Squeenix Event

There was an event yesterday (2011-01-19) by the publisher Square-enix called the ’1st Production Department Premier’ where they show case their first party titles. Although the event was a success people were not that intrigued like they were when they first previewed some of the games 4 years ago. I have read people’s thoughts after the event some were delighted because it’s been ages since they got anything new from Sqeenix and a lot of them were not so pleased. One of the reasons is that FF: Versus13; a game which was shown, was supposed to be a dark gritty game with blood on every hack and slash.

The thing is it was still as they described but with the new trailer it seems like they were slowly going back to their roots with very bright coloured and unrealistic atmosphere. Versus13 was supposed to be a complete different game, it is to be the first FF game to have blood and gore in it. A lot of people were speculating that Versus13 was going multiplatform and it was going to be as crap as ff13, OH that reminds me although ff13 was kind of crap because of the girly and annoying characters and other reasons. They decided to make a direct sequel called ff13-2...Oh great... more pansies running around half naked. There’s just no point in it.

Anyhow back to Versus13 because it’s just cool. People thought it was going multiplatform but they announced that it was staying for the PS3 or is it..... see the thing is most exclusives will have ‘for Playstation 3 ONLY’, but Versus13 had ‘for Playstation 3’ and that’s it. So I think there might be a possibility for multiplatform.

All in all I was quite pleased with trailers and images they showed at the event. Versus13 has been in development for about 4 years now and they only started to open up with the public showing real-time game footage and epic cut scenes. Speaking of cut scenes the CGI is so good every time I see it I always think it looks too good to be real all the more reasons I want to play it. I would have been even happier if they gave a release date for Versus13 that would make my day very special.

Task 10: Elements of game design, part three: character

I think each character in TV or in films that play their character need to act totally different to their own personality, which I think is a very difficult task. There are some actors who have to live in a completely different environment to get comfortable with a certain characters personality. For example; an Indian movie called Radio, the protagonist had to live with radio presenters to get to know how to act like the radio presenter. I think this is a huge task for actors to change their personality for a role in a movie which lasts for about an hour and half, and what makes it harder for the actor is the fact that he spent weeks in a completely new environment and the TV show, film or even a game was not successful.

I think actors that play a role in an action movie where the hero has to defeat the villain is the one that I feel that really connects to me, as I always want the hero to win over the villain. I think this is because most films have the character do good deeds at the beginning to make you like the character from the very beginning and then a villain comes along and kills his parents which make you hate the villain and then begin to love the hero even more. Stuff like that really gets me to feel for a certain character.

In order for the character to be popular the script needs to be strong and be understandable to the actor and the audience. The script plays a huge role on a character as it shows what the character needs to act as and make his personality his own. The character also needs to wear suitable costumes to fit in with the mood of the script to show the audience how he is feeling through the use of his clothing.

I find action and adventure movies the best, as I love it when the hero and villain are battling it out for something they desire. I have come to love this sort because I have been watching it from the very beginning of my existence and I love to watch movies that have some sort of action in it.

Task 9: Elements of game design, part two: art direction for games

The art director is in charge of the main visual designs that are seen within a game and how it connects to the audience through the art side. The art director also works closely with the art team to be a member of the team and also be the inspiration to the team. The art director works directly under the production designer, however the main director of the game is responsible for the art director he needs to report back to the main director on how the project is coming along, so it is vital for the art director to give feedback to the director.

The role of an art director is a creative role as I think anything to do with the word ‘Art’ means being creative so I do think that art director means being creative. He needs to be full of ideas and be an inspiration to other art members.

There are various similarities between games and films in art direction, as they both need to have a creative mind and have the knowledge and urge to make it the best. In films the Art Director needs to create something which is real and can be touched by the actor and is made in a much bigger scale than games, however in games the art director needs to create something which is not real and therefore can create an object which may not have existed in real life.

If I wanted to become an art director then I would need to have loads of experience in working in a game company as a lead artist and need to have a game published in to the market. I also would develop on my skills as an artist and try to build my knowledge as being a creative mind. As I believe an art director needs to be creative to be successful.

I am getting used to the amount of work I am given each week as at first I did not know what to focus more on visual design, game production or critical research. But it’s getting better, trying to get most of it done within the required time.

Task 8: Elements of game design, part one

The term Gameplay is used to distinguish how a particular game is played, whether it is something original or something different. I also think Gameplay is used by reviewers to give scores or to rate a game. It’s mainly to see the experience in which the player had whilst playing the game. I think the companies who are making good games that turn out to be popular in both sales and reviews are the leading companies with the best Game design, some worth mentioning are Square-Enix, Epic, Valve etc.

Game developing takes place after the normal procedures are complete such as the initial sketches and designs, then the developer can know and understand what to work on. A game designer needs to accomplish and achieve a variety of issues alongside loads of calculations to develop a game. Game developing is not about singularity however some developers do prefer working on their own which is understandable as they would rather develop something which is entirely in their own concepts and ideas. But I would prefer working as a team and it broadens the ideas and thoughts.

I think different genres do require different game design as they would all be the same in the way the game plays, moreover game design is a vital part in creating a game so being the same in all games can be a bit repetitive in the way the game plays and looks.

