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avatar pictures

For the 18 given pictures, I propose three discriminating categories: Human Imitating, Reality Based, and Non-Reality Based. These categories touch on all the possibilities of these divers avatars; for example the playboy avatar would most deffinatley fall into human imitating, the fish would fall into reality based, and the predator would be non-reality based. These series of categories provide a number of ways to group and narrow down many pictures.

writing practice 3

Peter Orlando
Qual
Gregson
11.15.07

Thoughts on interviewing in SL.

Everyone is different; people find different way of wording the same questions and setting up and interview/conversation. I tended to go the friendly route, where I would make an effort of getting to know the person for a little bit; establish some rapport, and then go in for the questions. I found that this way people felt a stronger connection to me and didn't mind being interviewed as much. Some people went straight for the kill and they got answers that were often short and vague, the same type of answers you'd get if you were asked a series of interview questions on the street.
Another thing learned from this exercise is that vague questions usually receive vague answers. "What do you like about sl?" can yield things like "talking to people" or "concerts." This can be a unifying trait of many interviews and also where they begin to differ. If the interviewer has the cunning to ask an appropriate follow-up question, they will likely get the detail they desire, however these vague questions can kill a conversation… a simple "that’s interesting, why?" seems to work wonders.
More data is good until you have too much. That seems weird however data collection is a balance; you want enough to give yourself a good chance a gaining the result you were looking for, but not so much so that you are consumed by weeding through tons of irrelevant information. This seemed to be a proper amount of data; it was rather easy to sift through and most of it was not too long winded.
Accuracy again is a find balance in the world of interview. If you have too much info data can seem convoluted. If you lack enough data it can seem like you are forcing things that are irrelevant to fit your thesis. Again the key is finding a good balance of data that contains enough supporting data for your thesis without becoming convoluted.

convo in sl

[5:37] Oma Lilliehook: what are you studying?
[5:37] Peteo Rowlands: i'm studying television and radio, but doing a research project on sl
[5:38] Oma Lilliehook: are all the IC students doing the same research project?
[5:38] Peteo Rowlands: same project but different topics
[5:38] Peteo Rowlands: mine is on avatars and how they represent people in rl
[5:39] Peteo Rowlands: mine obviously does no haha
[5:39] Peteo Rowlands: *not
[5:39] Peteo Rowlands: or does it...
[5:39] Peteo Rowlands: lol
[5:40] Oma Lilliehook: you have an ominous mistery about you
[5:41] Peteo Rowlands: haha, yea, i should take off the bat gloves they're spikey haha
[5:41] Oma Lilliehook: are you observation or survey
[5:42] Oma Lilliehook: or combination?
[5:42] Peteo Rowlands: its more like interview, so essentially a mix
[5:42] Oma Lilliehook: on reactions to your avatar?
[5:42] Peteo Rowlands: we talk to people and find out their thoughts and motivations and use that to try and compare and find a reslut/patern
[5:42] Oma Lilliehook: or on avatars in general
[5:43] Peteo Rowlands: on avatars in general, essentially how people came look the way they do in sl
[5:43] Oma Lilliehook: so, you chose me because i look different
[5:43] Peteo Rowlands: no, i didn't wan't you to dance alone
[5:44] Oma Lilliehook: me eithr
[5:44] Peteo Rowlands: and i like your hair, haha
[5:45] Oma Lilliehook: so i hop on dance balls and eventually, someone asks
[5:45] Oma Lilliehook: thank you
[5:46] Peteo Rowlands: your welcome
[5:46] Peteo Rowlands: this hot salsa is pretty cool
[5:46] Peteo Rowlands: almost wish i could dance this well in rl
[5:46] Oma Lilliehook: some are pretty romantic dances
[5:47] Peteo Rowlands: yes, they are, its cool this guy in w/ the red hair is like standing in btw us
[5:47] Peteo Rowlands: haha
[5:48] Peteo Rowlands: well oma, Ive got to run, gotta go to class, it was great talking with you
[5:48] Oma Lilliehook: come back anytime
[5:48] Peteo Rowlands: you got it
[5:48] Peteo Rowlands: thanks for talking with me
[5:48] Oma Lilliehook: sure
[5:48] Oma Lilliehook: next time, don't like my hair on fire with your cigar
[5:49] Peteo Rowlands: haha that a blunt, and this is a promise
[5:49] Oma Lilliehook: okay
[5:49] Oma Lilliehook: *smile*
[5:49] Peteo Rowlands: ciao

