Welcome back! Today's Extra Credits episode is on the God of War series, and its characterization and storytelling. However it is pretty spoilerific so if you haven't played the games yet (and still want to) then maybe you should skip this episode!
Since the episode is pretty full of spoilers, I won't talk about it in depth too much today. But there are a lot of valid points in it that can be applied to other games/films by learning from its missteps. Characterization has to come from not only what the character says, but what the character does. It is a huge part in how people react to the character, and when the character acts strangely or conversely to the way they speak or have learned from previous games, it is a bit jarring.
I learned something new myself today, that one of the creators of the series, David Jaffe, only directed God of War 1. Maybe this was the problem- or maybe it was simply the way that the team thought the character should evolve.
Today on Video Game Reunion, the Contra guys cameo, and what is this cardboard box...?
"As an interactive medium, video games are perhaps the best medium ever created for experiencing simulated scenarios of dread."
This statement means a lot to me, and is a definite part of what got me started in writing this blog. Video Games have the potential to show you things you would never be able to (or would maybe never want to) experience in real life. In being an interactive medium, the player is in control of what is happening during a given sequence. Yes, you can turn off the movie or close the book. But when you eventually decide to open it back up again, it will continue exactly as it was intended to. But with games, you must yourself decide to push forward. Literally, you will be pressing forward on your controller, watching whatever horror or splendor get closer. Hearing it approach.
I think this kind of experience is unparalleled in any other medium. We have the ability to really take a good look at what makes us scared, and how we react. Do you look away, and let the thing kill you? Scream in shock? Or do you charge right in, hoping like hell that you don't die?
The experiences we craft for ourselves aren't specific to survival horror, but are present in many games. The choices we are given and the situations we are put in are unlike any experience (outside the real world) you can have. Because in this medium you are in control- you are not someone sitting outside the character thinking "Why would you do that?", you are the character, and you are the one in control.
Unless you're stuck in a cutscene. If that is the case, ignore everything I've said because generally, these are pre-scripted and you won't have control over your actions, save for the random quick-time event.
But that is a whole other topic to discuss another time with Extra Credits.
For now, lets get back to the topic at hand - survival horror games and their general exit as a genre. This is somewhere where I think I have to disagree with the show on the graphical front. I think that you can have something have great fidelity, and great aesthetics while still making it just as dark, hazy, scary and otherworldly as the older generation games like Silent Hill. While it may have been a convenient design choice to have it so foggy, because of hardware issues, it doesn't have to mean it can't be done on purpose to the same effect. We can still have lower draw distance, or just have things fade off into obscurity and with today's generation of systems we have the capability to make fog and darkness look great while still having a great looking aesthetic.
Anyway, go have a watch and enjoy the episode. Also, if you're not clicking the links at the bottom of the videos, the music they put at the beginning and end of their shows can be found there. Give them a listen too!
This week's music comes from Ninja Gaiden II and III. Or 2 and 3, if you're not roman numeral savvy.
If there is one thing I could say about the subject first, is that you should do your best to support indie games. Every 3 months or so, I add 800 Microsoft Points to my account, and go buy anywhere from 7 to 10 indie titles, spanning various genres. Just to put that into perspective for non-Xbox 360 owners, 800 MSP costs 15 dollars. So for less than a case of beer, I get to both support my community and get some great experiences in.
Granted, not all of those are great, and some only last a few minutes.
But every once in a while, you find a great game, a true gem. The Impossible Game, what could best be described as a platformer on rails with some kickass tunes, was one of my better finds. My friends and I have played this game for hours on end over the last couple years. It has seen a lot of attention since then, jumping over to mobile devices as well as a game right on their site to get you hooked.
I encourage everyone to go out and, even if it is just once, buy something indie. You may be pleasantly surprised by what you find. And if not, it was just 15 dollars and your wallet isn't in too much pain.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love me some AAA titles. Lots of them- Mass Effect 3 is coming and I couldn't be more excited. I got Battlefield 3 for Christmas, and that game has been a good part of my gaming for the last month! The guys over at Extra Credits have a great idea- well they have lots- but specifically I'm talking about the idea of a large publisher having an indie wing.
