Dead Space
Dead Space is an upcoming survival horror title for which I've been following the development of online over the months. The main reason for this is that the game seems to have been heavily influenced by the sci-fi horror film genre - a favourite of mine. In particular, the film Event Horizon comes to mind. I understand that it's not exactly a mainstream movie, but it's very well written, atmospheric and hugely under-rated. It follows a rescue squad investigating a deserted research vessel in Neptune space, which has been possessed by a malevolent life force. Cue disturbing hallucinations, blood and a shocking climax. I recommend everyone who is even vaguely interested go and watch it, you won't be disappointed.
Indeed, very similar to the premise of Dead Space. It shows that success is not all down to originality, and Dead Space knows this, apparently full to the brim of movie references. What is equally or even more important than originality, is spotting a trend and then sticking to a formula. If it works, why change it?
It's almost mathematical in nature...
Where game ideas come from...
Listening to a game development conference at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival certainly inspired me to continue endlessly pursuing my dream of working as a game designer. I have read countless job descriptions and personal quality lists online and in magazines with regard to the coveted position of game designer. They all of course say more or less the same thing, but there are sadly many people who still believe programming and design are the same thing. As it was stated at the conference, a designer should essentially be a "jack of all trades". Somebody who has many interests and has taken part in many different activities over the years.
It's true that this life experience is where creative ideas come from, in any media. Of course, a designer must be an avid gamer, but if that is all they do, then their ideas will be hopeless clones of existing titles. Apparently,
Tōru Iwatani, the designer of the arcade classic
Pacman, got the idea from working on his garden, watching insects and flowers in the grass! Similarly with the '
Octocamo' camouflage system in Guns of the Patriots, inspired by the blending characteristics of the octopus. I can see a wealth of ideas floating around which would make terrific games. With the industry, it's a question of getting a foot in the door...
Guns of the Patriots
I'm working a lot at the minute so I can justify going out and buying this game within the next few days...! It's the kind of game you hate to read about just in case surprises are given away...
Violence takes many forms...
The argument regarding violence in video games has been raging on for years, and I've certainly touched upon this topic in previous posts. Probably so long ago I've forgotten, but I've just finished reading an interesting article on the
CGS website by Paul "
ReDeYe"
Chaloner regarding violent video games. It talked about an incident in Thailand that I confess I had not heard about - The story of a 19 year old
GTA obsessive who stabbed a taxi driver to death.
Naturally not good news, but also brutal is the fact that it is just another trophy for the 'violent video game
opposers' to hold and show to the world. Of course the article on the
CGS is from a video gamers perspective, and reinforces the correct notion that people will commit violent crimes regardless - video games are continuously 'lashed' for being responsible for all of this crazy world's ills.
Something that I had noted about the last supposed
GTA reenactment was the fact that the perpetrator was only 17 years old and was not legally entitled to purchase the game. Anybody who regurgitates cliched phrases about 'what violence does to our children' were beaten away (with a big stick) with the stalwart argument that the young man should not even have been playing
GTA. But then anybody who hasn't watched an 18 rated film before that age probably lives in a cave... Nevertheless, I believe many still haven't come to terms with the idea that with the constantly evolving industry, the word 'game' now doesn't necessarily need to be associated with children.
GTA is really not for young gamers. Will anybody ever realise that?
Violence is generally thought of as a single entity.
ie. A game (or film) is either violent or not. This is a very naive way of looking at it, and again, is probably promoted by non gamers, who haven't seen the wide array of action on show in today's next gen titles. The combat which makes up the Soul
Calibur series is purely fantastical, colourful, totally unrealistic and generally light hearted. This cannot be compared to the sadistic executions of the Manhunt series.
ReDeYe believes that game creators should take a little more responsibility over what they include in their games. Very true.
There is nothing out rightly wrong with violent video games, films or books. However, gratuitous, sadistic
gameplay for no real reason is a different story. Again this would apply to any media.
GTA 4 is very violent, but there are terrific characters, a superb setting and an A+ game beneath which cannot be disregarded.
If a child re-enacted a murder from a book, parents really should take it upon themselves to never let their children read ever again...
hmmm ;-)
The Internet in GTA IV
I've just spent the last hour browsing through the internet included in GTA IV. After setting up Niko's email account, I just lost track of time while looking at craplist.net, and also the very witty Burger Shot website. The store locator page was particularly amusing, as it was composed of just one line, stating that you can find Burger Shot simply by walking in any direction for two minutes! Very Nice... The site also poked fun at the fact that no matter how large your fast food meal, you will still be hungry an hour later... The whole game is naturally full to the brim of satirical references and jokes. The feeling that it's all too true to life tends to come across very strongly.
The game's internet is similar to how I had anticipated, and indeed all the hype the game has received does prepare you for the game's wealth of detail. I think it would be very interesting to play the game from the perspective of somebody who has an interest in games, but has possibly not read any previews or reviews, and is not up to speed on the industry's developments. I feel that they would be very much blown away by it...
GTA IV Progress - How awful is (was) Vlad?
I've recently had the chance in between shifts to really get to grips with
GTA IV. I'm not attempting to review the game in this post, but I'm inclined to agree with the 'great but not perfect' crowd. Mainstream reviewers did deem it the game to end all games - However, I did notice a good number of user reviews, especially on
GameFAQS, that did not like the game at all. 2 out of 10 was the predominant score! It is fantastic, and should be played, but there are a few flaws that I'll talk about another time...
To be honest, I'm not quite sure how the plot will develop, but I think Niko is a fantastic lead character. Although he is a violent criminal, there is definitely something
likeable about him. I imagine this is maybe part of the reason the game is so successful.
On the other hand,
Roman's associate Vlad is one of those awful people the world could do without. From the first meeting, you as the player, really despise him and if you're anything like me, you'll wonder
when rather than
if he'll meet with a sticky end! Sorry for a possible spoiler, considering there are multiple paths through the game, but his execution on the spot came a lot earlier than I expected. It might not have been the most gory moment in gaming ever (a bullet through the eye is fairly tame now), but it was so satisfying. This is a violent game, and some may abhor that aspect, but on this occasion they should make an exception!
