Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Video Games Are Freedom
Huh.
I think that it is in human nature to want to go out to different places and explore, achieve, and just do a bunch of stuff. Video games allow players to do this. Because $60 is cheaper than most plane tickets, I'd say that video games are worth the price of admission.
But, about the video... The video mentions that video games can be used, somewhat, as a vacation. A form of stress relief that isn't often discussed when it comes to the topic of video games. Mostly, when it comes to the subject of stress relief and video games, the topic generally goes towards free reigning violence. However, we, as humans, generally don't want to kill our fellow man. Instead, we would rather see someplace beautiful, or different, and explore and do things that we normally wouldn't do. Video games offer a lot to do in the virtual locations that they build. Grand Theft Auto V offers the aforementioned hiking, biking, golfing, racing, flying, darts, and so much more. Players can take a walk around Los Santos and pretty much just hang out. The game is a vacation in itself. Los Santos is a place that is full of character, and somewhere I want to visit.
Humans have the desire to explore, discover, and learn.The game Skyrim has ruins for players to explore. The land of Skyrim is filled with religion, politics, culture, regions, races, traditions, classes, and many different things that make up a believable world. In a sense, players can go on vacation in the world of Skyrim, and slay a few dragons while they are there. World famous game designer Shigeru Miyamoto was influenced by his childhood, and a cave in the woods that he was too scared to go into. Miyamoto finally mustered up the courage to go in and explore, and from that he created The Legend of Zelda.
I've never been one to play video games under stress. It has never felt right. I play them all the time to procrastinate. However, I've never gone on a violent rampage in a video game to relieve stress. Video games have always been about the experience for me. They are enjoyable, playable things that I love to spend time with. Even if it is something as simple as Mario Kart, I'm still transported to a different place. That's fun, and that's one of the many reasons that I love video games. Even in states of depression, I've never turned to video games for comfort. That would be, as the video puts it, suppressive. It puts a damper on the experience if you're feeling down. Whether real or virtual, your vacation is lacking because of a bad mood. video games are a way to express yourself and experience new things that are impossible.
While I wouldn't say that video game worlds are real, they do offer a new experience. People always seem to rag on gamers for their reclusive nature, and claim that they are a waste of time. Though, the exploration aspect that they have, offer a wealth of experience. World of Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG on the market, and millions of people have connected through it. In the game, players explore the world of Azeroth. Players come across impossible structures, mythological beasts, and enchanting environments. All the while meeting new players, and maybe making some real world friends. Does that sound like a waste of time to you?
What game world do you like to hang around in? Let me know in the comments!
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Interview with Winter (Winterview)
Here is an interview that I had with Winter, a professional Starcraft II player who is in the top 3% in the world. He's a really cool guy, and I got to learn a lot about him in this interview.
I've never been too much into E-Sports all that much, but after having sitting down with Winter, I'm definitely singing a different tune.
Winter's links:
Youtube
Twitch TV
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
"So... What's The Most Important Part of Video Games?"
I came over to a friends house after a lousy date on Wednesday night, and I regaled them of my recent vacation and my more recent date. As things tend to do with me, the conversation diverged to video game talk. I've made a few new friends here and a lot of them don't know much about me and what I do. I begin to tell them of how I want to change the conversation of video games, why I play them, and how I want to share them with everyone with my writings. She then posed the question of what sets video games apart from other mediums. "What is the most important part of video games?"
I pondered it for a second, but I came back with: "Their interactivity"
This is what matters most about video games, and it's what sets them apart from other mediums. It's interactive storytelling. The story doesn't have to be very good mind you, but all the same the fact that you can play a video game makes it all the more impactful. The fact that you, the player, fought as hard as you could to complete that level, it is an accomplishment. It was all on you to hit that button at the exact moment that was necessary in order to make that jump, shoot the bad guy when his weak spot was exposed, carry on that combo. You did that, and it was awesome.
Video games can do so much, and it's with their level of interactivity that allows us to experience them in some small way. I may never visit another planet, wear a suit of power armor, and use an assault rifle to smash an aliens teeth in, but I can with video games! That's cool. It's because I got to take control of the character, and do all of that stuff through the video game that made it special.
