The game I choose to play for game #2 is the Kim Kardashian Hollywood game, produced by Glu Games. Many factors helped make my decision to play this game such as is it free, can I play it on my phone, and is it interesting. At first I wanted to play Kim Kardashian Hollywood because I remember when Kim Kardashian Hollywood first came out it was very hyped up being a good game and addicting once you begin. I was seeing several different reactions to this game on twitter and noticed majority of them were positive. Many people were extremely addicted to it because you get pulled in since the game is based on your own decisions and can be different for everyone else based on their decisions. Initially the game is free for you to download and play ,but you are able to spend real life money to help your character in Kim Kardashian Hollywood.
First in the game you begin to customize your character so you can choose if you would like to be a woman or a man, then dress your character as you want with the clothing provided. There are different options for clothing that you must use Kim Kardashian Stars to purchase, you are only given a certain amount of stars to begin with so you must purchase some Kim Kardashian stars for you to be able to have the amount needed to get those different clothing. Throughout the game you must use your lightning in your upper bar to finish your tasks that will then give you experience, perhaps some lightning back, and cash. As you go through the game you begin to run out of lightning more and more resulting in either; you wait for your lighting to recharge then play again or you can just simply buy lightning right there and continue playing. This a very good way the game can make money because it is very tempting to just purchase the lighting for you to continue playing.
According to Sutton -Smith, “That’s what play’s about, it makes you feel more comfortable in this existence… a reality different from the reality we live in that makes us more comfortable about the reality we live in…”, this is true applying it to Kim Kardashian Hollywood because throughout the game you feel good for completing these tasks and getting rewards such as money and leveling up your character. You begin to feel attached to your in game character as it was actually you completing these tasks. Kim Kardashian Hollywood is a game because as said by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman “A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.” (Salen and Zimmerman 2003), throughout playing Kim Kardashian Hollywood you have certain rules you must follow in order for you to advance in the game and giving you a quantifiable outcome based on the decisions you make. These decisions will make up what you will do in the future, such as in some situations you have a decision to flirt your way out of something or just make a basic choice. These decisions all affect how much progress you make in the game.
The game doesn’t have to be fun in order for it to be classified as a game because there are several different types of games such as puzzle games, story games and competitive games. As said by Raph Koster “ fun from game arises out of mastery”, people will develop fun based on the games they choose to have more and more mastery for such as puzzle games, story games and competitive games. For one person competitive games can be extremely fun for them since they really enjoy playing against other people, but can find puzzle games extremely boring. It can also go the other way such as a person really enjoys story games and playing alone rather than playing against other people. In the end the player is what choose the game they want to play and if they want to continue playing it if they are happy with the amount of fun they are getting out of the game. Honestly after playing Kim Kardashian it was relatively fun the first couple hours of playing, but soon got dry as you either had to pay for lightning to finish your task or just wait a couple minutes in order for you to play again. In my opinion, in general I didn’t find this game very fun as it doesn’t fit my criteria as a fun game.
Video Games and/as Art 
What stood out to me was the you saying that “fun” was not necessary in order to be considered a game? I was always under the assumption that fun was necessary in order for something to be considered a game.
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I did not know the game was so popular until I read your blog (then again I don’t keep up with the Kardashians), but I can see why people would be super hyped up about it. Also, you mentioned that the game was fun during the first few hours, I’m curious to know how many hours you played it because after 30 minutes I was done playing it, LOL.
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I found this blog to be pretty interesting and relatable. I too felt that experience of hearing about this game when it first came out. It actually got pretty annoying because its all people would talk about and for me, hating anything to do with the kardashian’s, you can only assume how i felt about this game but i too had to agree that it was in fact a “game”. I really liked your example of the different types of games such as puzzles, competitive, and story games. It shows how it all depends on people perspective on how they really feel about a game. I myself classify as more competitive game appealing. What do you believe the kardashian game would fall under, and based on you’re favorite kinds of games do you think that is one of the main reasons why you got bored of it?
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Ay thanks man
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Wow, I had not realized it but I agree with your point that you mention about the correlation of what Sutton-Smith said and the game you played. I do feel that in most games I feel comfortable in the existence that I am in, the reality I accept. I wouldn’t have expected that for this Kim Kardashian game because I think its a simple game, however I am enlighten to know that you enjoyed it in the retrospect. I know of a lot of games where I would get super attached to the character I created and I would keep playing the game until I had the most accessories. Do you believe you would play the game more if you didn’t have to wait for the lightening and because of your personal character that you built?
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Honestly, ya I do feel like I would’ve played the game longer if I didn’t have to wait for my lightning to recharge because then I would have nothing to stop me from making progress in the game other than myself.
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Do you think that the pay-to-play components of this game reduce the fun quality, or do they increase a desire to continue playing the title? For me, I would get fed up of this artificial barrier to play, and it would be a great impediment to my continued playing of this game. I like how you relate this decision making process, outlined by Salen and Zimmerman, to the classification “game.” I’m not sure if it’s a game I’d play or pay for, but it’s a game nonetheless.
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I completely agree, I was extremely fed up with having to wait to play the game even further. I feel like the pay-to-play component just made it less interesting and exciting to play since it was either you pay actual money to keep playing or you would just have to sit and wait to play again.
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I too played the Kim Kardashian game for my blog post and thought even though it was a pretty bad idea of a game that it still can be regarded as one because of the fact of the player can decide on their outcomes by the values they chose to go with. Many people don’t understand that your opinion on how fun a game is not valued enough to classify and not one.
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Your description of the game and its gameplay are good, but you faltered when talking through the theory. Make sure to focus on one theory until you fully explain how it relates to your game. When you jump from Sutton-Smith to Salen and Zimmerman it’s offputting, and then when you then start referring to outcomes (ala Juul) I got very lost. Make sure you fully explain your point before moving on.
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I’m a bit confused on why you believe that a game does not have to be fun to be considered to be a game? If a game is not fun, what would make people want to play it?
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I feel like people are curious of the game and would want to find out what the overall objective of the game is and then would soon find out what it is about resulting in them losing interest and not having fun.
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