Response Week 11

1) Kinect technology is also used on many iphone applications and draws on the capabilities of a gyroscope. This is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of conservation of angular momentum. I’m not sure exactly how other fields will utilize this technology in the near future but it certainly indicates that the idiom of having your cell phone attached to your hand is becoming more fact than phrase. This technology could potentially allow us to becoming even more synced with our mobile devices, personal computers and of course, video games. I think that it also goes back to the discussions that we’ve had about a user’s sense of agency in the strategy class. Using a controller in a video game adds another level of mediation to the exchange in which the player controls an avatar with a joystick function. When you eliminate this step, the user feels more like the avatar and therefore has a greater sense of agency or control over the exchange.

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_video_games

This is a list of all of the open-source games that have been released in the past decade or so. I can’t say whether I know which of the games has been able to rival larger scale game productions because I never play video games and I pay very little attention to what games are being released. Apart from Halo, I’m not sure if I could name more than 3 other multi-million dollar video games. Because of the branding that has taken place with video game consoles, I think that it would be hard to break into that market using open source software. This kind of game is probably most popular strictly online.

3) We discussed some of the branding that has developed with the wii in class on Monday. They market the product to families as a new way to gather for family night and have fun together. The same trend was seen in early Atarri commercials as well though and we commented that a user’s grandparents were not likely joining in on that kind of family fun. I think that this branding image may be relevant today, because many of the Baby Boomers are actually tech-savy enough to play wii games with their children. The use of Kinect and wireless hand held controllers have allowed for the development of health and exercise oriented games that more interactive than older models, but I am not actually certain as to how much those game genres are grossing each year. It does seem, at least on an advertising level, that video games are being packaged and promoted differently (particularly the wii).  From a sociological perspective this is a logical step in ending the couch potato/sedentary lifestyles that are prevalent among a large percentage of Americans.