Every individual has a vision of where they would like to be in ten years time. For me I simply want to create great art, making money is a part of that but more so the success in the industry. I would like to aspire to be able to create half if not more than what the artists I like, can create. I hope that the three years of University can put me on the right path to becoming the artist I want to be. I know already that there is a lot to take away from this experience more than just a degree.
Uni is the bridge that mends the gap between a world of education and comfort and a world of responsibilities and goals. It may seem scary but its always something to look forward to and is what can measure us as individuals later on in life. Taking care of oneself is a start and at uni I am already picturing a life with more than me to consider and it seems that, that would be a scary place. The responsibilities at the moment are minimal and I have enough freedom to realize who I am and the potential I have. Throw some more responsibilities and I would be lost in a paradox ending in me being in the same place over and over again. I suppose behind my scary words all I’m trying to say is, I would like to make the most of this experience and learn all that I can about the world around me including myself. So far I am pleased with what I have gained and cannot wait to do more. Seeing as assessment week is nearing upon up, I have come to realize in a short space of time how much I was taking for granted and the amount of extra self study I could have been doing. Reflecting back on this year has shown me what I want from life and how I can get it. It sometimes takes just a moment to sit back and look at where you have come from and where you are going. Reflecting is an important process of self development and can affect the way we carry on with our day-to-day tasks. Simply looking at my sketchbook I have come to notice how much I have improved just by using techniques learnt. The difference between teaching techniques has helped since individual study is encouraged and it truly pays to do so. With the way things are going at the moment I sense some relief in the fact that I can get to where I want as long as I keep working at it…
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Creativity Part 2
Well after watching Sir Ken Robinson’s presentation on creativity, it inspired me to do more with my time. I thought of the possibility of life without education (school in particular). Would we be able to become better at creating whatever we enjoyed creating. Would a child who loved building toy cars and mechanical objects become an amazing inventor or mechanic…
In my last post on creativity I commented on the fact that most people grow out of creativity since they are born with it in the first place. I mentioned how talent helped individuals succeed in what they do. Well to be honest I would rephrase that to account for the fact that talent is only really the perseverance or love for a particular subject that allows one to be able to exceed in what they learn. Looking at our lecturers’ presentation of his personal work, certain pieces done as projects with individuals portray creativity within us all. The ways in which his creativity manifested proves that we truly can and should do things out of the ordinary without fear of being judged since that is what personal creativity is all about. There are certain boundaries however that one should consider before deciding to become creative for example; ensuring that the law is not broken in order to create a piece of art. This would I suppose be creative but on a social stance it would be immoral.
How do we now become creative if we have lost it from childhood? Well I don’t think we have lost creativity, it’s just that people are afraid of being judged since judgment can lead to failure. If however, creativity cannot really lead to failure, why not just try. The only way people can be creative is to just try and once achieved, perfect the necessary skills through trial and error. Use everyday objects, environments, moods and general influence to discover creativity and achieve what was intended.
In my last post on creativity I commented on the fact that most people grow out of creativity since they are born with it in the first place. I mentioned how talent helped individuals succeed in what they do. Well to be honest I would rephrase that to account for the fact that talent is only really the perseverance or love for a particular subject that allows one to be able to exceed in what they learn. Looking at our lecturers’ presentation of his personal work, certain pieces done as projects with individuals portray creativity within us all. The ways in which his creativity manifested proves that we truly can and should do things out of the ordinary without fear of being judged since that is what personal creativity is all about. There are certain boundaries however that one should consider before deciding to become creative for example; ensuring that the law is not broken in order to create a piece of art. This would I suppose be creative but on a social stance it would be immoral.
How do we now become creative if we have lost it from childhood? Well I don’t think we have lost creativity, it’s just that people are afraid of being judged since judgment can lead to failure. If however, creativity cannot really lead to failure, why not just try. The only way people can be creative is to just try and once achieved, perfect the necessary skills through trial and error. Use everyday objects, environments, moods and general influence to discover creativity and achieve what was intended.
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Red Pill or Blue Pill...
