Art of Gaming 101

Comic Break (New DC comics week 3) part 2

2011-09-26T01:09:00.003+09:00

DC Universe Presents

How I felt before picking it up: I don't really care about Deadman, and the writer on this book (Paul Jenkins) does not always impress me. However, I really like the idea of a book with a rotating cast of leads that focuses on heroes that can not sustain their own titles.

How it read: This book was exactly mediocre. I really didn't hate or love it. It was a decent enough introduction of Deadman, but did not do enough with him to really attract me.

Will I continue to read it: I won't be reading this book while Deadman and this creative team is one it. But I will try it again once that changes.

Green Lantern Corps

How I felt before picking it up: This has always been a book I enjoy. Add in Peter J. Tomasi writing, who has already proven he can write fun Green Lantern Stories, and you have a sure bet.

How it read: This was a fun Green Lantern adventure with some new mystery added to it (seems someone is killing entipre planet polulations). The Green Lanterns Guy Gardner and John Stewart are really fleshed out in the book, and it makes a great introduction to new readers.

Will I continue to read it: I have been reading this book for years. No reason for me to stop anytime soon.

Legion Of Super Heroes

How I felt before picking it up: I really don't care about the Legion. I was already bored to tears reading Legion Lost, and I had zero expectations for this book to impress me.

How it read: I really can't talk about this book. I just don't get it in the slightest. I have no connection with these characters and the world they live in is of no interest to me.

Will I continue to read it: I could barely finish reading this issue. The idea of reading issue 2 is out of the question.

Nightwing

How I felt before picking it up: I love Nightwing, and Kyle Higgins has been proving he is a real up and coming writer (Deathstroke was a nice surprise already). I was a little concerned since Dick Grayson (Nightwing) has been spending the last couple years as Batman and it seems like regressive storytelling for him to become Nightwing again.

How it read: I really liked this book. In the first 5 pages Kyle Higgins sold the idea that Dick Grayson should be Nightwing again. Also this story line seems to be tying into what is happening in Scott Snyders "Batman" (either that or they both have very similar story lines happening). I like that Dick Grayson's old family circus is back in Gotham and it allowed for some great character moments.

Will I continue to read it: I am happy that Nightwing is a great book and I will be reading this for the long haul.

Red Hood and the Outlaws

How I felt before picking it up: I had no expectations for this book a month ago (I really don't care about any of the title characters). But Scott Lobdell wrote a really cool Superboy last week so I now had a reason to think that this book was going to be fun.

How it read: This book is pretty good with one fatal flaw. Redhood and Arsenal are written well and their dynamic of a couple of Anti-heroes works. But Starfire has been turned into a walking talking sex toy. She seems to have no reason to be on the team other than to sleep with the two male leads. He costume and attitude would only work well if this was a pornography. It is sad that one character makes the rest of the book fall flat. It bothers me even more that Superboy has a strong female character in it written by the same writer, so I know he can do better.

Will I continue to read it: I don't care to continue to read this.

Supergirl

How I felt before picking it up: I have read Supergirl before, but this book has been billed as a complete reboot of the character. She is a character that in the right hands can been really fun and engaging. Michael Green and Mike Johnson are a writing team I have never encountered before so I had no expectations of them good or bad.

How it read: This was a nice surprise. It was a great comic for new readers and was really fun too. It was the quickest read of all the titles so far and mostly focused on action and setting up the premise.

Will I continue to read it: I will contiue to read this book, and I hope it gets really good in the future.

Wonder Woman

How I felt before picking it up: I have never read a Wonder Woman comic that I have liked. She is a character that I understand her importance, yet I really don't care about her solo book. However, they have thrown two creators on this book that I really like. Brian Azzarello uis a writer known more for his crime and dark and gritty stories. Cliff Chiang is one of the few artists that can drawn respectable woman making them more than sexual objects.

How it read: This was a really great book. It leans heavily on the Greek myth background that Wonder Woman comes from and that is exactly what interests me. Azzarello has turned this into a horror/mystery book and that might be just the change Wonder Woman needs. The art in this book is also beautiful.

Will I continue to read it: It is strange but I feel like I will be reading Wonder Woman for a long time.

Will Continue reading for a long time

Justice League

Action Comics

Animal Man

O.M.A.C.

Stormwatch

Swamp Thing

Demon Knights

Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

Green Lantern

Resurrection Man

Superboy

Batman

Green Lantern Corps

Nightwing

Wonder Woman

Will read but might be dropped

Batgirl

Batwing

Detective Comics (Loved the first issue but can't trust Tony Daniel yet)

Static Shock

Justice League Unlimited

Batman and Robin

Batwoman

Deathstroke

Mister Terrific

Red Lanterns

Blue Beetle

Captain Atom (This would up a column is I could trust JT Krul)

Supergirl

Done reading them

Men of War (might be upgraded if there is room)

Green Arrow

Hawk and Dove

Grifter

Legion Lost

Suicide Squad

Birds of Prey

Catwoman

DC Universe Presents (until the change)

Legion of Superheroes

Redhood and the Outlaws

Comic Break (New DC comics week 3) part 1

2011-09-24T04:08:00.003+09:00

Batman

How I felt before picking it up: Scott Snyder had been writing Detective Comics before this and created one of the best Batman stories in recent memory (it was at the same level as Grant Morrison's work). He also did an amazing job on Swamp Thing earlier this month, so I have every reason to be excited for this book. Add in the fact that Greg Capullo is doing the art and I had really high hopes before turning to page 1.

How it read: This is the best book of the new 52 titles DC is putting out. It both ties into the work Snyder has worked on before and at the same being completely new reader friendly. The book starts off with a great action sequence beautifully drawn by Greg Capullo, that really grabs the readers attention. Once the main story is introduced it is filled with a lot of intrigue and really smart dialogue. Making this book just go over the top was the cliffhanger ending which made me want issue 2 immediately.

Will I continue to read it: I will be reading this book as long as Scott Snyder is working on it for sure. I have complete faith in this team. Batman is my favourite character and it is just so much fun to see him in a book this good.

Birds of Prey

How I felt before picking it up: I never really got into Birds of Prey. It has characters I recognized and like in other books, but when they lead their own title it falls flat for me. I understand the intrigue of a strong all female lead book and I wish it was something I could like. Duane Swiercynski has always been a writer that I find serviceable and overall mediocre.

How it read: This was a middle of the road book for me. One one hand it was the best example of women being written smart and strong (unlike other book I will get to this week), but it still felt kinda of dull to me. I really can't say more, this book was neither bad nor really good.

Will I continue to read it: Most likely not. It just was not for me.

Blue Beetle

How I felt before picking it up: I like the Blue Beetle character a bunch. He is ethnically diverse and a teenager. In a lot of ways he is the Puerto Rican Spider-Man. Tony Bedard has been working on Green Lantern books in the past that I have really liked and therefore am willing to give things he writes a try. He has never blown me away as a writer, but I have also not felt let down to often.

How it read: This book was very different than I was expecting. It completely reintroduces Blue Beetle and resets everything that came before (which makes sense since his old origin may have been too convoluted for new readers). It was nice to see a book with a strong family dynamic and a really likable lead. The only issue I have with this book was that it was a bit too much of introduction and not enough real plot unfolding yet.

Will I continue to read it: I am looking forward to seeing how this book turns out. I am not really excited and can wait a month for the next issue but I am optimistic that this book can get even better.

Captain Atom

How I felt before picking it up: This is a JT Krul Book about a character who I really couldn't care less about. The art by Freddie Williams II is not enough to get me excited (and he is a damn great artist).

How it read: This is the biggest surprise so far. I was ready to hate this book, but instead it was really fun with a great premise. Captain Atom is revamped as a new hero, the twist is that now every time he uses his powers he slowly dies. It is a simple premise and it was carried out wonderfully. The art on this book does a really great job and making it feel so much fun. I wonder why JT Krul doesn't write like this more often.

Will I continue to read it: Yes, but I am still very cautious since JT Krul might forget how to write a good story.

Catwoman

How I felt before picking it up: I like Catwoman, she has always been one of the stronger members of Batman's supporting cast. Judd Winick has already written one fun book so far (Batwing) so I had every reason to be looking forward to this title.

How it read: This book is a train wreck. It actually is pretty good for the first half of the book setting up Catwoman in an interesting situation, losing her home and everything she owns. Then the book turns into a softcore porn magazine having Batman and Catwoman just going at it. Silly jokes like Catwoman mentioning that Batman is a little too quick, and really sexual artwork make this book seem juvenile. If I was 12 years old I would have thought this book was so edgy now I find it really dumb.

Will I continue to read it: I think we can leave the Batman/Catwoman porn to the fan fiction world and internet forums. I don't need to read this.

Comic Break (New DC comics week 2)

2011-09-18T17:37:00.003+09:00

Batman and Robin

How I felt before picking it up: Batman and Robin first launched as a book for Grant Morrison to have his own Batman title to play with. Since he left the title it became a book pushed to the background with no real reason to be around. I was actually hoping it was not going to be relaunched, and instead having a Robin solo comic book. I like the team working on this book, Peter J Tomasi (writer) and Patrick Gleason (artist), I just had not interest in this book.

How it read: This book was better than I was expecting. I liked the Batman and Robin dynamic (which better be well done or the title of the book has no meaning). A new villain is introduced, The NoBody, and he seemed like a interesting new addition to the Batman universe. All around it was a solid comic that was nicely crafted.

Will I continue to read it: I feel like this first story line is interesting enough for me to follow through reading it to its conclusion. I hope the book can create a place for itself again.

Batwoman

How I felt before picking it up: Batwoman had a really good run in Detective comics by writer Greg Rucka and artist J.H. Williams III, that everyone enjoyed. Now J.H.Williams is taking over the writing duties as well (with some help from W. Haden Blackman who I have no idea about). I was looking forward to the art knowing that J.H. Williams is by far one of the best artists in the business making every page worthy of something that could be in a museum. However, he has been paired with equally strong writers in the past and I was afraid his writing abilities might not be as great as his art.

How it read: This was a good issue that did a great job of reintroducing the character. The art was amazing and probably the best drawn comic I have seen in a while. It did suffer a little from the lose of Greg Rucka writing the book, as it no longer had the depth in the story. It is hard to tell but I wonder if the art really was the only thing that made me like thins book.

Will I continue to read it: The first story line is set to be 5 issues long so I think I can stay on that long and see if J.H. Williams matures as a writer. His art alone is worth looking forward to at least.

Deathstroke

How I felt before picking it up: I have very little knowledge of the title character only knowing that he is traditionally a villain and has a history fighting the Teen Titans (a series I never got into fully). I was expecting this to be a somewhat ani-hero title that was going to be high on violence. I probably would not have been looking forward to this book in the slightest until I learned that Kyle Higgins was a very good writer (he recently co-wrote Batman: Gates of Gotham, which was a fantastic book).

How it read: This is a book that seemed to be very predictable and kind of boring for the first 80% of the book. I was ready to no longer care about the title and forget about this book. Then the ending of the book changed not only my outlook on the series but made the first part interesting. It started as a by-the-numbers book that copied 100% of espionage movies/TV shows/books out there introducing the main character (Deathstroke) and a colourful cast of background characters who each have a specialty working in the background without getting their hands dirty. However, Deathstroke kills his own team at the end of the book stating that his real mission was to remove the competition, signalling that this book is not going to follow the expected.

