Jesse Schell, Ernie Cline, and ++GoodGames Podcast, Oh My!

Hey everyone!

I enjoyed writing a post for this week's Design & Development Analysis class discussion so much, I have decided to share the results with the entire world! Or, at least to the small part of the world that follows this blog. Here was the prompt:

Discussion Board Goal

Examine the necessity of controller apparatus and their relationship to videogames using game design theory.

Discussion Board Specifications

The advent of MOTION and TOUCH control interfaces for playing games suggests a decreased reliance on game controllers.

Draw directly from the course text, the handout on Controller Feel, and outside sources to respond to the following items:

• Why, or why not, will game controllers remain an important part of videogame culture?
• What lessons learned from controller use must be applied to all videogame interactions moving forward? Consider both MOTION and TOUCH interfacing.



In my response to this prompt, I drew inspiration from three seemingly incongruous sources: Jesse Schell's book The Art of Game Design (which is also the class textbook), Ernie Cline's novel Ready Player One, and the ++Good Games Podcast (specifically, the Halo 4 midnight launch special). Take a look, and let me know what you think!

Despite how much it pains me as a player to say this, I do not think that game controllers will remain an important part of videogame culture for very much longer. In Chapter 26 of The Art of Game Design (The Team Builds a Game with Technology), Jesse Schell talks about the Innovator’s Dilemma, where technology companies and other innovators often fail because they listen to their customers cry “not good enough” in regards to a new technology. The problem is that new technologies are improving at a much faster rate than current technologies, and can quickly cross that “good enough” threshold. When it comes to videogames, motion, touch, and voice control interfaces are rapidly improving, and have already become “good enough” for the casual and newly emerging segments of the gaming market. (Schell, 2008)

There is little improvement that can be made on traditional game controllers, but motion, touch, and voice interfaces are improving dramatically with each iteration. Wii Motion Plus, the next iteration of the Kinect, and the recently revealed prototype of the new PlayStation controller are all prime examples of the direction that game control interfacing is headed. However, I believe that the best way to see where technology will be heading is to look at our current science-fiction. The technologies invented for a futuristic world often provide inspiration for today’s innovators and designers. For example, when my parents were children, the idea of cloning was something that only existed in books and movies. However, within the last few months, a woman paid $50,000 to clone her deceased pet dog, a great example of how yesterday’s science-fiction is today’s science-fact.

So, in looking at today’s science-fiction, what are tomorrow’s game control interface ideas? That answer can be seen in one of my favorite novels, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. In his dystopian future, all virtual worlds and games have coalesced into one master game world, Oasis. This game world is made possible by advances in precisely what we are discussing this week: motion, touch, and voice control interfaces. In the book, the player puts on a virtual reality visor and gloves, and is instantly immersed in the world of Oasis. (Cline, 2011)

The key to that new level of immersion is making the technology and interfacing invisible to the user, and that is the main lesson that motion, touch, and voice control interfaces need to learn from traditional game controllers. In a recent episode of the ++Good Games Podcast, Anthony (one of the show hosts) spoke with gamers who were waiting in line for the midnight release of Halo 4. When he asked them what they thought about the Kinect, both he and I were quite surprised to hear that those “hardcore” gamers were actually excited about the future possibilities of the technology! (Bauer, Bacon, and Ernst, 2012) If you read between the lines a little, what they were actually saying is that they are excited for the point where those types of interfaces become as invisible and seamless as the controller has become for them.

References

Schell, J. (2008). The art of game design, a book of lenses. (1st ed. ed.). Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann.

Cline, E. (2011). Ready player one. Broadway.

Bauer, N. (Performer), Bacon, J. (Performer), & Ernst, A. (Performer) (2012, November 05). ++good games’ halo 4 midnight launch coverage. ++Good Games Podcast. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://doubleplusgoodgames.com/?p=2733

2012 Video Game Reflections

I think I've put this off for long enough, and the results will be better because of it! At the end of the year, it is fun to look back on what made last year what it was, and look forward to what could make next year great. The latter part will come in my next posting (and it will come sooner rather than later). However, today is all about reflecting on 2012!

I took a different approach than last year. Using Raptr and a list of games released in 2012 on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_in_video_gaming), I made a list of all the 2012 games that I played this year! At first, I was surprised how big the list was, but then I started to cut out demos and games I didn't play enough to really count, and the list got really small.... Oh well!

I also made up a list of the 2012 games that I really wanted to play, but never got a chance to. That is what you get first! Some of these are games that were cut from the first list, but I only played the demo or the first level or something like that. Those will be marked *.

