This game of Madden is played out on your television screen almost every night. You play game after game mindlessly. All the while you aren’t even thinking about what’s going on inside the machine itself. Yes you know about the parts, and the disc that the game came on. But, do you know about the game? How the game is just a compilation of 1’s and 0’s that work on algorithms to figure out your next move. How every move you make the game is learning your thought process. Everyone has their own way of playing. Some run the ball more, some throw it more often. Everyone has their own ways of trying to win the game. The final message/goal is always the same, to win the game. How you get there is your choice, your interpretation of the best means necessary to win.

A message pops up on your screen while playing. Do you read it A message pops up on your screen while playing. Do you read it? Do you ignore it? Could it be something important? All of these thoughts fly through your head in an instant. What do you do? The internet is at your fingertips from the moment you power on the system. Do you decide to play online or offline? If online, is it with friends? New people? Every decision leads to another and another and another. A decision you make tonight while making a project can effect the next three projects you make in the future.

In the end you decide to ignore the new message, while playing with someone new online. You feel this is a neat way to make increase your skills. The computer that you normally play against has gotten stagnant. Maybe you need to increase the difficulty. Maybe you are just that good. You want to find out against someone new. All of theses decisions, ways of thinking, interpretations are special and unique to every person. It is up to each one of us to make these individual decisions that will effect someone else’s life as well. If you made one decision differently, how would it effect another? We hardly think about anyone than ourselves, what if we didn’t?

In the first month of class we have been told that everything has a meaning, it is up to the receiver to interpret these messages. Some may see an Xbox as a mindless toy that gets you nowhere. Others see it as a way to access the internet and meet new people. Still other see it as a way to escape the everyday life around them. Another group turns it into a way of life. The point is mediums can come in many shapes and sizes. Just because one group of people don’t agree with one interpretation of something doesn’t mean another's is wrong. Many young people today only know machines like the Xbox. Older generations didn’t have these to grow up with and thought the best way to have fun was participate in things. Participation in sports and music is down as a whole in the recent generation. Participation in video game leagues is up. Does this make for a better generation? We have a few years to find out.