sunny@sun.uucp (Sunny Kirsten) (12/08/84)
"In our play we reveal what kind of people we are." -Ovid, The Art of Love From the 20November - 3December Bay Area Computer Currents: "The words of Ovid ring true when we look at computer games and the people who play them. Some games are violent; they involve killing or destroying. Many games are competitive; they involve points, high scroes, and often "opponents". Still other games are traditional multiperson games which now can be played by a single person "against" the computer. Who plays these games? For the most part it is boys and men. Indeed, these games are a traditional introduction to computers for males. And these games are one of several reasons why it is mainly males who use and play with computers. People who study differences in how girls and boys play discover that these differences mirror differences in values between girls and boys. Boys value competition; they will resolve a dsipute during a game to continue with the game to determine a winner. Girls value relationships; they will stop playing a game when a dispute over the game threatens the relationship between the participants. The emphasis in most computer games is on competition, which means these games will appeal to boys more than to girls. Similarly, girls tend to adopt a more pragmatic attitude toward rules, changing them when it makes sense, the computer's rigid insistence on the rules makes playing a game against the computer less enjoyable for them. As well, girls play games as part of relating to people rather than in order to win. A "solo" game against the computer holds little attraction to them. Generally, boys are taught to value might. Girls are taught to value and protect life. It is time we said the obvious - the female values which revere creation and protection of life are values we should all learn, both boys and girls, men and women. And there is now a computer game that encourages these values. "Jenny of the Prairie" is one of several "Computer Games for Girls" published by a company called Rhianon (named after a Celtic moon goddess). These games generally affirm and value life. They have an appeal that should attract many girls and some boys. "Jenny" involves a girl who is crossing the prairie in a wagon train when she becomes separated from the rest of the party. The game begins in summer and Jenny needs to provide food, shelter, warmer clothing, and wood before winter comes. She has two choices for shelter - building a lean-to in a clearing or living in a cave. The cave is occupied by a fox. Jenny must make friends with the fox by patiently waiting until it takes an apple from her. They then share the cave. In a more traditional computer game, you would probably kill the fox. Survival, particularly by yourself ona prairie, is not easy. And the game reflects this harshness. You can get attacked and killed by a rattlesnake or a coyote. Even here, though, Jenny avoids getting killed by running away from the danger, not by attacking and killing. Jenny has several choices of foods - berries, apples and wheat - which are available just by picking them. She can also catch fish as they pass by in a stream. This is one of the few cases where the game requires hand-eye coordination. To stay warm during winter, Jenny must gather firewood. She must first find an ax and then chop trees. She then has to carry wood to her cave or lean-to. Jenny must also gather rabbit fur for the cape which keeps her warm during the winter. If she wishes to avoid killing rabbits, however, she can gather extra wood. This option particularly shows how we can often make choices that do not result in killing, even when killing might otherwise appear justified. As you would expect, survival alone is not the only goal. Jenny can also pick flowers to decorate her cave or lean-to. However, this only occurs if she has done the necessary survival chores of wood gathering, cape making, and food storage. The game does not have high scores. It does hava score keeping mechanism to keep track of whether enough wood, food, and cape materials have been gathered. There is no bonus for gathering extra material. And the goal is clear - to survive the winter. This goal, while challenging, is not too difficult to achieve; and it can be done without harming the chances of others doing it. Indeed it can be done cooperatively - [players can work together, rather than playing against each other.] Other games in the series include Chelse of the South Sea Islands, about a 19th Century girl stranded on a small Pacific island; Cave Girl Claire, about survival in the prehistoric times; and Laureen of the 25th Century, about a woman assigned to a reclamation project which threatens fragile life forms in the area. The games are available for $34.95 from: Rhianon, 3717 Titan Drive, Richmond, VA23225" Bay Area Computer Currents is available by first class mail for $22/6mos. or $40/year to US or Canada. Subscriptions mailed bulk rate for $18/year or $32/2. Center Productions, 2550 9th Street, Berkeley, CA 94710 (415)848-6860 -- mail ucbvax\!sun\!sunny decvax\!sun\!sunny ihnp4\!sun\!sunny<<EOF EOF
martillo@mit-athena.ARPA (Joaquim Martillo) (12/09/84)
This article almost convinces me that women should stay at home, have babies and raise children, while the men go off to fight it out aw the workplace.
rick@uwmacc.UUCP (the absurdist) (12/11/84)
(A review of a game, Jennie of the Prairie was posted. JotP is a
non-competitive game put out by a software company aiming at providing
games that will appeal to their conception of what "women" play like.
