Hi there Guys and Gals!
First things first I have to apologise for my long absence as I've recently started a new job. Funnily enough it becomes exceedingly difficult to write a blog about my thoughts and opinions whilst gaming, when I don't have enough time to actually game.
So, As this is a fairly serious topic in the world of gaming I'm not going to joke about, at all....
HA! Had you going for a second there!
So, Have you ever been on the outside of a group looking in? The experience can be daunting cant it? It's a position that as gamers, quite a lot of us struggle with. This is because as we dedicate our lives to games, its very easy to become introverted. Seeing as our computers, consoles, chess boards, paints, dice (which ever takes your fancy, delete as appropriate) naturally reside within the cosy confines of our own homes. Now this doesn't make us bad people, or unsociable, or any other word along those lines including the stigma attached to them, in fact, I have had the pleasure to know some great people whom spend their entire lives confined to there own home due to agoraphobia. It does however supplement that clique nature that naturally forms in the presence of groups of Homo Sapiens. It's something we have to be very careful to avoid.
I've recently had the chance to start a new game. What's this got to do with the rather long winded and preachy paragraph above? Well, for that I have to make a confession. I only played a few minutes of Borderlands, and I HATED it. I know what your going to say, "But Matt! if you didn't play it how can you judge it!" All I have to say to that is some games really don't hit the spot, everyone's got one game they don't like for no reason what so ever and Borderlands is mine. However, I recently started a game of Borderlands 2 on the advice of a good friend and long time gamer, Vralka. And no! don't say another word! I know what your thinking (Psychic blog author powers ACTIVATE). I'm generally quite trusting when someone tells me that I should try a new game or a new book etc. So I followed my friends advice and downloaded it on the Xbox live market place. Review to follow when ever I get the time to actually finish the game.
It's very rare nowadays that a gamer gets the opportunity to actually play a game with no idea of the back story, characters, mechanics... Heck I'm even having to learn the controls! I'm telling you right now its a fantastic new experience and if you ever get the chance to play a sequel to that game that you just hated for no reason, do it! Now I'm running out of time on my now vicious schedule so I'm going to sign off here, all I'm going to say is keep your mind open, take a break and go out with friends you may have met online, you never know you might actually like them! If you ever get the chance, introduce someone into a game, whether they be an old hat at the newest art or if there the greenest blade of grass out there! It doesn't matter! that's the beauty of gaming, we all enjoy it! This is the basis of our society, now Go! Go gamers and share your opinions with the world!
Matt
(Proudly standing on a soap box and gaming till the government remove me!)
P.S. If your a fan of Minecraft (who isn't!) go check out Vralka's YouTube page, because he's awesome. You can find it at http://www.youtube.com/user/vralka or just click his name on this page.
Sunday 27 October 2013
Saturday 24 August 2013
The Dead Walk
to the sweet shop and back, who would of guessed that zombies had a sweet tooth?
On a more serious note I've been playing the episodic Walking Dead game. The one with Lee and Clem. I'm very pleased to report that even on a second play through the game hasn't lost any of the emotional and moral impact that so enticed me to play in the first place. In my humble opinion that has to do with the system of moral choices made by the player during the game and it's inspired me to talk about a rather thorny topic in gaming, which is often left un-tackled.
I'll probably go into more detail about Lee in a future post but for now, lets just say you rescue a young girl called Clementine (or Clem for short) from her zombified babysitter and set out across the country to try and help find her parents, who where on holiday, in savannah, a major city, now populated by the dead... yeah you can probably see where I'm going with this. Along the way you have to help Clem and your group cope with everything that happens along the way, this includes both moral and physical crises, including lack of food, looting for survival, drinking, killing, and a whole load of zombies. In the last episode of the game you have to even have to confront your own mortality, as you get bitten searching for Clem, who has been abducted. This then leads you on to the most terrible yet most gripping series of moral choices I've ever had to make in a game. Do everything possible to survive, so that you can find Clem (and look like an armless murderer in the process) or leave Clem in the arms of her abductor and hope that she has a better life. This choice is thrust on us at every single opportunity, and the courage it must have taken for the developers to put it in is staggering.
On a more serious note I've been playing the episodic Walking Dead game. The one with Lee and Clem. I'm very pleased to report that even on a second play through the game hasn't lost any of the emotional and moral impact that so enticed me to play in the first place. In my humble opinion that has to do with the system of moral choices made by the player during the game and it's inspired me to talk about a rather thorny topic in gaming, which is often left un-tackled.
As always when I analyse any game or games in this depth there is a massive:
With this particular game however I'm going to have to add two additional warnings. You're experience of the game may be different and this is going to contain mature themes, including images from the TV show The Walking Dead, so if your squeamish, stop reading here.
