Introduction to Software Product Management, University of Alberta

This was the first course of the Software Product Management specialization on Coursera. The specialization is made up of five classes and a capstone project. There wasn't much to this first course, just an overview of the specialization. Looking forward to the next course, Software Processes and Agile Practices.

Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management, University of Virginia

The following is a small excerpt from the course description of Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management by the University of Virginia:

"Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management will introduce basic concepts from project planning, critical path method, network analysis, and simulation for project risk analysis. You will gain an appreciation for what is required in planning and executing large-scale projects and gain an understanding of Agile Project Management principles. Together, we will develop an awareness of some behavioral biases that come to play in project settings and identify how these impact the planning and execution of a project."


For me the class was helpful in learning how to articulate the struggles that teams face in completing projects. The professor goes into detail about the faults of multi-tasking and the tendencies of student's syndrome and Parkinson's law. I've used some of the examples presented in this class with teams that I work with to try and mitigate some of these risks.

The review of project management practices and risk analysis was interesting, but did not have much application to those practicing iterative software development. When the professor did finally get to Agile Project Management Principles, it was much more of a broad overview. Sort of a list of definitions and not much else.

I recommend Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management for those just entering the arena of traditional project management. If your company practices any specific niche of project management (anything other than waterfall), then a class like Intro to Software Product Management by the University of Alberta may be more your style.

JobPro: Get Dressed!

In JobPro: Get Dressed! you get a chance to dress for your interview based off of tips and your general knowledge of the company. Seems easy? Not so fast. There are various factors that go into picking out an outfit such as the role you are interviewing for and the atmosphere of the company.

Make sure you leave a lasting first impression in your interview. Prepare outfits for interviews with 14 different companies and 42 positions. After you make your selection you will receive detailed feedback about the outfit you chose and its compatibility with the position you were interviewing for.

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jobpro-get-dressed!/id1036998941?mt=8
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simcoachgames.getdressed
Amazon Marketplace: http://www.amazon.com/Simcoach-Games-JobPro-Get-Dressed/dp/B015WUSKXQ

JobPro: Get Prepared!

In JobPro: Get Prepared! you are put in the shoes of someone who has just landed an interview. Congratulations! Now it’s up to you to use the time you have to prepare and get to the interview on time. Prepare for your interview by researching the company and printing your resume or relieve stress by playing video games and exercising at the park. It’s up to you what you do with your time. Just remember, there is an interview waiting for you.


In JobPro, preparation is key. Navigate across 8 artistic environments like the coffee shop, park, and library where you engage in activities that affect your preparation and stress. Challenge yourself by completing all 3 difficulty levels. Your resources and time are limited with each increase in difficulty. See if you have what it takes be punctual, prepared, and professionally dressed when you arrive for your interview. Remember to get prepared in order to get hired!

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jobpro-get-prepared!/id1036979990?mt=8
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simcoachgames.getprepared
Amazon Marketplace: http://www.amazon.com/Simcoach-Games-JobPro-Get-Prepared/dp/B015WUR74E/

JobPro: Get Hired!

JobPro: Get Hired! is the third part of the JobPro trilogy and it puts you in the hot seat of an interview. Test your skills at more than just answering questions. In this game you need to control your avatar and keep him from nodding off, fidgeting, looking around the room, slouching, and much more.

Test your ability to address and fix these bad behaviors before the interviewer notices. After each interview check and see if you got the job. View your answers to the questions and also check out a detailed summary of how you did overall.

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jobpro-get-hired!/id1036998640?mt=8
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simcoachgames.gethired
Amazon Marketplace: http://www.amazon.com/Simcoach-Games-JobPro-Get-Hired/dp/B015WUS5TU/

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

The Lean Startup puts the scientific method into entrepreneurship, forcing entrepreneurs to take a hard look at their product/service and the value it brings (or does not bring). Author Eric Ries promotes testing every product feature with the target audience as fast and as often as possible. Through cohort analysis (looking at the results of a targeted group of users rather than the entire customer base) entrepreneurs are stared in the face by the cold hard facts of their value offering and not deceived by vanity metrics.

Author Eric Ries states a few times that he is out to debunk the entrepreneurial myth that a good idea and hard work trump all. Calculated risks, A/B testing, and failing fast seem to be Eric’s equivalent for working smarter, not harder. It’s a notion that is completely counter-intuitive to the American way, but it is a necessary one. Everyone hears the success stories of the 0.1% of entrepreneurs who hit the jackpot due to what seems like magic (though they claim it’s the result of having the right idea, at the right place and time). The stories that don’t get mass acclaim are of the other 99.9% of ideas that waste time, talent, and money because they were built on unproven assumptions.

Another interesting piece of Ries’ book is his emphasis on instilling the entrepreneurial mindset in any organization, no matter the size. He recommends doing this through the use of MVPs (minimum viable products). MVPs emphasize building the smallest scale version of a product/service as fast possible, and bringing it to market to gauge adoption. MVPs can be all smoke and mirrors or completely inefficient at their initial scale. The emphasis of an MVP is not to accrue revenue initially, it’s to test if people care enough about what you’re building to use it/pay for it.

Some of these points seem like common sense, but I can see how they get pushed to the side amongst all of the other pressures an entrepreneur faces. Someone in the traditional startup setting could receive financial backing for an idea early on, and depending on the source of funding, they may receive pressure to monetize as fast possible without knowing whether their product is valuable or not. Feeling pressure by the bottom line and overall user base (vanity metrics), the entrepreneur completely ignores more meaningful data.

Eric Ries uses proven logic and reason to address crucial business flaws. The Lean Startup is a must read for anyone in the business of developing new business. 

