Building LBP while thinking about Identity

Building these LBP levels has been a lot of fun. I never realized how much time and effort it takes to build games like this, even though this game was meant for this. It took a lot of patience  time and effort that I did not think I was able to do. In the end I was able to make this:

It is not the greatest of video but it is a rough sketch of the idea that I wanted to make. It was great that Dr. Burton and Brandon were able to give some feedback on the level that was posted. It helped me to realize how important it was to get feedback from others on projects that could be great.

While making this game I feel like I am learning a lot about myself. In a way, I am discovering my identity more as I build these games and watch how others interact with the levels that I created. It's amazing to see this.

Or it could all be my "graduation googles". If anyone has seen How I met your mother, it's the episode of the exploding sub. Seasons 6 episode 20.
http://www.aoltv.com/2011/04/12/how-i-met-your-mother-season-6-episode-20-recap/

Exploring Identity in an Online Environment article review

?

I have been looking more into identity and came across an interesting article about a game that was created to explore identity more. The more I read the article I understood it to be something different. It dealt with the idea of identifying males and females in online chat rooms. The abstract reads like this:

Do men and women behave differently online? Can you tell how old someone is, or determine their race or national origin based on how they communicate on the internet? Issues of personal identity affect how we relate to others in everyday life, both online and offline. However, identity in this new medium is still poorly understood by internet users.
The game that they created was called The Turing Game. It was used for research purposes. The way they introduced the research was this:


We have created a game and related resources to help us explore and teach about issues of identity online. In this environment, The Turing Game, a panel of people all pretend to be a member of some cultural group, such as women. Some of the panelists, who are women, are instructed to try to prove that fact to their audience. Others are men, trying to masquerade as women. An audience of diverse gender tries to discover who the imposters are, by asking questions and analysing the panel members' answers. The sample question and answer below is taken from a game where the panelists were claiming to be women:

QUESTION: Describe your last really bad haircut.
PENNY: I had it layered and I got a perm. Since my hair is wavy, it was Annie style.
WENDY: Sophomore year, decided to cut it really short, and I looked like a little boy. My boyfriend was very disturbed.


As stated in the introduction, the audience rates you and determines from your answer if it's a male or female. One audience member said: It's not what you said, it's how you said it'


This game looks like a lot of fun. I would love to play it. This is the official website: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/elc/turing/
but not the game. While looking through this research it was fascinating to see the research that they had done on stereotypes. The example that they used for the stereotype research was to identity which was the male in the group. They had two females and one male. The way they were able to identify the female and male was the stereotype that the females took on. One female chose her boyfriend and acted like he would have acted. Basically he was the typical male. The other female acted like her ideal guy. The male acted like himself. The one that acted like the ideal male, won the game. The other female that liked her boyfriend lost, and the male won.

The fact that the guy didn't win was hilarious. The overall experiment was fascinating to see how people determined what was male. In other words, do we have others determine who we are?
I can see how people could lose their identity through their peers, but various people could find out who they are through positive influence.

Being able to discover your identity through the net could be beneficial but that all depends on the information that is accessed.


Warning: Language
The Turing Game: Exploring Identity in an Online Environment article

Exploring identity through gaming?

Exploring Identity through gaming: True or false?

Everyone has their own opinion about it. Various scholars stated various opinions on whether RPG's are helpful in discovering your identity. When I first read this article I came in thinking that it was actually about video games. Sarah Bowman was actually discussing Role-playing. 

• But reading her article it made me realize that it was relevant towards the gaming industry. There are many RPG games out there that "provide a healthy, useful outlet for creativity, self-expression, communal connection, and the development of important skills over time" (Bowman). She made many arguments about RPG. 

• Bowman's key argument is that RPGs connect to a wide set of concerns and endeavors: They are game-based performance spaces, they foster explorations of identity, and they have relatively untapped potential for applications in education. 
• interaction within RPGs can provide community for players (for example, by building empathy; 
• Bowman concludes the book with a typology of nine different forms of role-playing characters (chapter 7).
•  These types—"the Doppelganger Self," 
• "the Devoid Self," 
• "the Augmented Self," 
• "the Fragmented Self," 
• "the Repressed Self," 
• the Repressed Self is Bowman's attempt to characterize how some RPG players express, as she puts it, their "Inner Child" through game play, allowing the performance of the "youthful, naïve self within each of us" (170).
• "the Idealized Self," 
• "the Oppositional Self," 
• "the Experimental Self," 
• "the Taboo Self"—
• The Taboo Self represents a classification of RPG play as a means to express often taboo behaviors (such as rape, incest, and transgenderism) in the relatively consequence-free environment of a game.

present the reader with a provocative starting point in attempting to characterize the forms of identity that evolve through the play of RPGs... Bowman's Selves, which are presented descriptively and supported by anecdotal evidence, are a potentially useful typology that could begin to capture the various ways by which players of RPGs make meaning of their activities within an RPG game space.

Now when I apply this article to the gaming industry, there are various games that do enable creativity and community. Little Big planet, for instance, enables people to be creative, and also to learn about organization and structure. Example: 

This is a marriage proposal someone made in little big planet.

