Post 15

Observation Notes

Observation Notes on JC:

 This observation was conducted at JC’s home in his living room. Here he has is XBOX system connected to a large flat screen tv that is flanked on both sides by numerous game titles that he has collected over the years. On this day, he decided to play his favorite game: WWE 2K14. This is the latest installment of this game’s franchise that now is a yearly release. With this comes the fact that JC has to continually research new special moves, combinations, and strategies in order to complete missions in the game and to unlock other hidden characters. Today he began to play the “30 Years of WrestleMania Mode” where players have the opportunity to reenact classic wrestling matches from of the past. Here JC is required to follow certain requirements (e.g., hitting an opponent with a chair or using a special move at a certain point in the match) to complete the mission. He reached a point in one of the challenges where he had to perform a special hold with Triple H, the character he was playing as. JC said that at these moments, he will use his grandmother’s Kindle Fire device to look up certain moves or for a video walkthrough of a level someone else filmed and placed on Youtube.

JC found the Kindle and turned it on. He used Google to type in the wrestler’s name along with the mission he was on in order to find the video. He found the video which lasted approximately 7 minutes. The video provided a narration of what he needed to do but did not mention what button combination he needed to press. JC went back to the search page and after a few minutes searching through some links, he did find the information he needed. However, JC first had to read some descriptions of the matches to be able to find the right one. This is the process he finds frustrating at times since he wishes that what he is looking for can be much more straightforward.

JC was very excited to try the move out because he wanted to be able to unlock another wrestler. When he played the game again, it took him 2 tries in order to achieve his objective. He was quite pleased and told me that although he likes doing things himself, he will not hesitate to use computer if need be.