6/13/2009
5/19/2009
Experimental gameplay
The title of this post is a tribute to Daniel Benmergui, the creator of Today I Die, a game which filled me with awe as I played it yesterday. The battle between "traditional" genres of games and new, experimental ones, is on. Or, I would rather say, the battle between aficionados and opponents of both categories is on. I cannot place myself in either group. I may have a clear and strong stance on translation theories, but when it comes to games, I cannot sit and scrutinize them. I prefer to enjoy them, or not, but that depends on the widely understood "quality and message" of the game. I don't give up on a game just because it represents a genre I don't particularly love.
Today I Die is a short format, but it has imprinted an indelible mark in my memory - I know it though I played it only yesterday ;) I will remember it just as I remember Sanitarium or Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo and any other game which brought something new into my life. I've played many games and today I can't sometimes recall which game is which, e.g. I mistake Dark Messiah for The Elder Scrolls, though I enjoyed playing both of them. It's just they look so similar in my head :D (please don't stone me!). But games such as TID are the ones I won't forget.
This game is a great alternative for all demotivators I play every now and then, such as lemonade stand games or jewels ;) You can plunge into the story and try to enrich it with your own impressions and thoughts. If you like this game, you definitely somehow relate to it. In order to "win", you need to think differently than in case of shooters or logical games. You need to want to complete it, you need to be anxious about the ending. Of course, that is not what makes it different from other games - you need to want to play them in order to complete them ;) But the difference, IMHO, is that you want to feel the game. Most of the people who played it are impressed and satisfied. I myself was relieved and happy when the light overcame the dark red and blue.
When it comes to the visual aspect of the game, well... It makes a fantastic contrast to the "content" of the game. The protagonists and the creatures look like those in games we used to play when all we had were 8-bit home computers. For me, these creatures live here, in this very game. In games like Pitfall or Ninja (to mention just these two), the main protagonist had only one goal, and you couldn't change it. Here, the protagonist lives (dies?) and needs your help to find her way through the hopelessness and darkness that surround her. You may want to help her or not. You can help her change her fate (if it exists). You can almost feel she is alive, you know she used to have a purpose, and she probably still has hope. This makes you want to be involved in her story somehow.
Great experience.
I recommend playing other experimental games, too, just to see if you are ready to give up on new trends, or are you willing to accept them.
Today I Die is a short format, but it has imprinted an indelible mark in my memory - I know it though I played it only yesterday ;) I will remember it just as I remember Sanitarium or Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo and any other game which brought something new into my life. I've played many games and today I can't sometimes recall which game is which, e.g. I mistake Dark Messiah for The Elder Scrolls, though I enjoyed playing both of them. It's just they look so similar in my head :D (please don't stone me!). But games such as TID are the ones I won't forget.
This game is a great alternative for all demotivators I play every now and then, such as lemonade stand games or jewels ;) You can plunge into the story and try to enrich it with your own impressions and thoughts. If you like this game, you definitely somehow relate to it. In order to "win", you need to think differently than in case of shooters or logical games. You need to want to complete it, you need to be anxious about the ending. Of course, that is not what makes it different from other games - you need to want to play them in order to complete them ;) But the difference, IMHO, is that you want to feel the game. Most of the people who played it are impressed and satisfied. I myself was relieved and happy when the light overcame the dark red and blue.
When it comes to the visual aspect of the game, well... It makes a fantastic contrast to the "content" of the game. The protagonists and the creatures look like those in games we used to play when all we had were 8-bit home computers. For me, these creatures live here, in this very game. In games like Pitfall or Ninja (to mention just these two), the main protagonist had only one goal, and you couldn't change it. Here, the protagonist lives (dies?) and needs your help to find her way through the hopelessness and darkness that surround her. You may want to help her or not. You can help her change her fate (if it exists). You can almost feel she is alive, you know she used to have a purpose, and she probably still has hope. This makes you want to be involved in her story somehow.
Great experience.
I recommend playing other experimental games, too, just to see if you are ready to give up on new trends, or are you willing to accept them.
5/07/2009
In a rush
They say beginnings are usually clumsy, and I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. I don't work in the gaming industry, and reading articles on games makes me feel really insecure. You people (here I refer to the authors of blogs I read every day or gaming gurus) know so much! ;) The so-called "common people" (game-wise) like many of my friends, for example, haven't got a slightest idea that there is so much going on in this field. I try very hard to make them interested in games, but I guess in many cases it's too late ;) It's so wonderful to know that there are people who approach PC/video games as art, and not only a waste of time, which is a commonly proliferated idea (in Poland, at least).
Yesterday I've read louvette's article on whether violence and gore scenes in games can be of harm, especially to children. This is and idea that has been and will be on many psychologists' and parents' lips for a long time. There are myriads of scholarly papers on the subject, and I'm sure many parents would contribute to the conclusion that games neither serve as a way to release negative emotions, nor provide any positive experiences to their children.