Video games also offer a lot of choice. Whether it's through the options that it gives you with items, such as a sniper rifle or a shot gun, or a varied move set of a character in a fighting game. Players are given the choice to play how they like. With shooters, I prefer to grab an assault rifle and attack the enemy at mid to close range. Meanwhile another player would prefer to keep their distance with a sniper rifle, and pick off crucial enemies from a distance. With fighting games, I like to constantly attack with a particular character, keeping my enemies close and always in range. While another player will use that same character to keep their distance with their opponent, and wait for openings. Games allow us to express ourselves through play styles and options that are given to us.
However, just by making a game interactive can really make an impact on the player. By having interactivity and allowing the player to experience whatever your game has to offer in a pseudo first-hand experience, it can leave quite the impression. The horror game Amnesia, is so powerful because it has interactivity. It is down to the player to take those steps forward, deeper and deeper into the darkness. Players have to push themselves past barrier of fear in order to experience the game, and overcome the game's challenges.
Shadow of the Colossus is a game with fantastic gameplay, and a mysterious story. The gameplay of Shadow of the Colossus allows players to accomplish many great things, including overcoming their fears. In the game, there's a colossus for every kind of thing imaginable. These great creatures represent fear, in its many different forms. For me, it was the gigantic eel colossus. I have a fear of the deep, and it was terrifying for me to willingly dive into the lake where the beast dwell. Because of the interaction with the game, I could feel like I fought the colossus myself. I controlled the character, I fought the colossus, and I came out on top. And actually, this kind of helped me out in a small way. I faced my fear of the deep and won.
Video games put players up against a whole host of things, and because they let us face them ourselves, we grow a little bit as people.
Tell me what you think. Has a game changed your perspective on something or helped you grow in some way? Has the interactivity of a game enhanced your experience of a game because it was you playing it? Let me know in the comments!
Here's a video from Extra Credits on gameplay mechanics as metaphor. I highly encourage that you play the game that they talk about in the video.
I pondered it for a second, but I came back with: "Their interactivity"
This is what matters most about video games, and it's what sets them apart from other mediums. It's interactive storytelling. The story doesn't have to be very good mind you, but all the same the fact that you can play a video game makes it all the more impactful. The fact that you, the player, fought as hard as you could to complete that level, it is an accomplishment. It was all on you to hit that button at the exact moment that was necessary in order to make that jump, shoot the bad guy when his weak spot was exposed, carry on that combo. You did that, and it was awesome.
Video games can do so much, and it's with their level of interactivity that allows us to experience them in some small way. I may never visit another planet, wear a suit of power armor, and use an assault rifle to smash an aliens teeth in, but I can with video games! That's cool. It's because I got to take control of the character, and do all of that stuff through the video game that made it special.
Video games also offer a lot of choice. Whether it's through the options that it gives you with items, such as a sniper rifle or a shot gun, or a varied move set of a character in a fighting game. Players are given the choice to play how they like. With shooters, I prefer to grab an assault rifle and attack the enemy at mid to close range. Meanwhile another player would prefer to keep their distance with a sniper rifle, and pick off crucial enemies from a distance. With fighting games, I like to constantly attack with a particular character, keeping my enemies close and always in range. While another player will use that same character to keep their distance with their opponent, and wait for openings. Games allow us to express ourselves through play styles and options that are given to us.
However, just by making a game interactive can really make an impact on the player. By having interactivity and allowing the player to experience whatever your game has to offer in a pseudo first-hand experience, it can leave quite the impression. The horror game Amnesia, is so powerful because it has interactivity. It is down to the player to take those steps forward, deeper and deeper into the darkness. Players have to push themselves past barrier of fear in order to experience the game, and overcome the game's challenges.
Shadow of the Colossus is a game with fantastic gameplay, and a mysterious story. The gameplay of Shadow of the Colossus allows players to accomplish many great things, including overcoming their fears. In the game, there's a colossus for every kind of thing imaginable. These great creatures represent fear, in its many different forms. For me, it was the gigantic eel colossus. I have a fear of the deep, and it was terrifying for me to willingly dive into the lake where the beast dwell. Because of the interaction with the game, I could feel like I fought the colossus myself. I controlled the character, I fought the colossus, and I came out on top. And actually, this kind of helped me out in a small way. I faced my fear of the deep and won.
