Category Archives: Links

Realism – It’s Not for Everyone

http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_85_if-video-games-were-realistic/

Galloway correctly asserts that there are both realistic games and fantastical games. This set of photos drives home this point by contextualizing fantastical games with “realistic” problems. It reminds us how we are so ready to suspend our disbelief and concede to faith in the reality created onscreen. The funny thing is, when we are faced with games that we take to be realistic (as opposed to fantastical), we are quick to grow indignant when glitches or the game’s programming break from the natural laws that we expect to govern that space. We assume that the game is bound by reality, when this assumption is largely unfounded. Anyways, have a laugh at these photos; a few of them are pretty clever.

The “Columbine theory” of realism in gaming

In our reading for Thursday, the issue of realistic video games was discussed in depth. How realistic or how much of the “mimetic” aspect of a game is too much? An event that usually is referred to is the Columbine shooting from the late 90s and the subsequent shootings (one that is recent is Virginia Tech) at both high schools and colleges, that have occurred afterwards. Galloway chose to only to briefly mention the topic because of its controversial nature, however it brings up the question of how much do video games affect the public. With increasing quality of graphics in video games, video games appear more realistic with each passing year and more “real” subject matter rather than fantasy, such as World of Warcraft.

The realistic violence in video games is normally the scapegoat for increased aggression in adolescence and as a reason for the shootings mentioned above.  I put into Google, “Columbine theory video games” and found a recent blog post about the very thing discussed in the essay. The blogger states his thoughts on video games being blamed for these shootings and this demonstrates Columbine’s relevance even now, since the shooting happened in 1999 and the post was from this year in February. Although the blogger does not cite “quantitative facts” from studies and the like, he does bring up the good point of how much blame can be cast on video games. The same argument that “Doom” and the Columbine RPG game caused the urge to shoot people can be applied to Mario saying that creates the urge to jump on turtles. Personally I think that the Columbine RPG game is a little much, but are the realistic subject matter of video games the cause of violence in the world or it is the media’s scapegoat?

 

http://www.screwattack.com/news/columbine-doom-theory

 

The link for a documentary discussing the Columbine RPG game referenced in the blog post.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1147621/

Casual Gamer Demographics

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1004798&R=1004798

“[G]enerally speaking, the more ‘hardcore’ the gamer, the more likely he is to be male, and conversely, the casual gamer will tend to skew female.”

This article gives a brief description of gamer demographics, specifically the break down of what gender typically plays what game. It was written in 2007 and the statistics are from 2006 – right around the same time A Casual Revolution was written.  I’m wondering how these demographics have shifted in the last five to six years. My speculation is that casual gaming has become equally popular between males and females over time, but hardcore gaming has become more male dominated.

Bullet Time

The first video has nothing to do with video games per se. It does, however, expound on an concept which Galloway mentioned multiple times in today’s reading: the concept of bullet time. This video, originally from the special features of The Matrix, describes the process of creating bullet time for the medium of film. I was immediately prompted to contrast the complexity and non-typicality of creating this effect in film with its normality in gaming.

The second video also shows a take on bullet time, this time in a scene from the game Max Payne 2. Here, somebody tampered with the game’s software to achieve an extreme bullet time effect. Obviously, the video game medium already gives the player control over the on-screen world that the viewer of a film does not have, and this accentuates that control to a ridiculous extent. I was pretty amused.

The Sounds of Road Runner

I grew up playing Road Runner, created in 1992, for the Super Nintendo. The game immediately popped into my head as we were discussing music and sounds in class on Tuesday. The music and sounds of Road Runner will forever be ingrained in my head. They are extremely annoying and yet, they fit perfectly with the game (which I guess suggests that the game itself is annoying – and it is most definitely one of the most annoying games I have ever played.) The main reason I am posting this link of a part of the game is to show how important the music/sounds are to a game. Imagine this game without these sounds. It would be so dull. Video games wouldn’t be the same without sound effects and the background soundtrack that almost always accompanies them.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqpkzln-4jc&w=420&h=315]

Bugs Bunnying

Ok, so what we’ve got here is a fairly long clip of a looney tunes episode (and if you have time, I suggest watching it, because I was cracking in up in Starbucks over it).

The point is, however, that this is a nice illustration of Mickey Mousing, and just generally what we were talking about in class. First, notice how sound effects (foley) are used to accentuate and bring to our attention the kinesthetic movements of the characters.  It’s nothing abstract, like how they’re growing as characters (hint: they don’t), but just physicality. If they take a step, there’s a jingle and a thump. Second, notice that the background music is unconnected to the foley, but they still go together.  All the action takes place within the rhythm of the background music.

 [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFrUY2kMlfA?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

Perhaps We Can Make a Difference

http://ethisphere.com/how-nike-is-changing-the-world-one-factory-at-a-time/

Many people accuse Apple of not doing enough to enforce their supplier code of conduct. Their response in the last half decade has been to audit their suppliers (with more audits happening each year). However, this may not be enough. Among the comments to an article criticizing the poor efforts of electronics companies, one reader used Nike as an example of a company working together with its suppliers to improve conditions. Amazed that a company seemed to know something Apple didn’t, I looked more into it.

In fact, the giant multinational has gone far beyond merely auditing its suppliers and giving them a slap on the wrist for violations. They work together with the companies and try to understand the issues that lead to excessive overtime and poor working conditions. By educating suppliers on ways in which more humane conditions actually improve the bottom line and thinking through more flexible purchasing decisions on their part, Nike has concretely set out to improve the working conditions in its many third-world factories. Perhaps, Apple could spare a sliver of is $100 Billion of cash to engage more with suppliers as Nike is doing.

Generational Differences

http://www.agts.edu/faculty/faculty_publications/articles/creps_generations_chart.pdf

During our discussion of some of the technological differences between the decades in class, I thought it would be equally interesting to see how technology has shaped the different generations.  The link features a chart featuring four overall groupings of various generations:  The builders (born between 1922-1945), the boomers (1943-1960), the busters (born 1961-1998), and the bridgers (1980-current).  Asides from sharing different generational historical markers (such as the end of the cold war, or the 9/11 attacks), the chart features categories ranging from family life, work ethic, to different attitudes common to each generational grouping.  What I found most interesting was how for the boomers and busters, family and work were the primary influences on their lives.  For the busters and bridgers, on the other hand, there is a very strong connection to technology, from the introduction of the VCR and Nintendo, to the DVD, Xbox and Play Station.  Though words such as “hard workers” and “service-oriented” marked the older generations in the workplace, words such as “techno-literate” and “technological-savvy” and “social networking” define the newer generations.

Seeker: Early Game Company Logos

http://www.gamesradar.com/5-iconic-game-company-logos-that-must-not-be-messed-with/

After thinking more into the interesting design of the Atari logo, I decided to look into what some other early logos looked like compared to Atari’s infamous logo.  I found this article from a couple of years ago where the author looks at five of the early logos, including Atari.  I found it interesting that not only was the logo designed after Pong, but also that the author said it reminded him of the 2600 joystick.  He continues to look at four other logos:  Capcom, Nintendo, Rockstar, and SEGA.  He makes valid arguments for why these five logos should not be changed, despite them being around since the beginning of the game industry.  I agree that these logos are so iconic now, that they should be kept for the life of the companies.  This article was posted because of the change to Rare’s logo in June, 2010.  Rare is another one of the early developers with a classic logo.  When they changed their logo, many people were upset because of how iconic their logo was to the industry.  Also, I think that modern developers are struggling to come up with a neat logo that will be iconic for years.