tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65493102489841107582024-03-04T23:41:48.258-08:00The Triple HypeBecause while one Hype was enough, I wanted more.PinkPuttyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224405613244213755noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549310248984110758.post-47925282356891907302013-01-31T18:49:00.003-08:002013-01-31T18:49:51.805-08:00Control Freaks: GatecrashI don't think I've actually mentioned this on here yet, but I'm a huge <i>Magic: The Gathering</i> fan. I've been playing for a little over a year now, and I've really gotten into it.<br />
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One of my friends I made back when I played <i>Team Fortress</i> for the Xbox helps run the webcomic <a href="http://legacy-control.com/">Legacy Control</a>, where he does stuff mainly on the technical side of things, and helped start up their blog section, <a href="http://legacy-control.com/control-freaks/">Control Freaks</a>. He asked people he knew if any of them wanted to write some stuff for them, and being a guy with little to do, I accepted. This was back in August of last year, and you can find that article I wrote <a href="http://legacy-control.com/control-freaks/of-sleeping-dogs-and-cell-phones-sleeping-dogs-review/">this thing</a>. It, like most of my writing, is pretty amateur hour.<br />
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It's been almost 6 months, and I finally wrote another one for them. It's about <i>Magic: The Gathering</i> and you can go and read it over <a href="http://legacy-control.com/control-freaks/preview-gatecrash-mtg/">here</a>. I feel like it's a lot better than most of the writing I've ever put up, so that's good.PinkPuttyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224405613244213755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549310248984110758.post-36428898301195349022013-01-13T17:59:00.001-08:002013-01-13T18:28:23.617-08:002012: Games I Cared AboutSo 2012 is dead now. Dead forever and it's <b>NEVER</b> coming back.<br />
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There have been worse tragedies.<br />
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Anyway, 2012 had a good number of video games come out during its 365 day lifespan. Some of these were really good, and others were somewhat lacking. Here are the games I cared about. Either because I played them and they were good, or bad, or they raised a good deal of interest from me.<br />
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Let's just pretend that it hasn't been thirteen days since New Years.... yeah?<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Favorable Games</span></b></h2>
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<b><i>Halo 4</i></b></div>
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To be fair, this game isn't anything new or innovative, but two things stand out to me. A new developer came in and took the reigns in the wake of Bungie's absence, and they did well. While <i>Halo</i> might have never been the most compelling game series to ever exist, it was a well designed game, and living up to the expectations of fans is never easy. Fortunately for 343 Industries, they did.</div>
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The other thing was that it talked about the morality of Master Chief and the Spartan program, which was refreshing. Kidnapping a kid and breeding them into a super soldier is on pretty gray moral grounds, so it was cool to see <i>Halo 4</i> actually discuss something that had more thematic depth than "Bad guys shoot 'em in the face!"</div>
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Then again, the Machinima series <i>Red vs. Blue</i> had a project head justifying his morally gray super-soldier program in order to help save humanity back in season 6 and onward. For whatever it's worth.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.wikia.com/farcry/images/2/20/Far-cry-3-vaas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://images.wikia.com/farcry/images/2/20/Far-cry-3-vaas.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vaas, from <i>Far Cry 3</i></td></tr>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Far Cry 3</i></div>
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Speaking of <i>Far Cry 3</i>, it apparently was good. Which is nice to hear about anything really. However, the plot of the game was the most peculiar thing to me.</div>
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<i>Far Cry</i> apparently is following in the wake of many other games, such as <i>Spec Ops</i>, <i>Hotline Miami</i>, and <i>Little Inferno</i>, that want to talk about games. It plays like a giant white male empowerment fantasy, where you come to an island full of pacific tribals and save them while hang gliding and jet ski-ing.<br />
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Then the ending comes. I'm not going to spoil either of them, but it takes a strange turn. The lead writer of the game has said in an interview, seen <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/double-talk-far-cry-3s-lead-writer-explains-the-deceptive-nature-of-th">here</a> at the Penny Arcade Report, that the game is supposed to be a satire of the empowerment fantasies of modern video games, such as <i>Call of Duty</i> or even <i>Uncharted</i>. The problem with satire however, is that it's a very thin line between parodying something and becoming the very thing you're parodying.<br />
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To be honest, I have no idea if it does it well or not, but it's still an interesting discussion nonetheless, and that's a very good thing for a game to do.</div>
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<b><i>Borderlands 2</i></b></div>
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It was better than the second one, unless you don't like Anthony Burch's writing, in which case it probably sucks a lot.</div>
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In retrospect I don't know why this is even listed. I have nothing to say on it. <a href="http://ninjagameden.com/2012/11/29/borderlands-2/">JPH over at Ninja Game Den wrote stuff on it. Apparently he liked it a lot, so there's that I guess.</a></div>
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<b><i>Little Inferno</i></b></div>
