Pac-man and Fear are arguably two of the best games ever made. They are massively different but arguably massively similar! Both games still evoke the same kind of emotion. Pac Man: ‘’Argh I’m surrounded by four ghosts, got to get round the next corner, eeeeek so close’’. Fear ‘’ Argh I’m surrounded by four invisible ninjas, got to get to the shotgun ammo, eeeeeeek, quickly, use a health pack’’. You get the idea. Why spend millions on developing fear, spending such lengthy times on the design process to evoke the same reaction as PacMan, a game that took little money and time to create. Why? It’s simple. The audience need the best and the newest. To create the best and the newest you need money to be invested in the design process. No one’s going to spend £40 on PacMan, but they will on Fear. It is my opinion and I’m sure the opinion of many others that what it takes to create a blockbuster game that an audience will flock to is to have a solid and sound design process backing it.
Half-Life 2 took around 7 years to create. The game had a massive programming team behind it to create a realistic and working physics engine. Painstaking hours were spent on the level design process. They were hours well spent. The levels themselves set a realistic environment for the player to immerse themselves in. But the levels alone did not make HL2 what it is! Lots of teams of designers, animators, programmers, testers ect. Worked together, interlocking the process to come up with the final product.
What I look for in a game is a new experience. I liked the look of ‘Conflict Denied Ops’, but for me that game is basically the same as ‘BLACK’ but with better graphics. That’s why I did not buy it. My final conclusion is this. For a game to be good and sell well, it needs a good design process to back it, but it also needs originality and the ability to make the audience say ‘’Wow, I want that game!’’.
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Nooooooooooo Splat...
After Reading about New Games Journalism I thought I would give a short ‘’review’’ of a game called ‘Mirrors Edge’. So here I go:
I arrived at my mates flat with my TV and Xbox, ready to show off my skills in Mirrors Edge to my mates. They were all there but not doing much. I set everything up and started to play. After about 5 minutes the room was glued to the TV screen.
It was a massive jump in front of me! I ran along the vent, did a short wall run and then dived across a massive gap, only to miss the roof I was aiming for!! I knew what was coming as I started to fall to my death. So I put the controller down, put my arm in front of my face and flinched, uttering a little cry of dismay. Ben laughed and said ‘’what was that?’’. I was slightly embarrassed ‘’sorry, I got a bit carried away there’’, I said. ‘’It’s just a game’’, he said. ‘’Year, but it’s really good. Never have I been so immersed in a game before! When you play you actually feel a relationship between you and the character’’, I argued. ‘’Matt’s in love with a computer game character’’ Yogi said. Ben laughs. ‘’No I just don’t like to see her die’’ I argued. Then in my defence I said ‘’the other day I was playing Test Drive: Unlimited and I was driving along at like 200 miles an hour and missed a turn and started heading for a tree. And then I dropped the controller and crossed my arms over my face and screamed’’. That got a laugh from everyone in the room. I had successfully escaped everyone finding out about my secret love for a video games character (jokes).
I arrived at my mates flat with my TV and Xbox, ready to show off my skills in Mirrors Edge to my mates. They were all there but not doing much. I set everything up and started to play. After about 5 minutes the room was glued to the TV screen.
It was a massive jump in front of me! I ran along the vent, did a short wall run and then dived across a massive gap, only to miss the roof I was aiming for!! I knew what was coming as I started to fall to my death. So I put the controller down, put my arm in front of my face and flinched, uttering a little cry of dismay. Ben laughed and said ‘’what was that?’’. I was slightly embarrassed ‘’sorry, I got a bit carried away there’’, I said. ‘’It’s just a game’’, he said. ‘’Year, but it’s really good. Never have I been so immersed in a game before! When you play you actually feel a relationship between you and the character’’, I argued. ‘’Matt’s in love with a computer game character’’ Yogi said. Ben laughs. ‘’No I just don’t like to see her die’’ I argued. Then in my defence I said ‘’the other day I was playing Test Drive: Unlimited and I was driving along at like 200 miles an hour and missed a turn and started heading for a tree. And then I dropped the controller and crossed my arms over my face and screamed’’. That got a laugh from everyone in the room. I had successfully escaped everyone finding out about my secret love for a video games character (jokes).
The Affect of New Games Journalism
Wow, all this time I’ve just limited myself to game magazines and websites like IGN; I would never have thought there are actually blogs and reviews that talk about games in such a personal and subjective manner. Reading a few of the links has opened up my eyes a little. Saving Private Donny made me open up a new tab in my browser to find out about Joint Operations; a game I gave no heed to when I heard about it years ago. When I first started to read Saving Private Donny, I thought it was just going to be a straight down review of a game, in a somewhat stylised way, but it’s not. It is a true life absorbing story that kept me glued till the end. I like the idea that the guys thought they could influence a kids future decisions by spawn killing him continuously. The story ends up being quite ironic, with the kid ending up trouncing the older guys in game, and announcing that he never wants to join the army but instead wants to become a fireman.