Little big planet is a good game that enables creativity. There is a blog that I found that someone commented about finding their cultural identity through a game called: Saints Row 2.

Saints Row 2

Game play of Saints Row 2

Customization in Saints Row 2

He stated that he was able to find his identity by creating characters that looked just like him. 

"As I moved onto other games that featured character creation (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Fallout 3 etc.) I began trying to recreate myself in the way that I’ve always wanted to look, resembling the man that has played the biggest role in my life: my father. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to terms with my appearance and my own cultural identity. I feel confident in my ‘British-ness’ even if I know that my physical appearance may never reflect this. But whenever I return to the world of gaming, I’m allowed to look like the man I want. Though that may never be able to extend to the real world, for the time being I’m okay with that."

In Charlie Appleton's case, he was able to find his identity through gaming. In other cases, I can see the cons to gaming and how it causes us to lose a part of our identity. There was a blog I posted about a clip that a friend shared with me. Midterm blog. In the blog it has a clip called Propaganda gaming. It gave me a new perspective on games. From the research that I have done so far, it seems like there is not real definitive answer to if gaming helps or prevents you from discovering your identity. I can see it either being beneficial or torture. 

Personal Experience:
In my experience with Little Big Planet or even with playstation, it was a easy process. First my username for playstation, I like my privacy so I'm not going to write down my sn, I chose it because it was easy to remember. Next a picture for my playstation, I chose a certain picture because I thought it was cute. This is how I am able to express myself.
In Little big planet, I chose certain characters because I thought they were cute and it was appealing. Example, I like wolves, so sometimes I would choose wolf-like characters till I got bored of it and moved on. 
In regards to other games, I don't admit this to many people, but I like playing final fantasy. The reason why is because it has a awesome storyline and character development, and it also has romance. Everything girls like reading in books. It is both appealing towards males and females. I enjoy playing those games because it takes you on adventures that you would never experience. In a way the characters become your avatars. In a way it seems like you lose a part of your identity or you gain a trait from the things you learn from the game. With every story there is a moral, it's up to the readers to decide if they choose to apply it in their lives. 

Exploring identity through gaming, I believe that it is possible to gain an identity. 




Below is a link is a book review of a article that was done on RPG and the blog that was posted

http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/356/229
Article

http://www.gamessavedmylife.com/post/14224185244/cultural-identity-issues-and-gaming

Blog

Progress made in class (midterm reflection)

While taking this class, I have learned much about the digital World. First, I was never interested in using Google plus because not many people used it. Since then I have realized how useful it is. I was an addicted user of Facebook  till i realized how much better Google plus was. Whenever there is a group meeting, it automatically posts it on my calender, also gives me warnings. I truly love using Google Plus.  Second, i was never interested in Blogging. Now taking this class, I have learned how much information is out there. Especially the experiences that people post. It is useful and helpful in improving everyday life.  Due to this class, I have learned how to use these available resources better, and how it can improve our way of living. 

Applying the nonfiction book to digital culture, Cybernetics delves into how technology functions like the human mind. While taking the knowledge that I learned from the book and applying it to the digital culture class, it taught me how intertwined the digital world is and the growth it has done over the years. Allie made a comment earlier about remembering how we would wait hours to get on the internet. Dial-up. It would require the computer, connection to a phone, and the phone connecting to the provider. It used to tie up the phone lines all the time. My father had to get a second phone line due to constant use of the internet. Now we do not have the same issue. A provider is still needed, but instead of using cords, we have wireless access. Everything became user-friendly and is more connected.  The  internet has changed much over the years. It was discussed in class about web 1.0 vs web 2.0. Web 1.0 was a one way traffic. There was no involvement, but web 2.0 allowed information to be passed from one person to the next. Cybernetics talked about various synapses in the computer does that, which allows it to function better. As technology improves, communication over the internet improves and will continuously grow for the better.

The literary work that I read was about avatars. The main character in the story struggled with the identity that society had placed on her. She was the eldest daughter, and was expected to fail. But with the creation of a new identity, she was able to come out of her shell and express herself better. She had become a new person because of the new identity that was given to her.  This relates to how people are on the internet. Some choose to act in a negative way, the most choose to show various talents. They improve themselves as they learn to share these new talents with others. 

Example: Violin Lessons

Many people are posting lessons for the violin, or some are posting up recitals to get more feedback from their peers (Social proof). It helps them to become more confident and improve in their skills as artists and other things that they wish to focus on. 

Self directed:I have been learning a lot about various things that I have been curious about but not had the time to look more into. Example: Little big planet, It looked fun creating the levels, but never had the time to do research on how to do it. Now for this class i get that opportunity. 

Influence:I learned a lot from other students. specifically on topics that interested me the most. I saw a variety of positive and negative posts, which showed that there are pros and cons to the technology that we have access to. Topics that interest me are games, avatars, and remixes. I would like to learn more specifically about avatars and games. It has a strong influence over us, even though we do not believe it does. A friend told me about this clip from you tube. It discusses the idea of propaganda games. 