Will I continue to read it: I was ready to hate this book but it made me love it. I will continue to follow what is happening.

Demon Knights

How I felt before picking it up: I have already talked about how I read anything that Paul Cornell writes and this book was going to be no exception. However, I am not usually a fan of things set in Camelot (sure this book takes place after the fall of Camelot but the setting is similar enough). I was worried that even though I like the writer the setting would turn me off of the book.

How it read: This was the best book this week. It was really fun to read and the Demon Knights are a really well rounded group of characters. Paul Cornell introduced this concept in a single issue and I needed no prior knowledge of any of the characters. The art by Diogenes Neves was fantastic and everything just came to life on the page.

Will I continue to read it: I don't see myself stopping this book anytime soon. I am very surprised of how much I love this book.

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

How I felt before picking it up: Jeff Lemire proves time and time again his is one of the best writers working today, and I had total faith in this book. Also I am a sucker for things featuring classic movie monsters. Frankenstein was given a new and definitive version in the DC universe by writer Grant Morrison, and since then he has barely been used. I was really looking forward to be able to read more about him.

How it read: After Demon Knights this book is a close second place for best thing I read this week. How could I not love a book that teams up Frankenstein, a vampire, a werewolf, a mummy, and some black-lagoon type creature that go on missions to figure out paranormal activities. Not only does this book have a really interesting high concept, but it is also pretty funny. I have never read a comic that is like this and it is nice to see some new ideas coming forward.

Will I continue to read it: I can't wait to read more of this. I am really excited to see more. This book seems like it will just be endless fun that will always put a smile on my face.

Green Lantern

How I felt before picking it up: Geoff Johns has been writing Green Lantern for a long time now. The series before this had 67 issues and I have read every single one of them. He made Green lantern a great comic book. Doug Mahnke is a great artist who I have always liked. This book was a known quantity to me since I have already been reading Green Lantern books by this exact same team.

How it read: If you read this as issue one and had no background with the previous series, this book fails. Even though it says Green Lantern #1 on the cover, it might as well say #68. But I have read everything before hand and loved all of it. This was a great continuation of the series. Now that Sinetro is the main Green Lantern in this book and Hal Jordan is a nobody (he might even become homeless) it does put an interesting twist on things.

Will I continue to read it: I have been reading this book for 67 issues I have no reason to stop now. This team has been dependable on this title.

Grifter

How I felt before picking it up: I know nothing about Grifter other than he looks kinda cool. I also know nothing about the creative team behind this book. All I was expecting was for Grifter to shoot guns at blue monsters while falling down a skyscraper.

How it read: I would have never guessed this book's story if I tried. This book was very confusing and I had to read it twice to completely get what happened in it. Grifter was basically a schizophrenic version of Sawyer from LOST who is trying to fight these invisible monsters. He does not dawn the mask until the last panel of the last page. I really don't know where this book is going. The upside is this ground zero approach made this book fine for those who have no idea who Grifter is, since the character is still finding himself.

Will I continue to read it: I don't think I liked this book. It was confusing and I am not sure I care about the character enough. I might read issue 2 to see if it turns around, but that is a big maybe.

Legion Lost

How I felt before picking it up: I don't care about the Legion of Superheroes. I have tried many times to read books featuring the teams, but every time I just don't care. The writer, Fabian Nicieza, I am familiar with and have like things he has done in the past. So I was willing to go into this book open minded.

How it read: This was the worst book of the week. Normally I read a Legion of Superheroes book and realize that even though I don't like it I can understand how someone would. This book was just confusing (even more so than Grifter) and badly written. This book just had no real direction and I could not tell you what was happening in it other than the Legion is lost (and that is from the title).

Will I continue to read it: I will not subject myself to this series ever again.

Mister Terrific

How I felt before picking it up: I have been a fan of Mister Terrific and have always thought he could support his own book. The team working on this book is one that I have no opinions on since I have not read a single thing by either of them (Eric Wallace writing and Gianluca Gugliotta artist). I was only semi looking forward to this book.

How it read: This book was in the middle of the road. It was OK and has lots of room for improvement. While it did not blow me away, it also was not bad at any part. The concept of Mister Terrific being a super genius who is also a millionaire, while at the same time NOT being Batman was pretty interesting.

Will I continue to read it: I will read issue two, but if it doesn't improve it really is not worth my time.

Red Lanterns

How I felt before picking it up: I read anything that is in the Green Lantern universe so I was already on board. However, I do not feel like the Red Lanterns are strong enough to support their own book. They are interesting background characters in Green Lantern and I feel like that is their place. The creative team is a really mixed bag. Peter Milligan is a great writer but Ed Benes is an artists I cannot stand. He draws women like they are about to star in porn, which can be very off putting when trying to tell a story.

How it read: This book made me care about Atrocious a little more (the leader of the Red Lanterns and the main character on the cover). I still do not understand how this can become a full series and it read like it could just be a mini-series. I was actually really happy with Ed Benes's art until he starting drawing women in the Red Lanterns. It was just full of females standing around posing unlike they would pose naturally. This book was the mixed bag I was expecting.

Will I continue to read it: I will most likely continue to read this for a while for 2 reasons. 1) Peter Milligan is great and I trust he is going somewhere with this. 2) Green Lantern titles tend to tie together and are stronger when they do, when that happens it could pick this book up.

Resurrection Man

How I felt before picking it up: I loved Resurrection Man and his original series in the 90s got cancelled before its time. He is such a simple concept that has endless potential, a superhero that every time he dies comes back to life with a new power. I also love stories that feature immortals and how they have imprinted themselves on the world through time. Add in the fact that Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, the original creators and fantastic writers, are back on the book and I was really looking forward to this.

How it read: This was another great book this week. Resurrection Man is back and this time both Heaven and Hell are after his soul. This is a concept that has real potential to be a great plot. Also Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have a tradmark ability to not only write deep storylines, but also make them fun and funny. This is another book that just bring a smile to my face when I am reading it.

Will I continue to read it: I have no reason to believe this book will do nothing but get better. I just hope that it doesn't get cancelled again.

Sucide Squad

How I felt before picking it up: The cover of this book looked more like a cover to weird fetish pornography than a comic book. I just hate the new design of Harley Quinn (front and center on the cover wearing something impossible for anyone to fight in). The art and writing team was an unknown quantity to me and therefore could not help me trust that this was going to be a good book.

How it read: The premise of this book is interesting enough, a group of super villains on death row are given their freedom to go on suicide missions for the government. This book does a fairly good job of setting up and selling that premise. I really feel like Adam Glass did a decent job of writing it, but the overall book was butchered by some key flaws. Harley Quinn just looks horrible in that outfit and every panel with her in it makes me feel like they don't get the character. More importantly they changed Amanda Waller, who previously was a short stocky black woman and had the nickname "The Wall." She was an original idea for a comic book female, in the fact that she was a more realistic and strong female character. Now she has been redesigned as a sexy young black diva. A change like that goes beyond aesthetic and drastically changes her appeal.

Will I continue to read it: I don't think I can continue to care about this book and watch the artist completely forget that women are people and not just boobs. I feel bad for Adam Glass since I think his story is getting lost here.

Superboy

How I felt before picking it up: Again this is a team of creators I have no clue about. But I am very familiar with Superboy. It has been no secret that Superboy comics have actually been better than Superman comics for the last while. Superboy has been built up by writers like Geoff Johns, and Jeff Lemire into a character with real depth and personality and not just a a renewal of a copyright. From the cover it seems that they are reinventing Superboy which I was very scared worried about. He has gone through so much growth over the last bit that it would be a shame to not build on it.

How it read: This was the surprise of the week. I was not expecting to love this book. It was worth reinventing Superboy and redoing his origin. He was always created in a lab to be a clone of Superman, but that was the least interesting thing about him to me. Scott Lobdell has written a story that made his origin really interesting. He is taking Superboy and making him his own, which I applaud him for doing. There is now some mystery and intrigue in this book.

Will I continue to read it: I really want to see where this book is going. Count me in for a least a little while if not longer.

Will Continue reading for a long time

Justice League

Action Comics

Animal Man

O.M.A.C.

Stormwatch

Swamp Thing

Demon Knights

Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

Green Lantern

Resurrection Man

Superboy

Will read but might be dropped

Batgirl

Batwing

Detective Comics (Loved the first issue but can't trust Tony Daniel yet)

Static Shock

Justice League Unlimited

Batman and Robin

Batwoman

Deathstroke

Mister Terrific

Red Lanterns

Done reading them

Men of War (might be upgraded if there is room)

Green Arrow

Hawk and Dove

Grifter

Legion Lost

Suicide Squad

Comic Break (New DC comics week 1 continued)

2011-09-11T23:51:00.002+09:00

Hawk and Dove

How I felt before picking it up: Sterling Gates has been know to write some good comics. He was solely responsible from turning Supergirl into something worth reading. But his artist on this title is just someone I cannot stand. Rob Liefeld can only draw people one way, gritting their teeth with a bunch of lines all over their face. Everything he draws just looks ugly to me and he is one of the few artists that can distract me from the writers work.

How it read: This was by far the worst thing I read this week (and maybe in a long time). About 3/4 through the book the art was so off putting that I just skimmed the last quarter. The whole book was nothing but people looking angry at each other and have very stilted conversations. The action in this book looked stiff and ugly.

Will I continue to read it: No. I cannot bring myself to care about or read this book again.

Justice League International

How I felt before picking it up: I only have a passing familiarity with the team that is writing and drawing this book (Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti). Both are people I have found decent in the past but I never seek them out, only end up reading their books when either of them are working on a character I like. I have not read any Justice League International before so I am going into this book completely blind.

How it read: Well this book was OK. I found the first half of the book fairly interesting and I really liked the set up. I think Batman was really well done in this comic, and Rocket Red seems like he is going to be the comic relief of the team. The international aspect of the team is something that can be a lot of fun if the writer wants it to be. I did not put this book down blown away, but I was overall satisfied with what I read.

Will I continue to read it: I will read issue 2, but I can see this as a book that I will drop in the future if it doesn't improve.

Men of War

How I felt before picking it up: I don't like war comics, movies, video games, or TV shows. Personally I just can't enjoy something set in a realistic war setting. I have never and will never play any Call of Duty games since they seem very out of touch with what I find "fun." I went into this book expecting to not care about it, but hopefully finding it well written enough that it would satisfy those people who enjoy war stories.

How it read: I liked it a little more than I expected. This is for the sole reason that they seem to be introducing super heroes into a war setting. Removing it from reality a bit and making it a bit more "fantasy" makes this easier to read for me. The first half of this book just was not for me but the confrontation with the super powered villain/hero was entertaining. This book also had a back up story that was about the navy seals, and I really could not care less about that story.

Will I continue to read it: Maybe. It is really hard to say. I am somewhat interested in what happens with the super power element in the plot, but it might not be enough for me to really need to read it.

O.M.A.C.

How I felt before picking it up: A lot of people really do not like the writer, Dan Didio, since they disagreed with a lot of decisions he made as editor in chief of DC. I have always thought he ran the company well. As a writer I only read his Metal Man stories in Wednesday Comics, and those were really good. Kieth Giffen is one of the best artists working right now and I have no reservations about checking out what he is working on. Tie this in together with it being about O.M.A.C., a Jack Kirby creation, and I am pretty excited for this book.

