In Defense of Video Games

Here at work we are restricted as to where we can go on the Internet. Obviously the military doesn't want us looking up pornography, wasting time on YouTube, visiting extremist sites, or looking at pages on how to build pipe bombs. All of these things are blocked. You couldn't get to them if you wanted, not that I would want to anyway. But another item is thrown into this banned list, and it has me really frustrated. Any site that has any relation to the word "Games," is forbidden. I'm not talking just flash game sites (which I find to be perfectly acceptable as being banned), I'm talking about ANYTHING that has the slightest thing to do with the moniker "Games."

News sites, review sites, developer sites, forums, etc. All Blocked. An argument could be made that it is a time waster at a place that you shouldn't be wasting time with. And if you want to start down that path, I could list thousands of sites that I have no problem getting to that are as big if not bigger time wasters than anything related to games. News Sites like CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, none are blocked. Movie news sites such as Variety, Hollywood reporter, Coming soon, Ain't it cool, none are blocked. The list continues: Celebrity Gossip sites, Facebook, Tech review sites, blog sites, recipe databases, etc. What is the whole of the Internet if not an enormous black hole of a time waste? So then why the specific hatred towards Gaming? I could detail my frustrations with this work computer restriction, but I think there is a larger issue present that needs to be explored.

Generally, in our culture, video games are looked down upon. They are kid's toys. That's why when a Mature rated game, a game designed and intended for Adults, gets so much press when an enraged parent finds out what their kid is really playing. That's why you have politicians (who do not really understand and appreciate gaming due to their inexperience), who try to pass restrictive laws regarding the distribution of games. The responsibilities of censoring children's entertainment intake, rests solely with the parent. But that is another post.

It could be simplified by saying that people just don't understand Video Games. The over 40 crowd, for the most part, don't understand the appeal, or why somebody would want to "rot their mind" on worthless video games. Older generations never had the technology at the age younger generations have it now. So it is natural that people don't understand it. But I really don't get why they receive so much hate from so many people. I believe many people are greatly misinformed. There is much to be said about the expanding and maturing industry of game design. So let me geek out a bit about this young, exciting field of entertainment.

Interactive storytelling. It's one thing to read a book and create images in your head. It's another experience to go and watch somebody's vision of a story. It is an entirely different experience to interact with characters, and write your own story in a world people have crafted specifically for your enjoyment. The level of detail that goes into some of these games is staggering. The gorgeous visuals that today's machines can create is simply stunning. I always enjoy taking a step into interactive worlds, exploring and having fun.

And a funny thing is beginning to happen within the game industry. The technology has gotten so great and so powerful, that developers are forced to throw more assets towards creating a game. More art, more textures, more code writing, more, more, more. Subsequently, costs are rising. A triple-A game released today costs quadruple it would have cost to produce a similar game 10 years ago. So what is happening? Since publishers and developer are throwing more money at the games they are releasing, the financial risk of failure becomes much more important. So what you are seeing in the games that are released is an extraordinary amount of time is being put into getting the game right. Getting a solid story, introducing great mechanics (how the game is played), ironing out all bugs, to deliver a satisfying experience and to ultimately craft a strong release that will earn money.

Video games have gotten so good in the past few years, that soon they will surpass film and television in their quality and level of polish. There are already games out now that I think are better experiences than a lot of movies I've seen. Some stories have genuinely touched me and have transcended the boundary that exists between the content and human emotion. Developers are constantly pushing the bounds of storytelling and emotion. There are several guys out there who are trying to get to the holy grail of gaming, making the gamer cry. It sounds silly to say, but it is a real goal for many developers to be able to create that game that impacts the player to the degree of physical emotional response. The games out now are slowly inching to that level, it is only a matter of time.

I hate the Wii. But it is hard not to admire what the Wii has been doing. People who don't play games are picking it up. There are stories of parents fighting the kids for play time, of nursing homes buying systems because they are so popular with the crowd. Finally, people are enjoying games in a much wider market. So many are experiencing them for the first time and really enjoying themselves that it is has become a very exciting time. Who would have thought that a simple innovation in controller design would be the feature that bridges the gap. It's a true phenomenon. But I'm still irritated with it. Mostly because I love good graphics and diverse stories. The Wii doesn't provide much of either. The games are all targeted to one audience, and the system is essentially a rebuild of a last generation system. But it is doing good, and I see it. I just hope those new to gaming through the Wii, will expand to better consoles and titles.