Video games put players up against a whole host of things, and because they let us face them ourselves, we grow a little bit as people.
Tell me what you think. Has a game changed your perspective on something or helped you grow in some way? Has the interactivity of a game enhanced your experience of a game because it was you playing it? Let me know in the comments!
Here's a video from Extra Credits on gameplay mechanics as metaphor. I highly encourage that you play the game that they talk about in the video.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
I Love a Girl in Power Armor
Samus Aran has always been one of my favorite characters in video game history. Samus is calm, stoic, efficient, capable, and calm. I think that she's the best representation of the female gender in video games. Yet, that's rather unfortunate.
For as awesome as I think that Samus is, she seems to be represented by the fact that she's a girl. Most promotional art of Samus accentuates her femininity to a rather excessive degree. For example, this piece of promotional art for Super Smash Brothers Wii U:
That's a rather sexy looking walk for someone who has suffered the loss of her parents right in front of her, fought and defeated a legion of space pirates, nearly exterminating an entire species, nearly losing her life several times, and a trained killer.
When I was first introduced to Samus, I like most other people did not know that she was indeed female. The first Metroid game that I ever played was Metroid II: The Return of Samus, for the original Gameboy. It was my favorite game to play. I loved to explore and go deeper and deeper into the planets core, fighting off the terrible monsters that dwell there. I always thought that the main character was a robot, with some kind of sense of morality, whose goal was to find and kill all of these terrible creatures for the good of the galaxy. I first learned of the characters name while looking at the instruction booklet to the first Super Smash Brothers game for the Nintendo 64. My brother then told me that Samus was her actual name, and that she was a girl as well. My response was that of awe, then something to the extent of "huh." as her being female wasn't really that big of a deal to me. I still loved Metroid, and all of the games that came out for the series, as I've played most of them. Samus became one of my favorite characters.
However, I must admit that I would not want to meet Samus in real life. I've built her up in my mind as someone who doesn't talk much to anyone. Samus works alone, and she accomplishes most things on her own, in solitude. I'd imagine the interaction would be rather awkward and quick as she would most likely not have time for small talk as there is more than likely some planet that needs saving. I imagine Samus as being a stoic and aloof person. However, that isn't what most depictions of Samus seem to paint her as.
Back when the original Metroid came out, there was a big shock when the main character was revealed to be a woman. The ending, played well enough, revealed Samus standing in a bikini.
This makes it pretty obvious that Samus is indeed female, but the thing is, there are better ways to do this. In fact, here they are.
Here's one where she's just wearing a one-piece suit.
It's rather easy to tell that Samus is a woman, without accentuating her figure in a sexual way.
Here's another where Samus just has her helmet off.
Maybe this one doesn't get the message across quite as well, because it was still the 1980s and dudes with big hair was still kind of a thing.
Samus' sexuality was a pathetic reward for the most hardcore of players who were able to complete the game under the very particular requirements. Is this really how we should be treating the first major female character in a video game?
Unfortunately the cycle continues with future installments of Metroid games. In Super Metroid for the Super Nintendo, Samus got fleshed out a bit and became more of a character than a vehicle. Super Metroid is hailed as one of the greatest games of all time, and rightfully so. That game rules. However, with greater technology, come better graphics. Which the developers didn't hesitate to use toward fleshing out other aspects of Samus
Why does Samus have to lose all of her armor, and reel back as if she were in throes of ecstasy as opposed to pain. Why not just remake the death from the original Metroid, but more fantastic? What was wrong with this?
Griping aside, the sexuality of Samus is made further evident by the endscreen of Super Metroid.
YES WE GET IT! SHE'S A GIRL! Of course she would be fit, because she's an adventurer. Yet, I don't think that she would be wearing some kind of future space bikini. It just isn't practical. What would be more practical is some kind of suit that covers the entire body, and connects to the power armor in some way. Oh wait.....