• Far Cry 3
• Borderlands 2
• Assassin's Creed 3
• Dead or Alive 5
• Mark of the Ninja *
• The Last Story
• Xenoblade Chronicles
• Dishonored
• Final Fantasy XIII-2
• Sine Mora *
• Spelunky *
• Dyad *
• Dust: An Elysian Tail *
• FTL
• The Unfinished Swan
• Asura's Wrath*
• Spec Ops: The Line*

I've got some work to do next year...

Enough with the boring stuff, on to the games that I actually did play! First up: Mobile Games!

When I say Mobile Games, I mean handheld consoles (3DS, etc.) and phone/tablet games. This year, I have finally started to get into the iOS sphere, but only for about a week now. However, there are a few iOS games that made this list....

1. Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?
2. Super Hexagon
3. Super Monsters Ate My Condo
4. Angry Birds: Star Wars
5. Sudoku Together
6. New Super Mario Bros. 2

Obviously, I don't play a whole lot of Mobile Games. While I'll be the first to admit that the Adventure Time game was not a marvel of game design, the writing matched the show perfectly, and I love the show, so it gets the top spot in my 2012 Mobile Games List. If New Super Mario Bros. 2 didn't feel like a game that I've played a few times already, it would be higher.

Now, you would expect that Retail Games (360, PS3, Wii, PC, etc.) would be my last list. You would be wrong if you expected that. Surprisingly, I only played 2 Retail Games enough to feel like they deserved to be here, so this list is really small!

1. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
2. Halo 4

Considering how much I have played both of these games in the short amount of time that I have owned them, this could have gone either way. However, XCOM is the game that got Halo 4 out of my Xbox 360, and XCOM has been in ever since, so it takes the cake.

That just leaves the biggie. Downloadable Games (XBLA, PSN, WiiWare, etc.). This is where most of my gaming money and time seems to go now. I don't feel like I should narrow this list down anymore than I already have, so you get my top 11!

1. Journey
2. Minecraft (The 360 version came out in 2012, and that's all I've played, so :P)
3. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown
4. The Walking Dead
5. Fez
6. Alan Wake's American Nightmare
7. Rock Band Blitz
8. I Am Alive
9. Sonic 4 Episode 2
10. Warp
11. Quantum Conundrum

I would also like to point out that Journey is my favorite gaming experience of the year, and like El Shaddai in 2011, Journey is the game that defines 2012 for me.

Well, I know that you probably have your own feelings about 2012's games. But guess what. This is my blog. I would like to hear about your favorite games from 2012 though! Hit me up on Twitter. I love talking about video games. 

Also, look forward to seeing a 2013 resolution blog post really soon. I know I didn't do too well on my 2012 one (the Sonic challenge), but it was sacrificed for school and other games. Like the ones that I listed here today.

It's been a few days...

Hey all! I know it has been a couple of days (4 tops) since I last wrote on here. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going to apologize. I've been a busy guy! And most of the stuff that I've been doing wouldn't be interesting to post to a blog. I don't think many people want to see the flowchart that I made for a prototype card/board game I made for my Game Design I class, or a presentation about the fallacies of the English language that I did for my Design Tools I class. And if you really do want to see those things, let me know on Twitter.

So, here's a quick rundown of what's been going on since I last wrote. School. Movies. Video Games. Comic books. All those things happened. Also, the Sonic challenge is officially on hiatus. Too much to do, and too many other great games that need to be played first.

Down to the real reason that I'm writing today: I actually have an assignment that I want to share! It was a fun one (for me at least). Right now, I'm finishing up my Historical Archetypes and Mythology class, and the project last week was to create my own creation myth. After writing it, I realized that it is kinda silly, but you know what? So is EVERY CREATION MYTH THAT EXISTS! In light of that, I figured that this little gem can be allowed to be seen by more eyes than just my teacher's, my wife's, and my own.

A little disclaimer first. The assignment had a 1200 word maximum, which made it very difficult to flesh the story out as much as I would have liked. There are parts that were severely edited down, and other (obvious) sections that were glossed over, all in the interest of getting under that mark. I plan to revisit this story and finish it one day. We'll see if that actually happens or not though...

"Enough rambling, NPB! Get on with it!" Ok! Fine! I will! Here you go!

(Quick side note. All the names were made using a name generator which can be found here: http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/ )

In the beginning, there was only emptiness. This universe was a place of tranquility and nothingness. This peace was interrupted when Irotsu, the great traveler and seeker of knowledge, intruded. Irotsu, who had visited many other great universes and had filled her head with vast amounts of knowledge, was fascinated by the silence she had discovered, for each of the other universes that Irotsu explored where teeming with life and noise. So, Irotsu decided to cease her travels in order to begin applying everything she had learned and try her hand at creation.

