Lectures 9 & 10 - Learning Software and Video Games

In week 9 our good buddy Jason provided a rushed lecture in which he essentially messed around with the latest version of Adobe Flash. The underlying point was how to teach one's self a new piece of software as even if you think you know something, each version has the possibility of completely changing the program in question.

To put it simply, when using any piece of software you need to find the easiest and simplest way of doing what it is you need to do. Don't waste time trying to figure something out if it doesn't seem to be clicking, mess around with the toolbars and all the available options and be sure to SAVE constantly. Keep different copies of the same project in case you do something irreversible.

Each program is in itself a learning process. When it comes to big programs like Adobe Flash or Photoshop you're going to have to master them over time over many different projects, such things are not designed to be mastered overnight. That is not to say they aren't user friendly, just that they are highly complex toolsets intended to acheive many kinds of outcomes.

Just take it easy and remember your objective and start with the basics. Everyone is familiar with the arrow tool, use it to drag objects, highlight or select an area to work on. Other icons are self explanatory, the paint bucket is a tool most people figure out quickly by colouring an object. Just do the same for every other feature, select it and see what it does.

If you're having troubles, rather than using the help section which isn't intended for beginnersd but rather to guide experienced users through additional features, check out some forums. Consider your wording, work out what you are trying to achieve, google it, and check out forums where users post step by step tutorials.

That's all it takes to teach your self software; patience, perseverance, and a little research.

Our week 10 lecture consisted of the Study of Video Games. Obvious to anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past decade, video games have been integrated into our day to day culture and has become commonplace. In the 90s or earlier, video games may have been considered nerdy, with gamers stereotyped as 18 - 25 males who live at home with their parents. In fact, the only study conducted prior to 2005 placed 18 - 25 males equivalent to 80% of the entire video game market and so this stereotype was formed.

Despite the past, stats have changed and sicne 2005 41% of the market is now dominated by females with males still leading by 59%. Whether its due to new diversity in gaming platforms or genre, its clear times have changed, gaming is now socially acceptable as are gamers. This new integration raises many new questions though as gaming exists as an important part of the entertainment industry.

There are three main approaches to the study of gamers: Social Science, Humanities and Industry and Engineering. Social Science exmaines the effect of games on people with the most common complaint being against violence in video games. Now, I personally believe that video games don't create a violent person and that it makes sense that a violent person would be attracted to violent games. The most prominent activist, and often regarded hilarious by the gaming community, is self proclaimed crusader against video game violence Jack Thompson. Thompson has a vendetta against basically any game with even a hint of violence or immorality, his exploits can be viewed here http://www.jackthompson.org/. For a concise list of his cases also visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(activist) complete with sources for each case.

The next field of interest when it comes to video games, Humanities, studies what actually attracts people to video games whether I be the narrative or some other kind of appeal. Humanities aims to study the context in which games take place and how they reflect on the era in which they were created. Humanities regards video games as artifacts of an era and a medium of art.

Finally, the Industry and Engineering approach is often ignored by casual gamers. It is thanks to the demand for video games as a medium of entertainment that other forms of technology are produced, including what reguarly boosts the speed of computers. To make games better, new technology must be produced and so gaming companies are always working away at creating better processors and better systems to enable more speed and better visual presentation.

Lastly, I would like to bitch briefly about Wiifit. Okay, so its no worse than people using a fitness video or something similar, but our lecture actually informed us that they are using these in Gyms in America. That is stupid, the game basically informs you of exercise activities that you could read off of a poster or do on your own, it does not require a game. I know I sound like a technophobe and that this is in fact an innovation, but it takes the fun out of gaming, it isn't really a game. With games becoming commonplace, new developers are messing with the market and piling it with crap. Yes, this does attract a whole new audience to video game consoles opening them up to not only Fitness based programs but a full library of games as well, but it jsut seems wierd that we need a video game console to tell us how to exercise. I guess I'm just having difficulty adapting to the new era of games.
Having always been a fan of game since I was six years old I'm glad to see people are coming around. Back then I never knew anyone to discriminate against gamers, but i would certainyl sya it was still a niche market. Today games ar emore commonplace and it makes it better for us long time fans as we now have more games, and more enthusiasts to interact with.