Game Design is Everything

Strategy games aren't the genre of games I play on a regular basis. Even though I am trying to expand my tastes and experiences in the medium, I still find myself drawn back to popular FPS's and nights of multiplayer mayhem on these FPS's. However, I have recently been playing a third-person strategy game called The Bureau: Xcom Declassified. This particular third-person foray deals with aliens invading the Earth in the 1950's. The story's not horrible, and I'm enjoying the strategy aspect of it (commanding your officers, selecting actions for them to take, etc.). Overall, the game has gotten an overall rating of an "average" (mostly 6's or 7's out of 10) and I, personally, don't mind the game. It's definitely a nice change of pace for me. Though, I noticed something interesting in the design of the game's difficulty. Aside from it being a moderately difficult game, the changes made from the 3rd tier difficulty "Veteran" to the 2nd tier difficulty "Squaddie" span all aspects of the game, not just the enemies, weapon pickups, etc. My example? The loading screens. Specifically, the information presented to the gamer at the bottom of the screen changes from difficulty to difficulty. While playing on the "Veteran" difficulty, the gamer is shown information that is all related to the story of the game. The screen poses questions as to what might happen next and solely focuses on the events occurring in the game. This clashes with the "Squaddie" difficulty (a level below “Veteran”), which does not focus on story during the loading screens. Rather, it focuses its attention on giving you tips, such as reminding you to rank up your agents. It even informs you of what plasma weapon is the best to use in the game. I know it might not sound like a big deal, but it just goes to show how thought-out some game designs are. Game design just doesn't span the story. It doesn't exclusively focus on creating objects. Game design is everything.

A Rockstar Moment

It's pretty safe to say GTV V has taken over my life. I tend to come home from work and hop right on the ol' 360 and POOF! Off to Los Santos I go. What I've found myself doing as of late in the player-populated lobbies of San Andreas portends to a sort of war: all out war to be precise. My friends and I have found ourselves on one building in particular that can only be described as a sniper's paradise. However, GTA Online is not only great for sniping an unsuspecting player half a mile away, but its ability to create awe-inspiring moments. One such moment occurred when my buddies and I were occupying the aforementioned sniping perch. One of my friends, whom I will refer to in this post as Bklounge89 (Gamertag) decided to take his shenanigans to the Los Santos International Airport. The Airport security did not take too kindly to this, and Bklounge89 proceeded to out run the cops and steal a cargo plane. Now, a note before I go any further. If you've never seen or flown a cargo plane in GTA V, you are seriously missing out. This plane is huge and has caused my friends and me to stop and look on in amazement at this behemoth more than once. So, my friends and I are atop this building and are raining down a hail of bullets and fury. About ten minutes pass, and the other players in the lobby begin to get irritated about our actions on the roof. Naturally, an opposing player decided to take actions into their own hands and steal a helicopter that fired missiles. Oh, and did I also mention the helicopter has a hook on the bottom? This player stole a helicopter, grabbed a car from an unsuspecting citizen from below, and rose upward and onward toward our cavalcade stationed on the roof. My friends and I hear it first. The whirring of the blades alert us that an enemy is inbound. I focus upwards, towards the sky, and see the helicopter shooting missiles at us. I utter over my microphone, "Well, this is it boys. He's got missiles. We can't go anywhere." Then, out of the blue, I hear Bklounge89's voice over my headset. "It's ok guys, Bk's here to save the day!" At this point, a spectacle so impressive and thrilling took place before our very eyes. Bklounge swung his massive cargo plane directly over our roof, colliding mid-air with the opposing helicopter and causing an explosion. The spectacular collision made all on the roof stop what they were doing. The damaged helicopter smashed against our roof, as did the car they were carrying. Bklounge89's cargo plane kept right on flying. Two of his four propellers failed to work after the explosion, but the plane remained intact and flying. As my friends and I cheered about what we had just witnessed, I realized something. This moment is something I've never experienced in any other game I've ever played. Everything lined up perfectly for this moment, in which, the freedom of movement in the open world, the massiveness of this world, and opposing players mixed together to create a fireworks display of awesomeness. It was so natural, so fluid. Thank you Rockstar for giving me an opportunity to experience a moment like this. I know more will be on the way.

