Thursday, 17 November 2011

Research - Essay BA1

Some brief notes on the websites I looked at whilst researching for my essay for critical studies. The notes BELOW each link involve a quote from the site I found useful or relevant or some brief comments on the site from me.


http://www.macworld.com/article/162503/2011/10/the_app_culture.html

This website looks into how Apps have changed over the past 5 odd years, and how the new 'sandboxing' of Mac Apps will effectively change the way apps run in the near future. I think that this article raises some interesting points about how Mac users and now the wider populus have allowed Apps to become part of their everyday lives. It is this 'App-Culture' that allows the open-minded creativity in this part of the industry to thrive!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_game
The first game that was pre-installed onto a mobile phone was a Tetris game in the Hagenuk MT-2000 device from 1994.[1][2]
Three years later Nokia launched the very successful Snake on selected models in 1997.[3] Snake and its variants have since become the most-played video game on the planet and embedded in more than 350 million devices worldwide.[4]

Over 90% of smartphone users play a mobile game at least once a week.

http://woorkup.com/2011/01/09/is-the-apple-mac-app-store-the-beginning-of-a-cultural-revolution/

Short article discussing how the app store has allowed individual game developers to produce market and release for sale games completely without the need of publishers/development companies


http://www.macworld.com/article/162504/2011/10/app_sandboxing_risks_eroding_the_macs_identity.html
http://windonaleaf.net/post/8780784020/thoughts-app-store-reviews-culture-entitlement
http://www.macstories.net/stories/sandboxing-and-app-culture/

Thoughts on the new regualtions over security and access by Apps on your Mac

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8303173/Angry-Birds-the-story-behind-iPhones-gaming-phenomenon.html

After winning over iPhone and iPad users, the game was rolled out onto other smartphones last October, where it was downloaded one million times in the first 24 hours, and to PCs and Macs last month. Now Rovio is busy working on console versions and promising future Angry Birds permutations.

In total, the game notches up 200 million minutes of play time every day, which is close to the number of minutes viewers in the United States spend watching the average prime-time television programme.


http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-video-games-brain-addiction-20111115,0,7840130.story

An interesting but short article on how recorded brain activity in young gamers shows similarities with other brain activity linked to addiciton. Only loose ties however - the interesting factor I took from this was that such studies are being carried out.

http://www.cio.com/article/514413/IBM_Consumers_Demand_More_Interactivity

"It's a smarter consumer out there today, one who is really willing to engage with the retailer," said Shannon Miller, a business development lead for IBM's Global Business Services.


http://medgadget.com/2011/08/new-journal-for-review-of-science-of-gaming-in-healthcare.html

A few examples of health related gaming here.

http://medgadget.com/2006/05/addicted_to_vid.html

Addicted to Video Games? Become a Surgeon!

http://www.neilstoolbox.com/bibliography-creator/reference-website.htm#

Great Havard Referencing Tool





Work on CALLIOS

Caillois states:
A characteristic of play... is that it creates no wealth or goods, thus differing from work or art. At the end of the game, all can and must start over again from the same point. Nothing has been harvested or manufactured, no masterpiece has been created, no capital has accrued. Play is an occasion of pure waste: waste of time, energy, ingenuity, skill, and often of money...
As for the professionals – the boxers, cyclists, jockeys, or actors who earn their living in the ring, track, or hippodrome or on the stage ... it is clear that they are not players but workers. When they play, it is at some other game. (Caillois: 1962: p.5)

I disagree with Callios because although play may be time consuming, some of the most valuble ideas have come about as a result of play. When a person engages in play (as Callios mentions earlier) they lose themselves to the game and are mentally transported to another place ande time. This process of being lost allows a player to free up their mind from the everyday prblems and constraints of the wider world, thus giving them access to a freer way of thinking. Only truly inspired ideas can come from such a base form of consciousness nd therefore they often are the most sucessful (and profitable!)

Although from the outside play seems like an utter waste, if you lok a little deeper you find an almost meditational practice allowing a busy mind to see clearly. Even in present day many occupied businessmen use casual games to give them a quick mental break - allowing them to think clearly and work more proactively even if they are 'wasting' time playing a few games of solataire each day.(1)

(1) Source: Reality is Broken - Jane McGonigal - Jonathon Cape, Random House 2011
 "Chapter 3 - More Satisfying Work"



*** Interestingly I find that my dad and his partner also use this tactic of casual play to break up their work when having to do a lot of paperwork at home for example. When I asked my dad why this was he said that playing a few quick games of solitaire refreshed his mind and allowed him to look at his work again with a different perspective. I like to think that such a practice is much like a professional taster of food drinking distilled water between foods in order to fully appreciate the next dish exclusively of anything they had eaten previously. ***

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Robin Silcock

I am a Second Year Games Art and Design student at Norwich University of the Arts. After exploration of a number of roles in my first year, I am now looking to graduate as a 3D Artist with applicable skills in Maya, Mudbox, ZBrush and Photoshop. I understand that my skills in this field are not there yet - but I aim to achieve this goal through consistently working through the programs in my University and Personal Projects. I love to be busy - I have always had a lot of things on my plate since the age of 7 where I successfully balanced school with Ballet, Tap, Horse-Riding, French, Piano and Singing Lessons! In the same fashion, my university schedule is just as hectic and varied; I am a Peer Mentor to first year students, Student Rep for Second Year, and President of the Enterprise Society. Like I said, I love to be busy! I am a Games Hippie - so to speak - I believe that Games if designed and harnessed in the right way, will be able to help solve many of the global issues we have today - even if it starts off in a small way. Just look at the positive effects that Facebook and Twitter have already had... When navigating my blog;
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