The holidays are here and Christmas day is all so near.
It's that time of year again, when we all like to spend quality
time with friends and loved ones, exchanging gifts, eating good food,
being merry and playing video games!
And to that end I've compiled a list, and I've checked it twice,
of 5 Christmas themed games that are fun, interesting and/or utterly
bonkers. These games are sure to put just about anybody in the holiday
spirit.
So, without further adieu and in no particular order.
#1- Christmas Nights (Sega Saturn)
Christmas Nights
A bit of an oldie but a no- brainer for those who've played it,
Christmas Nights is a two-level expansion on the original platformer
Nights into Dreams for the Sega Saturn.
The great thing about this game is, depending upon the time of
year, environmental elements of the game change. Meaning that during
December players are treated to not one, but two festive, Christmas
themed levels!
Not only do the environments of these two levels take on a
Christmas theme, but so too do the NPCs, some even appearing as little
elves in costume. But it doesn't stop there, the background music also
gets replaced with an instrumental of ‘Jingle Bells.’
While there are many who may have missed out on this wonderfully
Christmas themed experience, those gamers who did get to experience
Christmas Knights remember it quite fondly.
#2 - Elf Bowling (PC)
Elf Bowling
I'm not quite sure what it is about Elf Bowling that makes it so
enjoyable, maybe it's the fact that you get to roll a huge heavy ball
into a bunch of idling elves. No wait, that's exactly it!
Released for the PC in 1998, Elf Bowling pits Santa Claus against
elves who have gone on strike. Being the great diplomat Santa Clause is
known to be, he decides the best cause of action is to use them all for
target practice by bowling huge, heavy balls at them, while they stand
at the other end taunting and mooning him.
I really don't know what else to say here, while being a very out
dated looking game, Elf Bowling is just so stupidly fun not to like.
You won't find many other Christmas themed bowling games, and the fact
that this one is so fun and cheeky makes it a must play.
#3- Santa Jetpack: Magic Sleigh (Android)
Santa Jetpack: Magic Sleigh
Developed by PimPum Games, Santa Jetpack: Magic Sleigh is a
simple but fun, mobile game to put you in the holiday spirit. And best
of all, it's free to play.
The game puts you in control of Santa Clause piloting his
jet-powered slay (Evidently the reindeer are on strike now too) you'll
need to avoid crashing into floating ice blocks and penguins, while
trying to collect the many gold coins scattered through out the levels,
as well as 3 illusive gold stars.
Santa Jetpack: Magic Sleigh may look like a simple retro style,
side scrolling, collect 'em up, but it has a lot of charm. The fact that
it's also a Christmas themed game is just icing on the Christmas pud.
So, if you're in need of some light, Christmas themed
entertainment to tide you over till Christmas day, you can't go far
wrong with Santa Jetpack: Magic Sleigh.
#4- Santa's Rampage (PC)
Santa's Rampage
By far the most demented Christmas themed game on the list.
Developed by RuneStorm and released in December 2013, Santa's Rampage is
a FPC (First person cleaner) game, where you play the part of a cleaner
who is tasked with cleaning up the visceral after carnage of Santa
Clause's violent rampage.
"Tragedy! Santa; the toy giving folk-hero, and purveyor of fine
Christmas goods, has had enough. Endless requests from greedy children
wanting more and more every year, tax increases, pressure from elf
unions, bills, reindeer!"
None of the carnage is ever shown, but it looks to be that the
Elves at Santa's work shop where getting a little tired of their
inhumane work conditions, and gave Santa an ultimatum "Meet our demand
or we quit." This seems to have been the straw that broke the reindeers
back, as Santa instead looses his mind and goes on a murderous killing
spree, butchering all of the Elves and Rainder leaving quite a bloody
mess behind.
So it's the players task to collect, and dispose of all the body
parts, mop up all the blood and generally tidy up the place (presumably
while Santa does some hard time)
Honestly, Santa's Rampage premise is ridiculous, but it is also
incredibly interesting from a (what if) point of view. And while it may
not be the best game to get you in the holiday spirit, it is fun and
certainly one of the most unique and original Christmas themed games
available.
#5- Borderlands 2 “How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day” (DLC (XBLA/PSN/PC)
Borderlands 2 How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day
We all know by now that nothing ever goes well for the
inhabitants of Borderlands, but it turns out they can't even enjoy the
holidays in peace.
Snowmen are causing problems and as if that wasn't enough, the
Abominable Mister Tinder Snowflake is also spreading the winter time
blues. So, it's up to Marcus to spread some warm holiday cheer with a
little help from his arsenal of large, fire spreading weapons.
This Borderlands 2 Christmas themed DLC is well worth checking
out, if you're looking to get yourself in the holiday mood. It offers
players a bunch of new festive collectables, heads and skins, and is a
great way to share in some holiday cheer with a friend.
Well, there you have it. 5 fun Christmas themed games to put you
in the holiday spirit. Whether you're looking for something fun,
interesting or absolutely bonkers you'll find something in this list to
keep you entertained over the holidays.
Thanks for checking out my blog, while you're hear why not let me
know what your favourite Christmas themed video game is by sharing it
in the comments section.
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy holidays everyone!
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A lot of you may have noticed a few "video game journalists"
(Adam Sessler being one of them) acting rather un-professional lately,
by either constantly contradicting themselves, making ludicrous, biased
statements and generally just being pretty crappy at their jobs, whilst
at the same time making the whole profession look bad.
Not that this is anything new in the world of video game
journalism, in truth the bar has been pretty low for some time now, due
to petty console wars and fanboyism being rampant in the industry.
Choosing to take one side and blindly defending it at the cost ones
reputation and credibility, is a practice many video game journalists
eventually seem to succumb to (To be fair though, the unwritten rule does
seem to be to choose a side or take heat from both) This may be due to
the fact that no matter which side of the fence you choose to stand on,
you'll always have an army of fanboys eating out of the palm of your
hand, so long as you're whispering sweet nothings to them about their
beloved and chosen preference. Not only does this practice bolster a
persons ranks, it also insights flame wars due to the anger and uproar
coming from the other side.
