Blog Entry #3 Sexism in Gaming-Too One-Dimensional

Since 2009, Bayonetta has been a character of controversy. Many write her off as a sexist character, appearing only for the male gaze.

Gomakemeasandwich.com agrees with this, and while I am an activist for feminist rights, I know slanted writing when I see it. Gomakemeasandwich is run by people who describe themselves as "cranky" feminists.

The author focuses on Bayonetta as a toy for the male gaze, but Bayonetta's creation goes far further than that. Designed by Mari Shimazaki, Bayonetta was created with the purpose of three specific traits: a female lead, a modern witch, and to use four guns. Bayonetta's design was, for all purposes, a power fantasy by her creator. The men of the team of Bayonetta felt they had no right designing female characters, and created the male characters, but went to Mari for help. She created what is now one of the most sexual characters in gaming.

While the authors of the article and like minded gamers have a good point, many make their point without understanding the intention of this character. I personally am not a Bayonetta, while I acknowledge her purpose, as a character, seeing a woman so sexualized creeps me out. Despite this, I acknowledge that her sexualization is not a result of the male gaze. She is a sexualized character, but there is reason behind her sexualization. She is a strong female character in the sense that is traditional and as well as a more modern take on what it means to have your own power and to take pride in your own sexuality.

 Part of my problem with the article comes from the fact that they place such importance on the male gaze as if that's the only reason why a woman can be sexy in media. Women with sexuality who show it are often looked down upon in society. You're either a whore, or a prude. It's not that simple, and simplifying a character based on her sex appeal shows that exact mentality. It's a lack of understanding as well as a misguided view. 

Blog entry #2 Fatal Frame: Maiden of Blackwater demo

Halloween is over, spirits have gone to rest and jingle bells are ringing. But let's go back a week. October 25th, I hadn't played my WiiU in a while. I was being overwhelmed with homework, and I finally had time for a break. While with a friend, I noticed a game I had been waiting for had finally dropped. It was the newest installment in the Fatal Frame series. For those of you who have never heard of it, Fatal Frame is a horror series that focuses on capturing and purifying ghosts with a tool called the camera obscura. 

I am unfortunately short on money, but still decided to give the game a try. Luckily, a free demo of the beginning of the game was available on the Nintendo Eshop. I decided to give the game a try. And I must say, the game is actually scary. There are some horrifying cutscenes as well as ghosts and moments. I remember screaming every time I couldn't escape from a spirit. The game inflicts genuine horror onto the player. The story is interesting and comes from three different perspectives, one of the characters you play as is related to a character from a previous game. My largest gripe though was the graphics and controls. Characters moved awkwardly, hair physics didn't exist, and while the graphical differences between the cutscenes and game were barely visible, the leap between cutscene and game was too obvious for a modern day game. It was almost cringe worthy.

This, combined with shitty controls for the camera obscura and clunky character movement led to really downgrade the experience of this game. I was genuinely scared by the demo alone, but when it failed to live up to expectations, I had honestly hoped for better. Even worse are the character costumes. There is no need to add extra costumes to a horror game. It makes the game feel as if it doesn't take itself seriously. 

Nobody wants their horror game to turn into an interactive playboy magazine.

Overall, this game gets a 6/10 from me. Great on the horror aspect, but needs work on everything else.

Entry #1 Blogs, blogs, and more blogs

Social media has taken the world by storm. And that's not a bad thing, social media is fun to partake in. It allows the world to communicate with each other and combines social aspects with what we consider fun like writing, video games, and art. One of the earlier attempts at social media was blogging. Blogs are written posts on the internet similar to diaries. But unlike diaries, are public and often contain trivia, pictures, videos, and more. Blogs are a fun way to share information and the whatnot. While a dying media, many popular blogs still exist, and many show creators still use it to post updates.

One blog I really enjoy is GoNintendo, a video game centered blog that focuses around the blog creators' reviews and lets plays. While this blog focuses a little too much on personal opinions and not enough on information for my liking.

One blog I absolutely admire is the Keep Beach City Weird blog. Run by the creators of animated series Steven Universe, Keep Beach City Weird is the name of the blog run in show by side character, Ronaldo. This blog is run be animators and writers from the show, and follows the series through Ronaldo's perspective. Ronaldo is a fun, weird, quirky character. He doesn't have much friends, he's weird, a conspiracy theorist, dons a hideous fedora, and is the exact epitome of that boy in your class who claims he's a "nice guy" but complains when woman don't want to date him. He's a fun parody of a very real person, and his character adds interesting conflict to the show. The way this blog is run offers a different perspective to every episode, and even gives the serious episodes a lighter feel.

