Gaming Cultures

Game Cultures

This blog is going to explore game cultures.

Games Culture definition:

Video game culture is a form of new media culture that has been influenced by video games. As computer and video games have increased exponentially in popularity over time, they have caused a significant influence upon popular culture. This form of entertainment has spawned many fads. Video game culture has evolved in time, particularly in connection with internet culture. Today, one can see the impact of computer and video games in politics, television, popular music, and Hollywood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_culture

I’m not sure what particular area that I, as a gamer, fall into. I probably don’t fit into any culture as I don’t avidly play any one game. I do tend to stick to one or two genres of games but other than that I wouldn’t say that I belong to any culture.

Playing games for me only occupies about three or four hours a week now that I am at university, I really don’t have time. However I do look forward to the release of new games and like to pick them up when they come out.

I think that the msn culture of friends is something that has evolved over the last ten years or so and I’m sure that there are people out there that have friends that they talk to on msn but never actually meet them, but I am definitely not one of them.

An introduction to the games industry

An introduction to the games industry

For this blog I will be exploring the ins and outs of the video games industry. Is the industry doing well?

According to the guardian it most certainly is, it states that...

Last year will go down in history as the point at which the UK videogames industry pulled decisively away from cinema, recorded music and DVD sales to become the country's most valuable purchased entertainment market, with combined software and hardware sales topping the £4bn mark for the first time: more than DVD and music sales combined, and more than four times cinema box office takings.

Industry insiders agree that the last few years have been something of a golden age for the videogame, with titles setting new records almost every other month for both sales and critical acclaim.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/sep/27/videogames-hollywood

I’ve looked at some of the views of current employees within the video games industries and found out some of the benefits of working within it, such as challenging your creativity.

Most of those in the industry will agree that one of the best parts of video game design is the opportunity to challenge your creativity. Like any other form of art, designing video games keeps your creative mind active.

Another benefit is working within a casual work environment. When people are asked what they value in a job, a casual work environment often ranks quite high on the list. People don’t want to feel stressed by a conservative workplace while they are trying to work, especially if the job generates plenty of stress of its own accord.

Another benefit is the pay. From what I’ve found the average pay for someone working within the industry is around £30,000 a year. However I’m not holding my breath for this rate of pay when I start my first job in the industry!

Finally I think the best thing about working in the video games industry, for current employees, is the fact that you are getting paid for designing and creating games, what more could you ask for?

http://www.xforce.ws/2010/03/video-game-design-careers-6-benefits-to-working-in-the-industry/

At present the industry is facing some stresses and strains, what with the world wide recession and economic down turn, it to faces worrying times. Industry Jobs are currently low in numbers due to this and the merging of several companies, primarily to avoid going bust due to spiraling costs.

The impact of the current climate upon the games industry is still uncertain; however I think that it’s likely that there will be less jobs and lower paid jobs in the not too distant future. The bubble had to burst at some point, I’m just glad it’s happened now while I’m still studying and not when I’m in the industry, so that there is perhaps a chance that by the time I reach the end of my course and look to become employed, the industry may have recovered and be on the up again.

Gameplay

Gameplay

This blog will explore game play.

Game Play definition:

Gameplay is a term most commonly used to rate, or score the quality of the experience had by gamer while playing a particular game. The term gameplay is often found in game reviews where a score is given based on player experiences during the interaction with game.

Game play for me is what makes or breaks the game. If the game is good then it will be down to the way in which it plays. For instance if there is lots of choice and freedom to boot then the gameplay will almost certainly be intersting. Things such as multiplayer options and varable maps and missions make for good game play.

The lack of varables will almost certainly make for a bad review. This is probably down to the games longjevity being considerably shorter and therefore the consumer feeling like he or she has just been mugged. I personally like games that I can keep going back to and enjoying time and time again.

Therefore Gameplay is an important part of a game. As a consumer I always look for ways of finding out whether a game pending its release will be a hit or a miss. Generally I do this by checking out trailers, physically looking and reading the case, going by word of mouth or just by gut instinct. The majority of the time I get it right, especially if the game is a sequel.

Having said all this, for me it comes back to the gameplay element of the game, does it have two players off line, does it have a newer larger map, does it have new characters, the game play is one reason that makes people buy games. Therefore it is a massive part of the design of the game.

Game desgin: Story and characters

Game design: Story and Character

This blog will look at some of the characters that I have encountered in films, books and T.V and also the stories which they are in.

I think that in order to catch my imagination there needs to be a level of depth to the character and also the story needs to be interesting otherwise I will pass it by.

I read a book by Robert Ludlum titled ‘The Bourne Identity’; the plot of the story is briefly about a man with amnesia who is being hunted by the government due to the fact that he is a secret agent and the government need to cover up the mission which he was sent on.

I was truly captivated by this story line as you become immersed in Bourne’s world; you are waiting to discover what he remembers next. It is a fast paced book and film which keeps you interested and also makes you care about the main character. I feel that it is important for the design of the book or film to make you care about the character or characters as it is what, for me, keeps me interested.

I need to care about whether this person is going to live or die otherwise some books I will just stop reading and films, well they can become comical. The attention to detail with the character in this story is also what kept me into it, as the further into its story you go the more you learn about the man and where he came from.

Overall this story is an interesting read or watch and one to rival ‘James Bond’, its all of the action without the clichés!

Game Tecnology

Game Technology

For this blog I am exploring the history of game technology. My first experience of game controllers was the Binatone consol, pictured below.

The controllers that came with this console were built into the actual unit and extended out via a wire. They were a simple design consisting of a single stick with a ball pivot on the end.

The controllers were particularly bad as they were awkward to hold and uncomfortably small.

