Social Platypus

Opinion Why we play games; Experiencing the impossible. By Josiah Sapp     I find it interesting to step back and to not only observe the world around me but to also ask why the world is the way it is. What compels people to do what they do? What are all the ways we communicate with each other? Why are cultural norms different across countries? It’s fun and enlightening to ask big questions but the answers aren’t always what they first appear to be. This post starts a three week journey into one of those big questions. Why do we play games? The answer to that question is varied and broad. It depends on all manner of factors including age, race, culture, lifestyle, and gender to name a few. In recent years, researchers have found that there’s a lot that goes on in our brains when we play video games.     In a brief description, gaming is a form of entertainment. A type of media that people pay for and consume much like movies, mu...

 Opinion Difficult video games: The resurgence of punishing gameplay  By Josiah Sapp     Games are fun right? They’re made to be enjoyed by an individual, a collective group or an entire community. People play games for all kinds of reasons. High score chase, a means to relax, or even to escape into a whole other world. Recently, however, a specific style of gaming has emerged over the past few years and it’s not the kind that first catch your attention. Difficult games have been on the rise and there are no signs of slowing down this community. These aren’t just difficult titles. They’re punishing. Brutal. So frustratingly hard that it will have you question why you’re playing it even after you’ve tried the same task for hours. Why do gamers put themselves through this torture? The history of challenging games is in our DNA and in the genealogy of game design.  Dragon's Lair Death Screen     Pick out an...

Opinion Video games have stronger nostalgic driven experiences By Josiah Sapp     Nostalgia is a tricky thing to pin down. You don’t really know what it is about a specific memory that brings about a fond feeling. It could be a certain smell of perfume that brings you back to your grandma’s house or how a song has more weight depending on who you were with the first time you listened to it. Nostalgia is incredibly powerful and highly marketable. Just the other day, I was watching a football game with my family and a life insurance commercial came on playing some old school rock & roll. Once the commercial ended, my dad says that the product was directed straight at him because it was a song and style of music he used to listen to growing up. The commercial succeeded in grabbing his attention by playing nostalgic music. In video games, the main demographic are just now getting old enough to experience nostalgia . Game developers are exploiting that and they’v...

A blast from the past; My arcade cabinet restoration journey. By Josiah Sapp     Your pocket is full of quarters. It’s Friday night and the year is 1983. You’re on your bike with your friends, all heading to your town’s local arcade. You arrive and the place is packed with kids your age all lining up to play their favorite games. Pac Man; Galaga; Centipede; Donkey Kong. This is the only place these games are played and this loose change is burning a hole in your pocket. You stand in line waiting for a shot at the high score. You think to yourself that this place will always be magical. As the years go by, more of your favorite game cabinets go out of order and get carted off. A few years later, the whole arcade has to shut down due to so many of their regulars playing games at home. It’s 1992 and home video game consoles dominate the market. Arcades are closing left and right but those out of order cabinets are finding a new home.     Over the pa...