I am as lost as can ever be; the time to make use of the squishy thing in my head has now come. Liberal Arts or Specialization, it’s almost like voting again…trying to finds the pros and cons. Well the squishy thing is begging to question why we can’t have a bit of both like in a buffet line. It may seem weird but our lives are a long buffet line with good and bad things to come. We start as the child who is given the food that we essentially need, walking past as our parents decide what will be good for us and what won’t. We find our likes and dislikes, experimenting with everything and anything we can find. It is then as we move past the lovely kind lady who serves us chips and gravy to the stage at which we move into the compulsory line (School). Here we have to maintain a balanced diet of meat, veg and dairy that is seen to be good for our surroundings and what is to come. The scenario pushes past the point at which we now decide, are we full or can we keep going. Do we go to the seconds’ line (Higher Education). This is the point at which we discover where we want to go in life and what is needed to get there. Do we need to move onto the Dessert line (Further Education) and when we are there do we need specialized Dessert or simply Liberal Dessert…
Well I’ve not been discussing my specialties at a buffet line but more so the process to which we get to the point at which we can finally decide what we really want from life. It boils down to the question of being well rounded in a field of knowledge or just getting straight to the point at which we become specialists. Well I believe it all depends on several factors that need to be considered, for example in a field of medicine a surgeon can only further by selecting a specialty. Whether they want to focus on cosmetic or neurology, they cannot be both since it would be dangerous to the patient if they were under-qualified for a certain procedure. In this case, specialty is needed and thrived upon, however in an artistic field it would be advantageous to be liberally taught. This way the generation of new ideas and methods can easily be approached and changes within industry can be made. Specialists in this field would tend to carry on the way they were taught since those methods prove well to them. At the same time it can be argued that a liberal would not understand some of the techniques and procedures involved and therefore be at a loss since productivity would suffer.
This is queue for Mr. Squishy; this is where a blend of both teaching methods would help a lot. Imagine an artist who is technically gifted and highly trained but has the ability to formulate new ideas and creativity. The artist would be able to see things from different perspectives but be able to relate them to what they are already taught. Looking at Fine Art course verses Game Art course, Fine Art skills provide students with the ability to be able to create any form of art and develop a strong artistic judgment. These skills can be applied to any industry since the basic ability is transferable, the skills teach the student how to produce art that in some way expresses them. Game Art is specialized and therefore the skills learned are meant to be taken into the games industry, a student would only be able to design certain sub specialties such as characters, environments, props and vehicles or the lot for the game industry. They would develop an artistic judgment but one that revolves around the needs of a game. Mood and emotion would not be a part of the work they create, it would not have a story just a purpose. Not saying that Game Art is not good since the skills learnt secure a job in the industry and are skills that a Fine Art student would not know unless taught in some way but it would be better to combine both skills.
The current Game Art course I am on seems to try and blend the two styles into one. The ability to work as a professional but transfers the skills that would be applied for a games industry into another field. Fine Artists would find it difficult to work on a commercial level since their work is produced for their judgment whereas Game Art is commercial. The blend of artistic judgment, ability to formulate creative ideas and work at a commercial and technical level would make a good overall artist. In certain other fields, employers should create a blend of Liberal back-grounded people and Specialists since specialists can keep the present going whereas the liberal individuals would be able to look at the future. They are adaptable and sustainable to change and can provide a wealth of knowledge from different backgrounds. Specialists can relate to the way things are going presently and keep them in tact.
• http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED172593&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED172593
• http://www.collegenews.org/x1910.xml
• http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/personal-finance/on-topic/education/liberal-arts-vs-specialiation-degree-better/
Well I’ve not been discussing my specialties at a buffet line but more so the process to which we get to the point at which we can finally decide what we really want from life. It boils down to the question of being well rounded in a field of knowledge or just getting straight to the point at which we become specialists. Well I believe it all depends on several factors that need to be considered, for example in a field of medicine a surgeon can only further by selecting a specialty. Whether they want to focus on cosmetic or neurology, they cannot be both since it would be dangerous to the patient if they were under-qualified for a certain procedure. In this case, specialty is needed and thrived upon, however in an artistic field it would be advantageous to be liberally taught. This way the generation of new ideas and methods can easily be approached and changes within industry can be made. Specialists in this field would tend to carry on the way they were taught since those methods prove well to them. At the same time it can be argued that a liberal would not understand some of the techniques and procedures involved and therefore be at a loss since productivity would suffer.
