Monopoly

So… there is a new monopoly game coming out. This new version of monopoly is gaining attention for the computerization of the game. They banished the banker, the colorful money, the community chest and chance cards, and the dice, instead they have an hourglass shaped electronic device that takes the place of those items and it is placed in the middle of the board. This electronic device will keep track of the amount of money a player has, it has a infrared light to keep track of the amount of moves a person makes, and a speaker to tell you moves and instructions.

The company Hasbro, said they made this in hopes that it will appeal to the younger generation. Because younger children are lured into the video game world, Hasbro created this new version of monopoly in hopes that children around the age of 8 to 12 years old would like it.

In my opinion, I do not feel that a change like this was necessary. Monopoly is a classic game, many children and adults know about it and still enjoy the game. I think the new version still will not attract the new group of children. Many children today like playing video games that involve adventure and action, and unless the new monopoly game can provide such themes, children are not going to be attracted. People play monopoly because the way it was in a way reality with the actual counting of money, having a banker, and having laugh when someone is ripped off by the banker. Call me old fashion, but I enjoy the tossing of the dices, and counting my pastel money.

Fruit Ninja

Fruit ninja might be one of the funniest games I ever played. If you do not know what fruit ninja is, it is a game app that can be played on the iphone, ipad, or itouch. The game like the title says involves fruits. The point of the game is to slice the fruits without hitting a bomb.

I think classic mode is the most challenging and nerve-racking. In classic mode you try to get the highest score possible without hitting a bomb, or dropping three fruits. Once you hit a bomb, or drop three fruits the game is over. You can also complete challenges in the game that will allow you to unlock new blades, and wallpaper, which is interesting as well.

My friend introduced me to this game; I saw her playing it and thought what a dumb game at first. However, once I began to play it I was addicted. People today expect fun games to be games that involve shooting, and very intricately designed with amazing graphics. In this case, something simple like fruit ninja can entertain people quite well. I recently had a personally best score of 476, the highest is in the thousands, and I wonder how long people played to get that score.

Playing to Win

I myself has always considered myself a sort of a gamer. And one evening I stumbled upon an article that changed the way I played games. The article was "Playing to Win" by David Sirlin. He was a competitive Street Fighter Player and a MIT graduate. He talked about scrubs and what they would refer to as cheap. The game knows nothing about cheapness, only winning or losing. "Cheap" is what people refer to when others goes against their home made rules that the game knows nothing about. For example in Street Fighter. Turtling may be considered cheap ( sitting in the corner blocking), throwing someone five times in a row may be considered cheap, spamming fireballs may be considered cheap. But in reality people only call it cheap because they cannot deal with it. They say it takes no skills because it is something so simple. But there were never a prize in any tournament for the players who did the most difficult moves. The point of the game is to win.

I play many online games that often do have a competitive scene and many people are like that. They often overestimate themselves and blame their teammates when losing when in fact its their fault. Understanding your weakness is the first step to getting better. If you don't think you need to improve you won't. This is one of the big problems in online games. People are restricted by their own homemade rules and they just call "cheap" when they lose because of the restrictions they placed upon themselves. But me? I try to improve my game and evolve to play and win.