Oh no, sir, I must say you're wrong, I must disagree ;) In most cases, such opinions are propagated by parents who have no direct contact with games and have no interest in changing the situation. I believe a child's level and nature of involvement in computer games depends on their family relations. If everything is "ok" (the scope and content of this "ok" is hard to define) in their immediate environment, and if they show no signs of emotional or social problems, it will probably be difficult to convert a child into a murderer, just as a result of playing a computer game. I mean, I have electrocuted hundreds of Vaishnavas in GTA, but it didn't make me even visualise pushing people onto railway tracks while standing on a real platform. I would like to say that putting the blame for children's mistakes on games is an excuse, just like in the case of listening to "satan's music" and suicide attempts among teenagers (Bill Hicks made his famous statement on this phenomenon). I'm not a parent yet, but as soon as I am one, I will try to be as tolerant as my parents have been. My father bought Atari 65XE when I was about 4 or 5 years old. He would torment my mother with the annoyning sounds of Hyperblast or Moon Patrol (awsome game, btw) and I would be allowed to play some games, too. And I played a lot. I recall a situation that would support my theory presented above: one day my father was spending too much time playing games. He wouldn't pay attention to my attempts to get him to play with me instead, so I grabbed a plastic toy guitar and hit the display so hard it cracked :D He was mad, but I was even more mad, so I felt my action was justified ;) This shows that a child needs a parent, not a computer game! (No, I didn't do that 'cause I wanted to play myself, honestly :p)
I wanted to write sth more, but it turned out I have to leave the city in two hours, so that would be all for now. Goodbyes! :)
Yesterday I've read louvette's article on whether violence and gore scenes in games can be of harm, especially to children. This is and idea that has been and will be on many psychologists' and parents' lips for a long time. There are myriads of scholarly papers on the subject, and I'm sure many parents would contribute to the conclusion that games neither serve as a way to release negative emotions, nor provide any positive experiences to their children.
Oh no, sir, I must say you're wrong, I must disagree ;) In most cases, such opinions are propagated by parents who have no direct contact with games and have no interest in changing the situation. I believe a child's level and nature of involvement in computer games depends on their family relations. If everything is "ok" (the scope and content of this "ok" is hard to define) in their immediate environment, and if they show no signs of emotional or social problems, it will probably be difficult to convert a child into a murderer, just as a result of playing a computer game. I mean, I have electrocuted hundreds of Vaishnavas in GTA, but it didn't make me even visualise pushing people onto railway tracks while standing on a real platform. I would like to say that putting the blame for children's mistakes on games is an excuse, just like in the case of listening to "satan's music" and suicide attempts among teenagers (Bill Hicks made his famous statement on this phenomenon). I'm not a parent yet, but as soon as I am one, I will try to be as tolerant as my parents have been. My father bought Atari 65XE when I was about 4 or 5 years old. He would torment my mother with the annoyning sounds of Hyperblast or Moon Patrol (awsome game, btw) and I would be allowed to play some games, too. And I played a lot. I recall a situation that would support my theory presented above: one day my father was spending too much time playing games. He wouldn't pay attention to my attempts to get him to play with me instead, so I grabbed a plastic toy guitar and hit the display so hard it cracked :D He was mad, but I was even more mad, so I felt my action was justified ;) This shows that a child needs a parent, not a computer game! (No, I didn't do that 'cause I wanted to play myself, honestly :p)
I wanted to write sth more, but it turned out I have to leave the city in two hours, so that would be all for now. Goodbyes! :)
4/30/2009
This one's optimistic
Well, of course I'm not just another female gamer. There's a lot more to me (that I haven't learned yet). So, this one time, at band camp... or while sitting behind the desk, really, I gave up cyberslacking and deciced to express what was inside me at that moment. This is how this site was born. Though I don't believe in anonymity offered by the Internet, I believe that writing something here will bring me satisfaction and I will not easily reveal my true identity. There are tons of thoughts that I would like to share with others, but at the same time I don't delve into discussions of everyday events. That is why I prefer to write a blog rather than hang out on forums and write "first!!!!!!" ;) I'm a stealthy observer who remains silent most of the time, but sometimes the emotions tak over and I want to express myself.
This tendency to be a stealthy observer is probably the reason why one of my favorite games is Hitman: Blood Money. My first encounter with Agent 47 took place in 2006 when I moved in with my fascinatingly geeky fiancé. After having played such sweet 'n cuddly games as the Glory of the Roman Empire or trying out Second Life (I still haven't gotten into it much), I didn't expect a game with the only purpose to silently kill the target exists. Yeah, I was pretty unenlightened (duh!). But I must admit that gaming was pretty exciting to me. The Hitman series for me is one of those things you treat as a determinant when assessing whether a new game is worth playing or not (another game which a treat as an unparralelled model of a psychological thriller/horror game is an ASC production, Sanitarium - IGN gave it a "Decent" rating, but for me, this game is a great time and mind absorber). I look forward to playing a stealh game like Hitman with much more interaction options. After all, I don't think I will be ever given a chance to assasinate some fat cat, such as the prime minister of Micronesia ;)
See you later, I hope next time my confession will be better organized!
This tendency to be a stealthy observer is probably the reason why one of my favorite games is Hitman: Blood Money. My first encounter with Agent 47 took place in 2006 when I moved in with my fascinatingly geeky fiancé. After having played such sweet 'n cuddly games as the Glory of the Roman Empire or trying out Second Life (I still haven't gotten into it much), I didn't expect a game with the only purpose to silently kill the target exists. Yeah, I was pretty unenlightened (duh!). But I must admit that gaming was pretty exciting to me. The Hitman series for me is one of those things you treat as a determinant when assessing whether a new game is worth playing or not (another game which a treat as an unparralelled model of a psychological thriller/horror game is an ASC production, Sanitarium - IGN gave it a "Decent" rating, but for me, this game is a great time and mind absorber). I look forward to playing a stealh game like Hitman with much more interaction options. After all, I don't think I will be ever given a chance to assasinate some fat cat, such as the prime minister of Micronesia ;)
See you later, I hope next time my confession will be better organized!
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