sl vox

[5:36] You: hi, I'm doing a research project on second life, do you think any of you could tell me what you think of it?
[5:36] Dawny Daviau: wait till Lee is back :P
[5:37] VISTA AO GIRL3 v1.2: Touched.
[5:37] Molly Barker: hanja
[5:37] Molly Barker: a good irish breakfast
[5:37] You: anyone have any opinnion on sl?
[5:37] Waterfalzz Extraordinaire: not enough peanut butter.
[5:37] Molly Barker: lol
[5:38] You: that works
[5:38] HenryJames Aferdita: Peteo,. an opiniion on SL?
[5:38] Waterfalzz Extraordinaire: superman can woop batmans ass.
[5:38] You: yea, thats what i need, opinnions on sl
[5:38] Waterfalzz Extraordinaire: superman can woop batmans ass.
[5:38] PARRADOXXIAN Quinnell: Hey!
[5:38] Waterfalzz Extraordinaire: batman sux
[5:38] HenryJames Aferdita: as a program? as a social gathering place?
[5:38] Karley Strauss: my opinion = second life sucks
[5:39] You: superman is a pansy
[5:39] You: just sl's importance to you
[5:39] Molly Barker: omigod i didnt even see batman standing there
[5:39] HenryJames Aferdita: Batman is the bad ass
[5:39] Waterfalzz Extraordinaire: batman is a clown.
[5:39] Jules Clawtooth: my opinion = my girlfriend sucks, and this is goooooooood *purr*
[5:39] HenryJames Aferdita: didn't you all read the Dark Knght series
[5:39] Molly Barker: hes bat ass....
[5:39] HenryJames Aferdita:
[5:39] Jules Clawtooth: just a answer to Karley lol
[5:40] Karley Strauss: why would you rather play a game than get some ass, you need help ;)
[5:40] You: are you guys all here for something as a group?
[5:40] Juniper Edelbrock: YEAH!!!
[5:40] Juniper Edelbrock: gangbangs
[5:40] Molly Barker: were the bat ass kickers
[5:40] You: thats cool, i'm in class right now
[5:40] Molly Barker: brb
[5:41] You: you guys don't seem to be kicking much though
[5:41] Juniper Edelbrock: how about you kick ass in your class
[5:41] Waterfalzz Extraordinaire: peteo, get on voice man.
[5:41] Juniper Edelbrock: instead of paying attention to second life
[5:41] You: that sounds good, i can't get on vox, theres no speakers in the comp lab
[5:41] Dawny Daviau: hey Shawwn
[5:42] Shawwn Ballinger: morning dawny :)
[5:42] Shawwn Ballinger: gotta run home
[5:42] Karley Strauss: you go to the playboy sim while you're in class Peteo?
[5:42] You: my teacher is a playboy vip and so am i
[5:42] Karley Strauss: your teacher?!?!
[5:43] You: yeah
[5:43] Viccasino Waco: goodmoring linu
[5:43] Karley Strauss: lol
[5:43] Jules Clawtooth: there is no nudity alowed in the playboy sim
[5:43] You: it's legal
[5:43] You: haha
[5:43] Molly Barker: brb
[5:44] Dawny Daviau: wb
[5:44] Wullie: Hello, Peteo, welcome to PIER ISLAND! Woof!
[5:44] Bourbon Beresford: Oma - you look fine to me
[5:44] Bourbon Beresford: same as usual
[5:44] Jackjoe Flanagan: hi Peteo Buttman
[5:44] Wullie: Hello, LeeLoo, welcome to PIER ISLAND! Woof!
[5:44] Oma Lilliehook: hwllo Pwrwo
[5:45] Bourbon Beresford: ITS BATMAN!!
[5:45] Jackjoe Flanagan: hi LeeLoo
[5:45] Oma Lilliehook: hi Peteo and LeeLoo
[5:45] Isibella Destiny: I'm back
[5:45] You: hi
[5:45] Bourbon Beresford: WB Isibella
[5:45] Jackjoe Flanagan: WB Isi
[5:45] Isibella Destiny: Hi Peteo
[5:45] Oma Lilliehook: hi Isi
[5:45] Ivanerection Oh: hi ya Beau
[5:45] Oma Lilliehook: hello Beau
[5:45] LeeLoo Porta: Hi:-))
[5:45] Isibella Destiny: Hi Oma
[5:45] BeauZeau Zhao: hello
[5:45] BeauZeau Zhao: rezzing
[5:45] You: hey, people, i'm doing reasearch on s/l and i was wondering if anyone had any oppinions on it
[5:45] Bourbon Beresford: hi BZ :)
[5:45] Oma Lilliehook: i think i'm going to love this shift
[5:45] Jackjoe Flanagan: hi BZ
[5:45] Bourbon Beresford: Salsa?
[5:46] BeauZeau Zhao: sure
[5:46] Ivanerection Oh: i have one ,, updates suck ass
[5:46] BeauZeau Zhao: when i can see the ball
[5:46] Oma Lilliehook: if i upgrade, i crash
[5:46] Bourbon Beresford: lag sucks too
[5:46] You: updates do suck
[5:46] You: i feel that
[5:46] Oma Lilliehook: if i login, i crash
[5:46] Bourbon Beresford: shopping is good tho
[5:46] Ivanerection Oh: thanks for the dance Addy ,, off to work i go
[5:47] Wullie: Have you kissed a PIER staff member today?
[5:47] Ivanerection Oh: bye all have fun :))
[5:47] Addyson Short: bye
[5:47] Jackjoe Flanagan: Bye Ivan
[5:47] Bourbon Beresford: see ya Ivan :)
[5:47] Oma Lilliehook: bye Ivan
[5:47] BeauZeau Zhao: bye ivan

