On adapting Road to Clean into an Ipad game.

Adapting our Road to Clean! game to the Ipad will definitely be a difficult process in itself. The tricky part is going to be not including the board itself as most concepts go along with the board. My first thoughts for the Ipod adaptation are to keep the idea of having questions that were originally featured on the cards. I would also like to incorporate some other way of using the PEST cards so that it makes the game more of a challenge. My thought here is to possibly have the ipad version play out with adding and subtracting points if the PEST card says move 5 spaces back, the spaces could simply serve as movement points. The person who answers the most questions correctly and therefore accumulates the most points will win the game. The Ipad version will allow 1-2 players as 4 players would feature an online concept. 

As many Ipad games do, this will feature a start screen. The screen will introduce the title and consist of  a Start button as well as an instructions button which players will be able to tap. Following the instructions button will allow the player(s) to browse through the rules of the game. Once the player pushes the start button, they will then be able to select a color that they choose to play with. They will be able to select the color by scrolling through them with their index finger. After they have chosen, an arrow directing them forward will take them to the Wetlands.

 In each land, the player will be asked questions about that land and will either receive 1 or 2 points for answering it correctly. Each question displayed upon the screen will contain the color code of the land. For example, Wetlands will feature either one or two blue dots which will signify the amount of  cleanly points obtained If they answer incorrectly, the player will remain at 0. The more points that each player obtains, the further they are getting to becoming uncontaminated. 

In gameplay, the player(s) may use PEST points against the computer or the opponent player. These points may be used to add or subtract points from you, the other player, or both. If a player receives a screen featuring images, they obtain even more attack opportunities or subtract significant amounts of points from opponent players. 

Each player's color will be displayed onto the actual map of the land that they are in. If the player draws an image card, they will need to touch the image on the map in order to determine the information on that particular play piece. For example, if the tomato appears on the screen, the player will tap the large image which will take them back to the map. The tomato will blink. Once the player taps the blinking tomato, their action card will then occur onto the playfield. For example, if it double's points, those points will automatically be added for that player's turn. 

In order to present the iPad game, I will use the Upstage app so that I can display my images onto an Ipad frame. It's truly amazing what a piece of software such as this can do. I am thinking about applying more features from the Ipad into this game. As I have never really played around with the actual unit, I'm not sure exactly how it will work out. I know that I will want to include some interaction such as shaking and turning the pad. This could possible something that the player needs to do between each question.

Just like in the board game, the Ipad version will end when the player with the most questions answered correctly and the most points wins. This may take some tweaking, but so far, these are my ideas for adapting Road to Clean! into an iPad game. 

Adapting the game to Ipad

There are various aspects I'd like to see in the Ipad adaptation of my group's board game.  I would like to see the game play remain educational in the fact that it features information about contamination. On our board game, there are six types of land: Farmland, City, Wetland, Swampland, Forest, and Wasteland. I would ultimately like to keep the initial idea of the board as there are six colors for each land. If the game were to have different modes on the Ipad, it would add more variety to the way it can be played. For example, we would obviously want a mode where friends and family can gather around the ipad and use customizable rules. Another mode could be to play against the computer which would allow for tips and tricks to help each player strategize for future games.

Cards are marked with dots (which are color coded) just as the spaces on the board are. For each card drawn there will be either one or two dots of color which represent certain types of land. For each card with one dot, there will be natural disaster information represented by that area. For each card featuring 2 dots, there will be contamination information. Whichever player draws the card will move their piece to the closest space (or spaces if they draw a double dot card) on the board. Following their move, the person to their right will read them a question regarding watershed (hence, the informative information on the cards involving whichever colored land dot they have). If they answer the question correctly, they may remain in that spot. If they incorrectly answer, they must move back two spaces.

                                 

                                   photo by: chesman1

The questions featured for the players will be determined by whichever type of card is drawn. These questions will regard information about contamination and water pollution in accordance to Chesapeake Bay watershed. The possibilities with Ipad are beyond amazing. I think that with an Ipad on our side, we may be able to make this game a lot more interactive with whichever features that we do decide to use. The interaction from person to Ipad itself will probably make this game a lot more entertaining and may even draw a lot more engagement if it features online play. Even levels of difficulty could be adapted through the Ipad interface. We could therefore feature levels of difficulty which would make the game a lot more interesting. It would also be interesting to have an automatic rotation feature for each time a player is on the spot.

All in all, I believe that this game is fully capable of an adaptation to the Ipad. I think that technology such as this benefits the player to player interaction and overall experience of the game's outcome. Kids would most likely be more engaged with the educational information which will be provided to them via Ipad screen. There seems to be a great appreciation for anything adapted to a more recent technology. Hence, people can enjoy the classic games as well as other adaptations with similar aspects of the game.

The Female's Preferred Experience in Gaming.

In his book A Theory of Fun, Raph Koster claims that the the point of playing games and winning them is "mastering abstract formal systems, which is something generally enjoyed more than boys and men than it is by girls and women." To argue this statement, there is no necessary proof that games are of a male activity than a female one. However, there are certain games that are particularly more popular with women than they are men. A variety of virtual world experiences can attract both genders. As gamers, both sexes equally seem to enjoy the story of the game. There are also various complexes and opportunities to be creative, educate ourselves, and socialize within the world of gaming.

As Jesse Schell suggests in The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, five main interests for males and for females are listed. The text mentions that men enjoy games that evoke more mastery, competition, destruction, spatial puzzles, and trial and error. Without any kind of relevant purpose, females do not seem to prove as much interest in mastery. Females are also not as competitive and sometimes puzzles become to frustrating to them.

 As a result, Schell notes that females learn towards the experience of emotion and social discovery that they often apply to real world situations.  He mentions that females like to see emotion, real world, nurturing, dialog and verbal puzzles, and learning by example.