WARNING: LANGUAGE

Avatars can either be destructive or beneficial. it is fun to learn how others choose to handle this idea of anonymity. 

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving castle by Diana Wynne Jones, is a great Young Adult literature. How this relates to digital culture is the major theme that the book holds. The main character Sophie struggles with her life because she was told that the oldest was destined to be a failure in life. So she learned to accept it.

“Sophie was the most studious. She read a great deal, and very soon realized how little chance she had at an interesting future. It was a disappointment to her, but she was still happy enough, looking after her sisters and grooming Martha to seek her fortune when the time came… Lettie was by no means resigned to being the one who, next to Sophie, was bound to be the least sucesssful” (2).

After her acceptance, she becomes her "identity". “…she at last put a gray shawl over her gray dress and went out into the street, Sophie did not feel exited. She felt overwhelmed… the past months of sitting and sewing had turned her into an old woman or a semi-invalid” (13).

Then once Sophie becomes cursed by the witch of the waste, her true character comes out. “It was odd. As a girl, Sophie would have shriveled with embarrassment at the way she was behaving. As an old woman, she did not mind what she did or said. She found that a great relief” (64).  

While contemplating what this text has to do with digital culture, a realization of avatars came into play. Sophie was living a life that was expected of her. She was expected to fail, and she came to accept that life. Once she was placed under a spell, or in digital culture terms, given an avatar. Sophie was able to step outside of her skin and develop her character. She never spoke out or went against what others had to say like Lettie. She had become more outspoken and expressed herself more. Her avatar was what freed her from the conservative life that she was expected to live. This is what freed her. 

Avatars can either free you or enslave you. In Sophie's case it helped her to be a stronger person. There are various examples where Sophie continuously lacked confidence, but at the same time she believed that being an old woman was what freed her from making mistakes in life. Just like an avatar would because of the anonymous nature of avatars. 

Examples of where Sophie felt being the eldest was hopeless: 

“It comes of being the eldest… You just can’t win!” (191).

“but I think it’s being the eldest, really. Look at me! I set out to seek my fortune and I end up exactly where I started, and old as the hills still!” (263)

“Sophie’s too kind herself to see how heartless Howl is!” (279).

“I am an old woman” (280).

“I had several goes at taking it off you when you weren’t looking. But nothing seems to work. I took you to Mrs. Pentstemmon, hoping she could do something, but she evidently couldn’t. I came to the conclusion that you liked being in disguise” (283)

“You always did have a way with you, Sophie. You could stop Martha’s tantrums when I couldn’t do a thing with her. And I always said it was thanks to you that Lettie only got her own way half of the time instead of all the time!” (294)

“This is my fault!... I have a genius for doing things wrong!” (306).

““I’m the eldest!... I’m a failure!” “Gabage!” Howl shouted. “You just never stop to think!”” (314).

“Her hair kept getting in her way. It fell across her face in reddish fair hanks”(325).

“Sophie knew that living happily ever after with Howl would be a good deal more eventful than any story made it sound, though she was determined to try”(328).

Day 1 of LBP development

Little Big Planet:
The progress I have been making with the game has been a long and tough road. At first I have been analyzing the game to see what needs to be created. First was the buildings. We need to have a basic structure, but was having a difficult time due to the dimensions of the game. It is a 3d game that requires you to get to know where the dimensions are at. Following that, I was trying to create a costume for Sackboy Romney. The progress with it has been slim. The style of hair or the clothing was difficult to find. There are going to be three versions of Sackboy Romney. My version will be the college-like hippy version of SackBoy Romney. The next version should contain a Missionary Sackboy Romney. Then the third version will be Politician Sackboy Romney. He will look Suave, that is if I can find the icons for his clothing.

This project will be difficult, but fun in the process. I have been learning much from the clips on youtube on how to create clothing, and also need to find the necessary clothing that will fit the profile of each of our Sackboys. Hopefully the road to our game will workout well.

Popular tv shows go digital

I was watching old Community episodes from Hulu and came across this really funny episode. It is called Digital Estate Planning.

While watching this, it was funny to show how they were able to take a popular tv show and turn it digital. 

Wikipedia's summary: Pierce is summoned to Hawthorne Enterprises to discuss his inheritance with his deceased father's former right-hand man, Gilbert Lawson (Giancarlo Esposito). The study group goes with him for moral support and must all pitch in to play the video game of their life on Pierce's behalf – or risk losing his inheritance. Most of the episode is animated as an 8-bit video game. 

Each of the avatars that the characters created had their limitations, and they had worked together to overcome their disabilities in the game. The main message that the show provided was that it was important for people to create bonds of friendship. Video games can either bring people closer together or separate them, but it depends on the people to choose what they want in life. 

In regards to the Little Big Planet. I have learned a great deal by playing that game for the project. The game allows people all over to interact with one another and to help them achieve success in the game. But there is more to learn from the game. Everything has pros and cons to it, but it all depends on the intentions of the people. 

Below is a game footage of the actual game that was played in the TV series. It is fascinating to see how they made this game more interactive with the episode that they played a couple of months ago when they played the episode. 

Below are some more footages from the episode, this was shared for fun purposes.