My View on Cheating

There are numerous ways that someone can define the word cheating, especially in relation to video games. Throughout my experience of playing Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story over the past few months I have come to a better idea on what cheating is in my mind. For example, for my game there are numerous sources both in print and online that contain step by step walkthroughs on how to play the game. Although I have not used any of them yet, I feel that it would be okay to use them if I was in a position where I was stuck and could not move on in the game unless I used the walkthrough. I think it is okay to use the walkthrough at this point because without it I might not continue with the game at all. This is an interesting way in which cheating such as through using a walkthrough can actually be beneficial to a game or a players experience with that game. Another method of cheating is cheat codes. From my perspective, I think that it is only okay to use these once one has already beaten the game once. This is also somewhat beneficial because it adds to the replay value of the game and helps to create new experiences from which the player could learn on.

Transfer Principle

Throughout playing my game this week, I have really picked up on the idea of James Gee's Transfer Principle in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. James Gee's Transfer Principle states that "learners are given ample opportunity to practice, and support for, transferring what they have learned earlier to later problems, including problems that require adapting and transforming that earlier learning". I have seen examples of this repeatedly throughout my time spent playing this game. One example is the way in which I battle enemies. In early levels of the game you are taught to fight certain enemies with simple and basic moves. Once a couple levels have passed, these enemies you have become used to fighting no longer exist, and in their place are new enemies with higher difficulty. Every time I encounter a new enemy I find myself thinking about the ways I have succeeded in fighting previous enemies, and analyze and apply these methods to the new enemy. This is an example of the Transfer Principle because I am applying my previous knowledge and adapting and transforming it to conquer new situations and problems.

Tough Battle

This week during my game play I found myself struggling at a particular battle. In order to move on in the game I needed to beat the enemy and succeed in this battle. I tried many times, using different techniques each time, and with each new attempt I got closer and closer to winning. This shows that each time I retried the battle I was learning from my previous mistakes and correcting them in order to improve my techniques the next time. Also, something internally was motivating me to, even though I had failed several times, continue to go back to the same battle and try again, until I finally succeeded.