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"If GCSEs became a video game..."

I hate school. I'm waiting for the day that I can break free and bagger off to Uni. Until then, though, I'm grounded. And what's worse, is that school is starting to affect my life. Damn it.

Every single day in school I'm reminded of an acronym. This certain four letter word haunts me, it stalks me in my sleep, it lurks around every friggin' corner. That word? GCSE.

Damn the school system. Damn it. The one game I'm actually losing sleep over (slight exaggeration there) is released during the course of revision/ tests. Marvelous. I don't blame Nintendo, no, because everyone else will be playing Zelda on May 3rd, but as for me? A nice couple of hours studying osmosis, or perhaps the Schlieffen plan, or, god forbid, the sine rule.

So then, I must be crazy thinking that GCSEs can be made into a game. No, I'm not wasted (Wish I was, though ;D), I'm annoyed. On one side you have your life. You choose the rules, what you do, what you eat etc. I'm a gamer, therefore I like to play video games. So why the hell am I revising my butt off for some crappy tests? Because it's one of life's many annoyances. If I fail these certain tests, it's the end of the road. No 6th Form, no University, no Job. Magic. Wave goodbye to Gaming, then. And then on the other side I have video games. My favourite pastime will have to be put on 'pause' (Haha) for four or so months. I'll get withdrawal symptoms, I bet.


So then, why not bung them in a pot and mix them together until light and fluffy? What would be the end result?

All GCSE tests would be Video Game orientated. Not only does this mean that we already know so much about the topic that we wouldn't have to do any revision WHATSOEVER, it also means that we now have a reason to play video games. Not bad, then.

But then the other result is what prompted me to start writing this post in the first place. GCSE: The game.

What exactly would this entail then? Well, it's like this. You stick in your disc, let it spin around and then let the fun begin! Or not.

Because not only would this game shift no copies at all, it would be so hideously boring to code that the programmers would actually have a mental breakdown. Not nice at all, then. And another thing: Your actions and test scores will be saved onto memory cards and sent off to edXcel and AQA. The very thought scares me.

Training mode: This is, essentially, revision. Much like Animal Crossing, this would run in real time. The game expects you to be up by 9:00, absorbing information by 10:00, and turning the console off by 17:00. And not only that, using the upcoming GBA camera, the game will record your every move, and then it's beamed directly to school where teachers make sure you're actually doing revision. Why us, eh?

Career Mode: Career mode is, basically, like a Career office, in the sense that from the outcome of the special tests that you take here, your perfect future career will be generated. Great.

GCSE: This is the full-blown thing. This is where the Men are sorted from the boys (and the Women from the girls, too). The FMV sequence plays and you walk to your desk, 'casually' drop your pencil and look up the fit teacher's skirt, before finally reaching your destination. It may be wooden, and it may have metal legs, but boy oh boy, it's one of the most important desks in the world, even if it is wobbly! Because this, my friends, is where you either pass or fail.

You see, I'm constantly reminded of the saying, "It's just a game". No, I don't get aggressive when I lose, and I don't dress up and pretend I'm bulbasaur, it's just that if this game *were* to be made, it wouldn't be "just a game" because it would determine the rest of you life.

It's quite a big burden on your life, really. To be presented with tests that make or break your life is quite scary. Oh how I hate this stupid system.

Multiplayer: Well, essentially, there wouldn't be a multiplayer. Remember, "Communication of any sort is not permitted during the exam". Anyone found entering multiplayer automatically fails. Why do they tempt us, why oh why?

Coursework: For some stupid reason, the programmers decided to allow students to do coursework AFTER the main exams. Must be programmed by EA, then.

You know, I thought I had it bad, but GCSE: The game is much worse. Give me lack of Zelda and four months of revision anyday.

But for now, I guess I'll be OK, well, until Metroid Prime and Sonic Mega collection show up and I'm not allowed to play them. Damn education again.

Excuse me while I go kick the Education minister.


Thanks for reading, if, er, it bears any relevance to Games whatsoever

The even crazier Microchips

I hate school. I'm waiting for the day that I can break free and bagger off to Uni. Until then, though, I'm grounded. And what's worse, is that school is starting to affect my life. Damn it.

Every single day in school I'm reminded of an acronym. This certain four letter word haunts me, it stalks me in my sleep, it lurks around every friggin' corner. That word? GCSE.

Damn the school system. Damn it. The one game I'm actually losing sleep over (slight exaggeration there) is released during the course of revision/ tests. Marvelous. I don't blame Nintendo, no, because everyone else will be playing Zelda on May 3rd, but as for me? A nice couple of hours studying osmosis, or perhaps the Schlieffen plan, or, god forbid, the sine rule.

So then, I must be crazy thinking that GCSEs can be made into a game. No, I'm not wasted (Wish I was, though ;D), I'm annoyed. On one side you have your life. You choose the rules, what you do, what you eat etc. I'm a gamer, therefore I like to play video games. So why the hell am I revising my butt off for some crappy tests? Because it's one of life's many annoyances. If I fail these certain tests, it's the end of the road. No 6th Form, no University, no Job. Magic. Wave goodbye to Gaming, then. And then on the other side I have video games. My favourite pastime will have to be put on 'pause' (Haha) for four or so months. I'll get withdrawal symptoms, I bet.