"There is certainly no difinitive master list of what each gender prefers. The important thing is that you realize that there are some important differences, and that you carefully consider whether your game has the right features to delight the audience you are designing for." Jesse Schell

Girls like to explore their emotions therough gaming and tend to lean towards meaningful entertainment. Schell notes watching children play certain games when they are young. Females will often play as real world characters such as nurse, pop star, etc. whereas boys will convince themselves that they're the Spidermans of their time. The Sims game series have a great amount of female players than male because of the real life situations, social interactions between characters of the "real world."

photo by: motivateplay

"The percentage of women playing games has steadily increased over the past decade. Women now slightly outnumber men playing Web-based games. Spurred by the belief that games were an important gateway into other kinds of digital literacy, efforts were made in the mid-90s to build games that appealed to girls." Henry Jenkins, The Video Game Revolution

One may also note that sometimes females are not as competitive because of our natural nurturing tendencies to a point when we will sometimes sacrifice ourselves for another player instead of concentrate on winning. Notice that many females also enjoy learning by the examples in tutorials that are presented within video games.

"As digital technology has evolved to the point that videogames can now support emotional character portrayals, richer stories, and the opportunity to play against real people while talking to them, the female audience for videogames has been commensurately growing." Jesse Schell

photo by: gamerlimit

 

In her book, Reality Is Broken, Jane McGonigal states her game design abilities on the theory that games are in fact capable of bringing out the best in society. According to McGonigal, games make us more pliable. As gamers (male or female), we have the means witness nearly hopeless positions not with failure, but with an optimistic approach that we are capable of discovering solutions. With that in mind, she has made games for the less fortunate world. McGongigal's optimistic outlook suggests that positive cooperation conquer negative cooperation. Perhaps women's reasons for gaming are not as crazy as some may think they are. McGonigals theory proves that playing games to solve world issues and bring out the best in us by socializing is a great example of how females tend to make games meaningful in their play.

 In her game Evoke,  two women protagonists are immensely different from the typical portrayal of females in games. The girls are heroes globally travelling to help solve problems such as diseases.  The women actually have careers. The struggle she faces much like the struggles presented in action games. She is also South African which is not traditionally shown throughout games. McGonigal's design works in the narratives and stories of various real life issues that women and girls face today.

McGonigal  is  a designer  of alternate reality games, in which your virtual world gaming can be applied to reality. McGonigal acts on the synergetic side of games while aiming to relieve world issues like poverty and starvation. Hence, a game gives players an issue, and the players come up with strategies to solve that issue.

The Validity of Female Related Game Design and the Altercation of "Girl games"

Game design has grown beyond the arcade room based shooters.Games are constantly adopting characteristics that attract female players. The ever recent convergence of the female into what is known as a male avocation may give better awareness into the architecture of educational atmospheres that adhere to gender inclusive appraisals in the composition.

There are various explanations as to why digital games have arisen as a "guy thing." However, the increased amount of female games that are designed for girls may condone women to see technology such as computers as good instruments. The question is to how valid this argument really is.

As Michele D. Dickey notes,

" The main problem with developing games specifically targeted for girls and women is the question of whose notion of female is being portrayed in the game. There is danger in perpetuating cultural values that limit female roles and participation." Michele D. Dickey, Girl Gamers: The controversy of girl games and the relevance of female-oriented game design for instructional design.

Hence, it is significant to cross-examine whether the benefits of female apertures will defeat the conceivable disadvantage. Games such as Disney and Barbie definitely feed into specific stereotypical female interests.

"Interestingly there are many commonalities between elements of female-oriented game design and the types of tools and opportunities in constructivist learning environments. Many games are increasingly constructed as representations of 3D spaces, allowing players to move and interact in stimulated realistic or fantasy environments." (Dickey)

With that being said, for the composition of learning atmospheres, it is very important for apprentices to seek contingencies for investigation and direction to advance their building of understanding. Various games are also developing socialized atmospheres where global players may consort to one another and create gaming strategies. These days characteristics of female-oriented design are indeed integrated in contemporary massive multiplayer online (MMO) role-playing games such as World of Warcraft. Not to mention, women are commonly known to be drawn to different aspects of this type of gaming than men are.

"In massive multiplayer online games, men are significantly more likely to play games due to the possibility of great achievement and the ability to manipulate the game environment for personal gain, where women are significantly more likely to play games due to their desire to interact with fellow gamers and form meaningful relationships." Nicholas Maisonave, Gender in Gamer Culture and the Virtual World.

Much is to be learned regarding what exactly draws both males and females into specific aspects of game design. Taking a look at how females converge into what was once known solely as a male pastime gives insight, methods, and strategies in educating game designers how to communicate experiences and atmopheres to students of both genders.

Fight Like A Girl--Female Opportunity arises in social online atmospheres.

The relationship between gender and gaming is intricate and functions in a variety of layers. It is significant to see gendered gaming beyond its text.We must also take a earnest course to the female gender's influence. Within distinguished and constant ideas, femininity and masculinity are not themselves.Hence, communication and interplay between the two conveys a meaning. It is clearly obvious that gaming customs are experiencing an increase in fast communal and mechanical adjustments.

Jo Bryce and Jason Rutter's Killing Like a Girl: Gendered Gaming and Girls' Visibility indicates differences in the females' construction of a text's meaning through computer gaming. The banal representations of women game characters takes an apathetic stance of constructed meanings in conjunction to feminine and masculine representations within games.

"It is possible that females construct different meanings in relation to the themes of computer games, may play games in a masculine fashion, and/or may construct their own oppositional meaning of game texts." -Bryce and Rutter

                            

As for real world aspects, most gaming has frequently been connected to the mannerisms of "bedroom culture." This relates to a stereotype that females do not play in the same atmosphere that males do.

"Originally conceived as female use of domestic space, bedroom culture highlights the manner in which girls are restricted from full access to many social spaces and are instead left on the periphery of public social spaces (such as playgrounds)"-Bryce and Rutter

Developing proof shows that many females actually prefer taking part in gaming within homely conditions such as with their partners, family, and friends. One may note the significance of social leisures for women who play. Massive multiplayer online (MMO) games may have an effect on the overall female participation in games. Not to mention, a majority of the increased amount of online players are infact girls.

"It has been suggested that females are more affilitative and nurturing, preferring leisure activities which have a stronger social aspect."- Bryce and Rutter

Females may feel free of gender discrimination online as their physical attributes are anonymous. This perhaps deducts the banal behaviors that may attack female gamers. Opportunity arises for females if their identity is masked by the anonymity of online gaming. Hence, women are benefit in competing against guys without being discriminated against.

