Ticket to Reflection

For my class, I will have to reflect on my writing from time-to-time. My teacher has requested the class to analyze our strongest and weakest posts and I want to look at Gamer Girls in a Gamer World and 5 Games That Everyone Should Play.

Gamer Girls felt like my strongest and weakest post simultaneously. This post was the one I dedicated most of my time and effort to. I put considerable research into this post and I hope it showed. On the other hand, this was also the most difficult one for me to write. My final result turned into a jumbled mess I am a little ashamed of.

5 Games is also another post I feel has strong and weak qualities. I felt that the post was a prime example of understanding one's audience. Considering that a majority of my readers are high school students who barely play video games, I want to ensure that my readers are actually interested in what they are reading on Ticket to Game.

Trying to better tend to my audience is something I hope shows in my posts. But while that may work, I clearly have trouble making my opinions and ideas clear and concise which can be fairly evident in Gamer Girls. Over the course of six weeks, I hope to be a far more clearer writer. I need to be able to bring in depth into my posts and as of right now, I don't see any of that.

While I have outlined all of my previous posts, I think I need to spend a lot more time preparing my words. Paying more attention from the get-go will hopefully make me more conscious of how I am writing. Considering as games journalism is a vocation I wish to enter, I certainly have a lot of work ahead of me.

Gamer Girls in a Gamer World

The world is a larger place than playing Call of Duty and Halo with your "bros." The world includes playing Call of Duty and Halo with girls. A substantial chunk of women play games. In fact, 42% of gamers are female according to a report by the Entertainment Software Association. But while they are a large demographic in the industry, it is quite unfortunate to learn that they are like black sheep in a herd of gamers.

Despite what some are led to believe, female gamers don't play Imagine: Babyz or Detective Barbie. These games exist for younger girls, so don't expect a woman who plays games to own a similar title in their collection. Many girl gamers play games like Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and Rock Band. The list goes on and on, and if you were to make separate lists of games for guys and games for girls, you would be a fool. There's no escaping the fact that members of the opposite sex plays the same games.

But what is perhaps really unfortunate is the amount of abuse women seem to get while playing online with others. Sometimes they can be constantly insulted during an in-game chat or even receive extremely inappropriate messages on their profile. Perhaps the sense of anonymity contributes to the abuse and while online (for the lack of a better term) douchebags are prevalent, the amount of comments targeted specifically towards women are gravely disappointing and shocking.

Gaming is a fantastic hobby that everyone should experience and it's just stupid that others are getting in the way and hindering that experience. Hearing these horror stories of horrible comments have discouraged many from playing online (or even playing games at all). But like most hobbies and communities, there are resources out there to help women have a wonderful experience with gaming.

Throughout my gaming career, I have come across many girl gamers and they are by no doubt one of the nicest people I have ever met. There are many forum groups and gaming clans that feature several women who have experienced this abuse one way or another and these communities give them comfort in knowing that they can play games in a judgment-free zone.

One of the most interesting resources I have come across is a website called Fat, Ugly, or Slutty. It's a site founded by girl gamers who laugh off the comments they receive online. People can submit photographs and proof of abuse and the website developers will publish a few on their blog. What makes this particular blog interesting is that many of these photographs do not leave out the names of the people sending these messages as if they are victims of public shaming.

It is unfortunate that the female gaming community has to struggle through many things that men don't typically have to. Many have simply accepted the fact that this kind of internet behavior will not change anytime soon and simply brush off the abuse and misinterpretations to continue doing what they love: playing games.

5 Games That Everyone Should Play

This is one of hopefully not so many lists that will be featured on my blog. Knowing my audience (a group of high school students who may or may not play games), this week's list is all about games that everyone regardless of their gaming experience should certainly give a try. Some of these games may be familiar to you; other games may not be so familiar. Nonetheless, these are games that I have played personally and most definitely feel that you should as well.

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2

It's pretty hard at this point to not have played a Mario game at least once in your life. This is certainly one you should not miss. No other company has been able to master the platformer as Nintendo has with Super Mario Galaxy 2. A sequel to the original Galaxy game on the Wii, this title is leaps and bounds better than its predecessor. With glorious art design that is certainly one of the best on the Nintendo system, a fantastic level design that will please, stimulate, and challenge, and a polish so clean that this is perhaps the best game you can find on the Wii.

2. World of Warcraft
Most people consider World of Warcraft as the mother of all MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games). With over 11 million subscribers (and deservedly so), this game has taken a HUGE chunk out of the MMO market. Since it's debut in 2004, the game has released three different expansions and a plethora of patches and updates to continually tweak the game.