The review was posted without comment; it isn't clear whether we
are supposed to approve the company for publishing non-violent games
or condemn them for their outmoded picture of women...)
Actually, my favorite games are non-competitive. Atari Skiing is my
idea of the perfect video game. Role-playing games, although often
containing elements of conflict, cannot be considered to be
competitive. Role-playing games are one of the most popular "growth"
areas around. How is "Trivial Pursuit" competitive? All the women
I know of who can play Rogue, (1) do, and (2) do it to excess.
In general, the assertion that there is some difference in how
men and women play, and particularly in how their tastes for
video games runs, would appear to be ill-founded.
I suspect that you can still find a difference in the number of
adolescent males and adolescent females in video arcades, but that
this is due more to the unease between the sexes that exists at that
age than to any difference in preferences.
--
"Your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore." -- John Prine
Rick Keir -- MicroComputer Information Center, MACC
1210 West Dayton St/U Wisconsin Madison/Mad WI 53706
{allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!rickgreenber@acf4.UUCP (12/11/84)
<> Making friends with foxes and decorating your lovely cave with rosepetals and other sundry things is a wonderful idea. Really....I mean it sounds great, and makes a wonderful game, and certainly will keep those horrid men in their place. Unfortuneately poor Jenny is now dead. Since she didn't kill the fox, or the bunny, and made all sorts of friends with the other denizens of the Great Outdoors, at least she starved in the company of the Bambis! You ever do any survival camping?? Without going into detail, I was once forced to do so. Amazing how all those really cute critters look better with parsley and wild onion over an open fire when you haven't eaten in a few days. Amazing how those horrid male instincts took over and keep me alive. Too bad my habitat wasn't pretty though.... Ross M. Greenberg @ NYU ----> allegra!cmcl2!acf4!greenber <----
marie@harvard.ARPA (Marie desJardins) (12/12/84)
> > Making friends with foxes and decorating your lovely cave with rosepetals > and other sundry things is a wonderful idea. > > Really....I mean it sounds great, and makes a wonderful game, and certainly > will keep those horrid men in their place. Nobody ever mentioned "horrid men". Sunny made a generalization about the attitudes of men and women which I have often found to be true. Of course, it's not an absolute boundary; there are lots of sensitive, gentle men, and lots of vicious, bloodthirsty women (sorry, exaggerating a little there -- this guy is REALLY bugging me!). > Unfortuneately poor Jenny is now dead. Since she didn't kill the fox, or > the bunny, and made all sorts of friends with the other denizens of the > Great Outdoors, at least she starved in the company of the Bambis! > > You ever do any survival camping?? Without going into detail, I was once > forced to do so. Amazing how all those really cute critters look better > with parsley and wild onion over an open fire when you haven't eaten in > a few days. Amazing how those horrid male instincts took over and keep me > alive. (Trying to keep my temper, but it's not easy.) Yes, there may be circumstances in which you HAVE to kill to survive. In the game, there are supposed to be enough wild fruits, vegetables, grains, and so forth that Jenny can stay alive. I'm sure if Jenny didn't have ANY food except parsley and wild onion, she would kill a rabbit. Or maybe not, and then she would die. The point is, you don't always HAVE to kill, even in situations where is might seem necessary. (And this point can be extended to "you don't always have to hurt someone, even when it might *seem* necessary" and "you don't have to be obnoxious and sarcastic, even when it might seem like fun at the time.") > Wait......How can this be???? A male programmed this game....but that > MUST be impossible.....The original poster is probably right now > changing her opinion of the game....anything that comes from a male > (at least from what I've seen of her other postings!) must by > definition be sexist and bad..... BULLSHIT. Nobody ever said all males were bad. Some of them are. So are some women. I don't think it can be denied that many men discriminate against women. But not all men do. And to those who don't, thank you! If you're not a chauvinist, then nobody has insulted you. If you are, then you deserve what you get. Marie desJardins marie@harvard