Batman Arkham Origins

Batman Arkham Origins has a lot of the same feel as Arkham City: fun brawling mechanics, massive cityscape, and unique characters. Two differences standout to me with Arkham Origins 1) There is a darker undertone in this game that gives it a sort Max Payne feel, 2) Greater emphasis is put on the refined detective mode. I would play an entire game built around this detective mode alone.

All that said, I don't see myself playing Batman: Arkham Knight anytime soon. These last two games were similar enough to make me feel as if I've had enough of the series. Plus, I think maybe the super hero mania that has swept my generation over the last decade has turned me off from the genre a bit. This is not to say I don't appreciate what the folks at WB have put together. Their unique fighting mechanics stand out to me in all of their games (see Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor). I think I'm just ready for something different.

Fallout Shelter

I heard praise about Fallout Shelter for a few weeks before I decided to give it a try. The first thing I noticed about the game was its tutorial system. Tutorials can be particularly tricky for game developers. You want to give players enough information to understand how to play the game, at the same time you don't want to give too much away. The method of delivery is tricky to. Players can get very turned off if they are forced to go through 5 minutes of tutorial before they can start playing, especially if there is a lot of reading involved. At the same time, if you add a skip button, 8 times out of 10 the player will skip the tutorial and feel frustration when they come across something they don't understand.

The developers at Bethesda did a great job in implementing Fallout Shelter's tutorial system. The game has a very small amount of forced tutorial, and what is there is very plain and clear. A few arrows point to UI elements and plainly tell the player what they are and why they are important. Once the player is hooked on the game, they can dive into 20+ pages of optional tutorial info. Fallout Shelter developers don't hold anything back. They give players all of the information they need to develop successful strategies and trust in the balance of the system to provide an engaging experience, even if the player has a detailed road map of how to win.

The golden goose of Fallout Shelter is in its systems design. Once you grasp how all the pieces effect each other, that's when the game gets really addictive. Weeks of gameplay come from beefing up character stats and maximizing resource gathering efficiency. This is all coming from someone who favors the achiever style of playing games. Fallout Shelter has been carefully crafted to fit other play styles as well. Explorers can collect rare armor, weapons, and characters while killers can send their vault dwellers to the wasteland to defeat increasingly difficult creatures.

The art in the game is minimal, fun, and cartoonish. It appears that less time was spent in developing art content, and more was put into creating a juicy user experience. Collecting food, water, and electricity could be something simple that just happens at set intervals without player input, instead, the player has to tap resource rooms in order to collect these resources. Such a small interaction gives players the rewarding feeling of putting in work to gather resources. It's especially rewarding to watch those resources fly up to the top of the screen and add to your stockpile. A+ user experience design for this mobile game.

Fallout Shelter is also an example of excellent cross-promotion marketing. I feel the urge to play Fallout 3: New Vegas every time I open Fallout Shelter. No doubt part of the marketing strategy for the soon to come Fallout 4.

All of this was to say that you've got me Bethesda. I'm thoroughly addicted to Fallout Shelter and excited for Fallout 4.

Journey into Open Water: A Common Core Math Adventure

The first weekend of May I participated in the Now I Get It! Jam at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center with my company, Simcoach Games. This game jam was different then your typical jam event. Usually one topic is announced the day of the jam and teams compete against each other to make the best game possible around that topic. For this event, teams were given different topics and were notified of that topic ahead of time. Topics themselves differed from your average jam as well.

"The Now I Get It! Jam was designed around the idea that the power of interactive media can be harnessed to make difficult concepts more approachable by everyone, and that these experiences benefit from the partnership of developers, educators & domain experts."

My team was given challenge #7: Explain the reasoning behind the new common core approach to math and give parents the tools to be able to help their child with math homework in this new style.

With this challenge we built Journey into Open Water: A Common Core Math Adventure. Journey into Open Water was built to be a shared experience between a parent and child where the two explore the fundamentals of common core math together through exploratory puzzles. We decided early on to make the game about the foundations behind common core math instead of the actual equations and algorithms used in the classroom.

CAWP Reinforcers

     Reinforcers allows you to practice tying the same ties used to stabilize concrete on a construction site. Players learn and practice the basic moves for 3 different types of rebar ties and watch structures come together as more rebar is tied. Efficiency, speed, and hand-eye coordination are needed to be a master reinforcer.

     

     We developed this game for the Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania as part of their Virtual Pre-Apprenticeship program, an online hub for acclimating aspiring construction workers to the different jobs within the industry. Everyone at CAWP has been fantastic to work with, and I know that we at Simcoach look forward to the opportunity to build many more games together.

     

     I highly recommend Reinforcers to anyone who is looking for insight into the world of concrete and rebar tying. The game is challenging and addicting even if you are not interested in construction. Check the game out at one of the links below, and write us a review to let us know what you think.

Apple Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/reinforcers-cawp-arcade-production/id1016478101?mt=8

Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simcoachgames.reinforcers&hl=en

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

This was Pink book number two for me (see A Whole New Mind). The title, Drive, says it all. In Drive, Pink discusses what motivates us in our daily lives and how that fits into today's culture. Surprise! There are some disconnects between today's individuals and their environments.

Individual: Seeks autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Most motivated (and happy) when pursuing intrinsic rewards. A person is most committed when she can set her own goals and pick her own team to work with.

Environment: Favors extrinsic motivation through carrots and sticks - bonuses, vacation time, salary increases, promotion, demotion, etc. Sets up strict rules/procedures in hopes of limiting the chaotic actions of untrustworthy personnel. 

In Drive, Daniel Pink gives a few example of forward thinking companies that treat their employees just a little differently.

Whole Foods: Let's store employees make new hire decisions,

Netflix: Allows for unlimited vacation days as long as the work is covered.

Tom's: Donates a pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair sold.