Thoughts on Thomas Bissell's Idea of Modern and Older Gaming

So, I've been reading a book called Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter. Written by Tom Bissell, this casually informative book talks about different video game concepts. These concepts and ideas are tied in through the author's personal stories of dealing with and playing these games. Tom Bissell is pretty good at not over-complicating things and is a pleasure to read. One of his chunks of information I found particularly intriguing is a concept that isn't new, but needs to be discussed none the less. In Chapter 4: The Grammar of Fun, Bissell discusses how modern games and older games vary in the way they play out. Here is the quote," Gears (Gears of War) requires the ability to tactically make subtle judgments based on scant information, a constant awareness of multiple variables (ammunition stores, enemy weaknesses) as they change throughout the game, and the spatial sensitivity to control one’s movement through a space in which the “right direction” is not always apparent. Anyone who plays modern games such as Gears does not so much learn the rules as develop a kind of tuition for how the game operates. Often, there is no single way to accomplish a given task; improvisation is rewarded. Older games, like Super Mario, punish improvisation: You live or die according to their algebra alone." Let's break this rather large quote down into easily digestible pieces. First off, he begins the quote by bringing up the idea that modern games (such as Gears of War) "...require the ability to tactically make subtle judgments based on scant information." Viewing modern gaming as a whole, the entire concept of freedom has been made readily available for game developers. Since computing power has grown tremendously over the past decade and a half, games are no longer restricted to "on-the-rail" shooters. Gears of War is a terrific example of modern gaming taking advantage of thinking tactically and having the ability to choose how to execute a battle plan. The implementation of the cover system in the Gears series expands the player's choice of strategy during the heated exchange of bullets. The "scant information" portion of the quote is also important because, compared to older and more linear games, this information is something that is picked up by the player. How will this specific member of the Locust Horde react to a SHOTGUN BLAST? Will the enemy die this way the same time, every time? The answer is unequivocally no. In games such as Super Mario Bros., the player can mathematically calculate how many hits a Goomba needs to be taken out. Mario's jumps all depend on timing and angles and trajectories. The approach to these scenarios is different. The next portion of the quote mentions a focus on multiple variables (such as ammunition stores and enemy weaknesses). Modern games force the player to keep track of many varying types of information all at once. Many FPS's display the player's health, ammo reserves, map of the game world, the type of gun they are using, etc. Since we do live in the age of information, this type of layout seems quite plausible. In the older class of games, most of them had the player focus on killing the enemy and that was it. The bit in the quote about "...in which the 'right direction' is not always apparent" intrigues me. Sometimes, games don't explicitly show you where to go. This is a characteristic of modern gaming, since the ability to compute more free space in the game is available. I'm not saying there wasn't any freedom in the earlier games (such as the admittingly confusing Super Mario 64), but more games nowadays have the ability to do it. The last part of the quote, which points out that improvisation is rewarded in modern games and punished in older games rings true. Many games reward the player for experimenting with different variables. 2011's Bulletstorm played on the idea of experimentation. One of the game's amazingly cool features is the ability to slow down time. While slowing down time, the player can perform insanely violent acts on the enemies. Shooting enemies on different parts of the body results in varying mixtures of points. Experimenting and finding the best combination of points in ever-changing scenarios is the embodiment of modern games. Improvisation is one of the keys to the modern game's success. If you try and improvise in Super Mario Bros., you will meet a swift and decisive end to your life. Again, these types of games thrive on memorization and mathematics rather than improvisation and experimentation. Well, as always, thanks for reading. Comments are highly encouraged at the bottom, so comment away!

