Nobody wants a good thing to end, especially after doing that good thing for scores of hours. When I finally completed Fallout 3, that was exactly what happened. Game over; no more to be said or done. Even after completing the final quest of the central storyline, the game simply ends and your only option to continue exploring the Capitol Wasteland was to restore a save point prior to the final quest. When the Broken Steel DLC was released in May of 2009, all of that changed.
Broken Steel is an extension of the main storyline, picking up after The Lone Wander restarts Project Purity and appears to die due to radiation sickness. After the ending credits roll, you wake up in the infirmary of the Citadel and from then on are given several lengthy and challenging new quests intended to wipe out the remaining Enclave concentrations. In addition to the extended central quest, three new side quests are thrown in for flavor, as well as scads of new armor, weapons, enemies, and Perks to spice things up. One of the more important modifications is a level cap increase from 20 to 30, which you'll most certainly need to survive the extended main quest. The massive amounts of Enclave thrown at you will grind away at your health at lower levels, so an increased level cap is almost essential to complete the game.
I found Broken Steel to be refreshing and exciting in all the right ways. The enhanced storyline doesn't show any continuity errors, and the new quests were plenty challenging- swarms of Enclave troops and Vertibirds made staying alive a daunting task. However, the greatest aspects of Broken Steel are in the smaller details, as they spark an entirely new life into the open-world, free-time nature of the game. The added weapons and armor were very cool; the Tesla Cannon blew Vertibirds out of the sky whilst the new Enclave Hellfire armor gave the T51-B a run for it's money as far as being the best armor in the game. Other new weapons included a slew of flamethrowers, the Tribeam Laser Rifle, and the unique Callahan's Magnum. Powerful enemies were added to the Wasteland to assist in burning through your ammo supplies, such as the obscenely-strong Super Mutant Overlords, Albino Radscorpions, and Feral Ghoul Reavers. Purified Water is also abundant upon reactivating Project Purity; the fresh water can be found in the Potomac River and in the form of new water bottles labeled "Aqua Pura". This makes for readily-available health, which you'll most certainly need after being set on fire multiple times by the new Enclave Hellfire Troopers. One very cool new item even allows you to take control of Enclave-secured Deathclaws, turning the fearsome beasts against their captors. My personal favorite add-on to the game was simply the ability to keep exploring the Wasteland after completing the last of the new quests, instead of ending the game indefinitely. This adds a lot to the ability to play around with the new items and wreak havoc on the ever-respawning Feral Ghouls and Super Mutants. Also, many Enclave outposts can be found randomly throughout the Wasteland, often times full of Hellfire Troops and captive Deathclaws to provide bursts of experience points, items, and outright challenge.
Despite adding a whole new dimension to Fallout 3, Broken Steel isn't without its downsides. The new main quests add about seven or eight hours to the game, and keep it interesting all the while. Alongside that, only three brief side quests are added- two involving toppling corrupt cult followings, and one requiring the player to protect Aqua Pura supply trains. I feel as though more could have easily been tacked on in terms of side-quests, as these are probably the most entertaining elements of the game. They're often more colorful than challenging, as the main challenges tend to be reserved for the main quest. Also, the micro-stories and new characters involved are very interesting despite having little to do with the game's main quest. In all, more playability and captured interest could be retained if more side-quests were involved in the release of Broken Steel.
Even though it was a little on the short side, I felt that Broken Steel totally rejuvenated the Fallout 3 experience. By simply stepping up the level cap and throwing in a slew of new quests, items, and enemies, and allowing for infinite play-time in the Wasteland, the game was most certainly revived and brought back to life. It's very challenging and interesting, and plenty of skill is required to slog your way through scores of mutants and Enclave alike. I'd wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking to pick up Fallout 3 for a second time and tie up any loose ends, or simply beat around the Wasteland and pester the Super Mutants. Good job, Bethesda.