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This was a cool little game. There's no way to really discuss what it's doing without spoiling the entire thing, but it's definitely worth your time. The guys who made it made <i>World of Goo</i>, which was a really solid little puzzler, but sadly was pirated like crazy on release. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8nwRCW-tJU">Errant Signal made a video analyzing Little Inferno, so go watch that after you finish the game.</a> It's good, but that's pretty par for the course with Campster's stuff.</div>
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<b><i>Spec Ops: The Line</i></b></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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By far the smartest modern military shooter, and by smartest I mean the only one that isn't a self-indulgent empowerment fantasy. Sadly, the marketing made it look like a bland, generic modern military shooter, which probably cut into it's financial success. Then again, that's kind of the point.</div>
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Go buy and play it if you haven't yet. It's totally worth it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/11/Total-War-Shogun-2-Fall-of-the-Samurai-culture-clash1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/11/Total-War-Shogun-2-Fall-of-the-Samurai-culture-clash1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Riflemen versus Katana Samurai in <i>Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai</i></td></tr>
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<b><i>Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai</i></b></div>
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I'm a huge <i>Total War</i> fan, and this is probably the best installment they've ever made. Much better than <i>Napoleon</i> and <i>Empire</i>, and has a bit more polish than the core <i>Shogun 2</i>. It's no Stainless Steel, which is arguably the best Medieval 2 mod, but it's still really well-put together. I put a solid too many hours into it, just like every <i>Total War</i> game.</div>
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<b><i>Civilization 5: Gods and Kings</i></b></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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Another expansion here, but a really good one. <i>Civilization 5 </i>was decent enough, though lacking a lot of depth that <i>Civilization 4</i> had. Primarily in the diplomacy aspects.</div>
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With <i>Gods and Kings</i>, <i>Civilization 5</i> gets really good. Really, <b>really</b> good. Diplomacy actually exists now and there's a reason to build boats other than for whaling. The new nations they've added are interesting and fun to play, along with the balance changes they've brought to both units and social policies. Religion is also implemented in a much more intuitive and impactful way than in <i>Civilization 4</i>, and is far and away the best new feature.</div>
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I'm not going to say <i>Gods and Kings</i> makes<i> Civilization 5</i> playable, but <i>Gods and Kings</i> makes <i>Civilization 5</i> playable.<br />
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<b><i>XCOM: Enemy Unknown</i></b></div>
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This game was one of the most excitement inducing games I've ever played. I had always wanted to actually play and enjoy the original<i> XCOM </i>series, but considering it was part of the generation of games that featured horrible UI, insanely hard difficulty curves, and required reading of an aid, it wasn't exactly easy to get into.</div>
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Which is why <i>Enemy Unknown</i> is awesome. It takes the excellent gameplay of<i> XCOM</i> and makes it more accessible. It's not a complete copy, as there are some features taken out here and there, but it streamlines itself well enough to where it's easy to delve into, but still has tons of depth and enjoyment underneath its covering.</div>
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One of the first tactical turn-based games that works spectacularly in a very long time. It's something that's been missed, I must say. Go play it if you haven't, you owe it to yourself.</div>
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<b><i>Sleeping Dogs</i></b></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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While not the most underrated game of the year, it has gotten a good amount of praise from various sources, it seems to me that a lot of people either forgot that it existed or that it ever even existed at all.<br />
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I however, have always held this little game in my heart. I loved it when it came out, and still love it now. It was as if <i>GTA4</i> didn't suffer from the worst case of ludo-narrative dissonance in the history of narrative, and was also actually enjoyable to play. While not as insane as<i> Saints Row 3(rd)</i>, it still was a blast to play through.<br />
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Sadly, it did have some issues. The guns were pretty clunky to use, and some characters could have done with a bit more development.<br />
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<i>Sleeping Dogs</i> also probably means more to me than it should because it's the subject of the first near legitimate thing I've ever written about video games. Also the only thing I've written over at <a href="http://legacy-control.com/control-freaks/of-sleeping-dogs-and-cell-phones-sleeping-dogs-review/">this</a> website, which is mainly because I'm really, really bad about getting down and actually writing content. Hell, this is the fourth thing I've written on this blog.<br />
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Anyway, go play <i>Sleeping Dogs</i> if you haven't. It's really damn good.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thatgamecompany.com/wp-content/themes/thatgamecompany/_include/img/journey/journey-game-screenshot-1-b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://thatgamecompany.com/wp-content/themes/thatgamecompany/_include/img/journey/journey-game-screenshot-1-b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b><i>Journey</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>One of the most beautiful games I've ever even heard of. It's literally you and a complete stranger, of whom you can't even really communicate with, bonding together while walking through a desert. It's not that long, but my god is it amazing.<br />
