Video Game Message Board Breakdown

You probably saw this on DIGG (here it is), but in case you missed it:

Top 6 Video Games With (Artistic) Style

I’ve argued that video games can be art, (I wrote a 15 page paper for a college course on the matter) and have alluded to this belief on this site as well (if not strongly stated it, see the Junkies page). In spite of my advocacy of the medium, I’m realistic enough to recognize that while games have enormous potential, and have already showcased some incredible tapping of that potential, we still have a long way to go before the medium starts attracting and producing true “artistic schools,” and “masters” akin to the DaVinci’s, Botticellis, Warhols and Picasso’s. In the meantime though, I’d like to offer the games I think have shown, especially not  recently, the potential of the medium and what it can do with proper production and cost, even without the technological capabilities of our current console generation.

6. Yoshi’s Island (1995)

I’m sure some are saying “anything but Yoshi’s Island,” but bear with me. Yoshi’s Island came out on the SNES and was the semi-sequel to Super Mario World. Semi-sequel because 1. it was actually a prequel and 2. because the game only had “Super-Mario World 2” put in front of it to boost sales for the campy vision of the Yoshi led game. If people had been worried about how the chunky plumber with the new yellow cape would fare in the 90’s era of ‘tude against Sega’s mascot, a game with crayon colored backgrounds, flowers, jumping stars,and a baby on the dinosaur’s back had to need the help.

The game eschewed the open map style world for a story book level presentation with each of 8 Yoshis taking Baby Mario across one of the eight parts of a different World. What the game lacks in the kind of technological and epic depth other games would manage years later, it makes up for with its unique style that transcends the simplistic gameplay (you have only so many moves at your disposal), to the aesthetics (the entire game looks like a children crayon drawing), to the story itself (you’re carrying a baby). It was challenging, no doubt about that, but it still managed to make itself a wonderful union of all its elements so that it became something more than just the sum of its parts, and you loved it for that.

If only they hadn’t made that baby’s cry so damned annoying- then again, it was motivation to get the stupid kid back on Yoshi.

5. Okami (2006)

There are going to be two games on this list that are fairly recent, but both are on the previous (currently withering) generation of consoles. For now, just try and argue that I included Okami on this list. I shouldn’t even need to make a case for it.

Okay, I will though. The game begins with its moral and message at its heart and core: that everyone is an artist in their own way when they live a good life (read: not being an evil tyrant or general dick), and that a person should live in honest and earnest justification and defense of that art through perseverance and faith.

Whoa, heavy, huh? Well, the story carries that weight on the gorgeous wolf’s shoulders admirably. As Okami-Amaterasu incarnate, you travel the world of Japanese mythical denizens and save the world from the aforementioned dickery that is trying to stifle the art and beauty of the world. If the people living in the world have their own forms of art (cooking, carpentry, fishing, running, etc), as a goddess of creation the very world itself is your art. As such, your powers in the game are represented by a celestial brush that can freeze the action at the press of a button to make the world turn to a caligraphy page and allow you to paint in moves and manipulate the world to fight and solve puzzles.

Add to this that the entire game is cel-shaded uniquely to look like a moving and living Japanese watercolor paintin, and even run through a filter so it looks like its genuinely being played on a paper scroll (if you played the PS2 version anyway, this filter was strangely removed from the Wii version).

4. Comix Zone (1995)

Finally, the Genesis gets some love. This game  had to go higher on the list than Okami. Just like Okami, Comix Zone took its premise: a hero brought into the land of comics, and let that give the game a unique design and appearance. The game advanced across and down panels of comic book pages, your moves and arsenal depended on the comic panel setting, and the story was just plain awesome.

3. Secret of Mana (1993)

Yeah, I’m reaching back to the SNES again, because this game took the basic structure of an adventure game, a la Zelda, and increased its depth in a non-superficial way. Aside from the gameplay, though, the enemies were unique, the world managed a cute charm and threatening foreboding and danger that was incredibly unique and only one recent game can claim to come close to matching  (Eternal Sonata, a must play RPG also).

The game’s story was an emotional journey, and, much like FF VII after it, and while it didn’t kill off a main character halfway through (SPOILER ALERT [ed. note: seriously, if they haven't played it by now, they don't need the warning]), it did tug at the heartstrings by having the main character sacrifice himself for the world in the end. A truly sad moment that showed players that not all stories were just about saving a princess (this game had a spunky one), but that the medium could convey a story with  weight and tragedy to it. It could be argued that this is when video games started growing up even.

2. Final Fantasy VII (1997)

Although artistic video games certainly did come before this one (as the prior entries show). Final Fantasy VII took each individual element of RPG games: story, battles, gameplay, player interaction and choice, and played with it in ways that definitively went beyond just “cool” and stood firmly in the realm of artistry. Looking back there are all sorts of things that the game did, even the little things, that put the player within a grand canvas of an art piece.

