I decided to play the game The Sims 3. I have heard a lot about it, and played Sims Social on FB a time or two, but never the "real" Sims 3. One of my previous roommates LOVES this game, so she lent me The Sims 3 plus some of the expansion packs to try out! Let me just say, I LOVE this game now! :) I really enjoyed creating my Sims and even decorating and designing their clothes and homes. Getting to pick their personality and job was also a plus for me. Once I got everything established, I had already been "playing" for about an hour; so I decided I better actually "play" the game for an hour. I started off with just two Sims and they had jobs, not professions, which made the gameplay a little easier and less complicated. Off course, I went into the education field in the game, and my boyfriend was a police officer.
As I was playing the game, one characteristic from Dr. Z's blog posting really stuck out to me: choice. I feel that The Sims 3 is all about choice! I make pretty much all the choices. When creating my Sims, I choose their looks, clothes, and personality; I choose their house, decorations, and design; I also choose their jobs, relationships, and family. The path my Sims take is my choice. The Sims 3 also has multiple long and short term goals. At the beginning, the Sims select a life-time wish, which would be the long term goal. The life-time goals I selected (for my two original Sims) where "Surrounded by Family" and "Dynamic DNA Profiler". I also created a long term goal of getting married, having 6 kids, reaching the top of the education field, and moving at least twice into bigger homes than before. The short term goals in the Sims are your Sims' wishes that you fulfill daily. Also, by fulfilling these wishes, you get lifetime points, which you use to buy rewards, which can be considered to be short or long term goals because of the wide price range.
My friend really helped me before I played the game because she gave me the "low down" on what to do and what cheats to use. :) The only thing that really hindered my play was my lack of knowledge and experience in the game. I have never really been a big gamer, so this was completely new to me. Once I started playing though, I was hooked! Some good learning experiences for me while playing The Sims 3 was when I completed wishes, gained promotions, had babies, and moved houses. All these events really helped me learn more about the game, and how I like to play it.
While playing this game, I would have to say that I was in the state of Flow. I reached flow because there were steps every part of the way throughout the game. There was also a balance between challenges and skill. Starting a game I never played before was a challenge, and getting everything for "life" established was fun, but also challenging. I also think that skill was involved as well because I had to use my own previous experiences or skills to determine how I wanted to play the game and overcome those challenges in the game. While playing The Sims 3, I was definitely completing engaged. I lost track of time, and ended up playing the game for over 2 hours without even noticing it! I was having fun playing this game, and was in The Flow because of the reasons listed above.
This has affected me in several ways. First of all, I am now going to be asking for this game and expansion packs for my birthday and Christmas! :) So, it has affected my life because I will now be a beginning gamer. As a teacher, this showed me the value of gaming. I never had anything against gaming in education, and now I realize how educational some games can be, especially for children growing up in this gaming era. Overall, this gaming experience was a great one. I will be sure to look out for more ways to use gaming in the classroom as I enter the teaching profession within a year.
The video below is about a 7th grade teacher using The Sims 3 on iPod Touches in the classroom. The teacher's goal for his students is for them to learn the elements of fiction through playing The Sims 3. In this video, students explore point-of-view, motivations, and personality traits. One student shares her experiences, thoughts, and ideas while playing the game. She is able to make a connection/comparison from The Sims 3 to the book she is currently reading. A great watch for future/current teachers about how to integrate technology and gaming into their classroom.
