Quote of the Day
I view video games as something of an emotional therapy…it can be a relief, a kind of decompression to just play some video games. If I’m having some negative thoughts or negative feelings, videogames are one way in which I can release that energy in the context of the illusion of the game. I feel better afterwards. The aggression that comes out in the video game satiates whatever desire I might have to express that feeling. For me, that’s very skilful because when I do that I don’t have to go and hit anyone over the head.
–The Karmapa Lama, Trinley Dorje, who according to the Times of India remains “the only senior Buddhist leader recognized by Beijing, the Tibetans and India.” In a 2008 Time Magazine article, he was described as a “baby-faced 22-year-old who may be Tibet’s next great hope.”
(Via Game Politics)
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Tags: game culture, video game virtues
Game Reader is Back!
Game Reader is back after a long hiatus. Unfortunately, I am too busy to write op-eds or particularly long posts at the moment. For the time being you can expect updates that follow the original mission of this site: namely, to scour the web for the best and most thought-provoking gaming articles I can find.
The goal of this site has never been to provide a comprehensive portal of gaming news, reviews, and previews. If you want to discuss the merits of the latest DC Comics gaming adaptation there are plenty of other sites that will suit just fine. Indeed, one could argue that there are too many of these sites around–all covering the same ‘breaking news’ on the same games, at the same time, with the same kind of fanboy hyperbole. The goal of Game Reader is to cut through this clutter in order to highlight important and thought-provoking essays, reviews, and discussions taking place in serious gaming communities around the web. Eventually I want to get back to work on my own commentary and thus hopefully add to this ongoing conversation.
For now, however, I’ll be connecting you to intersting and important game reading from around the web. Since I look at dozens of articles a day, and don’t have time to post about all of them individually, I’ve decided to separate the site into 2 separate sections. The main section (which is the blog itself) covers articles and/or events that I consider especially interesting and strongly recommend you take a look at. The second section is at the bottom of the sites homepage, and is titled “Reading List.” These are worthwhile articles that I’ve shared via Google Reader account and is updated daily (usually more than once). Remember to follow me on Twitter for updates on both of these sections in addition to my Twitter-exclusive commentary.
Lastly, make sure to let me know what you think about the changes to the site!
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Tags: Site Updates
A new academic journal focusing on game design pedagogy has been announced on Water Cooler Games. It will be led by Rochester Institute of Technology professor Stephen Jacobs, who described it thusly:
CGER will be a peer-reviewed academic publication addressing issues that concern the teaching of game design and development including, but not limited to, curriculum organization, teaching techniques (e.g., conceptual vs. exemplary), game typology, societal impact, economic and commercial issues, legal aspects, and student evaluation that are of interest to faculty and institutions involved in the education and training of future game developers.
Usually when the words “game” and “education” are found in close proximity, it means that somewhere in your vicinity there is a “hip” school teacher who likes to dilute his lesson plans with a pinch of gameplay. Alternatively, it could refer to the justification a parent gives himself for not doing anything about his child’s gaming habits (“sure, playing for 12 hours seems unhealthy now, but he’s actually getting smarter by the hour!”). The journal in question, however, refers to game education as the study of game-making. Which is probably good news to readers of this blog.
Submissions for the first issue will be accepted until December 1, 2009.
(Hat tip: Game Politics)
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“Easy to Use and Incredibly Difficult: On the Mythical Border between Interface and Gameplay”
An interesting article by Jesper Juul on the complex relatioship between ease of use and challenge in video games. Here’s the abstract:
In video game literature and video game reviews, video games are often divided into two distinct parts: interface and gameplay. Good video games, it is assumed, have easy to use interfaces, but they also provide difficult gameplay challenges to the player. But must a good game follow this pattern, and what is the difference between interface and gameplay? When does the easy-to-use interface stop, and when does the challenging gameplay begin? By analyzing a number of games, the paper argues that it is rare to find a clear-cut border between interface and gameplay and that the fluidity of this border characterizes games in general. While this border is unclear, we also analyze a number of games where the challenge is unambiguously located in the interface, thereby demonstrating that “easy interface and challenging gameplay” is neither universal nor a requirement for game quality. Finally, the paper argues, the lack of a clear distinction between easy interface and challenging gameplay is due to the fact that games are fundamentally designed not to accomplish something through an activity, but to provide an activity that is pleasurable in itself.
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Tags: game criticism, game design, game studies
I received this invite from Gallery Nucleus today and it is somewhat related to game culture so I’ll pass it along. Remember to go to the contact page if you have any similar info on upcoming shows.
A KISS FROM TOKYO Art Exhibition and Book ReleaseJuly 3, 2009 – July 14, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday July 3, 2009 (7 pm – 11 pm)
Admission is free.
Complimentary martinis served with live DJ.Gallery Nucleus hosts a retro-inspired exhibition and official book release of The Seductive Espionage: The World of Yuki 7.