greenber@acf4.UUCP (12/12/84)
marie@harvard==> > Nobody ever mentioned "horrid men". Sunny made a generalization about > the attitudes of men and women which I have often found to be true. Of > course, it's not an absolute boundary; there are lots of sensitive, > gentle men, and lots of vicious, bloodthirsty women (sorry, exaggerating > a little there -- this guy is REALLY bugging me!). Well, lets see.....have we heard mostly generalizations from the original poster about how {bad, horrid, awful, sexist, etc.} men are?? I think so. I just get really "bugged" when I see some person working really hard to put an entire category of people in their "place". The original poster seems to continue to see men in one light...I've never heard a good word about men from her. And that, in my humble opinion, hurts the idea of equality more than anything else. Militant Feminist is a label. It appears, sadly, that one Militant Feminist can destroy all the hard work that has gone into the sexual equality effort. I feel that only telling one side of a story is harmful. > (Trying to keep my temper, but it's not easy.) Yes, there may be > circumstances in which you HAVE to kill to survive. In the game, there > are supposed to be enough wild fruits, vegetables, grains, and so forth > that Jenny can stay alive. Makes a nice GAME. Not close to the real world. Take a walk through your local forest. See many "wild fruits, vegetables, grains, and so forth"? If it's only a game fine....but don't try to make general statements about society based on a game. % mail sunny@sun <<GOOD_POINT > (And this point can > be extended to "you don't always have to hurt someone, even when it > might *seem* necessary" and "you don't have to be obnoxious and > sarcastic, even when it might seem like fun at the time.") GOOD_POINT And to think that I just wished marie a happy birthday! Marie, I am not attacking you. And certainly never wanted to hurt anyone. What I am attempting to do is to say to sunny that maybe she has gone a little far. I find that her postings are usually anti-male. I don't know why this is, and am saddened when seeing the type of anger she expresses in public. I don't know what has happened in her life that she only sees the bad side of men. I wish I could help. But that has been forbidden me due to my gender. That is the pity of it all. I'm not really all that bad a guy...(At least in my opinion :-) ) Ross M. Greenberg @ NYU ----> allegra!cmcl2!acf4!greenber <----
crs@lanl.ARPA (12/12/84)
> <> > > Making friends with foxes and decorating your lovely cave with rosepetals > and other sundry things is a wonderful idea. > > Really....I mean it sounds great, and makes a wonderful game, and certainly > will keep those horrid men in their place. > > Unfortuneately poor Jenny is now dead. Since she didn't kill the fox, or > the bunny, and made all sorts of friends with the other denizens of the > Great Outdoors, at least she starved in the company of the Bambis! > > You ever do any survival camping?? Without going into detail, I was once > forced to do so. Amazing how all those really cute critters look better > with parsley and wild onion over an open fire when you haven't eaten in > a few days. Amazing how those horrid male instincts took over and keep me > alive. > > Too bad my habitat wasn't pretty though.... > > > Ross M. Greenberg @ NYU ----> allegra!cmcl2!acf4!greenber <---- Well said, Ross. It is amazing how many, otherwise sensible, people will argue interminably (often while consuming a thick, juicy steak) about how immoral it is to kill an animal (eg in hunting or in the example you gave). Charlie Sorsby ...!lanl!crs crs@lanl
saquigley@watmath.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) (12/12/84)
> This article almost convinces me that women should stay at home, have > babies and raise children, while the men go off to fight it out aw > the workplace. Your reply to this article convinces me that more women should go out in the workplace to change it from a world where people are fighting to one where people are cooperating. Maybe it would have been more useful to call the game "Jerry of the prairie". It seems that men might need the lesson tought by it much more than women might. Sophie Quigley ...!{clyde,ihnp4,decvax}!watmath!saquigley