people and ithaca

Most common words: experience, town, rural/secluded
Synonmyns: Rural and secluded were provided on two different instances however they essentiall meant the same thing. Both M 1 and M 2 gave their versions of the admissions office brochure hook line; they worded their answers differently but menat the same thing.
+: alot of focus on good academics and an enlightened place
- : Cold, Rural, and Hippie town could be either good or bad but the people seemed to connote bad.
Time and Gender didn't seem to bear any persuasion in these limited responses.
Both IC Square answers were very short.
Eddie and Michael both had very breif answers in ic square and both are male and had been here the same amount of time.

cyber church

Very intersting dialogue in the cyber church. Much was very much the same as I'd expect to see in real church alot of banter between people saying hello and finding out about the others week. However...the newbie knk was absolutely oblivious and disrespectful This goes back to my study of social norms in world. It seems that knk was completely oblivioius to the annoyance he/she was causing. To ask what to do at every second of the church experience is just plain rood, and to make it even worse to ask completely random and unrelated questions is again just plain rood. This dialogue has unearthed the need to be observant and respectful even in a video game; and also highlighted how not to go about feeling your way around a new place in world.

The beginnings of Interview

Interview Questions

1.How did they decide what to wear today?

2.How did they choose the major they're in?

3.If they could do anything over in their life to guarantee they get the future they want, would you do it? Why or why not? (we don't want to pressure them to tell us what it is they're going to redo - that's not we're interested in - and it could be very personal)


PERSON S.V.
1. Um, well, based on comfort, I just chose the most comfortable.
2. Running out of time and had to choose a major by sophmore spring and all previous classes fit into rec management.
3. No. I feel like everything happens for a reason and I've learned something from my choices.