How it read: If this book was written in 1977 and written and drawn by Jack Kirby himself I would not be surprised. That is one of the biggest complements I can give to a title, especially one that is trying to do exactly that. I thought this book was a lot of fun. Also there was a some New God elements in the story that is always a real hook for me.

Will I continue to read it: I am really looking forward to where this book is going. I think it will be one of the most fun books on the stands. Sadly, I see it being cancelled by issue 10 from a lack of people willing to try something new.

Static Shock

How I felt before picking it up: I knew nothing of the team working on this book, and nothing about the character. I had no idea what to think about this book.

c It was enjoyable. It really reminded me of Spider-Man and I think that is what the team was trying to achieve. However, I still am not hooked on needing to know about this character. It was well written but I didn't have enough emotional investment in it.

Will I continue to read it: I will pick up issue 2. Only because I think the team deserves another chance, I would like to see if I can care about this character. However, this book could be dropped fairly easily.

Stormwatch

How I felt before picking it up: I love Paul Cornell, if he is writing something I will read it. I love Stormwatch, that team has always been really fun. This is one of the books I was really looking foward to.

How it read: This was a solid comic book. It set up the current team very well, introducing them to new reader while at the same time not feeling very forced. The character Apollo seems to be in a different place in this new universe and I am liking where they are taking him. The introduction of Midnighter (one of my favourite characters) at the end of the book was just icing on the cake. Add in the fact that the moon is coming to life and wants to attack earth and that might be a storyline that is crazy enough to be awesome.

Will I continue to read it: There is no doubt that I will be reading this book for a long time.

Swamp Thing

How I felt before picking it up: The Swamp Thing run by Alan Moore was revolutionary. It made Swamp Thing a character with real depth. Scott Snyder (one of the best writers in the industry right now) has everything going for him to make me believe that he can match what Alan Moore had done before. Add in art from Yanick Paquette and you have a book that has a perfect combination of great writing, art, and character.

How it read: This book was good and it served as a really good introduction. It was slightly hindered by the fact that Swamp Thing just came out of a series "Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search" that really convoluted his story line and was not very good. Thankfully Snyder seems to be pulling him out from the muck (pun intended) and this read as a solid chapter 1 to an great plot. Alos the art was beautiful.

Will I continue to read it: There is no way I am going to drop this book anytime soon. I have complete trust in the team.

So that is all for this week. Next week I will review the next 13 titles and hopefully they continue to impress me overall. For now this is how the books stack up.

Will Continue reading for a long time

Justice League

Action Comics

Animal Man

O.M.A.C.

Stormwatch

Swamp Thing

Will read but might be dropped

Batgirl

Batwing

Detective Comics (Loved the first issue but can't trust Tony Daniel yet)

Static Shock

Justice League Unlimited

Done reading them

Men of War (might be upgraded if there is room)

Green Arrow

Hawk and Dove

Comic Break

2011-09-10T01:39:00.002+09:00

I have been having a bit of writers block lately. So rather than having a dying blog I have decided to take a break to talk about something other than video games. As you know my other hobby is reading comic books (sorry for the dead images I am working on that too) so I thought I would take some time to review what I am reading.

I read comics from every publisher but it seems that DC is what I end up reading the most every week. This week in particular since DC has relaunched its entire line with new #1 issues and brand new story lines. I am going to break down how the new DC line up looks to me.

Justice League

How I felt before picking it up: I like Geoff Johns a lot, and Jim Lee is not a bad artist at all (I am not the biggest fan of his but lots of people love him). Also a book with this much history and big name super heroes is always worth a look.

How it read: Out of all the new comics DC has put out since the relaunch, this one feels the most decompressed (I think it will take at least 4 issues to see the Justice League even together). In fact the cover is very misleading as only Batman and Green Lantern are the focus of the book. Cyborg is hinted at (before he is even a Cyborg) and Superman shows up at the very end. Really I think this book will read better as a collection than in single issues. I can't really pass judgment on it yet.

Will I continue to read it: Yes for two reasons, the fact that Geoff Johns has had a proven track record of pulling off long plots that pay off, and the promise of Darkseid eventually showing up (I am a sucker for anything to do with the New Gods).

Action Comics

How I felt before picking it up: It is Grant Morrison writing so I wanted to love this book when I heard about it. Grant Morrison is by far my favourite writer currently working in comics and I have not read a single bad thing by him. Also the artist Rags Morales has always been very dependable on turning out some great Superhero work.

How it read: Well it this blew my expectations out of the water. Superman has returned to his roots of being a social justice crime fighter and it was a lot of fun. He is much younger, more brash, and less boy scout. We also get to see Lex Luthor who proves that this Superman may not be "Stronger than a locomotive." Grant Morrison created a script that at the same time feels completely new and different, while at the same time keeping the essence of what make Superman so fun.

Will I continue to read it: I don't see stopping reading this book anytime soon.

Animal Man

How I felt before picking it up: I pick up anything Jeff Lemire writes. He is a real up and coming writer that I think has the talent to be in the same league as Grant Morrison. The Animal Man series the Grant wrote in the late 80s is one of my favourite books every written, so any follow up has a lot to live up to.

How it read: Animal Man is by far the best book DC is putting out right now. Not only did Jeff Lemire successfully live up to the expectations of the book, but he did so and still made the story his own. The art by Travel Foreman is really stylistic and helps add to the books horror atmosphere. The last page really made me want issue 2, more so than any other book.

Will I continue to read it: The last page really made me want issue 2, more so than any other book.

Batgirl

How I felt before picking it up: Gail Simone is a pretty popular writer but nothing she has done has really stuck with me. I always try books she writes hoping that it will be the one that makes me a fan, and I always am left disappointed. I don't think this is a fault of the writer and more of my tastes not matching up. For the record I am not someone who got angry with the idea as Barbara Gordon as Batgirl again.

How it read: This read a little better than I though it would. It had some fun moments, and the new super villain seems like he might be pretty cool. I like what Gail did with the "Killing Joke" and am interested to see how that story line ties in. But many parts of the book just seem mediocre to me and I wasn't left with any excitement.

Will I continue to read it: This was fun enough to look at issue 2 but I am not sure how long I can be interested in this book.

Batwing

How I felt before picking it up: I love Batman but I always have a real problem following any other "Bat" title books, other than the main ones. I had no expectations for Batwing. Judd Winick can either write a pretty fun book or a really awful one and I had no idead which one I would get.

How it read: I got the fun book. Batwing is basically Batman in Africa, throwing in all the social issues that go along with that. Judd seems to be able to write a superhero book that can at the same time be everything we expect from the genre and also closely tied to our real world. The only think I didn't like about the book was the art. Ben Oliver's art looks a little too much like it should be airbrushed on the side of a van.

Will I continue to read it: I am really interested to see how this book goes. A very happy surprise.

Detective Comics

How I felt before picking it up: Tony Daniel is both writing and drawing this book (something he has done on the Batman books many times). His drawing is almost always good, but his writing has always been pretty bad. I stopped picking up any Batman book that he was writing. Tony Daniel just can't tell a good story.

How it read: Where was this version of Tony Daniel before? Why hasn't he written like this other times? I have read hundreds of Batman vs Joker stories and very few writers can pull it off anymore to make them stand out. Somehow Tony Daniel did it, he took that tired plot and made me excited to see what is next. This comic had the best final page of anything I have read in a while.

Will I continue to read it: I will continue to read this, and I really hope Tony Daniel doesn't change into an awful writer again. If he keeps this up I have no reason not to read.

Green Arrow

How I felt before picking it up: J.T. Krul is just a bad writer. I don't know how he gets work. Anything I have read from him seems like it would have been popular in the 90s, when foil covers, and silly eXtreme story lines were all the rage. I picked up this book thinking I would give him another chance, especially since Tony Daniel on Detective proved me wrong.

How it read: I don't know what to think of this book. It has only been a day since I read it and hardly anything has stuck with me. I didn't like how Green Arrow is now basically Steve jobs getting the whole world to buy qPads and qPhones. It came off very silly, too silly for a book that features a grown man playing Robin Hood with funny arrows.

Will I continue to read it: I really want to love a Green Arrow book I really do. But this is not the one. Thankfully Superman and Batwing can fill the "social justice" comic book need. I can't continue to read this book.

That is half of them check back soon to find out how I felt about the other half.

Mario + Portal!

2011-08-31T08:48:00.004+09:00

Someone is going to put two of my favourite games together and create something that I cannot wait to play. This worked out great for Super Mario Crossover (in which you could play Super Mario Bros using other classic NES characters).

This just speaks to how timeless and amazing Super Mario Bros for the NES is and how easily adaptable and universal its appeal is.

2011-08-24T23:12:00.002+09:00

Favourite ability from a video game: Scorpion's Spear

I am not much of a fighting game fan, but Mortal Kombat seems to be one of the few game series I always get (even the mediocre games that came out after MK3). Part of that comes from Mortal Kombat being the first "Mature" game I wanted to play. I can remember seeing the first commercial for Mortal Kombat on TV and needing to track it down. I had played Street Fighter 2 quite a bit before it, but the special moves in MK where just so much more interesting to me. I still think that there are few, if any, moves that are as effective and as brutal as Scorpions spear.

Video Games are Art: A simple answer to a long debated question.

2011-07-31T00:37:00.002+09:00

Even within the gaming community the question of whether video games can be considered art has been a debate. I think it stems from the fact that video games largely started as a competitive "game" rather than as a medium to convey a message to the player. I would say part of the issue with people viewing video games as art is the fact it doesn't fit our traditional sense in what we assume art is. You will find no such debate in other mediums, basically the entire world agrees that music, visual art (paintings, sculptures, cartooning, etc.), film, architecture, drama, and literature all have concrete examples of "art." However video games which borrows heavily from most of these art forms gets tossed aside by many people. To sum up exactly how I feel on the subject we just need to look at the Oxford Dictionary definition of art.

1. [mass noun] the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power:

In the first definition of the word video games easily can be classified as art. Many "artists" do work together to create video games, and the best of which are appreciated for their beauty and emotional power. I know many people may say a video game has never made them cry (I would be one of them) but I bet many games have evoked feelings of fear, excitement, or any overall care for the main protagonist and outcome of the story in almost any gamer. It is a medium that gets its message across beyond using language, and for that it fits the most basic definition of art.

The debate should not be whether video games are art or not, it should be how can we progress this art form to be more accepted in society. There was a time when rock and roll would never have been considered art, and now the Beatles are hailed as the brilliant artists that changed music forever. Cartoons would have been seen as simple children's entertainment, but now I dare you to find someone who does not consider Walt Disney an artist. Video games will have its time in the main stream spotlight as a serious medium one day, we just have to hold it up to that light.

2011-07-30T07:55:00.003+09:00

Favourite Level: Mega Man 2 Wily World 1-1

Mega Man 2 is one of the best games ever made, it had a lot of charm, quick gameplay, and the best soundtrack on NES. Wily Stage 1 is the culmination of everything that makes the game great. It had the best music of any level, and was your first chance to play around with all the power-ups. If you want to read more about Mega Man check out my previous entry.