3M: Sets aside 20% of the work week for employees to work on projects of their choosing.

All of these companies exhibit certain behaviors to support autonomy, mastery, and purpose. I'm proud to say that the company I work for now does a lot to supports these behaviors as well. So much so that I often feel like the agent that is reintroducing rules and procedures. It's a challenging balance, but a rewarding one as well.

Thanks Daniel Pink for reminding me to take advantage of opportunities to promote autonomy, mastery, and purpose within my life/organization.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

The third time's the charm. It took me three attempts in the five years Skyrim has been out to finally play through the entire game.

Attempt 1: I played some of the main quest and decided I should probably take on some guilds and side quests in order to better prepare for the rest of the main quest line. The result was playing through the College of Winterhold (Mage's Guild), Dark Brotherhood (Assassin's Guild), and Thieve's Guild quest lines before losing interest in the main quest line and taking a break from the game for a while.

Attempt 2: Again, I started the main quest line and quickly found more entertainment in some of the game's other content. This time I played through the Companions and College of Winterhold quest lines. I also took on more of an explorers play style. I set out to earn as many words of power as I could, get my hands on all the Daedric items that I could find, and even learn some of the legendary spells that could only be gained at levels 90 or above. Even after accomplishing all of this, I did not take the time to complete the main quest line. It would be more than a year before I tried again.

Attempt 3: A Steam Summer Sale influenced me to purchase Skyrim and all of its expansions at a fantastic price. I told myself that I would not play any of the expansions until I completed the main quest line. Fast forward a few weeks and I have played through Dragonborn, Dawnguard, and of course the original game's quest line.

All that's left to do now is explore the rest of Solstheim, build a house, and play through some side quests. Skyrim is a fantastic game, but Morrowind is still my favorite Elder Scrolls game. We'll see if the next installment of the series revisits the island of Vvardenfell.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling

I see two valuable outcomes from reading this book:

1) Being given a formula to accomplish Wildly Important Goals (WIGs).

2) The realization that the majority of our efforts go toward fighting the whirlwind. We work to get through the day, and rarely to accomplish what is truly important.

What is ironic about 4DX is its similarity to playing a game. There are goals, steps to work toward those goals, a scoreboard, and accountability systems. That sounds like every team sport ever played.

Jim Huling, Sean Covey, and Chris McChesney take goal setting to the next level in The 4 Disciplines of Execution. The book is not just about setting and accomplishing goals, but about motivating teams to accomplish long term goals in a manner that builds accountability and engagement.

The book addresses high level leaders and managers who are struggling to hit performance metrics, those that can strategize but find difficulty executing or rather inspiring others to execute. I found value in this book coming from almost the opposite perspective, as a performer who is looking to learn better how to develop strategy.

I look forward to practicing 4DX at the office in the weeks to come and gamifying the process of making games.

Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative, Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University's class is about transmedia and remediation. Instructor Jay Clayton uses the various interpretations of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth to discuss the differences in how each form of media tells a story. Class lectures discuss Tolkien's original novels (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series), Peter Jackson's movies, Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online, and the various epic poems that inspired the original lore. Professor Clayton really makes the class great with his critical analyses of each form of media. He doesn't look at each form of media and judge them by how well they stick to the original lore. Instead, Professor Clayton discusses how well each form uses imagery and conveys emotion.

One interesting lecture discussed the criticism of science fiction and fantasy as being called escapist entertainment. Escapism is described as having no relation to the real world. Learning and real world application do not derive from escapism, only the temporary relief from day-to-day stress. This is a criticism that is often applied to video games. Clayton explains that video games are the newest form of entertainment and are cycling through the same rounds of criticism that novels, poetry, painting, and others went through before. It feels good to hear a rational statement like this. I plan on exploring this argument further.

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink

A Whole New Mind is a page turner as a coworker of mine would say. A quick read with many solid points supporting its main argument which is this: possessing knowledge and knowledge-based skills is not enough to be successful anymore. Diversification is a necessity and a person must have an appreciation and understanding of the creative forces at work in the world to not get left behind. Pink's book presents 6 creative competencies that every person must understand in order to succeed in tomorrow's world. Those competencies are Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning.

My own life experiences support Pink's argument. I graduated with a degree in business (a common pursuit as Pink points out several times), and found success, but it wasn't until I started practicing more creative skills that I began to feel fulfilled.

There are several take-aways in A Whole New Mind. I look forward to putting the following into practice:

• Design: Looking at everyday objects and thinking about their design (beauty and utility).
• Empathy: The group activity of guessing the high and low points of a coworker's day and then comparing them against that person's actual responses.
• Empathy/Story: Taking acting/improv classes.
• Empathy: Interviewing coworkers to learn the professional/personal path they took in life.
• Empathy: Volunteering more.
• Symphony: Listening to symphonies to understand the complexities of how small pieces make up a whole.
• Symphony: Keeping an inspiration board for everyday things that can enhance a current/future project.
• Symphony: Having more organized brainstorm sessions.
• Meaning: Assembling a list of things I am thankful for. One for every year of my life.
• Meaning: Taking spirituality, and the exploration of spirituality seriously.
• Meaning: Taking time out of the day/week to practice mindfulness.

LIMBO

This summer I have taken full advantage of the Steam Monster Summer Sale to stock up on games that have long been on my list. One of those games is LIMBO: a 2D black and white side-scrolling puzzle game featuring an unnamed boy searching for his sister. The game arms the player with simple core mechanics (run, jump, climb, grab, push, and pull) which are nicely complemented by a basic physics system. Advanced mechanics are gradually introduced in the game at certain points (reverse gravity, activate magnets, etc.).