The full cultural penetration of gaming across all demographics, it is something that will take time. I foresee gaming will one day be looked at like any other entertainment medium. People will fondly reminisce about the "classics." I am sure that games will one day take their place amongst great pieces of art and film. But it still has a way to go for that to happen. I'm just so excited about being here at the beginning. The feeling I get when I think about the prospects of the future of gaming is similar to how I imagine some cinema goers felt in the 20s when films started taking off. And they still had Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, and The Godfather yet to be made. Imagine for a moment, the possibilities of where this field can go.

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Not much going on, sooooo....

KITTEN!!

No seriously, I'm not quite sure what to write about, so I figured I'd give a little mini post on several things that my brain is all over today...

I finished playing Fable 2 on Xbox the other day. I still have a fair amount of quests to complete, and houses to buy, but I am for the most part done with it. It was fantastic, and I enjoyed every moment of it. The setting and art design were awesome. The description "Dickensian" has been used to describe the look of the towns and its inhabitants. Everything has a grim and grit to it, but it is altogether fanciful and often hilarious. I love British sensibilities, and this Game was a real Joy to play through.

I recently bought a juicer. Why you may ask? Spur of the moment, I wanted a juicer to make my own juices. There's a great fruit place between here and Bakersfield, and I picked up a whole flat of fresh strawberries and various sorts of berries. I already tried the juicer out earlier this week, and it was in a word; powerful. I thought the thing was going to take off, dragging my fruit in tow. But this weekend, I'm going to be making a whole pitcher of fresh juice. I don't want the fruit rotting in my fridge, so I'm just gonna juice it all at once, and save the juice for a little while. Hopefully that won't go bad nearly as fast as the fruit would, we'll see.

According to Guillermo del Toro, the director of the upcoming Hobbit films, we are within a couple of weeks to hearing an announcement on who will play Bilbo Baggins. Yes I am a nerd, and a devoted 'Ringer' (Lord of the Rings Superfan to the uninitiated), so this news of the possibility of news forthcoming, has got me so bloody pumped! I know it seems unexciting and not very interesting, but this is the stuff I live for. I can't wait to see what Guillermo has up his sleeves for the Hobbit. I loved Lord of the Rings, and have become quite the fan of Peter Jackson. Hopefully Hobbit won't disappoint, and the first clue as to what kind of movie they are making, comes from the casting.

And then...

Kittens!!

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Ratings exist for a reason, use them!

In television, film, video games and music, systems exist to inform parents of nature of the content. In broadcast television, you see the little block pop up every 30 minutes telling you what sort of content is being played. Movies have the MPAA, which rates released films G, PG, PG13, R, or NC17. Video Games have the ESRB, which rates games E, T, M, AO etc. Music merely puts an explicit label on a disc if it contains profanity.

So why do parents bring their kids to a film, like Watchmen (which let me tell you was very violent and the rating said so), and then complain about the violence of the film all across the Internet? Why do parents allow their kids to play video games, clearly labeled Mature, then go and yell at the stores for selling them in the first place?

If you don't mind your kid playing Mature rated video games, or mind them seeing R rated films, then good on you. Take some initiative and explore what you feel to be appropriate for your little sponge. But stop blaming a system that works just because you decided not to take an active interest in what your child watches or plays.

These same parents cry out that the system is broken. I have no idea how. stores won't sell m rated games to kids and Theaters won't sell tickets to r rated movies to anyone under age unless a parent or guardian is present. When I worked at the theater, our managers made a game of catching the little rapscallions when they tried to sneak into r rated movies. They would stand in the back of the theater, and when a couple of kids came in, they challenged them for their ticket stubs. Virtually 95% of them were sent away. It was awesome.

So what is the problem here? I say it's the parents. If you don't want to let your kids see a film because its r rated that's your choice. If you don't mind them seeing it than fine. My only stipulation would be that you can't blame anybody but yourself when you walk into a movie like SAW and then complain it was too violent.

Parenting is a parents job, not Target's, not Wal-mart's, not cinemark, not showcase, not any theater, not any store. They enforce the rules (or pay a steep fine if they break them). Only blame yourself for not being informed. The next step is to then get informed, and know what your kids are doing. It's your job.

