1) Who invented the first computer game on the PDP1?
Steve Russel, Martin Graetz, Wayne Witaenem
2) What was the name of the game?
Spacewar!
3) What was the name of Morton Helig's amusement device that let you smell, hear and see in 3D filmed experiences?
Sensorama
4) What early 1970s movie does an arcade console machine of Spacewar appear?
Soylent Green
5) What was the name of the man who developed the first TV tennis game?
Willy Higginbotham
6) Who was the man whose company Atari commercialized the idea of the arcade computer tennis game?
Nolan Bushnell
7) What was the name of this version of the game?
Pong
8) What are vector graphics?
A geometric equation for shapes and images that allows the designer to enlarge or edit the image without sacrificing data.
9) What types of games do vector graphics lend themselves to?
Pong, Asteroids, and Night Driver
10) When home computers were first made available, how did owners load games into them?
It was played on the actual console with the instructions attached onto the console.
11) What is the name of the 1985 film in which a young Matthew Broderick starts World War III with his home computer and modem?
WarGames
12) From what sources did the designer of the Space Invaders aliens draw inspiration?
Octopus, squids, and crabs.
13) What is the name given to the contemporary subculture of 8 bit music made with gameboys and other 80s game technology
Chiptune
14) "Escape from Woomera" was a videogame which was used to draw attention to the plight of inmates at a remote detention center in desert town in what country?
Australia
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Week 6 Questions
1) Steve Mann describes his wearable computer invention as a form of ________ for one person (fill in the blank)
(see youtube link to Mann interview in web resource page)
surveillance
2) Steve Mann's concept of opposing camera surveillance with "Sousveillance" is described as a form of “reflectionism”. What is meant by this?
(in ReadingsF)
He is using reflectionism to describe a way for the person being surveilled to surveil the surveiller. He puts it in terms of “reflectionism” to infer a mirror effect with surveillance. In other words, whoever is imposing surveillance will some how be surveilled by another.
3) In the section of "Sousveillance" called "Performance Two" Steve Mann describes how wearing his concealed device becomes more complex when used in what type of spaces?
Semi-public spaces such as shopping malls.
4) The final paragraph sums up what Mann considers the benefits of "sousveillance" and "coveillance". What are they?
(ReadingsF)
They offer the protection of the village/community or hierarchical organization. In other words, there is a check and balance between the people in charge of surveillance and the people who surveil those people.
5) In William J Mitchell's 1995 book "City of Bits" in the chapter "Cyborg Citizens", he puts forth the idea that electronic organs as they shrink and become more part of the body will eventually resemble what types of familiar items?
(ReadingsF)
They will become more like clothing, soft wearables that fit to the contours of your body such as shoes, gloves, contact lenses, and hearing aids.
6) From the same book/chapter, list two of the things that a vehicle that 'knows where it is' might afford the driver & passengers.
(ReadingsF)
- direct you to the nearest gas station
- supply information about passing buildings and their occupants
7) Mitchell tells the story of Samuel Morse's first Washington-to-Baltimore telegraph message. What was it?
(ReadingsF)
“What hath God wrought.”
8) Donna Harroway in "A Cyborg Manifesto" argues that women should take the "battle to the border". What does she say are the stakes in this border war?
(in ReadingsF)
The stakes are the territories of production, reproduction, and imagination.
9) Harroway posits the notion that:
"We require regeneration, not rebirth, and the possibilities for our reconstitution include the utopian dream"
What is this dream?
(in ReadingsF)
The dream is “the hope for a monstrous world without gender.”
10) Many have argued that 'we are already cyborgs' as we use devices such as glasses to improve our vision, bikes to extend the mobility function of our legs/bodies etc, computers and networks to extend the nervous system etc. What do you think? Are we cyborgs?
(one paragraph)
I believe that we are cyborgs, but not the form of cyborgs that are often depicted in movies and television. We are cyborgs because we are able to perform and unthinkable amount of tasks or gather information using a single device, such as a smartphone. Although I do not believe that it extends to our nervous systems, I think that the technology available has transformed the way we interact and communicate with each other and the rest of the world in a way that a cyborg would without the need for robotic implants or robotic arms like in Terminator.
(see youtube link to Mann interview in web resource page)
surveillance
2) Steve Mann's concept of opposing camera surveillance with "Sousveillance" is described as a form of “reflectionism”. What is meant by this?
(in ReadingsF)
He is using reflectionism to describe a way for the person being surveilled to surveil the surveiller. He puts it in terms of “reflectionism” to infer a mirror effect with surveillance. In other words, whoever is imposing surveillance will some how be surveilled by another.
