tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2467450669225003502024-03-08T15:21:23.526-08:00Alyssa Morris Game StudiesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-8833508248340489262015-08-19T22:21:00.002-07:002015-08-19T22:21:28.575-07:00The Future of Video Games: What’s worth focusing on?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There are a
lot of subjects that come up when thinking about the future of video games, how
good are games graphics going to get?, will digital distribution become bigger
than physical?, what will Nintendo name their new new 3ds? (haha console joke).
Besides hiring a medium to tell the future, there’s no real way to see where
video games will go, but there are some interesting gadgets that the industry
is putting their money into. So that’s a good place to start I think.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First off
the biggest contender on the list, the Oculus Rift! And it’s many copy cats.
Starting off with the basics, the Oculus Rift is a VR headset made by Palmer
Luckey and the Oculus VR team. The Oculus will be the first consumer available
VR headset of its kind, so that a big step in the right direction. And over its
development process, it’s overcome a lot of obstacles that would stop consumers
from buying it, the biggest of these being how heavy it was, it’s resolution
and its accessibility all of which have been overcome (<a href="http://www.techradar.com/au/reviews/gaming/gaming-accessories/oculus-rift-1123963/review">http://www.techradar.com/au/reviews/gaming/gaming-accessories/oculus-rift-1123963/review</a>). Except not all of them. In fact with all VR
headsets there is one obstacle none will ever overcome. How long you can use
them for. Back in 2013 and 14 this was a big problem for Oculus, as anyone
trying to play games on it for longer bursts of time would experience headaches
and nausea, big downfalls when it comes to gaming. Not only that, but having
the screens so close to your eyes for long periods of time (or continued frequent
use over time) no matter what anyone will say, it’s going to mess with your
eyesight, and that’s not even going into the problem of people with already bad
eyesight using the Oculus Rift. So sadly, while VR headsets are here and most
likely to stay, I doubt It’ll ever beat classic gaming systems. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">For our next
contender (and usually listed right after the Oculus Rift, in any given ‘New
Gadgets’ video) is the Omni! Made by Virtuix, the Omni is a treadmill like
device that enables the player to move around while playing the game, and their
movement will translate to the player character. So basically you walk around
to move the character. It’s also
designed to work with VR headsets and hope to completely immerse the player in
the game (</span><a href="http://www.virtuix.com/" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">http://www.virtuix.com/</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">). Now this is a pretty odd way to try and
improve a person’s gaming experience, and a pretty risky one. The odd thing about the Omni and its concept
is that players will have to exert themselves while playing and this might
sound like a good way to get players off their butts and moving. However
people, unlike game pads have a limit, and running around will eventually tire
a player out and so they stop playing. This is the same problem as with the
Oculus Rift, how long can players use it for? The risky thing about the Omni?
It’s big. Being what the Omni aims to do, it’s a given that it would be big,
but because it’s so big it’s going to be hard to sell. Virtuix will never be
able to sell the Omni at a general public level as I doubt anyone who isn’t
dedicated to gaming would want such a big accessory in their house. It’s only
going to sell to a niche of </span><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">gamers</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> and for such an advanced piece of equipment,
that’s not a good thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So now
having look at both these two big advancements into gaming future, neither look
to be massive leaps, more so just little things some people will look forward
to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-15806670289839262502015-08-12T19:34:00.000-07:002015-08-12T19:34:06.101-07:00"I'm addicted to video games" or perhaps not<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We all know
that feeling. You know, the one where you get that new game that you’ve been
waiting months for. You load it up, get out your Doritos and bucket of Mountain
Dew sit back and play through as much of it as possible before your friends and
family become worried and start planning your intervention. But after that initial
binge you go back to your life, job and disgruntled partner and back to regulating
how much you play. At least that’s what usually happens. However some people don’t
do this, they continue to play that game, continue to play until it starts to
affect other aspects of their life and then that intervention isn’t just some
snarky comment made by a uni student. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Said university student also says that ‘video game addiction’
isn’t as bad as the media says it is. Anyone can properly say they’ve heard the
stories about people dying from spending too much time playing video games and
then it seems like video game addiction is a rabid dog attacking the youth of
our world. However looking at causes of
death per year in America, more people die each year from vending machines than
they do video games. In saying that though, video game addiction (in its most
