So according to blogger the last time I actually posted anything on here was in march. Do you know what was in march? If you have been reading this blog at the time or now... or ever really, you would know that mass effect 3 released and caused a great and many splashes in many gaming focused communities. So that was 9 months ago. So what brings me back today? hmmmm?
Well this and that. Go ahead and check em out real quick - you'll need to know at least the basics to fully immerse yourself in my train of thought.
Welcome back! Hope you didn't get lost on the internet for hours wondering how you got started down the rabbit hole in the first place, so you may be asking yourself what story and a video game cover have in common. Or you may be really smart or smarmy and already have an answer. So here where it gets interesting.
The game cover is designed to give a consumer and idea of what they will get when they get home and open the game and start playing. Just like any industry this means that there is pop, indie, and various other genres to appeal to. Now imagine for a second you know nothing about a title in your hand except what the cover tells you. Does it say action? Does it move you in ways you can't yet realize and does it make you wanna buy it? For almost every cover art the answer is generally no. I'm sure that there is market data out there that like to believe that suggestive colors and poses, types and sizes can affect the purchase habits of a consumer. However most of the time a consumer falls into a couple different categories - either they know something about the game and what's in store for them, or they were told about it from a friend or an associate working there.
So the game informer article postulates that story is perhaps secondary to game play mechanics, that the way we dress up our mechanics shouldn't be the focus. In various articles Mr. Miyamoto has said that the story is not important, that game play is the star of the show - check it here for his exact words. So if one of the most famous people in game development history says that, maybe a budding game designer should re-evaluate how he looks at games. I see them as an amalgamation of all art - trying to desperately put together all the needed aspects to drive someone to continue playing a title through pixels, colors, story, purpose, reward, programming and sound. Perhaps I'm thinking too deeply about the actual conception of a title and should re-prioritize my view.
Now how is cover art and story connected? The cover really doesn't tell you as much you'd like about a game. Halo 4 is a great example of what a cover art can and cannot tell you about a game. Knowing nothing about the title you could tell its futuristic, it has guns and that you'll probably play as the machine dude on the cover. A great many of you might actually say," Dude you haven't even scratched the surface of what this game is about!" Now what does the cover tell you about the story? The same amount if not less, given that most people won't analyze a cover and will just a quickly move on to the next.
The entirety of this post is dedicated to really one thing - That is covers and story don't tell us anything about the actual game mechanics, the thing that actually is compelling us to play it. If a game controlled like crap and you felt less rewarded for your actions or didn't get what you were emotionally looking for out of it, then you stop playing. So my question for anyone reading this is go look at your favorite game cover and tell me if it tell you what you need to know about the game mechanics or story - if so tell me in the comments I'd like to see it from your perception.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Since everyone is talking about it....
If you have been living under a rock - Mass Effect 3 has released this week and by all that is good in the world - It is an undertaking.
The sheer amount of planning and dedication and persistence that comes through in this game is uncanny. Then to actually take a minute to think about it. I mean really think about it. Creating this massive universe and every mission and side mission and lore bit. To top that off you have to start thinking about what you didn't see.
I'll never see Ashley Williams in my game and what she could have been thought or said.
I'll never see Kasumi and get that moment and scene with her.
I'll never see what Femshep experiences in the way of choices for a romantic part of the game. Like there's a heavy curtain keeping me from seeing it.
I'll never see what really would have played out if I had let Udina die at the end of ME1.
This is literally a scratch on the mountain of items that could have been different in this game. My experience is shaped by the choices I've made over the past 5 years and multiple playthroughs. I know that I'll have some similar experiences to my friends and customers but it's those little moments in the game. A line, a quip, an action that will make my experience more than memorable.
This series has been wonderful over the past 5 years and through it all it even compels me to think outside of the game - what would Shepard do? Now I realize that it's 'what would my Shepard do?' How will those actions affect those around him and what can he do about it.
I could talk about this series for hours and still not be bored with it. But for now - I've taken my shore leave, back to stopping the reapers!
The sheer amount of planning and dedication and persistence that comes through in this game is uncanny. Then to actually take a minute to think about it. I mean really think about it. Creating this massive universe and every mission and side mission and lore bit. To top that off you have to start thinking about what you didn't see.
I'll never see Ashley Williams in my game and what she could have been thought or said.