9/10
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Last Stand
Last Stand is a zombie-defense flash game featured on Newgrounds.com. It is centered around defending a small fortification against swarms of the undead using various weapons and traps one can find by surviving longer. After each invasion you search for survivors and weapons, and get the opportunity to repair your fort. It's very addicting and at times, brutally difficult. Check it out!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Games as Art
The article reviewing the lack of convention-busting on the part of Halo 3 was really interesting, but I have to disagree on the idea that there aren't any games that can portray a storyline without cutscenes or cinematic elements. One example is also one of my personal favorites- the Half Life series. Within the games, there are absolutely no cutscenes; everything takes place from the first person view. The closest the game arrives to a true cutscene are but a few brief moments when the controls are suspended in Half Life 2, due to game events. Plot-wise, the Half Life anthology is very intricate, and it achieves this without ever leaving the perspective of Gordon Freeman.
John Lanchester's article was great in how it compared the playful, plotless simplicity of certain games with the artistic depth and complexity of others. However, as he stated, difficulty does not always make for good art. The shred-metal bands 0f the 80's proved this very clearly. While complexity is embraced by some circles, it isn't the cornerstone of an artistic piece. For example, Pacman is extremely simple in concept, graphics, and sound, and yet can be incredibly difficult to beat. On the other hand, a game such as Halo is outstanding in terms of aesthetic appeal, but can be conquered in rather short order.
N'Gai Croal's attack on Roger Ebert's view of video games was pretty enlightening; it showed a solid snapshot of how people view things they don't- or care not to- understand. What's worse is when people like Ebert begin to lump art into categories of "better" and "worse", or in this case, high and low art. Ebert's pretentious viewpoint was very irritating, not only because he had virtually no gaming experience, but also because he seemed to be fabricating reasons to convince himself not to accept them. Art is art, and a medium as flexible and engrossing as video games are not going to slow down or go away any time soon.
John Lanchester's article was great in how it compared the playful, plotless simplicity of certain games with the artistic depth and complexity of others. However, as he stated, difficulty does not always make for good art. The shred-metal bands 0f the 80's proved this very clearly. While complexity is embraced by some circles, it isn't the cornerstone of an artistic piece. For example, Pacman is extremely simple in concept, graphics, and sound, and yet can be incredibly difficult to beat. On the other hand, a game such as Halo is outstanding in terms of aesthetic appeal, but can be conquered in rather short order.
N'Gai Croal's attack on Roger Ebert's view of video games was pretty enlightening; it showed a solid snapshot of how people view things they don't- or care not to- understand. What's worse is when people like Ebert begin to lump art into categories of "better" and "worse", or in this case, high and low art. Ebert's pretentious viewpoint was very irritating, not only because he had virtually no gaming experience, but also because he seemed to be fabricating reasons to convince himself not to accept them. Art is art, and a medium as flexible and engrossing as video games are not going to slow down or go away any time soon.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Fanboys
The commentary on the Edge review of Killzone 2 seemed to be dead on when it described the duty that game journalists have to their audience- the potential consumers of games. What they say has a direct effect on the game market, and therefore deliberate attempts to inject ego or stir up fanboy battles has no place in the industry. Although the Edge review may have revealed some potential downsides of the game, issuing such a bludgeoning review in the manner they did seemed unnecessary, and it appeared that its only purpose was to cause trouble. If they wanted to present what they felt to be the game's flaws in a clear and honest manner, it would have been better to issue a separate critique of the game instead of a consumer-oriented review that might repel people from even trying the game.
As far as the fervent Youtuber that claimed Killzone 2 will render the Xbox 360 obsolete, I had a difficult time telling whether the video was a joke, or if he was being comically serious. If he was kidding, he at least did a fantastic job at making everyone laugh and has a pretty good sense of humor. If he was serious, it only shows a case of total fanboy-ism at its worst. Fanboys (and girls) will always exist in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways, so it's ultimately up to the audience to decide how to react. In my opinion, I found this guy hilarious and wouldn't in any way take him seriously. I may have even made a similar video about the Half Life anthology.