PERSON A.B.
1. I looked at the temperature on my computer.
2. Decided I really liked the human body and wanted to help people when they were injured.
3. No. Because from the actions I have done in the past I have grown and learned from and got me where I need to be.

PERSON D.G.
1. I saw jeans on the floor and my pants had a belt in them and I picked my tank top and sweater because I liked the colors.
2. I decided that med school would take too much time, and I still wanted to help people
3. No, Because I think I'm going in the right direction right now, unless I break my leg or something

PERSON A.H.
1. It was cold, I put on a sweater on. It wasn't that difficult.
2. I don't know. It was the next best thing to art.
3. Yes. You should take advantage of everything and if thats a possibility than why not.



p.

welcome center 10/23

Welcome centers were dead tonight.
Went to some that seemed to be really promising as far as interaction goes; christian center, detroit, Spanish Square,
there were mabey a total of 6 people combined on these islands. Little interaction was going on in these places; in fact it seemed that most people who were hanging out at these "welcome centers" were just camping there to make linden. The best center was the detroit one, where there was a cool welcoming recording--though there were still no real people there. This is odd. I was not welcomed by any welcome center.

interviewing in SL

Interviewing in SL is likely to be analogous to interviewing in real life. As in reallife, the seven basic steps for constructing an interview are likely to apply. Thematizing, Designing, Interviewing, Transcribing, analyzing, verifying, reporting. The main signifigant difference that i forsee with SL interviews are the fact that not many nonverbals exist in world. There is control of your avatar; however, that is limited and most importantly done intentionally. Though we may lose some of the non verbal cues due to our medium of choice, we also avoid some of the awkwardness of face to face stranger interviews. Though interviewing is different in second life there are also many overpowering simularities.

learning things

Today i attended a sailing workshop that tought how to sail in sl
The intersting thing was that most of the skills and techniques learned in world are the same as in true life.
Attending a class was intersting due to its simularities to real life. The instructer in my class seemed extremely well versed in the field of sailing and enjoyed teaching us. It is truly a cool thing to see in sl, because the teachers have no monetary incentive to teach.

Odd SL Corrections

Throughout my explorations in Second Life, one of my most odd experiences occurred while just beginning as a newbie. As my curious mind brought me to search for some of the most unique places in world I began to think of places to visit. One place that I stumbled upon was nude island. Nude island is the perfect stage for unique occurrences in world.

My occurrence was a man wandering around the island asking for some to have sex with his "small" self. It is not alarming to me that this is happening it is solely intriguing that there is so much interest in sex in Second Life. It seems to me that people are acting this way because it is funny, odd, and holds no repercussion as it may in real life. I found that the one man who struck a chord, was the one running around claiming that he had small genetalia and that every woman out there should have sex with him because of it. When I enquired about why he was acting this way he was reluctant to answer. I think that he was finding humor in the seemingly contradictory manor in which he was acting. He seemed to be feeding off of the paradox that he was creating.

Though sex exists in second life, it seems to me that it is nothing more than avatar "bump and grind" and a funny way of joking around in world. There are two main aspects that sex requires, emotional connection, and physical connection, one and often both of these things are lacking in world when people have sex, and therefore I don't see it as anything more than a joke.

BEING IN THE ZONE

From the "Being in the zone" journal, more specifically the methods section it seems that these researchesrs have utilized the same methods of qualitative research that we are hopeing to acheive within second life. Comparativley the researchers are at an advantage because they are part of a team/group and can therefore compare, criticise, and help eachother with their research. In our particular situation we are on our own to interpret and interact as we may. As a participant observer it can be hard not to have an effect on the responses of those you are observing, however it seems that in "Being in the Zone" the observers manage to keep from influencing their subjects. This is also one of our main focusses in SL.

participant v. direct

Participant oberservation is the complete hands on approach to observation. In this situation you are acting as one of the same people as you are observing. In normal observation you are separated from the people you are observing and you don't partake in the same things they do. Participant observation can be hard because you can become intertwined with those who you are observing and thus lose sight of your goal.

transvestiteism

today, I became a woman

in world this change was extremely easy and painless.

i began by editing my basic image to look like this



i felt that this rather simple womanly look was just too basic so i began to look around for freebie items that enhanced my image and made me look like more of legitimate woman. the boxes in the picture below kept tons of free items.