base form) is an actual thing and should be taken seriously. But again calling
it an addiction to video games isn’t right either. In order form something to
be called an Addiction (from a medical view) it must check out the following
criteria<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tolerance (using or doing more over time)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Withdrawal <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Having limited control over using or
doing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Continued use after significant negative
consequences<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Neglecting of other activates<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">6.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Significant time/money spent on using
or doing <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">7.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Experiencing a need to cut down<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">These criteria are taken from the DSM-IV and the
ICD-10 (1) and are what health professionals look to when diagnosing someone
with addiction and while a lot of these things can apply to someone
experiencing ‘video game addiction’ saying the addiction is to the actual video
game is what doesn’t sit right. It’s also worth noting that while video games
can affect our brains, it can’t affect it in the same way as traditional
addictive acts can (drugs, alcohol and sex being the most obvious) that is, on
a biological-chemical level, and unlike other acts video games take a long time
to take this affect or don’t leave a long lasting affect to change the
chemicals in our brain so that we become addicted. In fact, video game addiction is not a </span><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">recognized</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> disorder and that’s because it’s not an addiction to video games. Let me elaborate
on this point, while what people experience when they have ‘video game
addiction’ is addiction the underlying reasons as to why they play so much is
what the real addiction is. These reasons are usually connected to social and
socio-economic issues in that person’s life and these issues aren’t just linked
to this idea of video game addiction. In Japan, this form of addiction has been
going on for years in the form of people becoming ‘Otaku’. The word (unlike its
western adaption) actually refers to someone whom doesn’t have a job, doesn’t
socialize and rarely leaves their own home, more often than not these people
also engage the cultural entertainment of Anime/Manga. People who become </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">an ‘Otaku’
in Japan have the same underlying problems as those who experience ‘video game
addiction’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The point of
all this is to show that when talking about ‘video game addiction’ it’s
important to not blame all on video games themselves, if video games didn’t exist
that person would still become ‘addicted’ to something else as long as it
filled the void of what he underling issues left. So rather than someone being addicted to video
games, a broader look at their life and own personal problems needs to be taken
into account, for the best hope of living a happy and healthy life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Again, Extra
Credits has a good video on this topic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5RSngCFpsc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5RSngCFpsc</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some games
are designed to be addictive<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BTGgCEFuQw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BTGgCEFuQw</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-70257433453898007262015-08-05T20:29:00.000-07:002015-08-05T20:29:34.733-07:00"Video Games cause violence!" cries America<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How many
times have Video games been blamed for the actions of a violent person? In
America it’s quite a lot. In fact, looking at where most of the debates,
arguments, finger pointing and blame is made, is in America. Most studies that “prove”
a link between real life violence and video game violence are conducted by
American institutes and media coverage on events of real life violence ‘linked’
with video games is extremely high in America. So, what’s going on?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Well first
off, what I’m getting at here is that the big debate of Violence in video games
is a big cultural problem in America. I base this off the fact that as someone
who lives outside of America, I rarely hear of instances of violence being
blamed on video games, but looking for instances where it is, more than the
majority of information I find is linked to America. So why is that? Why does America has such a
fixation on this topic? Well unfortunately I was unable to find any reliable
material on why the debate of links between real life violence and video game violence
is so relevant in America, just blogs and opinions. However I did find an Interesting
study done by </span><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Christopher</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> J. Ferguson of the Texas A&M International
University ( </span><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178907000055" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178907000055</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">). The overall point of this study was to see if
there was a bias when publishing articles related to video games and real life violence.