My next experience of game controllers was the standard joy sticks of several consoles which were the square black joy sticks, with the single orange button. These controllers were used for some time but were later re-designed. The new designs saw the joy stick have multiple buttons and the overall shape of the stick was re-modelled to fit into the hand better.

During the seventies games consoles were ugly looking and many were made from wood, particularly dark mahogany. In the eighties the design seemed to change to favour plastic, but still the overall look of the units were far from nice, In particular the ‘nes’ which resembled a lunch box!

Moving into the nineties we saw a change in design and some style and practicality came into the production of consoles and controllers. There was an introduction of multiple control ports and with the lunch of the Play Station, we saw for the first time the introduction of CD-rom technology. This technology changed the look of consoles as there was no need for the bulky docking bays for cartridges anymore.

I must say that I personally liked the design of the mega drive with its smooth controllers, which were nice to hold and comfortable, however the Play Station design was probably the design that pretty much got it right in terms of overall style look and controller function. The button location, on the controller, was far better than any that I had previously used and the style was better than any other that I had seen to date. Its nearest rival the Xbox had it all wrong, in my opinion, as it was a bit of a throwback to the eighties, with its bulky look.

Storytelling

Storytelling

To begin this blog I have decided to start with a short definition of what storytelling is.

Storytelling

Is the conveying of events in words, images, and sounds often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture and in every land as a means of entertainment, education, preservation of culture and in order to instil moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot and characters, as well as the narrative point of view.

http://www.answers.com/topic/storytelling

I have researched into Stories and the art of which they are written. During my research I came across a man called Joseph Campbell, who wrote a book called ‘The Hero with a Thousand faces’.

It is from this book that many great Poets, Artists, Film makers and musicians have been inspired, such as Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison and George Lucas to name but a few. Most notably was George Lucas’s work on his series of ‘Star Wars’ films. Within these films the characters that build up the story are particular to the writings of Campbell’s ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’, for instance you have Luke Skywalker who is the archetypal hero, Obi-Wan who is the ‘wise old man’ and Darth Vader who is the Villain or the Devil. There are several others in the film and other films follow suit in the same way such as ‘Lord of the Rings’, here you can clearly see the trickster at work in the form of ‘Gollum’.

I feel that a strong story is something that can capture the imagination and people’s desire therefore I do think that storytelling is important within its specific genre, whether that be games or films, definitely films. However sometimes within games there is no need for a story line at all. This is usually the case when it comes to sports games, however to contradict myself, there is still certain characters within even sports games, Heroes and Villains, can come in many forms and stories don’t necessarily need any words or oral dialogue to be deemed a story at all. A story can be so through many different forms including images, dance, music and imagination provoked through a convergence of media. A simple football game has my team of heroes, of course, the opposition team of villains and the referee who is the wise old man, yeah right! Campbell’s model can be applied to lots of situations and makes the basis for a perfect story. Having said all of this I feel that within games it isn’t always obvious, so therefore not always that necessary, but it does give the game a lot more depth. I think the bottom line is it depends upon the type and genre of game that it is.

There are some story lines that, without them, the game or film just would have been pretty poor or cheesy. The game ‘Max Payne’ has a superb revenge story line as it tells the story of a man hell bent on finding out who murdered his wife and new born baby. Similarly to this is the film ‘The Crow’, with its story line following the chance given to a murdered man to come back from the grave to avenge his murder and his fiancée’s murder. These types of story lines really immerse you into the film or game. They make you want to jump into the main character’s role and they really play upon your emotions. These stories give a sense of meaning to the characters that are portraying them.

There are many excellent films out there that have some truly captivating story lines and I would like to maybe pursue creating stories through games design later on in my career. There are also so many good films out there that could have been used to create equally good games from, as many have been, some good some bad.

They say ideas are cheap but a bad idea can cost alot of money!

Art Direction

Art Direction for Games

I have researched into what it is that an Art Director does and who they are responsible for as stated below.

Video game art directors are responsible for the quality of art incorporated in the video games produced under their supervision. They need to have a background in fine arts, so that they are knowledgeable about the technical aspects of drawing, texturing, and coloring. They need to have a good amount of creativity, as they are often required to visualize how a particular section of a game would look once it is finished.

Video game art directors usually manage a team composed of both amateur and experienced designers, and as such, having management skills is always advantageous. They are often required to work closely with people having different skill levels. Video game art directors also need to be open towards suggestions from other team members. In a large team, every member is likely to have a unique opinion regarding how a particular level should be designed, or how a texture should be incorporated in the game environment. It is the job of the art director to take all these suggestions into account, select the best one, and develop it further with personal inputs.

http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/7775/Video-Game-Art-Director.html

I think that Art Direction is one of the most important jobs when it comes to creating a Games Designer. Without the correct colors, tones, contrast, style, realism, well researched historical facts and correct lighting, a game or film for that matter, can be a failure. The need to make sure that things are correct for the era or specific day are what makes games or films visually stunning.

For example ‘Medal of Honor’ on the PS2, depicted the WW2 Normandy beach landings and it was most important that the Art Director tried to make the gamer feel as if he was really going to war, otherwise it would have been highly criticized due to the fact that it was such an important event in history. In parts of this game, such as the beach landings, the Art Director has presented the scene in a cinematic tone, making it almost an exact replica to the 1998 film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ by Steven Spielberg.

For me this was cleverly done as the film was a massive success and its opening scene was shocking and realistic to say the least. In the game it felt almost like it was wrong to be playing, for fun, as a character that would of almost certainly of died on that beach, making the experience a realistic one. When this kind of feeling is evoked it tells me that the game or film has been carefully planned and that, more importantly, the Art Director has done his job well.

The qualities that I feel that I need to develop to become an Art Director in the future would probably be to be an excellent researcher, a competent 2d artist and to be better at analyzing visual designs, my own or otherwise.