The book and exhibition of the same name, is the brainchild of artist/ illustrator Kevin Dart. Yuki’s world has been brought to life through a collection of artworks, stories, faux interviews and trailers.
On July 3rd, get acquainted with Yuki 7, a cute little 60’s spy girl from Tokyo. Seductive, intelligent, and charming, she romps through each film, vanquishing villains while impeccably dressed and looking fabulous.
Don’t forget to checkout the sweet trailer as well.
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Tags: arts, exhibitions, game culture
The Making of Final Fantasy VII
From Edge:
“This was undoubtedly the game that changed everything.” Yoshinori Kitase, director of the most important RPG ever, has cause for hyperbole. “We felt a wind of change inside the company during the development process. There was this incredible feeling I’ll never forget: we were making a new thing… making history. Imagine.” He pauses. Imagine.
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50 Great Indie Games
There used to be a time when games were made by one individual. In fact, Shigeru Miyamoto is often cited as the first person who designed and directed a game without any knowledge of programming. From then on, games began to get more complicated and the technical challenges during the development process required an ever-greater level of expertise and specialization. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to have hundreds of people working on a game at any one time.
These big budget games will not go away of course, but it is interesting to see how the trend towards larger development teams seems to have slowed down somewhat in recent years, while indie developers–which may consist of a single person working out of his dorm room or a “staff”of a couple of dozen (probably working out of their rooms as well)–seem to be increasing in number by the day. There has never been a better time to be an indie developer, thanks largely to the emergence of affordable and easy-to-use development tools such as Game Maker, not to mention the fact that the internet has made the concept of “distribution costs” all but obsolete. Indeed, it is a great time not only for aspiring game developers, but also for adventureous gamers who want to try more experimental and conceptually expressive approaches to game design.
Of course, a select few of these “experiments” end up as truly great games. Some of these games will fail miserably, while others might present a novel gameplay concept that may be fleshed out in a later effort. But there are also some real gems that surpass our expectations and expand our notion of what games can achieve as a medium. This is what drives us to keep searching for the next great indie game, even though we know all too well that most of what we’ll encounter along the way will be mediocre at best.
The hard part is beginning the search, which is why this list of 50 great indie games (first published by Derek Yu in this guide) is such a godsend. For newcomers, it serves as an excellent introduction to the indie game scene; and for non-newcomers, it remains an excellent guide to the many great games we’ve yet to play. Better yet, there is a brief description next to every game that explains why each is important in its field. Oh and did I mention that most of them are free? There’s really no excuse not to try them out.
Speaking of which….I should probably end this post now so as to keep working my way down the list. Okay, post ended.
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Tags: free games, indie games, video games
Tetris Turns 25
Ever played a Soviet video game? Of course you have! It’s Tetris, quite possibly the most played game of all time, and arguably the closest thing to a “perfect game design” that the world has (will?) ever seen. Alas, the game’s creator, Alexey Pajitnov, never saw a penny from the unprecedented global phenomenon that he created (everything went to the Soviet government).
The way in which Western game companies discovered and acquired the rights to Tetris has to rank as one of the strangest Cold War-era stories ever. David Sheff’s amazing biography of the early days of Nintendo dedicates an entire chapter to this insane East-West encounter, where several important players in the game industry fought each other while trying to charm the Soviet government, which in turn grew increasingly suspicious of their motives, since they could not understand why a bunch of random capitalists appeared so eager to purchase rights to the game.
By the way, Sheff’s book is an absolute must-read for anyone that’s even remotely interested in gaming or Japanese culture in general.
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Suda 51, sitting on his protagonist's favorite chair.
I’m not sure what to think of No More Heroes : Desperate Struggle. The original No More Heroes took me completely by surprise when it came out in 2008. I was expecting a sword-waggling action game and what I got instead was a darkly funny and deeply unsettling excercize in idiosyncratic game design and storytelling. The game is also one of the few video games that tries to address (in a critical manner) gaming culture itself.
So why am I worried about the sequel? Well, the fact that there even is a sequel is somewhat baffling, since the first game ended on a deeply fatalistic note that would seem to preclude this possibility. It is troubling that Suda 51 would undermine the dramatic power of that ending by arbitrarily continuing a story that had already concluded so brilliantly. But I’m not going to pass judgment on this until I play the game–let’s hope he proves me wrong.
Alas, what really has me worried at the moment has to do with the genral tone he has been taking in recent interviews, where he seems to be implicitly apologizing for things that, if anything, should be celebrated. IGN’s interview, published yesterday, is only the latest example:
IGN: How has the open world changed or been enhanced over the first game?
Suda 51: Rest assured that the city of Santa Destroy has been much improved and will offer you many more interesting opportunities. Sorry but I can’t discuss the details yet, you will find out more about this soon.