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Often, when the "games are art" argument is brought up, some the most common examples used by people defending games as art are things such as<i> Shadow of the Colossus</i> or <i>Braid</i>. It isn't very hard to see that <i>Journey</i> is pretty much one of the best games to demonstrate the emotion and beauty that games can communicate. It's going to be one of the first things I think of when I think of what games can do as art.<br />
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I don't really have that much to say here, because honestly there isn't all that much to say. It's a beautiful game that deserves to exist, and it's awesome that it does.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">
Less Favorable Games</span></h2>
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<b><i>Hitman: Absolution</i></b></div>
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So I became a big fan of the <i>Hitman</i> games after I played <i>Blood Money</i> a decent number of years ago, and I was really excited to see a sequel after about 4 years.</div>
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Too bad it wasn't a <i>Hitman</i> game.</div>
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<i>Absolution</i> is an okay game, to be fair, but it doesn't play anything like any other <i>Hitman</i> title. The levels are almost all linear and encourage stealth that feels more at home in something like <i>Splinter Cell</i>. <i>Blood Money</i> wanted you to use disguises in almost every situation. With <i>Absolution</i> it feels like it never wants you to use a disguises, with a few exceptions, because half the time it doesn't do anything. You'll still be caught and seen because in levels where there's only one disguises to actually use, if you're seen your cover is blown and everyone starts shooting.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Even the story is worse here than in <i>Blood Money</i>, which is really absurd because <i>Blood Money</i> barely even had a story to begin with. But alas, the writing for 47 is insanely out of character, which is one sentence I've never thought I would ever write, and the game is oddly sexist, with not a single strong female character or even just a female character with agency.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So yeah, <i>Absolution</i> sucks. Okay no, that's not fair. <i>Hitman: Absolution</i> sucks. If you get rid of the whole "<i>Hitman</i>" thing it's, at best, adequate.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/files/2012/11/Hitman-Absolution.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://media.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/files/2012/11/Hitman-Absolution.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">47 in <i>Hitman: Absolution</i></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/08/Mass-Effect-3-the-real-female-shepard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/08/Mass-Effect-3-the-real-female-shepard.jpg" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female Shepard in <i>Mass Effect 3</i></td></tr>
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<b><i>Mass Effect 3</i></b></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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The second of two games that left a bad taste in my mouth. Now, the ending is the big controversy topic surrounding this thing, but it's not the only problem. The game has a lot of flaws beyond that.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And I'm not going to write it all out. It's been very well said by <a href="http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=15395">Shamus Young</a> and countless others, and I don't need to repeat all of it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
If I had to give some kind of conclusive opinion on the series and Bioware in general, let it be thus:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Mass Effect</i> was a decent series that started poorly in terms of gameplay, but strongly in terms of story and world building. <i>Mass Effect 2 </i>saw a huge drop in terms of narrative quality, though the world building remained strong and the gameplay was actually passable, if only just that. As a part of the series, <i>Mass Effect 2</i> is really only there to introduce more characters and add more details to the universe so that we have more emotional investment in <i>Mass Effect 3</i>. And it works fine as that.<br />
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Speaking of <i>Mass Effect 3</i>, the characters and world were still strong and by far its best quality. The gameplay was, once again, passable but its narrative was somewhat weak. Then the ending came, and pretty much destroyed the only excellent part of the series, which were the characters and universe. So yeah, the <i>Mass Effect</i> series, while ambitious, did not particularly turn out that well. Bioware is pretty much on it's last legs, in terms of whether or not its fans are willing to put up with another <i>Dragon Age 2</i> or <i>Mass Effect 3</i>. They handled the response to <i>Dragon Age 2</i> criticism horribly, and <i>Mass Effect 3'</i>s extended cut could only do so much. All eyes are on <i>Dragon Age 3 </i>as of now. If it's received well by fans, then yeah. Bioware pulls through for a little while longer. If, however, it flops with fans like its predecessor, then Bioware would probably have literally no more good faith with the majority of their fanbase.</div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">
My Game of the Year</span></h2>
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<b><i>The Walking Dead</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b><i>The Walking Dead</i> is a amazing game. Sadly, it's a rare thing to see many games like this get a lot of recognition from the industry. Thankfully, this one has been considered in Game of the Year lists by pretty much everyone who played it, and it topped off mine.<br />
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It's emotionally impactful, resonant, and insanely well written. While the game itself isn't perfect, it's still amazing.<br />