Our industry is so young that things like this are a great possibility. Following film, and other arts in general, has shaped our gaming direction immensely. We are a very separate entity, because we are the one art that is interactive, but that doesn't mean we don't glean things off other sources to better ourselves. Who knows, maybe we will eventually see publishers do this!
Either way, the future looks pretty bright for the indie developers of today. Xbox Live, Steam, PSN and WiiWare are really great platforms for these projects to take flight.
Now, for the soundtracks for today! First off is Bionic Commando, for the NES.
And we also have some Ninja Gaiden, also from the NES. I swear these do come from later generation games too, later. But for now we will enjoy our bleeping roots!
PS- Watch the guy playing this. If you've ever played Ninja Gaiden, you're gonna be blown away.
Hey everyone! Today's topic on Extra Credits is all about MMOs. For those of you who don't know, that stands for Massively Multiplayer Online. If you want to read more about it, go to Wikipedia and read up! Or, one better. I'll start linking all sorts of things that people might not know a lot about, or are just curious about learning more on the subject. So go, educate yourself!
Or better yet, go play one. You learn a lot more hands on than you do sitting and reading about it!
I think the idea of more types of MMOs are a really great direction to go, and could also go a long way to revitalizing some genres that have waned away in the past few years. A great beat 'em up MMO could be a lot of fun, as well as a new niche for them to exist in that would generate interest in the genre as well as giving it a new home to exist in where there isn't already a large base already.
WOW (or World of Warcraft, for those non gamers who are reading) is the dominating force in the MMORPG genre. With a huge player base, and great gameplay refined over the last 8 years since its release, it holds a great majority of the player base for all MMOs out there. This makes it difficult for other MMORPGs to get their footing when, like the video says, everyone else is playing WOW. It is a game you form friendships in, and when all your friends are playing something, its difficult to strike out there on your own when you could still be enjoying yourself with your old friends, doing your old favorite activity.
This doesn't just apply to MMOs, you can see this in real life activities enjoyed by people around the world. If you and your friends have spent years practicing a sport, refining your skill, and spending a lot of money on startup costs, registration fees, equipment and the like, it would be difficult to want to jump ship, save for your curiosity.
Which is why I think that the idea of other genres of MMO are a great idea. They don't have to take away from current MMO player base because of they are offering something completely different. It's difficult to try and justify paying more money, trying something that is "like WOW but different". I think that it would be more successful for a business to try something new. But make sure you watch this Extra Credits episode as it discusses its opinion on the future of MMOs.
I have decided to put a couple of these samplings of the Music of Video Games on here per day, seeing as there are well over 500 of them.
So today we will have Contra for the NES (Not sure why I would need to link the NES. But you never know who doesn't know what it is!)
So this is the first actual entry into the blog!
Extra Credits will be one of the main features of my blog. It's a great web series that explains and analyzes many parts of the gaming world. I'll be posting every episode once a day, and talking about my views on the subject!
I think the bit on narrative is pretty important here. I know that the Lord of the Rings movies are, well, movies - however the use of the narrative in the background of these movies is great. The world feels lived in, the cultures of the various races are established without needing to talk at length in the actual movie about them. Through use of visual narrative, we can see that the dwarves are stout and proud people. Without being explicitly told that the Rohirrim love their horses, you can see it in the way they treat them. Their motifs are shown throughout the architecture, art and their way of life.
Good narrative can lend your world a level of believability you can't get with writing alone. Showing is far more effective than telling.
But the guys at Extra Credits are far more effective at getting these kinds of points across, so make sure you watch the video!
Another part of my wish is to bring music and art from videogames to people's attention. So here is the first series in Garudoh's great library of The Music of Video Games.
Enjoy the sweet beats, and I'll see you tomorrow for another entry!
I've been wrestling with the idea of posting music, news, and videos relating to the hobby I love so much to Facebook for some time. But I wanted to have them all accessible together at any time, and what better way than through Blogger? I want to use this blog to raise awareness and interest in all the cultural aspects that pertain to Videogaming.
So hopefully I keep your interest, or you learn something sometime! I am not a writer by any means but I'll try and give the best views and opinions I can without sounding terrible.