The largest problem is when fervent fans and detractors of games are put in positions to write high-profile reviews. This has a massively negative effect on consumers' views of the games, as they're written from a totally biased perspective that could leave the purchaser either disappointed with an overhyped game, or deterred from a potentially excellent game. Reviews should be balanced and concise, focusing only on the largest elements of the game- be they positive or negative. The fine details should be left to the observation of the potential player. Another way reviewers can cause problems- as seen with the Edge's Killzone 2 review- is by giving a rating that clashes with the general opinion simply for the purpose of causing arguments. Although honesty is always a good thing, when it's presented in an abrasive manner it can easily cause more harm than good.
As far as the fervent Youtuber that claimed Killzone 2 will render the Xbox 360 obsolete, I had a difficult time telling whether the video was a joke, or if he was being comically serious. If he was kidding, he at least did a fantastic job at making everyone laugh and has a pretty good sense of humor. If he was serious, it only shows a case of total fanboy-ism at its worst. Fanboys (and girls) will always exist in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways, so it's ultimately up to the audience to decide how to react. In my opinion, I found this guy hilarious and wouldn't in any way take him seriously. I may have even made a similar video about the Half Life anthology.
The largest problem is when fervent fans and detractors of games are put in positions to write high-profile reviews. This has a massively negative effect on consumers' views of the games, as they're written from a totally biased perspective that could leave the purchaser either disappointed with an overhyped game, or deterred from a potentially excellent game. Reviews should be balanced and concise, focusing only on the largest elements of the game- be they positive or negative. The fine details should be left to the observation of the potential player. Another way reviewers can cause problems- as seen with the Edge's Killzone 2 review- is by giving a rating that clashes with the general opinion simply for the purpose of causing arguments. Although honesty is always a good thing, when it's presented in an abrasive manner it can easily cause more harm than good.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Game Criticism
I found the article "Game Criticism, Why We Need It, and Why Reviews Aren't It" extremely interesting, and feel like it hits the nail on the head in terms of the near-nonexistence of solid game criticism. While purchase-oriented reviews are abundant, honest and in-depth game critiques seem to be few and far between. The way that Greg addressed the issue of true art criticism was fantastic. It's extremely easy to say whether or not one should buy the game, but diving into artistic and creative matters reaches the true essence of criticism. I was able to relate to his message via my own interest in music criticism; unless one considers all of the elements involved in a particular piece and its creation, a critique will miss the point by miles. His idea of the irrelevance of a numeric grade system is also great; having such a system brings down the ability to truly critique a piece of art.
"If critics did more championing..." was also a great article, as it described the problem of critics focusing too much on minor details as opposed to all of the aspects of a game. Every game will have its minor mechanical flaws and inconsistencies, so it is therefore much more important to dive into the major aspects of the game such as storyline and character development. Although a game's flaws should certainly be noted in a good critique, they shouldn't become the focal point. His take on The Simpons Game was great; it showed that although the entire point of the game was to be a satire of other games and get a laugh from players, critics still managed to tear it apart citing minor mechanical issues.
The review of Fallout 3 seemed somewhat strange. Having spent numerous hours with the game, I can easily relate with the topics he mentioned. However, the review seemed unbalanced in that it championed the game whilst breaking it down in areas very critical to an RPG, including character interaction, the combat system, and overal realism. To me, failures in these areas would quickly shoot down a good RPG. Although I'll admit the game is far from flawlessly lifelike, it is still a massive leap in that direction in terms of adjacent RPGs and deserves more credit than what was given. Unfortunately, his review seemed to give the perspective that the game had insufferable flaws, but had an overly redeeming storyline and emotional effect.
"If critics did more championing..." was also a great article, as it described the problem of critics focusing too much on minor details as opposed to all of the aspects of a game. Every game will have its minor mechanical flaws and inconsistencies, so it is therefore much more important to dive into the major aspects of the game such as storyline and character development. Although a game's flaws should certainly be noted in a good critique, they shouldn't become the focal point. His take on The Simpons Game was great; it showed that although the entire point of the game was to be a satire of other games and get a laugh from players, critics still managed to tear it apart citing minor mechanical issues.