This is queue for Mr. Squishy; this is where a blend of both teaching methods would help a lot. Imagine an artist who is technically gifted and highly trained but has the ability to formulate new ideas and creativity. The artist would be able to see things from different perspectives but be able to relate them to what they are already taught. Looking at Fine Art course verses Game Art course, Fine Art skills provide students with the ability to be able to create any form of art and develop a strong artistic judgment. These skills can be applied to any industry since the basic ability is transferable, the skills teach the student how to produce art that in some way expresses them. Game Art is specialized and therefore the skills learned are meant to be taken into the games industry, a student would only be able to design certain sub specialties such as characters, environments, props and vehicles or the lot for the game industry. They would develop an artistic judgment but one that revolves around the needs of a game. Mood and emotion would not be a part of the work they create, it would not have a story just a purpose. Not saying that Game Art is not good since the skills learnt secure a job in the industry and are skills that a Fine Art student would not know unless taught in some way but it would be better to combine both skills.
The current Game Art course I am on seems to try and blend the two styles into one. The ability to work as a professional but transfers the skills that would be applied for a games industry into another field. Fine Artists would find it difficult to work on a commercial level since their work is produced for their judgment whereas Game Art is commercial. The blend of artistic judgment, ability to formulate creative ideas and work at a commercial and technical level would make a good overall artist. In certain other fields, employers should create a blend of Liberal back-grounded people and Specialists since specialists can keep the present going whereas the liberal individuals would be able to look at the future. They are adaptable and sustainable to change and can provide a wealth of knowledge from different backgrounds. Specialists can relate to the way things are going presently and keep them in tact.
• http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED172593&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED172593
• http://www.collegenews.org/x1910.xml
• http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/personal-finance/on-topic/education/liberal-arts-vs-specialiation-degree-better/
Friday, 6 March 2009
Play a tune for me why don’t you?
Sound is an important part of any entertainment form since it allows more senses to be stimulated at the same time. When playing games, atmosphere is built using imagery, lighting and most importantly sound. Sound allows the player to know what is going on in the game, what is to come and allows for immersion into the virtual world.
Imagine playing a survival horror such as Resident Evil to the sound of circus music. The scary, tense feeling will disappear and the player’s gameplay will change to them feeling more over-confident about taking on enemies, doing so in a comical manner. With most games, music can be a presentiment for what is to come. In areas where enemies and fighting occurs, music changes to a more intense and adrenaline fueled style. This informs the player that they need to get ready and be careful. In safe areas, music changes to a soft melodic or less tense tone providing the player with the sense of safety. Some games have changed the way music is provided by constantly throwing the player in a false state of security to heighten frightful moments since the player does not know if there really is an enemy coming or if it really is safe.
Sound also plays a key feature to music games since without sound the genre wouldn’t exist. Music games use present media to excel the experience since most people like to impersonate their favorite music artists and would like to sing along to current or popular songs. Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Singstar all use existing songs from professional artists for players to sing and play along to. They work well in both selling songs and allowing for constant entertainment all using sound as the primary form. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are similar in style and game systems but the only way one can be better than the other is from the selection of songs available. This sets the bar for musical artists since they can profit from advertising their songs on the best game.
Martin O’Donnell, Kenji Yamamoto, Toru Minegishi and Koji Kondo are some of the well-known composers in the gaming industry. Kenji Yamamoto worked on the Metroid Prime series as well as contributing to Super Smash Brawl. The music in Metroid Prime is some of my personal favorites; it allowed me to be immersed on Tallon IV. The atmospheric and calming music in Phendrana Drifts (tundra) especially allowed me to enjoy the frozen wasteland even more, to the point at which I went there after battles just to look around and listen to the ambience and soft music. Toru Minegishi and Koji Kondo have worked on several titles also including contributing to Super Smash Brawl. The work I prefer has to be from the Legend of Zelda series. Again as with Metroid, the music in Zelda games has always made me revisit certain areas within the game just to feel how the music intended you to feel. Zora’s Domain, Hyrule, Kokiri’s Forest, and Goron City have to be some of the most amazing places in Ocarina of Time. Each place had its own individual musical style that made it fun and interesting. All the locations in Zelda never get boring and will always bring back memories. Martin O’Donnell is the man responsible for the music in Halo. Halo has large worlds and environments each filled excitement, fear and activity. With so much going on, the music balances the scenarios, injects emotion and above all is able to magnify the beautiful landscapes. Each moment of battle makes the player feel like a war machine able to fight any enemy (including scarabs) all down to the right balance of music. Martin O’ Donnell worked with some famous artists such as Incubus and Breaking Benjamin who provided their own individual styles to help push the game forward.