2011-07-22T01:24:00.005+09:00

My Favourite Villian

GLaDOS

The term "love to hate" should apply to any great villian and that describes GLaDOS. Every time GLaDOS speaks is a funny moment of pure dark humour. Just watch and enjoy, even if you have never played the game you will still find everything she says comedy gold.

2011-07-18T00:38:00.002+09:00

Awesome Video Game Music

Duck Tales : The Moon Level

Not only was Duck Tales an amazing game, but it featured some of the best music of any NES game. The Moon level was particularly fantastic, and many gamers have fond memories of it.

2011-07-15T03:03:00.002+09:00

My Least Favourite Character: Vaan

Final Fantasy 12 is one of the few games I bought and stopped playing halfway through because I was bored to tears. It did not help the main character was a wimpy little boy. Japanese games traditionally have very androgynous looking male leads, but they usually at least have the persona of someone heroic. If you look at the leads in the previous final fantasy games, you can see that Square is really running out of ideas on how to create a lead character.

How gamers are viewed.

2011-07-13T06:42:00.003+09:00

I know video games have come a really long way in public acceptance. In fact a recent California Supreme Court ruling found that video games fall under protected speech. However, that does not mean that a majority of people still understand what gaming is and what it means to the average player. This is no more evident than in something I saw in the Today Show the other day (which according the current figures puts their viewership around 5 million).

The idea to any man playing video games past the age of 30 seems ludicrous to these people. And again the idea that video games are only for children (the hosts say it is only OK to play games with your kids) shows that they have no real grasp of what a video game can be. Video games grew out of the "toy" market back in the 90s and is now a legitimate medium akin to film, TV, and literature. Sadly, it isn't just the Today Show that has no idea what gaming is, the media's lack of knowledge is evident in many ways.

In this NCIS clip, the writers show that not only do they have no idea what a computer is but basic knowledge of MMORPGs. In RPGs there is really no such thing as a "high score" and it shows that the people responsible for this scene still think of video games are like the Atari 2600 or the Arcade's in the early 90s.

The gamer stereotype is perpetuated again. The only person who is knows how to play is the man who "lives in his parents' basement and owns a Captain Kirk outfit." As if people who play video games are all introverts who will never know a woman's touch.

Hopefully things like this will change. The more people over 30 that are playing games, the more people will start understand, or at the very least accept it.

2011-07-08T07:32:00.001+09:00

My Favorite Character: Mario

Could it really be anyone else? Is there really another choice? Is there another character that adapts so well to many different gametypes? Is there another character that is so engrained in video game culture?

No. An Italian plumber that saves a princess from a dinosaur turtle is the greatest character EVER!

If you want to read more check out my older post about Mario.

2011-07-06T08:39:00.002+09:00

The Last Gamer I Completed

I have always been a fan of Mortal Kombat. I even stuck threw the mediocre games because I really liked the characters. But, I was starting to grow tired with the series and had no plans to buy the newest game. Then the reviews came in and everyone was praising it. I picked it up and it is easily my favourite fighting game I have played.

2011-07-05T06:55:00.003+09:00

The First Game I played: Super Mario Bros

This one is difficult since I do not remember ever not playing video games. I am pretty sure as soon as I could use my hands I had a controller. However, I am pretty sure Super Mario Bros was the first game I played, since anyone who had an NES had this game. I also have fond memories of playing Mega Man 2, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, and Duck Hunt. That was a great group of games to be introduced to!

2011-07-04T06:29:00.002+09:00

My least favorite Game

I have played a lot of bad games but there is one game that really gets me, Superman 64. The game actually looked cool in the screenshots that were shown, and it was based on one of the best cartoons, as well as the greatest comic book hero ever. What we got instead was a game full of glitches, in which Superman spent 90% of his time flying through hoops. It is unbelievable that no one can make a great action game based on Superman.

Video Game Challenge!

2011-07-03T15:02:00.003+09:00

It has been a long time but I am finally back. I have decided to take everything in a new direction rather than having very long posts, I am going to try and stick with nice short posts. Hopefully this will keep me active.

To Start I am doing a bit of a twist on the "30 Day Video Game Challenge" that you see on Facebook. I found there are a number of theses 30 day challenges and they all have different criteria. So I am going to take the best aspects out of all these challenges and create a series of posts.

My Favourite Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

I know this will seem to some a very "obvious" and "typical" choice., but I have great memories of this game. I remember playing this game and thinking that there was nothing else out there remotely like it. It was the first game I played that felt like a living breathing world. Sure many games had towns to visit and people to talk to, but this game had a day/night cycle and helped the player feel like time was actually passing. The dungeons were so perfectly created, giving the player just enough challenge to feel a sense of accomplishment once beating it. It was the perfect game of its era, and still holds to the test of time.

If you want to read more about this game check out my earlier post.

What Influences Video Games? - Comic Books

2009-07-24T06:07:00.001+09:00

My other main hobby, besides playing video games, is reading comic books. There was even a time when I was considering starting up a comic book blog, but changed my mind and created Art of Gaming 101 instead. Comic books and video games go together pretty nicely. If you follow comic conventions at all you will see that there is a chunck of coverage dedicated to video games (not all of which being comic book adaptations). Both comics and video games tend to capture the same audience making cross-overs from one to another inevitable. However, I will not be talking about comic book adaptations (like Spider-Man the game), but looking into how comic books influence game design decisions. Before gaming, comics were the rogue art-form not understood by many, and hated and feared by some. Since it is the older artform many things that comics made popular such as its take on story, art, and presentation have become standard in video games today. I will be focusing on Super Hero comics since they have loaned the most to gaming.

Costuming

Super hero comics and video game character design have a lot in common. The first: colour. Super hero comic books had to use their limited set of colours in order to make dynamic characters. This led to super heroes with very strange and multicoloured costumes. In many cases these would not translate to reality, but looked great as art on a page. The main reason these outlandish costumes worked on a page was because the colours drew the readers attention to the character and allowed action scenes to read more clearly.

Superman is the original and quintessential superhero. A lot of comic book design starts with him and builds on his characteristics. This can also be said for video game characters.

I talked before about Mario and Mega Man and how their costumes led to great game design. The overalls on Mario help break the character up into easy to read movements (since his arms are a different colour than his body). Even though Mario's colour scheme may only coincidently be the same as Super Man's, there is no denying the similiarities.

Mega Man models his design directly after super hereos wearing his underwear outside his pants. Looking at Superman, Mario, and Mega Man together you can see how the video game characters owe something to Superman.

But not all super heroes and video game characters are created in capes and tights. Both gaming and comic books have a grotesque side to them, with characters who look much more ugly and not so heroic (at least at first glance). This doesn't neccesarily mean that these characters are not visually appealing though since they attract readers and players with their odd looks. The Incredible Hulk is a perfect example of this. He is one of the first main stream comics that had a odd looking character as the lead (there were tons of horror comics with strange looking creatures before this but none were as influencial as the Hulk or as consistently occuring). The Hulk's character design is one of many comic book characters that has influenced gaming characters.

The Hulk has a fairly simple design - big and green. He was originally grey and more ugly in his first appearences but he didn't take off as a character until he was redesigned.

Beast from the X-Men is another classic grotesque character. The big difference for him though is that he is heroic. Even though he looks somewhat frightening on paper, once you get to know him he becomes a lot more easy to relate to. He originally looked like a man and transformed into his current look much later. It wasn't until he was covered in blue fur that he took off and became an icon.

Blanka is almost like the perfect mix of the Hulk and Beast. His green skin definitely is borrowed from the Hulk and his features (facial, hair, and posture) are much more like Beast's.

Gameplay

When Action Comics #1 (first apprearence of Superman) came out, it started a pop-culture phenomenon. It was the first appearence of a superhero with super powers (their were other "heroes" in pop-culture like The Phantom and Zorro, but Superman was the first with real powers). Shortly after Superman every comic book company came up with their own superheroes each of which had their own unique traits. Currently there are thousands of super heroes in the comic book world. This idea of a specific character who has a certain set of specific powers is the basis for many action/adventure video games. Sometimes the powers and gameplay in a video game are very close to a comic book character.

Spider-Man is one of the most popular characters in the world. One reason he is such a fun character is because of his powers. He moves fast, and swings around on webs. The web swinging has made its way into games without being directly Spider-Man games.

Bionic Commando was an arcade game and a hit NES game that took out the jump mechanic for a grappling hook to swing from platform to platform. It was better than playing Spider-Man games that were out at the time and still reminded players of the super hero. The newer game has the swinging mechanic even closer to what it is like to be Spider-Man.

It is hard not to keep coming back to Superman, but he does lend a lot to both video games and comics. One of the most notable aspects of the character is his flying ability. Seeing Superman fly through the sky has captured many imaginations. (Side note the comic in this picture is AMAZING. If you are a comic book fan pick up the Final Crisis hardcover).

In Super Mario World for the SNES, Mario took the Superman influence one step further. In this game Super Mario could gain a cape and fly through the sky. Without a doubt the game designers were thinking of Superman when designing this.

The 80s/90s

When video games were first gaining steam in the mid to late 80s and throughout the 90s, comic books were extremely popular. However, many people see the 90s era comics as shallow. They focused more on action along with tons of characters appearing with big muscles and badly formed antonomy. Regardless of its merit it did leave an imprint on the video game industry as game designers took what was popular in character design in comics and transplanted them into their games.

Cable is the hallmark 90s era superhero. He is big and muscular with a tiny head, many lines all over his face, part metallic, and carries a big gun. You will see a lot of these traits in many video game characters. There were many characters before Cable who influenced games but he is an amalgamation of many character design choices. I have pictured him here because he is the easiest to compare to.

Another highly influencial series is the GI Joe comics, which predates Cable by nearly 10 years. It was a toy line at first but it was the Marvel comic series that gave the franchise its personality. This military/sci-fi/adventure was used a lot in the 80s.

Jax from Mortal Kombat was updated in the third game and redesigned with metallic arms. He is also a military man and could have easily been a GI Joe.

Contra captures a lot of the comic book feel of the 80s that GI Joe built. The big guns, the military atmosphere, over the top villians were all made popular by GI Joe beforehand.

Duke Nukem was a complete embodiment of the 90s. He was extremely violent, muscular, carried big guns, and trash talked. Duke Nukem could have fit in any comic book in the 90s and fit in perfectly. There is no doubt that the attitude of the 90s pop culture took some cues from comics and was then carried over into vide games.

Even games of today are influenced by comics of the 80s and 90s (maybe because current game designers grew up reading these comics). Gears of War features big burly men with big guns and tiny heads. The all look like offshoots of Cable.

I mentioned Bionic Commando before with its gameplay link to Spider-Man. The newer game does have this gameplay but the lead character design looks a lot like it was influenced by Cable.

Complete video game/comic book crossovers

I am not talking about games based on comic book properties but games that are almost completely linked to comic books in presentation. These games try to bring comic book ideas to life rather than just borrowing a few aspects.

Comix Zone is a Sega Genisis game from 1995. The gamplay was completely linked to comics by having the game take place inside a comic book. The lead character went from panel to panel in order to progress through the game.

Crackdown is a game about cops who gain superpowers. It is a simple game that makes you feel like you are playing as a superhero. You can jump though the air and lift heavy objects, it really makes you feel powerful. The game is also cel-shaded thus has a cartoony look making it seem like a comic come to life.

