GameMechanics Examined

    I agree with the article that too many mechanics can mean too much resting on the shoulders of the player.  For example, in the game The Matrix: Path of Neo there are so many different combo moves that you end up just hitting buttons and seeing new moves by accident.  I loved this game though because I loved The Matrix the movie.  However, I basically stuck to a few combos I remembered as they came up in the game and discovered others by randomly pressing buttons.  I have also felt this weight in other games where there is so much up to you, you get overwhelmed thinking of how to organize your gameplay in order to be successful in the game.

Accessibility

    The controls for Quake IV are not difficult to get the player moving and targeting/shooting.  However, to do more advanced movement and shooting takes time and practice to master.  It is simple to go straight ahead, jump, and shoot.  Strafe-jumping (which allows the player greater speed) on the other hand takes some practice to get down.  Also aiming and hitting enemies with the different guns takes some practice as they all fire differently. 
    With no arms you cannot play the game at all in its current configuration of controls.  You would pretty much have to have the ability to aim and turn and strafe by looking (perhaps with glasses that tracked eye movement), and perhaps some foot pedals to move the player. 
    If playing this game without sight, one would need to play by sound and vibrations.  For instance, the player could move the mouse and when the crosshair was aimed at a player it could vibrate and he could fire.  And when he was in the crosshair of an enemy he could hear a danger sound and could move away accordingly.  Also one would need to know the map, perhaps by studying it and hearing a certain sound when a wall was collided with.  The maps would need to be pretty straight forward for beginners. 
    With one arm a player would definitely need some of the aforementioned equipment.  Perhaps the simplest would be some foot pedals to move and the mouse to aim and fire.

Chalk Free Play

    This game is refreshingly simple yet challenging.  I did have fun playing it; you definitely have to be quick to progress.  I found it challenging because of how quick you need to move-running away and attacking and playing a good defense.
    This game does have a replay value.  If you want to prove that you have great control with the mouse, this is the game with which to do it.  Comparing high scores with friends is what I think would make this game fun. 
    Story does not drive Chalk.  This is a game play driven game.  After all there is nothing but a blackboard, chalk, and enemies and obstacles.  It does seem to remind one of his own experience with the blackboard, daydreaming in classes-seeing more than meets the eye of what a teacher writes on it.  And saying this it makes the game just seem like a daydream being presented to you-which in some backwards way-makes it somewhat story driven.
    The game stays fresh with simple but entertaining sounds and graphics.  As soon as you think you know your enemy, a new kind of enemy pops out.  Either that or a bunch more of them do.  It gets tougher as you go along and all of the sounds fit their purpose, making it work in a very uncomplicated way. 
    The controls are also quite simple in that you only use the mouse.  Running, moving, "chalking", all require the appropriate direction given by the mouse.  Things seem to run smoothly at first, but as soon as more enemies show up, drawing a straight chalk line becomes more difficult (which keeps things challenging and fun). 
    If I could change one game mechanic here it would be to let the player use the space button to jump over enemies.  This would make dodging a little more easy with multiple oponents, which would probably need rebalancing by making the bullets follow you on harder levels; but would make things a little more interesting.
    On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this game a 5 on the computer (too simple), but a 7 on the cell phone (just makes more sense on a phone-good time killer when you're mobile.  It's not a bad game, I would just rate it better on a phone.
   
 

Chapter Four Book Work

(2)
     (A.)  Swat.  A leader, heavy military training (15 years).  Outstanding physical shape and physical ability.  High IQ.
     (B.)  Dr. Fisher.  CIA genious chemist.  Taught Swat chemistry in college.
     (C)  Jane Smith, Black Ops perative trained by Swat.  Also very high IQ and physical ability.  Alleged double agent.  Intel has her working for Iran in the Nuclear weaponry division, collecting secrets from the US to sell to them. 

Journal One

      Ten thousand moons ago, there lived a dog in a house with many rooms.  His master was a very wealthy collector of sorts.  He was in good standing with the community, and had many philanthropic deeds to be spoken of.  The dog spent a lot of time, when his master was away, wandering through the many rooms.  He would gaze at many of the items wondering what they were.  On some objects he would discern that they were interesting, but he had no idea what to make of them.  On others he would spend hours dreaming up stories behind them and what they allowed one to do. 
      His favorite things in the house were the photos.  Though he did not comprehend how it was possible to look at something that he was inside of, often alongside his master, he loved the memories and imagination provoking nature of them. 
      The dog always slept in the bathroom because he loved the privacy and especially the coziness during storms.  His master had moved the dog's bed in there when he realized how much he loved it in there.  Also, the dog liked that there were photos in there as well.  These pictures were not pictures of places he had ever been.  They were foreign places and things to him like the many photos he had seen throughout the house (that were of his master on his many world traveling outings he was always talking about when there was company in the large house).
     There were four photos placed on the cabinet in front of the dog’s bed at his eye level. Seemingly, his master had placed them there for him. He had apparently witnessed the dog staring at pictures in the house many times.
      One picture the dog imagined was of a condo for animals. A mid-sized building of four stories where of course all the dog’s friends lived; the squirrel he always chased around the yard, the female poodle he always smelled and licked in the park, and that puppy that couldn’t play enough with him a few years back (whom he had not seen since, but never forgot). The second picture was a photo of the glorified doggie door, the back (animal) entrance to the condos. The third was a close up of one of the shields the animals stored there if ever there should be an animal war. And the fourth was of a large building, an animal castle of sorts, much like the one of his master, except it was for animals,

 

Chapter Three Book Work

If I were to redesign the multiplayer version of Quake IV, a fast action, first person shooter, the game would be drastically different.  If one used a third person camera, he or she would  lose much of the intensity and control of the game.  In the game there is actually some code you can enter to change the camera to third person.  Players claim it helps them understand the player's movement better and practice with it for a while.  However, there is no crosshair in this view which is basically a death sentence in this game.  What I gather about it being an aid to the movement learning curve is that the player can better his or her strafe-jumping, and can tell the difference when they switch back to first person.  It helps them play and the new speed adds intensity to the game.  In this game players will do just about anything to aquire an edge on their competitors.

Genre Vs Type

The "Game Type vs Genre" article demonstrates the current best classification system for games today.  However, after reading the descriptions for GTAIII it seems like there should be another level of classification for games that pull from different genres and types.  For example, Fanta-Crime for genre (that is if there are others who could fit this too, which there are), and Action-RPG or A-RPG for the type.