While the game may look like one reserved for the "hardcore" only at hindsight, it is one of the most approachable games ever crafted. World of Warcraft is certainly accessible to the mass audience. It's simple to play and simple to learn. The game is crafted so well that everything new you need to learn and do comes into your face so progressively that there are very few times where you are stressed with so many or very little things to do or learn. The first 20 levels (out of a smackdown 85) are free to try out, so it's worth a shot!

3. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
Pac-Man: eat dots, eat fruit, chase ghosts, repeat. Sounds like the same old Pac-Man, right? What Pac-Man Championship Edition DX does is refine a three-decade old formula into something that is surprisingly fresh and new. On top of that, DX improves upon what the original Championship Edition failed to achieve. While you have probably played Pac-Man in some form or another, you have yet to play it like this. And trust me, you will not be disappointed.

4. The Sims 3

The Sims series is one of my guilty pleasures. It's a fantastic game with a premise so simple yet so intriguing. Who wouldn't want to play as God and control people under your own command? Again, The Sims 3 is the most polished and refined game in the series and why I recommend it over the others. While the series is one of the most accessible ones out there, The Sims 3 is the most accessible one in the series.

5. Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is one of the most raved-about PC shooters in the past few years. And what the game was when it first launched and what it is now makes it seem like two totally different games. It's a classic Red versus Blue scenario where you are forced to play as one of nine classes. Hell, they're not even classes at this point, they're characters. From the Bronx-frinetic Scout to the Scarlet-Russian Heavy, each class is a unique and entertaining character full of personality.

And besides, each class plays differently from each other that one can be fully engulfed in playing a single class for hours. Plus, there's always unlocking new weapons for your classes, so if you thought the game was starting to get stale, you finally have something new and fresh that can dramatically change your gameplay. And the best part? It's free! So you really have no excuse to give this game a shot.

Plus, you can collect hats to wear in the game, and everyone knows that hats are awesome.


There are so many more games I can think of off the top of my head that would be perfect on this list! But perhaps more games will be for another time. I'd like to know which games you think are ones that everyone on the planet should at least give a shot.

Up, Down, Up, Down, Chu, Chu Chu!

Many have games that are near and dear to their hearts. For some, a game may have gotten him through a difficult time or allowed him to discover his future wife. For me, there is one game in particular that is significant to my life. If I was never exposed to this game, I may have never grown into the person I am today.

Rewind eleven years ago-- the iPod has yet to exist, Friends and Frasier were still on the air, and Simon Cowell never stepped foot on primetime American television. But most important to our story, the Dreamcast was still in style.

The Sega-produced box was a monster at the stores selling like hotcakes. With games like Power Stone, Soul Calibur, and Sonic Adventure on the initial lineup, the Dreamcast was expected to have a fantastic career.

I was only a tiny child starting in kindergarten or grade school back then. I remember perusing through the games section at my local Blockbuster when an odd title caught my eye. It featured these strange aliens in the background and a pink-haired chick in an orange and metallic costume. I still can’t remember why, but there was something about the box that made me go out and rent it.

When I got home, I popped the game into my console and I was utterly confused. Apparently the strange aliens on the cover were invading Earth and it was up to the woman in the metallic costume, Ulala, a report show host, to save the day. Although I didn’t know it then, I soon learned that the game was called Space Channel 5.

The game is an intricate masking of a simple mechanic: Simon Says. When I first played the game, I had no idea what I was doing and when I heard the aliens (called Morolians) shout out “Up, down, up, down,” I had to repeat their commands on my controller. After having my sister teach me how the game actually worked, I was still horrible at it. I had no sense of timing or rhythm and I still did not realize the game was something along the lines of Dance Dance Revolution for the hands or Parappa the Rappa without the rapping. But when I did realize how important music played into the game, I absolutely fell in love with it.

The game is incredibly charming. The choreography felt cool, the music was full of retro and funkified groove, and the whole package was full of spunk. As the whole game premise centered around dancing, it didn’t take long for my petite childhood self to start dancing to the game and mimicking their moves.

Along with being one of my personal favorite games ever made, it has established the greatest passion I have ever carried apart from gaming: dancing. Ever since playing that game, I have always enjoyed dancing. Although I was never trained in dancing for many years, it is something I have loved every second of. Although I originally wanted to take up pop and hip-hop dancing in the same, groovy style of Space Channel 5, I have morphed into a beginner ballroom dancer who hopes to compete competitively in the future.

If there is one characteristic all of my cohorts and friends know me by, it is with my passion for dance. They know it is something I love doing regardless of whether I actually do it right or not. And without Space Channel 5, dance would have never penetrated into my life and shaped up who I am. It is impossible for me to think of who I would be without Space Channel 5, and honestly, I don’t think I want to.