Prototype just came out and plays a lot like Crackdown giving the lead character insane power. This game though, is a bit darker and your lead character is not that heroic and more of an anti-hero. The game has a comic book feel to it. One of the main reasons this game is so closely linked to comics in presentation is because the designers previously worked on "Hulk: Ultimate destruction" and created a prototype as a spiritual successor. The game also has a 90s era feel to it, since it is bloody and dark.

Infamous is another game that came out recently. You can either play as a super hero or super villian. The games cut scenes are also done in comic book style. The gameplay also borrows from Spider-Man, as you are climbing buildings a lot.

Next time you pick up a game take notice of how much comic books could have influenced it. You may be surprised to find how much of it was borrowed from the world of super hero comics.

Evolution of Mario - Super Nintendo into 3D

2009-07-21T06:49:00.000+09:00

Last time I went through what created the foundation of Mario games. Each one is a classic in its own right but that didn't stop Nintendo from improving the winning formula.

Super Mario World

A launch game for the SNES and still one of the best looking games for the system. Super Mario World took the basic ideas behind Super Mario Bros 3 and enhanced them. The over world was now much larger with many more pathways through them. It was a deep game with nearly 92 levels (much of them hidden) making it one of the most robust platformers ever released (a fact that stands to this day)

The biggest change to the Mario franchise that Super Mario World brought was the introduction of Yoshi. Yoshi essentially brought vehicle gameplay to the Mario world. Yoshi changed the gameplay by adding the ability to eat your enemies (some of them even gave Yoshi special abilities). Later Yoshi became popular enough to star in his own games and become a stand alone character (Yoshi was even the central character to Super Mario World 2).

Super Mario 64

While it is not the first 3D platformer it was by far the most polished and easy to play. Before Super Mario 64, 3D platformers were clunky and had many issues. Super Mario 64 came along and reinvented gaming the same way the original Super Mario Bros did. Super Mario 64 is the blueprint for every 3D platforming game.

Many things were introduced and influenced the gaming world industry wide. Super Mario 64 had an open hub level (the castle and its grounds) with many different levels joining it (through paintings. This idea of a hub world was not new to gaming but it was new to platform games (hub worlds were typically only used in RPGs or Adventure games). The hub also provided the player with a safe area to explore and practice their new skills. Since Mario 64 was such a new game, and many players had not experienced a 3D game like it, it was useful to have this area. One of the most exciting experiences in the whole game was just running around and exploring the castle (which was full of secrets). Nearly every single 3D platforming game now uses a hub world and joining levels, just like in Super Mario 64.

The way you progressed in Super Mario 64 was by collecting stars. You needed a certain amount of stars to get to the next area of the castle. Stars were hidden in each level and could be acquired by completing specific missions. The idea of collecting stars has been transplated into many games ("Banjo Kazooie" has his puzzle pieces, "Ratchet and Clank" have their bolts, "Sonic" has his emeralds, Prize bubbles in "Little Big Planet" and this list goes on and on). Many game designers did take this idea to the extreme giving players too many things to collect which became overbearing for the player. Super Mario 64 used stars as a means to allow the player to explore each level and test their skills. It was a great idea at the time and when used properly can really hook a player to the game. Collecting stars also influenced games past the idea of collect-a-thons, since they introduced the idea of a mission structure to each level. For example, the FPS shooter Goldeneye got the idea for their mission based levels from Super Mario 64; Martin Hollis (designer on Goldeneye) stated that, "the idea for the huge variety of missions within a level came from Super Mario 64"

Super Mario 64 also changed around the core gameplay. Mario could still bounce on enemies to stop them but also had the butt-stomp which sent Mario down fast and hard. His jumping was also improved as he could now triple jump, backflip, and bounce off walls. He could also grab a hold of trees and poles and climb them, as well as hang on edges. Many of these gameplay tecniques were new to games in general and many games have copied these same moves (the double/triple jump is in many platformers now). One thing Mario borrowed from other games was the introduction of a health bar.

One of the simplist additions is also one of the most important. Mario had a little camera man following him where ever he went, and the player could control that camera with the C buttons. The idea of mapping the camera to a seperate set of buttons was a great idea and gave the player the ability to move the camera around to the best position. This is something that has been copied in every single 3D game since (except those with fixed cameras).

Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario 64 was such a success that no 3D platforming game really topped it for a long time (some say nothing has yet). Even Nintendo shyed away from trying to improve on a perfect formula. It was not until the Gamecube came out that Nintendo gave it a shot (and it didn't come out until later in the Gamecube's lifespan). Super Mario Sunshine may be the biggest success and failure at the same time.

Nintendo has never been content with creating carbon copy Mario sequels (spin off games not with standing) and they have a drive to try and add something new to each game. Super Mario Sunshine kept a lot of the same gameplay from Super Mario 64 keeping the same skills and collecting "shines" (which were identical to collecting stars). However, Super Mario now had FLUDD a water based weapon, which he could use to perform attacks, fly through the air, and clean the environment. It complicated the controls but once the player got used to it, it was easy enough to use. Many players were turned off on this new aspect and wanted Mario to stay streamlined. Personally I had a lot of fun with FLUDD and found it added a new layer to the game. But, I also found Super Mario Sunshine to be the hardest Mario game I have ever played and part of that is thanks to the more complex gameplay. Sometimes it wasn't so much challenging as it was frustrating.

Nintendo has scrapped most of the things they brought up in Super Mario Sunshine, and even though it is one of the less influencial Mario games it is still a solid game. Being the least loved Mario game is kinda of like getting an A on a test when you are used to getting A+.

New Super Mario Bros

Before the next full 3D game (Super Mario Galaxy), Nintendo created a new 2D Mario game for the DS. This game took most of Mario's moves from Super Mario 64, but everything was pulled off on a 2D plane. This game was not as robust as Super Mario 3 or Super Mario World, and almost acted like a successor to the original Super Mario Bros. The gameplay was simple, and the levels were short. This game was an astounding success mostly because of how easy it was to play. The simplicity of the game also helped the fact that this game was on a portable system, and most player play the DS for short spurts of time (I play my DS on my bus ride to work so I appreciate being able to finish a level in a short period of time). Playing this game felt a lot like playing a updated NES game, which isn't really a bad thing.

Super Mario Galaxy

The last Mario game Nintendo released and easily the best one yet. It took the basic principals behind Super Mario 64 (collecting stars and having an open hub world with many hidden and unlockable areas) and kept the controls the same. Rather than updating the gameplay with something radical (like FLUDD) they decided to change that way the levels work. Most levels took place on a series of planets and Mario could travel all around them. Gravity would pull you from one planet to the next and at points Mario would be completely upside down. It was flipping the gameplay on its head literally. The gravity aspect of the game was a little confusing at first but after a little bit of time with the game it became easy to understand. Super Mario 64 took gameplay and level design to full 3D but Super Mario Galaxy took it all to the next level. It is currently one of the highest rated games of all time!

The Future

Now even though I have described the main Mario games there are many more Mario spin-offs, some of which are great games on their own right. Nintendo is always careful to give their full attention and time to Mario's core series, and right now they are working on 2 new games. Super Mario Galaxy 2 seems to be an extention of the first game, but adding new level ideas and power ups (it worked for Super Mario World). Super Mario Galaxy will also bring back Yoshi as a vehicle in the game (He has only been that role in Super Mario World, and Sunshine). They are also building New Super Mario Bros for the Wii, and it looks like a more complex and robust experience. In that game 4 players can place at once which should add a new layer of gameplay that Super Mario games have not seen yet. I am really excited about the future of the series and you can guarantee they will both be smash hits.

What influences video games - Animation

2009-07-17T06:14:00.000+09:00

Video Games started off with really basic looking characters and backgrounds. The idea of realistic graphics was impossible to pull off until recently. Therefore video game designers had to turn to more artistic representations of reality to get their ideas across. This lead to borrowing a lot of ideas from animation.

Animals

Disney and a lot of early animators and cartoonists perfected the art of anthropomorphic animals. In this school of art it is not important to keep the animal looking like its reality. The reason artists wanted to give animal characters more human features was to make them more relatable to the viewer. These humanizing features also helped with portraying emotion and character. The basic idea was to take an animal and make a few key changes to it; have it stand upright on two feet, elongate its arms and legs, give it fingers and thumbs, enlarge the eyes, and widen the mouth. The changes to the arms and legs allowed for the animation to move more fluidly and represent gestures. Giving the animal fingers and thumbs made it so the character could now interact with the world around it. The enlarged eyes and mouth gave the animation more personality and portray emotion. Everything in animation is usually exaggerated and this can only work when the characters features are also over the top.

Bugs Bunny is a perfect examples of pulling these techniques off. He still looks like a rabbit while having exaggerated human features.

Klonoa is suppose to be his own breed of animal but as you can see he has cat-like features mixed with human elements. The standard things are exaggerated and elongated (legs, arms, hands, feet) but his ears are also long. These ears not only create a unique animation but also add to the gameplay.

I can't write about animal characters without mentioning Sonic the Hedgehog. You can read more about him here.

Humans

The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 try and make human characters look as realistic as possible. However, before these consoles, realistic high definition graphics were not common (some games still tried to pull off realism but not to the extent they do now). Older games used highly stylistic art designs to create an appealing character without having to be realistic. When game designers are trying to create a characture of a person they also borrow a lot from Disney as well as Anime.

Many people do not realize but Anime and Disney have a lot in common. Anime is highly influenced by "Steamboat Willie" the very first Mickey Mouse cartoon. These Disney cartoons were such a success in the west as well as in Japan that the Disney signature (big eyes, overly expressed emotions, and slapstick humour) is still prevelant in Anime today.

Steamboat Willie. Probably the most important cartoon ever created. The styles seen in this cartoon were almost unheard of before. Disney was a pioneer in animation and how to make it look fluid and not stiff. Even though Mickey Mouse is far from being a human the animation in this short influenced everything.

Astro boy is one of the older Japanese characters. Notice the big eyes and exaggerated emotion. These are all traits the Japanese learned from watching Disney.

You will notice that most stylized humans in games feature big eyes. These big eyes help with expressing emotion (just like with animal characters). Also these characters usually have enlarged heads. The face is the most important thing for the player to read their character (especially in older games where the hero rarely spoke) and when you have a big head you can exaggerate the face.

Super Mario is easily the most recognizable figure in video games. He is such a great character not only because of his early design but also for his later more polished design. Once Nintendo had the technology they made Mario more cartoon-like. His features could fit into any Disney movie.

Final Fantasy VII is full of anime characters. Final Fantasy VII is one of the first games to bring anime into 3D. The overly anime stylized characters in the game matched perfectly with the quirky storyline.

Link from The Windwaker. Rather than going with the realistic look, The Windwaker took Zelda into a cartoony animation style. It was a blend of modern Anime and Disney. Some features (such as the eyes and certain character emotions) came from anime, while the colours and enemy models look like they are straight out of a Disney movie. This cel-shading style (the use of 2D art on 3D character) has become extremely popular.