There's usually two possibilities when a video game journalists
starts talking nonsense, they are either a fanboy who wants only to look
for the best in whatever they are defending or attempting to put on a
pedestal. Or they have an agenda, and are willing to use misinformation
and even lie through there teeth in order to further whatever goal they
have in sight. There's always the third possibility that they've gone
stark raving mad, but more often than not it's one of the other two.
Now obviously there are people with legitimate "non biased"
personal opinions, right? Well, in reality it's simply impossible for
anyone to truly draw their opinion from a well of pure thoughts, because
"opinions" no matter what you may think will always be objective,
containing personal and biased ideas, formulated through pre-conceived
notions and preference. For example, I'm not a fan of sports games so my
opinions about them will always be negative in comparison to those who
enjoy them, even if I try to look at them objectively it's impossible
for me to formulate an opinion with nothing to draw from, I could try to
be subjective and look for what others may like about them, however it
would still be a biased opinion based on personal assumptions and
pre-conceived notions.
A person is not able to formulate an opinion without personal and
biased viewpoints inevitably effecting their final conclusion. However
the difference with fanboys and those with a personal agenda, is that
fanboys tend to avoid even looking at what they like in anything but a
positive light, where as those with an agenda choose to spread lies and
misinformation knowing full well that what they say is nonsense. My
point being? There are far too many fanboys and those looking to further
their career at the cost of their credibility currently calling
themselves "video game journalists"
Flame bait, I'm really not sure what should surprise me the most, how old the practice is or how painfully effective it continues to be.
Flame wars are the bane of genuine journalism, they make it
incredibly difficult to talk openly and intelligently about current,
pressing matters due to the close minded people who flock to them, in
order to either troll, defend or denounce whatever the articles chosen
topic happens to be. However they are incredibly handy at directing
traffic toward particular websites especially those with an agenda,
remember that many of these "video game websites" aren't interested in
publishing facts, news or even intelligent opinion pieces, they simply
want "hits" and flame-bait, in the form of reviews or articles is the
perfect means to get them.
That being the case, is there really any wonder as to why there is so much blind, fanboy driven nonsense being posted on numerous video game news and information websites all over the Internet? With so much misinformation, blatant lies and biased opinions disguised as facts coming from supposed video game journalists, you'd think we'd all be more inclined to take what we hear with a pinch of salt. But no, gamers, or better yet people, are fickle, if we have a preference for something (which we all do) we naturally like hearing that it's doing well, we also like knowing when it's ahead of the competition. Further more, we like to imagine that the success of whatever we may happen to be a fan of is somehow also our own success, but in these delusions we allow ourselves to be lied to, all so that we can brag about being better than those who support "the losers" all while the exact same nonsense is happening on the other side of the fence.
The console war is not the sole problem, the console war provides
competition, it also prevents any one company from gaining a monopoly
and forces the console manufacturers to try to out-do one another. But
it also breeds contempt, not solely due to people believing their chosen
allegiance is superior, but because people begin to deliberately ignore
where their favourite companies are going wrong, too preoccupied with
hating on the competition and all too willing to lap up whatever
nonsensical drivel people in the industry, or even video game
journalists are spouting.
As The console war round 2 kicks off, it will yet again be up
to gamers to decide whether or not they want a clean fight and real
journalistic coverage. Or more sucker punches, fanboy drivel and
flame-bait articles.
So what can be done? Well, my advice to all of you is to stop
fanning the flames. It's simple really, as soon as you stop paying
attention to flame bait articles, journalists screaming for attention or
just talking nonsense, then all the genuine video game journalism will
be pushed to the front. I'm not saying everything will be fixed over
night, but trying to fight fire with fire has proven time and time again
to be futile. As for the fanboys, well there's always going to be
fanboys, but the more legitimate journalism we have available to us the
more easily we'll be able to call them out and put a stop to their
misinformed claims or outright lies.
Like most everyone reading this blog, I enjoy playing video games and I
honestly care about the video games industry. If this blog has opened
anyone's eyes to the many issues currently plaguing video game
journalism, or even just made you think twice about clicking on a
blatant flame bait article, then I consider that a small victory for us
all.
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You really can't beat a good ol' Survival Horror game, cautiously
wandering the lonely, creepy, creaking corridors, pre-emptively cringing
as you open a door or turn the corner, and conserving your health items
and ammunition for whatever unspeakable horrors may lay waiting just
ahead. Of course none of these moments match the sheer terror brought on
by actually coming face to face with the stuff of nightmares.
The list that follows might not contain certain games that are
widely regarded as the most "scary" available, but each one has offered
(for me personally) some of the best tense moments, creepy atmosphere,
and most legitimate scares around. So dim the lights, grab an extra pair
of underwear, sit back and enjoy my list of the (The 5 best Horror
games to play this Halloween)
From Japanese developer "Tecmo" Project Zero II: Crimson
Butterfly is a Survival Horror game in which you play as a young girl
named Mio Amakura, accompanied by her twin sister Mayu Amakura, who at the start of the
game both find themselves having accidentally wandered into the "The
Lost Village" Now why exactly the village became "lost" to begin with
will remain a secret due to spoiler related reasons, but I can tell you
however that the villagers don't exactly take kindly to outsiders just
wandering in, even more so now that they're all dead and vengeful. The
basic setup is pretty standard for a survival horror game, you've got a
creepy setting which is the village and the surrounding area, with lots
of puzzles, locked rooms and keys to find. And a lot of mystery
surrounding the villagers, and their strong affinity for "twins" an
"endless ceremony" which prominently features their involvement, not to
mention discovering the answer as to just why exactly everyone in the
village is now dead and not quite loving it.