So then, why not bung them in a pot and mix them together until light and fluffy? What would be the end result?

All GCSE tests would be Video Game orientated. Not only does this mean that we already know so much about the topic that we wouldn't have to do any revision WHATSOEVER, it also means that we now have a reason to play video games. Not bad, then.

But then the other result is what prompted me to start writing this post in the first place. GCSE: The game.

What exactly would this entail then? Well, it's like this. You stick in your disc, let it spin around and then let the fun begin! Or not.

Because not only would this game shift no copies at all, it would be so hideously boring to code that the programmers would actually have a mental breakdown. Not nice at all, then. And another thing: Your actions and test scores will be saved onto memory cards and sent off to edXcel and AQA. The very thought scares me.

Training mode: This is, essentially, revision. Much like Animal Crossing, this would run in real time. The game expects you to be up by 9:00, absorbing information by 10:00, and turning the console off by 17:00. And not only that, using the upcoming GBA camera, the game will record your every move, and then it's beamed directly to school where teachers make sure you're actually doing revision. Why us, eh?

Career Mode: Career mode is, basically, like a Career office, in the sense that from the outcome of the special tests that you take here, your perfect future career will be generated. Great.

GCSE: This is the full-blown thing. This is where the Men are sorted from the boys (and the Women from the girls, too). The FMV sequence plays and you walk to your desk, 'casually' drop your pencil and look up the fit teacher's skirt, before finally reaching your destination. It may be wooden, and it may have metal legs, but boy oh boy, it's one of the most important desks in the world, even if it is wobbly! Because this, my friends, is where you either pass or fail.

You see, I'm constantly reminded of the saying, "It's just a game". No, I don't get aggressive when I lose, and I don't dress up and pretend I'm bulbasaur, it's just that if this game *were* to be made, it wouldn't be "just a game" because it would determine the rest of you life.

It's quite a big burden on your life, really. To be presented with tests that make or break your life is quite scary. Oh how I hate this stupid system.

Multiplayer: Well, essentially, there wouldn't be a multiplayer. Remember, "Communication of any sort is not permitted during the exam". Anyone found entering multiplayer automatically fails. Why do they tempt us, why oh why?

Coursework: For some stupid reason, the programmers decided to allow students to do coursework AFTER the main exams. Must be programmed by EA, then.

You know, I thought I had it bad, but GCSE: The game is much worse. Give me lack of Zelda and four months of revision anyday.

But for now, I guess I'll be OK, well, until Metroid Prime and Sonic Mega collection show up and I'm not allowed to play them. Damn education again.

Excuse me while I go kick the Education minister.


Thanks for reading, if, er, it bears any relevance to Games whatsoever

The even crazier Microchips

*laughing*

I like this, but if GCSE's were a game, wouldn't that game be a little, well, easy.

In my experience it's far more taxing to try and complete most decent games that it is to pass GCSE's, or even A levels.

Microchips wrote:
> Because not only would this game shift no copies at all, it would be
> so hideously boring to code that the programmers would actually have a
> mental breakdown. Not nice at all, then.

Most programmers should be having a mental breakdown anyway, considering the sort of high level maths that they have to turn into robust, fast and low level code.

Still, I did like the multiplayer mode. Excellent,
but you only fail if you get caught, so you could set up something a bit like the stealth sections in Metal Gear Solid, and see if you could risk those elusive answers : )


Good luck with your exams,
I'm sure you'll do great : )

Heh, stealth sections would be quite cool indeed.

Thanks very much. :)

Only about two months to go now Shipseh, not too much.
If only it was all a game.

I feel your pain Chipseh.
And it really hurts.
All the time.

Anywho, hows about a mini-game called Relevance. Your task is to figure out why learning about Standard Deviation or Moles will help you in real life.
It must, surely, if they teach it to you - or why would they?
You just have to find out why weighted index numbers have any relevance in real life.

*This is a very hard game.

Standard deviation is almost vital for the statistical analysis of anything. As marketing and consumer studies are now so stupidly huge and important, it's a piece of required knowledge for a lot of well paying jobs in business. As well as this, it's used by scientists analyzing data, mathmaticians being mathmaticians, and it's something good to use to show if a studant really understands maths or not.

Therefore I win.

Standard Deviation isn't on the syllabus this year.
So we don't need to know it.
The only reason you get taught it is so that you can use it in your Stats Coursework.
Rejoice!

I was thinking off the top of my head.
Shush.

Is SD not in the exam, then gerrid?
I've just done my stats coursework so I may never see it again.
Huzzah!

I won. That's all that matters.

I only found this out yesterday, too. We were 'supposed' to use it in stast, but no one did. Still managed a B.

Oh Happy days.