The depth of story is incredible; that just playing through the mainline story you could leave so many intricacies unexplored but still leave with a robust tale is enough, but that the side stories and extra yarns reinforce and enrich the story all the more is a feat not often seen. The world was awash with the wonderment of creativity, scope and beauty.

Then there were the little things regarding character development and reinforcing the art of the story. Cloud’s conflict was that he was, somehow, under Sephiroth’s control. When you approached Aeris in the City of the Ancients, the game locked you onto the platform.An invisible wall? Yes, but Cloud is also just as helpless to leave. Then you plant your feet before Aeris and you can no longer leave that spot. Just as Cloud, the character, cannot leave and do anything but advance towards killing Aeris you also are locked into that until Cloud overcomes it only to watch Sephiroth murder her. It’s a small thing like that, and there are tons of them throughout the game, that really used the basic rules of the medium, to merge player and character in the experience and emotion of the story and conflict.

Let’s also remember that until then, the standard motif for RPG’s were fantasy landscapes that felt like something out of the middle ages lore, where airships and flying machines were surprises that didn’t entirely fit context of the world (but hey, they were fantasies). Final Fantasy VII took us to a setting right out of a yuppie’s cyber-punk drenched nightmare.

Then also, there’s the bold move of killing a main party character almost halfway through the game (although, hints were there, did you find her Ultimate Weapon before she was killed?). Tears were shed, the early days of the internet found many pages of rumors and speculations of how to bring her back to life. That you couldn’t, was the saddest but ultimately most poignant centerpiece of the tapestry.

1. Shadow of the Colossus (2005)

There’s no way this game isn’t getting top spot when I’m in control of the list. Team ICO’s second major offering on the PS2 was an astonishing feat in so many (surprising) ways that it’s no wonder everyone’s abuzz for their new game (yay, Griffin!).

Firstly, the game is enormous. Set in a desolate, forbidden land that clearly once was awash with life and beauty, is now stumbling in decay. Apart from the sparse tree, odd lizard, and the colossi, you and your horse are the only truly living creatures in the expansive landscape. The game communicates this sense of solitude by leaving the long journeys to the colossi, your sole adversaries in the game, unscored and silent. Indeed, when we think of heroes and legends, it’s the action we think of, this game showed us that a hero’s path isn’t all epic action and tense moments: there’s solitude, sadness, struggle and arduous questing that requires patience and dedication.

Then again, there’s the question of the hero. Yes, the game’s scope when the battles with the colossi are reached, is epic. The creatures, only 16 for an entire game, are grand enough that the game feels overstuffed from them, even with the expansive empty lands between each battle. While the game’s style clearly agrees that something epic is taking place, it doesn’t necessarily say that the person perpetrating the acts and deeds is a hero.

The game has sparse dialogue, a quick opening shows the deal with a disembodied voice to kill the colossi to resurrect a sleeping maiden. After that, no more is said except for the description/clues of your target between battles. You’re left to wonder and construct your own ideas of what happened in this land to leave that disembodied in that temple alone, what left the colossi there and to what end, and most of all, if you pay attention: you’re meant to ask why you’re actually killing the colossi.

Yes, there’s the maiden to consider, but at what cost are you saving her? Most of the colossi you fight are peaceful, only attacking when attacked. Some don’t even put up any kind of a real fight. The music is your clue, that you’re killing innocent creatures for your own, ultimately selfish aims. Your character slowly warps and becomes darker because of it. What’s most impressive about this game, in addition to the scope, in addition to what it says through its direction and pacing about the heroic/epic struggle, is its twist on an old formula that catches you off guard. In Super Mario Bros. you were on a long quest to save the princess and killed 8 Koopa Kings on your way towards doing so. So many games since have followed that same formula, whether with a princess or some other goal: pursue your goal, kills the monsters on the way, attain it. But Colossus made the goal something you may not deserve, or that may not be right to have (everyone has their time, it’s the more courageous thing to accept it); it made the creatures you’re killing on the quest innocent rather than malevolent; it made you question the voice that you trust blindly that tells you to just follow the “logical path” in blind pursuit of your goal. In the end, the story drops that moral on you tragically and spectacularly; you’ll lose your breath at least a few times in the game’s final hour. It’s the crowning achievement in the realm of games that achieve artistic aims, and it’s absolutely a must-play-before-you-die title.

