System Analysis
After talking about Animal Crossing and how it is a system within itself I began to think about other games of this nature. I had thought of SIMS-type games but I came to the conclusion of Webkinz. Referring to Bogost, procedurality is a huge part of the Webkinz game itself. The way that your pets in the game live embodies similar procedures and processes of our everyday lives. Along with the possibility of space being how the system works to make it like they are living real lives. The Webkinz site is “a space for exploration and plays” similar to how Bogost talks.
To play Webkinz a person first buys the physical stuffed animal from the store. These animals come with an activation code in a tag on their leg. This gains the player access to the online world of Webkinz. The code is entered at the “adoption center” in “Kinzville”. The town itself has its own name and map of everything that your pets will need. These pets need to maintain health and happiness to live.
The animals 'vitals’ are measured in three categories that fill up their ‘heart’. These three categories are sleep, food, and happiness. These three can be achieved in many ways. The sleep is mostly when you log off for the day, you put your pet in their bed
and they sleep until you log on again. Their bed is in their home that you are able to design. You buy them different furniture and things for their home as well as add different rooms for different activities or even more pets. To buy these things you need to work or play games. These types of things also add to your pet's happiness. By going to the arcade to play games or
the employment office to do odd jobs you are making money and making your pet happy. This money will also be how you can buy food for your pet. At the “W-Shop” you and your pet are able to buy all the essential food and furniture. More ways to make your pet happy are by bathing them and clothing them. You take your pet to the bathtub or the closet and when you click on one of these items you can interact with it...similar to their bed.
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There are ways to communicate with others through this as well. There is a post office called the KinzPost for letters that your pet can write. There is also a phone that you can connect with your friends and their pets too. There are ways for you and your pets to interact with friends. In the ‘club house’ you play games with other people. If you don't want to do that there are many other things to do with your pet. You can take your pet to the travel agency for vacation. There are many different places to go. Once you arrive at your destination there are activities to complete while you are there. These are various different fun games to play. Even without going on trips, there are so many activities in ‘Kinzville’. In relation to your pet's health, there is also a doctor's office. You can take your pet to ‘doctor quack’ to get a check-up. There are also many other activities such as mining for gems at the curio shop. These gems get put into your collection and the goal is to get them all. In a realistic sense, there is the ‘Kinzville Academy’ for your pet to go to classes. Although these classes are not normal school classes. You take things such as fashion, cooking, running, painting, and other fun things for you to do. This relates to what we read by Parrish that some things may be left out on purpose. The creators of Webkinz chose more interesting school activities such as these instead of courses such as math and science. Regular school courses are things that kids have to do every day in their actual classes, Webkinz is their escape.
On the map, it shows all the places you can go. Unrealistically you can just click on a location and your pet is there. There is no travel time, it is instantaneous. This, again, relates back to what we read by Parrish. Webkinz, although similar to our lives, is not a full capture of reality. Certain things from our real lives are lost but for a specific reason. This game is meant to be an escape from reality, mainly for children, that does not need specific aspects of life to be included. Like I had mentioned before there are other games that include some of these left-out aspects. Games such as SIMS show more family life and the creation of a family. Unlike your animals just living together as some sort of pets.
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In relation to Bogost's idea of appeal, I want to address what the appeal of Webkinz truly is. First, as I have mentioned before I believe the target audience is aimed mostly toward children. With this in mind, the main appeal is for children's entertainment and fun. I have said before that it is a child's sort of escape from reality. The different games and activities are supposed to be fun for the child possibly after their school day. Although Webkinz itself is still able to teach children valuable lessons it leaves out the more mundane learning that they do every day in school. In a larger picture, children are being taught valuable life lessons about taking care of themselves. Learning about hygiene and jobs at a young age in a fun way through having a virtual pet. This can also be translated into pet ownership as well. Having the physical stuffed animal is very engaging for children to go in and be able to experience taking care of them in a virtual space.
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