As you make progress the plot naturally starts to unfold, you'll
also come across documents and journal entries that help better explain
the events that transpired before whatever calamity fell upon the
village. But the main appeal of any Project Zero game comes from how you
actually fight with the ghostly inhabitants, you see your one and only
weapon is a camera, known as the "Camera Obscura" capable of taking
pictures of ghosts and other spiritual entities, and exorcising their
souls. However simply taking pictures of ghosts does very little damage,
the trick here is to allow them to get as close as possible while
allowing your cameras spirit energy to build up, preferably waiting
until the ghosts warped, distorted mug is face to face with your own and
then in the split second as they are about to attack, you can perform
what is known as a "Fatal Frame" dealing far greater damage. That's
right, to effectively defeat the now damned villages inhabitants you
need to get as up close and personal as you can with those ghostly
goolies.
The game boasts many ghosts that could make for sufficient
nightmare fuel, such as the Wanderer (Miyako Sudo) the Woman in the box,
as well as (Akane Kiryu) & her twin Doll, but none are quite as
visually imposing as "The Kusabi" Due to being tortured and broken in
life The Kusabi returns as one of the most vengeful and scary ghosts in
the entire game, if not the franchise. However even The Kusabi pails in
comparison to "Sae Kurosawa" in life a young shrine maiden who lost her
twin sister (Yae Kurosawa) and was then forced to perform the "endless
ceremony" alone, but shortly after returns to the world of the living as
the most hate filled and vengeful spirit the franchise has seen to date.
The insane laugh Sae makes as she stands over the butchered remains of
her fellow villagers wearing her white blood splattered Kimono, is one
of the most legitimately terrifying things I've witnessed in a video
game.
Check out this video of Sae's terrifying introduction, if you dare.
Brought to us in an age before Capcom sort of lost the plot a
bit, Resident Evil 4 is a "Survival Horror" game with a slightly bigger
focus on the action when compared to it's predecessors, it's an
incredibly fun, well paced and, and well... OK OK, so maybe Resident
Evil 4 isn't the "scariest" game in the franchise, but I'm sure we can
all agree that it's still miles scarier than RE 5 or 6. Anyway, what a
lot of people often forget is that Resident Evil 4 boasts one of the
most legitimately terrifying enemies seen in the franchise thus far, the
Regenerador. Damn these things were scary! Apparently they are
experimental bioweapons created by implanting leech like Plaga into a
human host. Slow moving and seemingly lacking in intellect, but capable
of near-instantaneous regeneration, they are able to take incredible
amounts of damage and even decapitation of their limbs! That's right,
take out their legs from under them but don't get too close or they'll
wriggle over and take a chunk out of you.
A Regenerador can be killed eventually by succumbing to their
injuries but your best bet is to use a sniper rifle from a distance and
equip the infrared scope to locate and destroy the Plagas inside the
host. What? The Regenerador not scary enough for you, you say? Alright,
how about the Iron Maiden? Basically a Regenerador with a multitude of
spikes expanding and contracting out of its body, the image of one of
these things awkwardly slumping itself your way is enough to give even
the most hardened Survival Horror gamer the goosbumps. Honestly the only
thing you'll find creepier than these two inhuman variants in RE-4 is
their breathing you hear echoing throughout the research facility on
"The Island" whenever one of them is lurking in the shadows.
This video shows exactly why going toe-to-toe with an Iron Maiden is a terrifyingly bad idea.
Outlast is a "psychological horror" video game developed and
published by Red Barrels Games, a company founded by people previously
involved with video games such as Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed,Splinter Cell and Uncharted, it's also the scariest damn game likely to
come out this year.
Outlast puts you in the shoes of "Miles Upshur" an independent
journalist given a lead regarding some unusual goings on at Mount
Massive Asylum, a "massive" asylum based in the remote mountains of
Colorado, and long-abandoned home for the mentally ill, but now recently
re-opened by the “research and charity” branch of the translational
Murkoff Corporation. Miles breaks into the facility only to encounters
an impaled SWAT officer and his decapitated crew, who before snuffing it
tells the journalist to get the hell out of the asylum while he still
can. Only whilst making his way to the exit Miles is attacked by a very
large and powerful inmate named Chris Walker, who throws him through a
window, and down onto the atrium floor below. It's upon regaining his
consciousness that Miles then meets "Father Martin" who refers to miles
as his "Witness" After passing out for a second time Miles wakes up to
find himself trapped by the horrors within Mount
Massive Asylum.
Unlike your typical monsters, mutants and ghouls seen in many
other video games, Miles enemies are the now escaped inmates, known as
"The Variants" tortured, mutilated and driven beyond madness and beyond
recognition, these unfortunate souls now stand between you and your
escape. Armed with only a video camera and it's night-vision function,
Miles must make his way through Massive Asylum doing his best to avoid
The Variants, by creeping, crawling, and hiding in the shadows as well
as lockers and under beds, Miles can also use his video camera to record
events, as well as find confidential files that offer a deeper glimpse
into the events that led Mount
Massive Asylum into ruin.
Throughout the game you will hear talk of a seemingly
supernatural entity known as the "Walrider" and even bare witness to
footage of the asylum's security forces being brutally slaughtered by
it. As if being locked up with a bunch of crazed inmates, a murderous
doctor and a less than helpful Priest wasn't bad enough, Miles now has
to worry about coming face to face with a ruthlessly violent
supernatural entity. I must say that the atmosphere and pacing in
Outlast comes together perfectly, offering some truly tense and creepy
moments, as well as some terrifying jump scares.
Whatch the Outlast Official Trailer (Full Version) to get a taste for the terror within.
No.4) Dead Space. Platforms: (Microsoft Windows), (PlayStation 3), (Xbox 360)
Dead Space
Dead Space was developed by Visceral Games and published by EA.
Now while the latest release in the franchise is widely regarded as a
disappointment by most, due to its departure from Survival Horror
elements such as a creepy atmosphere, a need for ammo conservation, and
you know, being scary, in favour of action, large set pieces and
Hollywood-esque story telling. But the original Dead Space still holds
up well even by today's standards.
