Week 11 Game Logging and Reviews

As supporting evidence of your understanding of the current gaming platforms and technologies gained on this unit and in your own gameplay experiences. The next two weeks are available for you to Play test and review various games played on various platforms. 

Using your blogs document the games you play and using which platforms and most importanly why you chose to play them.

Here is some useful guidance to help you 'De-construct' your gaming in a critically analytic way, these skills are paramount for the modern game developer and are a massive part of the QA (Quality Assurance) department of any professional game development company/industry:

INTRODUCTION:
Introduce the game your posting about. Give some brief history on the game and how it was made or why it was made. Discuss its release date and the overall feeling of the community before or on the day of its release. This is the place to catch your audience with witty remarks but the key is to keep it simple and to the point.

SINGLEPLAYER: [ score 1 - 10 ]
Describe the different nuances of singleplayer action. Discuss some of the following:

- Game Sound
- Controls
- Missions
- Difficulty ( ease to pick up or learn the game )
- Computer AI
- Enviroments ( textures, sounds, and models )
- Game UI ( user interface )

MULTIPLAYER: [ score 1 - 10 ]
Discuss the different areas of multiplayer play. Some examples follow:

- Game types
- Ease of entering a Multiplayer game
- Dedicated servers or Client hosted servers
- Customization of units/characters/weapons

GRAPHIC QUALITY: [ score 1 - 10 ]
Discuss the graphical elements of the game and how they add or hinder the games overall success. Some games have shitty graphics but the gameplay is so fun that it doesnt matter. Other games have horrible gameplay but the graphics are among the best of the best.

SOUND QUALITY: [ score 1 - 10 ]
Discuss how the sound helps or hinders the success of the game. In many cases sounds can really help to immerse the player in the games environment and truly bring the experience to a new level. The sound can also be a huge deterrent when playing a game.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: [ total score ]
Conclude your game review with an overall assessment of the game, include the strengths and the weaknesses the game posses. Sum up why you feel the game is worth the cost or why you shouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. 

Continue to record your gaming through your blog over the Xmas break and throughout the rest of the year as all the evidence as part of your study blog can be assessed and potentially improve your grade for the unit.

Week 9 Presentations Week

The Decades of Gaming - Group Presentations (1970s - Present)

This week its time to present your findings as a group as required by Assignment Task 1

Please refer to these docs for guidance regarding your approach to presenting, remember YOU are being assessed as an INDIVIDUAL LEARNER. This means there must be a clear and defined set of evidence which shows YOUR contribution to the group project, this can include planning documents  meeting notes, delegation of tasks and research, proper references in your notes to sources of information and images used in your slides and any supporting documents/handouts etc 

Presentation Assessment Form :

Oral Presentation Assessment Criteria and Guidance :

Also remeber to refer back to last weeks post for a brief video which deals with effective presentation techniques.

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Self Directed Study and Preparation for next week's session

You have a draft version of your essay/report Task 2 due in next weeks session.
Please make sure you have produced at least 300 words and have attempted to reference (using the 'Harvard' system) at least one (1) source which you intend to paraphrase or directly quote from as part of your work.

There will be a brief recap/reminder in next weeks session on how to go about this, also refer to the  previously provided Research Methods document (available on your shared drive).


To further help with this the following template can be used as a basic Essay/Report Plan for use in producing your first draft, remember to achieve the higher grades M & D you should look to expand on this which is representative of a P grade piece of planning documentation.

The following uses whats known as the (SEXI) structure:

Intro - Of your subject and your intentions with the essay/report

Paragraphs - MUST use fully formed paragraphs and appropriate writing structure and presentation i.e. no text speak or crazy unreadable fonts)


Topic Sentance - This tells the reader what the paragraph is 
going to be about. You only need to write down the jist of the 
topic sentence for each paragraph in your essay plan.

Explaination - A full Explanation of the point you’re making in this 
paragraph. This should make up the bulk of your paragraph. In 
your essay plan jot down what you’re going to explain.

EXamples -  or justifications that back up what you've said in 
that paragraph. Jot down what examples you’re going to 
include in your essay plan so you don’t forget to include them 
in your essay! (references and citations)

Importantnce - Why is this point Important? A really amazing essay 
would also explain why this point is important to the essay as a 
whole. What’s the significance of this point to the essay topic?


Conclusion - Every essay needs a conclusion that briefly 
summarises what’s been said in the essay. You can just write down 
conclusion or conc in your essay plan to make sure you write one.