The first thing Irotsu decided to create was a world. However, since there was nothing in the universe to use as material for a world, Irotsu was forced to use the great stone Ingacia that she had been given during her travels. Ingacia was flat and featureless, which quickly bored Irotsu, so she pushed and pulled at the land, creating tall mountains, deep valleys, and vast oceans, which were filled with the sweat from Irotsu’s hard work. Irotsu also quickly realized that Ingacia was much too dark, so she lit a great fire in the sky of the world. Then, Irotsu began creating animals of every sort and variety to fill Ingacia.

However, Irotsu began to notice a problem. Many of the animals were seeking refuge from the great fire in the sky. Irotsu went to these animals and asked why they were hiding. She was surprised to hear that they preferred the darkness, and would only come out if the great fire in the sky was extinguished. Obviously, many of the other animals needed the light, and begged Irotsu not to put out the great fire. So Irotsu, being very wise from her many travels, decided that the great fire should be present in the sky while the creatures who had been hiding were asleep, then the fire would be put out while the creatures who needed the light were asleep. She assigned the great task of extinguishing the fire each night to the Owl, and the great task of starting a new fire to the Eagle. Thus, the cycle of Night and Day was created.

Irotsu was satisfied with what she had created for many years, traveling throughout Ingacia and living with the animals. However, as befalls most great travelers, Irotsu became bored and sought further entertainment. Irotsu went to the tallest mountaintop on Ingacia, where no other creature beside herself could reach, and built a grand palace, which she called Cerelia. Hidden inside Cerelia, Irotsu created a library, where she wrote down and stored everything that she had learned on her many travels. This library was called Radesia. Irotsu then sat down in the center of Cerelia and began manifesting children. Irotsu grew 3 extra toes on her right foot, which she promptly cut off. Each of these toes continued to grow until they were fully grown beings, like Irotsu. She named them Waie, Kie, and Mie.

Once again, Irotsu was satisfied with what she had created, living for many years in Cerelia, with Waie, Kie, and Mie keeping her company and entertaining her. Over time, Waie, Kie, and Mie each created a child of their own in the same manner that Irotsu had created each of them. Waie named her son Veroth, Kie named his son Saygar, and Mie named her daughter Estos. Once again, however, Irotsu became bored and needed more to keep her entertained. Irotsu charged each of her children with the immense task of creating new life for Ingacia, life that could keep her entertained for longer periods of time.

The first to take on this great task was Waie, who had become known as the goddess of Love and Art. Using pieces of her exquisite garments, Waie created humans which where imbued with love for each other and desire to create aesthetically pleasing works of art. These humans where then whisked away from Cerelia and spread across the surface of Ingacia. Irotsu was very pleased at Waie’s creation, and left Cerelia to travel among the humans across Ingacia.

Over time, Irotsu began to realize that the humans that Waie had created were beginning to bore her. Since they all loved each other, there was no conflict to keep things interesting, and the art they created became repetitious and tiresome. In an effort to make Waie’s creations entertaining to her, Irotsu began influencing the minds of the humans, turning their love for each other into disdain, which led to the conflict that Irotsu was seeking. Irotsu then returned to Cerelia to observe the humans from a distance with her children and grandchildren. Waie was not pleased the Irotsu had interfered with what she had created. In order to make amends with Waie, Irotsu apologized and declared Waie’s creations a success. Kie and Mie still wanted an opportunity to create their own life, but wanted a fresh start, like Waie had been given.

Irotsu ordered that Ingacia be purged of Waie’s humans. This task fell to Estos, as she was the only one among them that possessed a strong enough will and sense of duty to destroy all of the humans currently on Ingacia. Estos rained down fire and destruction upon the humans, and not one of Waie’s creations was spared.

This cycle repeated with Kie and Mie’s creations. Irotsu was pleased with their creations, but ultimately became bored and interfered, corrupting their creations. At this point Estos was called in to wipe Ingacia clean of humans. Unbeknownst to Irotsu, Saygar had found the great library Radesia, and had been secretly taking knowledge, bit by bit, from Radesia each time Irotsu left to travel Ingacia. Veroth had also been secretly following Irotsu, observing her as she traveled, learning what entertained and what bored her.