Gaming is Changing

Gaming has changed. This is the thought crossing my mind as I pop in my physical disc copy of GTA V. As the game begins to load, I already see the changes coming. One tip I see on the various loading screens tells me that the denizens of Los Santos will treat me differently if my car is clean or dirty. This concept alone opens up my mind to all of the possibilities AI can achieve in our lifetime. When the game begins, I am blown away by the vastness and detailed landscape that is Los Santos. The people, the buildings, the cars, the trees, the blades of grass...all encapsulating an experience like none other. After hours of cruising the lovely cityscape, I pull out my cell phone (complete with camera and access to the Internet). I decide to take my adventures into the online world, where my fellow gamers and I can parlay with guns and cars. Concepts like multi-player change every once in a while. However, this is no ordinary change. GTA Online breeds feelings of careless fun and careful management. On one hand, I can fool around and cause unbelievable chaos wherever I see fit. Did that citizen just make a snide remark to me? I'd better shut them up with a bullet to the head. Am I in the racing mood? Shall I blow right past the conspicuously placed cop car or ram him and engage a hot pursuit? On the other hand, I might not want to obliterate everyone in my path. Losing my life takes away my most important asset in the Online world: money. Sure, I could just pop a fellow gamer and take his guns. But, I don't think they'll take too kindly to my actions. I'd better lay low, mind my own business, and complete some Jobs before I end up broke. This is the type of game play making the Online mode extremely unique and fun. Game play designs including the ability to choose from a wide variety of Jobs after completing one Job is a welcome sight. Why? Our society is what I like to call a "binge society". With the advent of services such as Netflix and Hulu, viewing an entire season of a television show is possible and easy to do. Watching just one episode or movie rarely occurs anymore. This specific game design plays on this principle. The options are handed to you and, subconsciously, we like this. Sure, let's play mission after mission and job after job. We're having fun, so why not? Designs such as this are a dream for us as gamers. Let's revel in it and enjoy the beautiful work of art that is known as GTA V.

GTA V Is Not As Violent as Previous Entries

Since the biggest video game launch in the history of the medium has just occurred, I thought it was appropriate to dedicate this blog post to talk about the mega-monster known as Grand Theft Auto 5. Now, just to clarify, this isn't a review. I always try to examine the aspects of the game from an analytical standpoint and try to zone in on unique ideas behind the concepts, trends, etc. of the game. With GTA 5, I could go on and on for days breaking the game down into its varying components (and I'm sure I will in future posts, so stay tuned), but today I'm going to focus on the violence in GTA 5. Here's the odd thing about the violence in the game: in my opinion, it’s not as easy to commit violent acts as it is in previous games. This claim might sound strange, considering the history GTA has with violence. After all, GTA is the franchise in which you drive around and beat up hookers with baseball bats. But, that's precisely my point when talking about GTA V. Take, for instance, the baseball bat just mentioned. Introduced in GTA III, the baseball bat has gone through a couple different iterations (changing from wooden to aluminum in the games. The newest game, GTA V, features a wooden bat). In the first game of the series featuring the bat (GTA III), the bat is readily available at the safe house. Access to it is easy and it’s always available to use. It is also easily accessible at the safe house in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. But, in GTA IV, the bat is not easily accessible. The bat doesn't just spawn at the safe house. Rather, it has to be bought in a back alley shop for $5. I've played the newest iteration, GTA V, for around 20 hours and have yet to find a baseball bat. I know it is available in the game, but my point stems back to its availability. It’s not as easy to walk around and beat the crap out of people (at least in the beginning of the game). The ability to commit violent acts isn't just handed to you in GTA V. The player starts out with hardly any weapons and has to earn money through the story missions to be able to pay for weapons and ammunition. Can you still shoot random people on the street? Yes. Can you run people down with your car? Yes. However, all I'm trying to say is that it's a bit more difficult to achieve this type of violence than in previous GTA games. I believe this also strongly ties into the fact that GTA V is the first GTA game that feels more like a simulation then any of the other entries. So much is available to do in the city besides killing pedestrians. The player can play tennis, smoke weed, watch television, go to a movie, get on the internet, etc. Even though games such as GTA IV had these types of events, the depth and detail in which they are showcased in GTA V allows the player to fully immerse themselves into these activities. For instance, I have seen two movies in-game. One ran about 20 minutes long and the other ran about 15. The player can play 5 sets of tennis if they so choose. With all of these events at the tip of your fingers, the urge to focus ALL your time killing pedestrians goes down. Yes, the game is still violent and everybody likes to mess around in the city. However, with a slightly more limited cap on weapons and an astounding number of non-violent events to partake in, the violence in GTA V is not as prevalent as in previous releases.