So, lets talk about death
In the TV series, The Walking Dead, there is an interestingly contradictory view about death. It is shown by the way the group deal with their dead, burning walkers but burying members of their own group (and later others) regardless of whether they have been bitten or not. This is such an emotional line in the sand for the TV series that it actually comes to blows very early on in the series after a raid on the survivor's camp. This is a rather difficult position to be in because it forces us to think about our humanity, after all, zombies where human at one point.
 |
| "We don't burn them! We bury them!" |
So the question is, where do we loose our humanity? In opposition to this Daryl takes on the practical view of the world they now inhabit. All dead things are a potential threat, if we bury them we just give them an opportunity to come back, so we burn them. It's a harsh view but you can see the morbid logic behind it. Finally, we get Rick's view, and like any good leader, its a compromise between morality and practicality. Later on in the series, the group is raided a second time, this time in slightly different circumstances (This isn't a blow by blow account, go watch the program!) where during the clean up operation Rick says "We bury the ones we love and burn the rest". To me this seems like an excellent compromise for him to make. It stops his group focusing on the nitty gritty of what is human and what isn't, which may be slightly boring for us a viewer, but for the group as survivors, its absolutely essential.
I'm going to let you side with whom ever you want to in this situation as everyone is going to have their own conflicting viewpoint and I don't particularly want to start World War 3 in this blog. All I will say is this. Death affects us all, the closer the death the more it hurts. The Walking Dead series is so well loved by its fans due to the closeness we feel to the characters and the pain we feel when they inevitably die. I say a huge Bravo! to The Walking Dead franchise for tackling issues in this manner.
Now your probably wondering why I'm prattling on about the TV series on a blog about thoughts and opinions whilst gaming. Well if you've hung on this far you will see that there is usually some method in my madness (ok slightly more madness than method but you catch the drift). The TV series is an excellent counterpoint as to why videogames are so different from film or books or pictures etc.
I'm just going to give you one last big warning to get out now if you don't want me to ruin the game for you, because it WILL ruin the first play through for you.
In The Walking Dead game you play the part of Lee (Say hi Lee!) in his final days. That's more or less the gist of game, its not obvious throughout the storyline but you are going to die. Full Stop. End of Story. Dead.
I'll probably go into more detail about Lee in a future post but for now, lets just say you rescue a young girl called Clementine (or Clem for short) from her zombified babysitter and set out across the country to try and help find her parents, who where on holiday, in savannah, a major city, now populated by the dead... yeah you can probably see where I'm going with this. Along the way you have to help Clem and your group cope with everything that happens along the way, this includes both moral and physical crises, including lack of food, looting for survival, drinking, killing, and a whole load of zombies. In the last episode of the game you have to even have to confront your own mortality, as you get bitten searching for Clem, who has been abducted. This then leads you on to the most terrible yet most gripping series of moral choices I've ever had to make in a game. Do everything possible to survive, so that you can find Clem (and look like an armless murderer in the process) or leave Clem in the arms of her abductor and hope that she has a better life. This choice is thrust on us at every single opportunity, and the courage it must have taken for the developers to put it in is staggering.
But back to the point, the reason I rabbited on about the TV series before the game was to show the interesting counterpoint created between the two. In traditional media you have to be convinced by the program. The director will use clever cameral angles to help everything feel real, awesome special effects are used to the point where we don't really even need sets anymore (still, sets do rule!), in books authors even go so far as to use the first person, in an attempt to make you feel like the character's decisions are your decision. However, all this pales in comparison to gaming, where the character's decisions ARE your decisions, especially in a game like the walking dead.
So, what are your opinions on the matter? Is death an appropriate thing to discuss through games, should art be left to painters and film producers? How awesome where The Walking Dead games
Share your opinions in the comments section!
Matt
(Bluuurgh.. Braaaains...)
PS. Im sorry for the late post guys! As you can imagine I wanted to think long and hard about this one, normal service should resume presently
PS. Im sorry for the late post guys! As you can imagine I wanted to think long and hard about this one, normal service should resume presently
Tuesday 9 July 2013
Results Aquired, New Target.. Resits Aquired. Fire!
Hiya Guys and Gals!
I'm afraid you'll have to endure another brief hiatus as exam re-takes are coming up next month and I have revision to do!
However there is some good news! I've decided to start blogging on a once-a-month schedule, which means I'll post at least once a month, on the first Saturday of the month! Now that doesn't mean I'll only be doing one post per month, far from it in fact, I'm still going to run this as a "if I have a good idea" blog, I just want to add some regularity to the site
For now, here's an awesome picture of my favourite video game character, Songbird. Enjoy!
Ta Ta for now!
Matt.
I'm afraid you'll have to endure another brief hiatus as exam re-takes are coming up next month and I have revision to do!
However there is some good news! I've decided to start blogging on a once-a-month schedule, which means I'll post at least once a month, on the first Saturday of the month! Now that doesn't mean I'll only be doing one post per month, far from it in fact, I'm still going to run this as a "if I have a good idea" blog, I just want to add some regularity to the site
For now, here's an awesome picture of my favourite video game character, Songbird. Enjoy!
Ta Ta for now!
Matt.
Saturday 8 June 2013
And Now, The End is Near
And so I face, the final curtain.
You may be wondering what the iconic Frank Sinatra song "My Way" has to do with a blog about gaming, besides from being a fun and informative way to start off quite a cool little topic (ok, its only semi informative). Today, I'm going to be talking about protagonists, characters and the classic epic story arc seen in so many of our beloved interactive story telling experiences.