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Balloo’s Other Video Game List: The Top 5 Stereotypes of Female Gamers (That Need to Change)

and Sles’ Top 5 Upcoming iPhone Games Worthy of Salivation

5 Stereotypes About Female Gamers (That Need to Change)

If marketing statistics are to be believed, anywhere from 25-45% of devoted gamers are female (and if we can’t believe focus testing marketing statistics, what is there?) Regardless of where on that range you choose to believe (probably the low end since this site has had 1 female writer for the 4 of us “Junkies”), this still means that there is a very serious female gamer population out there. Since these rare women move among a stereotypically socially awkward slice of the population (irony right in the intro), they can be victims of stereotypes themselves. The problem with these assumptions is  they lead people to being patronizing and even offensive (e.g. not all people sleeping in the streets want a dollar, some people are just that tired). So, let’s try to move on to a more realistic and down to earth age of gaming after we consider these 5 Stereotypes Surrounding Female Gamers (that need to change).

5. Female Gamers Only Play DS

I put this one first to point out a sad truth about stereotypes: that they’re often based in truth. In fact, statistics show that at least half of all DS owners are female (52% according to this article).

However, the problem with stereotypes comes when you let a fact like that statistic lead you to painting a broad exclusionary picture. Yes, black people like fried chicken, but EVERYONE does (and should), so just like that information shouldn’t change how you interact, don’t let this statistic (unless you want to use a DS with Nintendogs to try to pick up chicks).

I guess there may be a chauvanist subtext to this that female gamers simply can’t handle hardcore games which makes the meat heads think-

4. Girls in Games Need Saving

This is just the result of video game upbringing. We all started our formative years rescuing the damned princess, so, with that and natural masculine instinct, we all think that the girl on our team is talking to us because she needs our help.

If a girl is on the mic during an online gaming session, she’s talking to you for the same reason you’re talking to the other guys you play XBL with: to communicate strategy and enemy positions while you play (although if you’re the kind of guy who really needs the advice not to ask her what kind of underwear she’s wearing, I doubt you’ve read this far because of the lack of boobies).

Conversely, there’s always an aggressive targeting of the girl when she’s an adversary which is the result of an interesting mental acrobatic within the male mind “I want her to like me, but I don’t want her to think I suck or am letting her win, so I have to try extra hard to beat her so she doesn’t think I’m taking it easy on her.”

Believe me, I’ve seen it happen, and we need to realize: the nature of a video game is that we’re all playing as equal avatars, so she doesn’t need saving anymore than she needs you to play differently to prove anything. This also applies to the stereotypical “white knight” who will defend the girl from immature guys making fun of her, and then use this as his “in,” because after all-

3. Girls Only Play Games to Get Hit On

Another a priori based conception: we’ve all seen that girl who shows up at a party, and starts trying to play Madden because the guys are. I guarantee you, that was a one night thing, and that girl only did it because she was hitting on one of the guys who were also playing.

I’m talking about devoted girl gamers (not well endowed whores), who play video games on their own time because they legitimately enjoy it. Sorry guys, there aren’t too many girls out there with nerd gamer fetishes, so even if she were looking for a guy, she wouldn’t be looking for one over a romantic game of Call of Duty (the game of love). If a girl’s playing games online with you, she’s looking to pwn some n00bs just like you.

However this is not to say that-

2. Girl Gamers Don’t Exist as Dateable Women

Funny how the stereotypes go both ways, right? A girl shows up in your game of Halo, and suddenly, it’s open season. However, talk to the average male gamer about women, and the idea of meeting a girl face to face who he doesn’t have to hide his gaming habits from, or end them for seems like an impossible dream. Fact is, this one confronts a negative stereotype about gamers in general: you have to be social. Beyond just playing Social Slayer with your mic on, go out and meet some people in person, and compare interests.

Girl Gamers get out, so odds are if you do too, you could meet one and, here’s the tip: since you’d share that interest, making a game-date night is a perfectly acceptable option. Dinner ‘n’ gaming is a wonderful formula. Let her see your setup (after you’ve tidied up) and give her a selection of games. Don’t patronize just because you think-

1. Girls Can’t Play “Hardcore” Games

Yes, Girls play Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, etc. so do a lot of guys. Girls also play Halo, Guitar Hero, and yes, they play Call of Duty. They actually play them, as in, they’ll cap five head shots off your so fast after you respawn that you’ll think the game is FUBAR.

Even if they’re not as much of a nerd as you are, they can still share the interest a bit. Game Scoop and Podcast Beyond are quality humorous podcasts, and I’m sure you can have a laugh over a site like this one. In the meantime though, try not to be too much of a condescending ass to the girl gamers you do encounter. It’s 2009 people, leave that shit on the elementary school playground.

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& My Top 6 Games With (Artistic) Style

iDracula Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alright folks, I think I speak for all of us at PowerOnSoundOff when I say that these past weeks have seen a shitstorm of papers, tests and other equally time-consuming perils of academia. Nevertheless, we made a promise to you, POWSO readers, to update the site on a regular basis. Thus, you wont catch us pants-down-procrastinating any further. This week I present to you iDracula, a chart-topping title developed by MoreGames Entertainment and published by Chillingo.

