Well, I have tried Myst for the first time and I have to say I am a bit underwhelmed. I wasn’t expecting it to be some mind-blowing experience with action at every turn, but there is just very little that makes me want to continue the game. I enjoy the usual type of adventure/puzzle game where you have to get a key to open a chest to get an item to move onto the next room, etc. This one however, does nothing to reward the gamer in return. The story is vague and any form of action is non-existent, which makes it difficult for me to get into it. Also, to think that this game at one point didn’t have any hints during the beta-testing, as we had discussed in class, is a frightening thought.

However, I think it brings up the interesting point of how a text changes and stays the same over time. While this game may be difficult or frustrating to play for gamers now, it was an achievement for when it was made. It was one of the first games to give a sense of three dimensions. The soundtrack was also quite amazing and I would consider it still very good by today’s standards. A similar comparison could be made to Shakespeare’s plays. Many students might find them a chore to read but at the same time understand that they are very well written and can even find many aspects of them enjoyable.

I believe that on a deeper level Myst has many interesting things going for it. It has a theme of books that bring the player from new location to new location. Yet when you open the books there is a video. Also, the book imagery is ironic in a videogame. I believe these kinds of concepts are rather interesting, but they require a study beyond just playing the game.

I look forward to the types of parallels that can be drawn between Myst, Zelda, and adventure games in general that we will be examining in the coming week.

I have just finished playing Wii Sports with my Dad. The interesting thing is that my Dad never plays videogames. The Wii truly seems to be a console that does appeal to gamers of all ages, especially if my Dad is willing to go a few rounds of bowling, tennis, and golf. Nintendo purposely designed the console so that anyone can play and it shows. These sports simulations couldn’t be done on any other console simply because of its unique controller. I believe this is an example of what we have discussed in class today.

You can never quite get the exact feeling of a book unless you are actually holding and reading the book itself. It doesn’t feel the same reading it on a computer screen or any other type of device that tries to simulate the feeling a book gives. The same can be applied to videogames. Videogames are known for porting the same game on to different consoles yet they never remain truly equal. One version may have better graphics or perhaps a person prefers a controller over another one. In other cases, some games simply can’t be recreated without certain devices like the Wii remote for Wii games, a dance pad for Dance Dance Revolution games, or a guitar for Guitar Hero. It really brings up an interesting point of preservation in the way that texts are preserved.

I still have all my old consoles from back to the original Nintendo days, partially out of nostalgia but also because I know there is nothing like playing it the way it was originally intended.
Now that I think of it, a good example is actually on the Wii itself, with their internet browser. It is convenient to be able to surf the internet from the comfort of a couch, but at the same time it is no where near as convenient as on the computer, where it originated from. Viewing the internet from a television makes web pages appear “grainy” and a bit of a chore when trying to read fine text. This is just another example of what can happen to a text when it crosses platforms.

Now I am going to go play Myst since I just received it in the mail today. I look forward to it.

Just Testing

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