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It's hard to praise a game without actually going too in-depth with it, since I don't want anyone reading this to have any part of the experience spoiled, but it's so good. Trust me. Go play it now if you haven't, it's an awesome sign that the industry can actually produce games with a real heavy focus on writing and story without having to worry about appealing to a more mainstream audience.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.coscampusonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/The-Walking-Dead-the-Game2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://www.coscampusonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/The-Walking-Dead-the-Game2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So yeah, those were the games that I had any remote interest in.<br />
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Woozle-bazle-wazle, or something like that.</div>
PinkPuttyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224405613244213755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549310248984110758.post-48010413559062351862012-12-05T20:23:00.003-08:002012-12-05T20:47:17.530-08:00I Made a Video OnceSo like my friend and I have a youtube channel. The content is of below average quality, but HEY WHAT YOU GUNNA DO ABOUT IT?<br />
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So yeah this is the best work we've put out. YES THIS. I KNOW. WE ARE ASHAMED.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XCz2z6Kwtt8" width="560"></iframe>PinkPuttyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224405613244213755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549310248984110758.post-53936751089100643502012-11-03T14:54:00.002-07:002012-11-03T14:54:54.271-07:00On Medkits and Suspension<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWiz7MTnsojBgT5cejrkjjcSx7Oiw1z5Qa_wbwSXcPkqHYbK_yxPzCArpp2Xap_aE0ENMRzhQDK_QwdMDcJ1VZkHwuGFIrtTgez25NjH40pYUqTzcQKYsjEdQCUAv6GyYN_SLz9IkIGE/s1600/XComGame+2012-11-03+13-59-41-94.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWiz7MTnsojBgT5cejrkjjcSx7Oiw1z5Qa_wbwSXcPkqHYbK_yxPzCArpp2Xap_aE0ENMRzhQDK_QwdMDcJ1VZkHwuGFIrtTgez25NjH40pYUqTzcQKYsjEdQCUAv6GyYN_SLz9IkIGE/s400/XComGame+2012-11-03+13-59-41-94.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
"Short version: If [<i>XCOM: Enemy Unknown</i>] were consistent, it would be so much more than just a turn-based combat game."<br />
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The quote was from a friend of mine, JPH. He runs the pretty cool website <a href="http://ninjagameden.com/">Ninja Game Den.</a> Our other friend McNutcase, who has a blog over <a href="http://silasincalifornia.blogspot.com/">here</a>, was also involved. This pretty much started out when JPH went to Twitter to talk about how in <i>XCOM</i>, which is a Turn Based Game about aliens and you have a squad and junk (If you want to know more there's a lot of places for it, like this video by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6ks03EprFE">Total Biscuit</a>), if you have a downed squad member with a medkit, other squad members can't run over and use the medkit to save the downed member themselves.<br />
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Obviously, in a real world situation an actual soldier could, and probably would, use another's equipment in order to save their life. However, <i>XCOM</i> has coding and stuff, and like McNutcase <a href="http://silasincalifornia.blogspot.com/2012/11/why-cant-i-use-his-medkit.html">says</a>, they used a coding shortcut to get around complications. Pretty much, when you equip an item, there is no actual item, you're just giving a stat increase or an ability to the soldier, thus no soldier can use any other "equipment" that any other soldier can unless they are also equipped with the same "equipment."<br />
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Both JPH and McNutcase stated that this creates some dissonance, as it doesn't make any sense in real world logic. And that's true. I proposed, however, that this aspect of gameplay adds enough strategic depth to make up for this. JPH disagreed, and said that without immersion any game just becomes "a meaningless pile of binary code." I mentioned that we were probably coming into the game at different angles, which spurred him into writing a new blog post (Which if it ends up making him famous I demand royalties).<br />
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The quote at the top is his self stated "short version" of the post.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOIedj7-mHyWyELN6RBsExd4peoAK5GZgAFP6D8IQDlAkOomzyxJ47sfXMMODGfsrho095AJhbIjX6Qg-X4g_-PCM_1f61-dacjqaA-RfyyohL6rxTlqvsgiqR4H3BAvhyMhHbhRfPOA/s1600/XComGame+2012-11-03+13-26-20-72.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOIedj7-mHyWyELN6RBsExd4peoAK5GZgAFP6D8IQDlAkOomzyxJ47sfXMMODGfsrho095AJhbIjX6Qg-X4g_-PCM_1f61-dacjqaA-RfyyohL6rxTlqvsgiqR4H3BAvhyMhHbhRfPOA/s400/XComGame+2012-11-03+13-26-20-72.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JPH did pretty decently in my first game.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The rest of the post is <a href="http://ninjagameden.com/2012/11/01/xcom-no-medkits-for-you/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
His primary point, for those of you who haven't read it (which you <b>should</b>), is that because of the lack of any in-game explanation for why medkits work the way they do, <i>XCOM</i>'s sense of immersion and cohesion breaks down. <i>XCOM</i> is trying to create a "big, organic, adaptable story" about stopping an alien invasion or Earth, but because of this giant crack in immersion <i>XCOM</i> becomes just a "turn-based combat sim."<br />
<br />
Hypothetically, I could make this argument: <i>XCOM</i>, like any other game, presents the player with a system in which they inhabit. The system has boundaries built within. You can't exchange items from soldier to soldier for the same reason you can't do a pull-up in <i>Call of Duty</i> or headbutt a NPC in<i> Skyrim</i>. Of course real world logic dictates that either of those two actions are possible, but the game doesn't let you preform them because of its limitations and rules set out from the beginning. It just isn't programmed into the game. The way we are still allowed to suspend our disbelief of these things is because of our, well, suspension of disbelief. (An explanation of what it is in reference to literature can be found <a href="http://valbinisticvalbino.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/suspension-of-disbelief/">here</a>, as written by my friend Val) Our suspension of disbelief allows us to be immersed in a game despite the fact that we know it isn't real. It's why we buy the idea of the Jedi Knight or the magical Elf Wizard.<br />