Ferguson found that an article ‘proving’ a link between video games and violence
was more likely to be published than one that disproved this linked. So one
possible reason for America’s fixation on this topic is that there is more information
on links proving the connection thus seeming to make it a more valid point. On another point of most studies proving a
link between violence and video games is that most only go so far as to prove a
link between violent thoughts and violent video games, almost none (including longitudinal
studies) report on actual acts of violence but instead focus on immediate or intermediate
feeling and thoughts of aggression, frustration and sadness. While this may
prove that there is a link between violence in video games and violent thoughts
or feelings, it doesn’t prove a link to actual acts of violence, and that
action is what the debate is all about. This makes any research that concludes
a link between the two invalid unless it does show a relation between violent
games and violent acts not just thoughts and feelings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So perhaps
bias and misinformation is what makes it such a relevant topic in America. Even
America’s media is more likely to report on stories that ‘prove links’ between violence
and video games. Look at the Sandy Hook Shooting, one of the first things the media
reported being the cause of it was video games despite there being no real evidence
to prove this (<a href="http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/20/sandy-hook-shooting-video-games-blamed-again/">http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/20/sandy-hook-shooting-video-games-blamed-again/</a>).
In fact when you look at America’s crime rates and the popularity of video
games you can see that as video games gained popularity, real life violence dropped
(<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/04/19/as-video-game-sales-climb-year-over-year-violent-crime-continues-to-fall/">http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/04/19/as-video-game-sales-climb-year-over-year-violent-crime-continues-to-fall/</a>)
a surprising contradiction to how American media portrays acts of violence.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">While there
are a lot more factors that could be taken in account when talking about links
between violent games and real life violence in America (Gun control being one
of the biggest problems) you can’t really deny that America has a weird obsession
with this topic and there has to some reason for that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Have a look
at Healthcare Triage’s view <a href="https://youtu.be/m2Jq7vPxYGg">https://youtu.be/m2Jq7vPxYGg</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">CNN reported
on this stuff too <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvhovITygBI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvhovITygBI</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-55858952707772379782015-07-29T22:26:00.001-07:002015-07-29T22:26:34.516-07:00Are you a boat? or a grill? <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A lot of
games made today allow you the choice of creating your own avatar. This is a
great mechanic for games, as it allows layers to be creative with who they play
as and provides with a lot more choice (usually with class, race, abilities) that
can cater to how they like to play. But there is one choice players must always
make before they can get to fun stuff of making an avatar. Play as a Boy? Or a Girl?
(Note: for this discussion I’ll be talking about the societal representations
of gender and not the biological sex of people, as Boy and Girl are different
to Male and Female) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When you
talk to people about whether they prefer to play as a girl or boy in video
games, you can usually put them into two groups. Those who play as the gender
they are and those who play as the opposite gender. And weather people say so
or not there are reasons behind why we play the gender we chose to play as,
even if it’s as simple as “Because I can”. First looking at why people play as the same
gender as they are is usually because it’s familiar and the ‘default’ to them. When
they go to play a new game that offers avatar creation, some people will automatically
chose the same gender as they are because they are about to go into a new game
they might know little to nothing about the world, rules of the game, other
characters in the game etc. Because of all this ‘new’ they might feel more conferrable
with choosing to play as their own gender. These players usually make this
choice unconsciously as well, going straight for their own ‘default’, what is familiar
to them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On the other
hand, there are players how will chose to play as the opposite gender to
themselves. Unlike the ‘default’ players these players have usually made the
choice to play as the opposite gender through a process of playing several
games. The most common reason for players to play as the opposite gender is
because they find it easier to ‘role-play’ as a character of the opposite
gender (role-play meaning that the player finds it easier to get into the game
as the opposite gender). By plating as something foreign to them but made of a
concept they can understand, means that players can act differently to what
they usually would with much more ease than playing as their own gender would
allow them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another interesting
point to mention about choosing gender in video games is that when playing a
MMORPG or any online game, there are additional reasons to choosing what gender
to play as. Online games offer in real world opinions when you play them and
sadly, this means gender biases comes into play. In most online games playing
as a female character is a disadvantage, as the gender discrimination that
comes from the (bad side) of the gamer community is expressed. While on the subject
of playing as a female in online games, sometime player will offer more help to