I finally did some more exploring as a woman, so far I haven't recieved any sort of different treatment, It seems that once i arrive at an island, its the same hello peteo, which by the way gives my gender away, kind of interesting,,,, once arriving on an island its the same hellos i recieved as a man.

cmc

Computer mediated communitcation is in its most simple form communication through the medium of a computer. According to the articles CMC is a method of communicating withing an online world where users communicate through a program and interact online.

the day's observations

Checked out intel island but it froze me. Aol island was cool with the free skateboards however they were'nt very easy to use. Nci island had a sweet free hobo bike which was fun and made it easier to get around. cool stuff.

third times the charm

so i was beginning to think that i would find no one in a previously visited place.


the playboy yacht was EMPTY... what what what. couldn't be, i ended up the sole person on the playboy yacht, what a bust.
second i when back to the pornstars island, which i found was no longer 100% porn stars island, it has become 1/4 inhabited by the fat tiger retreat place -- a walled in place for gay men to chill in second life. There was no one there except the "manager" who spoke to me, and being the only person there i figured i could break my cover for a little bit and talk to. He was very nice and seemed to wish me well in finding whatever it was that i needed. Shortly after our short convo, flow away.


FINALLY ariving on my third and final option i landed on nude island which seems to be eternally popluated by horny and currious second life users. the bar here became a cool place to sit and look inconspicoius. One guy walked around looking for sex and telling the "ladies" he had a 3 inch penis. I'm not sure what this guy was looking for, the novelty of having sex on a computer screen or being the one to just blurt out that he was proud of his 3 incher. Anyway, there were loungers here getting paid to lay out naked, and people wanting sex. Intersting.

Still working out the kinks of the interface and trying to get used to the controls of the game.
need more time on nude island ha.

second life is SLOW

My second venture of the night back into sl was much more interesting. First off though before i dive into that sl is so slow on my computer. many of the places are ruined due the the slow loading times. aside from that i just had some really cool explorations.

in search of the moma- museum of modern art i found an island named "moma." This island ended up being a sick japanese garden complete with tori gates and all. I spent quite some time here.

Cherry blossoms are everywhere and i sat in a very picturesqe hot tub. Its funny how a non real world can evoke real world emotions.

Took a screen shot but for some reason it wont let me put it up here.
anyway this place is way cool and resembles a place i would love to visit in real life thus making it so intriguing.

no one else here though, kind of lame. wish there were more people around.

second life 1

an exhibition to nude island:


most peple are not naked here. bathing suits are in full fashion. I was kind of intrigued by the fact that people are being payed linden dollars to lay around. I wonder if you can just sit there all day and make money that way when you're at class or sleeping. No one really seemed to be doing here, just laying and making money. kind of boring after the first couple minuites.


Next, in a sort of dirty exploration I next went over to porn star island. For some reason this place was empty. I dont understand this. Either way there was a cool tsunami beach thing.

Playboy was by far the most happening place I have been so far. I got "invited" to the yacht which was bunch of people dancing and screaming lude things. Either way the people were nice there and happy to be just hanging out on a virtual yacht with some virtual playmates. I got bored there rather quickly.

