Sunday, 26 July 2015
Weekly Reading Discussion (Week 5)
Verisimilitude vs Stylized Graphics
There shouldn't really be any comparison between these two styles. Both are incredible in their own rights and show exceptional amount of talent to make them look as beautiful as they do.
Verisimilitude refers to something being realistic or as close to real they [developers] make it, whereas stylized refers to graphics being purposefully not realistic.
The obvious "head to head" in my eyes would be any of the recent Call of Duty titles vs Boarderlands. Both are an first person shooter with fast paced game play but the realistic graphics from Call of Duty set it apart from the semi cartoony look of Boarderlands.
Boarderlands plays more into a fictional scenario where you're shooting monsters and upgrading your gear and all that good stuff but the cartoony element make the fact that it is intended to be sci-fi more prominent.
When looking at C.O.D, the highly realistic graphics cause the player to feel a sense of immersion.
There shouldn't really be any comparison between these two styles. Both are incredible in their own rights and show exceptional amount of talent to make them look as beautiful as they do.
Verisimilitude refers to something being realistic or as close to real they [developers] make it, whereas stylized refers to graphics being purposefully not realistic.
The obvious "head to head" in my eyes would be any of the recent Call of Duty titles vs Boarderlands. Both are an first person shooter with fast paced game play but the realistic graphics from Call of Duty set it apart from the semi cartoony look of Boarderlands.
Boarderlands plays more into a fictional scenario where you're shooting monsters and upgrading your gear and all that good stuff but the cartoony element make the fact that it is intended to be sci-fi more prominent.
When looking at C.O.D, the highly realistic graphics cause the player to feel a sense of immersion.
Weekly Reading Discussion (Week 4)
Ludonarrative Dissonance
Ludonarrative dissonance is essentially a fancy word for when the story-line and gameplay show no correlation. The only game that springs to mind in reference to this is Bioshock Infinite. The gameplay itself and 'missions' were often way too violent for what was expected from the cutscenes and story-line, it just didn't make sense.
The cutscenes were peaceful and lovely, yet the gameplay was morbid and almost a bit TOO full-on.
Friday, 24 July 2015
Weekly Reading Discussion (Week 3)
First Person Shooters VS Third Person Shooters
The debate of FPS v TPS is one I don't care too much about given that they are not the game styles I play.
That being said they appeal to different different audiences given that FPS give the sense of being the character, it's more immersive and personal.
Whereas TPS seem to be more story based than actually BEING the character.
The debate of FPS v TPS is one I don't care too much about given that they are not the game styles I play.
That being said they appeal to different different audiences given that FPS give the sense of being the character, it's more immersive and personal.
Whereas TPS seem to be more story based than actually BEING the character.
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Weekly Reading Discussion (Week 2)
ROCKSTAR North - Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V, like its predecessors, is a very controversial game where the player is tasked with missions to complete where you must commit crimes. Crimes such as; stealing, murder and assault to name a few.
You can see why this game has copped a bad rap from most game critics.
It is claimed that a game - being so violent and labelled as a "game" - encourages people to be aggressive, volatile and abusive.
Blizzard - World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is undoubtably THE most well known and most addictive game there has ever been. I speak with personal experience and a commitment of 3 years of my life into the game when I say that it is an immersive and deeply complex game that has no real target audience, which is where I think the game was able to flourish. By not directing the game at a specific demographic it left it open to absolutely everyone to play. The appeal in creating a character (sometimes considered as an alter-ego) and levelling up to max level, customising him/her with the best looking armour and weapons and being in an open world where you can interact with other people seemed to appeal to 6 million people.
Fun Fact! At the midnight launch of Blizzard's World of Warcraft they sold so many copies of the game so quickly that by 12:25am they ran out. Not to mention when they re-stocked the player-base was already reaching the 1 million mark which was unexpected from Blizzard. So unexpected that their servers couldn't support the influx of players. Server crashing in World of Warcraft early days was a VERY common thing, and if that wasn't enough the players also had to have a queue to wait in until they were allowed into the game. A personal friend of mine has a queue timer that was 48 hours long.
Mojang - Minecraft
Minecraft, much like World of Warcraft, is another totally immersive game in which the player goes Bear Grylls mode and survives from resources he/she acquires. Minecraft is a "sand-box-role-playing-game", meaning that you build every tool, every structure from basic things found in the world. Example: You acquire wood from breaking trees, woo blocks turn into wood planks which can be made into sticks, crafting tables and tools. Tools like; sword, axe, hoe, shovel and pickaxe are all used to better your game play. People have build some incredible structures in Minecraft (like a to-scale replica of Hogwarts or Kings Landing).
