How we all doin'? Don't answer that. I'm not too sure if we enjoy pre-blog banter such as this, but leave a comment if it bothers you. Or if you want more of it. Either way, here's our articles for the week:
McBain, M. (2014) From Donkey Kong to the Silver Screen: The Past, Present and Future of Game Cinematics. Retrieved 24th May, 2014, from http://www.gamedev.net/page/resources/_/creative/game-design/from-donkey-kong-to-the-silver-screen-the-past-present-and-future-of-game-cinematics-r3670
Grip, T. (2014) 5 Core Elements of Interactive Storytelling. Retrieved 24th May, 2014, from http://www.gamedev.net/page/resources/_/creative/game-design/5-core-elements-of-interactive-storytelling-r3661
McBain's article centralises on the role of cinematic experience, both on a commercial and narrative scale within games. He also comments on the necessity for balance between story lines and cinematic experience to enhance the player's immersive experience.
Though most games I design and create have little to no storyline, it would be interesting to work on a story-driven game (if you read my Belonging creative story for the HSC, you'll uderstand why I don't create stories often). Yet, if you look at games like 'Flappy Bird' and 'Doodle Jump', those games have practically no story at all, and have topped the charts in their own leagues. But they are both mobile-based games, so I suppose the nature of the platform has influence of the magnitude and appropriateness of story line to a game.
Grip's article seems to oppose McBain's ideas, stating that games are designed to be new narrative experiences rather than reproductions of film. Although it is good to have some downtime from game interaction, Grip argues, it is not to be the main focus of the game.
He proposes 5 basic principles to what makes a narratively involving game, all of which are seldom achieved by the plethoras of games out there. Still, if game designers and development teams strived toward these 5 aspects, narrative experience could become ever so consuming as the years go on. But, the main problem is priority; Grip says that the main problem is overall delivery; games have all the parts for an immesive story, they just have to piece them together correctly and integrate the story effectively with the game play.
I don't want to bore y'all, so that's it for this week. Take a read of the articles yourself if you're extra interested in their themes and arguments.
Peace. ☮
Saturday, 24 May 2014
Friday, 16 May 2014
Testing and Redesigning Games; More than meets the Eye of Sauron
Yet again, I've been slacking off the blogging. Sorry, kids, but life can get busy, especially since subjects are chucking at at you assignments and quiz notifications. I'll try and blog when I can.
But, enough excuses. Straight to business, men!
Robledo, R. (n.d.). Game Tester - What is a Game Tester?. Retrieved May 16th, 2014, from http://www.animationarena.com/game-tester.html
Anthropy, A., Clark, N. (2014). How a Common Game Design Language Can Improve Game Design [Page 1]. Retrieved May 16th, 2014, from http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2178859
Robledo's article is generally about game testing and the clarification of misconceptions associated with the career name "game tester". He argues that game testing is difficult work, requiring some games to be played for months. 8-12 hours a day. 5-7 days a week. Add that up, and game testing becomes much more than a side hobby.
In fact, there are even many types of game testers, such as Publisher and Developer QA Teams, 3rd Party QA Teams, and good ol' Beta Testers. Included are some tips on how achieving the career in the first place is even remotely possible, as well as the Pro's and Con's of each type of testing.
In any game, testing is a huge part of addressing bugs and exploits in game play and design. So, I guess it's important that people realise the importance of even the most frivolous and under looked role in game development. Sure, pay varies on each game, but it does seem more interesting than sitting in a chair all day.
Moving on, Anthropy's article is only an introduction in a 4-part series (you can read the rest at the hyper linked page), but still raises some interesting points.
She indicates that game designers are losing trust in players to instinctively and inventively find out how controls work instead of being bombarded by blocks of text and somewhat bothersome introductions. She then proposes a universal 'vocabulary' where designers can intuitively let players figure out controls on their own, without parental-like intervention. Control manuals can offer such levels of tutorial, but the game itself is more likely to be 'read' and interpreted than the manual.
