they start blinking and turn blue as they move around- that's a meal. You eat the blue and blinking. As the game progresses you get random fruit to snack on for extra points. The ghosts get meaner, and it gets harder to not die. You can get a high score so there’s an incentive there. From the research I did apparently each ghost has a name and they each have their own strategy so you can get strategic about gameplay. I did not know that.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

The game is seriously one of the most recognizable games across the board. I feel like every person knows that wacka wacka wacka sound and it lives deep in our brains. What they were able to do here is create something so simple but timeless. The design isn’t crazy given the limited capabilities of the time, they didn’t have the hyperrealism obsession we have now, so, for the era it was cool but to today’s standards it’s definitely on the plainer side with the pixelated characters. However, they were able to create something iconic with the use of contrasting colors on a dark background that just stands out to a player. The set itself is nothing crazy, in fact there’s very little variance per level and that can get fairly monotonous for players. The sound design especially is something special. Overall, it’s a game that has survived time. I think even younger generations know what pacman is just because of the references in media more so than anything.


What made it fun?

It’s not as fast paced as asteroid feels, but it’s definitely filled more with stuff that’s happening. You have a lot to be paying attention to on the screen and it’s a little more visually engaging as well. The sound itself is so much fun. I had a Pacman game that connected to my TV in the early 2000s that I played religiously. It might be nostalgia, it might be because the game itself is a stroke of genius in video game history, but I love Pacman. The colors are super fun and they go together so well. It captures the attention, the gameplay is easy to understand, and the sets aren’t particularly difficult. Even at 7 years old I could play- I may not have gotten very far into the game or beat any high scores but it’s an arcade that certainly would have had me stealing quarters from my mom for if it wasn’t on my tv in the comfort of my own home.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?

I think that a game that’s able to gain such a popularity is able to bring people from a large variety of walks of life. That means more exposure and overall, more impact. That means the game makers or aspiring game makers of the 90s and 2000s could have been heavily influenced by their first exposure to a game that had them stealing quarters at mere tot in the 80s. The visual story and sound design stays with you and the idea of a silhouette that’s easy to recognize is influential on what came after. It was a very needed stepping stone from games like Asteroids- which was fun in its own right, but this just elevated the experience. This emergence into the mainstream made video games gain popularity. It’s also the first time we’ve seen a level-up mechanic, and that’s interesting. It’s also one of the first games besides the likes of pong that don't involve shooting and killing something. It’s pretty nonviolent and not necessarily gender specific either- especially when we think about the later release of Ms pacman.


How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

I give it a 5 but I’m biased

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game

sonic the hedgehog




Game author (If known)

Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara




Game Studio

sega sonic team




Original Platform

Sega genesis




Original control mechanism when game was released

game controller




Control mechanism you used

keyboard




Would the experience have been different using the original? How?

I find it easier to control with a controller so I’d say the experience is much better with a controller.




Describe game Play and mechanics

You’re playing as sonic the hedgehog and your goal is to collect the rings quickly. He’s fast so it’s a quick paced game altogether. I was never very good at this game to be honest and even with my minimal gaming experience it’s easy to pick up. You move forward with the little toggle then there’s a special spin attack that helps with enemies and to go faster- think a boost of sorts. There’s also an ability to bump off of the enemies sort of like a jump. You have to avoid the enemies or bump them or you lose your rings. There’s rings at all different levels on the screen so you can get creative on how you’re getting them. If you hit an enemies you lose the rings m. The whole game is timed as well and you get a high score to see how well you’re doing.




Describe strengths and weaknesses of art and design

We get to see later versions of sonic as the technology has progressed so we’ve seen all kinds of renditions of sonic but with this first one the character itself still reads so well despite the low resolution capabilities of the time and I think that’s really important to note. Even for the enemies you avoid there’s a pretty good read of what they are which I think is a big step from some of the earlier games like asteroid for example. We’ve certainly come a long way at this point. The color itself is great and vibrant- you can certainly see they’ve pulled some inspiration from Mario since they also use a lot of vibrant primary colors but in different ways I suppose. Overall the art and design is pretty great for its time all things considered. I guess the only downside is that at the time it couldn’t be any higher resolution because of the technology but I wouldn’t really say it’s a downside since even now we make games look like this as an art style. I might be biased though.