Title: iDracula.

Developer: MoreGames Entertainment

Publisher: Chillingo

Price: $0.99

Graphics: 10 Isometric goodness.

Gameplay: 9 Sick execution but arguably repetitive.

Sound: 9 Scarier than a werewolf Bar Mitzvah.

Value: 8 Not quite the incentive-driven-addiction that Blizzard offers.

Overall: 9

Let’s start with the juicy bits. iDracula is an action-arcade thriller with groundbreaking Diablo II-quality visuals and a control scheme that you can really sink your teeth into. Frenetic mayhem sums up the gameplay, which depending on your scale of comparison is either varied enough (for the casual gamer) or just hors d oeuvres for those seeking a true RPG experience.

Using two 360 degree-directional thumb pads (in the vein of arcade classic Robotron) you control a nameless badass struggling to fend off hordes of werewolves, ghosts and other ghastly adversaries. The controls are ace, smooth and responsive, and it feels GOOD to spray bullets into the masses.

If you last long enough, the baddies will start to drop goodies: crossbows, machine guns, grenade launchers, etc. And you can choose from a variety of powerups – from health boosts to weapon upgrades. I commend the developers for packing in so much nuance – few arcade games permit any strategizing, let alone allow you to switch between weapons or choose from variable list of upgrades. 

iDracula’s soundtrack is aptly characterized (if I don’t say so myself) as vampire metal. The shit is intense, and it suits the gameplay like hipster-wear suits Gerry:

The map is moderately sized, but I’d appreciate a little more diversity on this front. The folks at MoreGames Entertainment have apparently bugged my computer because they’ve just promised more mappage with their next update: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wh3SVv1WCw

Awesome. Unfortunately they’ve also promised to raise the price, so get it while you can you penny-countin’ cheapsters! Before you fire up your fingers for a purchase, however, consider the following thorns in this rose:

• Slow, unimaginative loading screens.
• Repetitive gameplay.
• Questionable replay value.

Oh yea, and the name. I’m admittedly nitpicking on a superficial level here, but icarumba! I’ve had enough with the pedestrian practice of prefixing every fucking title with a lowercase i. This does not add any legitimacy to your app. It just makes you look like a tool.

My REAL (substitute insightful) criticism is with iDracula’s scope. At the end of the day this “game” feels like little more than an engine demonstration for a larger and soon-to-be explosive project – the first hack-and-slash iPhone RPG that doesn’t have the suck. If the developers pushed this project a little bit further they might just REVOLUTIONIZE the platform. Can you imagine a Battle.net scenario in your pants pocket? Scary right?

At this point, though, it’s hard to argue with the price tag. At $.099, you should grab iDracula while you can and see to it that the developers are vigilant with their updates.  Sles out.

The Glorious Return of O-Trail

Hey guys. So normally I wouldn’t be posting all un-kosher-like and out-of-turn like this, but right now it’s just past eight in the a.m. and I’m losing my fucking mind. I awoke in a clammy sweat just 10 minutes ago, my throat looks like shredded beef and I figured while I was up I might as well drop a quick post to take my mind off…things.

Basically, I was just checking my email (because that’s what I do when as I’m sick as a non-discerning streetwalker) and I came across a PR message from none other than Gameloft, the developer behind Real Soccer 2009, the subject of my last review (see below).

Here’s what Ms. R, the PR lady, had to say:

“Gameloft is set to bring the classic ‘edutainment’ game, The Oregon Trail, to the iPhone. The great American pioneering adventure game you used to play on the Apple II has made the jump and will soon be available for both your iPhone and iPod Touch[...]“

Hell muthafuckin’ yes. Remember how I said Gameloft is taking this mobile gaming thing seriously? Just take a gander at these features:

· All of the decision-making and problem-solving fun of the original game, plus additional features to take the Oregon Trail experience even further than before.

· 8 skill-based mini-games, some using the Accelerometer: hunting, fishing, wagon repairing, river crossing, rafting, telegraphing, gold panning, and berry picking.

· Random events such as disease, bandits and hitchhikers faced by the real pioneers increases the challenge.

· Side missions add more depth to your journey, and affect your westward trek.

· Completely updated with colorful and animated graphics.

· Prepare for your departure: Select the members of your party, choose your departure date and purchase supplies.

Now take a look at these screens people. This shit is legit.

Alright, so I really should be getting back to sleep now, but EXPECT a review on this one in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to fend off cholera and dysentery instead of this goddamned REAL LIFE sickness I gotta bother with for the present.

Happy trails.

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