Assignment 8 - Once Upon A Time

Video games never had to endure the obligation to add a 'story' before technology advanced so greatly everybody has a console or PC in their home to play games on.
It was a form of entertainment not like films or books - but an interactive 'doing' thing.

I remember The Legend of Zelda's very short overview of the objective of the game during the opening credits informing the player to save the Princess. Then throughout the game there is no more help instead you lived the legend rather than read it.

RPGs have always been story-driven and it will continue to do so. The imagination can run wild when reading a book and you experience verisimilitude when watching a film. So for a video game to stretch the expectations and imaginations of it's audience with a deep and immersive storyline along with excellent gameplay is nothing short of brilliance.

However that's not to say a great plot makes a good game. Terrible mechanics can lead to a very sloppy and unappreciated game. Konami's Zone of the Enders suffered this fate. Directed and written by Hideo Kojima (the man behind Metal Gear Solid...can I get through one blog without mentioning this game? I think not) Zone of the Enders brought mech-anime to video games with a compelling plot involving a young boy sharing and eventually 'teaching' emotions to a heartless artificial intelligence unit inside of a giant mechanical tool of war.
The game is considered a let down due it's short length and lack of variety in gameplay.

The premise is simple: travel to the directed location, destroy a bunch of mechs, defeat a boss and sit back and watch the realtime cut-scenes unfold the plot. The lack of variety ruined the games chances of being hailed as great as Kojima's other work and falls flat on it's face when compared to MGS.

Sports titles, EA's most successful franchises, still sell incredible numbers even though they lack any depth to them beyond the competition and 'beat your opponent' game play.
Story telling is dependent on the genre of game you're selling and inevitably like all things: your target audience.

As I have previously stated: console RPGs thrive on their story depth and incredible twists and turns, although an online MMORPG doesn't necessarily need that same element as it could possibly break the fluidity of the game play and many gamers do not want to be sitting through CG cutscenes while others go on ahead of them. Whereas in the comfort of isolation you can sit through hours of FMVs absorbing the plot with no reason to skip ahead to get to the fighting.

A story is what you make it. It's an experience retold. You can tell a story about a game you played last night online. WoW, Guild Wars, Second Life, and most other online games do not NEED an already present story to push the player further. Game play and the experience of playing with others creates that 'need to carry on'. You can invent your own story in your own world when playing such games.

In gaming, a story is an experience relived. Whether it be the hundredth time you reveal Cloud's secret in FFVII or it be the millionth time you played a Team Death Match on Metal Gear Online and you told your coursemate about how you succeeded the next day. Storytelling is what you make it. Since gaming is such an interactive medium of entertainment it's not always necessary for the game itself to create that entertainment for you; YOU do.

Assignment 7 - Different Strokes (Same old jokes)

First of all I would like to say that being on the Electronic Game Technology course I was a little disheartened by the lecture involving Art Direction however I appreciate that Rick Nath came to deliver an incredible two hours of insight.
It helped me understand the other side (the dark side, grr) of Game development and almost made me question what the hell I'm supposed to be doing in the gaming industry at the end of this course.

An Art Director plays a role similar to a movie director in that "Art directors are generally responsible for setting the visual tone, quality, and style for the game" which is summarised here.
It is an occupation of great responsibility. Not only is the content of the game very important but the way in which the director inspires, interacts and involves the whole art team to create their work in progress.

The visual tone can set the overal tone for the game if done correctly. For instance a Survival Horror game requires a dark and disturbing atmosphere because plot devices and gameplay are not enough to create a realistic 'scary' experience.

However realism is not always necessary. Hugely detailed and beautiful environments may satisfy some hardcore and casual gamers - hereby referred to as 'eyecandy' - but sometimes it just does not suffice when a book or a film can be incredibly realistic and detailed but if other areas are not up to scratch (such as plot) then it fails and becomes another "graphics: 10, gameplay: 5" piece of garbage.

Art direction depends on the context and content of the game in hand. An Art Director must be able to portray the idea of somebody else and recreate their image - it's difficult but much easier to describe your own idea than to be given the idea of another and display it the way in which the game director/producer/publisher - as explained by Rick Nath.
For example, if a game requires a much more simplistic art style rather than a complicated mass of realistic leaves falling off a tree on a breezy Autumn afternoon the Art Director must adapt his/her style to fit in with the overal theme of the game to completely mesh and 'fit' with the intended purpose of that game.