When talking about music in games, my personal favourite above all has to be from Zelda. Reason, the music in the game is a good balance of modern music in games mixed with a retro feel to it. The music never gets boring and makes the player feel like young Link. Towns and Cities are filled with happy music that gets ingrained into your subconscious only to make you hum the tune for the rest of the day. The best bit of the game involves the use of the Ocarina. Learning the songs and playing them on the ocarina makes the music aspect of the game even more rewarding. I loved remembering how to play songs such as Epona’s song, Saria’s song and Zelda’s Lullaby by humming the tune and miming the button orientation. The saddest possibly thing I have ever done however, has to be learning how to play all the Zelda Songs on a real ocarina just hoping to see Epona appear out of no-where (Still waiting for the day that happens, then we’ll see who’s laughing then...I’ll have a free horse). As for influential recordings, I believe that there can’t be one definitive recording since people have varied taste in music but it is up to an individual to decide their own.
Imagine playing a survival horror such as Resident Evil to the sound of circus music. The scary, tense feeling will disappear and the player’s gameplay will change to them feeling more over-confident about taking on enemies, doing so in a comical manner. With most games, music can be a presentiment for what is to come. In areas where enemies and fighting occurs, music changes to a more intense and adrenaline fueled style. This informs the player that they need to get ready and be careful. In safe areas, music changes to a soft melodic or less tense tone providing the player with the sense of safety. Some games have changed the way music is provided by constantly throwing the player in a false state of security to heighten frightful moments since the player does not know if there really is an enemy coming or if it really is safe.
Sound also plays a key feature to music games since without sound the genre wouldn’t exist. Music games use present media to excel the experience since most people like to impersonate their favorite music artists and would like to sing along to current or popular songs. Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Singstar all use existing songs from professional artists for players to sing and play along to. They work well in both selling songs and allowing for constant entertainment all using sound as the primary form. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are similar in style and game systems but the only way one can be better than the other is from the selection of songs available. This sets the bar for musical artists since they can profit from advertising their songs on the best game.
Martin O’Donnell, Kenji Yamamoto, Toru Minegishi and Koji Kondo are some of the well-known composers in the gaming industry. Kenji Yamamoto worked on the Metroid Prime series as well as contributing to Super Smash Brawl. The music in Metroid Prime is some of my personal favorites; it allowed me to be immersed on Tallon IV. The atmospheric and calming music in Phendrana Drifts (tundra) especially allowed me to enjoy the frozen wasteland even more, to the point at which I went there after battles just to look around and listen to the ambience and soft music. Toru Minegishi and Koji Kondo have worked on several titles also including contributing to Super Smash Brawl. The work I prefer has to be from the Legend of Zelda series. Again as with Metroid, the music in Zelda games has always made me revisit certain areas within the game just to feel how the music intended you to feel. Zora’s Domain, Hyrule, Kokiri’s Forest, and Goron City have to be some of the most amazing places in Ocarina of Time. Each place had its own individual musical style that made it fun and interesting. All the locations in Zelda never get boring and will always bring back memories. Martin O’Donnell is the man responsible for the music in Halo. Halo has large worlds and environments each filled excitement, fear and activity. With so much going on, the music balances the scenarios, injects emotion and above all is able to magnify the beautiful landscapes. Each moment of battle makes the player feel like a war machine able to fight any enemy (including scarabs) all down to the right balance of music. Martin O’ Donnell worked with some famous artists such as Incubus and Breaking Benjamin who provided their own individual styles to help push the game forward.
