Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Remember When Developers Just Made Games?

Real life and some other business has kept me away from blogging here for a while. But I'm back now. and look, another post about gaming. Well, it is E3 week, and I promise I don't always rant. I will be talking pleasantly about gaming soon enough.

I read this a short time ago:

Ubisoft Unveils Imagine(TM) Video Game Series for Girls
Thursday July 12, 3:06 pm ET
First Video Games in Series Available in October

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced its all-new Imagine(TM) series of video games targeted at girls ages 6 to 14 years old. The Imagine line allows girls to explore their favorite interests and hobbies – as indicated in extensive lifestyle research on this audience – in an interactive and entertaining way. Ubisoft's Imagine series is part of the company's strategic expansion into the casual video game market.

Source: Ubisoft   

The first games in the Imagine line will launch in October 2007 for the Nintendo DS(TM) system: Imagine(TM) Fashion Designer, Imagine(TM) Animal Doctor, Imagine Babyz® and Imagine(TM) Master Chef. Imagine(TM) Figure Skater will follow in early 2008.

"Ubisoft is excited to finally offer young girls a line of games that give them the chance to explore their hobbies and interests in interactive and creative experiences," said Helene Juguet, senior director of marketing at Ubisoft. "Our consumer research revealed that the young girls' market has been relatively overlooked. We are happy to introduce a variety of titles relevant to what girls in this age group have indicated they are most interested in."

Imagine(TM) Fashion Designer invites players to become hip Manhattan designers handling all aspects of the fashion business, from creating their own line of clothing to directing photo shoots. Online gameplay allows players to share their designs and ideas with friends and fellow aspiring young fashionistas.

Imagine(TM) Animal Doctor puts young players in the role of a veterinarian, not only by treating and curing all types of animals, but also by creating new facilities to expand the veterinary hospital.

Imagine(TM) Babyz® is the first simulation game focused on caring for babies. Players take on the challenges of raising a baby throughout all stages of development and will also be able to take photos and exchange tips and clothing through a unique online component.

Imagine(TM) Master Chef allows players to create recipes from all over the world using the stylus to prepare, stir and cook ingredients. Players can customize their kitchens with utensils and appliances. Fun mini-games include cooking quizzes and kitchen challenges.

In Imagine(TM) Figure Skater, players live the life of a champion who needs to balance her life between training, school and friends. Girls take on the role of a professional figure skater and use the stylus to perform jumps, spins and a variety of skating combinations.

source link: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070712/20070712005947.html?.v=1

I remember back when developers just made games and we all played them. I'm sure some little girls would have a blast with these, but do we actually need such specialized titles and marketing? Why not just market games to everyone? I swear, the games marketed to little girls are some of the cheesiest, cheapest sounding titles out there. I think if these were the types of games that I played when I was a
little girl, I wouldn't be a gamer today. They're mostly sims. Yes, these are backed up by market research, but there's a problem: many gaming focus groups exclude females completely unless the company behind them specifically decides to make a game with females in mind. Who's to say that those other games wouldn't appeal to female players, even little girls? Don't they deserve better?

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Ads in Games and Realism: Brief Thoughts

"I would never want to see fake ads… It would be preferential to the
gamer's experience to use real ads that are dynamically changing." – Brash Entertainment's Nicholas Longano

I'd have to disagree. Fake ads are another place where game developers can be creative. Take Rockstar and the GTA series. These are often very amusing, and topical. It's also good to not feel like real-life advertising is consistently bombarding every aspect of my existence, including gaming. The fake ads don't detract from realism, even in the much talked about sports genre. Even if they did, gaming isn't necessarily about what's realistic, is it? When's the last time you crawled down a pipe into another dimension?

On the topic of gaming and realism, here's a good recent piece dealing with Age of Conan.

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New York: Attempting to Replace Parents with Legislation

I honestly wonder if any of these legislators have actually ever played video games. Or were they simply spoon fed 30-second clips of acts, taken completely out of context, that you would not have to search hard to find in a book or a film? Fed scare tactics and one-sided surveys that say video games are dangerous or ruining children? I honestly wonder what led them to vote for these two related, yet completely misguided bills.

Last year, I abstained from voting in the New York Senate race because of a video game related issue. Hillary Clinton supported measures to criminalize the selling of M or AO games to minors, after jumping on the "Hot Coffee" controversy bandwagon. She even included this point in her campaign, and on that issue and Iraq, I could not vote for her with a clear conscience, so I abstained, knowing she would win, but that I could not choose her to represent me this time around.

