Jane McGonigal: Video Gaming Can Save the World Part 3

The final part of the book for me was the best. Or I guess my favorite. In this part of the book she first talks about getting people involved and what it takes. There is a game that was played in England called Investigate Your MP's Expenses. (page 197) The game was created in 2009 when a bunch of the MP's in England were abusing their monetary privileges and overspending by almost double their salaries. This is a kind of game that I think should be in all countries and played all the time to watch everyone. While I may be a Democrat I know that both parties in this country have their bad eggs and it would be nice to be able to keep them all in check.

In that same section it also talks about games such as Free Rice at FreeRice.com. This game is a game where you answer trivia on a page with ads and then for each answer that you get right you get 10 grains of rice to be donated to starving families across the world. The first time I played I got to 1000 grains before I messed up. (I was very lucky!) After awhile it does get a little boring, but I now go on for about 5 mins a day and feel like I'm helping. And that is NOT boring.

She also talks about a game called Folding on page 210. This game is a game designed to help scientists to figure out how to fold all these different proteins in different ways so that they can learn the solution to all the illnesses that are out there. The cool thing about this game is that you can set your Playstation3 (if you have one) to do all the folding while you're not playing anything so that good things can be done while you're at work.

In the next part of Part 3 on page 220 she talks about an app for your phone called the Extraordinaries. The app is designed to help you help others by mapping out areas or doing quick tasks while waiting for a friend. Sadly I loaded the app to my iPhone and it doesn't work. (This is what I saw on many reviews. Hopefully it will be fixed soon, because like Free Rice it seems like the perfect game for me.) I get to do superhero things while I have free time, but I won't feel stressed if I don't have the time.

In the next section she talks about how Co-Op games are a favorite among people. This has been true for me since the dawn of time. I used to play a board game called Hero Quest and you could play with up to 5 players. 4 against 1. It was like Dungeons and Dragons light. One player is the quest master who knows where everything is in the dungeon and then the 4 other players search around to clear it out and complete the quest. We also took turns being the bad guy and getting to play with others. It was a perfect way to learn cooperation and teamwork growing up.

I also really loved the game that she created for the Olympics and how it brought people together. The Lost Ring (pg. 246) was a really creative way to get everyone around the world back into the sport of the Olympics rather then just watching it on the sidelines.

The final part of the book where Jane talks about World Without Oil and other games like that which are designed to plan ahead for the future and to figure out what you would do are a great idea. I just moved to LA and in California we're known for having earthquakes. Now I know what to do if there is a blizzard or a hurricane, or even a tornado. But when it comes to earthquakes? Not so much. I looked online and found a helpful guide to let me know what to get incase of any earthquakes and what could come of it. I then found myself acting as if I was on a quest to get everything. I was able to make finding the supplies to keep myself safe and alive during an earthquake fun and also made the idea of it happening less scary.

The book is wonderful and really should be read by everyone. Have you read it yet? What do you think? Should we find a way to spend more time playing games? I think so, but then again I'm a gamer and I can see the potential for me with a game!

Jason

Jane McGonigal: Video Gaming Can Save the World Part 2

In part two of Jane McGonigal's book Reality is Broken, we start to see video games where the people play the game in real life and then move onto the computer to log what they have done. These are called Alternate Reality Games as we learn on page 112. The game that she mentions in The Benefits of Alternate Realities is called Chore Wars. In this game people compete in their homes to be the first to clean. In the game you get points for doing more work and being able to do it creatively, like while others are asleep. This to me was actually not a surprise as a game but more that it existed elsewhere. As a kid every summer I would earn points for doing things other then watching TV or playing video games. And doing things such as cleaning were the highest point getters. Then after I gained enough points I could cash in on a great prize. Doing dirty work is never fun, but if you make it a game it can become a really easy and painless thing to do.

The next section of Part 2 in the book is called Leveling Up in Life. She talks about how she wishes that like in games when you do something hard you get to level up. Lately I've been working out. A lot! And at first it can be really hard to do because you don't seem to see any results. But then you start to see the muscle definition that you wanted to see. And that to me feels like leveling up. In addition to that as a tap dancer there are really tough dance trick moves. When you first start to dance it can be really tough because you feel like everyone is far ahead of you. Then suddenly you move forward. And you start to level up. If more people could see that they're leveling up then people would perhaps feel better about the hard tasks that we have to do.

The third part of Part 2 is called Fun With Strangers. In this part Jane talks about games where the whole world is playing an ARG and you can basically meet new people. She talks about a game called Bounce where older and younger players talk on the phone and try to figure out what 10 things they have in common in 10 minutes. What it does is also creates new friendships. I love going out and having to do a scavenger hunt with people who I've just met because we have to run around and get pictures with people and things and then get back in time. It creates a common goal while building up our trust in each other and while allowing us to get to know each other. It is not uncommon in the theater world for shows to begin with getting to know you exercises. It allows for the cast to grow stronger together faster and become a team. Games like Bounce allow for people in the world to become a team.