Being a sandbox style game it ensures that there is NEVER an end to the game because it is all your own imagination and creativity. The game stops when you stop having new ideas.
Grand Theft Auto V, like its predecessors, is a very controversial game where the player is tasked with missions to complete where you must commit crimes. Crimes such as; stealing, murder and assault to name a few.
You can see why this game has copped a bad rap from most game critics.
It is claimed that a game - being so violent and labelled as a "game" - encourages people to be aggressive, volatile and abusive.
Blizzard - World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is undoubtably THE most well known and most addictive game there has ever been. I speak with personal experience and a commitment of 3 years of my life into the game when I say that it is an immersive and deeply complex game that has no real target audience, which is where I think the game was able to flourish. By not directing the game at a specific demographic it left it open to absolutely everyone to play. The appeal in creating a character (sometimes considered as an alter-ego) and levelling up to max level, customising him/her with the best looking armour and weapons and being in an open world where you can interact with other people seemed to appeal to 6 million people.
Fun Fact! At the midnight launch of Blizzard's World of Warcraft they sold so many copies of the game so quickly that by 12:25am they ran out. Not to mention when they re-stocked the player-base was already reaching the 1 million mark which was unexpected from Blizzard. So unexpected that their servers couldn't support the influx of players. Server crashing in World of Warcraft early days was a VERY common thing, and if that wasn't enough the players also had to have a queue to wait in until they were allowed into the game. A personal friend of mine has a queue timer that was 48 hours long.
Mojang - Minecraft
Minecraft, much like World of Warcraft, is another totally immersive game in which the player goes Bear Grylls mode and survives from resources he/she acquires. Minecraft is a "sand-box-role-playing-game", meaning that you build every tool, every structure from basic things found in the world. Example: You acquire wood from breaking trees, woo blocks turn into wood planks which can be made into sticks, crafting tables and tools. Tools like; sword, axe, hoe, shovel and pickaxe are all used to better your game play. People have build some incredible structures in Minecraft (like a to-scale replica of Hogwarts or Kings Landing).
Being a sandbox style game it ensures that there is NEVER an end to the game because it is all your own imagination and creativity. The game stops when you stop having new ideas.
Friday, 19 June 2015
Weekly Reading Discussion (Week 1)
1972 Atari - Pong
The Atari Pong is a classic. Everyone who played a game has heard of Pong.
It was the original PvP competitive game that in my mind paved the way for eSports and gaming rivalry. Even though we now see Pong as such a basic game, for it's time, it was ground-breaking.
1995 SONY Playstation
The SONY Playstation was the first console I ever owned so it has always been close to my heart and the thing that initiated my love for gaming. I used to sit there for hours and play until my hands cramped up.
There were never that many games that were of a high quality for it's time but the ones that were were absolutely incredible.
1994 Blizzard's Warcraft: Orcs and Humans
Blizzard's Warcraft was the first Real Time Strategy game that I ever played. It featured a fantastically immersive story-line and a deep lore that I seemed to connect with. Even though this game came out 1 year before I was even born I still enjoy playing it to this day.
It paved the way for games such as Starcraft and Defenders of The Ancients (DoTA) which are exceptionally competitive and a lot of fun.
Away from the competitive side of gaming it also contributed to the best RPG ever made, World of Warcraft. Where the lore expanded and the story line dove deeper. For me, this was total heaven.
The Atari Pong is a classic. Everyone who played a game has heard of Pong.
It was the original PvP competitive game that in my mind paved the way for eSports and gaming rivalry. Even though we now see Pong as such a basic game, for it's time, it was ground-breaking.
1995 SONY Playstation
The SONY Playstation was the first console I ever owned so it has always been close to my heart and the thing that initiated my love for gaming. I used to sit there for hours and play until my hands cramped up.
There were never that many games that were of a high quality for it's time but the ones that were were absolutely incredible.
1994 Blizzard's Warcraft: Orcs and Humans
Blizzard's Warcraft was the first Real Time Strategy game that I ever played. It featured a fantastically immersive story-line and a deep lore that I seemed to connect with. Even though this game came out 1 year before I was even born I still enjoy playing it to this day.
It paved the way for games such as Starcraft and Defenders of The Ancients (DoTA) which are exceptionally competitive and a lot of fun.
Away from the competitive side of gaming it also contributed to the best RPG ever made, World of Warcraft. Where the lore expanded and the story line dove deeper. For me, this was total heaven.
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