blog 2 (red) thesis and outline for project 1

Thesis:
Both America’s Army and Fat World are trying to persuade their audiences as well as give factual evidence yet America’s Army is more effective in promoting its cause than Fat World because it appeals to people’s logos, pathos and ethos rather than just appealing using pathos and logos.

Outline:
Outline
Opening paragraph:
Most people see video games as just a way to spend leisure time and for the most part, just something to do that wastes time and can be fun. Not many realize that in actuality there is a lot more to video games than just something fun to do that doesn’t really have a meaning. Most video games have a purpose to persuade a certain audience of something or to get those people involved with a product. There are many different techniques game makers use to promote their products and some seem to be more effective than others. Analyzing two very different games with their varying techniques is a good way to tell which approaches are better than others. After evaluating the two video games and their strategic approaches to persuade game players the answer seems a bit more clear. Both America’s Army and Fat World are trying to persuade their audiences as well as give factual evidence yet America’s Army is more effective in promoting its cause than Fat World because it appeals to people’s logos, pathos and ethos rather than just appealing using pathos and logos.
Paragraph 2 telling what each game contains:
America’s army is a Serious Game that uses realistic training and actual situations. When you start the game you pick your person and head immediately into either combat or you could choose to go into basic training if you want to learn how to play the game first. Once you go through basic training you can either go out on missions or go play on a server where other actual people are playing rather than just the computer. If you choose to go out on missions there are certain obstacles that you have to complete and rules to abide by. For every mission you complete there is a new one that you have to try. If you decide to go play on the LAN server then you simply pick a team to go on if it is available then try to kill the other players on the opposite team. This part of the game is strictly just trying to get the most kills that you can. Fat World is a persuasive game that shows you how to eat right and become healthy by using effective dieting strategies and nutritional facts. When you first start the game you create a character and make up all the information about him or her. This includes their appearance, weight, name and other features. After you have completely set up the game you then have a schedule to abide to in order to stay healthy. There is actually more to the game than just eating right. You have to make money and exercise as well.
Paragraph 3 showing techniques of each game:
Fat World is a persuasive game and is also similar to a serious game.
Fat World uses nutritional facts to persuade people to eat healthy.
Fat World appeals to people’s emotions by showing that they can get fat if they do not eat healthy.
Americas Army uses real life situations in the army.
Americas Army is educational.
It is a serious game.
It gives training as if it were real life.
Paragraph 4 comparing effectiveness used in each game:
Fat World gets its point across well and is helpful.
Fat world isn’t all that fun just informative.
Americas Army’s cause is much bigger and more important.
Paragraph 5 summary:
After completing an analysis of both games America’s Army was much more effective because…
Americas Army uses a better technique to persuade than Fat World.

thesis (red) blog 4

1)Max Payne is an extremely violent game that deals with many ethical dilemas inside the game and out.
2)Max Payne is a game with extreme ethical dilemas where a man goes out of his way to gain vengence on those who gave him troubles in his personal life.
3) Although Max Payne is an action game about gaining revenge at whatever cost, the character in question makes the right decision in paying the people back for what they deserve.

blog 3

http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a/vidgameviolence.htm
The first article that I read was about the negative effects that violent video games have on the people who play them. They did two types of tests. The first test was a survey of college students who played violent video games when they were younger then asked them what kind of trouble that they have been involved in in the past. The research showed that the kids who played more violent video games when they were younger got into more trouble as well. The second test was letting kids play a violent video game against another college student and gave them the ability to honk a loud horn in the other persons ear. This test showed that as a student played longer he also honked the horn louder.
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20040121/Feature1.asp
The second article argued that incresed violence in children should not be blamed on video games and that they can actually have a positive effect. The author said, "You get a group of teenage boys who shoot up a school—of course they've played video games," Gee says. "Everyone does. It's like blaming food because we have obese people." She argues that video games are not bad at all and actually help children improve coordination and visual skills. "A good video game is challenging, entertaining, and complicated, Gee says. It usually takes 50 to 60 hours of intense concentration to finish one."

I agree on a level with both of the articles because first of all i think that too much violence can be harmful to a child and give them ideas but on the other hand i don't think that video games should take all the blame and that there is good in video games as well.