"Because 'girl gamers,' gorgeous or not, are still considered rare, regardless of consistent evidence to the contrary, women gamers gain a fair amount of recognition and attention through the social power of gender." Elizabeth McMenomy, Game On Girl: Identification and Representation in Digital RPG's

All in all, women who play games hold an important place in the ever developing culture of games all around the world. Girls that game are a very large and growing force in gaming culture which challenges the overall stereotypes associated with video games.

Video Game magazines also hint discrimination of women in games.

Monica Miller's 2008 article Gender Differences in Video Game Characters’Roles, Appearances, and Attire as Portrayed in Video Game Magazines analyzes video game magazine articles while investigating how characters are portrayed, with the focus on the difference in the sexes. The text's content analysis aspires to test messages portrayed in video games by examining the composition of video game articles from the three primary gaming console magazines in the United States—Playstation Magazine, Xbox Magazine, and Nintendo Power (which is soon to go out of print in December 2012).

After investigating these magazines, Miller found that male characters are made to be protagonist or hero, be more muscular, have more skills, hold more weapons, and have an overall dominant power. Females are frequently portrayed as auxiliaries.They are also more sexually attractive as they wear more revealing clothing. Comprehending the messages within these games is a significant path to understanding the effects games and magazines may have on our overall manners and dispositions as male and female.

photo by: joystiq

The article goes onto describe how mass media is capable of influencing many behavioral social standards that involve body image, sexual behaviors, self esteem, and gender identity.

"Studying video game magazine articles is important because this is a separate media than the games themselves. Knowing what kinds of images video games articles portray is important,just as it is important to study other types of magazines, movies, songs, and other media." (Miller)

Content analyses of video games and video game advertisements have consistently found that women are underrepresented, more frequently sexualized, more attractive, less powerful,and dressed more scantily than males.

As Karen Dill's Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People's Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions notes, one may find  that women are scarcely represented in video game magazine articles and advertisements, with less than a quarter of featured photos of video game characters in these magazines being female.

"Consistent with past content analyses of video games that found most popular games to be aggressive, we found that the great majority of video game characters (77%) in game magazines are aggressive." (Dill)

Both articles point out a woman's potential to become socially depressed or obtain lower self-esteem levels if they are exposed to some of the articles and images within the magazines. Researchers observed how media can influence the negative behavior patterns of women.

"Women who are exposed to images of “ideal” (e.g., very thin) women in the media report increased levels of body dissatisfaction, negative mood and depression, and lower levels of self-esteem as compared to women who are not exposed to these images. The influence of the media on young women’s body image have led researchers to speculate that media might also play an important role in negative behaviors such as eating disorders." (Miller)

Miller's findings in video game magazines suggest the development of gender roles and attitudes of the human kind. Note that because of this, females may feel that women are too submissive and need a man to save them. The idea that there are subtle amounts of girl characters in games and even less female protagonists or heroes could also be disheartening to women. Males who see this portrayal of females could possibly develop adverse attitudes toward the female gender. Characters of both genders: female and male could understand the woman character's part as the idea that women are not important and can't be heroes. Hence,

"women will have to idealize male characters or endorse the more stereotypical female portrayals." (Miller)

Even if the majority of both men and women play games, the game companies aim to please an audience that is dominantly male. Thus, game magazines often accentuate the female's violence, sexuality and overall attractiveness.

As Karen Dill notes, "Sexualized and stereotypical sex role portrayals Females were categorized as sexualized/curvaceously thin if the image portrayed was consistent with Harrison’s (2003) curvaceously thin appearance ideal (e.g., large breasts and small waist) and if the figure’s sexuality was stressed such as by showing cleavage, wearing provocative dress, or displaying provocative poses, postures or facial expressions. For example, a female character from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas licks her lips in a sexualized manner, while bending over, revealing tan lines and a tattoo under her bikini top."

Even throughout magazines, the sexual discrimination of even both genders can be shown. It's important to notice these things as advertisements can be just as effective as actually playing the game itself. From the way images are layed out in the magazines to the amount of content featured with in the articles themselves, all have effects on how we as women and men portray the world and the roles we're "supposed" to live by as genders

"Analyzing magazine articles provides more detail than analyses of either brief game play or advertisements used in past studies and thus allowed for greater exploration into the roles and appearances of characters."(Miller)

Sexual Representation and Discrimination of the Female Character in video games

Even though film and television are not perfect in portraying strong gender equality, video games remain the least fruitful for female representation. Although there there are various examples of distinctively strong, and more importantly,realistic female characters in television and film; there are fewer portrayed throughout video games.

Many games these days usually stereotype girls into a category that mainly focuses on the satisfaction of male viewers. In 2004, a female fighting game named Rumble Roses was released. The game featured a over 20 female characters. The women were classified into sexualized versions (complete with matching sexy outfits) of cheerleader, teacher, nurse, and ninja. While initially sounding like costumes from a lingerie catalog, these characters have emotional responses and fruitful backgrounds.

The ladies' strive to fight for their various wants in life such as wanting to sing, win, and wrestle. The accredited female characters challenge women's assumed characteristics by wrestling one another in the dirt. The dominant male view clearly exists as the characters tackle one another and end up in very sexualized, bewildering positions. One may note that similar things happen even when the female character is the protagonist.

photo by: BITTERLY

"The tired gameplay certainly seems a secondary concern to the developers. Sure, there is a mediocre wrestling game in here somewhere, but Rumble Roses‘s main concern is with women, or more specifically, their well-rounded body parts."-Ryan Smith

photo by: Avane

Believe it or not, at one time there were games that took a stab at empowering the female character and gamer. Take NES's original Metroid for example. Even though Samus Aran is discovered as female at the end of the game, her identity is completely hindered during the actual game play. When Samus is revealed as a woman in the end, one might assume that the point is to prove that women are just as strong as women. To contradict that statement, men might also feel that a female hero is weak leading to their disappointment in the game all in all.

