1. Mitchell is unabashedly cocky and fond of self promotion, proclaiming himself the "Sauce King" of Florida for his successful line of homemade hot sauces. Next to his family, Mitchell considers his arcade scores his greatest achievements in life.
How typical are these types of values and attitudes among 'core' gamers and how important is it to understand these values if you are a game designer? What *are* these values, exactly?
These values are the extreme, competitive behavior of competition and beating out all other people, thinking individualistic. These are the values that are best incorporated in first-person shooter games, to keep that competition going.2. Steve Wiebe has been laid off as a Boeing engineer, and now spends his time as a science teacher. His friends and his wife, Nicole, describe him as a tragic figure who always comes up short, despite being proficient at music, sports, art, and mathematics.
Is Weibe's 'tragic' aspect typical of core gaming 'types'?
What role does self esteem (high or low) play in the culture of hard core gaming and such subcultures as competitive vintage or 'classic' game playing? How would you best describe the relationship between low self-esteem and videogame mastery?
Steve's tragic aspect is not typical of core gamers, for one core gamer can be not good at anything at all but still be good and gaming, while another gamer can be good at one thing and also be just as good at gaming. Self-esteem high and or low plays a really significant rule in the core gaming subculture, for a low self-esteem gamer would simply be paranoid to stay on top of all the others while a high-self esteem gamer wold be fine just doing what they do best even in public, play games.3. Despite Wiebe's protests that his own first score was disqualified for being submitted via unsupervised videotape, Twin Galaxies accepts Mitchell's score over Wiebe's and proclaims that Mitchell is still the record holder.
How valid do you think videotaped gameplay should be in establishing videogame playing records?
If valid, why? If not valid, why not?
I think that taped game scores are not valid, because you are doing it in the privacy of your own home where you can do almost anything.
4. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, wondering "Who would have guessed that a documentary about gamers obsessed with scoring a world record at Donkey Kong would not only be roaringly funny but serve as a metaphor for the decline of Western civilization?"
What do you think of the film?
Is it an accurate portrayal of what makes videogames so compelling for those who play them?
I thought the film was an amazing real-life tale of a super nice, casual underdog simply asking for some friendly competition against a paranoid, very competitive wizard. It is an accurate portrayal of what makes video games so compelling for us, in it's heyday and even now into the future.
5. On November 10, 1981, Walter Day opened an arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa called Twin Galaxies. Though it was a modest arcade of merely 22 arcade games, it soon became known as the International Scorekeeper for the burgeoning video game industry. Under Day's direction, Twin Galaxies set rules for gameplay on hundreds of games, while maintaining a records database of competitive high scores. Twin Galaxies is considered by gaming historians as being the first organizer of professional gaming, putting competitive electronic gaming on the world map.
How important do you think organizations like Twin Galaxies are in the vintage arcade gaming community?
Could such communities exist without such organizations?
What role does Twin Galaxies play ultimately, and why is this significant to the film and its story?
Twin Galaxies is extremely important, in that it helps bring the gamers in the community together. Such communities would not exist without an organization like Twin Galaxies, for then people would not generate such vibrant communities. The role of Twin Galaxies is that it is a hub for gamers to come together and have all kinds of experiences.
6. The film depicts Wiebe's skill at Donkey Kong being linked to his ability to deeply understand the title's game mechanics, particularly the way that rhythm and timing work to ensure a successful outcome.
The film in one scene compared his love of drumming and his abilities at basketball as well as his musical talent as part and parcel of his gift at playing Donkey Kong.
How would you best describe this set of inter-related skills?
Have you experienced anything like this yourself when playing games? Have you been able to associate the skill of playing games with similar related skills and talents and how would you best describe the nature of this set of inter-relationships between skills/passions/abilities?
This would be a multi-skills ability, the ability to do many things that are different but all involve a certain action to initiate and participate in.
7. In the film, Wiebe, while playing the game says hello to Mitchell. Mitchell didn't respond. As he's walking away from Wiebe, Mitchell says, "There's certain people I don't want to spend too much time with." Mitchell offered no explanation for his behavior towards Wiebe but did later explain that at the time of filming, he had not played video games for "more than a year", and that the filmmakers had not given him enough advance warning to train for a public record-breaking attempt. Seth Gordon, the film's Director, in referring to Mitchell's character says that Mitchell "is a true puppet-master", "a master of information-control".
What do you think Gordon means by this? What role does such behavior play in general terms in videogame culture?
Gordon means that since Mitchell has attained so much money and fame due to his past exploits he can influence a lot of people and get what he wants even if he is not there in person. This sort of behavior is what we call, a godmodder.
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