Architecture of evil

Thought provoking read on the architecture of evil in videogame design. Found on BDLGBLOG:

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/evil-lair-on-architecture-of-enemy-in.html

User-generated Content

Cory Doctorow over at Boing Boing posted this interesting article on user-generated content in MMORPG City of Heroes:




Does anyone here play City of Heroes or have any experience of the kind of exploitation mentioned? Do you think it really counts as exploitation or should it just be thought of as a 'rules are meant to be broken' scenario.
Personally, I maintain that when game developers loosen their grasp on the reigns of a project, they have to expect that players will find all sorts of other ways to have fun in-game, ways which aren't necessarily envisioned by the design team. I think Barry Atkins covers an aspect of this in an early chapter of More than a Game. On the flip-side, the kind of ultra-easy/cheat quests being set up in City of Heroes don't sound like they will remain 'fun' for long, in which case they should die out naturally. Games also require a healthy dose of challenge.

Interviews

Have a look at this round up of interviews with game developers of de Blob, Samorost, and Zen Bound fame. Enjoy...

Make a game during your lunch break

Hey People

I have found this website that is still on its beta phase at the moment; but looks like one to watch in months to come. The website is called Sploder and gives any web surfer the ability to create a basic computer game and share it with people on the community page.

There are two types of games availible to create at the moment; FPS and Platformer. But I think there will be more to come when the following becomes bigger and tools get better. Some of the titles that people have made are rearly good and worth a small 5 minute play during a break.

You can find the site at www.sploder.com and see what you think

Cheers

Nintendo DSi -- defective by design

I recieved this through the Gamenetwork mailout and thought students that don't subscribe would be interested...

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In November, Nintendo released the DSi console in Japan. Next month, the rest of the world will be hit by this console. Similar to the previous Nintendo DS and DS Lite consoles, the DSi has two screens and the ability to access WiFi networks. However, in an effort to heavily control what gamers can do with their consoles, Nintendo has chosen to encumber this new version with Digital Restrictions Management (DRM).

Nintendo DSi -- defective by design

By keeping it similar in style and backward-compatible with many, but not all, Nintendo DS and DS Lite games, Nintendo is hoping the public will ignore the restrictions in favor of some surface enhancements.

Support for the previous Game Boy Advance games has gone, and an SD card slot has been added. On previous models, users were able to make good use of the hardware for homebrew games and various free software applications, such as ScummVM and the GNU/Linux OS via a third-party adapter.

Nintendo has specifically blocked these adapters on the DSi, hoping to woo the general public with music playback via the encumbered AAC format, two low-resolution digital cameras and support for modern wireless network security. All this ties nicely into their forthcoming DRM-infected download service, DSiWare -- a sibling of the WiiWare and Virtual Console services on the Wii, plus, for the first time on a Nintendo handheld, region locking -- effectively locking out the import market.

Oh, and if any of these restrictions are broken, Nintendo can update your console's firmware via both new game cartridges and over the air updates.

What Nintendo is doing with this move further distances itself from the homebrew DRM-free development community. Just as it has done on the Wii, Nintendo engages in a constant game of cat-and-mouse with the developers, patching its badly written security subsystem with forced patches and upgrades specifically designed to lock out legitimate third-party development by people who are unable or unwilling to sign Nintendo's onerous developer agreements and rent expensive development systems.

All this adds up to making up and coming free/open consoles like OpenPandora and the Fuzebox all the more attractive for game hackers and hobbyist developers. By supporting systems that actively go against the grain of locking users into proprietary development platforms, we encourage the development of free software games.

How can you fight this? Not buying the Nintendo DSi would be one way. By not buying it, we send a message to Nintendo and the game companies that this is unacceptable. Namco Bandai is the first third-party developer to support DSi -- contact them, and Nintendo below.

* Nintendo: nintendopower@futureus.com and Nintendo's online support
* Namco Bandai: support@namcobandaigames.com

Referencing Images

I thought that I would write a post to help guide students in the use of images in their essays. I will show you through example but first I think that it is important to say that the use of images should be illustrative not decorative. Images, especially when writing about a visual media like games are very important to reinforce your points but they should be there to illustrate your points not to decorate your essays, this is the same for graphs and charts.