When talking about music in games, my personal favourite above all has to be from Zelda. Reason, the music in the game is a good balance of modern music in games mixed with a retro feel to it. The music never gets boring and makes the player feel like young Link. Towns and Cities are filled with happy music that gets ingrained into your subconscious only to make you hum the tune for the rest of the day. The best bit of the game involves the use of the Ocarina. Learning the songs and playing them on the ocarina makes the music aspect of the game even more rewarding. I loved remembering how to play songs such as Epona’s song, Saria’s song and Zelda’s Lullaby by humming the tune and miming the button orientation. The saddest possibly thing I have ever done however, has to be learning how to play all the Zelda Songs on a real ocarina just hoping to see Epona appear out of no-where (Still waiting for the day that happens, then we’ll see who’s laughing then...I’ll have a free horse). As for influential recordings, I believe that there can’t be one definitive recording since people have varied taste in music but it is up to an individual to decide their own.
Saturday, 21 February 2009
Call on the Engineer, I think I spilled my coffee in the system…
Okay, I’ve herd of game engines before. Everyone has definitely heard of engines such as the CryENGINE from Crytek, Unreal Engine from Epic and Source Engine from Valve Corporation. Usually people don’t really bother to find out anything else about them, we just know they are used to create games.
The game engine is essentially what drives the creation of a video game. They allow the creation and development of a game using several codes and features. Some of these features include rendering, physics, collision, sound, scripting, animation and artificial intelligence. When looking at modeling objects in 3Ds Max or Maya for games, we can only model and animate the characters. There is not much else that can be done, a character that we build will not be able to be controlled and will only follow the set animation sequence it has been given. This is where the game engine is introduced, the engine has the correct code and script to be able to combine several game assets into one scene and allow them to run in the way they were meant to. Some complex engines can specify attributes to assets within the game such as adding weight to a box or explosions to a fuel cell. The Havok engine is famous for its ragdoll system that provides game characters with weight and flexibility enabling them to move more realistically when different forces are acting upon the character e.g. throwing a character across a room or impaling them a wall. Previously, most engines would require the character to be animated in a single way showing only one way that the character is thrown thus resulting in a more controlled system rather than a randomized effect.
Physics within game engines has allowed creators to produce realistic effects for any outcome. Blow up a warthog in halo and you will see that the vehicle explodes in random places and each part of the vehicle will be thrown in a random direction following the explosive trajectory. It sounds complicated but all of this is required to create one explosive scene (pun not intended). This can only be done with the write script placed in the right engine. This brings me onto the re-use of game engines. Most game companies re-use existing game engines or purchase them since it is easier and cheaper rather than having to create a new system or game engine. Epic’s Unreal has been used for all the unreal series, Rainbow Six 3, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Bioshock and many others. Companies such as Crytek have moved to concentrating on game engine technology for sale. Where as Epic and Valve made their engine for their existing game, Crytek designed its engine and produced a game to display the engine. Crysis was manufactured to display the most powerful engine that incorporated dynamic lighting, better AI, Motion Blur and Environmental effects. Crytek’s dynamic lighting system enhances the way objects react to different environments and light sources, the AI system allows characters to move along different terrain while adapting their centre of gravity. The environmental effects simulate dust and other particles along with seasons and time.
The future for gaming doesn’t look too goo. With next-gen engines, more money and resources are needed to achieve different game systems that are make a game more realistic and exciting. Smaller game companies will not be able to afford new engines or the technology to build their own and therefore they will be forced to revolutionize gaming or go bankrupt. Some companies and individuals have managed to create revolutionary games such as Baird, which is a simple plat-former with an interesting time based gameplay. But these kind of ideas don’t grow on trees and will really test game producers.
The game engine is essentially what drives the creation of a video game. They allow the creation and development of a game using several codes and features. Some of these features include rendering, physics, collision, sound, scripting, animation and artificial intelligence. When looking at modeling objects in 3Ds Max or Maya for games, we can only model and animate the characters. There is not much else that can be done, a character that we build will not be able to be controlled and will only follow the set animation sequence it has been given. This is where the game engine is introduced, the engine has the correct code and script to be able to combine several game assets into one scene and allow them to run in the way they were meant to. Some complex engines can specify attributes to assets within the game such as adding weight to a box or explosions to a fuel cell. The Havok engine is famous for its ragdoll system that provides game characters with weight and flexibility enabling them to move more realistically when different forces are acting upon the character e.g. throwing a character across a room or impaling them a wall. Previously, most engines would require the character to be animated in a single way showing only one way that the character is thrown thus resulting in a more controlled system rather than a randomized effect.