The colorless artwork, continuous gameplay, and minimal background noise create a very eerie ambiance in LIMBO. You encounter giant spiders, band saws, bear traps, and many other unpleasant obstacles throughout the game, all while tackling increasingly more difficult puzzles. The story is limited which leaves much room for the player to contemplate and inject his/her own meaning. I would not have realized it was the character's sister I was searching for had it not been for an abstract I read after playing.

There is one point, where after having been through many dark and sad environments, you come across a butterfly, then another, and several more. You start to think to yourself, "maybe there is some good left in this virtual world after all." These butterflies lead you toward your sister who is playing in the dirt on the other end of the screen. Of course my first instinct was to sprint toward the playing girl in hopes of no longer experiencing this dark virtual world all alone. Just before you reach her, a glowing slug drops from a tree branch, lands on your head, and burrows into your mind. This event triggers a gameplay mechanic where the player loses control of his character until the slug is removed. I sat watching my character run out of control in the opposite direction of my objective. I felt shocked as the hope I once had was sucked out of me.

LIMBO is unique in that it triggers emotions not typically experienced in a platformer (sadness, hope, hopelessness, wonder). This was a short game, without much of a story and yet it packed more of an emotional punch than any movie I have seen recently. One could spend a good amount of time pulling deep meaning out of LIMBO. I recommend this game to anyone who is struggling with the "games as art" argument. If LIMBO is not a work of art then I don't know what is.

Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal

It took me a little while to read this one. Sometimes life gets in the way of reading a good book, and Reality is Broken is a good book. Jane McGonigal is a famous game designer with a great deal of experience in experimental game design (Check out some of her TED talks to see what she's all about). In Reality is Broken Jane talks about some of her experimental designs. She also touches on the underlying components that make games such great tools for behavior change. That is the premise after all: using games and game features to improve how we interact with the world around us.

Part III: How Very Big Games Can Change the World is my favorite section of McGonigal's book. In this section, Jane talks about ten game designs that utilize crowdsourcing to solve real world problems. A few of these designs include inviting people to browse through expense receipts from members of government to identify political scandal and engaging individuals to practice planet craft to plan for the next 1000 years of life on Earth. Another amazing example involves using the idle computing power of networked Playstations to run protein folding simulations in order to better understand how certain diseases like Alzheimer's and various cancers manifest.

Crowdsourced problem solving on a global scale sounds epic for lack of a better word. It reminds me of the premise of any movie where there is an impending life ending threat and humanity has to put its differences aside in order to survive against all odds. Unfortunately, I think it really will take a global threat in order for the world to come together and put our collaboration super powers into full use. Necessity is the mother of invention after all, and nothing necessitates global collaboration like a global threat. There are too many distractions for the world to come together otherwise (politics, religion, greed, etc.).

Even though I believe the global community is a little ways off from adopting game logic to solve its major problems, it is still comforting to know that people like Jane McGonigal exist to paint the picture and lay the ground work for us to join in on when we finally come to our senses. Thanks Jane for a good read, and for planting the seeds for a better future.

CAWP Traffic Control

     Traffic Control is another mini game for CAWP's Virtual Pre-Apprenticeship program. In the game, the player is tasked with controlling traffic around a construction sight, a job that is easier said than done. Just like a flagger in real life, the player has to be aware of oncoming traffic, emergency vehicles, construction equipment, animal wildlife, rock slides, and other elements. The player earns points for every vehicle that safely circumnavigates the construction site. The highest score I have seen so far is 2,000 points. If you think you've got what it takes to master the traffic controlling arts and beat this high score, then download CAWP Traffic Control at the links below. Also write us a review to let us know what you think.


Apple Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cawp-traffic-control/id966998499?mt=8

Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.SimcoachGames.CAWPTraffic&hl=en

Excavator (A CAWP Arcade Game)

     Excavator is a puzzle game that teaches players the basic planning and three dimensional thinking skills needed to operate a real life excavator. Players must plan and execute digs as efficiently as possible in order to receive the highest rating on each level. All of that may sound complicated, but it is quite the opposite. The game mechanics and art style make this game look and feel magnificent.

     

     We developed this game for the Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania as part of their Virtual Pre-Apprenticeship program, an online hub for acclimating aspiring construction workers to the different jobs within the industry. Everyone at CAWP has been fantastic to work with, and I know that we at Simcoach look forward to the opportunity to build many more games together. *fingers crossed for Space Excavator*

     

     I highly recommend Excavator to anyone who is looking for a fun and challenging puzzle game. Check the game out at one of the links below, and write us a review to let us know what you think.

Apple Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/excavator-game-cawp-arcade/id979703991?mt=8

Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.SimcoachGames.Excavator&hl=en

Dishonored

     Dishonored is a very cool game for a few reasons: 1) it has successfully coined the term "whalepunk" 2) the player makes the game as difficult as he/she wants depending on which objectives are pursued 3) the various styles of play create so many different experiences making the game very replayable.

     Steampunk refers to a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century steam-powered machinery. There is often a wealth gap featured in steampunk fiction where the wealthy get to play with all of the fantastical steam-powered novelties and the poor battle typical old society problems (famine, disease, etc.). Dishonored has a very similar style to steampunk, except everything in the game is powered by whale oil instead of steam, hence the term "whalepunk." Additionally, whale oil is used to create electricity (arc pylons, walls of light). The game does a very good job of featuring the typical steampunk societal issues. The player experiences all sides of Dunwall's economic climate by having to sneak through the city's plague infested streets followed by crashing high society parties.