<br />
Now, can you see where this argument breaks down? Can you see the counter-argument? Are you currently typing out said counter-argument as furiously and fast as possible?<br />
<br />
Please, allow me.<br />
<br />
Suspension of disbelief, like almost everything about everything, is subjective. It can only stretch so far before reaching a breaking point, but that point is different for everyone. Some people are fine with the notion that Russia can invade the USA on a mass scale with the US having no idea (ala <i>Modern Warfare 2</i> and<i> Red Dawn</i>) or with Batman reaching Gotham from the middle of a foreign desert with no resources of any sort, while persoanlly both of those seem frankly impossible. In<i> XCOM</i>, mine allows for me to not be bothered by the fact that soldiers can't trade medkits or grenades among each other, while evidently JPH's suspension of disbelief does not allow for that.<br />
<br />
The medkit thing isn't the only aspect of <i>XCOM</i> that has some weird logic behind it. Satellites, which are used to calm down the panic in any country and to generate revenue, cost money to construct, but are free of charge to put into orbit or maintain. You're not going to see "<i>XCOM</i>: No Satellites For You" on Ninja Game Den or this site anytime soon, so obviously the suspension of disbelief is being used outside of accepting an alien invasion. But, like I said, we all have our limits for suspending disbelief, and JPH's was reached in <i>XCOM</i>. "But," you may ask, "why does he have a problem and you don't? Is he an entitled snob/casual who's too arrogant/stupid to understand <i>XCOM</i>? Or are you too stupid/arrogant?" My answer thus follows:<br />
<br />
Hell if I know. I mean, we both have said some really dumb stuff in the past (Look at my twitter feed for 5 seconds and you'll see at least 6 #BRICKSQUAD's, and JPH said <i>Fallout: New Vegas</i> was bad once :p), but neither of us are stupid or stuck-up. If I had to give an actual answer, it's not that JPH isn't "liking" or "playing" <i>XCOM</i> right compared to me, or vice versa, I think it's more related to our mindsets.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuozJKrv8mAs8HErZCIjRAb2QOUbZ8tLNHA2y9ck96tVWyLkqg4k4MvzMAC9VB1kHdg5BHmf3a13qGbnMz4SML3593WrCiLlHBt6gmI3Z8VQJmsWicQx2GlCDz7zepMJzfePHSPttJmwk/s320/cryptic+command.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuozJKrv8mAs8HErZCIjRAb2QOUbZ8tLNHA2y9ck96tVWyLkqg4k4MvzMAC9VB1kHdg5BHmf3a13qGbnMz4SML3593WrCiLlHBt6gmI3Z8VQJmsWicQx2GlCDz7zepMJzfePHSPttJmwk/s200/cryptic+command.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a Spike card. You can tell because it's<br />
Blue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Magic: The Gathering</i> designer Mark Rosewater, who writes insanely good articles about game design, talks about the three different, for lack of a better term, "Psychological Profiles" that <i>Magic</i> players showcase: Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. The full article and how these specifically apply to Magic can be found <a href="http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr11b">here</a>, but for those of you who refuse to ever read any of the links here: Timmy want to play big, crazy spells, Johnny wants to play cards that allow for creativity (Either for the card to <b>do</b> anything or for just for some overarching theme), while Spikes just want to win.<br />
<br />
I believe that these profiles can be generalized down into much more generic terms: Timmy want to experience something, Johnny wants to create something, and Spikes want to accomplish something. RPGs like <i>Skyrim</i> offer each of these players a different experience, as Timmy wants to see the game's world and experience everything it has to offer, Johnny wants to create a character and play the game his way, while Spikes want to clear all the dungeons and kill a bunch of dragons. As you can probably tell, one can find a lot of overlap when it comes to this. A player who wants to experience a bunch of cool stuff also probably wants to kill a few dragons or create their own character and experience the game in different ways.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ULcmpQJNUA6TB_0jN5NGa8TVY-S71ew5rs5ZxsdQy4_-JWBsWbAnm2RXKYqcHJGCdfpYhkASpMRxUEiWEDnmU2zYH8kSDfM48O6NwbOblueeqv47NVB3j91tlXJmEOLoH47ARjydktI/s1600/Eldrazi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ULcmpQJNUA6TB_0jN5NGa8TVY-S71ew5rs5ZxsdQy4_-JWBsWbAnm2RXKYqcHJGCdfpYhkASpMRxUEiWEDnmU2zYH8kSDfM48O6NwbOblueeqv47NVB3j91tlXJmEOLoH47ARjydktI/s400/Eldrazi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These dudes are a Johnny's best friends</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With <i>XCOM</i>, I approach it more as a Spike than anything else, and I'm assuming JPH is playing it more like a Timmy. I want to go a beat some aliens and JPH wants the experience of beating aliens. Okay, that didn't make much sense... let me try this again.<br />
<br />
JPH cares about the immersion, atmosphere, and gameworld more than just killing aliens. Obviously, the killing aliens thing is probably high on his list of "things to do in<i> XCOM</i>" but it's more of a part of the experience rather than the entire point of the game. He's not playing to <b>only</b> kill aliens, he's playing to be the <i>XCOM</i> commander. To lead a squad of highly elite soldiers into a firefight with extra terrestrials and to take Earth back. When he sees that for some reason a sqaudmate can't pick up a downed medic's medkit and heal him, the experience breaks.<br />
<br />
I, on the other hand, am more interested with using strategy and tactics to overcome the alien hoards in combat. The focus and excitement for me is tied to the actual turn-based combat. Yes, the experience and "flavor" of the game is probably needed for me to enjoy it as much as I do, but when I see something that doesn't make logical sense it doesn't bother me. I'm able to accept that as part of the rules of engagement and play around or with it. I doesn't break my immersion. As a disclaimer, I don't play every game like this. When I'm playing <i>New Vegas</i> I'm way more focused on the world and story than killing raiders, or when I'm playing the Sims I'm there for crafting a virtual life for virtual people. But for games like<i> XCOM</i> or the <i>Total War</i> series, I'm there primarily for the tactics/strategy. Can my immersion break when playing these kinds of games? Of course. If I see really bad design I get mad. If the game isn't rewarding to play or is just unfun or imbalanced my enjoyment is cracked in half.<br />
