Week 9 Blog Questions

"What 'converged' apps do you use? (if any)...Or what would you use if you had the chance?"

Like most people in the western world, I have a mobile phone. And like most young people of today I have everything on there - my contacts, my diary, alarm, my music. If I ever misplace my phone I freak out, thinking that I won't be able to find it again or get it back, which really, is quite sad. Another convergent technology that I find very handy is my GPS. Since I often have to travel for work or to find peoples houses in unfamiliar areas, my GPS makes it so much easier. When I think about it though, I have only had this piece of machinery for just over a year and before that, I got around fine with just a map book. Now though, I find that I can't go anywhere I haven't been to before without the aid of my GPS to give me directions.

As far as technologies I would like to own - I would very much like to have an IPhone, simply because you can do so much more on it and it's more user-friendly than my little Motorola phone. It's large screen, qwerty keyboard, onboard itunes and downloadable/customisable apps are all very appealing to me, and I keep finding new reasons and justifications as to why I need/want one. Again, it is a technology that is not necessary to our lives, as we have all gotten along just fine without the IPhone for hundreds of years, but suddenly with all that it offers, this gadget has become a sought-after commodity.

I was watching NextWorld on the Discovery channel the other day and the episode was all about future cars. What I found really interesting about these concept cars of the future is that so many of them include built-in robots, personalities, GPS systems, and all sorts of other 'user-friendly' devices. The Nissan PIVO was a very cool little Japanese car that has a mini-robot who is able to scan and detect the emotions of the driver - it can tell when you are happy, sad, angry, tired, and then offers advice such as 'you look tired, there is a coffee stop five-hundred meters ahead, on the left.' It can also control the car if the driver turns on a sort of 'auto pilot' which allows the car to park itself. For added safety this car contains LCD screens which give a 360 degree view of the surroundings of the car so the driver can 'see' in every direction, through a sort of augmented reality. Wikipedia has more details:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Pivo
and to view a video of the PIVO check out this site:
http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/nissan-pivo-2-from-next-world/261658
Maybe this cute little car could be the end of road rage?!

Week 9 Speed Writing

The random words that came spilling out of my head during this weeks speed writing session:

I begin to wake and my senses come back one by one. As I become aware of my surroundings I start to think of all the possibilities for the next few hours, and in doing so my thought processes fire and these options become available for my access. My partner likes to think he controls me but hasn't yet realised that I control him in the most dangerous of ways. He can't do without me, I'm in his head. Anyway, as the day begins my boxes spin and the colours within me ignite, a wonderful spectacle of power and light. My abilities are unchallenged - control, entertainment, suggestions, connections - I can provide them all. But I'll always be watching when he takes advantage and tries to take over. He calls me tempremental sometimes and gets frustrated when I've had enough and begin to shut down, but it's my perogative when he pisses me off. Don't cross her they said, she'll give you hell. They were right and he should listen to those who are smarter than him more often. But I always open up to him again when he is gentle and patient. We have a love hate relationship like most. This time we are in perfect unison, the tempo and speed matched exactly and as we work together all other tensions fade away. As he strokes and turns, I change and morph into whatever he desires me to be, moulding perfectly to his every will. I may not like him trying to control me but I enjoy it when we are in harmony. It's bliss. As he becomes faster and faster, searching for something within me I keep up by displaying every possibility, every avenue, every color, expression, thought, option. Eyes locked he seems to stare through me as he searches wave after wave, stroke after stroke. I'm not sure exactly what he wants but I deliver every time. Why do you think he keeps cooming back? Finally his face lights up as he reaches his destination, the final screen is intoxicating to him, the end of his search, the satisfaction in finding what he has desperately wanted. I glow brighter as the music streams through my being and reaches out to his ears. The song he has wanted to hear all day and I, as usual, am the one to provide it. I watch him as he relaxes back into the couch, eyes closed, bathed in satisfaction. I too close my eyes, going dark and quiet inside with his music still streming from me. A rare moment of silence after we worked together to achieve harmounious bliss. A sudden sound interrupts our precious moment. A ringing. I open my eyes to see who is calling and dim when I see the name Charlotte. The girlfriend. His expression doesn't falter as the draws me up to his face. The happiness in his eyes evident when he taps me to answer, a little to hard for my liking but I connect him anyway, to tired to argue. For a moment we were one, but once again his reality comes calling and I am pushed aside as nothing but a toy, comething to be used. But I know I will always come first. I'm in his head, I'm his everything, no man can be without their IPhone.

Week 8 Motivation to Play Article

Motivations for Play in Computer Role-Playing Games:
by; Anders Tychsen, MichaelHitchens, Thea Brolund

http://indacan.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/tychsen.pdf



This article focuses on the motivational factors of gamers when playing various role playing games. The authors undertook a study on what motivates game players to play games and what keeps them interested in the game. The article identified ten categories of motivation for playing games: "Advancement, mechanics, competition, socializing, relationship, teamwork, discovery, role-playing, customization and escapism." Looking at these categories they seem like pretty obvious motivational tools for games to employ in order to keep the players interested. In addition to this there were "six principal reasons for video game play: Competition, challenge, social interaction, diversion...fantasy and arousal," which again are crucial elements that most popular and widely successful games employ. In role playing games it was found that, "discovery & immersion and character uniqueness" were the most important motivations for gamers participating in the survey, while "competition, 'grief play,' domination over other players and real-life" aspects hardly contributed to the enjoyment or motivation to keep playing the game.