I can't get enough of fun blogs like these. But where there are good blogs, there are also the bad. For example, some people may be interested in blogs such as Pink is the New Black. Nothing seems as boring, stupid, vapid or whatever adjective I can add in as this blog. While I hate and couldn't give a shit about celebrity gossip, for some people, it's a way of life. Maybe I shouldn't be so judgmental, because we each have our own tastes. And that's part of what this blog project is, experimenting with our own tastes and learning about each other. In the end, that's what it comes to. It's not about who has the best blog, the most interesting blog, it's about the learning experience that us as classmates will gain from each other.

Blog Practice Entry-The Return

Fear not mortals, the great wizard king has returned (with a shorter tunic than ever before).Once again, I am here to grace your presence with my magic.

There is no doubts that this is the great wizard ki-

Ok so you got me, I am not the great wizard king. In fact, I am a very normal girl with no magical powers. My name is Casandra. but I prefer to go by Cas or Casey. Overall, I'm a pretty reserved person who spends most of her time on school. No wizardry going on here. 

a bit more of an accurate depiction of me

My hobbies are fairly common. I love video games, art (sorry for the bad sketches, I wanted to get out something funny), comic books, and Saturday morning cartoons. If you can get in a discussion about video games or Disney with me, chances are we'll get along perfectly. 

I am also a major Disney fangirl who has never had the chance to visit Disneyland, and it's one of my goals in life to go there. 

One day, I'll be able to go, but for now I got to focus on my school. While in GCC, I plan to get all A's and eventually transfer to ASU Barrett, the honors division of ASU. During my four years of study, I want to study to become an elementary art teacher. I love art, working with kids, and have grown up in a family of teachers. It's a career I've always wanted, even if the pay is not amazing. Teachers are important, and I want people to understand that. Without our teachers, we are nothing. Students deserve to have an outlet to express themselves, and I want to help students find that outlet. In the end, that is my ultimate goal in attending GCC. Get as many classes as I can done, and then continue on to ASU Barrett. 

Throughout this blog, I will be discussing many of my hobbies and passion just like I did in English 101. So expect lots of game talk, movie reviews, and the whatnot. 

Entry #11 One Final Thought

First of all, before I begin this blog entry, I would like to thank everyone who kept with me on this journey and motivated me to continue my blog. You guys are the best, and it is you who I write this for. There were times when I wondered if anyone was listen; I was wondering if anyone cared about my topics. You guys showed interest in my blog and motivated me to continue. Thank you.

I was hesitant of creating a blog. I assumed no one would listen to my rants about video games or art. I wondered if anyone would want to hear about Nintendo and indie games in a day and age where shooters seem to dominate the market. 

I've always had a negative image of blogs, thinking they could only be for the fashion savvy, the DIY home moms, and for world travelers. They were for interesting people, and I was worried I had nothing interesting to say. As time went on, and I got to talk about some of my favorite topics, I became motivated. It made me happy to be able to write about the things I love. I began to look forward to blog entries, and before I knew it, a week ahead I would begin planning my free write entries. I wanted to share my interests to the world, and this blog gave me the freedom and place to do it among my peers. At times, I began not to care about if anyone was listening or not, and started to think of it as a project for myself. It was a place for me to tell the world what I thought without judgement, and it became one of the funnest projects I've ever had in a class.

I honestly hope this project was as fun for others as it was for me. I learned that it was ok to voice my opinions and that my voice didn't have to be covered. I've been so used to strange looks whenever I rant about video games that this was a refreshing breath of air. I honestly wish that everybody else was able to experience that freedom because for me it was a valuable way to let out my emotions. Nothing made me happier than talking about the things I love.

My only suggestion on how to make this project better is to set up some basic tutorials to teach students how to further customize their blogs. Using the templates can be boring and students should know their options. I was able to figure out through google and some basic coding how to customize my blog a bit further, but it should be an option for students who may not be tech savvy. 

In the end, I am sad to leave this blog because I looked forward to having my classmates read my entries so much. I hope that future students will enjoy this project as well.

Thank you everybody!