Stepping into the space-boots of Isaac Clarke, a ship systems
engineer, players must fight for survival against an Alien horde that
has infested the mining starship "The Ishimura" (aka Stone Village)
along with slaughtering the entirety of the crew, and then reanimating
every corps via bio-recombination transforming them into "Necromorphs"
In order for Isaac to effectively battle the Alien threat he must
decapitate them limb from limb using a wide array of guns, engineering
tools used as make shift weapons, as well as using his powers of
telekinesis and a Stasis module for temporarily slowing down time.
Dead Space boasts a myriad of cringe worthy Necromorph
monstrosities, but none are more terrifying or relentless than "The
Hunter" biologically engineered by Doctor Challus Mercer on board the
USG Ishimura. It was created by inserting a piece of necrotic tissue,
obtained from the flesh-like growths covering some sections of the
Ishimura directly into the cranium of a live, unknown crew member.
Yikes! As if regular Necromorphs weren't difficult enough to kill, The
Hunter due to it's ability to quickly regenerate any and all limbs is
pretty much invincible, the only sure fire way to survive an encounter
with one is to blast of its limbs and use you "Stasis Module" to produce
a temporary time dilation, basically slowing down time in order for you
to make a strategic retreat.
This short trailer for Dead Space conveys perfectly the loneliness,despair and terror felt whilst actually playing the game.
Silent Hill 2 was brought to us by Japanese video game publisher
and developer Konami. Ask any Survival Horror buff what their favourite
Survival Horror game is and chances are they'll reply with "Silent Hill
2" and with good reason, the game offers one of the best "Physiological"
Survival Horror experiences you could hope to find, not to mention
boasting some of the most creepy, chill inducing and just plain
terrifying monsters to be found in the genre.
In Silent Hill 2 players take control of mild mannered James
Sunderland, who is on his way to an old holiday resort called "Silent
Hill" after receiving a letter from his wife asking for him to meet her
there. The thing is though, James's wife has been a bit dead for a while
now so naturally he's a little perplexed as to what's going on. But not
really having anything better to do James continues on his way and upon
reaching the town of Silent Hill, begins his gradual decent into
despair.
Just about any monster in Silent Hill 2 can act as sufficient
nightmare fuel, but one monstrosity in particular has gained a cult
following all of his own "Pyramid Head" If you're even remotely familiar
with the Survival Horror genre then chances are you've already heard of
this pyramid shaped helmet sporting, broadsword wielding behemoth. What
many people may not be aware of however, is the significance of Pyramid
Heads design. You see Silent Hill likes to get under the skin of its
victims by creating monsters based on their fears, regrets and repressed
emotions. Pyramid Head being no exception, represents James's repressed
sexual desires that are not being met now due to his wife being dead,
amongst other things... But I won't spoil the mystery for those looking
to experience the game themselves. What I will say though is that James
Sunderland has been a very naughty boy and Silent Hill has crafted the
perfect vessel, Pyramid Head, in order to bring down the towns own
special brand of punishment on poor ol' Jimmie boy.
Here's a video showing the numerous terrifying encounters James Sunderland has with Pyramid Head. (Warning! there are spoilers contained in this video)
So, do you agree with my list of The 5 best Horror games to play
this Halloween? Or is there a game you would swap out to replace with
another? Let me know what your favourite Horror game is and why in the
comments section.
Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!.
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Today I want to talk about the cultural phenomenon that is the "Let's
Play" and how important I feel it is not only for gaming as a culture
but also for the industry.
First of all, what is a "Let's Play"? Well for those of you not
already in the know, basically a Let's Play in regards to "video games"
is a video in which you watch another person play through a video game,
usually whilst offering commentary for the viewers during the play
through. Now the basic definition alone may not sound very entertaining,
but the fact that Let's Plays have taken the Internet by storm these
past few years, becoming some of the most popular and viewed videos
available on YouTube and other such video hosting websites says
otherwise.
So, just exactly why are Let's Plays so popular? I mean video
games are by and large a interactive form of entertainment, and for the
most part are best enjoyed by actually playing them yourself, right?
However as I'm sure is the case for many gamers out there, there are or
have often been times when watching others play a video game, be they
friends, siblings, parents or guardians, can be just as enjoyable and
entertaining as playing yourself. Now the reasons as to why this is the
case are varied and many, but it is often either because watching a
person play who is exceptionally good at a game, seeing how someone
responds while playing, or if they simply have an entertaining
personality, can be entertainment in and of itself. The same rings true
with Let's Plays, only instead of sitting in the same room watching
someone play you can now watch and follow their progress online.
Putting it simply, the advent of YouTube and other similar video
hosting websites, has allowed the makers of Let's Plays to offer their
viewers an experience similar to that which many have had whilst
watching friends and family play video games, allowing for them to make
that very experience a form of entertainment itself.
The very fact that Pro video gaming has rose to such prevalence as a spectator sport serves to further prove the entertainment value found in watching others play video games.
There are a great many YouTubers who have gained popularity and
recognition through making Let's Play videos (as well as offering news,
reviews and opinions) such as Angry Joe, the cast of Smosh Games and
ClevverGames, "Cryaotic" (aka Cry, aka ChaoticMonki) as well as
"Michelle" (aka Mynx, aka TheRPGMinx) But few are quite as popular or as
well known as the Swedish born YouTube personality "Felix Arvid Ulf
Kjellberg" (aka "PewDiePie") First gaining popularity and recognition
through playing Horror games such as Amnesia: The Dark Decent and it's
various custom stories, the majority of entertainment and appeal of
Felix's early videos came not solely from watching him play whilst doing
commentary, cracking jokes and referencing pop culture, but from
watching him run back and forth screaming uncontrollably whenever a
monster would appear, befriending various pieces of furniture like "Mr.
Chair" and the golden statue "Stephano" and yelling out his popular
catchphrase "BARRELS!!!" whenever he comes across his self proclaimed
nemesis "the barrels" all while attempting to progress through the game.
Also Felix always makes sure to keep his audience feeling involved (or
as he calls them, his "Bro's") and at the end of each video will "Bro
fist" to the camera as a thanks for watching.