Tex Avery

If there is one other person who is just as influencial to animation as Walt Disney, it is Tex Avery. Tex Avery worked for Warner Brothers and later MGM, designing the characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. However, what Tex Avery is most remembered for is his animation style and direction. Tex Avery took the Disney school of thought to the extreme. Tex believed you could do anything with animation and proved it. His characters were much more flexable and had extreme emotions. Certain things we take for granted in animation like the double take, eyes popping out of a characters head, characters falling off cliffs into a puff a smoke, and cartoons having a sarcastic tone to them (Whats up Doc?) were all popularized by Tex Avery. He pushed animation into a truely unique form of comedy that was a perfect blend of both slapstick, and smart-humour.

A typical Tex Avery character emotion. Even though the character is very distorted it is still recognizable and easy to read.

Daffy Duck is one level of Tex's comedy. Daffy is comepletely insane and is almost constantly on the edge of a mental breakdown. You can also see Porky Pig who was a much different character under Tex Avery (and the villian Porky evolved into Elmer Fudd).

Bugs Bunny is the opposite of Daffy Duck. A complete straight character whose sarcastic tone and straight talk helps highlight the craziness around him.

These animation techniques were brought over into video games very early. Older games could not be subtle in their animations and needed exaggeration to get their point across. Tex Avery techniques were used to fully animate characters and make them more fun to play. It also helped introduce a level of humour to some early games.

The Battletoads may have been a cheap Ninja Turtles rip off but their animations were almost completel borrowed from old Tex Avery cartoons. Notice how the characters are very flexible and eyes popping out of their heads.

Sonic the Hedgehog was animated much like a Tex Avery cartoon. Sonic's speed lended itself perfectly to the rubber like aspects of Tex's style. In Sonic 2, the lead characters gained the ability to roll into a ball and speed off in a blur. This transformation is much like something Tex would have done. Also Sonic has a bit of a Bugs Bunny attitude.

The old NES Super Mario Brothers had a simple gag in it. When Mario died he faced the screen with an emotion of despair and fell off. This is exactly like when a cartoon charater walks off a cliff and looks at the viewer before he falls, which was a Tex Avery trademark. The death in this video is from a glitch but the animation is the same no matter how you die.

Dhalsim was one of the more unique fighters in Street Fighter 2. What made him so strange was his ability to stretch and contort his body. The rubber qualities of Dhalsim are very similiar to a Tex Avery cartoon in which the characters were always stretched in every which way. This picture is from the newest revision of Street Fighter 2.

The Nintendo character most influenced by Tex Avery is Kirby. Kirby may take a lot of cues from anime in his design, but the gameplay is all Tex Avery. Kirby stretches and contorts his body as he eats his enemies or flies through the sky. He can change his form into a completely different physical shape and structure to attack with special powers. If Tex Avery was designing video games you can bet he would create a character like Kirby.

Because of the early cartoon like nature of video games it was only natural for designers to take some cues from animation. Furthermore, videogames started off as a children's market so it was only natural to tie it to another thing that children liked. Animation helped give designers the tools they needed in order to make a memorable and appealing game.

Evolution of the Mario games (NES years)

2009-07-14T06:04:00.003+09:00

Like I talked about in one of my first posts the original Super Mario Bros is one of the most important games of all time. It laid the blueprint on how to create a 2D sidescroller. However, the designers did not stop innovating and influencing other games with the first game. Everytime they went back and made a new Mario game it was a great experience that topped almost everything on the market. I will be looking into the basic evolution of the core Mario series and how each one changed gaming. Only the core Mario games will be talked about (no Mario Kart, or even Yoshi's Island).

Super Mario Bros

I have already talked about this game at length so I am going to keep it short this time. Super Mario Bros is one of the first platformers ever, and easily the most polished. It used power ups to give the player new skills and abilites which has become a staple in all Mario games since (even the non-platform ones). It was one of the first games that had an extensive amount of hidden secrets and pathways (they appeared before in games but not to this extent). It had 32 levels, all of them were fairly unique from the last. Players could transverse the levels in many different ways, using different pathways and skipping certain levels. It not only brought in the idea of running through levels but also swimming, changing the gameplay. Being the first game in the series it introduced Bowser as the main antagonist and he has held that spot steadily since. It is, without a doubt, one of the most influencial games of all time. Every platforming game owes some of its design to Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros 2 (Japan)

Only in Japan was this true sequel released (only much later on Super Mario All-Stars did we get the game in the west). It is basically the original game only much harder. Jumps were trickier, enemies were more abundant, and the levels were designed in bizarre ways. The hidden pathways were still in this game along with warp pipes that let you skip levels. However, in Super Mario Bros 2 some pipes sent you backwards in the game, forcing you to play levels over again. Players had to be extremely careful while making decisions in this game. It was such a difficult game that it forced players to beat it 8 times before arriving in the true final level. Another strange turn of events happened if you used no warp pipes, as you would end up in World 9. World 9 was a truely bizzare world in which fire would fly underwater, Bowser was in the 9-3 not 9-4, and clouds were underwater. This game was the programmers having as much fun as possible with the Super Mario Bros engine.

One notable thing the game did change was Luigi. Luigi was now a selectable character (not forced on player 2), and had a new gameplay which set him apart from Mario. Luigi could jump higher and run faster, but was also less stable than Mario. The idea of Luigi playing this way has carried over in other games.

Super Mario 2 (USA)

Many people already know the story behind this game but I will sum it up for those who don't know. A Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic was transformed into Super Mario Bros 2 for an American release. Nintendo felt the Japanese Super Mario Bros 2 was too difficult for the American gamers.

However, even though it wasn't originally a Mario game it has become an important part of the evolution of the series. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto did design Doki Doki Panic along with some of the team that made the Mario games. This is why the transformation wasn't so jarring. The enemies in Super Mario 2 (Shy guys, and Birdo) have carried over into more Mario games since. Doki Doki Panic had many levels and there was an ability to find warps and hidden pathways, which also translated perfectly for a Mario game.

Super Mario 2 was unique for having 4 selectable characters (because Doki Doki Panic had 4 characters) and each of them fit naturally with estabilished characters. Luigi was a high jumper and very fast (much like in the Japanese Mario 2 but taken up a few notches), Princess could float through the air, Toad was a sturdy character who controlled well on ice, and Mario was the balanced character who was the jack of all trades and master of none. In Mario game offshoots (the Mario Sports series, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, and other random action games) these character traits have been used again and again.

One change that has not stuck since was the way enemies were attacked. Rather than jumping on enemies and instantly killing them, you had to pick them up and throw them at another enemy. This was a fun and unique way to play but slowed the game down a bit. Mario games since have used quick attacks to finish off the enemy.

Super Mario Bros 3

The first Mario sequel that was built completely new from the ground up. Many players still hold this game to be one of the greatest platformers of all time, if not one of the greatest games in general. Personally I cannot see much fault in this argument as it is the penacle of 2D platformers on the NES (which had a lot of great games in that genre).

The game returned to its roots by just having Mario as player 1 and Luigi as player 2 both of whom played identical. It took the basic idea of the original Super Mario Bros and added better graphics, more power-ups, more enemies, bigger levels, more secrets, and more bosses. Everything was bigger and better. Instead of just facing Bowser at each castle you fought his children, each of which had their own personalities. This made for much more interesting boss battles. On top of that each boss resided on an airship which had the level moving while trying to move across it. Things like bullets and fireballs reacted realistically to the movement of the level and added an extra layer of gameplay. The standard castle levels were still found in this game as well and acting as mid-way points in the world. Each castle ended with a mini-boss.

The best addition to the game was the overworld map. Each world had its own map and the player could move across it in many different ways. Some items collected in the levels could be used to break down walls in order to skip sections of the game and fast-track. It really showed the size, scale and interactivity of the game. Each world also had its own trait. There were the standard fare of levels (such as an ice world and a lava world) as well as some unique levels (a world filled with pipes that created a maze, and a world where everything was much bigger). Because of this massive variety in levels and the ability to move across the overworld in many different ways, the game never got stale.

Part 2 will continue next week and we will look at the SNES as well as the 3D Mario games. Come back friday for a new feature article.

Street Fighter II - Part 2

2009-07-10T10:39:00.000+09:00

*Make sure to check out Part 1 of this article.

The Bosses

Even though they are playable in every version afterward, in the original Street Fighter 2 players could not select them. M.Bison, Vega, Balrog, and Sagat made up the final four fights. The were all powerful and had an extra special character trait that made them stand out against the regular cast of fighters.

Balrog was a boxer who could only punch and not kick. He was very strong letting the player know that the difficulty was ramping up. In the Japanese version he was named M.Bison (a play on Mike Tyson's name) and had to be changed in America in order to avoid a lawsuit. Balrog clearly looks a lot like Tyson and takes almost all of his character design from him.

Vega was an extremely fast opponent. He could climb on the walls of his level and was the only fighter who had a weapon. He is the complete opposite of the Balrog fight beforehand trading in slow powerful punches for lightning fast arial manuevers. Since Vega was so different from any other fighter the difficulty ramped up again creating a great build to the climax of the game.

Sagat is the third fighter returning from Street Fighter 1. He was the boss of the original game and now stands as the penultimate boss. He has fireballs like Ryu and Ken but was stronger and because of his tall stature had a very long reach. He may have been a more tradition fighter but his attacks and special techniques made him a perfect boss.

M.Bison was the final boss of the game. He was incredibly strong and fast. He was given a military look making him seem more menacing and powerful. Since he was the last boss he was by far the hardest battle in the game, and beating him was a reward in itself. His main colour scheme is red so it is more than a coincidence that this colour was chosen for the final battle.

Not only was each character unique but everyone had their own level. The backgrounds gave the game a little more personality. These backgrounds had minimal animations, which gave it enough feel to look alive while not becoming a distraction.

Music

Street Fighter II had a great soundtrack. Music is extremely important in a fighting game since the score should get the player in the mood. Street Fighter II needs fast thinking and requires a lot of action, so the music should match the pace, or it would seem out of sync. Luckily, Street Fighter II has a wide variety of music (each stage has its own tune). Not only does the music successfully match the gameplay but adds personality to the levels.

Guile's music is by far my favourite. It sounds like something straight out of an American military movie. It's fast paced and really captures the mood of the stage and the fighter.

Blanka, being one of the bizzare characters, has equally unique music. It has a tropical feel to it that matches the Brazilian location. It is on the edge of not feeling like fighting music but never crosses that line. It is a strange blend of the bizzare, tropical, and action. Thankfully it works.

Dhalsim has some really great music. The designers took cues from Indian music but changed it to fit a fighting game. Indian music traditionally doesn't follow the same rules as western music so some changes need to be made in order for it to fit the game.

M.Bison is the last battle and thus has some of the fastest music. It is hard hitting and suits the climax of the game. A final boss needs a strong score to add tension to the fight.

Street Fighter II was a huge success, both in arcades and on the SNES. However, the designers never stopped trying to perfect the formula and went on to create many revisions to the game. Street Fighter II: Championship Edition let players select the bosses as well as play as the same character. This added a whole new set of strategy for the player to learn. Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighter (or Turbo on the SNES) sped up the game giving it an even faster feel. After playing Hyper Fighting the old game seems a bit sluggish. Hyper Fighting was the best change to the series by far. Later editions added new characters and balancing of gameplay. But no matter how often the game was re-polished Street Fighter II still remained the blueprint.

The progression of Street Fighter 2.