I've played games where instructional calibre varies greatly, from Unreal Tournament 2004 (nothing tells you how to fly a space ship, so you pretty much have to figure out everything on the fly) to Super Meat Boy (when unlocking new characters with distinct abilities, you gotta pass specific levels built for that character) to Pokemon Platinum (I DO NOT need a fifth introduction on how to catch Pokemon! A choice to choose whether to view the tutorial would have helped a lot).
In all these games, instructions as we know it are imbued and ingrained into game development so much so that we forget why players play games to begin with: Not so much to learn, but to discover, to explore a world with their own hands rather than being guided by an overarching figure, ensuring players have "the essential skills" to pass levels.
That surely gives us something to think about, whether we're playing or designing games, finding bugs or merely commentating on functionality.
Well, I'll try and catch y'all next week, or the week after if you don't see anything new next week.
Peace. ☮
But, enough excuses. Straight to business, men!
Robledo, R. (n.d.). Game Tester - What is a Game Tester?. Retrieved May 16th, 2014, from http://www.animationarena.com/game-tester.html
Anthropy, A., Clark, N. (2014). How a Common Game Design Language Can Improve Game Design [Page 1]. Retrieved May 16th, 2014, from http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2178859
Robledo's article is generally about game testing and the clarification of misconceptions associated with the career name "game tester". He argues that game testing is difficult work, requiring some games to be played for months. 8-12 hours a day. 5-7 days a week. Add that up, and game testing becomes much more than a side hobby.
In fact, there are even many types of game testers, such as Publisher and Developer QA Teams, 3rd Party QA Teams, and good ol' Beta Testers. Included are some tips on how achieving the career in the first place is even remotely possible, as well as the Pro's and Con's of each type of testing.
In any game, testing is a huge part of addressing bugs and exploits in game play and design. So, I guess it's important that people realise the importance of even the most frivolous and under looked role in game development. Sure, pay varies on each game, but it does seem more interesting than sitting in a chair all day.
Moving on, Anthropy's article is only an introduction in a 4-part series (you can read the rest at the hyper linked page), but still raises some interesting points.
She indicates that game designers are losing trust in players to instinctively and inventively find out how controls work instead of being bombarded by blocks of text and somewhat bothersome introductions. She then proposes a universal 'vocabulary' where designers can intuitively let players figure out controls on their own, without parental-like intervention. Control manuals can offer such levels of tutorial, but the game itself is more likely to be 'read' and interpreted than the manual.
I've played games where instructional calibre varies greatly, from Unreal Tournament 2004 (nothing tells you how to fly a space ship, so you pretty much have to figure out everything on the fly) to Super Meat Boy (when unlocking new characters with distinct abilities, you gotta pass specific levels built for that character) to Pokemon Platinum (I DO NOT need a fifth introduction on how to catch Pokemon! A choice to choose whether to view the tutorial would have helped a lot).
In all these games, instructions as we know it are imbued and ingrained into game development so much so that we forget why players play games to begin with: Not so much to learn, but to discover, to explore a world with their own hands rather than being guided by an overarching figure, ensuring players have "the essential skills" to pass levels.
That surely gives us something to think about, whether we're playing or designing games, finding bugs or merely commentating on functionality.
Well, I'll try and catch y'all next week, or the week after if you don't see anything new next week.
Peace. ☮
Friday, 2 May 2014
Video Game Health and Well-Being; The Plus and the Minus
I do apologize for slacking off over the past weeks and days. Having this flu thing is terrible, apparently it's the worst flu season so far, and things will only get worse in comping years.
I've also been having some family issues here; my father's been diagnosed with stomach (or was it prostate?) cancer during a regular check-up. I've kinda had my mind on these things, so blogging isn't really important in the face of personal adversity.
Having said that, our 2 articles for this week are revolving around health and well-being in video games. Here are our articles:
Granic, I. (2013). Video Games Play May Provide Learning, Health, Social Benefits, Review Finds. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/11/video-games.aspx
Ruah, S. (2006). Video Game Addiction No Fun. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/video-game-addiction-no-fun
Granic's article is a unique one, in that it's an article commenting on another article. It still has relevant points, so to speak, but essentially summarises its main points in a one page summary.