What made it fun?

I think very similar to Mario there’s elements that just manage to tickle your brain in such a satisfying way so people are more inclined to play and play and play even though there’s not too much of a shift in story, level, etc. it’s got the time, the score, and it’s a side scroller with a goal (to collect rings and avoid penalties) which helps the player to have something to beat- whether that’s yourself or a friend with your scores. The sounds are so stinking cool too! The speed of sonic makes this a little different than Mario in that you now have twists and flips etc which are exciting for the player to see. The colors and character design are very interesting to look at despite the lower quality and can still be easily read. The level design itself is very interesting to see and play through.




Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?

I think the sonic character itself was able to gain such a traction that even now 30ish years later even the younger generation can recognize the character well enough to know the name even. That’s because of the growth of the franchise for sure but along with some of nintendos biggest works we can now have this exponential growth of a franchise that has remained for years and across generations. The game itself is so fun and brings back some really cool memories for a lot of people, myself included. I feel this is why it’s been so influential- it was so well made in my opinion it still has ground to stand on even when competing against newer technology and graphics. From the sound of it it seems like a lot of these creators of games were studying fell in love with video games and that’s what pushed them to create the next generations’ greatest games so this is very well what could have done that for the next gen of the games.




How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

5 stars

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game/ song or soundtrack
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo theme

Game author (If known)/ composers
Jason Jones directed and Joseph Staten was the writer
the composers are Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori

Game Studio
Bungie studios

Original Platform
XBox


Describe the music
The theme itself is the main musical motif for the Halo franchise but was originally featured in the first Halo (Combat Evolved) in 2001. The song itself features a mix of orchestral and electronic elements as well as a melodic chanting type vocalization.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of the composition
This theme does an astounding job at capturing the whimsy and grandeur of the game. Before you've even played it has already set you up for an amazing adventure of triumph and victory. It sets the stage in an elegant way. The game itself is other worldy and the way the chanting and melody itself feels adds a sense of etherealness to the gameplay. The start is so slow and almost puts you into a trance with how smooth it is. The way you can just feel this in the pit of your stomach when you first hear it is so cool. I don't know how they did it but it's something that has shaped the game. I am by no means a musician however I can say with certainty this is a damn good song. As for downsides all I can really say is that it's so well known I can't just casually listen to this without people being confused as to why I'm rocking out to Halo on a tuesday afternoon.

What made it fun?
The way the song starts out extremely slow with the chorus (if you'd call it that? they don't really say words) starting alone then adding the orchestral elements as it builds up. At first it's just the one then it's a few and it almost feels like you're gathering your team to take a stand together. Then as you progress there's drums and it builds the anticipation for this grand battle you're about to enter. It's a battle cry if I've ever heard one. This song gives me the same vibes as Mulan's Ill Make a Man Out of You. It just makes you feel ready for a game that's already kickass so it only elevates that experience. It's so damn fun because it's getting you more excited to play a game that hasn't even started. It's like a roller coaster that has story building elements in the long *** line you have to wait in so that by the time you get there it isn't just a ride it's a ride with a story and depth. This isn't just a game it's an adventure out of this world.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
The halo theme is instantly recognizable to fans- even those who have only played once or twice or sometimes even never at all if they're even remotely near a gamer they know the song. I don't play the halo games now- in fact I haven't played since the first one that I played with my uncle and his friends when they were in High School and they were forced to let 5 year old me play with them and this theme was the coolest thing to a five year old. The song is hauntingly beautiful and has stuck with the franchise and grown alongside now that they're synonymous. It has emotional resonance for those that have been there since day one. they did such an amazing job and creating an experience instead of just background sounds. These composers went on to do arrangements or compositions for numerous other big games. With well known themes. This set that bar for the ethereal in world experience of music in games at a high bar. Without Halo Theme we wouldn't have such an immersive music experience in Destiny.