As with any post that reviels story arcs and plots and other stuff like that, here is a massive
You may be wondering what the iconic Frank Sinatra song "My Way" has to do with a blog about gaming, besides from being a fun and informative way to start off quite a cool little topic (ok, its only semi informative). Today, I'm going to be talking about protagonists, characters and the classic epic story arc seen in so many of our beloved interactive story telling experiences.
As with any post that reviels story arcs and plots and other stuff like that, here is a massive
You have been warned!
 |
| The UNSC Pillar of Autumn, on its way to be "thrown into conflict" |
So what exactly is the classic epic story arc? Well pull up a chair and a decent cuppa, because it's a long story. Most modern day video games follow a system called The Three Act Structure, it follows a set of guides that layout what should and should not happen to the protagonist of the story. Act 1 introduces us to the characters and begins to scratch the surface of their personality, but crucially must always end in some form of tragedy/incident/battle/explosion delete as appropriate, that throws the main character (or in the case of video games, the player) into conflict. For anyone who has played Halo: Combat Evolved, the introductory sequence on the Pillar of Autumn when we are introduced to Master Chief and Cortana would be a good example of a first act, and the crashing into the planet in flames and screams would be a good example of an event throwing the min character into conflict, literally in this case. Act 2 is all about the main character leveling up. Yup. It's that simple, the main character ranks up in some way or another, until they have the power to take on the big bad guys that somehow managed to evade them in the first act (my personal favorite is the obligatory cheesy rocky training montage). Act 3 is even simpler, it's the big fight, the boss match, the duel to the death, pour duello a la mort swiftly followed by a happy ending.
That's the Three Act Structure, however if we want to make a classic epic story arc, sometimes also referred to as a Greek epic, we have to make one or two tiny additions. First off, no happy ending. The hero MUST die. Full Stop. End of story, literally. It's a classic moment from film, TV and games that we've seen a thousand times, after defeating the bad guy, the hero quietly succumbs to his wounds leaving us with an artfully shot image of his eyes flickering shut for the last time. It rarely ever happens like that in real life of course, but what the hay! Its a story! Secondly, there is a much larger emphasis on the second act than there is on any of the other. An epic is about the journey, the struggle for power to defeat the obligatory bad guy and save the world. A great example of this is the Lord of the Rings films, the inclusion of the hobbit films, shows that a good epic story arc doesn't even have to be delivered in chronological order for it to be worth watching. But I digress.
 |
| The Choice of Death. Note that here, there is no choice to live. |
What originally got me thinking about this topic was an a thought I had in the kitchen whilst making my lunch. I was standing next to the microwave, waiting for my sausages to defrost and letting my mind wander when suddenly I thought "You know what, I really miss Commander Shepard".
It's been a while now since the release of the final instillation in the mass effect trilogy, and I seem to be one of a very small minority of people, who considered the original ending to be excellent. However, the point still stands. I feel the almost primal need to play the Mass Effect games again, as I'm now being denied the release of a new game. My question is why? Why do some characters grip us and tug on our heart strings, to the point where we wont let them go, and yet others fade into the background? One small answer to this question may be simply that some characters are named, and others we give names. It would certainly explain why I feel more of an epic attachment to Commander Shepard than to my Skyrim character.
My follow up thoughts will follow sometime later in the month, as always I welcome your opinions on the topic, just pop them in the comments section!
Matt.
(Die you piece of shoddy Geth machinery!)
Tuesday 4 June 2013
And so I'm back! From outer Space!
I just walked in to find you here with my blog all on your face!
Hi guys! just wanted to say that normal service shall return ASAP as my exams are now over and done with (fingers crossed!) and to reward my loyal followers whom have stuck with me over the winter season of the planet Blogsphere I shall give you all a treat! However you have to finish reading first!
To answer the few comments I received whilst on my brief hiatus, first of all thanks to everyone who left a nice comment, and second, I centre myself before writing by playing the game that I'm going to be discussing whilst drinking a warm cup of tea (English Breakfast Tea to our American visitors) usually PG-Tips, milk and two sugars. I like my traditions and I like my tea, so they both go hand in hand.
Now, for the treat! For any of my readers that play BattleField 3 I've just set up a server and you're all invited to join! It's called The Beef Team (after my Xbox 360 gamer tag UpstairsBeef, feel free to drop me a message!) and it will have our T and O banner on it just for you guys! spread the word!
As per usual, any questions, comments or just thoughts and opinions, feel free to jot them down in the comments! I do try to read them all, promise!
Here's looking at you! (through a LSW battle sight from on top of a building and holding a C4 detonator)
Matt.
P.S. (Boom)
Hi guys! just wanted to say that normal service shall return ASAP as my exams are now over and done with (fingers crossed!) and to reward my loyal followers whom have stuck with me over the winter season of the planet Blogsphere I shall give you all a treat! However you have to finish reading first!
To answer the few comments I received whilst on my brief hiatus, first of all thanks to everyone who left a nice comment, and second, I centre myself before writing by playing the game that I'm going to be discussing whilst drinking a warm cup of tea (English Breakfast Tea to our American visitors) usually PG-Tips, milk and two sugars. I like my traditions and I like my tea, so they both go hand in hand.
