Blog 4: Freestyle

After going over the assigned readings on ways to create a game and what makes them appealing, I observed a few things they had in common. The two titled: A Brief Crash Course on Game Design and First Steps in Board Game Design, both express the need to sketch or get the game idea onto something visual. This mean drawing, cutting figures out, staging toys, listing off ideas, making your own board game etc. The overall idea being that the thought becomes not only visual but also turned into something more concrete that could be manipulated and built upon. Another thing I found in common among the three links is the need to establish a sense of pace and ultimate goal. For example, A Brief Crash Course on Game Design describes pacing and wining or in what fashion the player should win. Moreover, it highlight some of the key ideas to think about through the development of the game which are how players win/loose as well as how the game ends. With out a doubt the linked readings provide insight to basic principles one must follow when developing games.

Secondly, the reading titled Game Theory 101 further offers another great point to keep in mind during the first stages of developing a game. The important thing to walk away with is the story arc, with a good story arc a player can expect to be engaged into a series of escalating events that could unexpectedly go another way. This turn of events can be triggered in many ways making it part of the thrill. In addition, a winning player becoming the loosing player and setting the stage for another player to potentially win the game creates an appealing trait. As a result players are entertained by the unexpected turn of events that allows for anyone to win. Lastly, I have found these particular points to be most meaningful and will do my best to incorporate them toward my own projects.

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Blog 3: Freestyle

McLuhan’s point of view is interesting in that he describes a world were everyone is involved and or affected. For example, he makes a couple of references such as on page 63 that we are living in a “global village.” Furthermore, he argues that because of electronic means of communication, “visual means of apprehending the world are no longer possible” (63). I believe what McLuhan is trying to argue is that old ways of experiencing and perceiving the world, were accomplished only through what the individual himself experienced in his environment. Moreover, he argues that the new electric technology has radically changed how a person learns and perceives the world around them. In addition, not one person is left out meaning everyone is affected by this new technology. As a result, the world could be described as being united by electric technology making it possible for information to travel rapidly among people in different countries thus creating what McLuhan has called a “global village”. 

Similarly, today we have the phenomenon of the Internet taking McLuhan’s principle idea even further. For example, through use of the Internet we communicate instantly with individuals from various parts of the world trading insight, ideas, thought, knowledge etc. In this age of the Internet we share a multi media means of communicating with one another and have created an even more unified civilizations since McLuhan’s first idea of the “global village”. Finally, what McLuhan was setting the stage for was the idea of globalization greatly powered by electric technology as he stated, “Print technology created the public. Electric technology created the mass.” (68)

Blog 2: Stock

The difference between a students expenditure versus a Pullman local and professor, lies in the source of income. For example, a student typically receives money from either or a combination of loans, parents/family, and a part time job. In contrast, a professor or any non student for that matter has a different source of income. As a result, the student has a limited resource to funds and is entirely dependent on another system. Professors and Pullman natives for the most have a steady reliable source of income than that of the students. Also, because of this difference a student is not likely to be seen purchasing a new car or home.  Therefore, a student is prone to  smaller incremental purchases.

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