Let's take a look at the facts here for a moment. The MPAA rates movies, and theater chains enforce those ratings as a matter of company policy only. There are no laws that criminalize or force compliance with movie ratings. Music is also rated independently. Some stores choose not to carry music with Parental Advisory labels, but not selling such music to minors is, once again, merely voluntary and subject to store policy. Books are not rated or regulated, and can be purchased by anyone, of any age. Some library systems offer parents the ability to restrict their children from borrowing outside of the children's section, but that doesn't limit what they have access to while in the library itself. Books are full of violence, sex, drugs, and other things that one will also find in games, but no one is going to try and criminalize book sales. Imagine the uproar.

There needs to be a similar uproar. These politicians are fast-tracking bills that will take away a parent's right to raise his or her child as that person sees fit. For example, my mother is disabled, and she couldn't always accompany me to rent or see movies, but if I cleared it with her beforehand, then it was permitted. Blockbuster had then, a provision where a parent could sign off on allowing a child on the same account to rent any materials from the store. My mom did that, but I still advised her about what I was seeing, and she knew she could trust me.

That is parenting for you. But if these politicians have their way, what my mom allowed wouldn't even be possible when it comes to video games. Such a thing would be a criminal offense for the person behind the counter. So much for mobility-impaired parents' right to raise their kids how they wish. So much for any New York parent that wants to take responsibility for their own child.

How ridiculous would it seem if these senators decided to take it upon themselves to try and outlaw minors from purchasing Shakespearean works, for example? They're full of murders, bawdiness, revenge plots, and many rather adult themes.

Books, like video games, are a form of interactive entertainment. As such, many adults with little gaming experience or knowledge, like many of these legislators, are scared by all the hubbub made in the media and by instigators like Jack Thompson, and fear that such interaction is dangerous. I read Lord of the Flies at the age of twelve. I didn't start having murder and coup fantasies about my classmates. I play Grand Theft Auto. I've never killed anyone or stolen any cars. What these politicians need to do is to sit down and learn more about the subject. Yet, how can we expect such a thing when only six out of 100 Senate members read a classified intelligence document prepared as a justification for the current administration's decision to invade Iraq?

Many of these legislators are parents, and it's understandable that
they wish to protect children, but this is an incredibly ridiculous,
uninformed, and shortsighted approach. Legislation does not replace good parenting, and yet encouraging parental responsibility is not on these people's agenda. Sadly enough, it looks like
they've even roped Governor Spitzer into their camp. I hope if these bills are signed into law, that they're quickly slapped with injunctions and declared unconstitutional. It makes me so
ashamed that my state is doing this. That it's my fine state, usually
the ground of many freedom-protecting laws and progressive thinking, is
falling flat on its figurative face with what is no more than
a hypocritical knee-jerk reaction to an element of modern culture that
most of those responsible simply do not understand.

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Ugh, Well, at least they’re honest about treating women like pieces of meat.

This piece of trash was even written by a woman:

HOT CURVES AT INDY 500

May 27, 2007 — Gentlemen, stop your engines – before they overheat.

Three sexy speed demons are set to drive racing fans wild at to day's
Indianapolis 500 – and make history with more women behind the wheel
than at any other elite- level U.S. racing event.

Danica
Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno will heat up the Speedway, with
Patrick, 25, in par ticular having a shot at crossing the finish line
first.

The Wisconsin beauty bolted David Letterman's Rahal
Letterman team for Andretti Green Racing. "For the first time, I'm
having fun with my teammates," she says.

Blonde bombshell
Fisher, 26, who in 2000 became one of the youngest drivers to ever race
in the 500, will be in the 21st position, and Duno, 35, is battling
back from a May 11 crash.

link

These women are making history and what is their record-breaking feat reduced to? A bunch of adjectives about their physical attractiveness. There's really only one sports-related sentence fragment in there that doesn't sound like it was written by someone covering a sorority party. Can you spot it? The three women are there to compete, and nobody writes stories about any of the male drivers in such a demeaning, body-focused way.

Unfortunately, this isn't anything new. It's happened throughout history as women steadily gained footholds in previously male-dominated situations. We're always held to a different standard. The important thing is to note their achievements, and to not be discouraged because a reporter writes a story about them in a titillating style. At least there are other pieces that cover them in a much more respectful way

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Just me nitpicking about grammar again.

"Body of a missing U.S. troop found in Iraq"

As a writer trying to make it and an aspiring editor, these sorts of headlines bother me. Call me a grammar nazi, but the diluted and incorrect use of the word "troop" in the above headline just screamed out to me when I saw it on the front page of Yahoo just now.

Let's use trusty dictionary.com to show just what is wrong with this picture:

troop (trūp) pronunciation
n.

  1. A group or company of people, animals, or things. See synonyms at band2, flock1.
    1. A group of soldiers.
    2. troops Military units; soldiers.
    3. A unit of cavalry, armored vehicles, or artillery in a European army, corresponding to a platoon in the U.S. Army.
  3. A unit of at least five Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts under the guidance of an adult leader.
  4. A great many; a lot.