After Mie’s humans had been eradicated from Ingacia, Veroth and Saygar approached Irotsu and asked for the same opportunity to create life as had been given to their parents. Veroth and Saygar promised Irotsu that their approach to creating humans would be drastically different than their parents’, and this intrigued Irotsu greatly. She demanded that Veroth and Saygar create humans, and agreed to provide them with anything they needed.

Veroth and Saygar then murdered their cousin, Estos, and used her body to create humans that were filled with a wide variety of traits, both good and bad. Through his covert observations, Veroth had learned that Irotsu loved to watch the humans change and progress, but this was impossible without direct intervention from Irotsu or her offspring. Each time it seemed that Irotsu was growing bored of their creation, Veroth and Saygar would meet together and discuss what changes were needed in order to keep Irotsu entertained in their race of humans. Then, Saygar would descend down to Ingacia, taking a piece of knowledge that he had previously stolen from Radesia, and spreading that knowledge to the humans. Irotsu would become fascinated anew with each change that these humans went through, seemingly on their own. Veroth and Saygar had finally learned how to keep Irotsu entertained, breaking free of the cycle of creation and destruction that their parents had been forced to experience.

Written Opinion Piece: 1988-1994

Hey everyone! I've got a new assignment that I would like to share! This is my written opinion piece on the 1988-1994 time period in game history. The prompt question that I have chosen to write about is:

During this time frame (1986-1994), the console wars were beginning full swing. What do you feel the companies did right with their new consoles and what do you believe they did wrong?

For this written opinion piece, I will be discussing what Nintendo and Sega did right with the Super NES and Genesis consoles, respectively. I will also discuss what I believe they did wrong with each of these systems.

For the release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES) console, Nintendo made a very smart decision to include the game Super Mario World with the system. Super Mario Bros. 3 had already been a wild success for the original NES, having sold more than 17 million copies, so including Super Mario World with the Super NES was a great way to keep that momentum going into the new system. However, Nintendo also got into a very bad habit of relying on a small amount of games to propel sales of the Super NES. Rather than creating a variety of games throughout the year, Nintendo would wait until the new game from Shigeru Miyamoto, their star game designer, was ready. Those games, like The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past and Super Mario World 2, always performed well, but were few and far between. If one of his games had failed in the market, Nintendo would have suffered significantly.

As far as Sega is concerned, one of the best moves they made with the Genesis system was releasing well ahead of when Nintendo was ready to release the Super NES, giving Sega a large market advantage at the time. When sales weren’t as high as they liked, Sega also made a very smart move in the United States by lowering the price and packaging the game Sonic The Hedgehog with the system, replacing Altered Beast. This helped Sega establish a mascot character that could compete with Nintendo’s Mario. Sega also took the opposite stance from Nintendo regarding game release schedules. Sega was working to create several games, like ToeJam & Earl and Streets of Rage, and release them throughout the year, so they didn’t have to rely on one or two games to be wildly successful. Unfortunately, Sega decided to innovate on the hardware side, rather than maintain a focus on producing great games for the Genesis. The 32X and Sega CD add-ons for the Genesis system were never successful, and wound up placing Sega on a slow downward spiral that they were never able to pull out of.

Last week of my first class!

This 4 week schedule is gonna take some getting used to! This is my last week in Digital Literacy, and the topic is Copyright. As a quick side note, last week was on Research, and the assignments weren't very writing heavy, which is why I didn't post anything last week.

This week, there is a specific section of the discussion board assignment that I would like to share. Here are the prompt questions:

High profile violations of copyright recently have been with the digital theft of music and movies. How do you feel about illegal file sharing? In your opinion, what reasons do people justify illegal file sharing? What do you feel is a fair punishment for those caught illegally downloading files? How will you feel as a creator if someone obtains your work but doesn’t pay you for it?

And here is my response:

I am actually very torn on how I feel about illegal file sharing, and have been debating what stance to take and how much of my opinions on file sharing to discuss for this assignment since reading the prompt questions late last night. I have used Napster and LimeWire back during their times, and will admit to using other torrent software too. My justification has been that there is so much great content that I want to consume, that there is no possible way I could afford to purchase all of it.

I realize that that doesn’t make it ok or legal. But driving over the speed limit is also illegal. I know that comparing speeding to file sharing is apples and oranges, but they are both laws that try to enforce an ideal on society, instead of being laws that reflect the view of actual society. Here’s an example that I feel can be analogous to file sharing:

There is a new road near my home that opened about a year and a half ago. It makes access to I-15 much easier and quicker for everyone who lives in my area. When the road originally opened, the speed limit was 45 MPH. Everyone sped on that road, but not outrageously. Most people would drive between 55 and 60 MPH along most of the road, only slowing down for the two big turns. Fortunately, in this situation, it was quickly recognized that the reality for that specific road is that everyone drives faster than the law allowed, so the law was changed. Now the speed limit is 55 MPH, and there are signs suggesting drivers slow down to 45 for each of the big turns.