Ithaca College Library 1st Floor 8:56pm

Work in pairs appears to get the work done 1/2 as fast but with 2x the fun. Everyone seems to have a work partner keeping them awake or at least entertained. Aside from the couple in front of me flirting so much that it makes me quezy the kid snapping his fingers to get his friends attention causes everyone to look up. Working in the library is almost the perfect disguise for such an observation session becuase everyone is guilty of the "i'm so bored" stare. Mine however is under the bored guise however it is of use. As far a academia goes the red coumfy chair is death. More people have been spotted stareing and texting than I can really count. One girl couldn't seem to sit for more than 5 minuites without moving, checking her phone, or getting up to find a friend. This seems to be a transition period for the library, many are coming in and out. More out than in though. I have spotted one dedicated worker who hasn't seemed to blink for more than 20 minuites this one seems hell bent on finishing his paper in record time. Without supprise I find that the snapper is friends with the wikipedia abusing kid sitting in front of me. and the more i look the more texting is going on everywhere, EVERYWHERE. Everyone is wearing sweaters, myself included, its very chiling outside or this time of year. We go to ithaca, we came preparred. Everyone seems to be longing to a bed somewhere, if your not holding your head you're not in this library right now. The girl at my 8 o'clock seems to be doing more stareing than i am, mabey she's in another section. She's on her mac. WordAn hour is up and I have become a head holding, bed longing, sweater wearing, library attendee.

sl exploration

Within sl interaction seemed a bit hard. lag caused things to be a bit shakey. things were not how i expected roma was more crowed as far a architecture went but the burning life was kinda abstract. I thought i'd seem more people around that weren't in the calls but it seemed that everywhere we went we were most of the inhabitants. My assumption is that things will get a bit smoother the longer i am in sl. I would like to see more people and find what kinds of people hang oout in this game all thhe time.Ben and jerrys was cool. wish i got an ice cream. Interested to see a concert with this.

a whole new world

"a whole new world" To quote Aladin, this lyric seems to embody all of my expectations for second life. It seems that for some reason this virtual world avoids the computer gaming barrier and allows many people who may have never thought of using the computer for anything other than e-mail and powerpoint to exist and interact virtually.

Akin to walking the streets of Manhattan, I expect to find a diverse assortment of people. I know I will be seeing a very different world than I live in for this one is completely user created. Anything can exist on second life so I don’t expect things to be reserved.

There appear to be many reasons for using second life, thus there will be many people attempting to accomplish different things. I know that businesses are run using this program alone so I won't be surprised if I find that people are wanting my virtual money. It seems to me that Second life is meant to be a virtual simulation of human interaction with creative control over one's environment.

With a virtual civilization having over a million inhabitants this is an ultimate resource for information. The ultimate platform for uninhibited conversation and endless fact finding, q&a. A great place to conduct qualitative research.

Def of game

A game is an activity that facilitates entertainment; it contains a set of rules and either user definied or creater defined objectives; must utilize skill, chance or endurance.

Which are games?

It seems evident to me that all of these online applications are video games. In the broadest of terms they all provide some sort of entertainment. In all of these there is an end goal, something that the player is aiming to achieve from playing.

The one that I struggled most with was Mr. Piccasohead. At first I felt that there was no goal to the game, no motion. However as a continued to play and get sucked in by the creativity of the interface and the many creative controls I felt that this game fulfilled Caillois Paidea, having few rules and no inherent competition.

Samarost was intriguing through its puzzle like nature. A bit more competition came into play where the player pitted their wits against the computers puzzles. Moving more from Paidea toward Ludus it was always me vs. the computers "intelligence."

The Goat in the Grey Fedora operated on the same level as Samarost where you are pitted against the programming and story writing of the game designer. With the computer programmed with many many variables It is easy to run yourself in circles or stumbling upon a challenge.

Collapse is in a much more raw way a game. Relying heavily upon Ludus one is directly competing with the clock while following strict rules regulating the players actions.

Finally FunkyTruck4wd is an interesting mix between Paidea and Ludus. There is a point system in the game and you are always trying to better your score, however creative moves and physics defying game play leave a creative flow to the game that is entertaining when you don’t feel like competition.

The most important change in my judgment of games is that I now allow Mr. Picassohead to be considered a game whereas I may have set it aside from such a classification. I have come to the realization that games are for the most part tools for entertainment that can be competitive against another or oneself. The Mr. Picassohead centering around Paidea entertains without being highly competitive, it provides the framework and you challenge yourself within it's parameters.

searching

I found 115 Academic Journal Articles with Video Games as the subject matter.