How would you rate this song (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))
10000 stars- this is the only game theme to date that I can pinpoint within .02 seconds of it starting

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game

Whale Trail

Game author (If known)

Unknown

Game Studio

Ustwo

Original Platform

Phone

Original control mechanism when game was release

phone

Control mechanism you used

I played it on the original platform with the original controls. Playing it anywhere else would seriously suck- it’s a touch game.

Describe game Play and mechanics

The game is so simple and small, very dumb child could figure it out without much adult intervention to explain. You play a whale in the sky and he collects rainbow little pebbles that these clouds throw up? Basically the clouds will leave you rainbow pellets to eat and these keep you alive. Starts out with more accessible to you and decreases over time so it’s more difficult getting from pebble to pebble. The whale just falls unless you press the screen then he arcs up. The pebbles are in waves so you have to strategically press to get them and follow the wave. You get electrocuted and die if you hit the storm clouds. Similar to Pac-Man there are bigger pebbles that power you up then you can eat the gray clouds for a bit and it’s obvious when because they change color. Anything consumed will get extra points during this time. Each level you have a different color cloud giving you pellets and it gets more difficult.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

This game is by far the cutest looking game I’ve played. The design for the whale is so fun on its own but you also earn currency with your scores at the end of each level and with those coins they have a market place where you can buy skins for the whale and those are even cuter and so stinking creative like a little narwhal. They also let you play as the musician that did the song that plays in the background. It’s his real head on a cartoon fisherman body and it’s just so silly. The colors of the sky environment go well together- it’s just one big dopamine hit. Changing the color scheme per level makes it stay interesting so you have a mental differentiation for how far you can get. The only downside is that you can only experience it for the first time once- after that it feels repetitive like any arcade style game.

What made it fun?

I think this game is the perfect storm of all the greatest parts of playing games that keeps you wanting more. I never played arcade games as a kid because I didn’t have the money so this is what I imagine gave my generation (somewhere between gen z and millennials) a better sense of that arcade experience because we still had access but it just wasn’t as popular as it was for millennials. This game is addictive and easy enough to understand the mechanics so it’s easy entry for skill levels at any point. The design is fun and there’s a cohesive style. You get rewards and can use that within the game. With the way Apple has their arcade thing set up you can even compare scores with your friends. There’s a great song that play while you play that is just so fun and upbeat. The game itself is so upbeat it’s like a dopamine/serotonin over load so it gets addicting and you just can’t put it down.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?

I feel like this game doesn’t do anything new or innovative in the grand scheme of things. It was released in 2011- which is about when I started playing it as a freshman in high school. I don’t know where flappy bird got its inspiration for the mechanics (I’m not well versed in games) but I do know this game predates it by about two years so it’s possible that it could have some influence on the mechanics but even then the only “mechanics” it would be using is tapping to keep it afloat. They definitely have a lot of the same ideas as Pac-Man where you eat little pellets but some of them level you up and you can eat other things. It’s a great culmination of arcade games up until this point. I don’t know how popular it was in comparison to the likes of flappy bird or candy crush but I do know it certainly made a for a great game.




How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

10

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game

Lollipop Chainsaw

Game author (If known)

Goichi Suda/ James Gunn

Game Studio

Grasshopper Manufacturer

Original Platform

Xbox 360 PlayStation 3

Original control mechanism when game was release

Controller

Control mechanism you used

I played it on the original platform with the original controls and on the original console. I don’t think this game as a PC game would be as fun. There’s just something about controller that feels more fun to me so I’m probably Biased.

Describe game Play and mechanics

The player plays as a cheerleader named Juliet. Her school has been over run by zombies and it’s up to her to save her remaining classmates. To a hack and slash game that revolves around fast paced combat. Julieta can use we chainsaw for light and heavy attacks- she has combos and special attacks. Throughout the game you collect new combos and special attacks as well as power ups. There’s also puzzle elements, mini games, boss fights, and exploring levels for additional coins to add to the traditional “just kill zombies” task that adds depth. There’s a storyline to be followed throughout that better explains the story, such as the fact that her family are zombie hunters and she’s trained for this as well as saving her boyfriend who now serves as a head keychain she can attach to other zombies as a special attack to use him as a tool. Overall the game is fairly linear and to the point.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