I'll never see Kasumi and get that moment and scene with her.
I'll never see what Femshep experiences in the way of choices for a romantic part of the game. Like there's a heavy curtain keeping me from seeing it.
I'll never see what really would have played out if I had let Udina die at the end of ME1.
This is literally a scratch on the mountain of items that could have been different in this game. My experience is shaped by the choices I've made over the past 5 years and multiple playthroughs. I know that I'll have some similar experiences to my friends and customers but it's those little moments in the game. A line, a quip, an action that will make my experience more than memorable.
This series has been wonderful over the past 5 years and through it all it even compels me to think outside of the game - what would Shepard do? Now I realize that it's 'what would my Shepard do?' How will those actions affect those around him and what can he do about it.
I could talk about this series for hours and still not be bored with it. But for now - I've taken my shore leave, back to stopping the reapers!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
DLC and Opinions
So over the past week or so there have been a lot of rantings and ravings and over all complaints about the issue of DLC in the gaming industry. So quick lesson here.
DLC stands for DownLoadable Content in which a consumer has the option to purchase more content for a game that they may happen to like playing. This content doesn't affect the overall experience but could be and is usually a vehicle for one just to expand the nature of the game they are playing. Like everything else in a money driven economy - You don't have to buy it if you don't want it. For a bit more on the sordid history of this topic click here.
Mass Effect 3 (dropping next week BTW) has a collectors edition and inside this soon to be monument of a game is DLC called 'From Ashes" in which you go back to Eden Prime and pick up a Prothean team member. Now this extra piece of content is also available for everyone to purchase separately from the main game for an extra $10.00. So even if you didn't pre-order the CE or can get your hands on it next week you can still get one of the main draws - which is the DLC.
So there are two sides to this issue. Ya ready?
Side normal - You don't have to buy this content. As it doesn't affect the main story. Yes there's some spoilers there. Yes it costs money. However if you don't want it then don't give Bioware/EA/digital content your money.
Side "Butt-hurt dweller" - How dare they release information about a game that I want to play so bad before it even gets here! How dare that tell me that they want money for their work! How dare they try to expand upon something I like enough to spend money on! I'm gonna say I'm boycotting this product but I'm a butt hurt dweller and can't not know what happens in this game!
In fairness a "Butt-hurt dweller" is really just worried about the integrity of the story and that they aren't being ripped off by being forced to purchase more content to actually get the full version of the story. I've been hearing a lot of the above opinion and it saddens me that people are judging everything before they've truly spent any money.
My real point of view on this is that it's wonderful to have the option to get the content that typically wouldn't be available except within a collectors edition. If you want it - you can have it! Now I don't need to truly pull my hair out looking for a collectors copy just because I don't wanna miss anything. If I'm a consumer I feel like I should always have the option but that I should always have the ability to say that "I'll keep my money for something else that looks like its worth my time and money".
DLC stands for DownLoadable Content in which a consumer has the option to purchase more content for a game that they may happen to like playing. This content doesn't affect the overall experience but could be and is usually a vehicle for one just to expand the nature of the game they are playing. Like everything else in a money driven economy - You don't have to buy it if you don't want it. For a bit more on the sordid history of this topic click here.
Mass Effect 3 (dropping next week BTW) has a collectors edition and inside this soon to be monument of a game is DLC called 'From Ashes" in which you go back to Eden Prime and pick up a Prothean team member. Now this extra piece of content is also available for everyone to purchase separately from the main game for an extra $10.00. So even if you didn't pre-order the CE or can get your hands on it next week you can still get one of the main draws - which is the DLC.
So there are two sides to this issue. Ya ready?
Side normal - You don't have to buy this content. As it doesn't affect the main story. Yes there's some spoilers there. Yes it costs money. However if you don't want it then don't give Bioware/EA/digital content your money.
Side "Butt-hurt dweller" - How dare they release information about a game that I want to play so bad before it even gets here! How dare that tell me that they want money for their work! How dare they try to expand upon something I like enough to spend money on! I'm gonna say I'm boycotting this product but I'm a butt hurt dweller and can't not know what happens in this game!
In fairness a "Butt-hurt dweller" is really just worried about the integrity of the story and that they aren't being ripped off by being forced to purchase more content to actually get the full version of the story. I've been hearing a lot of the above opinion and it saddens me that people are judging everything before they've truly spent any money.