Now, for the treat! For any of my readers that play BattleField 3 I've just set up a server and you're all invited to join! It's called The Beef Team (after my Xbox 360 gamer tag UpstairsBeef, feel free to drop me a message!) and it will have our T and O banner on it just for you guys! spread the word!
As per usual, any questions, comments or just thoughts and opinions, feel free to jot them down in the comments! I do try to read them all, promise!
Here's looking at you! (through a LSW battle sight from on top of a building and holding a C4 detonator)
Matt.
P.S. (Boom)
Monday 13 May 2013
Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry!
Heya guys and gals
Just posting to let you all know that more reviews are coming soon, however my exams are 2 weeks away and I really need to revise more :(
Please stay tuned! I promise I will post some new content eventually (maybe.)
Matt.
(Sorry!)
Just posting to let you all know that more reviews are coming soon, however my exams are 2 weeks away and I really need to revise more :(
Please stay tuned! I promise I will post some new content eventually (maybe.)
Matt.
(Sorry!)
Monday 6 May 2013
Normal service shall resume momentarily...
Hey Guys and Gals!
So, I was wondering through my emails today (time goes pretty slow with no Xbox to play) and I stumbled onto a whole load of comments left in the past few days by people who have read my blog.
There where a lot of comments and questions and hopefully, whilst I'm waiting for a new controller to grace my post-box, I shall answer some of these!
First things first, I am in no way an experience blogger, I'm still wrestling with the website and mostly I feel that the reason my blog is running fast is that I haven't started using any of the more complex functions. If you're interested I've been blogging since 28th of April 2013, which is a total of exactly one week. If your still wanting my opinion on how to run a successful blog, then my one key tip is come up with original, intellectual, interesting posts, then share it with everyone!
As to whether its difficult to run a blog or not, I have to say in my grand total of 7 days experience, no! I'm managing to fit it in between university, job hunting, gaming, volunteering and learning to fly. Just let the content talk for it's self and when you're writing/gaming/filming/recording (delete as appropriate) have a sit down, with a clear mind, and think what you really want to say.
Lastly, please feel free to share my blog where ever you can!
Thank you for all the wonderful comments, they where a massive pick-me-up on a fairly bad day
Keep all the opinions coming!
Matt.
(mmmmm.... tasty, tasty opinions)
So, I was wondering through my emails today (time goes pretty slow with no Xbox to play) and I stumbled onto a whole load of comments left in the past few days by people who have read my blog.
There where a lot of comments and questions and hopefully, whilst I'm waiting for a new controller to grace my post-box, I shall answer some of these!
First things first, I am in no way an experience blogger, I'm still wrestling with the website and mostly I feel that the reason my blog is running fast is that I haven't started using any of the more complex functions. If you're interested I've been blogging since 28th of April 2013, which is a total of exactly one week. If your still wanting my opinion on how to run a successful blog, then my one key tip is come up with original, intellectual, interesting posts, then share it with everyone!
As to whether its difficult to run a blog or not, I have to say in my grand total of 7 days experience, no! I'm managing to fit it in between university, job hunting, gaming, volunteering and learning to fly. Just let the content talk for it's self and when you're writing/gaming/filming/recording (delete as appropriate) have a sit down, with a clear mind, and think what you really want to say.
Lastly, please feel free to share my blog where ever you can!
Thank you for all the wonderful comments, they where a massive pick-me-up on a fairly bad day
Keep all the opinions coming!
Matt.
(mmmmm.... tasty, tasty opinions)
Saturday 4 May 2013
Disaster Strikes!
So, I was hoping to post the second half of my review by Monday, however both my Xbox 360 controllers have just conked out, leaving me in a position of helplessness. Control should be restored by tomorrow, until then, comment the hell outa this blog!
Matt
(Damn technology...)
Matt
(Damn technology...)
Friday 3 May 2013
Written Log Aquired, Press Back to Read
There Here.... Coming to get me..... Make it stop.... AHHHHHHHHHH... Splat
I'm sorry to say that due to an untimely case of death by necromorphs this blog will be slightly late Nah! I'm just kidding ya! If you haven't guessed already, this post is going to be all about
Dead Space 3
As with all my reviews, it's spoiler alert time! However I would like to say that this particular post will have some scenes of graphic violence, so... enter if you dare...
So, what is Dead Space then? The best way I could describe it as a series, is as a psychological thriller, however, this definition doesn't really hold up when you look at the games individually.
The original game Dead Space is more of a traditional "pop out and say boo!" house of horrors time game. It's fun, sure, but there's a complete lack of well written story that leads me to believe it was never intended to be part of a series.
Dead Space 2 was, in my opinion, a much better game, with a considerably more intricate story, and taking the genre of horror more seriously. The entire Dead Space 2 story line centres nicely around a particularly disturbing minigame, where you have to guide a needle into Isaac Clark's eye, if you get it wrong, Isaac is brutally and gruesomely executed by the very machine he's trying to use. It's this kind of story point which marks the difference between the two games, a well thought out, gruesome story point in the second game, which I just couldn't tear my eyes away from (no pun intended) until the process was complete, compared to a cheap fright by a necromorph popping out to say boo, then swipe your head off, in the first game. I know which I'd
rather choose
Dead Space 3 is curious as far as the series goes. It seems to show a good amount of enthralling story but adds in a lot of "pop out and say boo!" factor as well. In this instance at least, its in no way a bad thing.