This is kind of a double edged sword when it comes to the character design of Samus. It is practical, and it does suit her needs, yet it also shows off every possible curve of her body. I really do like Samus, and not because she's attractive. I like Samus because she manages to accomplish impossible odds, all on her own. She doesn't use clever one liners, or give any sass, because those things are unnecessary. Samus is brutally efficient, and that's part of what makes her such a cool character. She may be a lady, but she a ruthlessly cold bounty hunter.
Samus' sexuality has been used as a treat for every single one of the Metroid games. It really is pathetic. From the early days of the NES to the Gameboy
It gets worse with Metroid Fusion. Check out some of the bonus art, that is all official Nintendo license!
All of these are unlocked after beating Metroid Fusion. There are others that show Samus in her suit taking off her helmet, making the big reveal of "Samus is a girl", yet they still feel the need to include pictures of Samus, catching some R&R after a hard days work of being infected with a virus that nearly killed her, fighting off giant robots and abominations, killing a giant dragon (again), and barely escaping with her life. Don't get me wrong, I like to unwind a little after a hard days work, but I think I might be a little bit traumatized after the crazy things that transpired during that particular adventure. Conversely, the art that is unlocked in the Japanese version of Metroid Fusion shows Samus fully clothed, and reflecting on her past, remembering what it is that she's fighting for.
I just think that Nintendo is spoiling, what has the potential to be, a fantastic character. I know that Samus Aran is not my character, and I've built up a lot of her character in my mind. Though, I think that having a female character that isn't shoved around like some kind of sex object would be a really positive thing. I like the character of Samus that I've made up. She's kind of awkward, and quiet. She probably wouldn't know the right thing to say in a conversation. Samus should be some kind of stoic, estranged badass of a character, but instead we get all of this nonsense.
Samus is a girl, and a pretty one at that. She can dress however she wants. Even though she can't, because she's a video game character, designed by a bunch of dudes. That's kind of sad. Also, how does she fit all of that hair into her helmet?
That's all for today! Hope you had a good new year. I'm looking forward to 2014.
Thanks for checking out my blog, see you next time!
P.S. I didn't include any citations from Metroid: The Other M, because it was not developed by Nintendo. It was made by Team Ninja, who is normally headed by Tomobu Itagaki, whose design philosophy is "unless there are elements of both sex and violence, then it is not entertainment". That guy's kind of a jerk, and although he wasn't around for the development of Other M, the game still sucked and it still adhered to that philosophy. Besides, if a Nintendo game isn't made by Nintendo, it doesn't count. The Legend of Zelda games had a few that weren't made by Nintendo, and we all know how that turned out.
SHUT UP!
For as awesome as I think that Samus is, she seems to be represented by the fact that she's a girl. Most promotional art of Samus accentuates her femininity to a rather excessive degree. For example, this piece of promotional art for Super Smash Brothers Wii U:
That's a rather sexy looking walk for someone who has suffered the loss of her parents right in front of her, fought and defeated a legion of space pirates, nearly exterminating an entire species, nearly losing her life several times, and a trained killer.
When I was first introduced to Samus, I like most other people did not know that she was indeed female. The first Metroid game that I ever played was Metroid II: The Return of Samus, for the original Gameboy. It was my favorite game to play. I loved to explore and go deeper and deeper into the planets core, fighting off the terrible monsters that dwell there. I always thought that the main character was a robot, with some kind of sense of morality, whose goal was to find and kill all of these terrible creatures for the good of the galaxy. I first learned of the characters name while looking at the instruction booklet to the first Super Smash Brothers game for the Nintendo 64. My brother then told me that Samus was her actual name, and that she was a girl as well. My response was that of awe, then something to the extent of "huh." as her being female wasn't really that big of a deal to me. I still loved Metroid, and all of the games that came out for the series, as I've played most of them. Samus became one of my favorite characters.
However, I must admit that I would not want to meet Samus in real life. I've built her up in my mind as someone who doesn't talk much to anyone. Samus works alone, and she accomplishes most things on her own, in solitude. I'd imagine the interaction would be rather awkward and quick as she would most likely not have time for small talk as there is more than likely some planet that needs saving. I imagine Samus as being a stoic and aloof person. However, that isn't what most depictions of Samus seem to paint her as.
Back when the original Metroid came out, there was a big shock when the main character was revealed to be a woman. The ending, played well enough, revealed Samus standing in a bikini.