Blog #10 Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer Review

It was midsummer when I made a decision to change my life. I was sitting at home on one quiet day a special announcement from Nintendo came out regarding a new title in the Animal Crossing series. I've been an obsessive fan ever since my first introduction to the series, Animal Crossing New Leaf. It wasn't long before I became a power mad mayor and greedily hoarded millions of bells. I was sucked in, at least until school happened. I no longer had the time to devote myself to one of my favorite games.

Upon hearing the announcement and preorder date for the next new game, Happy Home Designer, I saved my money until I had enough and preordered it instantly. I had no idea what I was getting into. I thought it would be a game I play every once in a while, how I was wrong. I was so very wrong.

Happy Home Designer, like all games in the Animal Crossing series is a cutesy, fun simulation game where you meet the requests of many small, cute, totally dumb animals. Previous games focus on being part of a village or a town, otherwise having very little control over your villagers' lives. Happy Home Designer focuses specifically on just that: controlling every aspect of these animals' lives as you possibly can. The game is an interior and exterior design game. Your character has just begun work for Nook's Homes, the game's real estate business. Through this, you get one request per day to design and build a villager's house. Every villager unlocks new furniture, and every villager comes with a theme you must match and favorite items that have to be included or else the house won't be complete.

As you play, you'll have chances to build the town center for these villagers and create hospitals, schools, restaurants, hotels, shops, and offices. Your town will grow through these and you get to watch your villagers spend their lives in an entirely new way never seen in the Animal Crossing franchise. You can designate roles for each villager, give them tiny hats, and even force them to communicate with each other. Here are a few photos from some of my own attempts at this game.

My overall experiences with the game have been fun. Graphically, the game is slightly improved from New Leaf, but the graphics aren't that important in a game like this. It's the beauty. Being able to create a beautiful house is awarding in it's own way. The game makes you feel pride in your creations. You get excited for new customers because you can't wait to unlock more. 

My only gripe with this game is that there is no real incentive to continue playing. You don't get played any money, the animals are happy even if you turn their house into the pit of hell (which I did once) as long as it has the fruit bowl they wanted. The only grading you can get is by uploading your designs online and having other players rate them. You don't get money, you don't get anything for yourself. In a way, that one missing part of the game almost makes the game feel as if it's not quite a feel game despite being massive and having over 300 villagers available, a long list of public facilities, and even special npcs to design for. The game is incredible, but this own flaw hurts it deeply. 

I am obsessed with this game despite this flaw, I haven't closed out of it since I got it, and it eats up all of my free time. I never knew I could be so addicted to a design game, but Happy Home Designer is so far one of the most efficient designing games to date. The system flows, the layout is beautiful, there is true freedom for how you design a house. The amiibo cards that are usable add a fresh, new feel to the game and an interesting new game mechanic that more games need to take note from. The game is inspired and one of my favorite games in the Animal Crossing franchise for sheer fun and addictiveness. Overall, I give this game a solid 8.5/10. 

that Animal Crossing swag

Blog#8 Undertale-A Game of Mercy and Genicide

Have you ever felt frustrated when playing a game and a character died that you wanted to live? Have you ever wanted the ability to save them? Or maybe you're on the other side, and you wish you could just get rid of all those annoying characters (I'm talking about you, Slippy the Frog)? Then Undertale is the game for you.

Undertale is an rpg game for PC & Mac that you can get on Steam for $9.99. The game focuses on strange character designs, humor, puns, and choices you must make to decide your fate. You play as a young girl who falls into ancient monster relics. Long before she fell, there was a war between humans and monsters. The humans won and chased the monsters underground, where they were doomed to live forever. Your character, upon arriving, befriends many monsters (or kills them, depending on how you play) and travels through the relics in hopes of returning to the human world. What happens after that is massive spoilers. Depending on how you play this game, this game could be one of the saddest games you play or the funniest. The fate of the world depends on your actions, and this time, not in the traditional "find all the crystals" kind of way.
The bosses you fight are unconventional, the fighting style is unique and new. You don't take turns selecting an action and doing it, you dodge bullets, use rhythm, console and flirt with your enemies. Puzzles are a key component to the game just as much as a nice hot plate of spaghetti is. If you like old pixel style games, rpgs, spaghetti, humor, and the ability to choose how your game is played, Undertale is the perfect game for you. Make a skeleton friend, support a spider bake sale, go and have fun.

Art by ChristineDraws