In terms of gameplay, all the enemies are faster and harder to kill, making Isaac's shot's wild and panicky. Isaac's melee attacks are slower, wider and harder to aim, suggesting a level of desperation that wasn't present in the previous games. Attacks are also a lot easier to chain together, many times have I found myself mashing RB to make Isaac stomp over and over again, even though my enemy dies many hits ago. The gameplay alone pulls you into the story, and even though Dead Space 3 is more difficult than the previous games, you find yourself playing the game as if you where actually there, consequently allowing you more survivability.
There is certainly a much higher emphasis on survival, from story right through to mechanics.
The new bench mechanic shows this very well.
We now have the ability to craft guns from parts (as any good engineer should) and this allows you to personalise your load out, however no one gun seems to be better than the other, the all just seem to have different abilities. This means survival depends on finding a gun you're comfortable with, as you don't get enough time to let off aimed shots. Another great mechanic is used during Isaac's time on the planet Tau Volantis, an ice world. You can probably see where I'm going with this, at some point your suit is damaged beyond repair, and you have to survive long enough in the arctic tundra to find a new one. Isaac does this by... you guessed it.... standing close to fires, in order to raise his body heat. Yes I know its practically cliché by now but I still think, in this instance, and this one alone, it works. The mechanic helps to emphasise that this game isn't about soldiers being heroes, its about one man who has absolutely no military training, surviving until a job is done.
That's all I have to say on Dead Space 3 at the moment, as per usual I shall now play the other half of the game, and get back to you on it in a few days
As always my comments bar is open for business, free line guns for all who participate!
Matt.
(Get off me you damn necromorph!)
I'm sorry to say that due to an untimely case of death by necromorphs this blog will be slightly late Nah! I'm just kidding ya! If you haven't guessed already, this post is going to be all about
Dead Space 3
As with all my reviews, it's spoiler alert time! However I would like to say that this particular post will have some scenes of graphic violence, so... enter if you dare...
The original game Dead Space is more of a traditional "pop out and say boo!" house of horrors time game. It's fun, sure, but there's a complete lack of well written story that leads me to believe it was never intended to be part of a series.
 |
| Dead Space 2's needle in the eye scene. I wont show you what happens if you fail, as it's shockingly gory |
Dead Space 2 was, in my opinion, a much better game, with a considerably more intricate story, and taking the genre of horror more seriously. The entire Dead Space 2 story line centres nicely around a particularly disturbing minigame, where you have to guide a needle into Isaac Clark's eye, if you get it wrong, Isaac is brutally and gruesomely executed by the very machine he's trying to use. It's this kind of story point which marks the difference between the two games, a well thought out, gruesome story point in the second game, which I just couldn't tear my eyes away from (no pun intended) until the process was complete, compared to a cheap fright by a necromorph popping out to say boo, then swipe your head off, in the first game. I know which I'd
rather choose
Dead Space 3 is curious as far as the series goes. It seems to show a good amount of enthralling story but adds in a lot of "pop out and say boo!" factor as well. In this instance at least, its in no way a bad thing.
 |
| Aww, he just wants to give you a big hug! |
There is certainly a much higher emphasis on survival, from story right through to mechanics.
The new bench mechanic shows this very well.
We now have the ability to craft guns from parts (as any good engineer should) and this allows you to personalise your load out, however no one gun seems to be better than the other, the all just seem to have different abilities. This means survival depends on finding a gun you're comfortable with, as you don't get enough time to let off aimed shots. Another great mechanic is used during Isaac's time on the planet Tau Volantis, an ice world. You can probably see where I'm going with this, at some point your suit is damaged beyond repair, and you have to survive long enough in the arctic tundra to find a new one. Isaac does this by... you guessed it.... standing close to fires, in order to raise his body heat. Yes I know its practically cliché by now but I still think, in this instance, and this one alone, it works. The mechanic helps to emphasise that this game isn't about soldiers being heroes, its about one man who has absolutely no military training, surviving until a job is done.That's all I have to say on Dead Space 3 at the moment, as per usual I shall now play the other half of the game, and get back to you on it in a few days
As always my comments bar is open for business, free line guns for all who participate!
Matt.
(Get off me you damn necromorph!)
Wednesday 1 May 2013
Continuing our spacy theme...
Hi guys! I'm playing through Dead Space 3 at the moment.
All I'll say for now is that I'm enthralled! as far as story goes, it's an excellent game, and I've already had 3 near heart attacks in the 20 minutes I've been playing
Expect a review of it sometime this week!
Matt.
(BOO)
All I'll say for now is that I'm enthralled! as far as story goes, it's an excellent game, and I've already had 3 near heart attacks in the 20 minutes I've been playing
Expect a review of it sometime this week!
Matt.
(BOO)
Tuesday 30 April 2013
Ground Control to Major Tom...
So, I've been playing a lot of Kerbal Space Program, ever since it became available on steam. For those of us who aren't perpetually geeking out over physics and space stuff, Kerbal is a space ship simulator, where you have to design, build and fly your own space ships, from launch to wherever you choose to set your destination. For science geek's like me, its nothing short of an excellent game, and highly addictive.