Physics within game engines has allowed creators to produce realistic effects for any outcome. Blow up a warthog in halo and you will see that the vehicle explodes in random places and each part of the vehicle will be thrown in a random direction following the explosive trajectory. It sounds complicated but all of this is required to create one explosive scene (pun not intended). This can only be done with the write script placed in the right engine. This brings me onto the re-use of game engines. Most game companies re-use existing game engines or purchase them since it is easier and cheaper rather than having to create a new system or game engine. Epic’s Unreal has been used for all the unreal series, Rainbow Six 3, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Bioshock and many others. Companies such as Crytek have moved to concentrating on game engine technology for sale. Where as Epic and Valve made their engine for their existing game, Crytek designed its engine and produced a game to display the engine. Crysis was manufactured to display the most powerful engine that incorporated dynamic lighting, better AI, Motion Blur and Environmental effects. Crytek’s dynamic lighting system enhances the way objects react to different environments and light sources, the AI system allows characters to move along different terrain while adapting their centre of gravity. The environmental effects simulate dust and other particles along with seasons and time.
The future for gaming doesn’t look too goo. With next-gen engines, more money and resources are needed to achieve different game systems that are make a game more realistic and exciting. Smaller game companies will not be able to afford new engines or the technology to build their own and therefore they will be forced to revolutionize gaming or go bankrupt. Some companies and individuals have managed to create revolutionary games such as Baird, which is a simple plat-former with an interesting time based gameplay. But these kind of ideas don’t grow on trees and will really test game producers.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
I'm Pro...
Games culture is a new media culture that has been formed due to the success of video games up to date. Now, the understanding of the culture is split into various different threads, some would say that playing video games is enough to say that you are part of the culture, yet others would disagree and state that there is a serious aspect to consider before One can call themselves a gamer. I believe that both are part of the bigger picture but need to be identified as separate cultures as well, on one side casual gaming and the other competitive gaming. Casual gaming consists of playing games just for fun, a casual gamer can be someone like Parents or younger siblings that just play games to be entertained. This is due to the fact that games everywhere, they are on mobile phones, the Internet, computers, consoles and iPods. When it comes to gamers or competitive gamers, what define a gamer are the way the games are played and the interest towards games. Gamers tend to be more competitive towards gaming and surround themselves with things to do with games. Gamers attend LAN and online sessions and tournaments and play for glory of winning. It can be considered a sport.
For me, casual gaming consists of me playing video games with a few friends in a flat. We play games late into the night but tend not to care too much about who is winning and who is losing. It generally consists of people playing games for fun while having a few beers and making general conversation. Most of my life has consisted of this kind of casual gaming culture. I have spent various nights and days playing games round a friend’s house with no competitive play involved, just playing for a laugh whilst annoying each other with constant headshots and beat downs.
Two years ago, I was introduced to competitive gaming. Online gaming changes the way people play games, its not so much about trying to find the funniest way to win but more so the basics of just making a kill or win for your record. When playing online, every win counts since records have to be made and losses accounted for. When casual gaming on Halo, I tend to find the most complicated and interesting way to kill someone with something like a barrel or cone to spawning a tank on them. When online I have to make sure I kill someone when I see them so every kill has to be made with the weapon in hand. I also have the LAN side of gaming every Tuesday, which creates a different environment since people keep to themselves and concentrate more on the pixels in front of them.
The two forms of gaming are all part of the general culture, which also consists of going to conventions, collecting game-related stuff, meeting and talking to other gamers and communicating on forums. On the whole my involvement with games is due to the fact that I enjoy playing video games in both a casual and competitive environment. The fact that I also want to be involved in the industry fuels my interaction with the culture so that I can better my understanding of the needs of gamers.
For me, casual gaming consists of me playing video games with a few friends in a flat. We play games late into the night but tend not to care too much about who is winning and who is losing. It generally consists of people playing games for fun while having a few beers and making general conversation. Most of my life has consisted of this kind of casual gaming culture. I have spent various nights and days playing games round a friend’s house with no competitive play involved, just playing for a laugh whilst annoying each other with constant headshots and beat downs.
