Week 13 -- Gamification of touch typing in Typing of the Dead: Overkill

The Typing of the Dead: Overkill, promotional picture.

Taking a cue from Nathan's post about educational gaming, I thought I would look at another recent game that examines this notion of gamifying something that would otherwise be a dull educative activity.

Typing is something I'm adept at. I am a fast typer due mainly to typing tutorials I had as a child with a family friend after school. I remember having to slog through boring typing exercises, thinking about the goal of playing half an hour of GTA (pre-GTA III, back when the games were isometric top-down experiences). In a way, that was gamification in of itself, a carrot and stick idea of learning.

Now you can get touch typing gamified in ports of the House of the Dead franchise. The latest game in this series is Typing of the Dead: Overkill. The game House of the Dead: Overkill was originally an on-rails shooter designed for arcades where someone would shoot at the screen with a plastic pistol. In Typing of the Dead: Overkill, the keyboard is now your tool of choice to fight against hordes of zombies. Each zombie has a word or phrase that you must type out fully and correctly to kill the zombie, before they can reach you and rip into you. The boss battles of this game are especially fun, as the phrases suit the situation. Some of the phrases you must type are amusing without any context.

To get through a level you can set it to easy, medium or hard (in this case, the 'hard' difficulty is so hard it is labelled as a swear word), and the zombies will move at the appropriate pace, giving you the time to type the words. There is also a survival mode, where you stand in one room and must hold out with your keyboard for as long as possible.

While Typing of the Dead: Overkill does not include the keyboard in cutscenes, the original Typing of the Dead, a port of House of the Dead 2 for the SEGA Dreamcast, does, as shown below. A battery pack, a Dreamcast and a keyboard is strapped to the player.

This game is an innovative and fun way to help kids learn how to touch type. Zombies are very popular among young adults at the moment, and a way to improve typing skills while keeping things fun is a genius way to go about it. I've loved every minute of playing this game and hope they can make more.

References:

Miya. (2013, October 30). Typing of the Dead: Overkill Gameplay [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jslf5hJMtvs

Lethal Dexter. (2013,  July 3). Typing Of the Dead Gameplay 03 07 2013 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHmgejxOuDk

Image:

Joystiq. (2013). The Typing of the Dead: Overkill out n-o-w. Retrieved October 31, 2013, from http://www.joystiq.com/2013/10/29/the-typing-of-the-dead-overkill-out-now/

Week 12 -- A generation nurtured by The OC

The OC, promotional picture.

The OC has had a profound effect on teens living in the decade of the new millennia. It represented a change of pace for the soap TV show, a liberation of TV show writing to have a young adult (creator of the show, Josh Schwartz, at 26) writing for other young adults. The show put the real Orange County on the map and ingrained romance stories among entitled high schoolers in young adult hearts. Then there’s the downfall of the show, the decision to break one of these great teen romances in a miscalculated, heartless reflection of the show’s overall saccharine yet wry style. The inspired music choices, the enduring characters and the bizarre state of social chaos the show found itself embroiled in with each story arc was a joy to behold.

The OC still polarises even today. Fans of the show identify with the characters and pine that the show should have gone on beyond the ill-fated fourth season. The people who hate the show, when I’ve questioned them, seem to indicate that they either have never seen The OC and are on the ‘all soapies are bad’ bandwagon or have only seen the pilot, which actually won a Writer’s Guild Award for best writing of a new show.

This is one of my favourite parts from the pilot, perfectly skewing the anarchy in a school party, the excesses and spoilt brattiness of rich young kids, the misconceptions, and the resulting macho bullshit that inevitably takes place after the fact:

The scene ends with a line gloriously indicative of the self-deprecating style: "Welcome to the OC, bitch! This is how it's done in Orange County."

The OC impacted people so because it did something most soapies didn’t have the guts to do: poke fun at itself and let the audience in on the joke. Sandy, the father of the Cohen family on which the show is centred and a lawyer, proves to be the upright and foundational support for the show’s more adult approach to young adult themes, not any of the high schoolers. In the first episode, he takes in Ryan, a 16 year old facing time in a juvenile detention centre for stealing a car with his brother, to stay with them at the Cohen household. When Kirsten, Sandy’s wife, questions him about whether it was dangerous to have one of his potentially criminal clients staying at home with them, he states: “I just know that I'd rather have Seth hanging out with Ryan than some trust fund kid from around here who only cares about getting a new beemer every year. There's a whole world outside this Newport Beach bubble.” This sets the tone for the entire series. Ryan, a kid from a broken home in the back streets of Chino, is thrust into the world of rich young white kids partying, drinking, taking drugs and being romantically confused. He proves another pillar to the show as someone who has more grounding than half of these entitled 1%-ers.

There’s Seth who’s that lovable nerdy kid that everyone knows and can quote comic book references at you all day. Summer, Seth’s secret crush, a judgemental girl obsessed with the internal workings of school social cliques to hide her own insecurities. Their relationship works off of their obsessions. Marissa, friend of Summer and the girl Ryan falls for, who’s been in a relationship with the local bully Luke since primary school and goes tragically off the rails as the show progresses. Marissa’s mother, who’s a manipulative, scheming femme fetale,  at one point having a relationship with Marissa’s (then) ex-boyfriend Luke and marrying an old rich guy for money and power in Newport's social circles. Anna, someone whose interests are better suited with Seth than his perpetually strained relationship with Summer, makes an appearance too, but Seth inevitably screws it up by trying to date both Summer and Anna at the same time in one hilarious episode.

Still, the show manages to send off this relatively minor role with one of the most heartfelt scenes I've witnessed in television.

