The legend of Zelda Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The legend of Zelda - Research Paper Example The Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda and its main character, a boy named Link, are so well-known and recognized in the video game community as to be nearly iconic. The original title spawned a series of sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and derivative works. The main series alone, without counting the remakes on various systems, consists of over fourteen games. For many, the instrumental background music, character sprites, and especially the unique gold game cartridge for the original Legend of Zelda can still conjure up happy images from their childhoods. The game Legend of Zelda is so important to both the company of Nintendo and to video game development as a whole because it was such a revolution in video game design. The game allowed players to move around on the main map between screens in a non-linear fashion, forcing the player to determine where they should go next instead of clearly showing them. In addition, the game was filled with puzzles and traps that made the game â€Å"more puzzle than plaything†. The game also ended up establishing the now-popular game genre of â€Å"action-adventure†, a combination of the speed and reaction time skill sets required in action games with the longer story lines and plot development of adventure games. (Nintendo, 2010). Despite its success now, the development of Zelda was never a sure thing, and in fact was following a long and sometimes rocky history for the company Nintendo (Paumgarten, n.d.). Having established the importance of the game itself, the need for further un derstanding of the game's history becomes clear. This history is in three parts: the history of the gaming company Nintendo, the careers of game developer Shigeru Miyamoto and his team, and finally the specific game development for The Legend of Zelda. Through this analysis, we will see that it took this series of events to produce the revolutionary Zelda game. History of Nintendo The original Nintendo company was founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. Obviously, at that point they were not producing video games of any kind. Instead, the company was known for its intricate, hand-painted playing cards and other table game accessories. Well into the twentieth century, Nintendo also produced Japanese hanafuda, a word which literally translates to â€Å"flower cards†. These colorfully painted hanafuda were used as gambling chips, replacing an older tradition of using painted seashells to keep score in playing card games. Around the year 1949, when Fusajiro Yamauchi's grandson Hiro shi Yamauchi took over the company, Nintendo began producing electronic games and gadgets, in an attempt to diversify their product line. One of the more famous products they produced during this period is the infamous â€Å"Love Tester†, which supposedly shows if there is an attraction between two individuals squeezing the machines levers. Another product in this line from Nintendo was the Beam Gun, which was used in converted bowling alleys to shoot simulations of clay pigeons and was quite popular in Japan (Paumgarten, n.d.). It was not until the 1970s that Nintendo actually entered the video game market. Contrary to what some fans seem to believe, Nintendo did not produce the earliest video games. Those were designed by California-based Atari, the company behind the memorable games Pong and Space Invaders. These arcade games, and later the home console versions, quickly became a worldwide craze. Seeing an opportunity despite having no personal interest in video gaming, Hi roshi Yamauchi decided that his company would enter this potentially lucrative new market (Paumgarten, n.d.). The result was a stream of arcade cabinets for the commercial market. At current count, Nintendo has produced over ninety arcade titles. These included such classics as Duck Hunt and Mario Bros., but had other failed games that are significantly less well-known, such as Battle Shark and the arcade version of Radar

Flexible Working Practices and Their Place in Todays Organizations Essay

Flexible Working Practices and Their Place in Todays Organizations - Essay Example This is the reason why companies need to focus on increasing employees’ satisfaction with their jobs. Provision of flexible work environment to employees is one of the main steps a company takes to increase employee motivation and satisfaction levels (Brenner, Fairris & Ruser 2004). In this paper, we will discuss some of the key flexible work practices that can make jobs attractive for employees. The paper will include a discussion on the way human resources can be managed so that employees become more motivated and satisfied with their jobs. 2. Flexible Work Practices Flexible work practices mean different things for different organizations. Some organizations think of flexible work practices as a way to establish a good working relationship between partners, customers, and shareholders, whereas some companies take flexible work practices as the ways to improve employee performance. Generally speaking, flexibility in doing job is all about the way an employer and an employee make changes to when, how, and in which way he/she will work to meet business and individual needs in a proper manner. Flexible work practices help companies in reducing workplace conflicts and employee turnover problems. As Batt and Valcour (2003, p. 189) state, â€Å"the most effective organizational responses to work-family conflict and to turnover are those that combine work-family policies with other human resources practices, including work redesign and commitment-enhancing incentives†. Flexible work practices refer to that type of flexibility that serves both employees and companies in accommodating individual needs (Avery & Zabel 2001, p. 139). Flexible work practice enables businesses as well as individuals to meet their respective needs by making appropriate changes to location (where), time (when), and manner (how) in which employers and employees carry out their job activities. â€Å"Flexibility should be mutually beneficial to both the employer and employee and result in superior outcomes† (Workplace Flexibility 2011). There is a number of flexible work practices that managers can carry out to make employees satisfied with their jobs. Some of those practices include flexible working hours, part-time work, variable year and part-year employment, motivation through recognition, facilitating remote working, job sharing, phased retirement, and flexible job hours. Allowing employees to work in ways that can help them balance their personal and professional life requirements easily is good for employees, as well as for businesses (Stredwick & Ellis 2005, p. 1). Let us discuss some of the main flexible working practices in detail to know how they contribute to improved employee and organizational performances. 2.1 Flexible Working Hours One of the best flexible work practices is to allow flexible working hours to employees (Pil & Macduffie 1996). Managers can schedule the working hours of employees in such a way that employees can feel rela xed. For example, they can change the work timings of 8am - 4pm to 9am – 5pm. Similarly, they can alter the scheduling of work timings to facilitate employees in doing their personal works. For example, they can make employees work for 10 hours a day and then give a 2 hours relaxation for the next day. In this way, the total number of working hours for employees will be the same as in normal case.