In Japan, Tamagotchi exercises you

Engadget wrote today about the Jinsei Game (or “Game of Life”) pedometer, which only lets you play a turn every 300 steps. I like the idea of connecting gameplay and a rewards system to exercising, which can quickly become tedious and repetitive (especially if, like me, you’re running on a treadmill or swimming laps). And though I’m not sure how I feel about playing the game at that excruciatingly slow rate, I still want one.

Also, the source of this story, CScout Japan, mentions another interesting pedometer which measures your steps taken against a walk around Japan’s coast. Cool!

You are what you play

The other day I took the Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology, “a series of questions and an accompanying scoring formula that classifies players of multiplayer online games (including MUDs and MMORPGs) into categories based on their gaming preferences.” I cut my gaming teeth on MUDs, but even then I wasn’t interested in (read: any good at) pvp, and to this day I avoid games that feature bug monsters leaping at your face or sniping friends and neighbors.

My Bartle Test results do reflect how I used to play, in text-based RPGs (in Achaea, that involved guild functions, Druid grove parties, taverns, hanging out at North of Thera, and more):

ESAK – “Explorers Do It All Over”

ESAK players often see the game world as a great stage, full of things to see and people to meet. They love teaming up with people to get to the hard-to-see places, and they relish unique experiences.

Breakdown: Achiever 40.00%, Explorer 93.33%, Killer 0.00%, Socializer 66.67%

The test itself is, as Wikipedia notes, a bit dichotomous:

Would you rather:
- Hear what someone has to say?
- Show someone the sharp blade of your axe?

…and while I’m not convinced that my desires and behaviors can be whittled down into points in a quadrant, it’s still a useful tool that does give insight into games that aren’t MUDs or MMORPGs (types around which the test was designed).

The goal of this blog is to show a side of gaming that involves no combat, killing, sniping or face-leaping, but focuses on puzzles, community and quality. Thus, I shall embrace my role as an ESAK/fluffy bunny/spade/heart combo, illustrated below by the KoL version of the Bartle test, and will continue hopping along in the verdant fields of gaming, spreading the seeds of my labyrinth making, podcasting, bone-collecting and Katamari-rolling everywhere I go.