The review of Fallout 3 seemed somewhat strange. Having spent numerous hours with the game, I can easily relate with the topics he mentioned. However, the review seemed unbalanced in that it championed the game whilst breaking it down in areas very critical to an RPG, including character interaction, the combat system, and overal realism. To me, failures in these areas would quickly shoot down a good RPG. Although I'll admit the game is far from flawlessly lifelike, it is still a massive leap in that direction in terms of adjacent RPGs and deserves more credit than what was given. Unfortunately, his review seemed to give the perspective that the game had insufferable flaws, but had an overly redeeming storyline and emotional effect.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Personal Game History
As of late, I've mainly been a casual gamer- using the medium to immerse myself in subjects of interest, such as post-apocalyptic scenarios or zombie invasions. However, I grew up in the 90's totally addicted to gaming. I seldom owned the hottest system of the week, but instead found myself immersed in the same old games for months on end.
My history with gaming began when I was three years old, in 1991. My uncle purchased for me an NES, complete with R.O.B. the robot, the Zapper, and a full complement of about thirty games. I was particularly intrigued by Startropics, a fairly underrated third-person action game that required the player to hop from island to island, cave to cave in search of a missing uncle. My favorite games for the console, however, were the first three games of the Mega Man series. They wereimmersive and quite challenging, but the coolest aspect of these games to me were the amazing 8-bit soundtracks. The various themes for each robot master's level were brilliantly composed and undeniably cool, despite only working with the most basic of game audio capabilities. In all, I still see theNES as a great console, and even to this day fire up my NES emulator to relive these amazing games (as I've since given up blowing into cartridges).
In 1996 I was one of the first to aquire a Nintendo 64, and bought a large stack of some of the greatest games ever made. Goldeneye 007 probably consumed most of my time, however, because I found it to be as comical as I did challenging. I would spend hours playing the game in ways it was never meant to be played; for example, I'd test the patience of the scientists until they started throwing grenades and shooting at me. Or perhaps I would attempt to lure every single enemy into the bathroom of the Facility, and then proceed to blow it up. My friends and I spent far too much time testing the limits of that game.
After the N64, I largely lost interest in the console scene as things spun out of control with the Playstation 2 and XBox. My interest in PC gaming was ignited in the early 90's, playing games like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom on my uncle's computer. After my interest in console gaming faded, I already had a PC of my own and got a copy of the original Half Life when it was released in 1998. It was far more interesting to me than any game I could have dreamed of. The plot was thick and enormously compelling, the style andgameplay were hauntingly dark and strange, and yet it was presented in a simple first-person shooter format. It also brought me into the world of social gaming via the Counterstrike modification. My older cousin and I would frequent a place called theGamer's Hub in Lake Orion to attend the massively fun LAN parties and play Counterstrike until our eyes were red. Needless to say, I was instantly addicted to PC gaming, and Valve was a huge part of that.
My next gaming interest was Age of Empires II and its subsequent expansion, The Conquerors. It was my first stab at a real-time strategy game, and I already had a large interest in history and war. The ability to build civilizations and throw myself into the Middle Ages was a lot of fun, but the best part was the game's namesake: conquering. I would spend hours building up a massive Byzantine or Spanish civilization and wreak havoc on some armies whilst allying myself with others. At this point in time, my interest in the post-apocalyptic had taken a backseat to moremedieval themes, which led me to a game that erased entire months from my life.