Two years ago, I was introduced to competitive gaming. Online gaming changes the way people play games, its not so much about trying to find the funniest way to win but more so the basics of just making a kill or win for your record. When playing online, every win counts since records have to be made and losses accounted for. When casual gaming on Halo, I tend to find the most complicated and interesting way to kill someone with something like a barrel or cone to spawning a tank on them. When online I have to make sure I kill someone when I see them so every kill has to be made with the weapon in hand. I also have the LAN side of gaming every Tuesday, which creates a different environment since people keep to themselves and concentrate more on the pixels in front of them.
The two forms of gaming are all part of the general culture, which also consists of going to conventions, collecting game-related stuff, meeting and talking to other gamers and communicating on forums. On the whole my involvement with games is due to the fact that I enjoy playing video games in both a casual and competitive environment. The fact that I also want to be involved in the industry fuels my interaction with the culture so that I can better my understanding of the needs of gamers.
Thursday, 15 January 2009
What becomes of our future when things turn for the worse...
Oh my God what are we going to do!!! We are in an economic recession and companies are going bust. What do we make of our chances in the industry and what’s happening to it? Is the games industry really recession proof? The games industry has come a long way since the days of just making games for fun. The industry has become bigger and more powerful. It can now compete with other entertainment industries, however, it is now being run as professional businesses. This means that projects have become bigger, teams have increased, more is invested into them and a yearly profit needs to be made.
Its January 2009, there is currently a recession in the UK. Now you maybe thinking ‘how can that affect the games industry?’ well if you look at it, the sales of games and consoles are hitting a high even though the recession is taking place. Why aren’t sales affected? Well games are affordable and probably a cheaper form of entertainment. Considering that a game lasts well over 6 hours (average time depending on the genre) and that they can be played several different times to achieve different experiences, they are definitely worth the money paid for them. Look at this way; if I bought a 2 hour long DVD at £16 (all depends on the retailer), I would be paying roughly £8 per hour for entertainment. If I bought a video game (Call of duty 4) at full retail price that I played for over 70 hours, I would be paying £0.57 per hour for entertainment. Either way you look at it, buying games is cheaper and lasts longer. The audience is also mainly filled with teenagers and kids that can afford to spend pocket money on games.
The majority of people, who buy video games, buy them to escape the reality of the world we live. During a recession we fall into dark times where the struggle for tomorrow is unclear, what better to do than escape the world for a few hours and become an Italian plumber with a moustache and fashionable dungarees. Yes FASHIONABLE you all know you want dungarees, tomorrow you will feel the need to go outside and buy a pair. Wait right there…I have a thought (my mind wonders), we have Hawaiian shirt days and Halloween and ‘underwear only’ days so why can’t we add one more for the calendar, Dungaree Day (D-Day). Imagine offices and stock markets filled with people in dungarees, in fact I think it should be suggested for our Game Art course: Mandatory Dungaree Day by which everyone has to include ‘its’a me Mario’ in every greeting.
New paragraph to end the lunacy of the statements above and carry on. The sales of games have increased and are still fine even though there is a recession. But the problem occurs when companies have to decide which games they can afford to fund. How can a company decide on what game will be profitable? Where will the initial development costs for the ideas come from? It’s scary to think that on one hand, everything seems fine yet the mechanics of the industry have just had a spanner thrown in to the works. Games that are on shelf and ones that are very close to release will be fine in this mess, but what about games that are due to come out in a year or two. What will they be like, will good ideas be canned due to the lack of money and resources.
Jobs…don’t get me started. If you are a third year or someone looking to enter the industry at this moment, I feel for you. Think, if Midway just ‘axed‘ 180 developers from its US studios and rumors are spreading that Free Radical are going bust, how many professionals in the industry are also now having to look for a job. Competing against people who are already recognized for their work in the industry is like deciding to compete against Tony the Tiger over who becomes a better cereal mascot. To include people already in the industry, if Midway had to fire 180 developers to ensure that the company could still keep going, how do employees feel about their job security. It doesn’t matter how good you are at the moment since companies will be looking at trying to make it through these tough times instead. It is tough when something like this happens, but from the other perspectives. Other countries are able to purchase even more stock than before due to the drop in the value of the Pound Sterling. They look at this as a gold mine; figures show that Japanese customers can get GBP 74,361 from JPY 10 million whereas it used to be GBP 47,619 for the same JPY value. America has similar increases as well, so what’s to say will happen to the overall gaming industry. Will it actually pay off to become an employee at an Oversees games company? What is the competition like? Troubled times but ones that will become better, there will be a point at which everything hits a low and the only way out is up. Sorry to put the fear of realism into your souls but these things have to be considered with great thought. I will now leave and hope that you spend a few minutes analyzing the situation since it is late and I need to escape into a alter universe.