Felix, whilst slowly building up his fanbase began to diversify
his videos, incorporating more story driven games and showing his fans
Let's Plays of many lesser known but incredibly good Flash and indie
games such as Ib, Two the moon and Mad Father. Now boasting a YouTube
subscriber count of over 14,000,000 and counting (earning him the
guinness world record for most subscribed YouTube channel) along with
world wide recognition. "PewDiePie" has also found himself mentioned
and/or referenced in one way or another in various indie and Flash based
video games. Also, his recent Let's Play videos of popular titles such
as The Last Of Us, Outlast and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs have been
some of the most highly viewed videos regarding those games, and at the
time of writing his current Let's Play of Beyond: Two Souls looks to be
no exception.
Whether or not you're a fan of PewDiePie in particular, you really can't deny the entertainment value and appeal that Let's Plays offer.
Let's Plays have become such a popular form of entertainment that
even companies like Rooster Teeth (Creators of popular Internet shows
such as Halo spoof "Red VS Blue" and "RWBY") have created their own Let's Play channel
on YouTube, aptly named "LetsPlay" Not to mention popular video game
journalists and reviewers such as Zero Punctuation's Ben "Yahtzee"
Croshaw, reviews editor for Destructoid.com and host of Jimquisition
"Jim Sterling" as well as YouTube personality, PC game critic and self
titled "Cynical Brit" TotalBiscuit, have each taken to making Let's Play
videos.
Now some may argue that Let's Plays actually decrease the
potential sales of a game due to potential consumers having already seen
a play through, but there is just as much evidence to suggest
otherwise. Where as many video game demos are known to be designed to
paint a game in a positive light by showing the most appealing parts,
Let's Plays offer a way to actually see how a game plays from start to
finish enabling the viewer to see as much or as little of a game as they
desire, also allowing a potential consumer to make a far more educated
decision as whether or not to make a purchase. Now in no way am
suggesting that Let's Plays should be used to base all of our video game
purchases off of, but they certainly give you much more well rounded
view of a games pros and cons, and the fact of the matter is that if a
popular Let's Play personality enjoyed playing a game and/or their
viewers found the Let's Play enjoyable, then there is every likelihood
their fans would want to purchase said game, therefore leading to a
potential increase in sales.
Believing the above statement to be the case, it does strike me
as very odd seeing as just how many companies there are in the industry,
that have gone out there way to censor Let's Play videos. Surely they
must realise the potential for free publicity, right? Well apparently
not. Nintendo have had numerous videos (Let's Plays or otherwise)
removed from YouTube under the pretence that the uploaders are
"infringing on their copyright" while this accusation may be the case
when it comes to a full Let's Play showing of the entirety of a game
and/or key moments in it, it does not explain why they have felt the
need to have had numerous cutscenes and even trailers for their games
removed under the same pretence.
While Nintendo have every right to defend their copyrighted products and material from misuse, censoring and removing videos on YouTubeand then stating that they want a cut of whatever profits the uploader may have earned, or may go on to earn through further uploads of Nintendo licensed games, sends a very poor message to their fans and potential consumers.
Sega also has a history of removing user uploaded content from
YouTube under the pretence of "copyright infringement". Most notably
back In 2012 when Sega went "nuclear" on YouTube taking down everything
and anything related to their Shining Force franchise (fan made content,
trailers you name it) in a apparent attempt to put their upcoming
release of Shining Force for the PSP at the top of the search list. Why
exactly Sega felt the need to go to such extreme measures is anybodies
guess, but the fact that user uploaded content can be so easily removed
like that without there being any genuine legal issues or concerns is
very disconcerting, especially for those who heavily rely on being able
to freely upload such content.
The censoring of content on YouTube goes further than simple
copyright concerns and petty marketing tactics. Recently, Day One:
Garry's Incident developers "Wild Games Studio" had a rather critical
review of their game (uploaded by PC game reviewer and critic,
TotalBiscuit) taken down under accusations of copyright infringement.
However TotalBiscuit himselfcommented back saying that he had received his copy of
the game from the indie developers under the understanding that he would
be uploading a video review for it, going on to further state that
since Wild Games Studio had not seen fit to also remove the many other
less popular videos of the game under the same claim of copyright
infringement, that they were merely using the pretence of
copyright infringement as a means to censor criticism of their game.
Wild Games Studio's accusations against TotalBiscuit for
his apparent infringement on their copyright, has got to be one of the
worst, most deplorable misuses of the copyright act to have occurred on YouTube.
Video game companies should not, must not, be allowed
to have criticism of their game pulled from the net under the false
pretence of copyright infringement. This is blatant censorship and
further highlights the gaping hole copyright law currently presents for
those companies who wish to undermine freedom of speech in order to
censor negativity regarding their products.
Marketing is a costly process that can often end up costing video
game companies more than the price required to develop a game. One
would think then that due to the sheer amount of subscribers many
popular makers of Let's Play videos have, that more video games
companies would be reaching out to them in order gain free publicity.
There certainly aren't many who would pass up the chance to be the first
to Let's Play the opening section of Assassins Creed 4 or Killzone:
Shadow Fall, in order to help spread word of the game while potentially
increasing their viewer base.
While it is true that some Let's Plays actually do infringe on
current copyright laws, the fact of the matter is that such user
generated content is only going to increase in popularity. Just maybe
instead of content being censored or removed due to outdated modes of
thinking, maybe more should be being done to make the copyright act more
applicable to modern day society.
So there you have it, Let's Plays are important because they
offer us entertainment while also potentially educating us on our future
purchases, not to mention helping spread the word for games that may
have otherwise gone under the radar, and for offering another avenue to
help further popularise big budget AAA titles as well as smaller indie
games.
If I've gotten any of you interested in Let's Plays then I highly recommend checking out the LP uploaders I mentioned earlier.
Thanks for reading my blog, if you'd like to add anything or
disagree with any of my points, please feel free to leave a comment.
