So, apparently back in June (26th or 27th) of this year, the Supreme Court of the USofA gave violent video games First Amendment protection, thus ending the ban on the sale of said games to minors. Being a Canuck, the only thing I know about the 1st Amendment, is the Freedom of Speech and the protection of spoken, written and works otherwise. This ruling have caused quite the stir, if not moral outcry from certain sectors in the US.
"Who will protect the children?" has been the cry so far.
Guess?
Their fugging parents, that's who!!
Maybe it's time for mommy and daddy to take an active interest in little Johnny and little Susie and their well being. Time for the TV and video games to stop being a baby sitter and return to being entertainment! Should a retailer face legal action if they sell a violent video game to a kid, or should they face the wrath of their parents? Should it even go that far? Why are the parents out there not aware of what the kids are playing, or watching, reading, listening to for music? This goes way back to the PMRC (Parent Music Resource Center) from the mid to late 80s. Formed by Tipper Gore and her fellow uptight anal retentive debutantes after the music their kids listened to featured words like "death", "kill" or "masturbation"
The PMRC headed spearheaded several Sub-Senate Committee Hearings and Court cases against several musicians and musical groups. This lead to ratings on the music we buy today, and in a roundabout way, lead tothe ESRB ratings on the games today as well.
Truth be told, its about time that something like this happened, and forced the parents to become parents, and take control for once.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Story Time, Pt 2!!
I love a good story, such as George RR Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Absolutely fantastic! That is ok if you disagree, story and subject matter is entirely personal. Even if you enjoyed "Twilight". It doesn't matter the source, Television, movies, books, games, a good story if going to make me play a game. Most times.
Anyways, story in a game is the backbone of it, the reason to play. Usually, a game will have story in them, even the FPS. Although, I usually find the story is a reason to run around and shoot people, with nothing really to edge it forward, or even link stages together. Adventure games used to draw more on story than even most Role Playing Games. Even some puzzle games drew heavily on story in order to make the game progress, take Myst for instance.
Given the fact that Adventure games has pretty much fallen off the map in recent years, with games like Lara Croft, and even the Monkey Island series drawing up the end of it, this puts RPGs to become the story tellers of the game industry. Not sure how true that is actually, but that is how it appears to me. Given that FPS do not really rely on a story to progress the game, and racing and sports games.....no story there. Don't even try to convince me otherwise. Action games can draw upon story....are there any action games out there still? Someone, anyone? Let me know.
Lets take a quick peek at a few games, and compare the story and how they drive the game, making you want to progress. You have to remember, that the games I am going to discuss may not be games you want to play., so keep an open mind for this.
Lets take a quick look at a game that is trying to revitalize a nearly dead genre, LA Noire. I have yet to get a chance to play this game, but I have heard good things about it. Brought to us by Rockstar games, the same folks behind Grand Theft Auto, LAn draws very heavily upon story to progress the game along, drawing you deeper and deeper into it. Lets not forget that the developers had a depth of interesting news and history to draw from for the era of the game, including the infamous Black Dahlia Murder.
Moving on, a quick peek into the RPG area, and lets take a look at Bioware's critically acclaimed Mass Effect 2. Now lets hold off a minute, as I have to say, that Bioware has really made the story the focal point of their games. Action is secondary. Not also have they really brought story to the front of the game, they have made it so that the players choices within the story, can alter the ending.
First Person Shooter games really do not rely on story to push the player through the game, relying instead on objectives to move the game along, and centering on guns and the like for action. While Mass Effect does have a shooting element (more along the lines of 3rd person), that game relies more on story than say, Call of Duty does. While Call of Duty, or BattleField may contain a back story, it is merely a shell to draw a player into the action, and then relies solely on the action to keep the player moving through the game, offering missions with objectives to achieve in order to move onto the next stage of the same story.
Other games out there use story as an initial draw into the game, however, there is usually nothing of note beyond start and end. Mario Brothers is on of those games, a platform jumper that starts off with the "Save the Princess" story, and then falls off from there. Once you reach that goal, and the game begins again, with a harder difficulty. Puzzle games usually have no story to draw you into it, but other things that draw you into it. Look at all the time played on Tetris, lord knows I have spent hours upon hours playing it.
Next up, going to look at the Story in RPGs, in a West Vs East story style showdown.
Until next time, happy gaming.
Anyways, story in a game is the backbone of it, the reason to play. Usually, a game will have story in them, even the FPS. Although, I usually find the story is a reason to run around and shoot people, with nothing really to edge it forward, or even link stages together. Adventure games used to draw more on story than even most Role Playing Games. Even some puzzle games drew heavily on story in order to make the game progress, take Myst for instance.
Given the fact that Adventure games has pretty much fallen off the map in recent years, with games like Lara Croft, and even the Monkey Island series drawing up the end of it, this puts RPGs to become the story tellers of the game industry. Not sure how true that is actually, but that is how it appears to me. Given that FPS do not really rely on a story to progress the game, and racing and sports games.....no story there. Don't even try to convince me otherwise. Action games can draw upon story....are there any action games out there still? Someone, anyone? Let me know.