My real point of view on this is that it's wonderful to have the option to get the content that typically wouldn't be available except within a collectors edition. If you want it - you can have it! Now I don't need to truly pull my hair out looking for a collectors copy just because I don't wanna miss anything. If I'm a consumer I feel like I should always have the option but that I should always have the ability to say that "I'll keep my money for something else that looks like its worth my time and money".
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Power
I've been meaning to write this post ages ago as the thoughts had finally found an honest to goodness form. Now this post has to do with many things and will not just focus on one or two things but the theme will be ever relevant. Follow me here cuz this post is going to be riddled with tangents.
Now have you ever thought about where power really comes from? In this modern era of technology and politics it's a bit more vague then what our ancestors had dealt with. In times before civilization and even when we had finally started em power was simply about strength. Who was stronger? Who would win in a fight? If you needed something you simply needed to be strong enough to take it. Whether it be food or shelter.
Fast forward a couple thousand years and then we start to truly frown on raw strength as a sign of power. We begin to value real intelligence and the ability for people to learn to comprehend laws and why they exist. Now power starts to shift from simply being able to claim a right to something to being able to figure out how to claim something minus the violence. Now here's where things truly change:
Money. Currency. Trading.
Now whenever any sort of exchange is made it sort of creates a tug of war between two people. Each person is holding something the other wants yet negotiation is now taking place. Negotiation is where the definition of power becomes more than blurry as now each person wields a certain amount of power over the other. This post isn't going to be about that so we will visit it another time.
In the above example we have a struggle and with that struggle we yield stress and therefore an emotional response. Whether or not it's strong is not apart of this but there is always some sort of reaction. In a transaction we will give in to someones desire to grab power from us.
Think about your family and friends and loved ones. Now think about all that you do for them on a daily basis and what they do for you. Do you feel like everything is fair between everyone? Do you feel like every equation is balanced according to your perception of them?
More and more often i see people who are willing to yield their power to someone else due to emotional constraints. People who are willing to give more than they can, or people who are willing make morally grey decisions based on the amount of power they yield.
Now power at this point represents the ability to make decisions that make us happy with our lives. From convincing yourself that your dead end job will get better or that your significant other will suddenly be different or that the bills will magically disappear.
Now why does anyone give up their power? At the end of every day we need certain things to keep living. Food, water, place to live and some form of social activity. Why do people not even dare to wield their power?
I can understand being afraid to make your own choices - for who wants to be actively responsible for fucking up their own life? At the same time it was your own choice and not someone else. We can all make claims to why have lost power but we can always make equal strides to try and gain that power back. Without that ability life would suck and there would never be anything worthy of chronicling. Many people seem to forget their own self worth as well as that everything passes with time. Everything will change whether or not we want it to.
Everyone should be glad to have what they do and never blame someone else for their mistakes. No one is perfect and no one will ever wield power 100% responsibly. We lose it because we don't respect it or don't respect the decisions we make with it.
Power is part of what video games are so damn successful. Without the power angle of games - even if we do or do not realize it - is a huge part of the appeal. The ability to make a decision without actual consequences and yet can yield positive emotional results? Sign me up too.
On that note - To Star Wars: The Old Republic I'm on the server Corellian Run with a Jedi Consular name Raikoh
Now have you ever thought about where power really comes from? In this modern era of technology and politics it's a bit more vague then what our ancestors had dealt with. In times before civilization and even when we had finally started em power was simply about strength. Who was stronger? Who would win in a fight? If you needed something you simply needed to be strong enough to take it. Whether it be food or shelter.
Fast forward a couple thousand years and then we start to truly frown on raw strength as a sign of power. We begin to value real intelligence and the ability for people to learn to comprehend laws and why they exist. Now power starts to shift from simply being able to claim a right to something to being able to figure out how to claim something minus the violence. Now here's where things truly change:
Money. Currency. Trading.
Now whenever any sort of exchange is made it sort of creates a tug of war between two people. Each person is holding something the other wants yet negotiation is now taking place. Negotiation is where the definition of power becomes more than blurry as now each person wields a certain amount of power over the other. This post isn't going to be about that so we will visit it another time.
