Short Essay Responses
1. Core gamers, not just Mitchell, more likely will have the need to play and win at all costs to feel accomplished. The value to win is the most important thing in the world for core gamers and as a game designer, it is important to design games which will bring players back for years to come especially core gamers. This will make it a great game.
2. Core gamers always want to become on top and better than everyone else. Maybe in the context of what Nicole, Wiebe's wife, was saying about Weibe coming up short is true for the gaming world. But it sounds like she has very high expectations for him, so she wants him to succeed in everything he does, but sees that he doesn't come up on top in any of those fields.
Having a self esteem that is too high or too low can be beneficial to competitive gaming such as vintage or class game playing. Mitchell was one with high self esteem while Wieber had low. When a gamer is balanced, I would think that they have a life outside of gaming and isn't considered hard-core gamer.
The relationship between low self-esteem and videogame mastery is complementary. Self-esteem increases when the player wins or succeeds at accomplishing a certain task or difficult battle. These players will play until they feel like they've accomplished something and feel on top. Part of the game industry wouldn't be as successfully without gamers with low self esteem. Games increase people's thinking while people will get better at the gameplay.
3. This film is accurate on depicting gamers and the western civilization in wanting to be number one and getting there at any cost. The film did a very good job on showing how gamers would put someone down just to reach a goal even if it was your own son crying for attention and obviously choosing the game over the child's needs. And of course, Billy's minions protecting him from a confrontation with Weibee.
The quote from Rolling Stone reflects the change in the way American's think. Rather than working competitively, more people will work cooperatively to achieve a goal.
4. An organization like Twin Galaxies is important in the vintage gaming community because it is a large history of how gaming came to be and has a retained a period of time reflecting it's technology in gaming. Vintage gaming thrives on high scores and competitiveness, which can be carried onto future generations as a genre of gaming.
Communities could exist without such organization for games like today, but it works better with the vintage gaming since these are more face-to-face in the arcades when online technology wasn't out yet. People are becoming lazier as technology helps them do less physically, so having an online community would benefit people today.
Twin Galaxies is an official and agreed upon organization that determines whether or not individuals deserve to be number one. The whole point of this documentary was to have a new guy be recognized by Twin Galaxies as the best, yet wasn't recognized because of biased and intimidation with the title holder since 1985.
5. Eye-Hand coordination ultimately determines how fast, agile and smart your physical and mental capacities can function. So if one is good at a task such as the speed and skills with basketball, then with practice, one can also achieve mastery quickly at another task such as playing a game like Donkey Kong.
I like to organize things and match things in certain catagories, so I excel in puzzle games such as bejeweled or Puzzle Fighter that requires time and quickness as opposed to pressing different buttons simultaneously or in a quick and accurate sequence to perform.
6. Gordon, and I assume like most of the viewers of the documentary, can read through Mitchell and see that everything he has said doesn't necessarily match up with what he does. Mitchell will say things, which will alleviate some drama at the moment or say things that sound noble and right, but will do things opposite and different later. Rinse and repeat.
In the videogame culture, such as this documentary, I noticed that people who are around others who want to coverup (Mitchell), tend to act in similar and backhanded fashion. People like Wiebe, who are honest and just want to win fair and square tend to attract others who are like him. I noticed that Mitchell's minions changed their tone close to end of the film when they saw Wiebe as a deserving and honest person rather than a threat.
7. This documentary isn't about Donkey Kong or getting the high score. It's about how people view themselves and others around them in a competitive environment. Most people who want to get the high score seek fame, recognition and attention. Those who want to be on top view the one on top as someone to look up to and worship and possibly to protect.
Animal instinct plays a huge role in how people interact in a competitive setting. Who is alpha male and who is threatened when someone new can possibly take over as the new alpha male?
8. I played Donkey Kong a long time ago and I stopped because it was too hard and I wasn't too persistent on winning at this game. It was on the NES and I was 9 or 10 years old. I remember I couldn't get passed the elevators and I played Duck Hunt instead, but even then, I cheated by putting the gun right in front of the screen and hitting the screen a couple of times while shooting.
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