Post by Young Sammich on Oct 7, 2014 10:45:20 GMT -5
Blogs can be hastily written right? Good.
My girlfriend (who lives halfway across the country) was in town visiting me recently for a friend's wedding. We didn't have a whole lot of "free time" between preparing for the wedding, visiting friends and family, taking her to her first hockey game, etc. etc. but eventually we would find ourselves with some time to kill. I don't remember exactly where the inspiration came from but during that time I granted her permission to enter my man cave and put an Xbox 360 controller in her hands. She asked what we were going to play and I told her I wasn't playing. She was.
She has never been much of a gamer although she tells me she used to love the original Doom on PC and certain older games such as Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog when she was younger. Since then she hasn't played anything that could be considered "modern". She knows I have a deep passion for gaming (and respects that passion) but I think her views on modern gaming are warped by what is broadcast about gaming across the media. Perhaps I can delve more into her perception of gaming later when I better understand it myself but for the time being, I wanted to at least giver her a glimpse of why I love gaming and let her form her own beliefs based on even the tiniest sample of hands-on experience.
So what game did I choose?
Portal.
It seemed like the perfect "introductory" game for someone who really doesn't have a whole of experience with console gaming. The controls are simple and there isn't much need for the precision of "twitch-like" First and Third Person Shooters. I was also inspired by a YouTuber named Shoe0nHead who also admits she doesn't have much experience with gaming but recently tried to give it a shot by playing Portal. She was inspired to do so in the #GamerGate aftermath oddly enough but I digress. It was easy for her to pick up and it was easy to tell she was enjoying the experience.
Watching my girlfriend play was probably one of the most memorable gaming experiences I have ever had and I did not expect it to turn out quite the way it did.
As the game was loading, I told myself that I would not outright give her the solutions to any of the puzzles or any generous hints as to how to proceed. This would prove to be more difficult to adhere to than I originally thought but I held fast and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure of my original intent behind this decision but reflecting on it now makes me realize that if I did help her solve the puzzles then I was taking away one of the most fundamental concepts of gaming away from here; learning through trial and error. Not only would I have been taking that concept away but also the satisfaction and enjoyment from finally solving a complex puzzle, which was very much present during this experience.
I only gave her the most basic of guidance. "What do you need to do?", "Where do you need to go?", "What can you control to help do what you need to do?" and "Does the environment provide any clues as to how to achieve your goal?" were the majority of the responses I would give to her questions. There were times where she just wanted to give up and stop playing. She was frustrated because she genuinely wanted to solve these puzzles not because I was forcing her to do so. I did my best to keep her motivated and thinking and she progressed farther than I imagined she would have. I could tell she was proud of how far she got and that made me smile because she made the progression she did all on her own. I didn't lessen that experience for her by providing solutions when she wanted me to or when I wanted to.
Patience was another virtue that was reinforced during this experience for myself. I wanted to tell her what to do many times or show her the "correct" way to use the controls to move more effectively across the map but against all odds I never did. Instead, I focused on what she was doing, asking her to say her thoughts out loud and try to follow the thought process of someone who was completely new to this.
Then there was the "impossible" puzzle chamber in which GLaDOS was constantly telling my girlfriend that puzzle was unsolvable and that there was no shame in quitting (cake would even be served too). I don't recall hearing the extent of GLaDOS' belittlement when I played through the game but it provided some well placed humor for the situation. Even through all the harassment, my girlfriend still pressed on and solved the unsolvable puzzle and more, all the way to chamber 12. Unfortunately we had to turn it off due to time, but I could tell she wanted to keep going and ended the experience with "that was a good game". Her progress is saved and ready for her to continue the next time she visits
My girlfriend (who lives halfway across the country) was in town visiting me recently for a friend's wedding. We didn't have a whole lot of "free time" between preparing for the wedding, visiting friends and family, taking her to her first hockey game, etc. etc. but eventually we would find ourselves with some time to kill. I don't remember exactly where the inspiration came from but during that time I granted her permission to enter my man cave and put an Xbox 360 controller in her hands. She asked what we were going to play and I told her I wasn't playing. She was.
She has never been much of a gamer although she tells me she used to love the original Doom on PC and certain older games such as Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog when she was younger. Since then she hasn't played anything that could be considered "modern". She knows I have a deep passion for gaming (and respects that passion) but I think her views on modern gaming are warped by what is broadcast about gaming across the media. Perhaps I can delve more into her perception of gaming later when I better understand it myself but for the time being, I wanted to at least giver her a glimpse of why I love gaming and let her form her own beliefs based on even the tiniest sample of hands-on experience.
So what game did I choose?
Portal.
It seemed like the perfect "introductory" game for someone who really doesn't have a whole of experience with console gaming. The controls are simple and there isn't much need for the precision of "twitch-like" First and Third Person Shooters. I was also inspired by a YouTuber named Shoe0nHead who also admits she doesn't have much experience with gaming but recently tried to give it a shot by playing Portal. She was inspired to do so in the #GamerGate aftermath oddly enough but I digress. It was easy for her to pick up and it was easy to tell she was enjoying the experience.
Watching my girlfriend play was probably one of the most memorable gaming experiences I have ever had and I did not expect it to turn out quite the way it did.
As the game was loading, I told myself that I would not outright give her the solutions to any of the puzzles or any generous hints as to how to proceed. This would prove to be more difficult to adhere to than I originally thought but I held fast and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure of my original intent behind this decision but reflecting on it now makes me realize that if I did help her solve the puzzles then I was taking away one of the most fundamental concepts of gaming away from here; learning through trial and error. Not only would I have been taking that concept away but also the satisfaction and enjoyment from finally solving a complex puzzle, which was very much present during this experience.
I only gave her the most basic of guidance. "What do you need to do?", "Where do you need to go?", "What can you control to help do what you need to do?" and "Does the environment provide any clues as to how to achieve your goal?" were the majority of the responses I would give to her questions. There were times where she just wanted to give up and stop playing. She was frustrated because she genuinely wanted to solve these puzzles not because I was forcing her to do so. I did my best to keep her motivated and thinking and she progressed farther than I imagined she would have. I could tell she was proud of how far she got and that made me smile because she made the progression she did all on her own. I didn't lessen that experience for her by providing solutions when she wanted me to or when I wanted to.
Patience was another virtue that was reinforced during this experience for myself. I wanted to tell her what to do many times or show her the "correct" way to use the controls to move more effectively across the map but against all odds I never did. Instead, I focused on what she was doing, asking her to say her thoughts out loud and try to follow the thought process of someone who was completely new to this.
Then there was the "impossible" puzzle chamber in which GLaDOS was constantly telling my girlfriend that puzzle was unsolvable and that there was no shame in quitting (cake would even be served too). I don't recall hearing the extent of GLaDOS' belittlement when I played through the game but it provided some well placed humor for the situation. Even through all the harassment, my girlfriend still pressed on and solved the unsolvable puzzle and more, all the way to chamber 12. Unfortunately we had to turn it off due to time, but I could tell she wanted to keep going and ended the experience with "that was a good game". Her progress is saved and ready for her to continue the next time she visits