1. Mitchell is unabashedly cocky and fond of self promotion, proclaiming himself the "Sauce King" of Florida for his successful line of homemade hot sauces. Next to his family, Mitchell considers his arcade scores his greatest achievements in life. How typical are these types of values and attitudes among 'core' gamers and how important is it to understand these values if you are a game designer? What *are* these values, exactly?
I don't think these values are the same for everybody, but the way I see them is an appreciation for competitive gaming, and a thirst for competitive gaming. The typical game player might see a game like Pac-Man, try it a few times, and then ask their friends "Hey how far did you get? Did you get the fruit? Did you eat a ghost?" But a "core" gamer would say "What was your score? How fast did you get there? How long can you go without dying? I bet I can beat you." I think that's the main difference anyway, and once core gamers feel like that they start paying attention to all sorts of details. They compare achievements and trophies, they do speedruns, they play games on harder difficulties to challenge themselves, etc. They're always seeking a greater challenge and better competition.
I think it's important to understand these values to design games, not because core gamers are the biggest audience, but because when they love a game, they'll play it a million times and share it with all their friends so they can compete against each other.
2. Steve Wiebe has been laid off as a Boeing engineer, and now spends his time as a science teacher. His friends and his wife, Nicole, describe him as a tragic figure who always comes up short, despite being proficient at music, sports, art, and mathematics. Is Weibe's 'tragic' aspect typical of core gaming 'types'? What role does self esteem (high or low) play in the culture of hard core gaming and such subcultures as competitive vintage or 'classic' game playing? How would you best describe the relationship between low self-esteem and videogame mastery?
I don't think low self-esteem and video game mastery are related. I think those aspects of Steve Wiebe are just great character development for a tragic hero vs. an evil nemesis story. I think the "tragic" qualities of Wiebe and the "evil" of Mitchell were both horribly exaggerated for the sake of the film's narrative. If anything I think that being successful at video games or successfully finding friends in a video game community improve the self-esteem of gamers.
3. Despite Wiebe's protests that his own first score was disqualified for being submitted via unsupervised videotape, Twin Galaxies accepts Mitchell's score over Wiebe's and proclaims that Mitchell is still the record holder. How valid do you think videotaped gameplay should be in establishing videogame playing records? If valid, why? If not valid, why not?
I think videotaped gameplay should be accepted across the board or disqualified across the board. I think their reasoning for discounting Wiebe's score was just a petty conspiracy theory.
I do think gameplay videos should be counted because not everybody can make it to a live event at a Funspot or somewhere like that. Allowing videos to be mailed in allows Twin Galaxies to get scores from all around the world, raising the stakes and the competition.
4. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, wondering "Who would have guessed that a documentary about gamers obsessed with scoring a world record at Donkey Kong would not only be roaringly funny but serve as a metaphor for the decline of Western civilization?" What do you think of the film? Is it an accurate portrayal of what makes videogames so compelling for those who play them?
I enjoyed the film, but I think Travers is really giving gaming the short end of the stick with that comment. There are documentaries about several other niche hobbies, such as Civil War reenactment groups, expensive animal funerals, or stamp collecting, and I don't think any of those are metaphors for the decline of Western civilization. People have always liked weird things, but gaming isn't even weird anymore. It's the world's most profitable entertainment medium.
5. On November 10, 1981, Walter Day opened an arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa called Twin Galaxies. Though it was a modest arcade of merely 22 arcade games, it soon became known as the International Scorekeeper for the burgeoning video game industry. Under Day's direction, Twin Galaxies set rules for gameplay on hundreds of games, while maintaining a records database of competitive high scores. Twin Galaxies is considered by gaming historians as being the first organizer of professional gaming, putting competitive electronic gaming on the world map. How important do you think organizations like Twin Galaxies are in the vintage arcade gaming community? Could such communities exist without such organizations? What role does Twin Galaxies play ultimately, and why is this significant to the film and its story?
I think Twin Galaxies is very important. Walter Day told us it was important, and we were all suckers, so we believed him, and now it's important because almost everybody trusts it. I think successful gaming communities can and do exist without such organizations, but I think Twin Galaxies has done the industry a great service by becoming a trusted scorekeeping database. Now they're even in the Guinness Book of World Records, trusted by the world, and it's still just Walter and some friends.
6. The film depicts Wiebe's skill at Donkey Kong being linked to his ability to deeply understand the title's game mechanics, particularly the way that rhythm and timing work to ensure a successful outcome. The film in one scene compared his love of drumming and his abilities at basketball as well as his musical talent as part and parcel of his gift at playing Donkey Kong. How would you best describe this set of inter-related skills? Have you experienced anything like this yourself when playing games? Have you been able to associate the skill of playing games with similar related skills and talents and how would you best describe the nature of this set of inter-relationships between skills/passions/abilities?
I think a sense of rhythm is very important and beneficial to becoming a good gamer. Even when games don't seem to be based on rhythm, they always are. In any particular game, there is the amount of time it takes your finger to press the button, and the amount of time it takes for the action to occur, and a good player will master the timing and start to play the game as if it's an instrument. I definitely think learning how to play music has improved my gaming, and that my gaming has improved my musical abilities as well.
7. In the film, Wiebe, while playing the game says hello to Mitchell. Mitchell didn't respond. As he's walking away from Wiebe, Mitchell says, "There's certain people I don't want to spend too much time with." Mitchell offered no explanation for his behavior towards Wiebe but did later explain that at the time of filming, he had not played video games for "more than a year", and that the filmmakers had not given him enough advance warning to train for a public record-breaking attempt. Seth Gordon, the film's Director, in referring to Mitchell's character says that Mitchell "is a true puppet-master", "a master of information-control". What do you think Gordon means by this? What role does such behavior play in general terms in videogame culture?
I don't think such behavior really plays a role in the overall "videogame culture." I just think that in this instance, Mitchell was intentionally being rude and then intentionally downplaying it later. He's definitely a master of information control, as shown in the scene where he gives a video tape of his new high score to a woman to deliver to Walter Day at Funspot in front of Steve Wiebe.
8. What did you think of the film? Is it really only about the game "Donkey Kong" and those who seek to hold the highest score or is it really about something more?
I think the film is definitely about more than Donkey Kong. It's about people's drive to succeed against all odds, even at their family's expense. You've got the world's greatest classic gamer, whose wife has never even seen him play, competing against a guy whose wife and kids are begging to stop. And the way the story is told, you end up rooting for the guy who's tearing his family apart.
9. Have you ever played "Donkey Kong"? What was your memory of playing it? Where were you, when was it?
Donkey Kong was one of the first games I ever played on the NES growing up. I was probably 4 or 5 at the time. When I started playing games in the 80s there were already a few dozen good platformers out as it was quickly becoming the dominant genre. I was playing games like Super Mario Bros., Mega Man, Metroid, Kid Icarus, and Castlevania, but Donkey Kong was still one of my favorites. I didn't know at the time that it really started the whole genre and was still one of the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment