So, here I go with Portal. After asking the 18YO (nicely) to use the x-Box and making the him PROMISE not to instruct, give hints, cajole, or help in any way, I was off and running (well. . . . stumbling really) with Portal. He kept to his word and didn't assist me at all. . . . but I did have to put up with him laughing uproariously and ridiculing me at some of my early feeble attempts at the more challenging sections. Lots of emotions . . . . I was Intimidated, felt like he was being condescending, and lots of other negative stuff. Sure I laughed it off. Had to.
Honestly, never having been a gamer I was really amazed at the graphics and level of detail (I know, I know. . .newbie right?). At first I stumbled around in the corner of the room for a minute or two until I worked out the controls. I really didn't find the hand controls intuitive at all. I finally got through the door of my "resting chamber" (success!) and started wandering the hallways. At first I found the computer voice kind of annoying and tried to block her out (unsuccessfully) to concentrate on the play. Pretty soon however, I recognized that amidst the "HAL-esque" (remember Kubrick’s 2001?) interruptions and sometimes bizarre attempts at humor there was occasionally a tidbit of useful information about how to succeed. Lesson 1: Listen to the voice . . . but filter! Something else that I ignored for a while were those odd "international" style signs on the walls (like the one accompanying this post). I remember one of them had a piece of cake with the universal "no" symbol through it. What? No eating cake? I thought they were just more attempts at humor and window dressing by the designers. Not so. Well. . . not entirely so. . . . Occasionally, amidst the decorative clutter I would find a symbol that would give me a hint on how to solve the current puzzle and escape from the room I was in. I remember one of these challenges where the voice and the signs combined gave me the hint I needed. The sign was similar to the one above and the voice said something to the effect of "speedy thing goes in. . . speedy thing comes out." This was my clue to get some momentum before passing into the portal. Lesson 2: Keep your eyes and ears open. . . but filter!
So. . . my takeaways for Portal so far. Fun? Yeah. . . Hard fun? Heck yeah! Once I stopped stumbling around and used the clues and queues to make some progress that is. I enjoyed solving the challenges. . . and having some successes. Made me think.
A negative? The pretty much constant ridicule by the resident 18YO. Made me wonder a little about the gamification of traditional learning. Younger children are sometimes wont to make themselves feel superior by bullying, laughing at, or otherwise ridiculing their peers who are not as "good" as they are. I wonder if, in a non-gamified, more traditional educational setting, there would be less of a chance of this happening than in a gamified environment, simply because of the level of competition with would creep in. . .
Honestly, never having been a gamer I was really amazed at the graphics and level of detail (I know, I know. . .newbie right?). At first I stumbled around in the corner of the room for a minute or two until I worked out the controls. I really didn't find the hand controls intuitive at all. I finally got through the door of my "resting chamber" (success!) and started wandering the hallways. At first I found the computer voice kind of annoying and tried to block her out (unsuccessfully) to concentrate on the play. Pretty soon however, I recognized that amidst the "HAL-esque" (remember Kubrick’s 2001?) interruptions and sometimes bizarre attempts at humor there was occasionally a tidbit of useful information about how to succeed. Lesson 1: Listen to the voice . . . but filter! Something else that I ignored for a while were those odd "international" style signs on the walls (like the one accompanying this post). I remember one of them had a piece of cake with the universal "no" symbol through it. What? No eating cake? I thought they were just more attempts at humor and window dressing by the designers. Not so. Well. . . not entirely so. . . . Occasionally, amidst the decorative clutter I would find a symbol that would give me a hint on how to solve the current puzzle and escape from the room I was in. I remember one of these challenges where the voice and the signs combined gave me the hint I needed. The sign was similar to the one above and the voice said something to the effect of "speedy thing goes in. . . speedy thing comes out." This was my clue to get some momentum before passing into the portal. Lesson 2: Keep your eyes and ears open. . . but filter!
So. . . my takeaways for Portal so far. Fun? Yeah. . . Hard fun? Heck yeah! Once I stopped stumbling around and used the clues and queues to make some progress that is. I enjoyed solving the challenges. . . and having some successes. Made me think.
A negative? The pretty much constant ridicule by the resident 18YO. Made me wonder a little about the gamification of traditional learning. Younger children are sometimes wont to make themselves feel superior by bullying, laughing at, or otherwise ridiculing their peers who are not as "good" as they are. I wonder if, in a non-gamified, more traditional educational setting, there would be less of a chance of this happening than in a gamified environment, simply because of the level of competition with would creep in. . .
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