Even the current game, Street Fighter IV, takes a majority of its inspiration from Street Fighter II. Outside of its own series Street Fighter has been the inspiration for almost every fighting game (especially 2D fighters) making it one of the most important games of all time and a piece of art.

Street Fighter II - Part 1

2009-07-07T06:08:00.000+09:00

**Because there is so much to say about Street Fighter II, I have had to break this post up into 2 parts.

There were some fighting games before Street Fighter II (like the original Street Fighter) but no game brought the genre to the forefront like it. Street Fighter II was a huge hit at the arcade and later successfully ported to the consoles (the SNES version was exceptionally great). It was the perfect fighting game of its day and it still stands as a solid game that gamers come back to. Many things went into making Street Fighter II so memorable that it became a true piece of art.

Gameplay

I have said this many times but the interactivity of a game is by far the most important aspect to the art form. Street Fighter II easily had the most polished gameplay in the arcade. Characters reacted to the controls naturally, and players found themselves learning the ins and outs of the game thus pulling off some fantastic techniques. It was the first fighting game that had multiple characters each of which had their own control styles and wide range of special moves. Players became attached to a certain character and tied themselves to learning the best way to play with them. The game had 8 fighters which allowed for 7 different play styles that welcomed a variety of players and suited their needs (Ken and Ryu were identical in the original version which accounts for the missing play style).

The special moves is what really caught a lot of player's attention. It gave the game a fun feel to it and a sense of accomplishment when you could pull the move off effectively and consistently. Most of the special attacks where over the top and departed from reality. Some of the fighters could throw fire balls while others could pull off impossible physical techniques. Since no two fighters had similiar attacks (aside from Ryu and Ken) each match required a different defense strategy.

When you add all the gamplay variations together you get a really deep game that is still deeper than many fighting games today. In Street Fighter you could not simply button mash (the act of randomly pressing buttons in hope of hitting your opponent), you had to watch every move and plan your attacks. The game did move fast so you had to think on your feet, but it rewarded players with a strategy.

A match in Street Fighter. You can see how it moves fast and fluid. Fighting games that came out before felt a little stiff and unnatural. Street fighter helped break that barrier.

Characters

One of the things that drew players to the game was the cast of fighters you had to choose from. Not only was their gameplay different but each of them had their own unique design. The visual artistry of Street Fighter was astounding and it created some of the most memorable characters of all time.

Ryu

A somewhat central figure in the game and one of 3 characters returning from Street Fighter 1. He was the typical "Japanese Karate" fighter. In the spectrum of fighters in the game he would range in the middle of character design. However, the designer did add a little to the character to give him more personality. His outfit is a little loose and allows the character to more more freely without looking like the clothes are stiff. His head band and facial expression give Ryu a little more attitude than the other fighters.

Ken

Another returning character from Street Fighter. His design is just a head swap with Ryu, and a different colour outfit. Since his body and animations are identical to Ryu it is only his head that gives him some new personality. His shaggy blond hair, and facial expression gives Ken the same rugged attitude that Ryu has. Ken and Ryu are the center piece of the game as well as the standard fighting game characters.

Guile

For the most part the fighters all come from different countries (some do share nationalities) and some of them are overdone stereotypes. In all these cases the stereotypes are not offensive but somewhat humours. Guile is the typical all-american war millitary man. He has an exagerrated flat top hair cut, blond hair, a tattoo of the American Flag, and wears military fatigues. He has little touches to show that he is the "perfect" American boy as he combs his hair in between rounds and smiles. He was designed in part to appeal to American fans and for the most part it worked. Guile is also one of the few characters who could throw a projectile making him stand out. He could do large bicycle kicks and moved realitivly fast. He is a lot of fun to play and you can see his good natured all-american attitude come out in his gameplay.

Chung Li

The only female character in Street Fighter II. She is one of the more important characters from a game design standpoint. Chung Li is fairly weak yet is the fastest fighter. This blueprint of creating a female fighter as the weakest yet fastest character has been used in almost every single fighting game since. Her main attack is her kicks since she has long strong legs (in later Street Fighter games the designers even made her legs larger and stronger looking). Even her uniform places emphasis on her legs.

E.Honda

Even though he is yet another Japanese fighter in the game he comes from a completely different school of fighting. E. Honda is a sumo wrestler and therefore is slow but very powerful. He does have some quick attacks such as a flying head-butt and a rapid fire of palms. His design is taken straight out of what real sumo wrestlers look like. The only thing that makes E.Honda stand out against real life sumo wrestlers is his face paint. He is one of the few fighters who is a bit more linked to reality in his character design.

Zangeif

Easily the most powerful fighter in the game but also one of the most difficult to use. His special moves are much harder to pull off effectively, thus balancing him against other fighters. He is also much slower than most of the fighters. His character designer is very much influenced by the stereotypical portrayal of Russians during the cold war. Street Fighter II came out at the very end of the cold war and the USSR was still a nation. Zangeif is big, tall and hairy, and has scars on his body from fighting a bear. Out of all the fighters he does look the most menacing, and he wears red, the colour of the USSR. Zangeif is basically a symbol for how frightening a lot of people felt about what went on behind the iron curtain. Now that the cold war is over Zangeif seems a lot more comical to players.

Blanka

One of 2 fighters that are just bizzare. Blanka is a green monster that was created after a plane crash left a young boy, named Jimmy, to be raised in the wild. Blanka's origin and character design is closey tied to comic books. Much like many super heroes and villians, Blanka is created out of a tradegy, and gains some sort of special powers and abilities from it. Blanka also has electric powers linking him even more toward the comic book realm. Blanka plays very low to the ground and has some strange animations in the way he moves. Many players when they first saw Blanka became immediately attached to him since he was so unique and different from everyone else in the game.

Dhalsim

The other character who is a bit more bizzare is Dhalsim. Dhalsim is a yoga master who can stretch his body and teleport around the screen. He also can breathe fire. The way Dhalsim is presented is in a very comical manner. His streched out limbs look odd, and he is one fighter who will have a smile on his face from time to time. In a game full of mostly stern looking characters he stands out and provides a nice break in pace. His design and animation may even be stranger and stand out more than Blanka (when you see him in motion). Dhalsim is not one of the stronger fighters but his reach is far greater than all the others.

Check back on Friday for Part 2.

Half Life 2 (And the episodes)

2009-07-03T06:18:00.000+09:00

In 1998, Half Life came out for the PC. It was an exceptional first person shooter that focused on storytelling as well as gameplay. It presented itself through the protagonist's eyes (Gordon Freeman) and never let the player out of that experience. There were no cutscenes that took the player out of the game; everything unfolded in real time in front of the player to watch and interact with. However, 6 years later Valve (developers of the game) created their real masterpiece with Half Life 2. They took their interactive cinematic experience to the next level. It was much more polished and stood alone as its own game even though it was a sequel. Half Life 2 is one of the most loved PC games of all time, and there are many reasons for that.

Gordon Freeman

I went into this a bit already with my post on Silent Protagonists. Gordon Freeman is essentially an every-man. He is not physically built and looks somewhat average. He was just a scientist at Black Mesa when everything went wrong (an alien invasion). He gets his strength and power from 2 things; his suit of armor, and his personal drive. Valve does everything in their power to make Gordon Freeman a believable character. They want the player to feel that they could be in Gordon's situation and pull off everything he does. This is also highlighted by making Gordon silent through the whole game. He never talks but many characters talk to you. Gordon's response is essentially the players response. There aren't many characters in video game history that have a greater player-character connection than Gordon Freeman.

Level Design

Before Half Life, first person shooters were still somewhat built on the "Wolfenstein 3D" blueprint. This school of level design led first person shooters into a very particular gameplay type. FPSs usually entailed going through a room clearing out the enemies and then picking up a key that led to the next room, repeat this over and over again. This did lead to fast paced gameplay that bombarded the player with multiple enemies forcing him/her to think fast. There were some games that did deviate from this gameplay type but none did this as much as the original Half Life. In the first Half Life, Black Mesa felt a lot more open to explore, and even though you were sent down a linear path it never felt that way. The game unfolded organically and there was a reason to move from one location to the next.

City 17. Where Half Life 2 starts.

Half Life 2 built upon the concept that the original layed out. Now that Gordon Freeman was out of Black Mesa and in "City 17" the world was a much more open place. There was a sense of the area you covered when you went across from one location to the next. Again Valve was leading the player down a set path but it never felt that way, and there was a real motivation to get from one area to another. Half Life 2 feels like going through one big level rather than exploring many smaller levels with breaks in between. Each section of the game blends into the next. This intensifies the experience Valve is going for, which is an unbreaking game from beginning to end, and thus really connects to the player.

You will be spending a lot of time in Half Life driving from location to location.

One area of the level design that some players found grating was the long vehicle sections. Half Life 2 is about a 12-15 hour games (can be longer or shorter depending on skill) and when the game plays like one big level without breaks it really gives the game a sense of time passed. Valve decided to break up the action in the game by using vehicle levels. During these parts of the game Gordon Freeman is driving for long periods of time in order to reach a far away destination. Many people felt bored by these sections of the game and Valve has addressed this issue in later games. However, this misstep was so minor in a game full of so many new experiences that it really didn't drag the game down that much.

Physics

Half Life 2 wasn't just a game it was also a showcase for Valve's Source Engine. This engine not only gave the game clean visuals but also fairly robust physics. I mentioned this way back in my post about Super Mario Bros, and how the physics can help make the game feel more real. Simple things just reacted the way they do in reality in Half life 2. For example, you can pick up and drop things and they would bounce on the ground as the real object would, and you can throw things with your gravity gun each having their own weight and velocity. The gravity gun in particular was a really fun addition to gameplay. No longer did the player need to worry about finding ammo for all their weapons. If Gordon Freeman was out of bullets he could use his gravity gun to pick up and throw things at enemies. Part of the fun with the gravity gun was seeing how everything reacted to it, and each item in the game did behave differently. These measures Valve took in their physics engine added a new layer of depth and gameplay that was unseen by players before. After Half Life 2 came out, many developers started to get their own physics engines working in their new games. Today most action games have realistic physics and if they don't the world feels more stiff because of it. Half Life 2 and the source engine changed the way games played. Gamers could not go back to a game world that lacked this new interactive gameplay. It also says a lot about Valve's Source Engine that it is still used in games today (even though it has gone through some updates the foundation remains the same).

When you first get the gravity gun you practice with it by playing catch with "Dog." It's a fun little experience and one of the first times you really get to mess with the physics engine.

Story

The other thing that Valve really revolutionized was creating a new way to tell story through the video game medium. Valve is against the philosophy that grand pre-rendered cutscenes are productive in the video game artform. Rather than taking the players out of their game (even for a second) they have all the story beats play out in front of the players eyes. If a character is speaking to you, you can walk away from them and their voice will fade and you can wait until they are done rambling, or you can stand right next to the character and listen to everything they have to say. In order to avoid players running around and missing key points they have amazing set pieces that the player cannot help but watch. Even the simple dialogue between characters has superior voice acting and writing that is hard to ignore. But the fact remains that you can ignore everything and look at a rock instead of watching the citadel explode. Since you are in control of the character and thus in control of the camera every player sees the game differently. It is a brave choice and one that Valve pulls off perfectly. Throughout the game you are immersed in the story without ever having to sit back and listen to it unfold. You are an active member in the game rather than a passive one.