When a game is released every game has its own unique game play, this is a must so it is very important. For instance; Gears of War has its own sort of game play, its targeted towards the older generations looking at teenagers and above. Parents will not let their 9 year old play this game because of its violent game play. Parents will know this by looking into the games game play and game design.

I really do not mind if a games graphics is like totally bad, however the game needs to have a seriously good plot line and needs to have smooth game play. A game that had a really good story line was a classic Final Fantasy VIII, I know the graphics are not very good but the story and game play still makes me want to play it.

Task 6: Writing about Games, Previews, reviews, commentary and lies

One of the issues that games journalists face is that not everyone or should say not every gamer would be on the same side as the journalist. What I mean by this is that if a journalist wrights a review and gives a game a rating of 6/10 and mentions a lot of bad aspects, a gamer can say that the review is wrong and should be given a higher or lower rating. There’s even a few times when there have been conflicts between reviewers as to who is right and who is wrong. Some journalists can also be biased, as they can review a game which they like and give it a high score just because they like the game.

If a journalist is part of company such as IGN; then IGN would pay them their salary. However if a journalist is a free lance then he/she would put their review on some sort of webpage or even send a copy to companies. This in turn might make the company see if he/she is a good reviewer and hire them.

There are lot of games that are incorporating the use of the ranking system this is mainly because it allows the users to rank their characters according to their desired needs. I do not really think it is necessary; however I think it does drive sales. This is because a gamer could rank up as much as he wants due to the time he spends playing the game. A gamer can also become emotionally attached to the character he/she has built and nurtured for so long equipping him with new items and perks. Even the big developers have incorporated this technique such as Activision with Cod: Black Ops. They see a potential in the ranking system and more developers are going to use this technique.

I think as a writer there’s a lot of aspects I can improve such as; they way I write and using the right term to explain things. But I think I need to improve on trying to get my point of view to the reader and also trying to implement my feelings across to the reader.

Task 5: part 4 my personal history

The year 2000 and onwards was the year were I actually began to be interested in not just playing games but also researching about the game industry. As I bought my very own console the Playstation 2, the only reason why I bought Sony’s Playstation over the other competitors; Nintendo, Sega and dreamcast, is because Playstation was the console that had all the games and backing from the third party developers, and the fact that nearly everyone who loves games had one whether it be the first or second console.

The reason why Nintendo did not do so well with the Nintendo cube is because it had very few support from other developers and most of its games were child oriented, which is why it lost my attention in purchasing one. However, the only product that got my attention was the Gameboy series; in 2001 they introduced the Gameboy Advance which maintained Nintendo’s market position. Shortly after Microsoft Corporation seen the loss of Nintendo and Sega, and introduced the Xbox. The Xbox was not a big success at first but the release of Bungie Studios Halo became an instant hit with the consumers, and the game still is a hit with game becoming a global franchise with current gen console Xbox 360.

I think as the year’s progress the game industries are going to see more demands from consumers and some not meeting those demands and thus getting bad reviews and feedback. Also the cost of developing these games is expanding rapidly and if games do not sell as they should more companies will be closed and companies will be bought from other businesses.

It’s time to dream...

I do not want games to be a matter of playing something I want them to be real, I don’t mean realistic graphics, I mean playing it without a TV. I want to be able to touch, feel, smell everything that is going on. When someone dreams it’s like they are in another world were everything and anything is possible that’s what I want to see. I want to be able to customize a character and use that same character in all my games, I want to be able to talk to that character in the middle of playing Halo 164 – Combat Massively Evolved. I want to see games that use the whole entire world as the environment even having a showdown in my back garden, using my dad’s car for a quick escape. That is what I want to see.

Task 4: History of computer games part 3: 2000

The gaming world has come a long way since the early days when gaming was just being introduced to the gaming audience. It has also developed in terms of cost and funding each game. In the early days PACMAN for the 2600 game console, also known as the Video Computer System (VCS) was made for $100,000. However in the 21^st century that would probably cover for the staffs wages, this brings me to another point; there was only one person who was involved in making PACMAN, which took him couple of months to make. A successful game i.e. Halo can take over a year to make and would require over hundreds of people.

I hear lot of people saying that $100,000 back in those days was a lot of money compared to know as developers are spending millions in putting a game in to the market. It took about $40 million to make Halo 2 and sold over 8 million copies. The cost of making games is one of the major issues concerning the game industry as the cost will keep on rising year upon year. Also the time it takes to put games on the market is rising and will rise in the future. Final Fantasy XIII took about 5 to 6 years make, everyone was expecting the game to be faultless but it was one of the crappiest ff titles around (my opinion).

I think more and more people are going to demand their games to be released earlier, or release them a bit later but needs to be perfect. When gamers have to wait a long time they sometimes lose interest in games and simply do not buy the game, or they might just get a pre-owned copy. Pre-owned games is another problem that companies have to face now, as more people are only buying pre-owned games. This may be because the game itself costs too much or they do not see the need in buying a brand new game when they can buy it a lot cheaper.

There are a few developers who are combating against pre-owned games, Polyphony Digital have now made exclusive content available for those who buy new copies of games which I think is a good way in making gamers buy new games.