players if they use a female avatar. However this is not to be considered an
advantage as it still stems from a belief that girl players need more help/are
more inadequate then boy players.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The reasons
people play as the same or different gender to what they are many and varied
but there is always a reason behind the choice. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Watch this take on playing as the opposite gender</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFOVVAhnAns</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">The Sims and gender</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMBYFXZknGQ</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-90597214115426738552015-07-22T20:48:00.003-07:002015-07-22T20:48:24.767-07:00Video Games: Combining Genres and Genre is different than Theme<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Video Games
have become more and more complex over time, and considering how little time
has passed, they got complex real quick. Sadly, with this complexity comes
confusion from both developer and gamers alike, take genre for example. Unlike
movies or books, genre in games has become a very confusing subject. When you
can have games like ‘Portal’ that are classified as FPS (First Person Shooter) but
are more like the Puzzle genre, knowing what that actual game will be like
based off genre alone is near impossible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One solution
to this problem is to combine genres. Weather that be to simply classify and
game as having two or more genres or taking aspects form different genres and
combing them into one new genre. The problem with this however is that not all
genres go well together. When a developer choses to make a game with two or
more genres, making sure that the different aspects of the genres fit is just
another obstacle to overcome. For example adding in puzzles to solve (Puzzle
genre) to a Survival Horror game can help keep the player engaged in the game
and alert. However allowing the player to defend themselves with weapons
(Action Genre) in a Survival Horror game can lessen the ‘horror’ aspects of the
game. Matching up different aspects of genres to make the game cohesive is a
difficult task, especially if a developer is looking to make their game unique,
as most genre combinations that go well have already been used. In this way,
the combining of genres might not help lessen the confusion surrounding genres
in video games and might just new meta-genres to mix and match, adding to the confusion.
Just to note: this is all problems on the developer side of things. The gamer
side of this problem seems to be sorting it’s self out. One good example is
Steam Tags. Steam Tags allows players to tag the game with specific words and
themes that relate to the game, making it easier for other players to find
games that are relevant to their interests. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> A newer more player invented solution, is too
divide a games genre into Themes and Genre. When people talk about a game with
two or more genres you can often hear descriptions such as “It feels more like
an Action game” or “Plays like an FPS” etc. This is players separating Genres
(How the game plays) and Themes (What the game feels like) that relate to the
game. Using an example, a game like Dead Space 3 feels like you’re playing an
Action game (Theme) but it’s classified as a Horror game (Genre). Or a game
like Portal feels like a Puzzle game (Theme). By describing games like this,
might start to clear up the confusion surrounding genre in games. However this
is just one possible solution and there may be better solutions in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Have a
gander at Extra Credits view on Combining Genres<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOQwakqWs7k">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOQwakqWs7k</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, what
does your favourite game genre say about you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqSJGDUyf1I">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqSJGDUyf1I</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-7105895397780189842015-07-15T20:45:00.000-07:002015-07-15T20:45:00.459-07:00Narrative in games: It's inevitable, you need to accept it <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sure you
could say that games don’t need narrative or plot like other entertainment
mediums (like movies and books) do. You can easily make a successful game with
mechanic alone, take Candy Crush, Flappy Bird and Bejewelled or even Agar.io. All
brilliant games made with mechanics alone. But what do you notice about all
these games? If I asked you to name 5 games off the top of your head, it wouldn’t
be any of those would it? That’s because games made solely with mechanics in
mind are made to be time wasters, they aren’t made to be something that sticks
in your mind. So how do games stick in your mind? Why do some games seem more remunerable
than others? Putting aside games with exceptional fame (Mario, Pokémon, CoD), a
game with a good plot will stick with you more than a game with bad narrative
or none at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you’re
asking yourself why that is, it’s an easy question to answer. People aren’t
good at remembering things, only a few exceptional people in the world can say
that they are. Most people can only remember 7 articles in their short term
memory and long term memory can be just as bad. As time goes on we begin to
muddle our memories and sometimes the longer we dwell on them, the muddier they
get. We mix things around, forget certain things completely, add in things that
didn’t actually happen and can be influenced by other people. However, there is
one thing that people can easily remember, even after years of not thinking
about it, and that would be Narrative. By stringing together a series of events
with plot, people can easily remember what happened and can do so more accurately.