So... how do you use images?

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Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (2007) shows innovation in it's level design, creating spaces of play that are immersive and atmospheric. One of the most engaging level designs to evoke tension and an overwhelming sensory experience takes place in a night club. As you enter the club atmosphere the level teems with people dancing to the heavy thumbing of a bass beat. The level is dark and confusing, as a player you are informed that you must traverse this disorientating environment in order to achieve the levels goals. The level is simple in its layout and structure but becomes complex as you try to manoeuvre through the crowds in this dark and bewildering space (figure 01).

figure 01 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men nightclub level

You are required to move from one end of the level, achieve a goal and return to the club entrance again. On your return across the club it becomes necessary to shoot your gun which triggers mass panic and shifts the atmosphere of the space from one of disorientation to a explosion of unrest. The player is usually required to shoot their weapon while stood on a balcony overlooking the crowd, this event is deliberately triggered here so that the player can view the magnitude of the task ahead. The play now shifts to protecting your team mate within the crowd where it is hard to distinguish ravers in distress from opponents (figure 02).

figure 02 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men nightclub level in panic
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After by Bibliography which will state all of my referenced texts i will have a page with a list of images which would look something like this

figure 01 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men nightclub level - http://www.gamingsteve.com
figure 02 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men nightclub level in panic - www.msxbox-world.com

You don't need the full URL as these can sometimes be massive, if you have used google images then they usually have a short site URL under the image that you can cut and paste. If the image is a screen shot you have taken yourself or a graph that you have made from your findings then you just need to say where it has come from so you would write something along the lines of "screenshot of gameplay" or "graph composed of findings from ..."

You also need to reference tables in the same way, so if you have analysed data you need to but "table 01 collated research from questionnaire" and you can make reference to the table in the same way as you would an image.

Second Life on the Move

Hey Again People

I have been listenng to some podcasts this afternoon and have came across a japanese company which makes apps for the ipod touch and the iphone called Genkii.

They have been around for about a year and have just brought out Sparkle which I think is going to be a killer app for the platform called Sparkle, it is basically Second Life for the Ipod Touch and Iphone, which potentially boasts many of the features that Second Life has, but portable and can be played anywhere (Well for the Iphone at least, Ipod touch will have to find a wi-fi point)

But as they are also bring out some interactive mediaas well soon, they might be worth keeping an eye on the company to see what they do next.

The link to the side is

http://genkii.com/index.html

Just hope they will do one for Google Phones soon, as don't want to miss out

Cheers People

Resident Evil Essay - 1st Draft

Hey people, I hope you are all having a good easter and having some time off. I have just finished the first draft of my essay and was wondering if you could take a look at it for me.

You can find it at the link below and any feedback (if you do read it would be gratefull)

The link is http://www.box.net/shared/h2jhz5ssrb

Cheers

Luke

The Evolution of Gamer and Gaming Culture

Gamer and Gaming culture has never been at the foreground of society but still plays a large part in todays’ world.

In this essay I will be looking at the evolution of Gamer and Gaming culture from its roots in the old school arcades to its modern day living room counter part in order to document and analyse the changes that have occurred to it over the last few decades.

In order to fully understand the evolution of a new culture I will look into several aspects of it which include the people involved, the taboos & commandments, the effect on popular culture and the rate of change.

Due to the industries growth and the application of high end technology and innovative interaction methods gaming culture has changed to span a broad spectrum of peoples some who take part intentionally and some who are a part of it just by starting to enjoy games.

Essay Structure:

Research and define key generations of gaming culture where the most impact was made

Find statistics describing the average amount of people in the UK who play games from 20 years ago and today and use them to accurately describe the rate of growth and give a personal opinion on why the changes occurred.

Compare each advancement in culture and technology for each generation and how these two areas affected by each other.

Research on advances in technology and gameplay.

Describe how gaming culture has merged into todays popular culture

Compare taboos within society from today and several years ago. Describe how the changes in general society occurred and give opinion on why it happened.