<br />
I'm not saying all this in order to psychoanalyze JPH or myself, I do it to show one of the beautiful things about games.<i> Magic</i> is so successful and awesome because of the thousands of reasons and ways to play. Some people play only to deckbuild, some only to win, and others to have a lot of crazy excitement. Video Games aren't different. The reason why someone plays <i>Call of Duty</i>, <i>XCOM</i>, or <i>Simcity</i> can be insanely different from someone else. Competition, creativity, stress release, escapism, a social experience, and countless other reasons are what makes games great. There's something out there for everyone.<br />
<br />
Are any of these motivations to play games more right or wrong than any other?<br />
<br />
Like <b>hell</b> they are! If someone tells you you're not playing a enjoying a game right ignore them. Everyone's entitled to their reasons for having fun playing a game and no one should try and take that away.<br />
<br />
Except for griefers. Those guys are monsters.PinkPuttyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224405613244213755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549310248984110758.post-60960116567957157072012-09-30T17:20:00.000-07:002012-09-30T18:26:37.529-07:00Visual Novels, Why Not: Digital: A Love StorySo, this post only took 6 years to make. This is due to school work, and the fact that I constantly procrastinate from said school work, so I end up doing nothing whenever I get home.<br />
<br />
But, without further ado, let's talk about some video games.<br />
<br />
<i>Digital: A Love Story </i>was released in 2010 from Christine Love's website, which you can visit <a href="http://scoutshonour.com/digital/">here</a>, for free. It takes place "Five minutes into the future of 1988" all entirely on an old computer running an Amiga operating system, called an "Amie" in game. The majority of the game involves the player dialing up Bulletin Board Systems, think current day message boards or online forums, and reading/responding to either posts or private messages on said BBSs. While in most other games the tedium of typing in the numbers of these BBSs and waiting for the dial-up to work would be, well, tedious, but here it works in the game's favor.<br />
<br />
See, this is a game about love.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkNYAwYFSf-_ryDRFJz2W_U5q123m5yE3Kk-Ke62nF-U8sHQCfEy0KW_HaWz8_P0LJblXrxGbgvgyBdaUWzAr-p0S9VqIXRK0qYjsBgg2WzK5s5dj4K-wowPm0Uu1Wby4_j2RER0zCoQ/s1600/Digital+Emilia+Poetry+First.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkNYAwYFSf-_ryDRFJz2W_U5q123m5yE3Kk-Ke62nF-U8sHQCfEy0KW_HaWz8_P0LJblXrxGbgvgyBdaUWzAr-p0S9VqIXRK0qYjsBgg2WzK5s5dj4K-wowPm0Uu1Wby4_j2RER0zCoQ/s400/Digital+Emilia+Poetry+First.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
While Love (The person not the abstract concept) describes the game with having telephone fraud and HACKING THE GIBSON, which does actually happen, the game is actually about the creation of an emotional connection and the pursuit of said connection.<br />
<br />
Let's not jump too many guns here though, first let's actually describe the game a bit.<br />
<br />
<i>Digital</i> starts out with the player booting up their Commodore 64, or whatever old computer the Amiga OS could run on, and entering both their screen name and real name. From there the player dials up a local BBS number provided by the helpful Mr. Wong and begins talking with the residents at "Lake City Local." There the player sees a post entitled: "First Poem" by someone named *Emilia, shown in the image above. If you haven't gathered yet, to respond to messages the player has to click reply up in the top left corner of the message window.<br />
<br />
Note: The player does not actually have to type out a message to send back to people, it's done automatically and off-screen. These replies aren't even readable in fact, so their contents have to be inferred from context clues in the reply you get.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDQjzwiGlIlJggxoIMFC7fNCwWDja_2SNPn2aCzhDsKODOATC8orq2MeB6Pi5aQbk8fkF5GLXQARYgz7H7nhqxVYCv54By2XD2Lbm0qRPkdg3SRfgs36QpV70nCZV5pgvZRvTIy7LRrk/s1600/Digital+Emilia+Poetry+Second.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDQjzwiGlIlJggxoIMFC7fNCwWDja_2SNPn2aCzhDsKODOATC8orq2MeB6Pi5aQbk8fkF5GLXQARYgz7H7nhqxVYCv54By2XD2Lbm0qRPkdg3SRfgs36QpV70nCZV5pgvZRvTIy7LRrk/s400/Digital+Emilia+Poetry+Second.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first message you receive from *Emilia after replying to her poem</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The back and forth exchange with the player and *Emilia goes on for a bit, with sixteen messages from *Emilia by the end of it, until something... <i>distressing</i> happens. To make a long (See: more than two sentences) story short, the player has to find and reunite with *Emilia.<br />
<br />
Since this is going to be the last I talk about the game's content so directly in the post, I'll just say it right now: Go download this game and experience it. <i>Digital</i> takes less than a full afternoon to finish, and it is completely worth it. For real, just download it. It doesn't even cost money and you can run it <u>Linux</u> for Christ's sake. <a href="http://scoutshonour.com/digital/">This entire sentence is a link to the page where you can download it, just click ANYWHERE in this sentence and you're taken straight there.</a> By the way, make sure to type in your real name when it asks, it makes the game a lot better.<br />
<br />
Now time to be all pretentious and stuff.<br />
<br />
If there's any big failing that <i>Digital </i>has that genuinely hinders its effectiveness, it's that the entire experience is hinged on the emotional connection that the player creates with *Emilia, or rather whether or not one is created at all. Without an emotional connection then the motivation for playing the game just sort of dies. That was the main failing for <i>Skyrim</i> for me. The game was too shallow to get emotionally engaged and I abruptly stopped playing. <i>The Mumbles Problem</i> discusses this, which can be seen <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84WvpwyEJw8">here</a>, and explains the reason for my lack of emotional involvement pretty well.<br />