The show covers all facets of high school life; the hollowness of the friendships; a cocky look into these high school parties where the aim is who’s going to get drunk the fastest; all the vapid opinions of the social groups; the overall silliness in trying to be romantic and genuine at such a socially inexperienced age. The OC reflected a satiric yet affectionate view of the ending days of school, laced with a soundtrack of indie rock hits such as "Rock 'n' Roll Queen" and inspired music placement in scenes such as "If You Leave" in the video above, and this one, utilising the song “Dice” (a song about taking a chance on someone) to coincide with Ryan finally taking a risk to show Marissa how he feels just before the New Year.

I identified with the show, as did other young adults my age, because it explored these subjects at just the right time for us, in just the right way, to make us feel a little sorry for ourselves yet amused and emotionally involved.

The OC is one of the few soapies that sees the flaws of the shallow soapie genre, and lays it out for us, the discerning audience. Even in its final season, when the show went whole hog on the “not taking itself seriously” to the point of absurd parody, the affection its writers have for the characters is still there, even if the decent storylines aren’t.

References:

BestoftheOC. (2007, Oct 13). The O.C. best music moment #5 - The Countdown - "Dice" [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9IyJ3w4SWY

brianbb98. (2006, September 24). The O.C. Anna leaving... [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du7jECNaxfc

diorznotwar. (2007, May 5). The O.C. : Thanksgiving (Summer vs Anna) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEhxC6wd0KM

ExplicitGamingX. (2011, February 14). Welcome to The O.C. Bitch [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJWV0Brbt4c

Image:

The WB. (2013). The OC: Watch Full Episodes Online [Image]. Retrieved October 31, 2013, from http://www.thewb.com/shows/the-oc

Week 10 -- Interview with a young adult

I had the opportunity to interview Claire (19) who is a university student.

What is your favourite TV show?

My favourite TV show would have to be Grey's Anatomy - I love medical shows (Scrubs, ER). They seem to have the perfect balance of comedy, drama and heart.

Who would be a rolemodel for you in TV?

At the moment I think Leslie Knope from Parks & Recreation is a good role model - she's driven to succeed in a male dominated workplace, is passionate about everything (no matter how small) and takes no shit from anyone all while looking after everyone she cares about.

What sort of genres are you interested in?

I've always been drawn to dramas and comedies (but not the one's that are just "dumb humour") because they've just always appealed to me over other genres. I also like shows that challenge me and make me think, i.e. Sherlock, Homeland, Ripper Street.

If you could change something about the genre or type of TV you’ve stated, what would it be and why would you want to change this?

One thing about dramas which can annoy me, is how far fetched the scenarios can be sometimes. I work in a hospital and that level of tragedy does not happen to a group of people that often.

What’s something you really look for in TV / movies / books / video games?

A big draw for me with any show, movie or book is the plot, if it looks good and of interest to me, then I'll watch/read it no matter which actors are in it or which author wrote it. I also like to look for other works by that person (actor/author) and then I'll watch/read some of their other work. This year I've read all of John Green's books because I really enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars.

***

Something that struck me in this interview was how much Claire wished to identify with the media she consumed. Shows related to her workplace were of great interest to her, along with analysis related to the show's flaws. A dislike towards scenarios in TV shows that are break a wilful suspension of disbelief. I would say this is indicative of Claire looking for a show that is a reflection of elements of her life, an escapism that's held within realistic confines, if you will. Fantasy and science fiction are not Claire's interest.

It is interesting to see the discerning viewer present in Claire, who holds Leslie Knope from Parks & Recreation, a comedic character whose foibles are the subject of much of the show's humour, to be her rolemodel. This shows that Claire can see beyond the surface level attributes to where the show excels -- a positive female role model in the workplace that shows a sense of drive. This must be shown in more TV shows for young people, as women being discouraged in the workplace is all too prevalent.

This interview also revealed that Claire made choices on what to watch and read not based upon reviews, but individual response to previews and the people attached to a production or author of a book. This kind of choice by young adults shows why there are such marketing campaigns and deals done to secure high profile actors and actresses for productions. And again, an author's notoriety will definitely sell novels, even if that novel is completely unrelated to what they're known for.

Claire states that she likes shows that challenge and make her think, which I believe is a message that should be put into all televisual programming. Give people media that challenges and makes them think, and the results can be surprising.

Week 11 -- Pinterest page!

Pinterest, logo.

Signing up to Pinterest for me is daunting, as I detest involving myself in the deluge of images and GIFs that proliferate across Tumblr and these image-based sites. I also disagree with the idea of reposting someone else's work, as for me, a writer, it doesn't feel very creative.

On using Pinterest though, I'm happy with the site. For one, its presentation isn't individualised like Tumblr's, leading one to think these are all the person's own work. Instead, it presents the pins in a spread. The colour schemes are way easier on the eyes than the column-style and possible overload of someone's customised Tumblr.

I went searching for young adult-related popular culture, and it tended to be pins related to the topic, rather than images of the topic itself. For example, if you search Doctor Who, you won't get things like Doctor Who's poster, but instead a whole bunch of screencaps with subtitles added for comic effect. This is the community type of image sharing of today, branching away from the official sources into in jokes and references. Still, I enjoyed my foray into Pinterest. The UI was less challenging than Tumblr's and the images were for the most part more interesting and varied than the Tumblr reposts. The commenting system also works better for Pinterest, as there is no big long string of reposts, instead it simply keeps a count of pins and a short comment thread that doesn't slowly branch out (unlike Tumblr's which becomes harder to read with each repost comment).

Image:

TBLC. n.d. How to create a Secret Board on Pinterest [Image]. Retrieved from http://tblc.org/news/how-to-create-a-secret-board-on-pinterest

Benjamin Harkin's profile on Pinterest