The reality of file sharing is that most everyone does it, whether they will admit it or not. Under the current laws, I feel that a fair punishment would be to simply have to pay the market value for the file that was illegally downloaded (what they would have paid to purchase the content in the first place.) I also feel that those laws seriously need to be reevaluated, considering how quickly society changes now as a direct result of more widespread and faster Internet access.

As a future creator, my main goal and wish is for as many people to enjoy my creation as possible. Obviously, I would like to make enough money to pay for that creation and my other life expenses, but I don’t feel that any creator should be motivated by monetary gain. Money should be an unexpected fringe benefit for creation.

Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

First big project has been completed!

I finished that big project that I've been talking about a bunch on Twitter. I don't like my own voice, especially while reading something aloud, so I apologize in advance. Hope you like it!

Second week of school, second discussion board post!

I told you I'd be more consistant on this blog thingy now that I'm in school! The second week of my Digital Literacy class has started, and that means there is a second class discussion board to write for! Here is this week's topic:

The Internet has been noted as a helpful research tool. However there are many rumors that spread across the Internet and misinformation is provided. Knowing that misinformation can run rampant on the Internet, it is important to manage and monitor your personal information and how you are perceived on the Internet.

• What social media networks do you currently use?

• If someone were to search for you on the Internet, how do you think you might be perceived based on the information available? Explain.

• What do you think about future employers “Googling” or using social media sites to research you before they hire you – to use what’s said and shown on the web as a “virtual” reference? Check out these articles: Wall Street Journal, ERE Media, & Ars Technica. In the future, if you become responsible for hiring employees, will you use the Internet to find out information about any prospects?

And here is my response:

Up until about a year ago, I was very absent from all online social media networks. This changed as I really started gearing up to start school and pursue a career in the video game industry. To be in an industry, you have to insert yourself into the dialogue, so I created a Twitter account (@NinjaPatBeck) for mainly that purpose. I follow and interact with several gaming journalists and developers, including some of my biggest sources of inspiration (check out my podcast project to see who!).  I also write a personal blog as a way to practice and develop a writing style. And because it is fun. It can be found at ninjapatbeck.blogspot.com for anyone who is interested.

The concept of an online reputation is very intriguing to me, and was something that I thought heavily about before creating either my Twitter account or my blog. 10 years ago, it was very easy and common to have an online identity that in no way reflected your real person; with the widespread use of online social networks using real information, that practice is less and less common, and the line between online and real identities has definitely blurred. Books like Ready Player One and movies like Summer Wars are glimpses into the future, not just great literature.

I try to take that into account as I use Twitter and write on my blog. I want anyone who sees what I put online to perceive that online persona as me. That is also a large part of why I use my real name in my screen name for everything online. I think that anyone who searches for me online and reads what they find will perceive me the same as if they approached me in person and engaging me in a conversation. This is what I have designed my online persona to be.

I actually think that, under certain circumstances, the use of social networking sites and the Internet as a “virtual” reference can be perfectly acceptable. For example, if in the future, I was looking to fill a position in a small team that works very closely together, I would want to know more about the person’s personality and how they would work with the other members of that team than two or three face-to-face interviews are going to reveal. However, if the job requires someone with a specific skill and relies less heavily on collaboration, or if I were hiring a whole new team, there is little reason to look further than a resume, interview, and references provided by the potential employer.

I don’t think that the practice of using social networking sites as a reference should ever be done without the applicant’s knowledge though, and currently, there is far too much potential for discrimination based on the information that can be found online. It is actually illegal to ask questions regarding religion, age, marital and family status, health, physical abilities, and nationality during an interview, and most or all of that can be found through inappropriate use of online information.

As more and more of our personal lives occur “virtually” online, it is only natural to think that other aspects of life are going to become virtual as well, including the business practices of checking references and researching a potential employee. But the responsibilities that go along with this are on both sides: the individual needs to be smart about what information they make available online and where it is, and the companies need to use that information appropriately.

I thought this was a really interesting topic, and I'm looking forward to hearing what people think about what I wrote. So please share your thoughts with me either in the comments below, or through Twitter @NinjaPatBeck! Thanks to all of you who read this! Working on another project for school that should be ready soon!