Before I put you off for life however, I would say that, whilst difficult, Kerbal is in no way impossible if you don't have the advantage of studying an engineering degree.
The reason I bring Kerbal up is because it's a prime example of what I wanted to chat about today. Does technology interfere with gaming. On the surface of it yes, it does! Gaming is already being taken up as a world wide sport, with leagues in many countries and on many games, and in that situation the answer is a resounding and total affirmative, as unbalanced technology removes the human factor and eliminates skill as a variable (in non-science talk we say cheating). However, I think non competitive games like Kerbal make an excellent exception to this rule.
On the picture of my pretty space ship (actually its a module on route to the space station I'm building) you can see a task panel on the right hand side of the screen. This is a non standard ad-on. Before all the beautiful, and sadly non-existent, gamer girls all start swooning in the street at my insolence, I would point out that getting two craft to dock in Kerbal is extremely difficult, and not worth the effort required, even if you do have an engineering degree. So, its very simple, I'm using a non-standard piece of technology, software in this case, to enable me to do things that I would usually find difficult or impossible, but I wouldn't consider it cheating.
There are many reasons I wouldn't consider this cheating, mainly in this case it's because I haven't harmed anyone. Kerbal is a game based on using technology to achieve self set goals. In this case, the goal I've set myself is neigh on impossible, and I have to repeat it many times, as you cant just balance a space station on top of a rocket (and before you say it, no you cant, I've Kerbaled it, it doesn't work).
With technology advancing at such an amazing speed, we do have to turn around for a few minutes, as an industry and say to ourselves "do we really want 3D goggles with self-righting gyroscopes and movement sensors, or can we do without it". Ok, that was a little over the top but you see where I'm going with this. Technology is amazing, it helps us do many things, however, it removes the human element, which means we have to be careful in its implementation.
As always folks I'm eager to hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter, and to be honest I'm starting to think my comment bar isn't working, so start commenting!
Matt.
(P.S. Space is Awesome
)
 |
| Look! I made a pretty space ship! |
Before I put you off for life however, I would say that, whilst difficult, Kerbal is in no way impossible if you don't have the advantage of studying an engineering degree.
The reason I bring Kerbal up is because it's a prime example of what I wanted to chat about today. Does technology interfere with gaming. On the surface of it yes, it does! Gaming is already being taken up as a world wide sport, with leagues in many countries and on many games, and in that situation the answer is a resounding and total affirmative, as unbalanced technology removes the human factor and eliminates skill as a variable (in non-science talk we say cheating). However, I think non competitive games like Kerbal make an excellent exception to this rule.
 |
| The Kerbal Space Station, after having just crashed my pretty space ship into it. |
There are many reasons I wouldn't consider this cheating, mainly in this case it's because I haven't harmed anyone. Kerbal is a game based on using technology to achieve self set goals. In this case, the goal I've set myself is neigh on impossible, and I have to repeat it many times, as you cant just balance a space station on top of a rocket (and before you say it, no you cant, I've Kerbaled it, it doesn't work).
With technology advancing at such an amazing speed, we do have to turn around for a few minutes, as an industry and say to ourselves "do we really want 3D goggles with self-righting gyroscopes and movement sensors, or can we do without it". Ok, that was a little over the top but you see where I'm going with this. Technology is amazing, it helps us do many things, however, it removes the human element, which means we have to be careful in its implementation.
As always folks I'm eager to hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter, and to be honest I'm starting to think my comment bar isn't working, so start commenting!
Matt.
(P.S. Space is Awesome
)
Lectures are boring, gaming is fun!
I know, I know, I should probably be paying attention, but the lecturer also shouldn't be teaching us about springs.
Anyways, the question I've been mulling over for the past few hours is about gaming peripherals, we've already seen accessories like those funny google glasses (I forget the name), infrared keyboards etc.
What I want to know is; do you think these accessories are going to make there way over into the sphere of hardcore gaming, or, is there no beating a good ol' gaming controller.
I have to sit and think for a while, but once I'm done with that, expect a post!
As always leave your remarks in the comments
Matt.
Anyways, the question I've been mulling over for the past few hours is about gaming peripherals, we've already seen accessories like those funny google glasses (I forget the name), infrared keyboards etc.
What I want to know is; do you think these accessories are going to make there way over into the sphere of hardcore gaming, or, is there no beating a good ol' gaming controller.
I have to sit and think for a while, but once I'm done with that, expect a post!
As always leave your remarks in the comments
Matt.
Monday 29 April 2013
I Tawt I Taw a Booker Dewitt
So, lets have a chat about Songbird. Before I go any further, I must quickly say:
Songbird
is Elizabeth's guardian and gatekeeper, he fills a very interesting role that
speaks very highly to the theory of Stockholm syndrome. Both protector and imprisoner.