"As you play through the game the character gets more powerful and you start feeling pretty badass with this butch, bounty hunter character at your control. The thing is, when you get to the end of the game you get a peak under the suit… and would you know it, Samus is a girl!"- Jim Lockey, The Representation of Women in Video Games

photo by: baroque_vulcan

As Lockey notes, Samus' character was created in the 80's to notion that video games are not sexist. Many gamers will cite the example of Samus as some kind of proof that games aren’t sexist. Arguably, she is a great example of a dominant and strong female character. The fact that she has been hidden by a stereotypical male suit of armor. Then again, an empowerment factor does go into effect by the very simple face that Samus Aran is disguising her femininity. At that time (1980's), Samus Aran's character was definitely a big jump for the future of female representation in video games.

It is very curious as to why there were not any firm female leads to come far after the 1980's. Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider series was the next jump in 1996. Croft has had many edits to her image over her reign in strong female representation.

Unlike Samus, Croft was a lot more feminine as her identity was not hindered for the entire game play. Arguably, her femininity that caters to the dominant male desires in video games. Lockey notes that various models have also been casted as Croft only to sexualize her character that much more.

photo by: newlaunches

During game play, Croft moans in a sexual manner while stepping and climbing bumps and hurdles. A relative depiction of female characters only takes place if it results in fiscal increases given to the publishers. As the newest installation of the Tomb Raider series emerges, one may find that even though Lara has a new look, she is indeed becoming even more sexualized. Also note that there were even films released starring Angelina Jolie, a very attractive and popular actress, especially among male viewers.

"Though female video game characters appear to be underrepresented overall, as active characters, and as playable characters, they are proportionally more likely than males to be portrayed in a sexualized fashion. These results beg the question: If this is the nature of female video game characters, should their number be increased after all?"- James D. Ivory, Still a Man's Game

Body Imagery vs. Realism: Representation of Female Bodies in video games

Even when females are heroes, they are frequently related to remaining auxiliary to the dominant male or hyper-sexualized in terms of their body type, fashion, and manner. Females characters are also created to be less bodily aggressive than male characters They remain contributors as opposed to adversaries.

Women characters are portrayed as nearly naked by wearing very thin or skimpy clothing. Their cleavage does not go unseen because of their ridiculously low necklines and small amounts of clothes. Their waistlines are often so thin that the only part visible is indeed, their breasts. A great example of this can be shown through looking at the characters of the Soul Calibur series. Below is a picture of Ivy Valentine, a female character from the series. Notice how much emphasis exists from the chest down in this image. Her body represents the notion of skimpy clothing and voluptuousness in female video game characters. Her waistline is nearly invisible as her breasts invade the space in this image. It is evident that in real life, these kinds of bodies do not typically exist. Although she may be considered a hero or important character in the game, it is overshadowed by her sexualized body image.

image by: Stregatto10

"To date, there is no published systematic research on female body imagery in video games, but a casual examination of the video game landscape suggests that the female characters featured in many of these games may conform to the skinny-yet-busty ideal featured in other media." -Dmitri Williams

Although they may not intend on doing it, it seems that female character developers believe that it's alright for female characters to be as resistant and active as their male counterpart. Only if she is in some way sexualized, this will hinder her strengths when being compared to male characters.

"For a woman, who may not be voluptuous or want to be objectified by men, there may not be much desire to engage with a media product where this is the common depiction of femininity (Martinson, 2002)."- CarrieLynn Reinhard

photo by: dis-ndat

The picture above represents the female body image that we see in everyday life. It is more common to see bodies like this as opposed to the one featured earlier because they are real. As mentioned before, the bodies portrayed in video games are completely unreal. The fact that men can play as the female protagonist (whether it be Ivy Valentine in Soul Calibur or Lara Croft in Tomb Raider) allows the woman's body to be controlled and therefore gazed upon by the dominant ideology. The video game business fundamentally boosts itself in developing games that male end users will want to engage, and failing to give bigger quantities of games with adverse-depictions for players of both sexes.

"Past research has found a level of ambivalence among women as they deal with themedia's depictions of female beauty, such as the curvaceously thin.Women shown idealized or sexualized body types have indicated more dissatisfaction with their own body, especially if they have internalized the norms portrayed,all the while being critical of sexualized portrayals in general." -Reinhard

Maybe potential female players would refuse to engage in a video game involving such a character because of their lack of enthusiasm to relate to the character. Contrary to this idea, male end users might enjoy playing games like this in result of their attraction to the sexualized female character. When identifying with the character on both conditional and intellectual traits, both female and male players may show an increased amount of involvement in the game. Many studies show that male players are much more interested in a character that is not "boobified." Other findings show that even female players interest might decrease in the character if they are given other options. Therefore, the gaming industry might want to acknowledge adjusting to characters that are not sexualized (or as sexualized). This would allow both sexes to distinguish and thus, appoint to the game on a more personal scale.

The reasons why some chicks don't play games.

Women's prominent reason for their absence in video game play arises from the dominant ideologic coherence that they are women; Therefore, they do not play games unless they see others playing them. In this sense, women may also feed into their own stereotype if they choose to. Many women think to themselves “I don't that woman on television who are playing video games, so I am not supposed to.” Although it now seems "cool" to be nerdy, video games have stilled been perceived in the hands of extremely geeky mid-aged males who have no life. This may also shun many women of any kind of interest in the gaming world.

These three categories summarize a feminist view on video games that may give reason to why some women never play them:

Failure to relate to female characters in result of their are unrealistic character,one-dimensional,or stereotyped depictions of the female gender;Lack of games for females that don't include stereotypical girly(barbie doll) ideas such as flowers, fashion, princesses, the color pink, etc.;Video games are "for dudes" and typically do not include female players and that the dominant ideology of video games is hateful towards women creating a hostile gaming atmosphere.

image by: pajamajams

Note that the photo above is very sexualized as the woman grasps onto the phallic joystick with an angry, open-mouthed expression. This image was one of the first brought up in a search to find an image of a woman playing video games. Although the image makes female gamers appear competitive, the male-view still obstructs over any other way of looking at it. It is very coincidental that even images of women who do play are also objectified.