Clearly, "troop" refers to a group and is not a singular noun. This isn't the first time I've seen this word incorrectly used or used in an ambiguous way. Many people use it to mean soldiers, when it refers to groups of soldiers. This isn't the end of the world, and the article and occurrence it reports is a sad and important one, this is merely the frustration of one hopeful future editor who hasn't quite made it into her dream industry yet.

I suppose the blame goes to the Associated Press for letting this error slip past. Hey guys, need a new copy editor?

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On Gaming Press and Gamers’ Attention Spans: Denis Dyack


"Legacy of Kain had about sixty hours of play, but games have changed. People don't want that any more."

So says Denis Dyack, president of Silicon Knights, in a recent interview. Dyack spoke on several topics, including the company's long-delayed Too Human, which received negative press after being previewed at E3 2006. The game, originally announced in 1999, has hopped platforms and publishers before landing at Microsoft. He also speaks of what he considers to be gamers' shortened attention spans, which is a rather bold statement to make.

Too Human is one of those games that has been in development hell for a while. One of those vaporware titles that one wonders if it will ever see the light of day. Whenever it is released, we'll know whether the reception is warm or not. However, Dyack says the company likely won't be releasing any more on the game until it's done or at least close to done. With those statements, he criticizes gaming press as a whole:

"We're probably at a much further advanced stage than a majority of
games that developers are showing to the press right now but we're just
not talking about it. And the reason for that is after E3 2006 we
really started to rethink previews and the way games are shown to the
press.
We're getting to the point where we don't ever want to show a game
again until it's finished. It's almost pointless. The media has a hard
time with looking at games before they're done. If you take the movie
industry as an example, how often do you see a movie before it's
completed? You don't."

Now, some of his criticisms are valid, in that some reviewers and press outlets might be too judgmental in previews, either positively or negatively, before a title's release. However, even movie studios show preview clips, still photos, or inside looks while the film is still in production. Teasers are quite common. Starting the buzz early is a marketing tactic used even with the most successful franchises. Take something like Harry Potter, or the recently released Spider-man 3. Promotional releases for those were up and in front of potential consumers' eyes before the films finished production. One of the most powerful marketing tools is word of mouth advertising. It's vital and it's free. Studios, whether they're producing films or games, need to try and take advantage of that. They need the "Did you see that?" talk the next day, even if it's weeks, or even months ahead of release. To me, it sounds like the drubbing his game received in 2006 led to an "I'm taking my toys and going home" type of attitude.

Dyack's other major point of interest is his assertion that gamers have somehow moved beyond long titles:

"[G]ames have
changed. People don't want that [long titles] any more[sic]. I don't care how good the
game is[,] I don't want to play something that's one hundred hours long.
As much as I love World of Warcraft [,] I pulled myself out of it.
If we're going to craft an epic story[,] we decided we had to divide it into manageable chunks for the consumer."

Making any game is a risk. Most titles don't go on to become blockbusters. However, it's a valid suggestion that it's not gamers that want shorter games, but studios are producing fewer epics due to budgetary concerns. The gaming industry is in a state where it's very successful in terms of revenue, but there's a constant balance struggle between  creative ingenuity and appeasing the bottom line. Making any game is a risk, but producing a longer game is a bigger risk, since it generally involves more production time and money. Many titles these days are shorter as a result. Final Fantasy is still around, but more and more games are clocking in at under 10-15 hours these days, while still getting more expensive to produce and to buy on the consumer end.

Personally, I love a good epic. If the gameplay is quality and the story is well-planned and written, there's almost nothing better. I also feel like I'm getting more bang for my buck, so to speak, since I'm paying less per hour. of enjoyment. When I get an 8-hour game that ends with the door open for a sequel (I'm looking at you, Halo 2), it sometimes feels like a ripoff. Granted, I enjoyed Halo 2 very much and actually didn't mind the cliffhanger ending so much, but there's no denying it was a short game, albeit a pretty satisfying one.

Dyack explains how Too Human will now be a trilogy. Is this a cost-cutting move? Instead of releasing one 100-hour game, you release three 3-hour ones, so you potentially make triple the profit, although marketing costs might be tripled as well; less if you get that coveted word of mouth and maintain buzz. Each game is supposed to feel self-contained, lending credence to the idea that this was a budget decision, at least in part. "That was the flaw in The Lord of the Rings movies," he claims, which is misguided, since those films were intentionally meant to feel like parts of a whole, and that "flaw" captured people's attention. So much so that all three parts cleaned up at the box office despite being a distinct beginning, middle, and end, and and over three hours long apiece. The comparison is a false one and supports the reverse of what he's claiming: that people will accept lengthy, involving entertainment provided it's made well and pay for it. That there's no need to compartmentalize and chop our entertainment into "manageable chunks" in order to spoonfeed it to us, especially as a cover for trying to pad the bottom line.