[...]
IGN: How have you enhanced the graphics over the first title?
Suda 51: We certainly think the graphics are better, you can be the judge.
The game did have ugly graphics and a laughably plain open world environment–a San Diego-esque city called Santa Destroy (Suda 51 tends to like names that are equal parts cool-sounding and absurd)–that functions as a hub but looks like an half-finished Nintendo 64 version of GTA: San Andreas. This crude presentation, however, fits in quite nicely with the themes explored later on in the game. For example, the generic architecture and empty sidewalks in Santa Destroy, rather than ” lacking polish,” can in fact be understood as a darkly sardonic portrayal the world as Travis sees it, one that is characterized above all by the general helplessness of his situation (e.g., living with his cat in a motel room, working at horrible part-time jobs for very low pay, sexually frustrated and lacking a partner), which he then attempts to transcend by entering the assasin’s tournament at the behest of an attractive French woman who recognizes his desperation.
It doesn’t take too much imagination to make artistic sense of No More Heroes’ graphical “problems;” and yet, part of what gave the game its ‘cool’ edge was the apparent indifference of its creators to geeky concerns such as “graphics” in the first place. Jesse Costantino made this point beautifully in his review for Game Revolution:
It’s as if to say, “HD? Who the ‘f’ needs that? We’ve got blood, money, chicks, cars, guns, swords, and endless amounts of fun. We’ll leave the pretty graphics to the pretty boys.”
Travis Touchdown, the protagonist of No More Heroes
He calls this type of gamer a “pretty boy,” though my preferred term is “dork.” It doesn’t matter: we’re speaking about the same person. It is the kind of person that complains about NMH’s part-time jobs because they aren’t “fun;” the kind of person who was devastated when he first realized that Bioshock did not include online co-op; in other words, it is the sort of person that will never accept (or understand) a game like No More Heroes, regardless of what Suda 51 and Grasshopper Manufacture do to try to appease him.
Ultimately, my fear is that Suda’s implicit recognition of graphical “shortcomings” in this interview might also extend to everything else that was so brilliant about the original game. Let’s hope not. After all, the first game evidently had a large enough audience to warrant a sequel, so it would make little sense to risk alienating these fans (not to mention compromising his original vision for the series) in pursuit of acceptance from the pretty boy demographic.
Suda doesn’t need them, nor do they need Suda. And fortunately for us, these gamers are currently distracted by Halo spinoffs, E3 “booth babes” and the like, so there is still plenty of time to ignore them.
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Tags: E3 2009, game criticism, video games
Microsoft has unveiled a “breakthrough sensor” for Xbox 360 that “detects 3D movements and voices,” codenamed Project Natal.
A press release explains: “Compatible with any Xbox 360 system, the ‘Project Natal’ sensor is the world’s first to combine an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor running proprietary software all in one device.”
Perhaps this is exciting news. Sure, it’d be far more exciting if the company that announced it were not also responsible for such dehumanizing horrors as Windows Vista, Internet Explorer, and the Start Menu. But the idea of controlling a game with your body–if it works–does seem like the natural progression of the motion control pioneered by the Wii.
It remains to be seen, however, whether these modes of control will enrich the experience of playing games. Are they advancing the form or simplifying it for the benefit of the (rapidly aging) non-gaming masses?
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Author
JRGBruno
Reading List
- X marks the future of game narrative? November 6, 2009A new 'alternative reality' game from Canadian studio Smoking Gun may just show the way to the future of videogame story telling...For the last few years an increasing number of developers have grown frustrated with the standard methods of telling stories through games. Animated sequences have gradually evolved to use in-game visuals, but now these […]
- Interview: The Melancholy Of Keita Takahashi November 6, 2009[GSW correspondent Simon Parkin sits down with eccentric Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, to learn about his work on children's playgrounds, and why he's begun to feel like he's "just not suited to the games industry."] Keita Takahashi sits alone, six thousand miles from home, in a damp, vacant house set within the grounds of […]
- Tetris Building Blocks November 6, 2009Designer Sergej Hein, currently studying fine arts at University of East London, animated this real-world version of Tetris by combining a time-lapse video of the sky and a photo of a "block building" shot from his bedroom window. The project took him two weeks to complete. "The idea is based on a kind of parody about the former socialist buil […]
- tetris (****) (abdnm #30) November 5, 2009a review of tetris a videogame by alexy pajitnov published by probably every software company ever for any device with a screen text by tim rogers score: (out of four) Bottom line: Tetris is “psychology”. (more…) Tweet This Post
