There are lots of ways to categorise videogames, but how do they work as an overall system?
Most media have a simple genre system. There are horror films and action movies, romance novels and history books. The genres can overlap, but they all operate on the same level.
Videogames have genres too, but they’re a lot more complicated than that. Because games have so many interlocking parts, they can be sliced into groups in dozens of ways – far more than any other medium. Continue reading →
Just how important is it?
I’m an unabashed old fart; young to some, but increasingly decrepit in a gaming culture dominated by the sub-35 demographic. In my day, we argued about the relative benefits of Apple’s sixteen dithered colours over CGA’s four-colour palette. Well, not really – anyone with any brains knew that the Apple was better, even if it was frequently fuzzy as hell. Still, it was a simpler time. Games were normally built around a single mechanic; sometimes they even did it well! You could fit anywhere up to thirty games on a single 140KB floppy disk (back when they were still tangibly floppy!), and 640×480 was considered “hi-res”. Continue reading →
“Basic vocabulary” edition.
Adventure games are the bastard stepchild genre of the medium. Sure, once upon a time they were cute, but somewhere in-between all those irritating deaths and those irrational mindgames, they somehow became as welcome as a fart at a funeral.
And yet, like Lazarus, they live on. To anyone interested in building a greater appreciation of gaming as a medium generally, they’re important; for many years, adventure games were the staple. Forget about your FPSs and forget about your RTSs – back in the day, most of what was available were magnificently mindbending masochistic experiences, and we liked it that way, damnit!
This week, we’re taking a look at five games that, if played, should help build a basic appreciation of some of the high points of the genre; unlike many other examples, these still hold up today. It’s not an exhaustive list and nor are they the best of the genre. However, they’ve had enough of an impact that as far as staples and meme creation go, they’re among the strongest. Continue reading →
Or, why reporters get a bad rap.
Maths is hard. Well, it’s not really, but many people, for whatever reason, decide that it’s too hard for them. Unfortunately, sometimes they go on to use that lack of knowledge to do damage to not only themselves but the industry in general. Enter Kotaku, stage left. Continue reading →
Games still struggle to offer players meaningful choices that enrich the story, rather than distract from it.
Hands up who has spent at least five minutes agonising over a decision in a game. Fifteen minutes? An hour?
It’s strange, isn’t it? Even when a choice has little or no impact on the rest of the game, it can still have plenty of emotional pull. We don’t want to get it wrong, especially if it affects other people – determining the fate of an NPC can drive a certain kind of gamer to insomnia and put a game on hold for days. Continue reading →
All ye who enter be warned; here be spoilers.
Most game-based storytelling is facile at best. Be honest - we all know it’s true. But, not all – games do exist that stand on their own as examples of what the medium is capable of. Often, they’re no better than an average book or movie. Sometimes, thanks to their level of interaction, they’re incomparable. Irrespective, recognising them and learning from their strengths is important, as it’s the only way we’ll learn how to tell better stories.
Up until the half-baked (and too quickly shipped) Ultima VIII and Ultima IX, the Ultima series was arguably the RPG series by which all others were judged. Even Final Fantasy, for all its mechanical variability, doesn’t come close – where Final Fantasy has fundamentally become three different games developed by three different teams released under the same banner and linked by chocobos, Ultima was one of the few series that managed to maintain plot, playstyle, and character continuity while still completely revamping and extending the engine between releases. Continue reading →
Giving, Remembering and Missing Out.
The Good
Games for Good
It’s a dangerous world out there. Not only is it filled with snakes, spiders and Steven Seagal, it’s also got a hefty population of grandparents with a seemingly endless supply of embroidered hankies to dish out at any present-giving opportunity. Like gift-laden suicide bombers, they lay in waiting, their payload dressed up as if it were just one of the many wrapped offerings under the Christmas tree. Maybe this is where the phrase it’s much better to give than to receive came from. It may be true when it comes to receiving gifts from the elderly, but it’s not always the case. The two can be equally gratifying, as OneBigGame have shown by allowing us to purchase Chime – developed by SingStar studio Zoë Mode – on Xbox Live Arcade. Not only does ‘sixty per cent or more’ (whatever that means) of your 400 MS points go towards kid related charities, but it’s also a fantastic game which mixes music and puzzles even better than Lumines did. It’s like paying to be part of a fun run for charity, only it’s actually fun. Continue reading →