In the above example we have a struggle and with that struggle we yield stress and therefore an emotional response. Whether or not it's strong is not apart of this but there is always some sort of reaction. In a transaction we will give in to someones desire to grab power from us.
Think about your family and friends and loved ones. Now think about all that you do for them on a daily basis and what they do for you. Do you feel like everything is fair between everyone? Do you feel like every equation is balanced according to your perception of them?
More and more often i see people who are willing to yield their power to someone else due to emotional constraints. People who are willing to give more than they can, or people who are willing make morally grey decisions based on the amount of power they yield.
Now power at this point represents the ability to make decisions that make us happy with our lives. From convincing yourself that your dead end job will get better or that your significant other will suddenly be different or that the bills will magically disappear.
Now why does anyone give up their power? At the end of every day we need certain things to keep living. Food, water, place to live and some form of social activity. Why do people not even dare to wield their power?
I can understand being afraid to make your own choices - for who wants to be actively responsible for fucking up their own life? At the same time it was your own choice and not someone else. We can all make claims to why have lost power but we can always make equal strides to try and gain that power back. Without that ability life would suck and there would never be anything worthy of chronicling. Many people seem to forget their own self worth as well as that everything passes with time. Everything will change whether or not we want it to.
Everyone should be glad to have what they do and never blame someone else for their mistakes. No one is perfect and no one will ever wield power 100% responsibly. We lose it because we don't respect it or don't respect the decisions we make with it.
Power is part of what video games are so damn successful. Without the power angle of games - even if we do or do not realize it - is a huge part of the appeal. The ability to make a decision without actual consequences and yet can yield positive emotional results? Sign me up too.
On that note - To Star Wars: The Old Republic I'm on the server Corellian Run with a Jedi Consular name Raikoh
Thursday, November 3, 2011
1 Year and Perception
It's been more than a year since I started this - not knowing what i was going to write about and not knowing where this was going. Yet here we are. Between my sporadic postings and a year full of video game references and all the people I've met in between. Lets also not forget plans to make and plans to break. Hopefully I'll be able to announce something soon - just a matter of getting the details in order.
On the School front I've been a student again for almost a year and a half. It does not feel like that period of time. Honestly the best part about having all my classes online is that i can take a real look at how I'm coming along. Not just making mental notes and working my way around but actually seeing the progress that I'm making towards my goals. It's awesome to login into class and see all the classes I've been apart of and all the people I'm made via school.
Psychology is the new course I'm in now and I'm simply blown away by how much information truly exists on the topic. Everything from the study of the how we perceive things ( one of my favorites) to how our minds and bodies process information (in which this only solidifies a stronger connection between my C++ studies and the way I think about interactivity).
I'm hoping that this next year will bring more to my life than ever before! I can't wait to share it with the world!
On the School front I've been a student again for almost a year and a half. It does not feel like that period of time. Honestly the best part about having all my classes online is that i can take a real look at how I'm coming along. Not just making mental notes and working my way around but actually seeing the progress that I'm making towards my goals. It's awesome to login into class and see all the classes I've been apart of and all the people I'm made via school.
Psychology is the new course I'm in now and I'm simply blown away by how much information truly exists on the topic. Everything from the study of the how we perceive things ( one of my favorites) to how our minds and bodies process information (in which this only solidifies a stronger connection between my C++ studies and the way I think about interactivity).
I'm hoping that this next year will bring more to my life than ever before! I can't wait to share it with the world!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Computer Applications for Business
So the past 7 weeks has been a ton of exciting and boring and frustrating and dull assignments in my Computer Applications for business class. This class essentially breakdown the fundamentals of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel and really drills in concept complex and simple in nature. I thought to myself at the beginning of this class that it would be "a breeze" and "how could i not know what was going on?"
I was wrong. The beginning of this class was like the beginning of a rollercoaster. Slow, agonizing even and not fun at all. Then as the weeks flew by there was this steady incline of pressure. Ideas flying past you as you reach the apex. Finally last week happened. I found myself struggling to get down all the aspects of Excel into this one assignment. To be fair - I've honestly never used Excel before this class, Word and PowerPoint were at a point in time important to business and idea placement here and there.
Excel kicked my ass. Last week and not so much this week. I won't let it get my lunch money again. I write this blog post triumphantly and from standing on top of the bully I can clearly see that I haven't truly learned anything - yet.
