Week 6 Assignment 2

Educational Gaming Report

 

As an educational game, I chose ‘Where is Carmen Sandiego?’. From an analytical point of view, it is apparent why this game has been so entertaining yet engaging and educational for so many years. I had recently never heard of it until this particular and so decided to see what it was about. In going through this game, I realized that it was gripping in its introduction of mixing videos of live people (i.e. The Chief) along with cartoon-like characters. Anyone who has a natural curiosity and yearning for knowledge would find this game quite stimulating as it feeds the video-gamer with loads of necessary or relative information in finding the fugitive Carmen. I particularly enjoyed the relevant facts presented on each country I had to travel to as well as the feeling of being in an airport about to fly to that country; all the thrills of engaging in travel were present.

The intrinsic motivator for me would definitely have to be the fact that I generally love to travel and see different locations around the world. As a matter of fact, from a child, one of my career goals was to eventually become a Pilot, though that never materialized, it was still most stimulating and motivating for me. I also naturally love to discover new information or fun facts about other countries which this game most certainly provided. The extrinsic motivator for me was the fact that each time I received a set of clues, I knew I would get the opportunity to travel to another country and therein would be my fulfillment and reward. Knowing this gave me motivation to keep moving forward in the game. Another quality that was weaved into this game was the ability to play on the gamer’s curiosity. Not knowing what was to come made the game even more exciting. If one was not careful, one could become addicted to such a game.

The evidence of the six C’s of motivation as far as this game is concerned, were without a doubt present. Each clue or set of clues provided made the difficulty of the game increase and therefore the challenge increased as I had to store the clues as I received them, then apply them in finding Carmen. The choices present gave me a feeling of excitement and responsibility as I now felt more connected with the game and the direction in which I was going. The degree of control that I experienced in the game by way of being able to choose the best characters or witnesses to question, made me feel slightly in control of the chase as a hold and boosted my confidence and expectancy in finding the fugitive.

As the game went on, I realized that it was not just the chief and I who were after Carmen but other agents of ACME were too and so the exchange of information served as a collaborative effort in finding and arresting Carmen. Being a new comer to the game, I was able to quickly construct meaning of the game as a hold which allowed me to place personal value in going along with the chase as well as effort into using the information I was provided with effectively. The consequence for me was the reward in finally capturing Carmen after a long period of putting missing clues together, collaborating with the team and in the end, participating in the arrest of the fugitive. Also the fact that ACME was saved in the end was very fulfilling for me and made the gaming experience well worthwhile.