I agreed with Tim Rogers ‘Defence of Metal Gear Solid 2’. Why people thought the game was too crazy and post modern in the first place, I do not know. The first game was crazy and post modern as well. The article Gave a good defence of the game though Tim’s views on the gaming culture and Hideo Kojima.
I think games reviewers should embrace new games journalism, but I believe that the audience is not ready. I know personally when I flick though a Games magazine I don’t read the main story’s barely ever, unless I have a genuine interest in the game. I just flick though the magazine looking at pictures and there captions, and the final score. Games journalism faces a challenge. I’m looking forward to the impact that New games Journalism is going to have.
I agreed with Tim Rogers ‘Defence of Metal Gear Solid 2’. Why people thought the game was too crazy and post modern in the first place, I do not know. The first game was crazy and post modern as well. The article Gave a good defence of the game though Tim’s views on the gaming culture and Hideo Kojima.
I think games reviewers should embrace new games journalism, but I believe that the audience is not ready. I know personally when I flick though a Games magazine I don’t read the main story’s barely ever, unless I have a genuine interest in the game. I just flick though the magazine looking at pictures and there captions, and the final score. Games journalism faces a challenge. I’m looking forward to the impact that New games Journalism is going to have.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
4 Player Split Screen
Ever since goldeneye came out i have allways been what I call a ‘living room gamer’. I hunt for fps games that have 4 player split screen and 4 controllers. Dont get me wrong online play is brilliant and fun, but I want to play with my friends sat beside me, all playing together. I cant explain it. Just little things I suppose. Even in the character select screen for timesplitters, we spend ages laughing at eachother. My FPS 4-player split screen history goes as follows.
1) Goldeneye
2) Perfect Dark
3) Timesplitters
4) Timesplitters 2
5) Timesplitters Future Perfect
6) Halo
7) Halo 2
8) Halo 3
Me, My brother and my mates have played FPS 4 player split screen so much that we have become realy good at fps’s. Another thing is that when we play we all screen eachother. So you can see the tactics and gameplay others use when your trying to get the best of them. It has given me a unique skill that most other fps players I beleive dont have. The ability to predict the actions of other players online.
1) Goldeneye
2) Perfect Dark
3) Timesplitters
4) Timesplitters 2
5) Timesplitters Future Perfect
6) Halo
7) Halo 2
8) Halo 3
Me, My brother and my mates have played FPS 4 player split screen so much that we have become realy good at fps’s. Another thing is that when we play we all screen eachother. So you can see the tactics and gameplay others use when your trying to get the best of them. It has given me a unique skill that most other fps players I beleive dont have. The ability to predict the actions of other players online.
The Future of Gaming
The 21st century has seen the rise of killer graphics, inovative controls and blocbuster gaming titles. I’d say at the moment the PS3 is for football lovers and fans of Japanese titles, like Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid. The XBOX is for those in love with first person shooters, like me. The WII is for those who want to throw their remote control into a TV and break the screen (lol!). I think the main thing that makes any console appealing to a certain person, are the exclusive titles and the control system. The power of the system does not hold sway.
I know what I want out of a game. I want a massively multiplayer first person shooter, a bit like battlefield 1942. A massive detailed landscape. A single map the size of Fallout 3 or GTA 4. Each game has thousands of players at the same time in the game world. The game never ends. You just join the game in progress. I reckon we are not far away from this; in fact a game for PS3 is coming out soon called MAG (Massive Action Game), which is close to what I want. Of course the control system I want is inevitably going to happen over the next couple of decades: virtual reality. You plug yourself into a suit, put on a pair of goggles and you can control the game.
After watching ‘Human 2.0’ the other day I realised where we are eventually going to end up. The part where the monkey controls the arm with only his hand is the part i’m talking about! Humans will eventually be able to control a computer game with only our mind. I hope!?!
One thing that I’m worried about is a new technology coming out soon. It is a kind of sonar that can completely map out an envioronment, including the inside of buildings and build a 3-d model of it. Then again there will allways be a need of creativity, so what am I worried about. Let me leave you with somthing... A.I.