- noby noby boy (****) (abdnm #32) November 5, 2009a review of noby noby boy a videogame by keita takahashi and friends published by bandai-namco games for the sony playstation 3 computer entertainment system text by tim rogers score: (out of four) Bottom line: Noby Noby Boy is “delicious eye taffy”. (more…) Tweet This Post
- canabalt (****) (abdnm #31) November 5, 2009a review of canabalt a videogame by semi secret software play the full game for free at canabalt dot com or purchase it via the iPhone / iPod Touch App Store for $2.99 text by tim rogers score: (out of four) Bottom line: Canabalt is “Super Mario Tetris”. (more…) Tweet This Post
- 15 Free Guides That Really Teach You USEFUL Stuff October 31, 2009Over the past months, we’ve written quite a few PDF manuals for you, on all kinds of diverging subjects, including BitTorrent, iTunes, iPhone, Twitter, Mac, Linux, Photoshop and several other topics. Initially available only for subscribers, there are now multiple manuals released every month, for everyone to enjoy. After releasing 15 manuals and nearly half […]
- FINAL FANTASY VII (***) November 1, 2009a review of Final Fantasy VIIa videogame by Squarepublished by Squarefor the PlayStationtext by J. Jonathan Brettscore: (out of four)Bottom line: Final Fantasy VII is “probably the closest Square has come to making a worthwhile game”. (more…) Tweet This Post
- The Way to a Man’s Heart October 27, 2009If you missed Morrowind, one of the observations you make when starting The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the sheer number of discreet objects in the world. Every shelf is loaded with books and every table set with candles, plates and goblets, each of which can be picked up or taken. It occurs to you to proceed in the normal role-playing game way, gathering […]
- Analysis: The Path And Story Pacing October 28, 2009[Writer and designer Emily Short looks at Tale of Tales' mysterious The Path, particularly its much-discussed slow pacing, and how that slowness serves various interpretations of the experience. ] A few weeks ago I wrote of Terry Cavanagh's Don't Look Back that the game works because it is hard. Because it is hard, some people only see the end […]
- Off the path October 21, 2009A funny thing happened on my way to the latest AAA game. I wandered off the path. I'm sitting here with two games on the table next to me, both still in their shrink-wrap: Batman: Arkham Asylum and Uncharted 2. Batman has been out for two months; Uncharted 2 appeared a week ago. I've played neither, and here's the funny thing: it doesn't […]
- World leaders October 26, 2009Guest collaboration with Okaythen.
- Not quite legendary October 30, 2009A music fan, particularly a fan of a musical style that has acquired additional cultural trappings, asserts individuality by membership in a group. The contradiction has given rise to familiar parent-teenager fight scenes in a hundred tired family dramedies. Though the story stays the same from decade to decade, the music changes, and understanding the fan m […]
- The Friday Game: Crazygame.exe October 30, 2009Format: PCDeveloper: ? "The strangest part about this game is that no-one is really sure where it came from," says Jaybird, on his Crazygame.exe fan-page. "It just seems to circle through people by word of mouth and sending it from friend to friends via AIM." read more
- GunFu Deadlands October 28, 2009This here game's about old-time shootouts, and it's a hoot. Your protagonist (who I assume is the Man with No Name from those Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns) is tasked with shooting his way through a mess of enemies, and it ain't easy. They outnumber you, have spiffy AI, and are deadly shots to boot. Thankfully your cowboy has learned to tap […]
- Shadow of the Colossus - 2006 September 29, 2008There is a dead woman, a youth with a sword and giants lurking about. A promise is given: if all sixteen colossi are killed then she can be saved from death’s grasp. The light, floating above, guarantees its part of the deal; so long as the player kills the giants, she will be saved. With that, the hero leaves with his horse and follows a thin beam of light, […]
- Another Study Eyes Games & Aggressive Behavior Correlation October 26, 2009A new study undertaken by a group of Massachusetts General Hospital researchers attempts to further explore whether a link exists between playing violent videogames and aggressive behavior in adolescents.“M-Rated Video Games and Aggressive or Problem Behavior Among Young Adolescents” surveyed 1,254 7th and 8th grade students in Pennsylvania and South Carolin […]
- Videogramo October 26, 2009Spanish group Videogramo displays a series of colorfully mutated animated .gifs on their site. Each image is as unsettling as an animated .gif could possibly get, featuring contorted, dull-faced .gif manikins disected by pixelated tubes, patterned planes, and faceted shapes. Half Kid Pix and half Frankenstein, the whole display is simultaneously fascinating […]
- flixel October 26, 2009flixel is a completely free collection of Actionscript 3 files that helps organize, automate, and optimize Flash games; an object-oriented framework that lets anyone create original and complex games with thousands of objects on screen in just a few hours. Posted in design, link
- The Best Sega Saturn Games Under $25 October 25, 2009For my next revision to the Cheapest Games series , I wanted to revisit the Sega Saturn. The values of the popular Saturn games have increased significantly over the last few years — especially for complete copies of the game. Because of this, I’ve bumped up my criteria for the list to games that are under $25. Now keep in mind, the prices quoted below ar […]