This game has an excellent style. It’s a mixture of Japanese manga and American pop culture style. They incorporate that same theme in the coolest way. The main menu is comic book strips with comic graphics of Juliette, the UI follows the same theme and the materials used in the cutscenes have such a deep AO it almost fakes the outline and shading from manga. There’s a certain humor to the design such as having her boyfriend as a little keychain on hip like she would a tamagotchi. The colors are vibrant and exaggerated so it has this teen pop star/ celebrity idol vibe to it. It’s like bubble gum pop but for your eyes. I love the style of this game it’s so aggressively femme they really lean into it and the half naked girl that fights trope here doesn’t bother me as much because the way it’s done almost embraces that not to mention she’s a cheerleader so the costuming actually has some validity here. The only downside side is this game is pretty out dated- the hair cards are pretty crunch. I’d love to see this at today’s fidelity.

What made it fun?

I love this game. It’s one of the few video games I played before this major. In fact I like it so much I bought an Xbox 360 on Facebook marketplace solely for this game over the summer. The style is so glittery and girly which is something I love visually but those sorts of styles almost exclusively happen on games marketed for younger audiences but gameplay wise I love a hack and slash- give me an objective of what to kill and let me loose. It’s a rare mixture of the two. It has an awesome humor aspect to it that is so absurd, they lean into it. It’s definitely an over sexualization of a teenager and I don’t love that but for the time it was pretty par for the course. I like to pretend she’s in college :,) The game itself is simple to learn and the boss fights keep you on your toes.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?

This game did a great job of incorporating styles that aren’t commonly mixed together. Even now there’s articles still being written on how kick *** the soundtrack is for this game and how we haven’t seen a game quite like it since. They’ve been saying they’re in the works for a remake for a few years but it hasn’t really come to fruition yet but maybe this is the year. I think incorporating more femme into “masculine” type games that are inherently more aggressive in nature could be popular. This game does that and it’s fun to play- if it’s on easy (which is how I have to play it) anyone can play it but you can up the intensity so that you can enjoy the game at any level but the overarching theme that we see in things like Buffy teen girl saves the world and kicks ***. It’s an influential game but not influential enough to see a shift and that sucks.

How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

10

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game

Spider-Man

Game author (If known)

N/a jon pacquette was the writer

Game Studio

Insomniac

Original Platform

PS4

Original control mechanism when game was release

Controller

Control mechanism you used

I played it on the original platform with the original controls and on the original console. I domt think it’s impossible to play on pc but I don’t see it being as fun.




Describe game Play and mechanics

The player gets to play in the role of Spider-Man based on the comics. It’s a action adventure game that is a mixture of combat, stealth, and exploration as Spider-Man roams the streets of New York City fighting crime and it’s your job as the player to save the day. There’s a storyline to follow but for people like me that love to get distracted and never finish the story there are also plenty of side quests to get through. You’re able to utilize his acrobatic abilities for combat and web slinging powers to get around the open world environment. Throughout the story you get to fight big bosses which are famous villains from the comics/movies and you have to utilize all the skills you’re taught throughout to be able to beat them. With an open world environment the way you play the game is entirely up to you. I can go about playing in only side quests for a decent amount of time without fighting a big boss if I don’t want the stress.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

This game has an excellent execution of style. Insomniac is good at this though. They’re able to achieve a high end result on having realistic games. The cityscape is well planned and thought out; there’s an immaculate attention to detail with all models character and environment alike throughout the game. The animations are seamless and especially for our hero character. It’s very easy to get lost in the design and overall look of the game to really feel part of the world. As for the weaknesses for some of the no hero characters sometimes their facial animations and expressions can really give off uncanny valley with their lack of emotional depth into their “performance” but this can be said for a lot of realistic games. It’s nothing so severe that it detracts from a great game. Overall it’s a beautifully done game and they’ve certainly lived up to the expectation out of such a big IP that many already recognize.




What made it fun?