Diablo II was released in 2000, but I wasn't aware of it until about 2002. After buying the game and it's expansion Lord of Destruction, I absolutely could not tear myself away from the computer. I had never played anRPG until then, and it was certainly a good place to start. Most of my eighth- and ninth-grade years consist of two memories: school, and level-grinding with my Barbarian and Paladin. I ultimately beat the game with both classes on Hell difficulty, but it hardly stopped there. Weeks were spent trying to find the best items the random number generator could give me, and many more weeks were spentacquiring the gold to buy said items. It was a sad existence, but strangely gratifying. The most beautiful elements of the game existed in the environments, which were both fascinating and flawlessly crafted. Most of the game environments struck the perfect balance between the realistic, the artistic, and the fantastic.
Once I determined that Diablo II had consumed more than enough of my time, I put down gaming for a number of years. When I quit in early 2004, many leaps and bounds were made in the gaming world that passed by me unnoticed for nearly five years. After a personal tragedy struck me in the beginning of 2008, I found myself combating equal amounts of depression and downtime that my hobbies in music and biking couldn't seem to quell. Therefore, I decided that it was simply time to chill out, melt into the office chair in front of the screen and escape the real world for a little while.
Taking cues from my interests in dystopia and the post-apocalyptic, I got an account on Steam and downloaded the entire Orange Box from Valve. In my entire gaming experience, I have never been as satisfied with game as I have been with the Half Life series. The storyline of Half Life 2 and it's subsequent Episodes is absolutely riveting and immersive, made moreso by the fact the player never leaves the perspective of Gordon Freeman. The gameplay is equalling addicting and challenging, and the graphics are stunning. Also, beating aliens with a crowbar is a fantastic stress-reliever. Above all, the Half Life series gave me a realistic escape from the real world. In my opinion they are the most beautiful games ever crafted. Despite HL2 being nearly five years old, I feel it is still aesthetically compelling and will remain so for years to come.
Although I consider myself a casual gamer, in reality I've logged a massive number of hours into relatively few games. A large portion of my childhood was spent behind a controller or keyboard, and I enjoyed every minute. I've slowed down a lot as of late, occasionally loading up aNES emulator to relive the past or playing Half Life and Fallout 3 to explore my post-alien and post-nuclear fantasies firsthand. Regardless, my interest in escaping reality in non-hazardous ways will always exist, and games will always be there to satisfy that need.
My history with gaming began when I was three years old, in 1991. My uncle purchased for me an NES, complete with R.O.B. the robot, the Zapper, and a full complement of about thirty games. I was particularly intrigued by Startropics, a fairly underrated third-person action game that required the player to hop from island to island, cave to cave in search of a missing uncle. My favorite games for the console, however, were the first three games of the Mega Man series. They wereimmersive and quite challenging, but the coolest aspect of these games to me were the amazing 8-bit soundtracks. The various themes for each robot master's level were brilliantly composed and undeniably cool, despite only working with the most basic of game audio capabilities. In all, I still see theNES as a great console, and even to this day fire up my NES emulator to relive these amazing games (as I've since given up blowing into cartridges).
In 1996 I was one of the first to aquire a Nintendo 64, and bought a large stack of some of the greatest games ever made. Goldeneye 007 probably consumed most of my time, however, because I found it to be as comical as I did challenging. I would spend hours playing the game in ways it was never meant to be played; for example, I'd test the patience of the scientists until they started throwing grenades and shooting at me. Or perhaps I would attempt to lure every single enemy into the bathroom of the Facility, and then proceed to blow it up. My friends and I spent far too much time testing the limits of that game.
After the N64, I largely lost interest in the console scene as things spun out of control with the Playstation 2 and XBox. My interest in PC gaming was ignited in the early 90's, playing games like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom on my uncle's computer. After my interest in console gaming faded, I already had a PC of my own and got a copy of the original Half Life when it was released in 1998. It was far more interesting to me than any game I could have dreamed of. The plot was thick and enormously compelling, the style andgameplay were hauntingly dark and strange, and yet it was presented in a simple first-person shooter format. It also brought me into the world of social gaming via the Counterstrike modification. My older cousin and I would frequent a place called theGamer's Hub in Lake Orion to attend the massively fun LAN parties and play Counterstrike until our eyes were red. Needless to say, I was instantly addicted to PC gaming, and Valve was a huge part of that.