Time constraints on completing certain pieces on a daily/weekly basis can be very stressful and an Art Director has a great responsibility for not only his/herself but for the art team as a whole. You must have great communication skills and analytical skills to be an Art Director as you must be able to understand anothers ideas and to efficiently reproduce what is required - as well as explain to your team how and why particular elements must look and 'feel' a certain way.

Game art direction is a heavily creative role. In which you must be able to demonstrate perfect understanding of another individuals ideas but to also be inspiring and creative to your team to help them understand the task in hand.
Effective interpersonal skills are required and alot of confidence and understanding of both artistic differences and how said art will effect the programming.

I don't think art direction is for me - especially the 'art' part.
I'll just appreciate the completed work for now until the time arises for me to develop a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the work my art breatheren have to do.

Now...It's time for some Metal Gear Online, and for anybody reading this who happens to own Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence and plays the online portion you can find me under the name The_Horror blowing your head off time after time again.
Good afternoon, Good evening and Goodnight.

Assignment 6 - Designer Genes

Game designers have evolved drastically over the short space of a few decades as video games have become more complex and time consuming. As a result positions are delegated to a team and each person has his role whether it be the designer, the producer, the sound designer, the programmer and so forth. Gone are the days when a game was created by just one person. Now are the times when multimillion projects require teams of specialists.

Gameplay, I feel, is primarily how the game itself plays. Such as your objectives; abilities; restrictions; and any other content in which the player him/herself controls.

Cutscenes are not gameplay however a boss battle requiring you to throw grenades into tank is a form of gameplay - the utilisation of game mechanics such as being able to throw grenades in a particular way that they land in the tank (Oh by the way, that particular example - Metal Gear Solid, M1 Tank battle).

I guess by that theory, gameplay and game mechanics are linked. Gameplay is the outcome of game mechanics. I'll use the same reference - being given the ability to use R1 to view in FPV to allow the user to throw a grenade into the desired direction is mechanics. Gameplay is the context in which the mechanics are presented - being told how to act and what abilities you should utilise to accomplish the goal.

Another example would be; mechanics are the ability to swing on a rope and gameplay is being presented with two platforms and no other means to get across other than the rope.

Designing a game requires you to put the ideas of game mechanics, gameplay, the programming that will proceed it, the constructs of the game and to 'plug' the design to the appropriate body so that the game can leave the drawing room and be created. Other factors such as financial liability, technological restrictions, production costs/time and marketability will also play into the game designers role as s/he must think about all of these things when designing their game.

There is no point in a game being too difficult; or not fun; or not attractive enough to make a profit. Even worse, would be to give a nod to the game only to discover half way through development that it is simply not possible to accomplish. The designer must put these things into consideration.
A team of designers work on pre-production and carry on through most of the production and must have some understanding of the programming that will proceed their designs whether it be art designer or sound designer. All things must be compatible and feesable.

Of course. All genres of games have different principalities. For instance a FPS like Halo may not require any puzzle solving to advance through the game compared to something like the survival horror Resident Evil.
However in Halo, run-and-gun is sufficient to advance through the story and reveal more plot. Whereas in Resident Evil puzzle solving is essential to unfolding the plot as the player is presented with dead ends and the inevitable feeling that they must solve some kind of puzzle.

Another example would be a sports game where the sole purpose of Pro Evolution Soccer is to score more goals than your opponent. Gameplay such as passing to a certain player to gain the advantage can not be applied to an adventure game with only one avatar and more than one objective in mind.

Financial factors also play a huge part in different genres too. Marketing and targeting the right audience and devoting certain levels of funds to each kind of game.

Games such as EA's American sports titles don't require huge funds as previous game engines can be used to create sequels and with the game mechanics and gameplay already there only certain elements need tweaking.

Whereas much more extravogant new and "innovative" titles need more dedication to design and perfecting the playability as well as funds being distributed fairly and not being wasted - because there's nothing worse than an 'average' title at the end of the day.

What's truely import to me is the overal product.
Not a single element but rather a whole array of great design aspects.