Week 8 Assignment Brief & Powerpoint Group Task [cont]

Please see this link: Unit 36 Assignment Brief for your Assignment Brief for the Unit

Use this weeks sessions to work in your 'decade groups' and put together your group PowerPoint presentations ready for presentation to the group and myself as a whole next week. (Brief Task 1)

You will be assessed for subject engagement, overall appreciation of the subject, and preparation of your notes and final slides etc

Remember you MUST record and provide you OWN set of evidence for all the tasks including this one, so even though you are working in a group you have an 'individual' evidence trail.

At the end of this unit you will have an opportunity to provide some feedback about how you felt the group worked together (questionnaire and form). All individuals are graded as such so don't have concerns if the group participation seems unequal at the moment.


You were also made aware of the your 1st Draft deadline for Task 2 the 800 word report on the relationship between hardware and software within a gaming platform/s

This first draft should be 300 words minimum and have at least one correctly referenced information source (refeer to the guidance document/research mini task you were given back in week 2 (also available in your shared space folder) on the college S: Drive

As usual here are some videos which may help with your studies this week and going forward.

Week 5 Research Popular Gaming Platforms by Decade

 

Collate Research [Powerpoint]

This week we are going to use the SDS task from last week as a starting point for collating research and information regarding the most popular gaming platforms from your group's given decade.

You should attempt to gather as many examples of gaming platforms of any type from your decade and begin to critically analyse them in preparation for your written report task later in this unit.

What is critical analysis?

In a nutshell you should try to provide a:

Description
Explanation
Effect

You should also always be aware of the 'W' Questions;

When ?
Who ?
Why ?
Where ?
Which ?
and hoW ?



You should also record both your evidence trail (back ups and drafts) as well as sources of information (references) I would suggest using Powerpoint or Word to do this in conjunction with your blog posts

PLAY TESTING

For the last part of todays session I want you to continue to experience the gameplay and feel of retro games from across the given decades.

Follow the links bellow and try some of them out. Blog your responses to them using a critical eye and full sentence annotation and comments.

http://www.commodore.ca/commodore-arcade/
http://www.classicdosgames.com/online.html
http://www.realclassicgames.com/
http://www.retrogamescollector.com/#sthash.jcM1TAfu.dpbs
http://snessy.com/

Pick out a few favourites and blog post the following

What decade is it from ?
When was it made ?
What company made it ?
What platform/s was it available on in its original form ?
What platform/s was it converted for if at all ?

SDS TASK

As your SDS Task for the coming week you should review and complete all your blog posts and related evidence documents (ppt, word, etc) ready for our course review week which starts next in next Mondays session.



Week 4 Graphics Graphics and More Graphics

GDC Video Game Graphics

More PowerPoint presentations from Jun yo

 

This is a presentation by Jason Rubin of Naughty Dog (creator of Crash Bandicoot) used in 2003 at a Games Industry trade expo which asks some interesting questions about the use of graphics and graphics rendering technologies in use at the time and considerers the impact and influence of graphical elements in video games.

Consider his points, discuss in your groups and attempt to answer these questions for yourselves

SDS TASK Week 4 -5

 

Consider the graphics in the ever popular minecraft ? How important are they to the gameplay and player experience ?

What other factors might be driving the success and popularity of this game title ?



Would you come to the same conclusion about a title such as FIFA 2013 or F1 2013


For next weeks session compose a list of the most popular Gaming 'Hardware' from your given decade. We can then compare and contrast between the groups in next weeks session

Post your thoughts and conclusions in your blogs ready for tutor review by next week

Week 3 The birth of the Micro Processor

The Micro Processor and its predecessor the Integrated Circuit are at the heart of every piece of digital technology we all now use in our everyday lives. Gaming Platforms are no exception to this and indeed it could even be argued that they have provided the driving force behind the proliferation and evolution of micro chip technology in general over the last 40 years

This documentary tells the story of the man chiefly responsible for the innovation and invention of the Integrated Circuit and subsequently the Microprocessor as well as a new open and creative business model which was subsequently adopted by silicone valley giants such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

Watch the video and make your own individual notes which record key points and information which could prove useful going forward on this unit and allow you to take part in the classroom seminar sessions to follow.

His name was Robert Noyce and he started the company Intell:


http://youtu.be/-wO9Eu5I-hM

There are 6 parts to watch

Week 1 & 2 Introduction to Gaming Platforms

Week 1 & 2 Study materials will appear here