3) In the section of "Sousveillance" called "Performance Two" Steve Mann describes how wearing his concealed device becomes more complex when used in what type of spaces?
Semi-public spaces such as shopping malls.
4) The final paragraph sums up what Mann considers the benefits of "sousveillance" and "coveillance". What are they?
(ReadingsF)
They offer the protection of the village/community or hierarchical organization. In other words, there is a check and balance between the people in charge of surveillance and the people who surveil those people.
5) In William J Mitchell's 1995 book "City of Bits" in the chapter "Cyborg Citizens", he puts forth the idea that electronic organs as they shrink and become more part of the body will eventually resemble what types of familiar items?
(ReadingsF)
They will become more like clothing, soft wearables that fit to the contours of your body such as shoes, gloves, contact lenses, and hearing aids.
6) From the same book/chapter, list two of the things that a vehicle that 'knows where it is' might afford the driver & passengers.
(ReadingsF)
- direct you to the nearest gas station
- supply information about passing buildings and their occupants
7) Mitchell tells the story of Samuel Morse's first Washington-to-Baltimore telegraph message. What was it?
(ReadingsF)
“What hath God wrought.”
8) Donna Harroway in "A Cyborg Manifesto" argues that women should take the "battle to the border". What does she say are the stakes in this border war?
(in ReadingsF)
The stakes are the territories of production, reproduction, and imagination.
9) Harroway posits the notion that:
"We require regeneration, not rebirth, and the possibilities for our reconstitution include the utopian dream"
What is this dream?
(in ReadingsF)
The dream is “the hope for a monstrous world without gender.”
10) Many have argued that 'we are already cyborgs' as we use devices such as glasses to improve our vision, bikes to extend the mobility function of our legs/bodies etc, computers and networks to extend the nervous system etc. What do you think? Are we cyborgs?
(one paragraph)
I believe that we are cyborgs, but not the form of cyborgs that are often depicted in movies and television. We are cyborgs because we are able to perform and unthinkable amount of tasks or gather information using a single device, such as a smartphone. Although I do not believe that it extends to our nervous systems, I think that the technology available has transformed the way we interact and communicate with each other and the rest of the world in a way that a cyborg would without the need for robotic implants or robotic arms like in Terminator.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Vintage Gameplay Activity
Student Name: Marielle Atanacio
Today’s Date: March 6, 2011
Game Title Examined: Centipede
Year of Publication: 1980
Game Publisher: Atari
Game Developer: Atari
1 - What is the game genre (e.g. shoot-em-up, racing, sports, puzzle, MMORPG, ‘sandbox’, music sequence following game (e.g. DDR, guitar hero)
Arcade Classics
2 -What is the type of game ‘world’ or environment (e.g. flat environment, puzzle/maze space, 3D world?)
Puzzle/Maze
3 - What is the perspective taken by player (e.g first person, third person perspective, top down, isometric) in relation to main player controlled character.
Top Down
4 - What is the actual gameplay – what does the player have to do?
The player has to avoid or destroy the insects as they come down the playing field.
5 - Is the gameplay intuitive? (i.e. is it easy to understand what to do without instructions?) describe.
It is easy to understand because there are only directional controls and a firing button. All you need to do is attack the only other moving objects in the screen that are headed towards your way.
6 - Is the gameplay patterned (game does the same thing over & over) or is it random (happens differently every time?)
The game is patterned, however, as the levels advance, so does the speed of the opponents.
7 - What does the type of graphic approach used as well as the audio tell you about the limits of the technology at the time the game was published?
The graphics and audio of the game tell me that the 80's did not have very many audio effects as well as the graphic capability to create anything near the games that are released today. The games they created were really pixelated and the simple.
8 - Describe your views about the game from the point of view of
1. ease of play: It is very easy to play and needs very little explanation.
2. enjoyability: It is a very classic and simple game that is easily enjoyable, but may also not provide enough thrill to today's gaming society.
c) level of engagement/immersion
9 - Had you played this game prior to this time? If so, when?
I have this game at home, but do not play it because I prefer Galaga more, but I was interested to see if the concept is any different from Galaga.
10 - what does playing the game remind you of in terms of other games/media?
This game reminds me that concepts of games in the 80's were very simple in that there is you and the opponent and it is either that you avoid or destroy them such as in pacman and galaga. It also reminds me how complex games have become or evolved to and now people play with others all over the world and come up with tactics and strategies on how to defeat their opponent. (ie. Modern warfare, gears of war, etc.)
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