The final section of Part 2 is Happiness Hacking. In this chapter she talks about a great game called Cruel 2 B Kind on page 174. In the game everyone starts out on their own and has different "attacks" using smiles, compliments and winks, etc. The game gets played out in a park, or a city block where people don't know who is playing and who isn't. People not playing can actually get caught in the crossfire, but it's ok because the game is so pleasant. By playing games like this people are helping to spread a little bit of joy out there into the world. There was a time that I was in Central Park in NYC and I was watching a group of people all tie a ballon next to their feet. They would then spread out and wait for a bell to ring. Then when the bell rang they all ran around and tried to stomp out the balloons of the other players. It was like flag football but a game that everyone could play. Even kids because feet are an area that everyone can reach. While I was not playing it, I was made happy to watch it. It looked fun and made me thing that I would want to play that game someday with my friends.

There are many more games that she mentions in this book and you should buy it and read it!

Part 3 coming next!

Jason

Jane McGonigal: Video Gaming Can Save the World Part 1

So as a little boy I remember that I used to play hours and hours of video games. I actually wouldn't be surprised if by the end of my school career, like Jane McGonigal references a lot, I wouldn't have had over 10,000 hours of video gaming under my belt. Thankfully as a kid I was able to do all my homework really quickly and still manage to get a good grade. As I got older this got harder to do since the loads got larger and larger, but I still had to have my fix.

When I think about my childhood growing up I think about what was positive in my life and what was negative. The two positives that were there for me no matter what were both the theatre and video games. My parents were also a great influence in my life but due to some overwhelming circumstances they were led away to deal with big problems in the family. That being said they always made sure that they had time for me without a doubt. I was never abandoned or anything like that. But the two things that I seemed to have the most control over in my life were the video games I played, and the shows I got to do.

Now in the theatre I was able to escape for a little while by pretending to be someone else for a while. And when I wasn't on stage I was often down in the dressing room playing cards with the other cast members. In fact when things got particularly tough at home my parents would through a game night. So games were always a very pivotal part of my life.

When I was maybe 6 or 7 my dad bought me and my sister a Super Nintendo. I was beyond thrilled! And with that my video game education began. At first my parents imposed a one hour rule per day just like we had with TV but if we saved them up every week we could play more on the weekends. Which is what I normally did. After all how can you learn if you can't keep going at it hour after hour?!

Well as I grew up the rules became more relaxed and I was able to play when I wanted to. Slowly I started to adopt harder games such as Final Fantasy and games in the league of World of Warcraft. This became a realm for me to escape even further then game nights or theatre would allow. I could be the most powerful person I knew. And this brings me to Jane's book: Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.

In this book Jane talks about a lot of things that games can do. Starting with part one she talks about Why Games Make Us Happy. She talks about Unnecessary Obstacles, Emotional Activation, More Satisfying Work, Better Hope of Success, Stronger Social Connectivity, and Becoming a Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves. Now the first one she talk about Golf on page 27, and how the goal of the game is to get the ball into the hole with the smallest number of points. She also talks about then how rather then us just walking up to the hole and dropping it in we use clubs to make it harder.

When dealing with problems at home as a kid I didn't want to take the hard route at first. So playing games like golf or Tetris or Portal would have driven me crazy at first. Feeling as lost as I did initially growing up those types of games would have driven me crazy. (I'm very rule oriented.) But as I got older and the games I originally liked got way to easy I had to upgrade and I found that I indeed did like games where I might not know where I'm supposed to go or what to do.

Then she talks about Emotional Activation. She talks about David Sudnow on page 42 and talks about how he played the game Breakout until he was able to beat it with a perfect score. By doing so he reaches a certain happiness called Fiero. An ultimate joy of victory. Then when he beats the game he has no reason to keep playing. Throughout the book Jane talks about how when a game becomes to easy to win then it no longer is a game that one would desire to play. This for me has always been true. I have two breaking points in a game. 1 is when it's now too easy and I'm just waltzing through to the finish line, or 2 where it gets so hard that I can't move forward at all and get stuck. Those two times for me drive me crazy. I obviously want a challenge but I'd like for it to be obtainable. Games nowadays have and are doing a much better job of that then games of the past.