I love this game. I’m certainly the type of person to prefer a story mode type of game with a narrative to follow however for a lot of those types of games it’s very linear in how the story is told. It starts at this specific spot and it progresses when you walk to this place but you’ve got colliders preventing you from going anywhere else but to that spot so it feels a little more premeditated and forced. Granted any narrative game has both of those but with this one I can explore however I like and the story flows naturally with however I choose to play. Again I love a good side quest and this game really delivers with that. If o get bored with the story I can just distract myself with smaller tasks and lose myself in the world they’ve provided for me to explore. I’m a big fan of Spider-Man as an IP but the game does such an excellent job of capturing the essence of him as a character and human and letting you step into those shoes for a few hours at a time. It’s difficult enough to make it rewarding when I succeed and it’s a story that’s told so beautifully.




Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?

I think what makes this game influential and fits into an evolution of games is the very thing that makes it fun for me. It’s set a precedent for hero games moving forwards. I’m not heavy into gaming but even I know that superhero games (much like movies) face a lot of criticism and scrutiny on their quality and execution. This game set a standard of play that is enjoyable while doing the franchise justice. The open world storytelling aspect gives players a true sense of playing as their favorite hero character with the allusion of choice. Obviously it all had to be built so it’s not entirely free will since I have to play within the environment provided that’s meant to be played in however how I navigate that space is up to me albeit there are ways to guide a character to specific checkpoints there’s still a sense of choice they’ve incorporated meticulously which is a fascinating way to tell these stories. After all, with great power comes great responsibility. How else do I get to embody that as a character other than to take that responsibility and go where I please within the game and do my best to fight for justice rather than following clean instructions from point a to point b. I think in a world where free to play open world games are becoming more and more popular and narrative games don’t capture young audience attention this is a good middle mark to meet at to remain relevant while appeasing young audiences.




How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

10

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game

(Settlers of) Catan

Game author (If known)

Klaus Teuber

Game Studio

N/A

Original Platform

Analog/ board game

Original control mechanism when game was release

N/A

Control mechanism you used

N/A

Describe game Play and mechanics

In Catan you’re on a fictional island with the goal of building settlements and cities and roads. It’s a game on resource management, strategy, and trading. You play on hexagonal tiles that’s modular and typically placed at random. Each tile represents a different resource (or lack thereof in the desert or a wasteland) that you collect during each players dice roll. Dice are what determines what resource is pulled as there are smaller tiles placed at random upon the others. There’s a price to pay for roads cities and settlements so trading is needed. The game is won by whoever reaches 10 victories first. Theres a few different ways to do this but the object of the game is to grow your settlement the fastest. There’s cards you can also buy to be able to do different things- think of them as wildcards to gain advantage in one way or another.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

The layout design is super interesting since it’s modular so each game has the potential of going differently no matter the strategy. Unlike monopoly where you just have to get boardwalk (or whatever is the one near the end- you get the idea) and you know that’s the person who wins. There’s an interesting dynamic of having so many elements to the games setup so it’s interactive at every point where you’re placing these pieces and exchanging cards for trade. it’s a lot of fun because of the interactivity between the physical game as well as between players. Now for the downside it may just be preference but I think the art on the box and pieces is so boring. Theres nothing fun about it to me- but I am definitely biased to more fantastical things. The game itself is great but man that art is so bland for me, it’s so everyday and mundane there’s nothing stinking about it.

What made it fun?

I think what makes this game incredibly interesting and fun is the people you get to play with. A cool group can make the most boring board game anything but boring. With that being said this game is really fun. The interactivity that happens between players is so exciting and hard to get in video games. There’s a level of strategy that the game takes that I think would be less fun for me if I wasn’t playing with other new people. The level of entry is not forgiving. Fernando had played before and now I can see in hindsight we didn’t stand a chance because his moves were all calculated and personally I’m terrible at strategy. Being able to have a card that lets you screw someone else over is so powerful. Then the whole game is about triumph over the one jerk who took all of our cards. It’s such a great way to interact with others and flex your brain muscles.




Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?

I may not be a fan of this one compared to other games however I love the concept of it and I m ow so many others do as well. In fact one of my favorite games to play on game nights is Rival Restaurants which is basically the same thing! It’s borrowed and been inspired by so much that Catan has to offer. With that being said, there’s an entire category of games now both board or analog and video. Flash of Clans surely has some inspiration in this. Any farming simulator. Resource management as a game can thank Catan for that. It’s pretty influential in the history of games because it made something so boring sound like a lot of fun and there’s so many factors at play to make it more interesting and difficult. Catan really did set the stage for a world where grandmas on Facebook could go so hard for Farmeville in 2010 so that we could see clash of clans in 2012 take high school classrooms by storm and hello?! Minecraft. Yeah it’s important for sure.