I know what I want out of a game. I want a massively multiplayer first person shooter, a bit like battlefield 1942. A massive detailed landscape. A single map the size of Fallout 3 or GTA 4. Each game has thousands of players at the same time in the game world. The game never ends. You just join the game in progress. I reckon we are not far away from this; in fact a game for PS3 is coming out soon called MAG (Massive Action Game), which is close to what I want. Of course the control system I want is inevitably going to happen over the next couple of decades: virtual reality. You plug yourself into a suit, put on a pair of goggles and you can control the game.
After watching ‘Human 2.0’ the other day I realised where we are eventually going to end up. The part where the monkey controls the arm with only his hand is the part i’m talking about! Humans will eventually be able to control a computer game with only our mind. I hope!?!
One thing that I’m worried about is a new technology coming out soon. It is a kind of sonar that can completely map out an envioronment, including the inside of buildings and build a 3-d model of it. Then again there will allways be a need of creativity, so what am I worried about. Let me leave you with somthing... A.I.
The fight for proffit
The 80’s saw the golden age of computer games, the rise of the industry and the advent of ‘the console wars’. 1980 saw the release of pacman and the first iconic figure in gaming. From now on game characters would play an important part in the image and overall sales in an increasing number of titles. Battlezone was released in the same year and was the first game to incorporate 3-d vector based graphics. The Commodore 64 was release in 1964 and was the best selling single computer model of all time. I would never have known (quite amazing). In the same year Pole Position was released; a racing game that put the camera above and behind the car. I noticed the other day while surfing ITunes that Pole position can be bought of the ITunes store to play on the IPod. How times have changed!
In 1983 the game market crashed due mainly to bad titles and game surpluses. But not to worry; later that decade the NES was released was really popular and made lots of money and dominated the market till the early 90’s. It brought about some lovable characters that I personally hate (I’m not ignorant of their significance to the industry though). Then in 89 Nintendo brought out the Game Boy, the first massively popular hand held gaming device.
The 1990’s saw the meteoric rise of the industry. Increasing computing power and decreasing cost of processors saw the rise of 3d graphics. This is when the console wars began. The war still goes on. First of all Sony and Sega had an all out brawl. Then Nintendo joined the fray and an inevitable free for all started. Meanwhile Bill Gates was watching and waiting for the right time to attack. Biding his time. Maliciously. 94 - 96 were good years for Nintendo and Sony but a bad one for Sega. The Sega Saturn was a bit of a flop. I know because I got the Nintendo instead. The N64 brought about the first person shooter to an entirely new level (thinking about it, first person shooters haven’t changed that much since the release of quake and Goldeneye; they just get better graphics and invent new ways of killing people). Then Nintendo was knocked off its mighty throne of smugness with the release of the Sony PS2. And so the war went into full throttle. I was a traitor to all sides (My console order: Mega Drive, Nintendo 64, PS2 and XBOX).
In 1983 the game market crashed due mainly to bad titles and game surpluses. But not to worry; later that decade the NES was released was really popular and made lots of money and dominated the market till the early 90’s. It brought about some lovable characters that I personally hate (I’m not ignorant of their significance to the industry though). Then in 89 Nintendo brought out the Game Boy, the first massively popular hand held gaming device.
The 1990’s saw the meteoric rise of the industry. Increasing computing power and decreasing cost of processors saw the rise of 3d graphics. This is when the console wars began. The war still goes on. First of all Sony and Sega had an all out brawl. Then Nintendo joined the fray and an inevitable free for all started. Meanwhile Bill Gates was watching and waiting for the right time to attack. Biding his time. Maliciously. 94 - 96 were good years for Nintendo and Sony but a bad one for Sega. The Sega Saturn was a bit of a flop. I know because I got the Nintendo instead. The N64 brought about the first person shooter to an entirely new level (thinking about it, first person shooters haven’t changed that much since the release of quake and Goldeneye; they just get better graphics and invent new ways of killing people). Then Nintendo was knocked off its mighty throne of smugness with the release of the Sony PS2. And so the war went into full throttle. I was a traitor to all sides (My console order: Mega Drive, Nintendo 64, PS2 and XBOX).
Monday, 15 December 2008
The first games for the world and the first games for me.
The very first computer games were not made for profit; they were experiments with technology. The first was made in 1948 and was inspired by ww2 radar. It was made with a cathode ray tube and simulated missile launches at stationary targets. Then in 1952 a graphical version of tic tac toe was created by a Cambridge university professor. 1961 saw the appearance or Spacewar. This was made by MIT students and was the first widely available computer game. These first initial games were the pioneers of what would become a massive entertainment industry that would eventually beat the annual profit of the film industry.
In the 70’s computer games split into many areas including hand held’s, arcade machines, university computers and home computers. 1971 saw the release of Computer Space; a re-vamped version of Spacewar that became the first mass-produced computer game. Computer gaming was begging to be realised as a profitable medium. 1972 saw the appearance of Atari and Pong. Pong was basically a graphical version of table tennis that saw 2 players move white barriers to hit a ball back and forth. Games like pong and space invaders inspired other similar games for the rest of the 70’s.