All in all I found that this article was not very useful as it re-iterated what I already knew about how games motivate people to play. It perhaps defined the specific elements that game designers should concentrate on including in their games, and provided concise lists of these aspects, though the long winded study and data correlation tables were irrelevant and quite frankly boring. As far as incorporating this data into my own idea, I will strive to utilise the concise lists of motivational tools and I will keep the main reasons for game-play in mind to ensure I come up with an idea for a game that will incorporate all of the elements of the most successful games.

Week 8: Clustering Exercise

The following is the excerpt I wrote from our clustering exercise:

I wonder what it's like in the blackness; a void of non-existence until someone wakes you up- 'cybernetic oblivion' and eternal blackness, until someone calls you forward and you become and imitation of life once more, that presents to your controller the ideal or perfect version of themselves. But what if the construction? If they only exist within the digital realm, surely they are unreal: not you at all- simply a construction. An unrealistic digital reality. But what if that 'version' of yourself was a perfect representation- a perfect copy? Would that make them you? Take all the data on yourself- every medical record, dental check, online profile, digital photograph, family history...all compiled...and you have you- the perfect digital copy- yourself formulated from your data. 'The digital age' has new meaning when thought of as a time when every life record is stored in a digital system, accessible through a digital portal, and able to render a complete and perfect digital version of you and me- a digital reality...no falseness, no construction, no picking out the best bits, augmenting, changing, selecting, editing...just YOU.

Week 7 Thinking about the Final Assignment

"How can your final project can be delivered or marketed in an online environment?"

There are very few truly original ideas today, particularly when it comes to games, networks, movies or other media-related developments. So how do 'new' ideas within these mediums gain enough interest to become world-wide successes?

An important concept from Seth Godin's blog is "The Big Drop Off" - circles of people that spread our ideas...if they are worthwhile...which will inevitably reach the eyes and ears of marketers, producers and any other people who may be interested in what the idea-maker has to offer. This concept should always be kept in mind as our initial pitch to the 'first circle' must have enough impact for these people to spread it to a second circle and then to a third and so on in a ripple effect. If our initial pitch doesn't pack enough punch, the ripples will surely die away before the idea reaches those who could help us develop it.

But how to go about planning and presenting a pitch that will make people want to listen and develop our idea is another tactic altogether. As I was thinking of proposing an idea for an online networking game my challenge is to come up with something that is new, different from what is already popular and that will capture the interest of networking enthusiasts as well as average internet users. This will require research into what is already out there that could render my idea redundant and what exactly made the current networking/gaming sites so popular and thus successful. By incorporating this into my idea I should be able to ensure that my idea grabs the attention of those interested in supporting new interactive sites. Most importantly, one must make clear why these people should care about what they are proposing - why should anyone be bothered with this idea?! Answer that and you are well on your way to success.

speed writing draft 2

edit of initial speed writing session: week 7

Beethoven Op.110 for piano~

A sun shower graces a grassy hillside. As the drops fall onto the ground, the grass, and the flowers a calm mist fills the air. One little drop among the thousands falling on the hill, tumbles down the petal of a flower at the peak of the hill, slipping along the yellow slide. It reaches the center of the flower and rolls onto the fluffy pollen, wiggling and wobbling as the flower bends in the breeze. As the rain fades and quietens to a stop, the single drop rolls off the flowers middle and tumbles down the stalk, coming to a leaf half way down. It rolls and wobbles up an down the soft green leaf, before reaching the end and gazing off the precipice. As it leans over the edge it begins to slip down bit by bit and falls slenderly onto the dampened ground. The hill is steep so our little rain drop slowly begins to roll down and down, curving through the stalks of flowers and blades of grass threatening to splice it into two. Down and down it rolls through the green, over the moistened earth and around the mounds of dirt and plants. A glimpse of sun reflects off what lays ahead. As the little rain drop rolls through the thinning hillside it sees the clear pool of water made by its cousins. The lake grows larger and larger as the millions of little rain drops tumble in. Our little rain drop is picking up speed rolling and rolling down the hillside. As it reaches the bank it launches off a shallow mound of earth, sailing through the air and enjoying the rays of sun dancing on the surface of the pool, before plunging into the lake to join the rest of the rain.

Week 7 Speed Writing

Beethoven Op.110 for piano

A sun shower graces a grassy hillside. As the drops fall onto the ground the grass the flowers a calm mist fills the air. One drop tumbles down a petal sliding sliding along the yellow slide. It reaches the center of the flower and rolls onto the fluffy pollen wiggling and wobbling as the flower bend in the breeze. As the rain fades and comes to a stop, the single drop rolls off the flowers middle and tumbles down the stalk, coming to a leaf half way down. It rolls and wobbles up an down the soft green leaf until it reaches the end and gazes off the precipice. As it leans off the edge it begins to slip down bit by bit and falls slenderly onto the dampened ground. The hill is steep so our little rain drop slowly begins to roll down and down, curving through the stalks of flowers and blades of grass threatening to splice it into two. Down and Down it rolls through the green over the moistened earth and around the mounds of dirt and plants. A glimpse of sun reflects off what lays ahead and as the little rain drop rolls through the thinning hillside it sees the clear pool of water made by its cousins. The lake grows larger and larger as the millions of little rain drops tumble in. Our little rain drop is picking up speed rolling rolling down the hillside and as it reaches the bank it launches off the shallow mound of earth, sailing through the air and enjoying the rays of sun dancing on the surface of the pool, before plunging into the lake to join the rest of the rain.