My next gaming interest was Age of Empires II and its subsequent expansion, The Conquerors. It was my first stab at a real-time strategy game, and I already had a large interest in history and war. The ability to build civilizations and throw myself into the Middle Ages was a lot of fun, but the best part was the game's namesake: conquering. I would spend hours building up a massive Byzantine or Spanish civilization and wreak havoc on some armies whilst allying myself with others. At this point in time, my interest in the post-apocalyptic had taken a backseat to moremedieval themes, which led me to a game that erased entire months from my life.
Diablo II was released in 2000, but I wasn't aware of it until about 2002. After buying the game and it's expansion Lord of Destruction, I absolutely could not tear myself away from the computer. I had never played anRPG until then, and it was certainly a good place to start. Most of my eighth- and ninth-grade years consist of two memories: school, and level-grinding with my Barbarian and Paladin. I ultimately beat the game with both classes on Hell difficulty, but it hardly stopped there. Weeks were spent trying to find the best items the random number generator could give me, and many more weeks were spentacquiring the gold to buy said items. It was a sad existence, but strangely gratifying. The most beautiful elements of the game existed in the environments, which were both fascinating and flawlessly crafted. Most of the game environments struck the perfect balance between the realistic, the artistic, and the fantastic.
Once I determined that Diablo II had consumed more than enough of my time, I put down gaming for a number of years. When I quit in early 2004, many leaps and bounds were made in the gaming world that passed by me unnoticed for nearly five years. After a personal tragedy struck me in the beginning of 2008, I found myself combating equal amounts of depression and downtime that my hobbies in music and biking couldn't seem to quell. Therefore, I decided that it was simply time to chill out, melt into the office chair in front of the screen and escape the real world for a little while.
Taking cues from my interests in dystopia and the post-apocalyptic, I got an account on Steam and downloaded the entire Orange Box from Valve. In my entire gaming experience, I have never been as satisfied with game as I have been with the Half Life series. The storyline of Half Life 2 and it's subsequent Episodes is absolutely riveting and immersive, made moreso by the fact the player never leaves the perspective of Gordon Freeman. The gameplay is equalling addicting and challenging, and the graphics are stunning. Also, beating aliens with a crowbar is a fantastic stress-reliever. Above all, the Half Life series gave me a realistic escape from the real world. In my opinion they are the most beautiful games ever crafted. Despite HL2 being nearly five years old, I feel it is still aesthetically compelling and will remain so for years to come.
Although I consider myself a casual gamer, in reality I've logged a massive number of hours into relatively few games. A large portion of my childhood was spent behind a controller or keyboard, and I enjoyed every minute. I've slowed down a lot as of late, occasionally loading up aNES emulator to relive the past or playing Half Life and Fallout 3 to explore my post-alien and post-nuclear fantasies firsthand. Regardless, my interest in escaping reality in non-hazardous ways will always exist, and games will always be there to satisfy that need.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Game Culture
The section of chapter two of the IGS regarding the primary and secondary aspects of gaming was particularly interesting. According to the book, the primary element envelopes areas such as storyline, game-world, and rules, whereas the secondary elements are things like graphics, sound, user interface, etc. While some players look at the whole picture, many tend to play the games specifically for the audio-visual thrill as opposed to approaching the game like a story or piece of artwork.
"The End of Gamers" brilliantly launches games into a void they've been slowly waiting to fill- as that of a medium equal to books, music, film, and art. The amount of things that can be done utilizing games broadens its function within society and eliminates the notion that so-called "gamers" are the only folk who can take advantage of the medium.
"The Hipsters of Gaming" is a fantastic article. It held no punches whilst bashing hipster culture, and then showed how the modern gaming community resembled these trendoids when it came to mass-market casual gaming. According to these gaming-hipsters, gaming mediums such as the Wii have "reduced" gaming to something that everyone can enjoy quickly and cheaply, perhaps viewing it as the McDonalds of gaming platforms. This is of course ridiculous, though; just because something garners much success doesn't mean it's necessarily weak or wrong. However, many "hardcore" gamers tend to make a distinct effort to avoid successful games simply due to their popularity.