Narrative can be used as a mnemonic device (something that can help you improve
memory). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So how does
this tie in with games? Well if you want to make a memorial game what would you
do? Hopefully it would be to make a games with good narrative (after what you’ve
just read). You have to remember that
games are an entertainment medium just like books and movies and what sells
books and movies? A good plot. And what do you want your game to do? SELL! So
just like books and movies, games have begun to take upon more complex and more
engaging stories. While I’ll easily admit that games are appalling at telling
narrative, we are getting better at it (it’s still a relatively new medium after
all). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Narrative in
games is finally starting to become a normal thing (here’s hoping good will
come of this) and more narrative driven games are getting bigger spotlights. As
more publishers and developers start to figure out that narrative is a good
thing more people who wouldn’t usually even look at a video game might start to
gain interest, because narrative is something anyone can use and can easily
remember. It’s what is at the base of all our big entertainment sources and not
only that but we’ve been at this for thousands of years, we like it and games
adding in more focus on narrative is an inevitable thing and hopefully, a good
thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Take a look
at Daniel Floyd’s take on Narrative in Games </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jdG2LHair0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jdG2LHair0</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A good look
at how Narrative and its Mechanics </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQJA5YjvHDU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQJA5YjvHDU</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A quick look
at mnemonic devices <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://psychcentral.com/lib/memory-and-mnemonic-devices/">http://psychcentral.com/lib/memory-and-mnemonic-devices/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-32817782695920843732015-07-08T20:34:00.001-07:002015-07-08T20:34:32.902-07:00Realistic Graphics: Realistically Achievable<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We’ve all
noticed the direction big budget games are going in, bigger, better and more
realistic graphics. AAA Games seem to have entered a phase where the more
realistic you can make a game look, the better the game will be, and there is
nothing wrong with this view point. You really can’t deny that recent
blockbuster games like The Witcher: Wild Hunt and Batman Arkham Knight aren’t graphically
amazing but when you really think about it, is it really possible to achieve
perfectly or near perfect realistic graphics in games?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Honestly I don’t
think it’ll be possible. Just looking at the system requirements for the </span><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">a fore</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> mentioned games and already the games industry have hit a problem. You already
need a very high-tech computer to run them on, and a lot of people can’t afford
to buy a computer good enough to run these games (or buy new parts for their
computer) or have no need for a new computer. Already the graphic requirements
for the game has limited the potential customer base for the game and no real
need to state that this is very bad for the publisher and developer ( The
Witcher 3 had a budget off $15m, GTAV had one of $265m) every dollar counts.
With this trend this can only get worse in this respect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">So we’ve
already hit the point of needing expensive hardware and software just to play
some of these games but there is a bigger (and more likely to happen) problem.