Cinematic quality can play an important factor in me liking a game but only if that game requires it such as Metal Gear Solid.
On the other hand, a game like Legend of Zelda does not need eight hours of cut-scenes to make it interesting as gameplay elements are usually incredible and appropriately placed.

RPGs require a great story to succeed as RPGs to me have become a bit stale and all tend to follow the same gameplay AND plot; an evil entity taking over the world overcome by a band of misfits all with their own reasons to avenge; controlled through turn based combat featuring dragons, high level bosses and hours of wandering around getting frustrated at random battles.

I tend to stray away from being a graphics-whore simply liking a game on it's physical appearance.
A true example of beauty is Killer 7. With it's insanely twisted plot which never actually makes sense unless you can grasp the difference between a similie and a metaphor; simplified controls on rails with interesting puzzles; cel-shaded 'simple' looking graphics; and cut-scenes varying from japanese anime to more traditional western style animation.
Sometimes the best games are the ones that aren't flashy and filled to the brim with different types of gameplay (Killer7 takes away your ability to explore and jump) and take a more traditional straight-forward approach.

What seperates a game plot to a movie or book is interaction. However even in Killer7 the interaction is limited - but something in it drives you forward to reveal more. Just as you would read on in a book, or would continue to watch a movie. The game forces you to PLAY more and more.

Assignment 5 - Isn't Money Funny?

It seems that anything and everything in this life time is money driven. I guess that is capitalism for you.

Publishers devote funds to games that they feel are sure-bets to make a success leaving some innovative and 'different' games with no way of reaching the consumer.
Magazine publishers are also very money driven as are all businesses in life - it's a dog eat dog world and these dogs have a thirst for blood - with strict deadlines journalists have to meet and when games journalists "must" give praise to certain games sometimes it feels like journalists either don't know what they're talking about or they're giving haphazard bias opinions.

I guess that's freedom of speech for you.
Magazines are also losing profit under the slew of gaming websites which give the same - usually bias - reviews.
However now it feels games magazines are losing their edge that they once had; recently I was reading through some old Nintendo magazines I had kept in my cupboard (for cheats, walkthroughs and general nostaliga value...oh also, I just hate to throw ANYTHING away) and there was humour, appeal and indepth insights into games I was too young to fully appreciate.

Although this was during the golden age of gaming where everything was new and different with NES and Mastersystem control pads and games were truely evolving from their amoeba-like states on their large supercomputer shaped ancestors. Journalists were hungry and gaming wasn't exactly everybodies cup of tea; I guess for lack of a better term it was a 'cult' thing (although I was too young to remember...so forgive my ignorance if I am wrong).

I guess that's hunger for you. Nowadays game publications feel like they almost hate games with very few articles giving you the feeling that they actually sat down and played the game for more than 10 minutes.

I guess that's 19-day-an-issue deadlines for you. It seems journalists feel pressure to get their work in on time and they can easily be replaced by fresh, young, enthusastic faces straight of University without a clue in the world about what's in store for them. The Bigwigs want to make money - to make more magazines - to sell more magazines - to make more money and the viscious cheque-filled cycle goes on.

The horrid and GCSE styled 'The games graphics are very good, and the gameplay is also amazing' review is like needles on a chalk board to my eyes and ears.
New Games Journalism takes an objective approach which gives a more powerful insight into games and games have always been a very personal experience that can usually only be described by the average man as 'you've got to play it to understand'.

NGJ give you the exact thoughts and personality of the writer in a way that intrigues and provolks without having to resort to 'play this game because it has good graphics and you will enjoy its interesting story'.

While reading the Metal Gear Solid 2 review and analysis (which can be found here for those who have yet to read it) I found myself laughing and nodding in agreement at what Mr. Rogers (no, not the US TV legend) had to say.
Nothing can compare to that moment where you share a laugh with a complete stranger over such a personal thing as a miniscule detail in a video game you both happened to notice.

NGJ - despite originating on the internet, and therefore inheriting the title nemesis of game magazine medium - is paving the way for game journalists and gives a stronger, more personal insight into a medium that touches so many peoples hearts.

Journalists cannot simply get away with shoddy bias scores with 5 lines of description that barely scratch the surface of the game it tries to sell.

Then again that's the games industry for you. *wink*