Social Impact of Video Games
This course explored video games as cultural artifacts, focusing on how they shape identity, community, and values. I analyzed topics like virtual worlds, player-driven content, and issues of race, gender, and politics in gaming.
Player Persona Chart
With my Player Persona Chart, I realized I really like to play video games that have an emphasis on exploration and tasks. Some of my favorite games I've played have been Fallout, Borderlands, and Farcry, games that throw people into immersive worlds with many quests to go on, and coincidentally, it brings clarity to who I am as a person. I too realize I like exploring new places and trying new experiences, rather than material items.
Identity Chart
With my Identity Chart, I wrote out aspects about myself, which was a nice reflection to do. This also correlated with my Player Persona Chart, but went more in depth on my personal life. Prior to this assignment, I was unaware of how diverse my aspects are, ranging from an active lifter, to video game industry and tech nerd, to an active Pokemon player and UX Designer. I think what ties it all together is how some aspects tie into each other, for example, I am a video game industry nerd, not only because of Pokemon but also because I am a tech nerd.
Canvas Crawler
With Canvas Crawler, I learned how to craft a narrative experience using Twine, specifically the Twine Sugarcube format which is the difficult but also the most customizable format to work with. With Canvas Crawler I had to tie in gaming psychology facts and info, so I had to take a step back and think about my approach when I was then inspired by Megaman and the franchises approach to bosses. From there I also had to think about instructions, save states, interactions, and multiple endings based on conditionals like retaking a quiz, or flawless runs. Looking back, I wish I had made those other paths more clearer as it may not be apparent that there is different text in the finale based off conditionals.
Pikmin Digital Escape Room
My Pikmin based digital escape room explored how I could use Google Forms to craft a digital escape room, which was popularized by Youth Services Librarian Sydney Krawiec. With this project I could get as creative as I could get, so when thinking about inspiration I thought back to the Pikmin series, which was largely about building a spaceship to get back home after crash landing on an alien planet. In retrospect, I could've made use of more breathing space to throw more clues and more complex puzzles that weren't related to Pikmin.
Ignite Presentation
Ignite style presentation on how Video Games have impacted the world in the past and present, and how it's impacted me personally.
Final Thoughts
Through this course, I gained a deeper understanding of how video games are more than entertainment. They are social spaces, cultural artifacts, and reflections of broader societal values. It challenged me to think critically about the ways games influence, and are influenced by, the players and communities that shape them.