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Little Big Planet Review

Little Big Planet. A video game released exclusively on Playstation 3 (this game is the sole reason why I now own a PS3, that and Blu-ray). A platformer, to those who don't know what that means, is a game where you primarily go from point A to B all the while jumping and dodging various obstacles, and often solving simple puzzles. In simplest terms... Mario, Sonic, those are platformers.

Watch this video to get an idea of what this is...

The concept is that while dreaming, our minds are in creation mode. We think up some crazy stuff, where does all this creative energy go, it collects in a cortex thingy and forms the world of Little Big Planet. But that is just a little explanation and really has nothing to do with the game itself, just a setup.

What makes Little Big Planet so much fun is the endless amounts of creativity poured into it. Not only does it come with several dozen levels made by the developers, it also gives you the same exact tools they used, so you can create your own levels. Then once you've made your level, you upload it to their servers and people from around the globe can play it and rate it. It is such a brilliant idea, to put so much control into the hands of the player, that the game's possibilities have no end.

I just finished the developer levels yesterday, and ever since I got the game I've been trying other peoples levels here and there. When the game first launched in October, there wasn't too much in the way of user-created content available. Well at least any GOOD user generated content. In the three months since, and with the help of a newly implemented search feature, the amount of great user content has swelled. This past weekend I was playing a level that had me so giddy with pure joy, that I think Becky wondered what the hell I was doing.

To describe this ingenious level quickly: the concept was you are in a space station that is falling apart and you have to restore "gravity" and escape. What made it so much fun was the weightlessness it simulated. In order to do accomplish it they had to mount the entire level on what could be called a timed spring so that every few seconds it would jolt and send you flying into the air, so you had to hold on to the rail lest you be catapulted into space and have to start over. It was a brilliant idea executed with near perfection and it was created by a gamer!

That is what makes playing it so great. The endless possibilities. An added bonus is the amount of support the developers are giving the game. Every week there is new content to download, new costumes and decorations that you can use. This week they are releasing an entire level set designed around the Metal Gear solid series. And if rumors are to be believed Disney has a level pack in the pipe line to take you through their history of Animated films.

So bottom line: This game is designed around the idea of creativity. And it putting that creativity in the hands of the player. An amazing game that you must play! It's a shame it is only on the overpriced $400 Playstation 3.

A+

A couple more notes:

• You play as what is known as sackboy, a little burlap sack boy with a zipper. He is an iconic part of this game, much like mario and sonic where when they were released. Add the fact that there are hundreds of different variations of costumes that you can give him, you can easily personalize him however you wish.
• Holding down the triggers gives you control of Sackboy's arms so you can make him do a little victory arm wave or slap around other sackpeople when they play with you online.
• They utilized the motion sensor in the controller so when you turn the controller in your hand it controls where you little sackperson looks. A small detail but is kinda neat when you switch the control to his hips and you can make him dance and do funny things.

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Playing some Gears of War

So I am little over video-gamed right now. This season has too many great A-list titles that I have to take advantage of. To name a few on my list: Fable 2, Little Big Planet, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, and Gears of War 2. Now I bought Gears of War 2 the day it came out (Friday the 7th), and I was too caught up in Little Big Planet (I will talk about this one later) that I hadn't gotten a chance to pop it in until today. And oh my God, it is awesome.

To the uninitiated, Gears of War is a series on the Xbox 360, that pits a hardy group of tree-thick human brutes, known as Gears against an invading unstoppable horde of underground beasties known as locusts. Their (Humans) planet has been ravaged by Civil War for nearly a century, and when they are at the brink of destroying themselves, a new enemy (locusts) bursts forth from the ground (literally) and begin to decimate the entire planet. I really love the setup and the story to the original, so I am very anxious to play through this one.

The gameplay is different from other shooters in that in it you are forced to use cover 95% of the time. Rather than jumping, blindly firing at enemies you are forced into ducking and covering, taking quick potshots over a rail. The action is crazy intense, and the graphics are just out of this world. Check out this screen shot:

Or this one:


The original Gears of War was released in Oct 2006, and up until its sequel, was the best looking game ever. So far this one has easily been able to surpass its predecessor. But I haven't finished it yet (I only started today), but I have a feeling this is going to be an instant classic. And I hear the multi-player is very good as well. We shall just have to see.

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