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What is a "video game"? When you hear the term what do you personally
expect? And to what extent of your own pre-conceived notion of what a
video game is would you allow to be challenged?
These questions and more are the main topic for this blog.
Being able to simply define something like say a book or a movie
makes explaining what they are easier, but it can often lead to
conservative thinking. A book for a long time was basically defined
solely as "a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn
together along one side and bound in covers" but with the advent of
E-Readers and other similar electrical devices the definition has
expanded.
A "video game" is basically defined as "a game played by
electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a
monitor or other display" So basically a video game is anything played
through an electrical device that requires player interaction in order
to manipulate what is being displayed on screen. That sound about right?
So can you think of any game that really challenges this definition?
There have been a great many games that altered how we interact or
manipulate what is being displayed on screen, but the vast majority of
them still require player input in order to do so, and for good reason,
any video game that doesn't require player input to manipulate what's
being displayed isn't really a video game at all, that's what we define
as a "movie" or "TV show" etc. It's simply impossible for something
non-interactive to be considered a "video game" because one of the main
defining aspects of a video game is player interactivity.
It is funny though, how the more advanced video games have
become, the more non-interactive cutscenes have been used as a means to
advance the plot/story between play, a lot of criticism has been brought
down upon games such as Metal Gear Solid for it's heavy use of
non-interactive story telling, although arguably these cutsceenes were
often necessary to help better explain the sheer amount of plot and
story contained in the MGS universe, but at the very least the actual
gameplay holds up well, offering some of the best stealth based gameplay
found in the genre.
As much as many non-interactive video game cutscenes may drag on, they can be very effective in helping better explain the plot/story and can offer some entertaining respite for the player between gameplay sections.
This brings me us another debate that's often brought up between
gamers. "What is most important, gameplay" or story? Of course it would be
best if both were done well but for a game what is the most important
of the two? For me it has to be gameplay, now this doesn't mean a game
has to be gameplay heavy, but it does mean that the way the player
interacts with a game is very important, especially for a game that is
lacking in gameplay mechanics.
This leads us to a rather controversial topic, Beyond: Two Souls.
Consider what you will of this, but what follows is me giving my
personal opinion and being absolutely honest regarding my feelings on
the game.
Beyond: Two Souls is not the masterpiece some have come to claim,
it is an interesting idea unfortunately executed very poorly. At best Beyond: Two Souls
is a mediocre but entertaining enough romp with impressive visuals and
boasting a talented cast, at worst it's an incredibly stupid, cliche
filled interactive movie in the guise of a video game. The over reliance
on bland, emotionless voice acting, tired, tried and true movie tropes
and emotion driven story telling, fails miserably to make up for a
severe lack of gameplay mechanics and player interactivity, leaving the
player often feeling disconnected from the events that transpire, this
feeling is made amplified by the repetitive use of QTE's (quick time
events), and minigames that apparently if worth performing once, are
worth performing the same task three or four more times in order to
advance the story. The disjointed way the plot and story play out is
another interesting idea, but very rarely do the "choices" you make
effect much of the actual plot during play. Beyond: Two Souls is a video
game but it attempts to be a movie first, the main issue I take with
this is that it's not even a very good movie.
Now I know the point of Beyond: Two Souls was to focus more on
the emotional connection players have with the characters, rather than
gameplay which can often interfere with the story, but if the player
simply doesn't care about the characters or their situation then the
whole point of the game is lost to them. In the case of Beyond I
honestly feel that this can hardly be the fault of the player, as it is
up to the developers to create characters and situations that can be
empathised with.
Beyond: Two Souls attempts to be an emotion driven, character focused story. But due to the cliche filled plot and narrative, uninteresting characters and passive gameplay mechanics, the experience often left me feeling beyond bored.
Games like Telltale's: The Walking Dead, Shenmue, To the moon and
Broken Sword are all, emotional, story driven games, obviously with
some having more gameplay mechanics than others, but I honestly believe
each one of them to offer a better story, gameplay mechanics and
experience than Beyond: Two Souls offers.
Nobody likes being told their milkshake is made out of potatoes, but well, you get what I'm saying.
If you liked Beyond: Two Souls then good for you, my dislike of
it should in no way effect you still liking it, in fact I'd be very
happy to see more developers attempt what David Cage is doing, one
reason is because I feel that it would be a worth while endeavour but
mostly because I think if done well games like Beyond: Two Souls could be fantastic
experiences.
Gaming being as young as it is and being as open to
interpretation as any other art form, is going to lead to a great many
other attempts to either reinvent, redefine or simply just challenge
pre-conceptions as to what a video game is. And personally I can't wait
to see what comes next, I might not like it but at least it's something
new, now that doesn't mean we should all go out and support something
that attempts to different purely because it is different, but we
certainly could do with more originality in the mainstream at least and
that's what Beyond: Two Souls is, something new, something a different.
The same can be said for motion sensor gaming, now not everyone
likes motion sensor controllers but they certainly have their place.
Metroid Prime: Corruption is a great example of how the Wiimote and
nunchuk actually helped improve the gameplay experience. Anyway without
innovations in how we play we never would have got the analogue stick or
trigger buttons, two additions that are indispensable in order to play
many video games today (par the mouse and keyboard of course) and often
innovations to how we play leads to innovations in the games we play.
Since how we play can often effect what we play, it's reasonable to assume that new innovations in motion sensor controllers and VR (Virtual reality) may effect the types of games we play in the future.
But regardless of what innovations come about that may change how
we play, we as the player are always required. Because much like I
stated above, video games are primarily an interactive medium for
entertainment, as soon as you remove the need for player interaction the
videogame stops being a game and becomes something more akin to a
movie.
So, what is a video game? And to what extent of how we define
what a video game is, should be allowed to be challenged or changed
before it becomes something else entirely?
Thanks for reading my blog, if you'd like to add anything or
disagree with any of my points, please feel free to leave a comment.