<br />
But, <i>Digital</i> does work at crafting an emotional investment, or at least among the majority of those who played it if the game's warm reception is to be believed. Thus, the question is <b>how</b> does <i>Digital </i>get the player to care? How does it get the player to<b> feel</b>? To <b>love</b>?<br />
<br />
By clicking.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJn-uqKR28f33a7MOmSryxihfJ-LI0nHGR23A-P_3XnW3cc-c5B8TmTqpEfnCFxJs7GB38cXKZiqQNJjopd4olnolm49PIq7sdRJDQ4lNO96L2Ox8yQE1D1-SnMyNIenZ5HFh0JCKl06I/s1600/Digital+Emilia+Poetry+Third.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJn-uqKR28f33a7MOmSryxihfJ-LI0nHGR23A-P_3XnW3cc-c5B8TmTqpEfnCFxJs7GB38cXKZiqQNJjopd4olnolm49PIq7sdRJDQ4lNO96L2Ox8yQE1D1-SnMyNIenZ5HFh0JCKl06I/s400/Digital+Emilia+Poetry+Third.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Video games have this weird thing about them, in that they actively engage the player into interacting with them. Without the player the game wouldn't progress, it wouldn't be finished, and it would be wasted. With a film there doesn't need to be a viewer, just someone to start it and it'll eventually finish. Same with TV shows and music. Hell, if you put a book's pages in a slideshow, turned the slideshow on, and read it that way then there doesn't even need to be a reader (Personally, the act of turning pages is really just due to physical limitations more than anything else).<br />
<br />
Because the player is such a more integral part of the game compared to the viewers of a movie or readers of a book, a more intimate emotional connection develops between the player and the game. If the people who played <i>Mass Effect 3</i> didn't care about the game emotionally then they wouldn't have put together an entire movement dedicated to only fixing the ending's problems. <i>ME3</i> isn't the first game with a poor ending, but the writing and universe building was significant enough for most players that they genuinely and passionately cared about the game's characters and universe.<br />
<br />
One could even look at <i>Fallout: New Vegas</i>, one of my favorite games I've played in the last ten years, which had flaws in physically moving around the game's level geometry and had numerous bugs, but was redeemed by the game world's inhabitants. The game's writing was such to the point that the biggest draw to the game was the ability for the player to feel empathy towards <i>New Vegas'</i> characters and become engrossed into its world. <i>The Mumbles Problem</i>, which I linked earlier above, also discusses this briefly.<br />
<br />
Interaction and engagement are what facilitates all of this empathy that the two aforementioned games generate, and here in <i>Digital</i> they do the same.<br />
<br />
Of course, don't let what I'm saying make it sound like <i>Digital</i>'s success isn't from Christine Love's fantastic skill with writing. This kind of emotional attachment in general wouldn't work without exceptional writing in some area. If games inherently created strong emotional connections then Marcus Fenix from <i>Gears of War </i>would be the most compelling character in gaming since The Nameless One from <i>Planescape Torment</i>. Good writing is needed for emotional connections to be made, whether it be in gaming or movies or books. Jon Jafari points out that the main reason why the original <i>Jurassic Park</i> movie worked so well, which was because of the emotional connection that the viewer had with the characters, in his (Downright hilarious) review of <i>Jurassic Park: The Lost World</i>, as seen <a href="http://blip.tv/jontron/jurassic-park-the-lost-potential-jontron-6202466">here</a>. So when I say that <i>Digital: A Love Story</i> is an amazing game that evokes insanely compelling emotions be aware that a lot of that is due to Christine Love.<br />
<br />
But while <i>Digital</i> is a testament to Love's skill at the written word, it is also a testament to the nature of video games to evoke an emotional involvement and connection. Like I said earlier, the entire game is dependent on whether or not the player can become emotionally invested with *Emilia. And how does it do this? By having the player reply to *Emilia's post and messages, despite never showing the player what he/she is actually sending to *Emilia. All the player knows is that as a direct result of an input by them *Emilia received a message and responded to them with one of her own. Not only is this a fantastic use of the "less is more" principle, but it also is a fantastic way of directly engaging the player with the game. They know that when they clicked "reply" that a message was sent by them, and while their imagination fills in whatever the exact contents were, they still know that is was <b>them</b> who sent the message. <b>They</b> are talking with *Emilia themselves, <b>they</b> are having the conversation and building the emotional bonds. That's what drives the entire experience, the development of a relationship between the player themselves and a single individual piece of all of <i>Digital</i>.<br />
<br />
And all of this with but only a single click of the mouse.<br />
<br />
This is why games are an artform. This is why they matter. They speak to the human condition and to us. They can make us happy, sad, horrified, overjoyed, regretful, dismayed, and cry bittersweet tears all within one experience. They're different from movies and books and any other medium of art in existence, because of the direct involvement of the player, which makes them an active participant, not a passive observer.<br />
<br />
Games are truly beautiful things.<br />
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<br />
No promises on what the next post will be or when it will be, but the next visual novel I'll discuss will be Love's <i>Don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrmliWMjJ4PX70APCjKkxNscltmSUx5FtHkMZ7H9XoGxY6pPd3bJzm5noD4CPqT2eNk7QjgPyUK2E1AFhtzXKOUYGJjf1eu1oUZ2RoXWcZKKFxxk3fEh74gGki8dyL8uM_uLc1ah7K6g/s1600/don't+take+it+personally,+babe+Open+Screen.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrmliWMjJ4PX70APCjKkxNscltmSUx5FtHkMZ7H9XoGxY6pPd3bJzm5noD4CPqT2eNk7QjgPyUK2E1AFhtzXKOUYGJjf1eu1oUZ2RoXWcZKKFxxk3fEh74gGki8dyL8uM_uLc1ah7K6g/s320/don't+take+it+personally,+babe+Open+Screen.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