The Uncanny Valley is a term used for the </span><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">emphatic</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> level people feel toward inanimate
human constructs </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEikGKDVsCc" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEikGKDVsCc</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Uncanny
Valley is just the tip of the iceberg when talking about humans </span><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">recognizing</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> something
as not being real and this is demonstrated really well by virtual constructs. Watch
any of these videos and they will look to be very realistic </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjHiC0mt4Ts" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjHiC0mt4Ts</a>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAZIvyAJfeM" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAZIvyAJfeM</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">However,
show this to enough people and you’ll start to get reactions where they will immediately
become </span><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">skeptical</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> and doubt that it’s a real person (and not just because when
you ask them “is this real” they think “well of course not, because you’re
asking”). There are parts of our brain that are dedicated to identifying
threats and </span><span style="line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">recognizing</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> faces, and these are dedicated to our survival. When
they see virtual constructs they instantly know something is up and begin to
make you doubt. You begin to examine things more closely and look at things in
a critical view. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Pair the
functions of our brain with the graphical requirements that we’ll need to run
games with “Realistic Graphics” and I don’t think it’ll be possible (or wise)
for games to reach this point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Although,
when it comes to environmental graphics things like Alison Road (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__i_LoRKhJ0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__i_LoRKhJ0</a>)
are already real….well who knows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-5011541633763861742015-06-28T21:40:00.002-07:002015-06-28T21:40:14.472-07:00First person VS Third person. Absolute Rubbish.<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Most every gamer (hard core or no) has a preference as to
what perspective they like to play in. If you’ve ever had the pleasure (or
misfortune) of getting into a heated debate about First person VS Third person
you will most likely know the point on both sides of the argument. If you haven’t,
I’ve scoured the internet to find the best points behind either side of this
debate. More often than not, First person is considered the ‘winner’ in these
arguments as it’s found that players experience more immersion while playing in
first person. The reasoning behind this is that players can easily see themselves
as the /sympathize with the protagonist, as they are seeing things from the protagonist’s
perspective. This sense of immersion seems to be a big deal for those who play
in first person. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
On the other hand, people who defend the Third person
perspective move away from the ‘immersion’ route to a more ‘empathetic’ route. People
who prefer to play Third person will empathize more with the protagonist, as
they can see what’s happening to them and can react accordingly to those events.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Aside from theses points there are also mechanic reasons that
affect what people prefer. And these reasons are a much better discussion point
for me to write about. It is extremely hard to find discussions about these
aspects of the debate, as in-depth as those discussions you can so very easily
find about the previous points. Everyone and their mother seems to have written
about weather emersion or empathy is better and guess what, it’s a personal
preference. Neither is better than the other. So moving on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Looking at the mechanic side of things, it boils down to
what the game needs in order to play well and its genre. A developer won’t
chose a camera perspective that will interfere with gameplay simply because it
will give the player move emersion etc. (a bad developer might do this) For
example, a developer making a fighting game (Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Street
Fighter) won’t chose either a first or third person perspective as this would interfere
with game-play mechanics. Going in for a grab, measuring distance from the other
player or even seeing what the other player is doing, would be hindered in either
perspective. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Along with developer choice and game-play mechanics as a
first priority, developers can also look at the benefits and disadvantages both
perspectives bring. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
A First person perspective brings about more challenge to a
player. While you can argue that having the more limited view is a bad thing,
however in “First person shooters” (haha there’s a reason they’re called that)
this limited view allows for better accuracy when aiming, even Third person
game often go into First person when offering the use of firearms etc. This
limited view can also force player to use the mechanics that developer has implemented
into the game, for example the ‘hide and peek’ mechanic must be used to look
around or over objects. These points can be seen as disadvantages however
depending on what the game needs to play well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
When a game requires more of an objective view point where
your characters abilities or ‘non- player team’ are more of a focus then a
Third person perspective would be better for it. The Third person perspective
eliminates the need for any player specific mechanics such as the ‘hide and
peek’ mechanic. This allows for more focus on player abilities and the like,
often seen in RPG games. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
There are a lot more mechanics that go along with both
perspectives and the ‘immersion VS empathy’ debate is still valid when
developers chose witch perspective to take. However, when it gets down to it,
any camera perspective has its benefits and downfalls and what really matter is
matching them up with what the game needs in order to bring the player the best