"Mario plays into one of the oldest sexist stories ever: the hero who rescues the princess from a monster. To make it worse, rescuing the princess is so goddamn intolerable and fraught with frustration that by the time you finally free her from Bowser’s brutish turtle claws you don’t even care."-The 5 Worst Moments for Women in Video Games

Many video game publishers are pushed into making ample have a small selection of possible buyers. They are therefore forced to make equally broad abstractions. Even in this century, lots of females still have difficulty selecting games that interest them personally. The array of games persists in its amplification yearly. Therefore, often viewing the game's artwork or advertisements could be just as deceiving as the composition of a game than making a hasty choice.



photo by: leena

To this day, one will find a mother coming into a game store searching for a specific color of a console or controller. Next time you are in a video game store, note the choice that the parent makes for their child. Usually, if the child is a boy and wants a pink controller, the parent may get offended as pink is a girly color. This happens less often with girls who want a more masculinized color like blue. One may find that most parents prefer their children to have the color of their sex or a gender neutral color. This also segregates women if they are expected to pick out the color pink young in age.

"We are at a crucial turning point in how women interact with and are portrayed in video games, which is why I believe it is equally as important to recognize the great strides that have been made in addition to the complaints and critiques, for progress is more likely to continue and accelerate if it is encouraged rather than ignored."-Allison Perry, Women and Video Games: Pigeonholing the Past

Geek Feminism and representation of Female Roles in games

"Through STEM studies, which look at why males are often linked toscience rather than females, there are a myriad of studies that focus specifically on genderedrepresentation within video games. While these studies do not differentiate between American made games and Japanese made games, and do not cover every video game system, they have noticed several patterns." -Representation of Women in Popular Video Games , Nicholas Lalone

Although many believe that we have overcome the underrepresentation of female characters in video games, gender discrimination remains unconquered. One may note the sexualized appearance of women often found in role-playing and narrative based games. Women characters are often thrown into the game as sexualized rewards or game goals. Most video games are still marketed to the dominantly male consumer. This sexist advertising presumes that the audience will be male which leaves many females offended. One may note that most characters featured in video games are in fact male. Kelly Phillips noted the number comparison between male and female characters in her 2009 Yahoo! Contributor article From Princess Peach to Lara Croft: Gender Representation in Video Games



photo by: addae2012

"In Mario Superstar Baseball, the front cover only shows male characters (Bowser, Mario, Luigi, Wario, Donkey Kong) and an unidentifiable gendered dinosaur (Yoshi). All the characters are shown in a small column on the right of the back cover. This column includes the characters on the front plus two females, four other male characters and an unidentifiable gender dinosaur (Princess Peach, Daisy, Waluigi, Diddy Kong, Bowser Junior, and Birdo)." -Kelly Phillips, From Princess Peach to Lara Croft: Gender Representation in Video Games.

If gaming options exist for female players, they are usually provided with less features and options than men have. Video games that are sexually explicit and involve fair amounts of nudity are generally directed towards a dominant male audience.If women play, this type of game leaves them with not much of a choice in the matter. A great example of this would be hotselling titles such as Grand Theft Auto and the latest installation to the Max Payne series. Both of these games were created by video game developer and publisher Rockstar Games, and feature open world and free roam settings. This allows games like these to feature prostitutes, drug addicts, victims, and strippers; all of which represent the low life of women.



photo by: Thomas Menga

Women are continuously objectified and sexualized. Perhaps this is due to the simple fact that video games portray this significantly higher amount of male character and male dominance in video games."These perspectives suggest that a video game landscape wherewomen are represented infrequently and as passive, sexualized beings can precipitate a similar Weltanschauung among video game players who consume the message through long and frequent bouts of game play." James D. Ivory



video by: feministfrequency

In the video above, pop culture critic Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency shows images that represent how narrative games of male dominance are like.The video depicts Faith of the ever famous Mirror's Edge. The video also features Chell from Portal. Both characters are shown at significant points to communicate the idea that game developers can note the issue. I plan to bring various ideas to the table this semester by focusing primarily on gender representation (especially when it comes to female roles and feminist focused theories).

Logos to Echos and Reversibility Between Expression and Perception

"The study of perspective "teaches that our ways of understanding are constituted less by an objective reality or subjective impression than by a communicative interplay of phenomena. In this communicative interplay, the ways one perceives the world are manifest as acts of expression, and, in turn, these acts of expression become the ways that the world is perceived." (Williams, K. p. 199 Why I [Still] Want My MTV)

As Williams is noting here, perception becomes displaced as cenas a key to representing reality. Hence, there is an act of deciphering whether to always measure things in a linear model. The very ways in which one perceives the world are represented through expressive acts. These expressions are then evolved into the that the world is "looked at." Venturing through the aspects of the unknown, one might often escape to their imaginative state of questioning what is real and existing and what could be real and exist. It all depends on how one defines "the real."As Lacan has it, the real can be defined as a state that can only be understood in connection with the categories of the symbolic and the imaginary. In this sense, "that which never ceases to write itself" brings across the idea that reality is related to the impossible, cannot be spoken or written, and cannot be reduced to a single meaning or means of expresssion. How we express ourselves and how we perceive the world , one finds themselves capable of deciphering between concepts about what is real. Perhaps this questioning is a sense of escaping back to a dimension of the imaginary states we experience in childhood or a return to an innocent state.

Ideologies among the various portray logic (logos) as being the sole term of rational thought and being. An audience may become oscillated by the symbolism which tells it to conform to the rationale. Concepts of logos are brought about through the what Williams names the fourth dimension-music visuality. In this sense, echos draws forth logos' (logic's) state of expressing an art through this (fourth) dimension of musical visuality.One thing that Dr. Williams is trying to prove is that although there is nothing wrong with understanding a text through a state of meaning already given; However, it is important to remember having an open mind. Even when it's the most difficult thing to do, opening a state of mind and being can be quite comforting. We are set into this world full of phenomena through symbolism. Some believe in a divine being while others base their reality on plain science. It is significant to remember that there may be more to the world than is portrayed by the naked eye itself. If one looks deeper into the art (whether it be a video, audio track, book, painting, etc.), they may connect in a sense that there is no sole story. Within a text lies various ideas, symbols, and meanings derived from it. As Williams states:

"I suggest echos as a metaphor and way to understand the mutual interpenetration of sights and sounds- and indeed of the presence of multiple logics- and as well of the multiple ways in which such a work may be read, interpreted, and become meaningful in one's life." (Williams p. 211)



As Williams suggests, logos is itself the dimension of musical visuality.As humans we are in flux not only physically, but mentally. How we express ourselves artistically is key to deciphering between echos and logos. They are like Freud and Lacan as Lacan sort of weaves off of Freud's ideas.Knowing that certainty is never given, but constituted gives one the benefit of making sure that music television (MTV) was in fact music television, and that knowing this relates to combinations involving a land of expression and perception. In essence, the act of phenomena is indefinite.