"The Place of Culture in Games" hits three major points- the cultures that create games, the games that create cultures, and the cultures within games themselves. The analysis of how certain cultures portray others was particularly interesting, such as how certain Japanese games portray other cultures from a Japanese point of view. He also noted the unfortunate state of non-western gaming environments being used mainly for aesthetic purposes with little or no cultural relevence. Having played Majora's Mask back in 2001, I was able to grasp his point of the game's integration of and commentary on cutural relations. Lastly, the culture created by games was well-described, such as how certain gaming iconographies have taken mainstream and underground cultural routes.
"The End of Gamers" brilliantly launches games into a void they've been slowly waiting to fill- as that of a medium equal to books, music, film, and art. The amount of things that can be done utilizing games broadens its function within society and eliminates the notion that so-called "gamers" are the only folk who can take advantage of the medium.
"The Hipsters of Gaming" is a fantastic article. It held no punches whilst bashing hipster culture, and then showed how the modern gaming community resembled these trendoids when it came to mass-market casual gaming. According to these gaming-hipsters, gaming mediums such as the Wii have "reduced" gaming to something that everyone can enjoy quickly and cheaply, perhaps viewing it as the McDonalds of gaming platforms. This is of course ridiculous, though; just because something garners much success doesn't mean it's necessarily weak or wrong. However, many "hardcore" gamers tend to make a distinct effort to avoid successful games simply due to their popularity.
"The Place of Culture in Games" hits three major points- the cultures that create games, the games that create cultures, and the cultures within games themselves. The analysis of how certain cultures portray others was particularly interesting, such as how certain Japanese games portray other cultures from a Japanese point of view. He also noted the unfortunate state of non-western gaming environments being used mainly for aesthetic purposes with little or no cultural relevence. Having played Majora's Mask back in 2001, I was able to grasp his point of the game's integration of and commentary on cutural relations. Lastly, the culture created by games was well-described, such as how certain gaming iconographies have taken mainstream and underground cultural routes.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Video Games or Digital Games?
It makes more sense to use the term "video game" over "digital game" simply because most every digital game or gaming medium relies on a visual element more than, say, audio or olfactory elements. The games contending for the nomenclature are all digital, ranging from Pong to Fallout 3. However, from a pragmatic standpoint, the interesting element of the games is not their binary nature, but the simple fact that we use some form of a controller to manipulate what happens on a visual monitor, be it a television or LCD screen. The attraction lies in the end, not the means, in this case.
Initial reactions to the VSG and IGS
The Style Guide is quite enlightening when it comes to breaking down the issues with modern game reviews and jargon. The afterword was particularly interesting; it showed how to effectively review a game from an objective standpoint while still allowing the reader to determine whether it was "good" or "bad". Most importantly, it emphasized the use of clear, concise writing as opposed to clever phrases and twisted meanings, which leave the writer amused and the reader confused.
The Intro. to Game Studies is a straightforward analysis of the societal aspects of gaming itself, looking at the perspectives of the readers and composers of games. However, this volume recognizes games of every medium, from board games to video games, chess to GTA III. The introductory chapter focuses on the study of game studies themselves, looking at the history and relevance of gaming scholarship and research.
The Intro. to Game Studies is a straightforward analysis of the societal aspects of gaming itself, looking at the perspectives of the readers and composers of games. However, this volume recognizes games of every medium, from board games to video games, chess to GTA III. The introductory chapter focuses on the study of game studies themselves, looking at the history and relevance of gaming scholarship and research.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
First post for Eng. 298
I'm pretty excited to "study" with Fallout 3 and the Orange Box. Also, I'm quite happy both the professor and I share an interest in post-apocalyptic scenarios. This should be extremely interesting.
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