     I experienced varying degrees of excitement and disappointment during the first few hours of Dishonored. My original strategy was to use my sword and hack through everything in my path, which made the game feel a little flat. I think I killed 15 guards on my first play through of level 1 and received a "high" chaos rating. Seeing the chaos rating and feeling a little disappointed at how one dimensional the game was so far, I started reading through forums to find out if things get better. It turns out that things do get better. Not only do you get different endings depending on your overall chaos rating, but the game adapts to your style of play as well. Killing more characters puts the city on high alert, which increases the amount of opponents you'll face. Using a sneakier approach actually reduces some of the city's plight, and leaves you with less enemies to circumnavigate.

     The game is tough to go through if you choose not to kill characters, but there will be less NPCs to sneak past if you choose to play this way. If you want to hack and slash your way through the game, the system will add more enemy NPCs and hordes of rats, making it tougher to fight everyone off. I received great joy once I learned about the game's adaptive system and immediately replayed the first level as sneakily as possible. The game functions so well as a stealth RPG. I was reminded of the fun I used to have playing Metal Gear Solid and Tenchu Stealth Assassin. Then a new element was introduced, and my excitement fell once again.

     Shortly into the game you are given special powers. These powers let the player see through walls, teleport, possess creatures, push back enemies, summon rats, and more. The player gradually unlocks and upgrades powers as they collect runes throughout the game. I was extremely disappointed when powers were first introduced. When you start the game without powers, it is refreshing and feels like an older game where strategy and perseverance are needed to overcome challenges.  Just when the game was starting to feel original and challenging, here come the same old powers already overused in every other game to hold the hands of impatient players. The player is the one who ultimately decides whether or not to use powers, which again goes back to the player having control of how difficult they want to make the game. With that said, it is very difficult to resist using x-ray vision knowing that it will help you get past a particularly difficult point in a level that you have already failed five times.

     I played the game all the way through as stealthily as possible. I killed one character the whole game (by accident), and was only seen by enemies less than a handful of times. Dishonored was extremely enjoyable for me playing this way. I plan to play through the game at least one more time using a more chaotic approach. I'll have to come back and edit this post once that happens. Props to Bethesda for making a cool adaptive world. I dock you a couple points for lack of originality with the addition of powers, but I understand that the company was trying to keep the market for Dishonored as wide as possible, Not everyone welcomes challenge in a game as much as me. Looking forward to playing again soon.

The Last Starfighter

     Oh man I don't know how I managed to get to my current age without watching this gem. The Last Starfighter (1984) features a young high school age boy who lives in a trailer park community. The boy plays and masters an arcade game at the trailer park, which leads to him being recruited into an intergalactic defense force. The arcade game is used as a device to test the player's competency as a spaceship gunner. Once the player reaches a certain score, they are abducted and turned into soldiers set out to save the universe.The CGI in the film was impressive for how old it was. It must have cost a fortune to implement that kind of technology back then.

     The story mimics almost every component of the hero's journey, which made it very predictable. But it's about a kid who goes from playing a video game to becoming a space gunner, meaning it probably wasn't in the Oscar running to begin with. One interesting thing I noticed with The Last Starfighter was its similarity to Ender's Game (1985), a novel about a boy who is brought up to lead a space armada against an intergalactic force. I wonder if there was any relationship between the movie and Ender's Game or if both were just coincidental products of that time period...

Design Thinking for Business Innovation, University of Virginia

     It's funny the terms that materialize and trend in the business world. "Design Thinking" is another one of those terms. "Design Thinking is seen as offering a new approach better-suited for dealing with the accelerating pressures for growth and innovation faced by so many organizations today." The process for Design Thinking involves asking four questions:

• The current reality (what is?);
• The envisioning of a new future (what if?);
• The development of some concepts for new business opportunities (what wows?); and
• The testing of some of those concepts in the marketplace (what works?).

      Design Thinking follows a process of rapid prototyping and playtesting to come up with products that fill needs for specific markets. This is not something that is new, companies like Apple have just slapped a new name on it and brought it to the public's attention. My company follows a nearly identical process which we mostly refer to as "iterative design." We are constantly adjusting the product throughout the development cycle, essentially meaning that we are never "done" developing. In my opinion it does not matter which of these trends you grab onto, as long as your organization makes a thoughtful plan and sticks to it.
     The University of Virginia's class on Design Thinking is a very high level course, but students still walk away with several tools for developing and marketing new products. The ethnography and storytelling tools for example teach students how to market business solutions in a memorable way and how to properly test those solutions with the target market.
     I do wish they spiced up the presentation of the material a little bit. Class lecture videos were mostly made of a single professor talking in front of a green screen for varying amounts of time. Sometimes industry professionals would give examples of how they used the tools presented in the course. I have been part of other courses that interrupt lectures to test the student's understanding of the presented material. This at least gives the student a little bit of interaction with the material (outside of homework assignments). With that said, I was able to relate to much of what was being presented. I recommend this course as a casual reminder of how to properly plan and execute new solutions for the everyday business professional. Take the class for free here!

Repo! The Genetic Opera

     I am not very familiar with rock operas (other than the occasional Meatloaf song), but I decided to give Repo! The Genetic Opera a try. The film had potential but it favored gore and fan service too much for my taste. I enjoyed the art style along with the music. The setting felt very dark with comic book-like exaggeration, similar to Tim Burton's Batman. The music was pretty good as well. I did not enjoy the extreme gore and oversexualization. It was not uncommon for a character to be sliced open then roll around in puddles of their own blood. The point of these extremely graphic scenes may have been to shock the viewer, but I think they may have taken things a step or two too far. I could say the same thing for the costume design. The idea probably was to portray a future where individuals are so consumed in themselves that they will do anything to maintain their beauty and youth, hence the premise of a company growing profitable by up-selling organ transplants with breast implants and other physical enhancement procedures. I wanted to like this movie, but guts and gore for the sake of guts and gore is not my taste.