Williams notes the point that awareness does not only constitute a background through which ideas are made clear, but that an awareness is presupposed by all fields of research without even investigating itself. A play of synthesis weaves all of this together. Music video offers a way toward interpreting the importance of sound and and music in a capitalistic society and culture that leans toward the its dominant ideology of the visual. What Williams notes as "videoscape," references that which MTV was and still is capable of bringing to the table. In this sense, MTV sets forth the principles of organization, atmospheric dimensions, and environment. Thus, videoscape expresses a way of interpreting and expressing the world we live in.

In this musical visuality (logos), we succeed in aspiring to find an echoes, a reverberation which amplifies further than the material world of television and into pop-culture. What we call pop-culture is discovered within the echos of MTV. Williams points out that we also find that conceiving an influence on Music Television's viewers is an act that is indeed futile. The things viewed on Music television show up in the background of its style depicted by a musical-visual presentation.

The effects of MTV upon culture have yet to be discovered as Music Television is as Williams suggests "a cultural expression and an expression of culture." Hence, MTV is borrowing from the culture, condensing what already exists, and extending it into the realms of television. A great example is portrayed through PJ Harvey's "This is Love" video where Polly Jean is featured using pastiche and sexualizing an image formerly used by the wonderful Elvis Presley. Her rock star stances and rough, edgy guitar riff is overlayed by her voice mirroring the guitar's edgy audio. It is a great example of the rock star portrayed throughout the dimensions of pop-culture visuality.

Final Blog A : Tori Amos-Bouncing Off Clouds

So my first reaction to the privilege of making a Tori Amos video was "Wow, okay I am going to direct a video portraying one of my all time favorite artists." Not only was the green screen footage of Tori copyright free, it was editable. The only problem I really came across was removing the tracking markers in the background. The first step I took in editing the video was create a multi-clip in Final Cut Pro. I created the multiclip and ran a few rough cuts of which shots of Tori I liked in certain time frames. I ran through quite a few of these cuts until I really grasped onto one. I had already had my ideas layed out.

The song is "Bouncing off Clouds," so needless to say I made sure that I began the video featuring Tori in this literal atmospheric depiction of the clouds. I wanted to start out with Tori's hands. There is a sensual moment every time that Tori's fingers stroke the keys, so I really wanted my audience to "feel" this light, cloudy sense of free spirit. To me, the song's meaning is among various dimensions. In this sense, any perceived meaning is the correct one. Hence, there really are no "wrong" answers here. Furthermore, I took Tori and her brilliant piece into the perceived mountains (or in this case, clouds) of the unconscious.

The visuals birth senses of dreamlike states as the sky changes from day to night, from mint to red, from city to the people caught up in its routine. These images set forth a very powerful viewing experience. At one point, I felt as if I were playing off of Madonna's "Ray of Light" video which also depicts fast-paced city streets and features Madonna in clouds. As I stated before, I start Tori in the clouds-the lightness in our lives. From the clouds Tori's image is then shifted into the busy streets of New York City. The busyness of the people and fast-paced motion can represent a variety of ideas. It serves as a vision of the fast-paced caught up state we find ourselves in when living in a capitalistic society.

The traffic and busyness can also represent a difficult time in one's life. For example, a break up with one's true love, a family death, a bad day at work, a recurrent failure. So, in a sense we are all sort of "bouncing" off of these daily or lifetime dimensions of stress. As Tori's apparition changes from city to sky, one finds a sense that even in all of this, one must learn to escape back to an ultimate dimension of happiness.



"Make it easy, make this easy," Tori sings as the background shifts from technological busyness to a more natural state. Flowers are trapped behind her image, representing an obstruction from an intimate connection with a natural world once known. As Tori is taken through these obstructed views of the simpler world, patches of flowers and green sky show through depicting "wrapped in metal wrapped in ivy. Paint it in mint ice cream." Right when she sings ivy, the flowers are portrayed as an obstruction. A "collage" of Tori's imagery is used to depict this obstruction which portrays her hands stroking piano keys while she sits right in front herself. Her fingers play along the piano with another layer featuring her straddled between two keyboards.

When Tori sings "mint ice cream," the green sky image depicts the world sought to escape to. Also, the term "mint" is a form of green, so it worked quite well. Continuing through, Tori is then floated through these montages of the busy city streets, back to clouds as they shift from day to night. As this occurs, Tori sings "well you can stare all day at the sky." As she leans back towards the moon, the background then shifts to visuals of Times Square, a busy place, indeed. At this point in the video, the viewer may find themselves pleading, or perhaps longing for a change to this busy world she is trapped inside. At the bridge, "make it easy, easy, easy, we could make this easy," her collage is brought back to the screen shifting between clouds, city, and obstructed views.

Tori is then to a point in the clouds where she is sunk into a deeper consciousness. She shifts to a view where she is floating through stars, giving her a chance to thrust her hips and dance as she goes through a resurrection process of re-birth. The starry tunnel represents a shift to a different world unknown or lost, but soon to be found. After going through this tunnel, all that is remembered is a life of constant stress. Although it is a difficult thing to do, it is almost as if Tori is reminiscing about her life in that stressful state. It is almost as if we as a person are remembering what once was and is soon to disappear. Hence, maybe all this busyness and stress was no big deal in the first place. If we take life more lightly and remember our happy state of mind and sense of self, life will ultimately reach its state of easiness. In a sense, the viewer experiences her destination of ultimate enlightenment in the end. A re-birthing of self, a founding of an ultimate state of grace. It depicts a sense of place as you are one self in the world enlightened.