Conclusion

Conclude with overall findings and come up with a fact based opinion about the evolution of gamer and gaming culture.

Casual Gamer: True or False

History and Analysis by Ravelle Leacock

I am going to discuss the impact of the gaming industry today, and the innovations which have paved the way for easier accessibility for the unconventional gamer. I shall be asking the question: (Casual Gamer: True or False)

Within the essay I will be identifying the notion of fads that gaming may have had, and whether those fads still exist.

From the past ten years, the way that gaming has evolved has been extremely positive, a lot of that success was due to technology progressing, whether it be graphical and processing power or hardware interfaces.

Structure of the Essay

Main points to focus on

• Look at and research all consoles which have been released within the past 10 years.

Compare each console from old gen to next gen, and highlight each consoles’ demographic.

• Look and research major titles for each platform.

Compare major titles for each console and highlight each games’ demographic.

• Research Technology within the industry

Look at technology used for gaming and look at technology used for non-gaming i.e. films CGI.

• General thoughts of consumers

Take out a survey between hardcore gamers and causal gamers and identify a general consensus between each.

Video Games As Art - Nintendo Style

I got my hands on a Nintendo DSi last friday and found an interesting title on the new DSi-ware download service. Art Style: Azurio is part of Nintendo's series of "Art Style" games (an evolution of the "Bit Generations" series on Game Boy Advance). Essentially its a take on Panel De Pon (Planet Puzzle League in the west) although explaining the gameplay leaves me at a loss ...erm.... ok! you line up colored blocks works best. The game has a really nice clean underwater style which I'm finding quite relaxing, which is good for a puzzle game!

Anyway take a look at the video below! (thanks' ign.com). If anyones interested in taking a look at more title in the art style series (some are on Wii-ware too) have a search for the following.

• Orbient
• Rotohex
• Cubello
• Decode
• Picopict
• Somnium
• Hacolife
• Nalaku

See you all soon, Christopher

GAMES GRADS CANCELLED

Just in case some of you who were intending to go didnt know, games grads has been cancelled. Chances are you already do know its just i went to register and it said it has been postponed up until next year.

FEZ

IGS 2007 - 'Innovation in Indie Games'

'Innovation in Indie Games'

When I grow up, I want to go to Youtube University

Hey People

I was just reading Lifehacker and their top story of the day is that Youtube has launched their own educational protal from their website called YoutubeEDU featuring lectures from Universitys and Colleges from all over the world.

Going to have a propper look through the channels they have up at the moment, but they are part of lectures and even some full ones, all of them can be put on the ipods or Mp4 players as well for your convenience.

The Link is:

http://www.youtube.com/edu

Cheers Dudes

Games & Learning

Again from the Guardian Games Blog, this article links to a video of Aleks Krotoski interviewing Henry Jenkins on the relationship of games and learning. Most relevant probably for Steven but of interest to all. As I've said in the past, Henry Jenkins is a big name in game studies, particularly in the USA due to his Congressional testimonies.

Link to the video from this article.

The Point and Click strikes back

In relation to the last post, check out this article on the resurgence of 'Point & Click' games in the Guardian Games Blog (a site worth adding to your live bookmarks/rss feeds)



Charles Cecil talks Broken Sword Directors Cut and why point and click adventures are back

Ready Set... Point and Click

I have always been a fan of point and click adventure games (especially the Monkey Island series) so I have devoted some time today to play Double Fines new mini game to comemorate Tim Schafer hosting the GDA Choice awards... I thought i'd share. (if anyone can find the 22nd joke you are a better man than me, I have one half of a joke on a sticky note left). It is amazing what you can do inside a browser game...

(It is well worth leaving the room when you have no jokes, then with some... i couldn't tell you what happens when you have all of them)

Unraveling Xi (Well trying to)

Hey People

I hav just logged onto Playstation Home and have found some weird grafitti on the walls, I thought that it was a piece of promo for a game but actually is a launchpad for a new game for the Playstation Home and possibly Network too.

It is an alternate reality game called Xi and apparently is like a real time scavenger hunt much like The Lost Experience and Perplex City discussed at the beggining of the course.