Lets take a quick peek at a few games, and compare the story and how they drive the game, making you want to progress. You have to remember, that the games I am going to discuss may not be games you want to play., so keep an open mind for this.
Lets take a quick look at a game that is trying to revitalize a nearly dead genre, LA Noire. I have yet to get a chance to play this game, but I have heard good things about it. Brought to us by Rockstar games, the same folks behind Grand Theft Auto, LAn draws very heavily upon story to progress the game along, drawing you deeper and deeper into it. Lets not forget that the developers had a depth of interesting news and history to draw from for the era of the game, including the infamous Black Dahlia Murder.
Moving on, a quick peek into the RPG area, and lets take a look at Bioware's critically acclaimed Mass Effect 2. Now lets hold off a minute, as I have to say, that Bioware has really made the story the focal point of their games. Action is secondary. Not also have they really brought story to the front of the game, they have made it so that the players choices within the story, can alter the ending.
First Person Shooter games really do not rely on story to push the player through the game, relying instead on objectives to move the game along, and centering on guns and the like for action. While Mass Effect does have a shooting element (more along the lines of 3rd person), that game relies more on story than say, Call of Duty does. While Call of Duty, or BattleField may contain a back story, it is merely a shell to draw a player into the action, and then relies solely on the action to keep the player moving through the game, offering missions with objectives to achieve in order to move onto the next stage of the same story.
Other games out there use story as an initial draw into the game, however, there is usually nothing of note beyond start and end. Mario Brothers is on of those games, a platform jumper that starts off with the "Save the Princess" story, and then falls off from there. Once you reach that goal, and the game begins again, with a harder difficulty. Puzzle games usually have no story to draw you into it, but other things that draw you into it. Look at all the time played on Tetris, lord knows I have spent hours upon hours playing it.
Next up, going to look at the Story in RPGs, in a West Vs East story style showdown.
Until next time, happy gaming.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Story Time!!
You know, I happen to spend time thinking about what I am going to talk about, and rarely how to start this whole thing off. My pup would rather have scratches over letting me devote some attention to my blog. Cannot blame him really, spent all day at work, and could take him for a walk, as it was raining today. He doesn't like walking in the rain. No walks for him.
Anyways, away from that story, and on to another one. I decided to bring up a topic that I like to have in my games....story. Story is one of, if not, the most important thing in a game. It brings you the setting, the history, and even fleshes out your characters more. It gives the game life. For me, it is the most engaging part of the game. If there is no story worth following, then there better be some damned good game play in there.
The story behind a game is pretty much what the game is about. In retrospect, I think I will have to tackle this subject over the long term, with a few parts to it, looking at RPG and other games, and how story drives the games of different genres, perhaps a view on story in RPG Vs JRPG. (Japanese Role Playing Game, for the uninitiated). Then looking at the Protagonist and Antagonist, their own stories, and how they impact the games own story.
So it shall be!! I will begin tomorrow.
I hope, all things considered.
Until then, happy gaming.
Anyways, away from that story, and on to another one. I decided to bring up a topic that I like to have in my games....story. Story is one of, if not, the most important thing in a game. It brings you the setting, the history, and even fleshes out your characters more. It gives the game life. For me, it is the most engaging part of the game. If there is no story worth following, then there better be some damned good game play in there.
The story behind a game is pretty much what the game is about. In retrospect, I think I will have to tackle this subject over the long term, with a few parts to it, looking at RPG and other games, and how story drives the games of different genres, perhaps a view on story in RPG Vs JRPG. (Japanese Role Playing Game, for the uninitiated). Then looking at the Protagonist and Antagonist, their own stories, and how they impact the games own story.
So it shall be!! I will begin tomorrow.
I hope, all things considered.
Until then, happy gaming.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
In Requiem
As time moves on, another passing in the MMO world to talk about. The curtain falls on Sony Online Entertainment space mess, "Star Wars Galaxies", as they announced last week that the servers would be shutting down in December of this year. Some people are crying 'foul' while others think...about time. One girl has gone as far as to make a youtube video. decrying this fact, going so far as to tell SOE, SWG, Bioware, and SWTOR to go and fuck themselves (sorry kiddies). I guess i can sympathize with her, to a degree. Nothing sucks (or hurts) more than spending years, building a community and relationships within that community within a game, only to have it cut off. Everything you have strived for mean nothing. Gone....poof....vapourized with the flip of a switch.
I say, good riddance. That being said, I never played the game. In fact, it was the SOE tag that made me turn around and walk away. I think Lucas Arts made the right choice in not renewing the contract with SOE. In my mind, while SOE is one of the biggest companies out there, they have without a doubt, pretty much destroyed anything they have put to market. I think that EQ and EQ2 are the two game that they have not completely screwed up. I am sure they have done some work that leaves a foul, foul taste in their players mouths, but nothing that they havent fixed. One does not totally screw up their flagship game(s). Like Blizzard.....oops.