A Dragon Age to Remember

Dragon Age: Inquisition is coming as the third chapter in the role-playing franchise. The game spouts numerous improvements in its battle system and storytelling technique. One of the more interesting aspects of the latter mentioned, the storytelling technique, comes as a bit of a surprise. The character the player gains control of in the game is someone of high importance. They lead a character who is the leader of a mysterious order. Little is known of this order, but they do wield highly powerful influence in the game world. This fact comes as a surprising revelation, seeing how in most RPG's, the player takes control of a low-level nobody who slowly rises up the ranks. The game wipes out this narrative cliché right from the get-go. As you begin the game in a high power position, you try to lead your organization to gain more and more power over the land. While leading the organization, the designers of Dragon Age: Inquisition purposefully integrated this concept of high power into the game. One of the designers of the game said, "It's fundamentally about giving an organization the same kind of progression you might expect out of a character…but what it’s like if I can take an organization and give it a character-give it a feel and a tone”. Building off of this idea, specifically focusing on progressing the organization you lead is a great idea. Many games don't utilize this concept. Sure, you get to progress your own character and deck them out with cool looking clothes, weapons, etc. However, if the player is completing missions for his army, faction, etc., the organization often stays the same. Addressing the organization as a type of character in the game is a pleasant production choice to see. Along with the concept of organization as character, the battle system also emanates refreshing ideas. As a designer of the game said, " The concept of the fully controlled party- in our case, doing it with that hybrid real-time or pause-and-play-has always been a thing that we saw as part our legacy and something we want to make sure is key…but we want to make sure we haven’t lost the reactivity and speed-the crispness-with which a character follows their orders. I see that as part of modern gaming." That last part really got to me while I was reading the article in Game Informer. "Reactivity and speed...I see that as part of modern gaming". As a turn-based game, evolving the speed strikes me as...unique. Are the designers tailoring to a more ADD audience? Is modern gaming more fast-paced than ever before? I think modern gaming has been touting behaviors of fast-paced antics in recent years. Specifically, the reactivity of earned points in modern FPS's is mind boggling compared to the FPS's from a decade ago. Since the computers harness more firepower, designers can give the player rewards instantly and for almost anything they want. It should be interesting to see how Dragon Age: Inquisition plays out. I, for one, am looking forward to it.

Skylanders and Disney: Infinity-Breaking the Mold

Hello fellow gamers! I am here to stay and promise to keep posting consistently. Today, I read an article about the new Skylanders game coming out. Skylanders: Swap Force will be coming out shortly, and I can't help but think how fun of a concept Activision has latched onto. Yes, some may see it as a marketing scheme (the article I read from Game Informer stated that you would have to pour $740 into the game to experience every nook and cranny of the full game. That part, I'm not the biggest fan of, to be honest). However, the concept behind this game is something that breaks the mold of the traditional video game. For those not familiar with the Skylanders titles, the games heavily focus on using toys to "upgrade" and "power-up" your gaming characters. Pog-like chips exist in which you place on a small power pad and they link directly to your character on the screen. It's almost as if my boyhood fantasy has come true: Your toys become "real". The link between the real and the imaginary worlds now have a physical connection. I think it's awesome. Skylanders does have competition. The likes of Disney is coming out with Disney: Infinity. The game works in the exact same way as Skylanders. However, with Disney's licensing, their toys will pull in the big names of Jack Sparrow and Mr. Incredible. Though it may be an overzealous financial investment, I believe these games do have some potential to do some good in the gaming world. I'm always eager to see and play new concepts in the video game world. This is one definitely worth checking out.