Furthermore, the main themes that I wanted to bring across here were an ultimate enlightenment of self, finding one's self after a rough time, a return to innocence, and finding that lost world once lost and now found. In this case, it's a world depicting a colorful array of mint trees and red sky. Hence, the phrase of putting the color back into a dull or dead world. I am very pleased with the way the project turned out despite the fact that I could not remove all of the tracking markers and some of the green screen still shows through. I worked really hard keying out most of the green, but I could only do what I was capable of creating here. I am very happy that I now understand the basics of working with three-point edits in Final Cut Pro. It's good to learn just how much this piece of software is capable of doing.

Final Blog B: Tori Amos-Bouncing off clouds

I recently finished up a music video featuring Tori Amos and her wonderful song, "Bouncing Off Clouds." The only problem I really came across was removing the tracking markers in the background. I spent over half of the semester trying to work with Apple's Color software. The software didn't seem to cooperate with what I wanted to do, so I then resorted to various methods of research. I aspired to find different ways to get rid of the markers, but never found a thorough way of doing so. Therefore, I then decided to just go with the editing abilities I had available through Final Cut.

The first step I took in editing the video was create a multi-clip in Final Cut Pro. I created the multiclip and ran a few rough cuts of which shots of Tori I liked in certain time frames. I ran through quite a few of these cuts until I really grasped onto one. I also had to fool around with the chroma-keyer in order to get a good amount of the green screen out of the screen shots. This was a very difficult process. It worked for the most part, but even using the color corrector didn't remove every single trace. So what I did was sometimes soften her image and make her more transparent which worked really well.



There were some points in the video where I blocked off some bigger tracking markers on the side of Tori's head. One may notice that some of her images appear more transparent than the others due to my tweaking in the "edge feather" feature in FCP. I felt that this worked better than having a repetitive flow of images including any trace of those markers. Although some shots (especially the ones where Tori is stradling between two keyboards) may include the markers, it still works because the markers would sometimes reveal themselves as stars in the sky. Also, one might notice how subtle they are in some points because of the whites in the clouds imagery. It took a lot of time simply keying out the green screen and attempting to avoid any green of spilling through. In Final Cut Pro, I even tried using a spill suppressor to fine tune the green off of the edges of Tori's hair.

It was quite a process making sure that the green wouldn't bleed into the background I wanted portrayed. In some shots, some green spill would have been okay whereas in others it wouldn't work. For example, the mintish green sky background and then ending tunnel imagery could've survived some of the spill whereas it wouldn't have looked appealing spilling through the VideoTrakk footage and cloudy sky imagery. I think that the video works as a whole, but I'm not necessarily sure that the themes I wanted to convey stretch into the mind of the audience. Although there really is no "right" or "wrong" answer here, there is a significance in the sense that the audience needs to be left with a feeling. I believe that most of my audience may be impacted or inspired by the techniques I used in creating this video, but I'm not sure that they will get the same meaning out of the song that I do. The beauty of all of this is that it doesn't matter if it makes sense or not to the audience. The importance here is that when one expresses themselves in a visually creative sense, whatever they portray is their own. Hence, an audience can receive various perceptions from the music's visual styles and how they move to the music.

In the earlier process, one of the things that bothered me was that I finally realized that the video I wanted to produce was indeed something that would need to be taken into further software. For example, I originally wanted to include a movement of flowers growing out of Tori's piano. I wanted to create the idea that although nature is sometimes forgotten, a state of one's mind can bring them back to that innocent state of mind. I virtually wanted this once lost world to grow onto the city streets and take over the whole idea that one is so caught up in their stressed and busy lives. In this sense, Tori would be shifting through the dimensions of the unconscious while encountering not only bodily, but worldly changes. Hence, the world is in fact changes back to one that she once knew or finds again. I spent a lot of late nights and full days just trying to learn more editing techniques and become more familiar with Final Cut's features. There were many hours spent in the process of creating this final product and I hope that it shows through. I truly had a blast working on this video as it shows me just how much work people do to create a work of artistic expression through video.

Seeking to understand sensuous music visuality through the acts of creating and watching.

"There is always something more-- the shimmer of the screen, the flow of the fabric, the glimmer of the eye, the mood of the stage, the tonality of the work-- that can not be captured semiotically or hermeneutically."- Williams, p. 166 Why I [Still] Want My MTV

As Williams notes, disregarding the stereotypes involving an aesthetic value in music video and television, it is important to attempt understanding the superfluity of the experience and how one's knowing of the world can around them can be interpreted in different senses of expression. One enters the journey of the enigmous encounter with these visuals and sounds as their bodies perceive and express various undertones. It is important to avoid a knowing of television as aesthetic or a fine art form because it simply is not. IN this sense, television can make the use of its elements aesthetic, but the thing itself is not an aesthetic fine art form. There is, however a dimension that is aesthetic. It is all a matter of revealing access to this dimension of television.

"Breathing life into aesthetic formations and capturing the worldly flow is an aisthetic dimension of experience that is rarely discussed, but whose explication would shed light on the superfluity, meaningfulness, and resonance that artistic production has in people's lives." Williams, p. 169 Why I [Still] Want My MTV

As Williams shows here, the potential of finding the meanings of these "things" comes from the aesthetic dimension. Thus, a rebirth for the bodily perception is in flux. One may see the body crossing through aesthesis as the their vision becomes merely a "seeing." Only through our flow of awareness do we come across senses of texture, color, shades and rhythm. As in musit video, all of these senses are brought together in the act of synthesis and the defining that is created in exeperiencing the act. Thus, aisthesis is not only created through perception, but through expression. For example, the meaning of a thing being what it is cannot serve without exploring a possibility for other meanings behind it.



"Musical-luminous unfolding" takes place as music and the act of dancing to it fluxate through birthing cycles. The song, video, or dance do not become one simplistic, solidified thing of being. "Thinking it constitutes a nonmetaphysical, nonotological thought- a bodily cosmic thinking. It reveals, in the contours of "musical visuality." This third dimension gives understanding to the importance of synesthetic experience and the accuracy of embodiment in interpreting the style of music video. Identifying the video as a representation of "something," one must penetrate the video's unfolding, take away the sensual depth reflected in visuals and sounds. Musical visuality serves as the intercourse between sound and vision, music and sights in music video. Hence, this binding of sight, sound, dance, and music evolve narrative, realism, etc. as logos. This creates a synesthetic (inter)communication between all.