How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

6 (if the art was cuter it would be a solid 8. 5)

[Samserai Lopez]

Name of Game

VR Agent

Game author (If known)

NA

Game Studio

Sega

Original Platform

Arcade vr cabinet

Original control mechanism when game was release

Arcade cabinet vr with attached gun

Control mechanism you used

Same as original

Describe game Play and mechanics

I actually recently played this at around 1. I’ve never really played VR games but this one was interesting. It’s got a vr headset that has a gun attached to it that deploys as soon as you pay the man (aka swipe a card since they don’t do coins etc. The game itself is obviously a first person shooter. To be quite honest I couldn’t tell you what the hell the objective is other than to point and shoot at the people they tell you to. I didn’t have enough money in my card to lose more than once. So as far as the story there wasn’t a whole lot to go off of but games like that don’t need to much- the mechanics were simple- look. point. Shoot. Simple but still difficult. I most certainly am not the demographic for this game. I’m also pretty sure it wasn’t even in English… but don’t quote me on that. Again it’s simple they almost don’t even have to tell you there is a goal- just have a way of indicating the enemy and shoot.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design

There was nothing particularly heinous about the art in the game. It was pretty well don’t considering a lot of arcades tend to have outdated stuff. They had a way of highlighting who you needed to target which was helpful given I was lost the whole time on what I was doing. Maybe it was a heist? Military contractor assignment? Who knows. It was all over the place. I will say that the only design flaw was more to do with the design of the cabinet more than anything. The cabinet itself had space for you to look around and point the gun etc which was cool to watch other people do. But if you wear glasses and have to put the vr helmet with the gun attached you’re pretty much in for the foggiest and sweatiest experience. I just know that afterwards I had to wipe my face all the way down and since there’s no attendant needed I can imagine that’s all that sanitary.

What made it fun?

I kind of hated it so instead I’ll tell you the parts I sucked at the most and why I didn’t like it. It’s all very biased and should be taken with a grain of salt because this kind of game is actually made for exactly the kind of person I am NOT. I played it with the sole purpose of giving it a shot because if I’m gonna work in this industry I may as well see what they’ve got going on in these arcades. With that being said- I do have severe social anxiety and hate being watched- this game is the kind of game people watch you play. Ita hard to get into the game because of how loud the arcade is so it’s so overstimulating. I’ll stick to my animal crossing with my headphones on thank you. Now the VR/gun combo- it was cool in theory but I think it takes way more hand eye coordination and “spacial awareness” (I suppose virtual spatial awareness?) than I have to offer. I kept forgetting it was a game I had to run my head in and I died very quickly because of that. It’s cool that it’s a dual player game- I wouldn’t have tried it alone so I can appreciate that. But with all that hardware it’s hard to turn your head it’s so heavy. I’m okay with the game not making sense story wise because I die too quick to have to care about what’s going on :,) I can see how this is the future of gaming but it’s gonna take some serious reworking to get it right.




Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?

I’m not sure if it’s influential but I can see how arcade VR games are paving the way for some nifty gaming experiences. Like we’ve talked about in class- the arcades are where the experimental ahead of its time stuff is and it definitely isn’t anything you could play at home for cheap at least. Now with that being said- I don’t think people will be reading books about this specific game in 10 years talking about what a cultural reset it was or how it changed their life but I do think it opens up a door to a whole new platform for people that aren’t familiar with VR first hand. Playing for $5 is easier than buying a headset for a hefty price. I think there’s some room for improvement on the design of the cabinets but all in all I wouldn’t really play it again but it was a cool experience to play it the first time. I want to play something that actually is groundbreaking and cultural reset on VR but I think in the comfort of my own home would suit me best so I can focus on the actual game instead of not being able to be aware of my surroundings.

How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

3 (because the VR experience is cool to try at least once but the game was meh)