We first encounter him (I'm assuming Songbird is a him) as we first encounter
Elizabeth, at the top of a large tower, where he immediately start trying to
kill us. A fairly standard layout for a game character, especially an enemy,
however that is where the similarity ends. Elizabeth and Songbird have a
complicated relationship, both protector and jailor at the same time, Elizabeth
starts off with songbird as her only friend, bringing her books, pictures,
films, etc. Eventually, Elizabeth starts to hate Songbird, simply because of
his position as her jailor. This complicated relationship is felt throughout
the game, and sets the tone for your encounters with Songbird.
Eventually the inevitable happens, and Songbird ambushes Booker and Elizabeth, stealing her away to be taken back, kicking and screaming, like a stereotypical comic book damsel in distress. Story wise, there's not much you can do to get Elizabeth back, and mechanics wise, there's nothing you can do, as Songbird mostly appears in cut scenes.
Of course
eventually you do get Elizabeth back and the story does progress, leading to
the point where you gain control of songbird, I shant say when or why though,
some spoilers you'll have to work out for yourselves. It’s very difficult to
describe what happens next without giving away most of the plot. After many a cut
scene you find yourself facing Songbird's death, a particularly stirring scenelet,
which sums up this game perfectly.
Another cool mechanic that I quite enjoy is the Songbird Defence system. Golden statues of the prophet, rather reminiscent of the mechanical patriots (except with rather less miniguns). If disturbed by Booker or Elizabeth, they emit a high pitched whistling tune, which players of the game will come to fear and dread, as it almost always bring a rather angry Songbird down on you.
If I had to draw a parallel to the other Bioshock games, I'd say that Songbird is very much like the Big Daddies of the previous games. However, there are many Big Daddies, and only one Songbird, allowing us to delve much deeper into the story of the creature.
I seriously recommend that you go and get Bioshock Infinity, as it's an excellent game, and Songbird is only one, very small (if particularly tear provoking) part. Lastly, I'll leave a YouTube link to the songbird call song at the bottom of the page, so you can listen to that damn creepy tune as much as you like.
So what do you guys and gals think? Songbird, Sorrowful Loss or Songbird, Beat up old monster?
Share your opinion in the comments!
Yeah, if
the big arse picture didn't give it away, Songbird is a major character in Bioshock:
Infinite, so there will be some definite major spoilers!
 |
| Elizabeth and Songbird have a... complicated relationship |
Eventually the inevitable happens, and Songbird ambushes Booker and Elizabeth, stealing her away to be taken back, kicking and screaming, like a stereotypical comic book damsel in distress. Story wise, there's not much you can do to get Elizabeth back, and mechanics wise, there's nothing you can do, as Songbird mostly appears in cut scenes.
 |
| The Death of a Songbird, a particularly emotional scene |
Another cool mechanic that I quite enjoy is the Songbird Defence system. Golden statues of the prophet, rather reminiscent of the mechanical patriots (except with rather less miniguns). If disturbed by Booker or Elizabeth, they emit a high pitched whistling tune, which players of the game will come to fear and dread, as it almost always bring a rather angry Songbird down on you.
 |
| Songbird Defence System statue, rather creepy and egotistic, don't you think? |
I seriously recommend that you go and get Bioshock Infinity, as it's an excellent game, and Songbird is only one, very small (if particularly tear provoking) part. Lastly, I'll leave a YouTube link to the songbird call song at the bottom of the page, so you can listen to that damn creepy tune as much as you like.
So what do you guys and gals think? Songbird, Sorrowful Loss or Songbird, Beat up old monster?
Share your opinion in the comments!
Matt.
We inturupt your schedualed blogscast...
Just a quick updated to keep you all saited in the long hours of the day where I'm at university.
The next topic on my blog is going to be all about songbird, elizabeth's mechanical guardian from Bioshock: Infinity, there will be spoilers galor, so I'm warning you now.
I've already posted about the topic elsewhere, but I realy need some discussion on it, what do you think? Songbird, good riddance to bad robots, or a terrible tragidy of the worst order
Use the comments to discuss it!
The next topic on my blog is going to be all about songbird, elizabeth's mechanical guardian from Bioshock: Infinity, there will be spoilers galor, so I'm warning you now.
I've already posted about the topic elsewhere, but I realy need some discussion on it, what do you think? Songbird, good riddance to bad robots, or a terrible tragidy of the worst order
Use the comments to discuss it!
Sunday 28 April 2013
I dont want to set the world on fire...
...I just want to start a flame in your heart
Game music, from eery ambiance music to epic battle tracks, gamers almost universily agree, the music makes the game.
I'm going to type one word
Halo
Now I bet you I can guess what your thinking (apart from, wow, this guy realy is nuts!). That theme, those stiring vocals, maby even the quick pace drum and string bits from near the end of the tune, any of it, is now going through your mind. It's inevitable, a good peice of music is infectious, it stirs feelings and emotions in us that just make games work. Could you imagine playing the Halo games without the music? Dead Space, without the leaking pipes and creaking walkways? Fallout, without the quirky 80's radio broadcasts? It just wouldent be as fun.
Here's the Halo 3 main theme, just because I know you cant stop thinking about it.
If you hadent already noticed, I love the halo franchise for its music, its excelent, and hopefully will continue to be excelent under 343. However! we must move swiftly onwards, even though i could chat about this one song for another few pages.