Then she goes onto More Satisfying Work. She talks about World Of Warcraft. While I have never played it I've played games that are off-line and similar such as Oblivion: The Elder Scrolls. These games have, as she calls it on page 57, "Problems" not work to be solved. When we're at our jobs we go to boring work, but here in these games we get to solve work in the disguise of being a "Problem." It to me is the perfect ideal. Later in the book she talks about how to make work become viewed as a "Problem." If more work nowadays were viewed as a game I feel like it would not only get done faster, but with more love and care.

Then she moves onto Better Hope of Success. As a gamer now I don't mind losing, if it is done in a fair and just manner. As a kid I hated losing at all. The only time that I didn't mind losing was when a fellow human being beat me at a game or if I was really close to beating a really hard computer level after winning a bunch in a row. To this day though I prefer losing to another human. I feel less like I was cheated against with a human. For all I know the computer decided that it was time for me to lose and cheated.

During the part with Stronger Social Connectivity Jane talks about Facebook games and the such. At first I really fought against such games because I felt like whats the point of playing if you don't get to find out who won right then. But then I moved away and found myself wanting to play games with people from back home or even my folks. This was a way for me to keep in touch with those I love and not feel like I was stranded on the other side of the world. It also helped me meet some new gamers who I now play with often.

Then the final part of the first part is Becoming a Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves. She talks about Halo 3 and their 10 billion kills together as a community. While I've never been a part of something like that as far as a game point of view, I can say that I really have enjoyed being a part of something bigger than me with things such as benefits and the such. When they say that we helped raise more then the charity has ever raised before it makes me feel great!

I have to run for now but more on Parts 2 and 3 later today!

Jason

PS Read the book! It's great!

YouTube Viral Videos

So there are many YouTube videos out there. Some of them go viral and some don’t. What makes a video go viral?

These videos are just a sampling of videos that have gone viral. But almost all of these videos have a real meaning to me and have gone viral, even if only to a select group or two. 

I want to start with what has been pegged as the first viral video ever to hit the world. Or at least the USA, "The Angriest Man in the World," or as it is titled in the documentary about it, "The Winnebago Man." Jack Rebney is the man behind this magic. Now yes, this outtake reel is hysterical if not insanely profane, but it also helped create the magic we now have called viral videos. In the 80’s Jack retired from being a News Anchor because he was fed up with how news was no longer just about the facts. After he left that job he became a Winnebago Infomercial Salesman. This required him to help write and shoot an infomercial about Winnebagos. During the shoot he had a lot of troubles remembering his lines (despite the fact he wrote them!) and as a result swore. A lot. The crew found this to be really funny, and found themselves taping these outtakes so that they could make a blooper reel at the end of the shoot. Sadly this video found its way into the hands of those in the upper management of the Winnebago Company and Jack was let go. After that he vanished. 

This video however started to circulate across the country from filmmaker to filmmaker. It was sent from friend to friend via VHS (old school!) and then people would copy it several times and send back the copy they got from the original owner and then send out new tapes to their friends. It was sort of a you're in the club, and know what it's like to work with someone who can be difficult, or always forgets their lines and then screams at everyone about it, including themselves sometimes.

In the documentary Ben Steinbauer (the maker of this film) stumbles upon this viral video of “The Angriest Man in the World,” and decides that he would like to find and interview him. He sets off on a mission to find him and finds that Jack had retired to the top of a mountain to live as a caretaker of sorts of the lands at a park. In fact Jack had no idea that this video was viral and that he was famous.

The documentary follows Jack as he learns about his infamy or fame, and watching him use it to forward his political messages against Dick Cheney and Walmart. In addition to that this movie shows us about what it is like for someone who is just trying to live their life and then have it interrupted due to the viral video. In his case Jack makes good on it and is able to go slightly political with his viewers.

Also watching this documentary and what they talk about involving viral videos you can see that what really makes a viral video take off and spiral out of control is people sending it to their friends with the message of, “You are not going to believe what I just saw!” or, “This is the funniest/most touching/cutest/sickest/etc. thing that I have ever seen.” Then people click on the video because their friends who they trust have watched it and watch it themselves. Then as they watch it they are moved in whatever way that they are and they forward it to their friends.

To view the trailer of the movie or the website for the documentary go here:

http://winnebagoman.com/

Now I want to move onto some other viral videos that have made an impact on me, and how they went viral when they did. The first one that I want to show is the one that really touched me. It is of a young 21 year old Airman who is gay who is coming out to his father. Randy Phillips calls his dad on Sept 20^th 2011 which is the day that the LGBT men and women of our armed services were finally released from their bonds to DADT (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Here's an article from the U.S. Department of Defense about DADT and the WikiDADT WebPage.) and are allowed to be open to being who they are.

