Final Blog Entry for Sem 1

Final Blog Entry for Sem 1

For me, genres are Experiences, creations from our feelings and emotions. Perhaps, they also influence us too, creating unique and different emotions in us. This cycle in turn also churns out more genres, creating newer genres and Experiences for us. These genres mirror the human archetypes, revealing our true selves. For example, when watching horror and gore films, your friend who looks timid on the outside may actually sit through the entire thing without being scared or disgusted. You have experienced a side of your friend you don’t know! Experiences can be different, for example, physical, spiritual and others. The Experiences are part of our everyday life, so genres affect us greatly, our Body and Soul, our Existence.

Genres can also be seen as our Existence. Existence is to live. If we do not have feelings and emotions, won’t our life be a boring and plain one? I suppose genres give us a chance to explore our Body and Soul. How will your Body react to the laughter? How will your Soul understand laughter? Through understanding genres then we can understand ourselves. I think genres give us meaning in our life, something to continue and have living on, to Exist for a purpose, that is to Experience.

Experience and Existence are greatly interlinked. Experience’s purpose is to give meaning to Existence while the purpose of Existence is to Experience. If either one of them is lost, there will not be Life anymore. So, genres are very important as they affect our being in and out.

I think that genres can be explained in form and content. The genre form is like a long balloon while the content is the air inside. As a long balloon, it does not seem like something interesting. However, if you twist the balloon into an animal, it will certainly be more interesting. What I’m trying to say is that the genre name is just a word. Fantasy is just a word and does not mean anything. However, once you watch movies or play games related to Fantasy, you will understand what Fantasy means. Also, a long balloon animal can be changed into something different, like a sword, just by using the same balloon. This means that the content of a genre can be presented in another form or perspective, and it will be an entire genre altogether. It is like how Fantasy stories can be represented as a Science Fiction movie. Crossing over different genre forms is what makes the content unique too.

The future of gaming certainly looks bright. Technology has allowed more interaction with the player and game. In the future, the player might be ‘teleported’ into the game dimension or vice versa, playing with his mind, emotions and body instead of using the controller. Hologram images might also be invented then, and players have more choices on how to ‘play’ the game. Certainly, the form and content of the media will change. Presently, there is a limit on the balloon on the amount of air being pumped inside, which means that there can be some great ideas and content that has been thought of, but because of the current limitations of the form, the form is unable to contain the content. However, gradually, the material of the balloon (form) has been strengthened so that more air (content) can be added. In the future, the material of balloon (form) can withstand any amount of air (content) without bursting. Also, there is a possibility that the balloon can think for itself and twist itself, without using our hands, meaning that the forms in the future do not necessarily be our creations but the forms perhaps can think and learn like an AI, creating more forms on its own. Play will be part of our life and our life will be part of Play.

I think a creativity game is a generator which can spark off initial ideas. A wild and random idea is still an idea nonetheless, but it is still at the initial stage. At this time we have to use our creativity to crystallize the idea, get it into shape. I think creativity is trying to be new and unique, creating something that is fresh and something that will be imprinted in people’s mind. Ideas can be created from scratch, or created from another idea. However, it is easier to get ideas from other ideas, and that is where the creativity game helps in creating the initial idea. To be more creative about creativity, we have to let go of all our current perceptions and start from a blank slate. In this way, a different perspective and meaning can be given to an idea instead of the typical current one. Using SCAMPER and other methods, we can also twist and modify ideas. Being creative is to be sensitive and flexible.