Here are some links on the affects of what is going on today;
http://www.developmag.com/news/30982/Axe-falls-on-Midway-development-teams
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/falling-price-of-sterling-makes-uk-better-value-says-tiga
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23472166/#storyContinued
'Hawaiian Shirt Day'
Its January 2009, there is currently a recession in the UK. Now you maybe thinking ‘how can that affect the games industry?’ well if you look at it, the sales of games and consoles are hitting a high even though the recession is taking place. Why aren’t sales affected? Well games are affordable and probably a cheaper form of entertainment. Considering that a game lasts well over 6 hours (average time depending on the genre) and that they can be played several different times to achieve different experiences, they are definitely worth the money paid for them. Look at this way; if I bought a 2 hour long DVD at £16 (all depends on the retailer), I would be paying roughly £8 per hour for entertainment. If I bought a video game (Call of duty 4) at full retail price that I played for over 70 hours, I would be paying £0.57 per hour for entertainment. Either way you look at it, buying games is cheaper and lasts longer. The audience is also mainly filled with teenagers and kids that can afford to spend pocket money on games.
The majority of people, who buy video games, buy them to escape the reality of the world we live. During a recession we fall into dark times where the struggle for tomorrow is unclear, what better to do than escape the world for a few hours and become an Italian plumber with a moustache and fashionable dungarees. Yes FASHIONABLE you all know you want dungarees, tomorrow you will feel the need to go outside and buy a pair. Wait right there…I have a thought (my mind wonders), we have Hawaiian shirt days and Halloween and ‘underwear only’ days so why can’t we add one more for the calendar, Dungaree Day (D-Day). Imagine offices and stock markets filled with people in dungarees, in fact I think it should be suggested for our Game Art course: Mandatory Dungaree Day by which everyone has to include ‘its’a me Mario’ in every greeting.
New paragraph to end the lunacy of the statements above and carry on. The sales of games have increased and are still fine even though there is a recession. But the problem occurs when companies have to decide which games they can afford to fund. How can a company decide on what game will be profitable? Where will the initial development costs for the ideas come from? It’s scary to think that on one hand, everything seems fine yet the mechanics of the industry have just had a spanner thrown in to the works. Games that are on shelf and ones that are very close to release will be fine in this mess, but what about games that are due to come out in a year or two. What will they be like, will good ideas be canned due to the lack of money and resources.
Jobs…don’t get me started. If you are a third year or someone looking to enter the industry at this moment, I feel for you. Think, if Midway just ‘axed‘ 180 developers from its US studios and rumors are spreading that Free Radical are going bust, how many professionals in the industry are also now having to look for a job. Competing against people who are already recognized for their work in the industry is like deciding to compete against Tony the Tiger over who becomes a better cereal mascot. To include people already in the industry, if Midway had to fire 180 developers to ensure that the company could still keep going, how do employees feel about their job security. It doesn’t matter how good you are at the moment since companies will be looking at trying to make it through these tough times instead. It is tough when something like this happens, but from the other perspectives. Other countries are able to purchase even more stock than before due to the drop in the value of the Pound Sterling. They look at this as a gold mine; figures show that Japanese customers can get GBP 74,361 from JPY 10 million whereas it used to be GBP 47,619 for the same JPY value. America has similar increases as well, so what’s to say will happen to the overall gaming industry. Will it actually pay off to become an employee at an Oversees games company? What is the competition like? Troubled times but ones that will become better, there will be a point at which everything hits a low and the only way out is up. Sorry to put the fear of realism into your souls but these things have to be considered with great thought. I will now leave and hope that you spend a few minutes analyzing the situation since it is late and I need to escape into a alter universe.
Here are some links on the affects of what is going on today;
http://www.developmag.com/news/30982/Axe-falls-on-Midway-development-teams
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/falling-price-of-sterling-makes-uk-better-value-says-tiga
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23472166/#storyContinued
'Hawaiian Shirt Day'
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