             This video was actually really hard for me to watch at first. I had to have a friend who posted in on Facebook tell me that it ends well. It goes really well with his dad, but his mom doesn’t take it as well. Which is really interesting since normally people think that is tends to go the other way due to all the Hollywood movies and TV shows showing the dad as the one who is against it, such as Queer As Folk with Justin’s (a character on the show) coming out.

             Randy actually talks about that in the follow up video where he comes out to his mom. This video is also hard to watch for a few reasons. The first is that his mom doesn’t take it as well as his father, but also because it is a bit hard to hear her voice over the phone. In addition to that she starts in on the Bible and how god apparently didn’t make gay people. One of the things that is good about this video is that despite all the things his mom says, and she does say that she’ll still love him, he manages to say that he is OK with himself and is happy with who he is. This is important for all the kids out there who are still scared of coming out and are trying to figure out who they are.

Another really interesting thing is that Randy started making videos before it was ok to come out as a gay soldier. What he did however was cut off his head from the screen so only to have a shot of his chest. His first video is actually really beautifully done here. He wanted to document his journey in coming out. You can actually feel the fear and excitement from him as he is able to start making this YouTube video. He is finally going to be able to come out and be who he is.

The first video of the three that I showed you went viral because of Rachel Maddow. She posted it to her blog http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/ and I believe that she showed the clip on air around the time it was posted. It then was spread all across Facebook. This all happened right as the repeal of DADT happened. It was spread by people to show those who were in doubt that there were LGBT members in our armed forces that they existed and also to show that these people are human just like us. The video had a lot of help becoming viral because of the topical subjects of coming out, DADT repeal and Rachel Maddow talking about it. It is a great video and I hope will continue to inspire kids and grownups alike in coming out and showing the world that we are just like everybody else. In addition to Rachel Maddow there are tons of articles on Randy and his coming out story. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/who-is-randy-phillips/2011/09/20/gIQA2MYBjK_blog.html and http://abcnews.go.com/topics/sports/football/randy-phillips.htm Since the video's success Randy has now started recording workout videos on YouTube and plans to open his own gym someday. http://www.towleroad.com/2012/01/phillips.html

The final viral video that I want to talk about for now is the infamous Rebecca Black song Friday. The music video was a viral video over night. This is one of those cases where a video went viral for the wrong reason. It went viral because it was so bad and everyone had to show their friends so that they could make fun of it.

The video was released last year on September 16^th, 2011. To date it has 27,950,540 hits on YouTube. There are still comments being posted to this day on it. At this point there are 400,154. And in addition to that it is one of the most disliked videos out there on YouTube with 587,630 dislikes compared to 140,370 likes. If you look at the graph that is under the video next to the number of hits called show video statistics you can see that this video spiraled into a viral hit with over 10 million views within two months of the video coming online.

To this day there are still people commenting on how this song is the worst thing that they have ever seen and as YouTube user levig090 commented, “[T]his will be used in future concentration camps.” It almost seems that still to this day people are trying to one up each other for the most funny and horrible thing that they can say. Most of the comments are really quite inappropriate.

This is actually not that surprising because if you listen to the lyrics you’ll be quite amazed (and in my case mortified) at the phrase, “Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday. Today it is Friday, Friday. We, we, we, so excited. We so excited. We gonna have a ball today. Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards.” A lot of my friends happen to be song writers and these lyrics offend them. Also my friends who are not lyric writers were offended. Because of how bad the lyrics are and Rebecca’s only OK performance it has become the video you wont believe when you see it. That is yet another reason that it went viral.

            Another interesting reason that this video went viral is because of all the parodies that were made for it. Thecomputernerd01 is a guy on YouTube who makes parodies of a bunch of different songs by rewriting them and then singing them himself. His version of the song, “Friday,” is called, “Tuesday,” because that’s his “favorite day of the week.” The parody focuses on the absurdity of the lyrics in addition to the randomness of the song as a whole. This version of the song also went viral with close to 6 million hits so far.

            Another parody is a personal favorite of mine, which is the ASL (American Sign Language) version of this song. It doesn’t have as many hits (20,415), but in my opinion, just like “Tuesday,” it is far more entertaining to watch then the original video. While this song is more of a copy it was made so that those who are deaf and or hard of hearing could understand what all the hype was about Rebecca Black’s song when it first came out. While there are a few ASL videos that have gone mainstream viral over 20,000 hits is really good for a video where the main base are the deaf and hard of hearing.

            There are many videos that have gone viral and I plan to post a few more and their interesting stories of how they became viral soon. To me a viral video can slowly accumulate a ton of hits but still manage to reach a large audience in addition to springing into the spotlight overnight. However just because it only has 20,000 hits doesn’t mean it hasn’t gone viral in a specific group of people. What are your thoughts on YouTube and viral videos? 

~Jason