The "article" discusses a biased study on the analysis of video games on people, and how there is enough evidence on the detriments of gaming, and more study needs to focus on its benefits.
Some of Granic's main points of gaming include improved problem-solving skills, relax minds, cope with life in general and reasoning. Even video games are used to treat patients with various afflictions, such as cancers, and show promising results in terms of adherence to treatments.
Perhaps once day, gaming might be integrated so much so into society, we may not even realise we're gaming! That will be the day when gaming is truly at the peak of society.
Next up is Ruah's article on game addiction. Being completely polar to Granic's studies, Ruah argues that there is an increasing amount of people becoming addicted gaming, and as a result, society is taking the hit the hardest. She also gives examples of signs of game addiction (which have general similarities to any addiction), as well as ways to combat these addictions, such as learning to live with computers, time limits on gaming and understanding that reality and virtual worlds are different places, were problems are not so easily forgotten.
One of the most heavy-hitting quotes Ruah makes is "...You can get a 21-year-old with the emotional intelligence of a 12-year-old. He's never learned to talk to girls. He's never learned to play a sport." (2006, p.g. 2). Those very words basically describe my emotional state in a nutshell, and kinda makes me think: "What have I become? Where did it all go downhill?" And then I remember: High School. That, as far as anyone remembers, was where gaming was at its peak.
In a way, a good thing. But perhaps a major contributor to how I developed into a man, even now, still struggling to talk to girls and doing things outta my own little bubble.
So, that will probably get you thinking for a fair bit for a while. If you really wanted to, you can comment about your own gaming experiences and how that has shaped who you are today, reading this. After all, "Who can say where the road goes, where the day flows"? Only Time.
Peace. ☮
I've also been having some family issues here; my father's been diagnosed with stomach (or was it prostate?) cancer during a regular check-up. I've kinda had my mind on these things, so blogging isn't really important in the face of personal adversity.
Having said that, our 2 articles for this week are revolving around health and well-being in video games. Here are our articles:
Granic, I. (2013). Video Games Play May Provide Learning, Health, Social Benefits, Review Finds. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/11/video-games.aspx
Ruah, S. (2006). Video Game Addiction No Fun. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/video-game-addiction-no-fun
Granic's article is a unique one, in that it's an article commenting on another article. It still has relevant points, so to speak, but essentially summarises its main points in a one page summary.
The "article" discusses a biased study on the analysis of video games on people, and how there is enough evidence on the detriments of gaming, and more study needs to focus on its benefits.
Some of Granic's main points of gaming include improved problem-solving skills, relax minds, cope with life in general and reasoning. Even video games are used to treat patients with various afflictions, such as cancers, and show promising results in terms of adherence to treatments.
Perhaps once day, gaming might be integrated so much so into society, we may not even realise we're gaming! That will be the day when gaming is truly at the peak of society.
Next up is Ruah's article on game addiction. Being completely polar to Granic's studies, Ruah argues that there is an increasing amount of people becoming addicted gaming, and as a result, society is taking the hit the hardest. She also gives examples of signs of game addiction (which have general similarities to any addiction), as well as ways to combat these addictions, such as learning to live with computers, time limits on gaming and understanding that reality and virtual worlds are different places, were problems are not so easily forgotten.
One of the most heavy-hitting quotes Ruah makes is "...You can get a 21-year-old with the emotional intelligence of a 12-year-old. He's never learned to talk to girls. He's never learned to play a sport." (2006, p.g. 2). Those very words basically describe my emotional state in a nutshell, and kinda makes me think: "What have I become? Where did it all go downhill?" And then I remember: High School. That, as far as anyone remembers, was where gaming was at its peak.
In a way, a good thing. But perhaps a major contributor to how I developed into a man, even now, still struggling to talk to girls and doing things outta my own little bubble.
So, that will probably get you thinking for a fair bit for a while. If you really wanted to, you can comment about your own gaming experiences and how that has shaped who you are today, reading this. After all, "Who can say where the road goes, where the day flows"? Only Time.
Peace. ☮
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