Game developers, please continue making epics. Diversity can only be good for gamers and for the industry as a whole. People with a narrow view like Denis Dyack, unfortunately, cannot see that.

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QotD: Search Me

How well does your name Google? Who are you up against? (Celebrities, etc.)
Submitted by Matt Blank.

My first name brings up a lot of Christina Aguilera, followed by Christina Ricci, and Christina Milián. My first and last names bring up two results in the top 30 that are actually me, including my website at #4. None of the images are me.

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And We’re Back.

So we got back from our trip the other night. It was pretty fun overall, despite some bumps and setbacks. Literally. On our first day there, we were going to our hotel room to drop off our bags and head out to MGM-Studios when my mom, riding in a rented ECV cart, didn't have enough room to pass a vehicle parked on the sidewalk, and fell over in the cart itself. A bunch of helpful Disney employees came over to assist and call 911 for us. My mom and I spent most of Friday afternoon in the hospital awaiting her x-ray results. Luckily, nothing was broken, but we'd missed out on the park that day. Mom was sore that evening, and couldn't make the Epcot Illuminations dessert and viewing party we'd been invited to as part of the package. She encouraged me to go out though, and to attend that party, so I did. Since Epcot was open extra hours for resort guests that evening, I was able to walk around and see some of the sights and go on a ride or two that night before heading back.

The next morning, I participated in my first 5k run. I walked a lot of the way, being really tired from the previous day, but it was a lot of fun. Along the route, people were always encouraging each other, and I got to hear a few stories of how some of these women came to participate in this run. For some, like me, it was their first time. for others, it was their second or third. One woman had lost 40 pounds between races. There were many stories shared and we all got to see the faces behind them.

We spent Saturday at Epcot together, and I was able to introduce Mom to my favorite park. We had a delicious lunch together at the Italy Pavilion in the World Showcase, shared some Rice Cream, and even went on The Seas together. We'd planned to go to Downtown Disney that night, but by the time we got back to our hotel, we were both really tired. When I ran that morning, my feet already hurt some from the previous night. By Saturday night, they were so blistered. Mom and I stayed in that evening instead of going out as planned. I did drain my blisters and put something on them, and after I got us something to eat from the hotel restaurant (The Artist's Palette), I considered going out, but was just too tired.

On Sunday, we spent the day at Magic Kingdom. It rained in mid-afternoon, and I left the park for a couple of hours in order to go get my first massage (it was great), but overall we had a really fun day. There were extra hours that night, and so we wound up leaving shortly before midnight. It was cold and damp when we left, and we encountered our first not so friendly bus driver. This woman let a bunch of passengers on first instead of letting my mom on the bus first (as they're supposed to do when it comes to disabled passengers) and then claimed she couldn't allow anyone else to stand up (there were about three people standing already). I pleaded with her to let just three more people stand (the number of passengers that would have to get up in order to fit one wheelchair person), but she basically shut the door in my face. Buses there come every 15-20 minutes, and it was freezing that night. I'd given my mom my sweater and was in this tank top and we were both cold.

The 'not allowed to let people stand' line was clearly an excuse as the next bus came and we got on, and there were about fifteen standees for the ride.

The next morning, we went to the spa and picked out a lovely gift set with some products to take home in order to use the balance of our gift certificate. Then my mom's cart ran out of power and we had to push her to the bus stop. The rental company would bring the replacement to Animal Kingdom. Once at the bus stop, the first bus to Animal Kingdom had a driver that did exactly what the previous woman did to us the night before. She let everyone else on, ignored my mother, then claimed she couldn't let any more people stand. I pleaded with her and mentioned that the bus we'd ridden on the night before had about fifteen people standing but she'd have none of it. I also mentioned we had the same thing happen to us the night before. And I told her she was supposed to let my mother on first. All she did was close the door in my face and leave. So we had to wait 20 more minutes for another bus. I burst into tears at people's laziness. They subsided quickly, but honestly, my mom was just trying to get around, and these drivers aren't supposed to shaft the disabled like that.

Anyway, on a happier note, we did get to spend at least some time at Animal Kingdom before we had to leave Florida. We got to go on a couple trails, but missed the safari and Expedition Everest due to time constraints. I did have a chance to go on Kali River Rapids right before heading to the gates.

All in all, we had a good time. Wish we had some more time to do things together, and had had a chance to get to MGM and Downtown Disney (we'd intended to shop and go to the House of Blues on Friday night), but maybe next time.

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My Little Pyramid

I'm usually not much of a devotee of fan art. Sometimes, I find examples that are really memorable, such as this one:

Pyramidpony
Pyramidpony

There are a lot of Pyramid Head fans out there, and so somehow, this makes perfect sense. It would also represent just the cute touch Silent Hill games have been missing for so long. Perhaps we can convince the folks over at Climax to include a cameo from this creation in Silent Hill Origins.