Synesthesia can briefly be defined as "the crossing or overlapping of sense modalities." Williams' explanation of the word depicts an interest in the very experience. It is also defined as "the experience of an associated sensation when another sense is stimulated." So it's all just a bunch of conglomerated senses. However, the experience is much more sensual when one takes part in it. For example, the lines and shapes of green used within the movie The Matrix depict a feeling and sound. Simply seeing the design upon the dvd cover communicates the sound of the film's score in the background. We have all had sense-gasms in that sense. For example, a certain smell or a certain sound or color can remind us of someone. Good times and bad times are remembered. The smell of a perfume may remind one of an ex-lover. The particular sweet smell of oats in horse feed can take you back to the farm you once grew up on.

Synesthesia relates to sights and sounds in knowing that when one hears the song on the radio, they may be reminded of the music video they have not seen in ages. It happened to me just recently as I recently heard R.E.M's "Losing My Religion" on a local radio station. Every time I hear that song, it takes me back to the house I grew up in as I watched the strange visual collage of old man with angel wings and the tripped out man dancing by himself. The band claims this is not about religion and loss of faith, although the video is full of religious imagery. Some Catholic groups protested the video. It was the first to show lead singer Michael Stipe dancing. The director hung out with the band to get ideas, and when he saw Stipe's spastic dance style, he thought it would look great in the video. The fact that I thoroughly enjoyed this simply because the mandolin was visually and musically pleasurable. I often wondered who the man in the corner playing the small stringed instrument was. I grew up in the 90's which was a peak time for music video. Thus, it is in itself a phenomenal experience as I am reminded of times as a child. Not to mention, I've recently been on a constant 90's kick. It's wonderful to know how these music-visual effects acutal "affect" a person's reminescence of a time or place.

Therefore, the music video discovers a disregarded, currently living way of perception within its expressive dimension. The significance of the visual itself is thus a known style that permisses the music video to undergo visual perception while it is apparent to "bodily perception" that it is only a visual experience. Thus, visuals become the importance in that which we perceive through a music video. The beauty of phenomenology is that it enlightens us to learn that which our ideologies fail to teach from our day to day experiences.

The Persistence of Vision, Realism, and Hyper-reality

"The visuals of a music video cannot be reduced to a denotation or even a connotation of a song. Instead, they open another dimension-- another opportunity to express."Williams, K. p. 156, Why I [Still] Want My MTV

As Williams suggests, the performance of a music video portrays more than just a televised performance of a song, narrative, or creator's visual illustration. Although the tone and overall feel of the scenes in the song are set,the sounds and sights create a whole other dimension. Hence, the sounds themselves define the depth of the visuals. The music video itself composes the relationship between video and audio thus creating a new idea of presenting a performed piece of music.

Perhaps this new idea lies in the origins of the reality behind synesthesia-the integration of the senses. If senses themselves are mental constructions of an environment, one may find it difficult to decipher whether what they are seeing and hearing in music video is "real." In another sense, one may also argue that based on all ideologic backgrounds; their reality is not in fact another's reality. In that sense, when viewing the color in a video our environmental and ideologic background tell us that a cool color such as blue gives off a sense of mourning or relaxation. One could argue that in the same way with the warm color --red which tends to visually demonstrate a violent feeling, blood, danger, anger, etc. So how does this relate to this text? As Williams points out in his lectures, every video has its own color. With each color comes a semiotic value. For example, The Matrix's visual presentation was mostly green.

"Music video reveals itself as a form of video, as a mediated vision, and makes its technological basis the force of its appeal." Williams, K. p.150

In this case, the viewer cannot deciper whether the televised musical performance is actually live or not. The matter is that the music video is presented to us in such a way that we are not meant to question whether it is "really happening" or "pre-recorded." In this sense, the (music)video must not be mistaken for a live performance (even when it is live). Hence, music video codes specify that the video is not in a live setting. In this sense, the viewer takes on a visual bias by arguing whether something is real or not real. We live in the age of visual senses where visual bias ties "seeing" something to actually "knowing." The impact that television brought to the viewer connects to our culture's dominant favoring of the sense that is sight (our seeing). Our relation to visual imagery is indeed what defines our mindset as in the digital age.

"As clouds cover the sky above the guitarist, it begins to rain at the wedding. A glass of red wine spills on a white tableclot; a woman wearing a wedding dress lies dead in a coffin. The song "November Rain" does not musically or lyrically sing the narrative of the video."

Williams notes on the classic example of a video that transitions from narrative to concert video footage. Above, Guns n' Roses "November Rain" depicts the classic tragic love story as the musicians perform on stage. However, the narrative does not match the lyrics that Axel Rose vocalizes. The importance here is that the illustration of the song does not depict the song. Thus, the song gives off the intense feeling and rhythm that the story and band clips set forth.In this sense, a music video "performance" becomes more than just a televised medium of a song, its visual depiction, or its situation.

"The visuals of a music video cannot be reduced to a denotation or even a connotation of a song. Instead, they open another dimension-another opportunity to express. Thus, a single song may spawn several videos, esach with a different visual look, for the connection between the song and the video is neither fixed nor singular." Williams, p. 156 Why I [Still Want My MTV]

Vision is more something that reality cannot conquer itself in the five senses. What one "sees" may unintentionally mislead them to other biases. This misbelief may lead one onto what Williams defines as "the third communicative dimension." Hence, while sounds define the overall feel of one's experience viewing, the audio and visuals of the presentation give birth to this dimension.

The phenomena of music video allows us to escape from the "everyday world" that we are frequently caught up inside. Perhaps these mediums permit one's mind back to the child or teenager inside of us. The beauty behind this is one's privilege to critique what they are looking at and listening to. In that sense, we aspire to understand how music escapes the instrument it is performed upon. Although we may "see" music videos, but we strive to understand how one creates and expresses such a work through amazing visual imagery and editing techniques. While viewing, one may come across a sense to question exactly how the work's creators developed such skill. As semioticians, our minds are set to interpret these signs of communicative dimensions.