-Videogames and Ideological Frames- is the article by Ian Bogost.

I found 187 academic Articles on Qualitative Research.

Reading Notes

Qualitative research is the act of finding out a person or persons' total story regarding a particular topic. Both articles made the point that qualitative research methods are used for finding motive, and reasons for an occurrence; the details. Conducting qualitative research, one can find important data that might have been labeled as transient or erroneous.

This quote from Airy Fairy seems to sum up what is unearthed by qualitative research: "Direct quotations are a basic source of raw data in qualitative evaluation. They reveal the respondent's level of emotion, their thoughts, their experiences, their basic perceptions." Qual is interesting to me because one is able to peer into another's life and find out WHY things are happening not just that they ARE happening.

Much along the lines of what the Methods workbooks says is that in life there is no control, things are always changing; "In order to find the relationship between two variables, all others must be controlled, whether by a reduction of actual variety, or by the establishment of control groups, or by statistically factoring out other variables. But how do you control the lifetime of experiences that a person brings to an experiment? What is the significance of a causal relation that does not occur independently outside the laboratory? And do results established by examining group tendencies then apply to individuals. Control is problematic in complex physical systems; imagine the problem with human beings." This seems to be extremely true.

I can understand that it is important to know how frequently things are happening but I find more substance in knowing why.

Research Steps 1

The question of what is a videogame is a tough one. Something so main stream such as videogames often seems to go without concise definition. The suggested readings provided a number of hypotheses as to what a videogame is. The many different websites and articles given in this assignment each give their own perspective on videogames.

The first article by Frasca, gave some good input as to what may differentiate types of videogames. This article gave a rather simple definition of a video game as a form of electronic based entertainment involving one or more players. Emerging from a number of psychological perspectives including some from the famous developmental psychologist Piaget, Frasca explained video games in terms ones with without competitions and ones where a clear winner exists.

The Wikipedia article was analogous to the Frasca article. This particular article examined the Videogame under layman's terms relating videogames to any game played with a controller that gives visual response on a video screen. In addition this article spoke as videogames a large part of the economy. Another main point made was that videogames can be a very social item. Speaking of the arcade as well as console's multi player capabilities.

My favorite article was "Towards a Definition." This article was a amalgamation of numerous posts. The discussion wavered back and forth between the differences of videogames and computer games. I thought Andrew Boyd put it best stating that computer games have a large depth of control where as console games are less complicated. In this case it is settled that videogames require less control. I most certainly agree with this. I believe that video games are played either on a console or in the arcade format. The video game has very basic roots where pong was an arcade game computer games grew from a more complicated text format. To this day I feel that computer games are more complex in depth of control than videogames, which involve less thought.

The digra.org article provided a simple explanation of a videogame. By using basic terms it encompasses many videogames but also computer games. Here I must say that this definition is too vague and dry. To me a videogame has stronger similarities to this definition however computer games also easily fit into this definition.

It was interesting to check out gamespot.com because it shows how professional and business oriented the videogame field can be. We are still dealing with videogames but this website is for real. There are full-fledged advertisements and a professional website, and alot of information. I was very interested in amount of articles on this website it indicates a rather thorough and dedicated staff. This is the real deal for videogames.

These articles were without a doubt eye-openers yielding a new perspective for me. I was surprised to see how many opinions are out there debating something I have always taken for granted. It is also funny that the more I read the greater the urge to play videogames became. An interesting correlation.

What is a video game?

I would define a video game as an digital interactive environment. They are used mostly entertainment but can be used for more. Often a video game can be a passtime, or a challenge, something to do. Most video games seem to include a set of challenges for you- the character, to conquer. In many games you become personified as a digital character, which you control. This personal association between character and self is what can make the video games so addicting, and why people can react so strongly to what is happening in the game.