The servers are at bursting point at the moment, but when it quietens down should be good to have a look at.

There is an artical on Kotaku at the moment about it, so have a look and see what you think.

For those students keen on viewing the film As Real As Your Life which was briefly discussed during the History and Analysis 3 module and was planned to be shown as part of the "Becoming Cyborg" lecture on the 12th March there will be another chance to view this movie on 30th March at 6pm at MMU as part of the Technolust season that is currently screening.

For those that have not seen the trailer for this short film i have embeded it below

This screening will be a double bill of As Real As Your Life and the Korean film I'm A Cyborg But That's OK

X48 and Game Jamming

I thought that i would draw the class' attention to this event that has been running this weekend... The X48 GameCamp at the University of Derby. I have been following this as it has developed over the weekend after latching onto it as it flew by on my blog dashboard of updates from Wonderland. As an event closely relating to the idea of Indie Game Jams and the Global Game Jam discussed in the first session.

I am not sure how i feel about the corporate sponsorship of these sorts of indie events as it seems to fit somewhere between "Cool Hunting" and good publicity.

I think one of the things that is so interesting is the use of web 2.0 technologies to publicise the event and follow its progress (YouTube, twitter, blogging, facebook, Flicker, daytum, Last.FM play lists).

(I think we could all learn a little from this approach)

I think that it is also interesting to see the idea of a Jam with XNA rather than Flash or the ipod dev tools seen at a lot of other Jams.

InterfaceLIFT - Bit of Randomness

Hey People

Nothing to do with the blog, but just wanted to share this as it is a great little website. Its a wallpaper website that is full of user content, but there are some good wallpapers on pictures on here which are free to use.

The website is http://interfacelift.com/

See what you think and enjoy some good backgrounds for your computer

Violence in Video Games

My topic I will be writing my essay on will be Violence in video games. There are a lot of controversies surrounding this topic in recent times and I find it very interesting to do some more research about this topic and what other people think. This has been everywhere in the news, magazines and even in the newspapers so this is no news to anyone. I will be using various researches sources such as magazines, article and internet sources to do my research. The reason why I chose to do my essay on this topic was, as a gamer I like violence in video games and I find it a little boring to play games with little violence it them. So choosing this topic will help me express myself freely in a way I would like and argue for and against violence in Video games. This research at the end will give me a broad idea about the effects violence can have in a video games and children.

Mountain Dew Gets Warcrafted

Hey People

I have just found this on Kotaku and thought it would be useful for Alex's work at the moment. Mountain Dew have released a special Warcraft edition of their drink called Game Fuel. They have done this a few times before with some other games such as Halo 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3 (if I am thinking right)

You can find the link at

http://kotaku.com/5173387/world-of-warcraft-the-soft-drink

Cheers

Luke

Student Presentations - Peer Review

As those that presented for the H&A3 module will know I run a system of peer review with presentations, some of the marking criteria have changed so i thought i would release a copy of this terms peer marking sheet for you to see before you present

Charlie Brooker on Gaming. What's not to like?

Charlie Brooker in the Guardian discussing gaming.

Harsh, vitriolic, and amusing all at the same time. Just a short comment on the popularity of videogames and their sometimes deceptively un-intuitive interfaces. Not very deep but Brooker is always, in the very least, perceptive if you can shift through the swear words.

If he could team up with a design team and publisher, do you think a videogame from his imagination would rival his reality TV parody Dead Set (2008)? I'd buy it.

Resident Evil 5 - I Take It All Back

Hello People

Not In Thursday's Lecture, I said that I was not going to buy Resident Evil 5 and said how bad the demo was. But I won some money and ended up buying it after saw a video of Chris and Wesker fighting each other, so was hooked there and then.

I do take it all back though, the demo was bad but the game is so much better and the team based game mechanics work very well, even if they are a bit wooden and glitchy.

So I think I have learned a lesson in all this which is don't judge a game on the demo that is released (before or after the game has been released)

See you all soon

Are Games Good For Learning - Academic Paper

Hey people

I have been doing research for my presentation/essay and came across a usefull paper for ste matthews presentation. It poses the question are "Video Games Good For Learning?" and I have read the first few pages and looks good.