This makes it pretty obvious that Samus is indeed female, but the thing is, there are better ways to do this. In fact, here they are.
Here's one where she's just wearing a one-piece suit.
It's rather easy to tell that Samus is a woman, without accentuating her figure in a sexual way.
Here's another where Samus just has her helmet off.
Maybe this one doesn't get the message across quite as well, because it was still the 1980s and dudes with big hair was still kind of a thing.
Samus' sexuality was a pathetic reward for the most hardcore of players who were able to complete the game under the very particular requirements. Is this really how we should be treating the first major female character in a video game?
Unfortunately the cycle continues with future installments of Metroid games. In Super Metroid for the Super Nintendo, Samus got fleshed out a bit and became more of a character than a vehicle. Super Metroid is hailed as one of the greatest games of all time, and rightfully so. That game rules. However, with greater technology, come better graphics. Which the developers didn't hesitate to use toward fleshing out other aspects of Samus
Why does Samus have to lose all of her armor, and reel back as if she were in throes of ecstasy as opposed to pain. Why not just remake the death from the original Metroid, but more fantastic? What was wrong with this?
Griping aside, the sexuality of Samus is made further evident by the endscreen of Super Metroid.
YES WE GET IT! SHE'S A GIRL! Of course she would be fit, because she's an adventurer. Yet, I don't think that she would be wearing some kind of future space bikini. It just isn't practical. What would be more practical is some kind of suit that covers the entire body, and connects to the power armor in some way. Oh wait.....
This is kind of a double edged sword when it comes to the character design of Samus. It is practical, and it does suit her needs, yet it also shows off every possible curve of her body. I really do like Samus, and not because she's attractive. I like Samus because she manages to accomplish impossible odds, all on her own. She doesn't use clever one liners, or give any sass, because those things are unnecessary. Samus is brutally efficient, and that's part of what makes her such a cool character. She may be a lady, but she a ruthlessly cold bounty hunter.
Samus' sexuality has been used as a treat for every single one of the Metroid games. It really is pathetic. From the early days of the NES to the Gameboy
It gets worse with Metroid Fusion. Check out some of the bonus art, that is all official Nintendo license!
All of these are unlocked after beating Metroid Fusion. There are others that show Samus in her suit taking off her helmet, making the big reveal of "Samus is a girl", yet they still feel the need to include pictures of Samus, catching some R&R after a hard days work of being infected with a virus that nearly killed her, fighting off giant robots and abominations, killing a giant dragon (again), and barely escaping with her life. Don't get me wrong, I like to unwind a little after a hard days work, but I think I might be a little bit traumatized after the crazy things that transpired during that particular adventure. Conversely, the art that is unlocked in the Japanese version of Metroid Fusion shows Samus fully clothed, and reflecting on her past, remembering what it is that she's fighting for.
I just think that Nintendo is spoiling, what has the potential to be, a fantastic character. I know that Samus Aran is not my character, and I've built up a lot of her character in my mind. Though, I think that having a female character that isn't shoved around like some kind of sex object would be a really positive thing. I like the character of Samus that I've made up. She's kind of awkward, and quiet. She probably wouldn't know the right thing to say in a conversation. Samus should be some kind of stoic, estranged badass of a character, but instead we get all of this nonsense.
Samus is a girl, and a pretty one at that. She can dress however she wants. Even though she can't, because she's a video game character, designed by a bunch of dudes. That's kind of sad. Also, how does she fit all of that hair into her helmet?
That's all for today! Hope you had a good new year. I'm looking forward to 2014.
Thanks for checking out my blog, see you next time!
P.S. I didn't include any citations from Metroid: The Other M, because it was not developed by Nintendo. It was made by Team Ninja, who is normally headed by Tomobu Itagaki, whose design philosophy is "unless there are elements of both sex and violence, then it is not entertainment". That guy's kind of a jerk, and although he wasn't around for the development of Other M, the game still sucked and it still adhered to that philosophy. Besides, if a Nintendo game isn't made by Nintendo, it doesn't count. The Legend of Zelda games had a few that weren't made by Nintendo, and we all know how that turned out.
SHUT UP!
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