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There's a debate that often arises amongst gamers as to whether or not
console exclusive games are such a good idea anymore, seeing as how many
who purchase only one console will inevitably miss out on the exclusive
games only available on another. It's also reasonable to argue that (in
theory) many developers may be receiving only a fraction of the profits
they might have earned had their game been a multiplat title, then
again, without console exclusivity what purpose do multiple platforms
like the PS4, Xbox One or Wii U hold other than being three consoles
that perform slightly differently? The whole point of having a console
exclusive game or franchise in the first place was to entice consumers
by offering content that isn't available elsewhere, so if one console
were capable of playing each and every game available then what function
would the existence of multiple consoles serve?
There are certainly pros to having only one console, for one thing it
would put an end to this ridiculous "console war" and may even bring
gamers as a community closer together. Then again if console exclusivity
were to become a thing of the past, and each and every console were
capable of playing any game regardless of the publisher or developer,
then consoles would become less about "content" and more about
"features". In fact this is already happening to an extent due to
multiplat AAA titles being the "driving force" of the industry right
now, now more than ever we're seeing console developers attempting to
differentiate their platform from the competitions by offering unique
features, such as content sharing, access to social/media networks, the
implementation of Skype and TV functionality. Eventually though one
console would become the dominant force, most likely through becoming a
"all-in-one entertainment system" if that were to happen then there
would be very little reason for other consoles to exist since they'd
effectively be inferior products, thus the dominant console developer
would gain complete and total monopoly over the distribution of any and
all videogames released on console. But is that really healthy for the
industry? Remember when Microsoft tried to implement draconian DRM,
attempting to block the sales of used games and dictate when and how we
play our games? Well if a console company were to have complete control
over what content is available and how we access it then what stops such
disastrous policies from actually being forced upon us? I'm in no way
trying to demonize Microsoft, it's just that most gamers know about the
Xbox One policy debacle so that helps better illustrate my point.
The Xbox One debacle taught us that a console made with a
focus on restrictive policies and paywalls will never succeed while
consumers still have a choice in what console they purchase
The quality of multiplat titles is also something that needs to
taken into consideration because they are often held back from being
quite as good as they could have been in order to perform well on each
console. We know that certain exclusives like Uncharted or The Last Of
Us wouldn't have been possible on a console with architecture inferior
to that of the PS3, if these games were developed as multplat titles
it's reasonable to assume they wouldn't have looked quite so good or
played quite so well. It's the games that are developed with a single
consoles architecture in mind that often perform better than those
created to be multiplat titles.
When Sega first set about challenging Nintendo it was through
their exclusive Sonic franchise that they were able to compete, but had
Nintendo also had access to Sonic there would have been little reason if
any for consumers to purchase a Sega genesis console. Games like The
Last Of Us, Halo and Mario exist as proof that exclusive games are still
viable in the current industry and can be incredibly successful if done
well, but are these so called "system sellers" as necessary as they
once were? for games like Mario or The Legend of Zelda is it even
possible for them to remain unchanged if they were to appear on a non
Nintendo system? Given the current industries obsession with mass appeal
it's very likely that these franchises and many like them would undergo
a drastic overhauls in order to make them more "appealing" and
"accessible" this would probably be enough to bring a few newcomers to
the franchise, but it would inevitably alienate many long time fans.
With the announcement of Valve'sSteam Machine, and it's ability
to play any and all games available on the Steam service through (SOS)
aka the "Steam Operating System" many believe it has the potential to change
the videogame console landscape, whether or not the Steam Machine will
make a significant splash in the mainstream is debatable but in my
opinion, due to it's PC like nature and digital content focus it's
certainly worth taking notice of.
Will the Steam Machine succeed? and if so what effect would that have on the videogame console landscape?
To paraphrase a comment made by Ben (Yahtzee) Croshaw, of Zero
Punctuation fame "having a game exist to support a console is akin to
having the words on a page exist solely to support the pages they were
printed on"
I agree with the statement above, and I'm pretty sure that if you
really take the time to think about it mostly everyone would come to
agree. But it is worth remembering why exclusive games became a thing in
the first place. You see books and videogames do have some
similarities, printed words much like games on a disc require a platform
which they can be experienced through before they can be enjoyed, the
pages in a book are as much a platform as a console. Although the key
difference being that books are capable of displaying any text and any
story, where as games require a console with compatible architecture
before they can be played, the main difference being is there's no need
for separate companies to develop multiple versions of books as a
platform because printed text is compatible with every kind of book,
where as certain games can't be played on certain consoles due to
incompatibility architecture.
Personally I'm not completely apposed to having a single console
that can play any game, there really isn't so much need for exclusionary
exclusivity anymore, but is the industry really ready for that yet? I
mean if there was such a console would there be any need for competitors
to release their own seeing as how their console would perform
practically the same with the only real differences being the features
they offer? Also if there was to be only one console then who would the
developer be? Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve? Heck it could even be
from a completely new developer. But then who's to stop the company that
develops the only console required to play games from implementing
restrictive policies due to there being no direct competition?
Would a "one console to rule them all" approach actually work, or would such power inevitably lead to corruption?
So after all that being said, I'm honestly no closer to deciding
whether not console exclusivity is so necessary any more. But what do
you think? do we still need multiple consoles with exclusive content? or
is it time now to do away with all that and just have one console
capable of playing all games regardless of the publisher or developer?
As always thanks for reading my blog.
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"Innovation", innovation is a word you hear thrown around quite a lot in
the videogames industry, either coming from publishers and developers
who claim to be striving for it, or from gamers who complain about the
growing lack of it. But what exactly do we mean when we talk about
innovation in regards to videogames? The fact of the matter is, the term
itself is capable of covering a broad spectrum of possibilities so it's
meaning can vary drastically from one persons usage of it to another.