It is a bit old now as one of its focuses is Thief: Deadly Shadows and Dues Ex, but can be applied to modern games easily me thinks.

You can find the paper at the following URL

http://www.academiccolab.org/resources/documents/MacArthur.pdf

Cheers People

Presentation Abstract - Title Change (Bio-Terrorism to Terrorism)

Hey People

Sorry about the late notice of this, but I have decided to change the title of my presentation to include all forms of terrorism and not Bio Terrorism imparticular. I have been doing research tonight and have found out that my terrorism research contains more infomation than the bioterrorism research to going to include both in the presentation/essay.

Hope this is OK and see you all next week

Luke

Resident Evil Research - Gametrailers Retrospective

As people know, I have been researching terrorism and bioterrorism in videogames and imparticular Resident Evil.

I have played all of the titles in the series already, but have been watching this retrospective in case I have missed anything in the story timeline.

I thought if people haven't seen it, it is a good video to watch just to recap over the series.

You can find the video at http://www.gametrailers.com/player/46616.html

The Unfinished Swan

Student Presentations

Can ALL students book a place to present their work for this module on Doodle. Students can only book one slot and each slot can only be book once (Doodle has improved since last term). Presentation slots are on a first come first served basis... Students should keep in mind that the presentation is of a work in progress but should be of a professional and academic nature. Presentations constitute 25% of your final mark and will be peer reviewed. Please go to http://www.alanhook.co.uk/CVG_HA4/pa2_ha4_0809.pdf for further guidance.

For those that haven't used Doodle before please visit the doodle site here type your name in the box, pick your time on the day you prefer and click save. I will be monitoring the site to make sure people are taking part and that it is running smoothly.

Damian Redman - Jumping out of the medias scapegoat

Heres my abstract for the essay

Controversy and the games industry have sat hand in hand for years, the most famous and historic example being the Grand Theft Auto series. So many gameplay decisions made by GTA’s creators whether made to be satirical or not have been contested by the media. The biggest scandal surrounding the 2004 adaption Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and it ‘hot Coffee’ Feature.

Naturally when its latest instalment Grand Theft Auto 4 hit shelves April 2008, it was going to also meet the same fate at the hands of the media. However another game that shares countless similarities to the Grand Theft Auto series has emerged and has been able to avoid the controversy scapegoating by the Media, this game in question is Saints Row 2.

Through comparing the four biggest elements to Grand Theft Auto’s controversial status, Violence, Sexual Content, Drug and alcohol abuse with strong examples in Saints Row 2 to reveal in what ways volition Inc, Saints row 2 developers, tackled these highly taboo elements in the media’s eyes and were able to dispense the controversy. As well as the controversy angle both games will be summarised in their genre role to discuss which matches it the best.

The Starving Video Game Artist

Check out this interview with Jason Rohrer on IGN. Really interesting for those on both sides of the debate regarding art vs product, game artists and the economic decline, freeware vs platform games, and his games in general.

The Impact of Video games as virtual worlds for positive learning and development.

Here is a brief abstract of the topic I will be researching this semester.

Video games have for many years been researched as activities that promote the learning of an individual as they can allow for personal, meaningful experiences and developmental growth. Virtual worlds are increasingly having a more significant impact upon society as an effective method of aiding in human development and learning through the participation in an activity that many class as fun and entertaining. The real world value of video game play cannot be underestimated as further study into the theory and practice of creating a game allows for increasingly more accurate representations of important aspects intrinsic to positive human development. This does not even take into consideration the abundance of games intentionally designed to promote learning that are now being crafted for specific purposes, allowing individuals to have a truly interactive and experiential method from which to learn skills. While there are certainly stories of people allowing video games to impact their lives to their own detriment, in general and with regards to the vast majority, video game play promotes the development of the individual. It is through participation in video gaming as a voluntary activity, that a person becomes challenged to overcome obstacles and in many cases is not only developing personal skills but is also learning what can be classed as the virtual embodiment of cultural and social practices.