Mass Effect 3: Special Edition

     I enjoyed how the story of Mass Effect 3 unfolded. The game used the string of pearls approach, guiding the player along a linear path, interrupting periodically with areas of open gameplay and cinematic cutscenes. The folks at Bioware do a good job of disguising this technique by urging the player to hurry through intense moments using character dialogue. If I were on the way to rescue an ambushed platoon of soldiers for example, I could hear the soldiers bark out over the radio "we're not going to last much longer, we need an evac!" There usually was not a penalty for taking your time in missions like this, but it sure felt like I needed to hurry in order to save lives. Their is a lot of risk in using this rushed dialogue technique in video games, but if done correctly the reward is exciting gameplay. Bioware nailed it.
     Many people complained about the ending of the game, but I don't have a problem with it. At the end, the player is presented with a choice. I won't go into too much detail about what those choices were, but I can tell you that they left me feeling conflicted. Essentially you are forced to settle an argument that is made throughout the entire game, and the side that feels the most "right" is one that you have been fighting against for the entire journey. In the game's final moments you decide the fate of yourself, Earth, and future civilizations. Heavy stuff.
     You can tell that Bioware spent a great amount of time developing the background for each galaxy, each planet, and each alien race (they even went as far as talking about the diets of certain races). This brainstorming into the Mass Effect universe showed through in the artistic detail of each alien species. 
     The graphics for Mass Effect 3 were as expected, good but not great, and I'm okay with that. My experience isn't ruined by a few large pixels. I know the Wii U trails other major consoles when it comes to graphic performance. I am now convinced that the console makes up for what it lacks in the graphics department with the new technology of the Gamepad.
     I chose to buy the special edition and play the game on Wii U to see how the game had been adapted for different technology. Mass Effect 3: Special Edition uses the Wii U Gamepad as the player's omni tool: a digital multi-tool that lets the player control NPCs on the battlefield and see incoming threats. At first I was skeptical of buying the game in this format. I feared that I may get a "diet" version of Mass Effect 3 that had to remove key features in order to support this technology. The truth was exactly the opposite. The Gamepad enhances the battlefield experiences and I found myself relying on the omni tool in crunch situations. In fact I would panic at times when my tool would lose signal or go offline (certain points in the story made it believable that your map should be offline i.e. while underground or after an EMP). The story does an excellent job of describing the omni tool as well. Instead of giving the player an added sense of awareness without explanation, (like a minimap) the omni tool is presented as a perk of being in the alliance military.
     I no longer see the Wii U as a console that can't handle the modern game as well as other consoles, but as one that can take that game and expand upon it. I look forward to exploring this further with Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut.

How I Met Your Mother

   

     After several weeks of binge watching How I Met Your Mother, I have finally finished all nine seasons. Spoiler alert, if you plan on watching the show, continue no further.
     I particularly enjoyed the glimpses into future seasons. By laying the ground work for future events, it never felt like there was a lull in the show. You are always looking forward to how the story progresses toward the next big event. Other shows like Lost and Supernatural have episodes that do not add any value to the plot and seem to serve as a desperate means to stretch the show for another season. By the time the end of that show comes around, you feel like it has skipped out on what originally made it intriguing. But you can't sacrifice all that time you invested without seeing the end, right? How I Met Your Mother was not like this, and seemed well thought out from the beginning with the end in mind.
     Even though the story and character arcs progressed nicely, I never did like Lily very much. For some reason the kleptomania, catch phrases, inability to keep a secret, lesbian fantasies, frequent crying, and very poor decision making skills added up to a character that was more annoying than quirky.  To be fair, it was not just Lily who was annoying. Every character got under my skin at one point or another, especially after watching multiple episodes in a row. I do give the writers credit for character consistency through all nine seasons. Halfway through the show you are able to predict how characters will react to situations because you are in tune with their personalities. That may be why it's sad when the characters move on with their lives and the show finally comes to an end.
     Despite being a comedy with ample moments of ridiculousness, the show comes to a very sobering end. Ted works so hard to find the love of his life, and in the end only gets her for a few years before she passes away. The entire last season takes place at Barney and Robin's wedding and they end up getting divorced shortly thereafter. Barney goes back to giving up on love and starts shamelessly hitting on girls who are half his age. He does ultimately find meaning in the daughter he has from one of his escapades. Lily and Marshall ultimately recover from their spat and grow old together. I guess every character does find happiness, but not without taking some bruises first. The show actually models life pretty well. You live, you love, and you get old fast. How I Met Your Mother teaches us that life is short, and you have to enjoy every moment.
   

Birdman

     Birdman is a fantastic story about a film actor who decides to direct, finance, and star in a Broadway play. Riggan, played by Michael Keaton, takes on this enormous undertaking to prove to himself (and everyone else) that he is a talented actor who is still relevant. Throughout the story we hear the main character's inner dialogue through Birdman, the superhero Riggan is famous for playing in his movies. Birdman is Riggan's ego, the devil on his shoulder, and the source of his self-doubt. The movie uses special cinematography to make it look like it is filmed in one continuous shot. This continuous shot technique makes the setting feel chaotic and as an audience member, you get a sense for all the moving parts Riggan has to balance in the days leading up to opening night. I don't want to spoil the movie so I won't go into much more detail about its plot.

     I am still contemplating all the points this movie touched on more than a week after watching it. One of the main points being that today's movie industry is neither deep nor diverse. Alejandro González Iñárritu, the director of Birdman, argues the following: what makes a "successful" movie does not necessarily make a great work of art. I agree with Alejandro's point of view, however not to the same extreme. I will agree that Hollywood has identified a formula for raking in massive amounts of cash: spend lots of money hiring big name actors and adding special effects, add in the standard plot of good versus evil, and leave room for sequel after sequel. The use of this formula does make me upset sometimes, however I am not enraged. This is the way of the world. Not everyone who goes to see a movie is basing its quality off of its contributions to the world of art. The point is to be entertained, and some people find entertainment in watching things blow up for 2+ hours! I could see how it would be upsetting for an actor to make less money than someone who is less talented than you because of their participation in the standard Hollywood formula, however that is your choice. You are not a victim in this scenario, you may be a "purist" or a "real artist," but not a victim.