It's a difficult term to contextualise, but what I think most
gamers expect when we hear the term "innovation" is either new methods
of play, be that either how we interact within the virtual world as the
player character or how we control the player character by way of the UI
(user interface) which may even offer us new ways to play besides the
classic controller/keyboard & mouse approach. Or even a new genre,
maybe one that either expands upon the foundation of a pre-existing
genre, or focuses more heavily on a specific element of another and
builds a game around that, these examples are only few amongst many
others of course. Where as from a publisher or developer standpoint,
innovation could be anything from a new and/or improved game engine to
integrating social media aps. Needless to say, not all innovations in
gaming come about in order to actually improve gaming as a whole, as
we've already seen with many services such as DLC, DRM and online
subscriptions, these "innovations" can exist sometimes as more of a
barrier to additional content, imposed more in order to help line
publisher pockets instead of offering consumers a service which actually
improves their gaming experience without holding content to ransom, or
attaching other needless strings. This of course may not have been the
case when such services were first implemented but I wouldn't blame any
of you for assuming that was the case.
As I've said before I'm not against DLC, the option to purchase additional content to help extend one's enjoyment of a game is a welcome feature. My problem is when the content being sold to us as DLC was originally meant to be released on the disc, but is instead deliberately being held back to then be sold to is in piece meals.
Most of us don't expect to get any additional content for free,
we understand that people need to to get paid for the work they do after
all, but what upsets many gamers is the feeling as if we are being
charged for content that should have been made available on the disc at
retail. These optional features can often feel as if they are simply
ways for companies to piece meal their content instead of making it
available on disc at launch, obviously no one would argue about
additional content being made available later down the line, but the
practice of holding back content to sell as DLC later must stop.
The problem is that the current system in place for the purchase
of content via online is one that seems tailor made for such "services"
to become more lucrative than the games we've purchased. For example,
the fact that many games we buy today offer microtransactions in the
form of day one DLC. Now I'm not personally against the option to
purchase additional content but too often it feels as if certain parts
of a game were held back to then be fed to us piece meal style after the
games official release. Monthly subscriptions are of course are an
option but sadly more often than not much of the DLC you receive is
hardly ever worth the cost of subscribing.
Xbox live, still a paid service... Something that baffles me to
this day, but more so now that the many advertisements present on the
Xbox dashboard should create more than enough revenue to cover server
fees, an issue made worse by the fact that many game servers have a hard
time maintaining the heavy load placed on them, one would think that
given the sheer amount of profits made by these companies that they
would invest in additional servers to help meet the inevitable demand
made by many popular games, especially with such a heavy focus being
made to online gaming.
Microsoft should implement a free online feature, if they want to create their own version of PS+ then fair enough but basic access to online gaming should be free. Now I don't expect everyone to agree with me here, but at the very least think about this. You pay for Xbox Live in order to use the Internet, the same Internet service that you already pay your Internet provider for, to then access a feature in a game you paid full price for that is freely available on the PS3, Wii and Wii U.
The trouble with innovation in any industry is that it's not
guaranteed to improve a product or service, in fact it can often lead to
the detriment of a product if implemented solely for the benefit of a
company and without the intended consumer demographic being taken into
consideration. For example look at the sorry state of the current
Resident Evil franchise, all the innovations (changes if you will) were
made so as to increase the overall appeal of the IP, not in order to
make the franchise "better" but purely so that Capcom could increase
their profits. In this games industry, why is it that lately the term
"innovation" seems so synonymous with words like generic, cookie-cutter
and accessible? Is it because from a company standpoint, innovation is
considered to be whatever helps to increases a companies profits?
Although to be fair, if you look at a lot of innovations to come about
in the games industry as of late, they are often game mechanics and
elements taken from other, more popular games and/or franchises, and
re-worked into a pre-existing game/franchise such as Resident Evil or
Final Fantasy in hopes that these companies will see similar profits
being made.
The issue we as gamers are faced with today is, what innovations
are required in order to actually further advance gaming as a whole? And
what innovations are purely being put in place as an additional avenue
for companies to further profit off of us the consumers? The alteration
of pre-existing game genres or gameplay mechanics, making the experience
more streamlined and/or offering the player a deeper level of
interactivity and/or control are innovations I feel are worth striving
for. But too often now we see companies trying to replicate the success
of another by trying to force certain gameplay mechanics in where they
do not belong. Some would call the current Final Fantasy series the
evolution of the JRPG, but to me it seems more like a glorified mishmash
of gameplay mechanics that simply do not gel, once again it is this
apparent need for "mass appeal" brought about due to bloated development
budgets that has invited such a needless change to a franchise that was
once the epitome of the JRPG genre. Even the new focus on social media
aps and sharing feels more like a way for companies to control how their
games are viewed instead of a way for consumers to freely share and
enjoy each others content.
There are few innovations in gameplay to come about in recent years that equal those made 10 years ago, but innovations in the way we play games are still being made, whether or not motion sensor gaming or VR (virtual reality) is the future of play is yet be seen but the odds are good we'll be seeing more of it.
How, I ask you, in such an industry that seems totally focused on
pleasing everyone, is it possible to see such genre defining IPs come
about like we did in the past? Games like GTA-III, Resident Evil 4,
Shenmue and Assassins Creed, these games all broke the mold and earned
critical acclaim because of it. But because of the current business
model employed by most big name publishers today the next big industry
defining change will most likely come about from either the mobile or
indie scene, were innovation and originality are still vital in order to
succeed. If that is to be the case where does this leave console
gaming? It may well still be at the forefront of the games industry but
due to the the current industries structure it seems as if there is
simply no room for such innovations to equal those seen in the past.
Many of the innovations in the console gaming scene being made today are
mostly companies just playing catch up with one another, trying to
replicate the success of the competition or altering their games to
increase accessibility and appeal, It may even be the case that the
industry is at the point where technology needs to advance further
before the next "industry defining" innovations can come about.
Personally, I feel that if the current business model for AAA
game development were to remain in place, then even the advent of new
game changing technology would mean very little, in an industry
seemingly content to constantly try to replicate the success of the
competition or rehash whatever IPs have brought them success in the
past.
Thanks for reading my blog, if you'd like to add anything or
disagree with any of my points, please feel free to leave a comment.
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