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See you at some point in the undetermined future.PinkPuttyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224405613244213755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549310248984110758.post-69554661862055064112012-09-10T21:42:00.003-07:002012-09-30T22:32:21.707-07:00Visual Novels, Why Not: Christine Love<br />
Hey, um.... introduction? I guess? I play video games, Magic: the Gathering, spend <strike>a little bit</strike> too much time on the internet, and go to school. You call me PinkPutty if you want too... I mean I'm not forcing you or anything but it'd be nic-<br />
<br />
WELP I GUESS THAT WAS ENOUGH.<br />
<br />
Now time to talk about Visual Novels. I'm not an expert on this kind of game, but I do enjoy them for some reason. Probably because the one's I've played (or read, depending how much of a novel you consider it) are well written and have garnered way too much emotional investment out of me. There is the connotation of these kind of games focusing "adult themes", and some do. In fact, probably the majority of them do, but those aren't the ones I play nor do I want to play them. More often than not they're more focused on the "adult content" than anything else, which hurts the narrative and writing. Most people don't watch the films of Sasha Grey for the acting or writing after all.<br />
<br />
But, there are a good number of visual novels <b>not</b> focused on that kind of stuff, and they're the ones you want to search out if you just want a narrative or story with good writing and well developed characters. Of course, that's not to say that this type of content makes it a bad game intrinsically, since it can still be done tastefully. To use movies as an example (again), just because a Hollywood action movie has a sex scene does not mean it's inherently pornography. Katawa Shoujo is a really good example of this. It's a very well done romance story, with "adult content" scenes never being exploitative or disrespectful towards the characters (With one exception, but that's for another time). It also helps that you're given an option to turn off the "adult content" from the options screen at any time.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QdQ3p9oZsouUXNgN-uQmQVJKmvK3_aM8wTiGa2jm6jB6TSrCA62gSPRdJLfM3gyC96dG9l6YVmMZ-ndK_i7JC4qGvlJdUWnSB_sSMJC62VtMHAkZybh3HKaML5R5kAYkLXmSN7kICTY/s1600/Katawa+Shoujo+Kenji+Snipers.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QdQ3p9oZsouUXNgN-uQmQVJKmvK3_aM8wTiGa2jm6jB6TSrCA62gSPRdJLfM3gyC96dG9l6YVmMZ-ndK_i7JC4qGvlJdUWnSB_sSMJC62VtMHAkZybh3HKaML5R5kAYkLXmSN7kICTY/s400/Katawa+Shoujo+Kenji+Snipers.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katawa Shoujo. This is one of the more typical visual novels... Kind of.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
However, I'm not here to talk about those games, or at least not yet. Right now I'm talking about three games with no actual pornographic content in them. The visual novels created by Miss Christine Love.<br />
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Love has, as of now, made three visual novels, all part of what I call her "Story" trilogy. <i>Digital: A Love Story</i>, <i>Don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story</i>, and <i>Analogue: A Hate Story</i>. <i>Digital</i> was received very favorably by the majority of people who played it, <i>Don't take it personally</i> had more mixed reception, and <i>Analogue</i> has also been received well. I'm going to go into detail with all of them in the upcoming posts, but personally I liked all three. <i>Don't take it personally </i>is by far the worst one, but it's more flawed than downright horrible, while both<i> Analogue </i>and <i>Digital</i> are both spectacular.<br />
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Oh, I guess I should explain how visual novels work. They're novels, but done with visual representations of locations or characters. The player is given choice and input, most of time deciding what the Protagonist is going to say or do. Because of this, branching paths or alternative story lines are fairly common in these kind of games. However, Love's games involve a little bit more input from the player, in that both <i>Digital </i>and <i>Analogue</i> use computer interfaces as the primary input method. Despite both games being linear, they still do a good job of making the player feel engaged and invested, and also allows for puzzles to be incorporated.<br />
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So, I'm going to go into more depth with this in the next posts, as I want to talk about each game individually. I highly recommend that anyone interested at least try out <i>Digital</i> as it's free and not that long. Also, I'm not entirely sure if I want to do no spoilers or some spoilers or all spoilers, so if one of the 5 people who are going to read this want to tell me that would be pretty cool.<br />
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ANYWHO, you can download both <i>Digital</i> and <i>Don't take it personally</i> on Christine's website <a href="http://blog.scoutshonour.com/">here</a>, and <i>Analogue</i> is $10 on Steam (Also it's apparently in a bundle or something). <i>Analogue</i> is worth the money, and the other two are worth the time to play them, even <i>Don't take it personally</i>. I'm on Twitter as @Killer_of_hopes and I sometimes do articles over at <a href="http://legacy-control.com/control-freaks/">this place.</a> So far I've only published one, which was a review of <a href="http://legacy-control.com/control-freaks/of-sleeping-dogs-and-cell-phones-sleeping-dogs-review/">Sleeping Dogs.</a> It wasn't that in depth, as it originally started out as more of me just talking about the one thing in GTA 4 that I liked, but I guess it became some sort of review along the way. I'm working on a Guild Wars 2 thing, which will probably be just me talking about how it's like WoW but more well designed. Ideally that'll be up within the month.<br />
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And.... that should be all for this post. Hopefully I end up actually posting content on here, and not letting it die like the last <strike>three</strike> two (Tumblr doesn't count) times I tried out this blogging thing. It might help if I posted interesting things too, but we'll get to that when we get to that.<br />
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So, see ya next time for <i>Digital: A Love Story</i>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a "n" that my cursor is blocking.</td></tr>
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