Music in gaming isent just about having a catchy tune though (oh alright, thats the main bit of it), if your clever, you can implement music in intresting ways. A good example of this is the radio stations in the later fallout games, by making the players go into the pip-boy and physicly select a radio station adds a new level of imersion and better yet the ac
tual radio broadcasts, made by charicters in the game, gives you a whole new level of story.
On the opposite side of the coin however, there is alot to be gained in the standard implementation of gaming music, even in cutscenes, the perfect example of this is the leaving earth scene from Mass Effect 3. Its an obviously well thought out scene, as is typical of the series. It makes you interact with the key protagonist of the introduction (a small child) and then kills him off, accompanied by the mellow and sad music of Leaving Earth, an effect which still makes me want to curl up in a corner somewhere and cry till I dehydrate.
I've just picked the two best examples from my experiance, however I'd love to hear your opinions on the matter, stick them in the comments!
Matt.
Game music, from eery ambiance music to epic battle tracks, gamers almost universily agree, the music makes the game.
I'm going to type one word
Halo
Now I bet you I can guess what your thinking (apart from, wow, this guy realy is nuts!). That theme, those stiring vocals, maby even the quick pace drum and string bits from near the end of the tune, any of it, is now going through your mind. It's inevitable, a good peice of music is infectious, it stirs feelings and emotions in us that just make games work. Could you imagine playing the Halo games without the music? Dead Space, without the leaking pipes and creaking walkways? Fallout, without the quirky 80's radio broadcasts? It just wouldent be as fun.
Here's the Halo 3 main theme, just because I know you cant stop thinking about it.
If you hadent already noticed, I love the halo franchise for its music, its excelent, and hopefully will continue to be excelent under 343. However! we must move swiftly onwards, even though i could chat about this one song for another few pages.
 |
| The Pip-Boy radio screen from Fallout: New Vagas |
tual radio broadcasts, made by charicters in the game, gives you a whole new level of story.
 |
| The sad moment right before the big event, play the game to find out more! |
I've just picked the two best examples from my experiance, however I'd love to hear your opinions on the matter, stick them in the comments!
Matt.
Bring us the girl and whipe away the debt.......
As you
may have noticed from the title, this post is going to be all about Bioshock, specifically
the latest instalment in the series, Bioshock: Infinite.
 |
| Stunning views over a flying city, who could ask for more? |
Before I
start analysing this conversation let me tell you how it went down. I pick up
my empty box, bring it to the counter and hand it to the sales rep who immediately
puts the box down, turns around and goes rummaging through his draw for a brand
new copy of the game. At this point, I'm starting to feel a bit awkward, as not
a word has been exchanged. I try to start up a conversation with one of my
impromptu conversation starters, "So, is it any good?".
I was treated to a barrage of
opinion, something I would usually welcome with open arms, however, this opinion
was typical gamer, the mechanics suck, the guns don’t look different when you
upgrade them, Vigour’s aren’t as good, blah blah blah blah. Sentence after sentence
of meaningless drivel about how the mechanics spoil the game.
 |
| "Burden not Columbia with you chaff" Seems a bit elitist to me... |
Although
everyone is entitled to their own opinion, this guy's opinion seemed immediately
elitist. I could practically hear him in my mind, "A game is not a game if
its mechanics don’t support it". A respectable view, sure, in fact there
have been many games that flourish on their mechanics alone, the first portal
game, for example. However, if we don’t explore the aspect of storytelling
through the medium of game, then how can we really claim to progress as an
industry.
If we are going to explore story
through this wonderful arena, Bioshock: Infinity is probably one of the best
places to start. If story could be attributed a quantitive mass, this game
would have it in spades.
 |
| The ubiquitous Lutece twins, possibly my favorite characters in the game |
Irrational games, whom I shall be forever dubbing the masters of mindf***, start you off in a boat, on your way to a lighthouse. Sound familiar? It should do, the original Bioshock started the same way, however this time, you're paired up with two rather interesting individuals, who bicker consistently and rather creepily for the entire ride to the lighthouse. Every five minutes or so, as you explore the area, you find, or are told the phrase "Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt". All your exploration will brings you to the top of the lighthouse, where, you board a rocket, not unlike the great glass elevator from charley and the chocolate factory, and for lack of a better phrase, hit up and out!
Make of it as you will, but this sets the tone for the rest of the game, now, I don’t have any strong opinions on the story as of yet, however, all I know is that this is an excellent game.
I shall write a more comprehensive view of the Bioshock: Infinity story in a later post, but for now, share your opinions in the comments!
Matt.
Welcome,To Rapture!
Hi there Guys and Gals! I thought i'd start a blog, so here it is!
Recently i've been having a lot of thoughts about the games I play when i'm avoiding work, being anti-social or, ya know, generaly procrastinating.
I Shall update this blog, generaly whenever I feel like it, or when the muse strikes with many a different and probebly derisive topic.
Feel free to leave comments and a like!
Matt
Recently i've been having a lot of thoughts about the games I play when i'm avoiding work, being anti-social or, ya know, generaly procrastinating.
I Shall update this blog, generaly whenever I feel like it, or when the muse strikes with many a different and probebly derisive topic.
Feel free to leave comments and a like!
Matt
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)