The first game that I ever player was ‘Sonic 2’ on the Sega Megadrive. I was 6 years old at the time. While my 5 year old brother was playing with power rangers toys I was ‘bopping’ Dr.Robotnik on the head. I still remember the time I first achieved super sonic on Sky chase zone. But a hilarious memory which I will take to the grave is when my mum stamped on the Sega Megadrive out of anger and walked out the room. I turned around to assess the damage only to find that she had activated a hidden cheat menu in sonic 2 (lol). Now if I state every computer game I ever played I would be here for days, so I will tell you my favourites in chronological order of when I played them (I will put an asterix next to my absolute favourites and 2 next to unforgettable masterpieces).
1) Sonic 2 #
2) Sonic and Knuckles #
3) Sonic 3
4) Golden Axe
5) Streets of rage 2
6) Goldeneye #
7) Perfect Dark ##
8) Donkey Kong 64
9) Teken three
10) GTA 2 #
11) Crash Bandicoot
12) Unholy war
13) Spyro
14) Resident evil
15) Resident evil 2 #
16) Duke Nukem
17) Medieval ##
18) Half Life
19) Timesplitters
20) Medal of Honour : Front Line #
21) SSX
22) Timesplitters 2 #
23) SSX 3 ##
24) GTA 3
25) Timesplitters: Future Perfect
26) Halo #
27) Burnout 3 #
28) Halo 2 ##
29) Black ##
30) Gears of war
31) Half life 2 #
32) Counter-Strike Source ##
33) Day of Defeat Source
34) Far Cry
35) Call Of Duty 2 #
36) Halo 3 #####
37) Dark Messiah : Might and magic ##
38) Bioshock
39) Crysis
40) COD 4
41) Gears of War 2
42) Mirrors Edge ##
Sorry for the lengthy list. If you’re still reading, have a gold star.
The reason I’ve always played games, Is because they are really fun and engaging. I reckon that most of my history of planet earth is based on Computer games. So in a way they educated me better that school did.
In the 70’s computer games split into many areas including hand held’s, arcade machines, university computers and home computers. 1971 saw the release of Computer Space; a re-vamped version of Spacewar that became the first mass-produced computer game. Computer gaming was begging to be realised as a profitable medium. 1972 saw the appearance of Atari and Pong. Pong was basically a graphical version of table tennis that saw 2 players move white barriers to hit a ball back and forth. Games like pong and space invaders inspired other similar games for the rest of the 70’s.
The first game that I ever player was ‘Sonic 2’ on the Sega Megadrive. I was 6 years old at the time. While my 5 year old brother was playing with power rangers toys I was ‘bopping’ Dr.Robotnik on the head. I still remember the time I first achieved super sonic on Sky chase zone. But a hilarious memory which I will take to the grave is when my mum stamped on the Sega Megadrive out of anger and walked out the room. I turned around to assess the damage only to find that she had activated a hidden cheat menu in sonic 2 (lol). Now if I state every computer game I ever played I would be here for days, so I will tell you my favourites in chronological order of when I played them (I will put an asterix next to my absolute favourites and 2 next to unforgettable masterpieces).
1) Sonic 2 #
2) Sonic and Knuckles #
3) Sonic 3
4) Golden Axe
5) Streets of rage 2
6) Goldeneye #
7) Perfect Dark ##
8) Donkey Kong 64
9) Teken three
10) GTA 2 #
11) Crash Bandicoot
12) Unholy war
13) Spyro
14) Resident evil
15) Resident evil 2 #
16) Duke Nukem
17) Medieval ##
18) Half Life
19) Timesplitters
20) Medal of Honour : Front Line #
21) SSX
22) Timesplitters 2 #
23) SSX 3 ##
24) GTA 3
25) Timesplitters: Future Perfect
26) Halo #
27) Burnout 3 #
28) Halo 2 ##
29) Black ##
30) Gears of war
31) Half life 2 #
32) Counter-Strike Source ##
33) Day of Defeat Source
34) Far Cry
35) Call Of Duty 2 #
36) Halo 3 #####
37) Dark Messiah : Might and magic ##
38) Bioshock
39) Crysis
40) COD 4
41) Gears of War 2
42) Mirrors Edge ##
Sorry for the lengthy list. If you’re still reading, have a gold star.
The reason I’ve always played games, Is because they are really fun and engaging. I reckon that most of my history of planet earth is based on Computer games. So in a way they educated me better that school did.
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