     I also do not believe the use of special effects cheapens a movie's quality or appeal. If time in a movie is not spent on a close up of a character's facial expressions or dialogue, and is instead used to show a beautiful  CG landscape that could not be achieved (or would be very difficult to achieve) through traditional filming, then that is just showcasing the talents of other artists instead of the actors. The people behind the explosions and sci-fi worlds in film are artists. They are 3D environment masters, programmers, and special effects teams. These scenes they create take direction and storyboarding to achieve, much like traditional film making. Arguing against this feels to me like an old person refusing to learn how to use email or a smart phone because these things are part of the problem with today's lazy youth.

    My apologies for the rant. I found Birdman to be a great movie that makes its audience think, and I wouldn't be surprised if the continuous shot technique started showing up in more movies. The actors, writers, and directors in this movie worked for much less money than the average box office hit, and it paid off (9 Academy Award nominations and 4 Academy Awards). Birdman and Alejandro González Iñárritu sure did get a lot of praise from the industry it criticizes so much, perhaps adding another level of comedy to the movie. 

The Visual Story by Bruce Block

     The Visual Story presents the basic visual components found in every moving or still picture we see: space, line, shape, tone, color, movement, and rhythm. After hearing these components the average person may be taken back to the days of practicing the use of the primary color wheel in middle school art class, but Bruce Block has more to offer the reader than how to color inside the lines. Bruce not only defines these visual components to the reader, but describes how to use them to create certain moods in works of art. The author provides examples for each component and assigns the best kind of homework - watching classic movies.
     For me The Visual Story has done two things 1) given me a concise formula for approaching visual design pieces, and 2) made me appreciate the incredible amount of skill that goes into directing visual art. It was very rewarding for me to read this book during the Academy Award season, where the world's best visual artists showcase their work for everyone to see. I look forward to watching many of the nominated films (Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game, and Selma) in the coming weeks and analyzing them using Bruce's visual components.
     It's easy to skim through The Visual Story as it is less than 300 pages and contains many pictures and diagrams, however it is a book that is best digested slowly. Take some time between chapters and look for examples of what Bruce describes out in the world. You will begin to see things differently, and possibly come away with a better understanding of yourself as a result.

Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment by William C. Byham

     Zapp! is about a fictional company in a fictional town. The Normal Company in Normalburg, USA manufactures Normalators. Things aren't looking great for the Normal Company. Profit and performance are poor and employee morale is at an all time low. Ralph Rosco, a particularly disgruntled employee in department N, has a brilliant idea for a new product. Ralph uses parts from old Normalators to build his invention, the Ralpholator. The Ralpholator transports users to the 12th dimension where they can see the physical manifestation of a person's energy and feelings. In the 12th dimension you are able to see if people are getting zapped with positive energy or if their energy is being sapped out of them.
     Right away Ralph notices the energy sapping decay that the Normal Company is in. As Ralph is wandering the 12th dimension he sees all kinds of unspoken flaws of the Normal Company. There is only one place that is operating effectively, department Z. Ralph studies department Z and notices that the department supervisor, Lucy Storm, practices 5 key principals to energize her employees. These five key principals used in Zapp! are:

1. Maintain or enhance self-esteem
2. Listen and respond with empathy
3. Share thoughts, feelings, and rationale
4. Ask for help and encourage involvement
5. Provide support without removing responsibility for action

     Ralph brings this discovery to the attention of his supervisor, Joe Mode, who learns to use the key principals over time. Lucy Storm, Joe Mode, and Ralph Rosco then team up to transform the whole company using the successes of departments N and Z as models.

     Although Zapp! is an abstract and humorous story, its application to everyday life is fantastically obvious thanks to characters Joe Mode and Lucy Storm. Lucy is the star supervisor who sets the example for other departments. Joe is a distrusting supervisor who usually does not consider his employees when making decisions. Joe tries to implement the key principals lazily and hastily at first which ends up sapping employees more than if they had not been implemented at all.

     Zapp! is a fun short read that would probably take most readers 3 hours or less, but the key principals mentioned in the book are deep in value. It will be fun and challenging implementing them in my next design project.

Understanding Video Games, University of Alberta

Understanding Video Games by the University of Alberta was my first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The class was not very challenging but the material was gold. I was just beginning my knowledge quest for all things video game design when I started the course. The class material served as a great complement to the book I was reading at the time (The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell). I'll be sure to call upon the videos and course material in my future pursuits. Take the class for free here!

Mirror's Edge

     Mirror's Edge was a phenomenal game because of its art style, combat system, and gender neutrality. The game's aesthetics were simple and elegant. The silver reflection of the skyscrapers against the white landscape created an environment that felt perfect, too perfect. The all too perfect landscape meshed well with the game's story. 

     I admire the combat system in Mirror's Edge because of how difficult it was to master. The game is not a standard shooter in which you mow down an endless horde of less than intelligent enemies. The enemies in Mirror's Edge strategize, form counter attacks, and are nearly impossible to sneak up on. As a "runner" you are not compelled to charge head first into bottle with guns blazing either. You instead must master an array of well timed disarms and aerial maneuvers to outlast the enemy. 

     Finally, the game's gender neutrality is refreshing. The player controls a female character who is strong, swift, and interesting. She is interesting in the sense that she has a unique back story, not because she contains hypersexualized qualities. The strong female role combined with a combat system that is not overly violent make for an experience that girls can enjoy just as much as boys. 