experience that game can give. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Read about a psychological perspective on this matter <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u> <a href="http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~pcairns/papers/Denisova_CHI2015.pdf">http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~pcairns/papers/Denisova_CHI2015.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></u></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-19805038219445664032015-06-24T19:19:00.000-07:002015-06-24T19:19:19.698-07:00Such Game, Much World, WoW. <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
WoW (World of Warcraft) would have to be one of the most, if
not the most successful MMORPG of all time. The amount of people who play this
game can equate to the population of a small country and that umber is ever
growing. This number of people playing the game has had some interesting things
result from it. Along with a greater complexity to the game, WoW has a
realistic economy that integrates real world money as well as incorporating
more visible human behavior and emotion into the game. One incident shows just
how realistic WoW had become. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Corrupted blood
incident<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
The Corrupted blood incident refers to an in game glitch
that happened the week of September 13<sup>th</sup> 2005. After developer
Blizzard released a new map for the game “Zul’Gurab” it soon became clear that
the map’s boss was posing a peculiar problem. The boss “Hakker the Soulflayer”
had a unique ability called “Corrupted Blood”, this ability inflicted a debuf
against characters that drained the payers’ HP at an extremely high rate and
could be passed onto other players. Fortunately it was coded to last only a
couple of seconds and to only be active in the new map. However due to the
complexity of the game, Blizzard made a small oversight that would lead to an
alarming series of events. Players in WoW are able to summon creatures and own
pets that help them in battle, and it was soon discovered that these creatures
could carry the Corrupted Blood debuf out of the Zul’Gurab map. The summon
creatures began spreading the debuff once returning to other maps. When it became widespread throughout the WoW
world, players began to react with real world prevention methods, player
initiated quarantines were being put in place (as well as admin quarantines),
players started to warn others of where the debuff had spread to, players
started to evacuate high populated areas and some even stopped playing in order
to avoid getting the debuff. There were even players that spread the debuff on
purpose. Eventually the event passed and epidemiologists began to take notice
due to the similarity to real world epidemics. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
This was probably the closest any game has come to representing
an actual epidemic and shows that any MMORPG can become as real to people as
any real world events. <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-246745066922500350.post-11715033074191712015-06-13T20:17:00.000-07:002015-06-13T20:17:36.212-07:00What you need to know: Night Trap and the ESRB <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Back in 1992, developer Digital Pictures released an
interactive movie video dubbed Night Trap. This game would eventually become
associated with other games such as, Mortal Kombat, DOOM 3D and Lethal
Enforcers, despite having none of the violence or nudity in the a fore mentioned
games. Night Trap’s association with these other games comes form it’s
involvement in the creation of the ESRB rating system. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
First let’s look at the basic information about the game. As
a fore mentioned, Digital Pictures made the game back in October of 1992 for the
Sega CD and the game has gone through several publishers over time. Night Trap is one of the first games to
utilize live action scenes during game play and was a part of a ‘trap-em up’
genre, popular at that time. The game was concerned a finical success by
Digital Pictures (especially in the UK), even following the controversy it was
involved in.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
After the initial release, Night Trap did quite well selling
on the shelves. However, in December of 1993; a whole year after its release,
it was pulled from several popular toy stores all over the USA in response to a
heavy influx of complaints, regarding the content of the game. This was soon
followed by the publisher axing the game after the December 9<sup>th</sup> 1993
judicial hearing regarding violent video games (where along with Night Trap;
Mortal Kombat, DOOM 3D and Lethal Enforcers were all cited). This hearing was heavily reported upon by the
media and Night Trap was quoted as “ultra-violent”, “Sick”, and that the game
encouraged “the entrapment of woman” despite the game featuring no scenes of
extreme violence featured in the other games cited at the hearing. One scene in
particular was a cause of concern as it showed one of the actresses in a
knighting gown, In her personal bathroom, with an Auger (the enemies in the
game) in the background attempting to capture her and was quoted as “too sexy”
to feature in a game. It was removed along with several other aspects of the
game upon the censored re-release. If you haven’t put two and two together by
now, it was this hearing that eventually called for the creation of the ESRB as
it was decided that the ratings used for TV and movies, wasn’t applicable to
games. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Eventually the original release of the game was ported onto Mac, PC
and several other platforms and can still be found today (if you feel like
playing it). Despite Night Trap’s rather tame content, it has been associated
with many violent video games because of the 1993 violent video game hearing
and was crucial in creating the ESRB.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
None of these events diminished the success of the game.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Interested in seeing what the game is like? Try watching
the Game Grumps’ playthrough</u> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z7Uce_tcKs <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Read more about the game here </u><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Trap">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Trap</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Watch the infamous “Bathroom” scene <o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guv6NtW_dao">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guv6NtW_dao</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18007270070406573719noreply@blogger.com0