Lets take a walk down SOE memory lane, starting with EQ, when they started down a story path that left many, and I mean many players wondering "WTF?", with their expac 'Gates of Discord". This content was so unpopular, that people kept playing the "Planes of Power" content with alts. Moving beyond that, some people kept wondering why there were more aliens within their fantasy genre. Plausible, but very silly in my eyes. Moving on, with Planetside, a game I truly enjoyed. Three factions, all player based, total PVP. Fast, frantic, action packed, FUN! Of course, that was beta, as once the game went live, many changes happened. Changes that made the game frustrating, lopsided, and not worth playing. Such is the SOE way. Lets take a look at one of their more recent offerings with DCUniverse Online. This game launched with tremendous amounts of potential. There is the issue, launched with potential. The game was released with a max level of 30, and not much of an end game in sight. People hit that cap, and raided enough to get their top tier armor sets well within the first month, if not few weeks. The replay content of the game is there, with different power sets, abilities and mentor characters. However, I found it hard to bring a 3rd character to max level. The combat was fun, intuitive, and different enough from other games. The story was good, not great, but good.
Another driving factor for me stopping was SOE itself, as an entity. All the forum threads asking for updates, content, complaints were locked down faster than.......I dont know. I cannot think of a joke to insert here.
The apparent disdain SOE hold for their player and fan base blows me away. This is something that has not changed from the days of Everquest, and I mean the early days, before kunark. SOE seems to hold the mantra of "this is our game, and you will play it our way" very near and dear.
Looking back at SWG, their first update, the Combat Upgrade ( I think, dont recall) drove players away en masse. In fact, it took divine intervention from Lucas Arts in order to bring about the New Game Experience, which sadly to say, caused yet another mass exodus of players from the game. Sometime after (2007 or so) LucasArts withdrew their creative contract from SOE, no longer allowing them to create new content for the game. It was revealed shortly there after that Bioware was awarded the contract, and was creating a new Star Wars MMO,
Perhaps, this will herald changes coming to SOE, perhaps they will take their products and fan base more seriously. After all, they have been losing players to other companies and games for years now. They have a chance now to take a look at things, and perhaps change their model, and start backing up their games.
Time will tell, as it is shown, the Force is not with SOE.
As always, Happy gaming.
I say, good riddance. That being said, I never played the game. In fact, it was the SOE tag that made me turn around and walk away. I think Lucas Arts made the right choice in not renewing the contract with SOE. In my mind, while SOE is one of the biggest companies out there, they have without a doubt, pretty much destroyed anything they have put to market. I think that EQ and EQ2 are the two game that they have not completely screwed up. I am sure they have done some work that leaves a foul, foul taste in their players mouths, but nothing that they havent fixed. One does not totally screw up their flagship game(s). Like Blizzard.....oops.
Lets take a walk down SOE memory lane, starting with EQ, when they started down a story path that left many, and I mean many players wondering "WTF?", with their expac 'Gates of Discord". This content was so unpopular, that people kept playing the "Planes of Power" content with alts. Moving beyond that, some people kept wondering why there were more aliens within their fantasy genre. Plausible, but very silly in my eyes. Moving on, with Planetside, a game I truly enjoyed. Three factions, all player based, total PVP. Fast, frantic, action packed, FUN! Of course, that was beta, as once the game went live, many changes happened. Changes that made the game frustrating, lopsided, and not worth playing. Such is the SOE way. Lets take a look at one of their more recent offerings with DCUniverse Online. This game launched with tremendous amounts of potential. There is the issue, launched with potential. The game was released with a max level of 30, and not much of an end game in sight. People hit that cap, and raided enough to get their top tier armor sets well within the first month, if not few weeks. The replay content of the game is there, with different power sets, abilities and mentor characters. However, I found it hard to bring a 3rd character to max level. The combat was fun, intuitive, and different enough from other games. The story was good, not great, but good.
Another driving factor for me stopping was SOE itself, as an entity. All the forum threads asking for updates, content, complaints were locked down faster than.......I dont know. I cannot think of a joke to insert here.
The apparent disdain SOE hold for their player and fan base blows me away. This is something that has not changed from the days of Everquest, and I mean the early days, before kunark. SOE seems to hold the mantra of "this is our game, and you will play it our way" very near and dear.
Looking back at SWG, their first update, the Combat Upgrade ( I think, dont recall) drove players away en masse. In fact, it took divine intervention from Lucas Arts in order to bring about the New Game Experience, which sadly to say, caused yet another mass exodus of players from the game. Sometime after (2007 or so) LucasArts withdrew their creative contract from SOE, no longer allowing them to create new content for the game. It was revealed shortly there after that Bioware was awarded the contract, and was creating a new Star Wars MMO,
Perhaps, this will herald changes coming to SOE, perhaps they will take their products and fan base more seriously. After all, they have been losing players to other companies and games for years now. They have a chance now to take a look at things, and perhaps change their model, and start backing up their games.
Time will tell, as it is shown, the Force is not with SOE.
As always, Happy gaming.
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