     The beautiful art style, non traditional combat system, and respectful use of female characters in Mirror's Edge create one fun and memorable game.

Gender Inclusive Game Design by Sheri Graner Ray

   

     As a relatively new participant in the world of video game design, I have not been subject to the history of the industry's gender inequality problem. There are things I have noticed as a video game player through my years. When I was growing up not many females played video games. It was just thought of as an activity that girls did not have interest in. Later I would find out that some girls did play games, but only a few games appealed to them. Games that were rich in story, had some sort of fantasy element, and weren't overtly violent (Crash Bandicoot, Cool Boarders, Final Fantasy, etc.). Other games like BMX XXX, DOA Beach Volleyball, and Duke Nukem didn't exactly invite women to come play games.

     What I have noticed more recently is that more females are in fact playing video games. My little sister can't stop playing The Sims, my girlfriend plays 2048 and various logic puzzles to no end, even my mother calls me up when she is stuck on Bejeweled! More women are buying video game consoles, couples are gaming together, and the recent boom in mobile games is making it easier for everyone to play games. DID I MENTION THAT MY MOTHER IS GAMING?! All of this inclusiveness in recent years has me excited for the future of the video game industry. Games will get better and will become more accessible.

Video Game Storytelling by Evan Skolnick

     Video Game Storytelling is a fantastic read for anyone and everyone involved in video game development. Evan talks about a lack of respect for the narrative craft in the game industry. Video games take months/years to develop, yet narrative integrity is something that is often overlooked until late in the development process. Evan argues that for a game to feel whole, narrative design should be planned for and implemented from day one, because it is not just a game's writer that impacts the story but everyone on the development team.
     A well-rounded story is my favorite part of any entertainment medium: movies, books, tv shows, plays, etc. I scrutinize games even more than other forms of entertainment, because in games you aren't just witnessing the hero's journey, you are living it. A game can have great gameplay, but if the story doesn't add up then it will not resonate with me (see my write up of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor). That is why I place games like Morrowind, Knights of the Old Republic, The Darkness, and The Legend of Zelda in such high regard.
     Evan does more than argue for the appreciation of the narrative craft in video games, he teaches you the basics of video game storytelling so you can develop better narrative in your games even if your team can't afford to hire writing professionals. Evan's first lesson is about conflict and how it is the fuel for any good story. This is an excellent starting point, and one that feels quite obvious after reading about it. Everyone in a story is trying to do something. What makes a story engaging is when someone is trying to do something and it interferes with the thing that someone else is trying to do. I will be sure to use conflict as the heart of my future games.
     I have a feeling that Video Game Storytelling will be kept in my arsenal of game design tools for years to come as a reminder that it is my duty to make games that are not only fun to play, but engaging to play through from a story telling perspective. Thank you Evan for sharing your knowledge.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

   

     My latest video game conquest took place in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, in the land of Mordor to be more specific. Only Shadow of Mordor did not feel like a Tolkien tale, and that's because it was not meant to. It was much too dark for that. The story focuses on a ranger named Talion who is charged with guarding the Black Gate of Mordor. Upon the Dark Lord Suaron's return, Talion and his family are murdered. Talion does not stay dead for long as he is possessed by a wraith who you later find out to be Celebrimbor, the smith who created the Ring of Power. You play the game under the impression that you and the wraith were bound together as part of a curse that only defeating the Back Hand of Sauron can reverse. Later you realize that Celebrimbor chose you as a host and is using you to take revenge on Sauron. The game ends in a cliff hanger in which the player is left wondering whether he really accomplished anything or had just been used by the Dark Lord himself.

     Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor has me torn. On one hand, the gameplay was phenomenal and on the other, the story felt rushed and short. The game did not end with a warm and fuzzy feeling, which is okay, but it also left me thinking "what just happened?" It seems as though the main campaign was meant to lead the player to a series of clues which would tell the true nature of his body's ghostly occupant. If this is true, then the apex of the story should be the point in which you learn the truth about Celebrimbor's past and future intentions. By the time this point comes along, you are given enough clues to guess it for yourself. There are just too many coincidences for the game's central conflict to be that much of a mystery. At this point in the story you learn that Celebrimbor has been using you, and continues to use you for the rest of the game to defeat the Black Hand of Sauron. What bothers me, aside from being able to guess the story's big mystery before it happens, is that after you fulfill the wraith's desires, you do not know what becomes of Talion. The ranger starts out as a victim who is not yet permitted to die and be with his family, and ends with a red glow in his eye uttering the words, "The time has come for a new ring." What does this mean? Did Talion forfeit all control of his body to Celebrimbor? Is Talion himself drunk on power now? Did the Black Hand not really die, but bind with Celebrimbor and Talion instead? WHAT'S GOING ON!?

     The entire main quest took me 18 hours, but it could have probably taken 12 if I spent less time exploring. In my opinion, this is way too short for a new age open-world game. Much more time could have been spent introducing other NPCs and letting the player discover substantial plot twists. Even the boss battles felt short and unsubstantial.The final two bosses of the game take less than ten minutes to defeat and neither feature a true battle. I was severely disappointed that I did not get to put all the skills I had mastered throughout the game to use in the final battles. After all, the player spends a good amount of time customizing weapons and training to learn new abilities throughout the game.

     Shadow of Mordor was a very fun game to play, but much too short and weak in the story department. Some DLC that further explains Talion's transformation at the end of the game could help the overall experience. Monolith/WB have a great track record for developing games with fun and challenging combat dynamics (see Batman), but I would like to see them spend more time on story and character development like the developers at BioWare. In the end, I do not regret playing Shadow of Mordor, but I do regret buying it.