This is a quicky today and everyone should realize every once in a while that there is always something else to learn. Also that anything worth doing is worth taking to time to do right
Oh and there is this bit of excitement!!!!
Next time - Numbers and Gaming systems!
I was wrong. The beginning of this class was like the beginning of a rollercoaster. Slow, agonizing even and not fun at all. Then as the weeks flew by there was this steady incline of pressure. Ideas flying past you as you reach the apex. Finally last week happened. I found myself struggling to get down all the aspects of Excel into this one assignment. To be fair - I've honestly never used Excel before this class, Word and PowerPoint were at a point in time important to business and idea placement here and there.
Excel kicked my ass. Last week and not so much this week. I won't let it get my lunch money again. I write this blog post triumphantly and from standing on top of the bully I can clearly see that I haven't truly learned anything - yet.
This is a quicky today and everyone should realize every once in a while that there is always something else to learn. Also that anything worth doing is worth taking to time to do right
Oh and there is this bit of excitement!!!!
Next time - Numbers and Gaming systems!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
So many topics....
One of the things I hadn't taken the time to think about is that I would be spending time thinking about what to write about. Now that i just re-read that sentence 8 times. Topics seem to be easy and difficult to come across. From something like your Birthday and recent happenings to very social and professional aspects of life. I could just talk about this weeks new releases or my thoughts on Space Marine. I could even talk about the Old Republic and it's mishap. There is almost too much to talk about.
While all these things are relevant in the last week or so it's all about priorities. From what I play first to what is even worth my time. Time is money and there always seems to be a shortage in the gaming industry this time of year. Sadly video games are not truly treated as a form of entertainment but are subject to the whims of the average toy. Cramming it all into a small period and hoping for the best when the holiday shoppers come out with large amounts of capital to spend. The truly frustrating part of this is that even if we take out some of the big releases that we still find ourselves overwhelmed with AAA games.
Here's what I have a problem understanding. You're telling me that is Call of Duty was released in February that it wouldn't still be a world wide entertainment juggernaut? Would Battlefield be any less in demand if it was released in August? There is little reason to lump huge titles so close to each other like this. It seems like the industry is interested in gaining new people and keeping them interested but how can we do that when within weeks a purchase could be null and void by the new item on the market?
So many people this week had to make a conscious choice of to get either Dark Souls or Rage - not both. No one who lives an ordinary life has that kind of money and time to invest in getting both. This isn't an isolated incident either. Over the next 8 weeks so many people who might've purchased a whole slew of games will only choose a few based on money and time and so many of these titles will be pushed off till post holiday season purchase (when they should come out).
I understand that most companies in the entertainment industry as a whole make most of their money in the holiday season but gaming has grown beyond this and the industry has to make steps not to cannibalize is own business by etching out each other. Competition is always good - but not when it hurts the sum of what could be.
While all these things are relevant in the last week or so it's all about priorities. From what I play first to what is even worth my time. Time is money and there always seems to be a shortage in the gaming industry this time of year. Sadly video games are not truly treated as a form of entertainment but are subject to the whims of the average toy. Cramming it all into a small period and hoping for the best when the holiday shoppers come out with large amounts of capital to spend. The truly frustrating part of this is that even if we take out some of the big releases that we still find ourselves overwhelmed with AAA games.
Here's what I have a problem understanding. You're telling me that is Call of Duty was released in February that it wouldn't still be a world wide entertainment juggernaut? Would Battlefield be any less in demand if it was released in August? There is little reason to lump huge titles so close to each other like this. It seems like the industry is interested in gaining new people and keeping them interested but how can we do that when within weeks a purchase could be null and void by the new item on the market?
So many people this week had to make a conscious choice of to get either Dark Souls or Rage - not both. No one who lives an ordinary life has that kind of money and time to invest in getting both. This isn't an isolated incident either. Over the next 8 weeks so many people who might've purchased a whole slew of games will only choose a few based on money and time and so many of these titles will be pushed off till post holiday season purchase (when they should come out).
I understand that most companies in the entertainment industry as a whole make most of their money in the holiday season but gaming has grown beyond this and the industry has to make steps not to cannibalize is own business by etching out each other. Competition is always good - but not when it hurts the sum of what could be.
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