The story in Half Life 2 is deep enough that it is something the player wants to involve him/herself in it, but not too deep and drawn out that it gets in the way of playing the game. The storyline revolves around a basic alien invasion, but there is a bit more to it than the standard affair. There is always a sense of mystery and intrigue about why these aliens are here and what their true intentions are. Another part opf the mystery is who exactly Gordon Freeman is and what makes him so special. The game hints that there may be a reason why he is in the situation he is in. Both of these plot threads are still playing out and have not had their final pay-off yet.

As I stated before Valve relies on the player witnessing the story rather than straight out telling the story. This is a creative use of the video game medium and one thing that video games bring that other art forms cannot. One of the prime examples of the mystery aspect of the story and the player interaction is the G-Man. The G-Man is a strange person who talks to Gordon only on the rare occasions. The first game ends with Gordon Freeman being taken on a train with the G-Man and Half Life 2 starts on that same strange train trip. The G-Man also appears at random moments throughout the game but it is up to the player to catch him. You can never appraoch the G-Man but you may see him in the background of certain areas. It is obvious that this character has all the answers to the questions the player has, making him even more elusive and interesting.

The strange ending to the original Half Life. It was abrupt and odd but set the tone for the games to come.

Some examples of the G-Man's appearances throughout Half Life 2.

Valve takes great pride in their storytelling technique and it really shows off how to effectively use video games to tell an engaging story.

Episodes

After Half Life 2, Valve started work one a semi sequel to the game called Half Life: Aftermath. However, the developers quickly changed their plans and split up Half Life:Aftermath into 3 episodes. So far only Half Life 2: episode 1 and 2 have been released with no real date for the arrival of episode 3 (Valve is known for taking a long time on their games). These episodes are shorter experiences than the first two games (episode 1 is about 3-4 hours while episode 2 is about 5-6 hours). Since the episodes are much more condensed than the other games, they play much differently. The long driving sequences of Half Life 2 are completely removed (there is still driving but it is much more fast paced) and the story line is not so drawn out as set pieces are unfolding constantly. The Half Life 2 episodes are very focused and deliver a fast paced experience. They are the best part of Half Life with all the filler cut out and the action and story ramped up.

Episode 1

In Half Life 2, Gordon Freeman befriends Alex, a daughter of one of his friends. Alex is a lively character and brings a lot of charm to the game. She fills the silence that Gordon Freeman brings and gives the player someone to care about. In Episode 1 she is by Gordon's side for nearly the entire game and the player gets attached to her. It helps that she is animated realistically and her voice actress is near perfect. On a gameplay level Alex's AI is about as close as a game designer can get to perfect. In many games computer controlled characters end up causing more of a problem then a positive addition to the game. There are many games in which the player has to spend more time worrying about the computer controlled allies than his/herself. Sometimes AI characters rush into a situation blowing the players cover, while other times they stand in the corner doing nothing. Alex on the other hand, can take care of herself and reacts to each situation in a way that helps the player. It was the first game I have experienced where the AI character caused me no problems and in fact was an all around positive addition to the game.

One of the best uses of Alex and the AI is a section of the game that has Gordon controlling a flash light. All the player has to do is shine the light on an enemy and Alex will shoot it. It is a neat way to help control Alex while still leaving her as her own seperate character.

Episode 1 is also the first time that Valve got to show off their new interactive cutscenes. As I stated previously these set pieces were standard fare for the series, but since the episodes are much shorter games they appear much closer together allowing the story to move faster. Also since the episodes are newer games Valve used their updated source engine making scenes more polished and exciting.

An example of the very start of Episode 1. Already Valve is exploring new ways to tell the story through interactive cutscenes. This sets the tone for the faster paced Half Life 2 episodes.

Episode 2

Episode 1 had Alex by your side and she still has a presence in this game, but she gets hurt early on and Gordon Freeman has to go through the game mostly solo. While the first episode was about teamwork and growing the personal connection between Alex and Gordon, episode 2 deals with the invasion and creating the fastest paced Half Life yet. This episode revolves around trying to get to the science lab and helping them launch a rocket. It is non-stop action from where you start off to the very end. Even though it is almost double the length of episode 1 it feels more chaotic. The story really moves forward (which is especially seen in the ending). The game also introduces a new mystery with the missing Borealis. This is an Aperture Science research vessle that disappeared (you may remember Aperture Science from Portal). Since the game is finally giving the player some slight answers and a new storyline the plot of Half Life is finally getting some payoff.

The greatest challange in the game comes near the end where Alex and a small army have to protect the base from large intruders, called Striders. The teamwork and gameplay here is unlike anything done in Half Life before. It combines driving, fighting against giant eneimes, and working with AI. Even though it is hard at points it is an extremely rewarding experience when completed.

The last battle in the game is fast paced and takes all the skills learned in Half Life so far to complete.

The ending to Episode 2, do not watch this if you haven't played the game. The ending originally looks like it will finish off happy but a twist leads the player down a dark path and wanting to play the next game.

Sadly, Half Life 2: Episode 3 is not out yet. Valve takes their time making sure their games are near perfect and it shows. No matter how long the wait is there is no doubt that it will be a piece of art that will stay with gamers for a long time. I have complete faith that once Half Life 2 and the 3 episodes stand together they will be remembered as one of the best video game experiences of all time.

The Art of Porting and Remaking games: Part 2 - Remakes

2009-06-30T06:09:00.004+09:00

*This is Part 2 of a two part series. You can read Part 1 HERE.

Remakes

A port is basically the same game created for one system but fit onto mulitple systems, while "remakes" involve the developers re-creating the game from the ground up. Remakes are made many years after the original game. One of the main reasons developers remake games is because the advancement of technology allows them to fully realize the experience. For example, an old NES classic game may perform better when remade for newer hardware giving it a cleaner look and tighter gameplay. Remakes can lead to an amazing new experience that enhances the original game. Here are some examples how remakes that were done extremely well and even replaced the original game as the definitive version.

Super Mario All Stars

One of the earlier remakes in console history was done by Nintendo. The SNES was out and a huge success. It was such an improvement over the NES (control, gameplay, graphics, and sound) that it seemed like a smart move to upgrade the original Super Mario Bros games. They packed Super Mario 1, 2, and 3 along with the "Lost Levels" (which was Super Mario 2 in Japan) all onto on SNES cart. The original games already had tight controls so only minimal tweeking was needed in regards to gameplay (they re-did Luigi's controls to make him faster, a higher jumper, and also slightly slippery). The real improvement came with the new graphics, the levels were now more colourful and the characters had much more detail to them. Another huge improvement was the animation, the NES just could not handle certain animations that the SNES could. The new animations gave the game a much more fluid look to it and the characters now moved more realistically. Super Mario All-Stars is now the best way to play the clasic Super Mario games (even the GBA ports used All-Stars with minor tweaks to fit the handheld). For a time Nintendo even bundled All-Stars plus Super Mario World with the SNES.

Resident Evil

The first Resident Evil was a ground breaking title for the Playstation. It brought in the survival horror genre that still thrives to this day. However, the games graphics did not age well with time. As players became used to more realistic graphics the blocky characters in Resident Evil no longer frightened players. Resident Evil also leaned heavily on puzzle solving. These puzzles were fun to figure out, but like most puzzle solving games once the player understands how to solve them the second play through becomes much less rewarding. Finally, the original Resident Evil game suffered from a poorly translated script and cheesy dialogue.
The Gamecube remake of Resident Evil solved the problems the original game faced. The graphics were upgraded to a level that looked as realistic as the Gamecube could pull off (and still looks fairly good today). The mansion you explore was now redone with new rooms and puzzles that challanged even the most advanced Resident Evil players. The script was also rewritten and the revisions made it a lot less chessy and the grammar was more sound (yet it still maintained its B-movie atmosphere). In some ways Resident Evil was ahead of its time and it wasn't until the gamecube remake that people got to see what the game was capable of.

Punch-Out

The original NES Punch-Out (titled "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out" before Tyson got into legal troubles) was one of the first games I ever played. The NES game featured larger than life boxers that you had to fight your way through. Each fight was like an epic boss battle, and they got progressively harder. The NES game had near perfect controls that had the player thinking in fractions of a second in order to dodge their oppenents. It was a fast paced game with a lot of character and charm to it. The NES cart had to have a special chip inside of the cart to help render to giant characters.

As I am writting this the main game I am playing is Punch-Out for the Wii and I am completely hooked on it. It has everything that made the original game so great while at the same time improving it in all the right areas. The NES game is a masterpiece and its core gameplay that got so many gamers interested remains. The Wii game took the core gameplay of the NES game and only built on it slightly (adding a duck to the dodges as well has a more robust counter punch system). The giant boxers you faced in the original game are now bigger, more colourful, and have a larger moveset. The boxers also have more personality than before. The NES game had to rely on character design and text between matches to get across their traits (which actually worked very well). This is fleshed out even more as the boxers now have full voice and much more fluid animation. The smartest move that this remake made was to cel-shade all the characters. The boxers personalities and character designs lend themselves to a cartoon world. If it was remade in realistic graphics the game would have looked ugly, and lost a lot of its appeal. Also have the game remain cartoony allows it to be timeless (cel-shaded 3D cartoon models age much slower than realistic graphics). It was a real feat to capture everything that made the NES game so great over 20 years later and still improve on it.

Final Special Mention

The last thing I am going to talk about is somewhat of a hybrid between a port and a remake. During the early console days it was near impossible to port over an arcade game; therefore a new game would have to be made for the console. This usually led to a very different experience on the console. The most notable home of unique arcade port/remakes is the NES.

Bionic Commando

The arcade game was nothing worth remembering. However, the NES Bionic commando was a unique take on the platforming genre that removed the jump ability. In fact a recent remake of Bionic commando decided to base itself on the NES version rather than the original arcade game. Also the music is noticeably better in the NES version, even though the sound capabilities were not as great as the arcade.

Punch-Out

I love that I can mention Punch-Out twice in the same post. The original aracade game only featured a few boxers (only Glass Joe made it to the NES game). It is one of the best examples of the NES game being much deeper and fully realizied even though it was on inferior hardware to the arcade. The arcade Punch-Out was a fun game but it just didn't have the same level of charm that the NES game did.

Ninja Gaiden

Ninja Gaiden was originally an arcade brawler. It really did not stand out against the other hundreds of brawlers in the arcades (even though it was a solid game). The NES game ditched the slow brawl for a fast paced action platformer. The NES game was one of the hardest games ever created (while still being playable and fun). It required quick reflexes and mastering the surroundings. Ninja Gaiden on the NES felt a lot more like playing as a ninja than in the arcade

The Art of Porting and Remaking Games: Part 1 - Porting

2009-06-25T09:06:00.001+09:00

*This is Part 1 of a two part series dealing with remakes and ports

Video games have been around for over 30 years now, but have only really started evolving at a rapid rate in the last 20 years or so. Along with this growth comes an abundance of hardware, thus game companies do everything in their power to try and get their games in as many homes as possible. Not only is there many home consoles on the market at the same time but every 5 years or so the consoles go through an upgrade in order to update technology and gameplay. With this constantly moving atmosphere, gamers see the same games appear numerous times, either across the platforms or remade years later.

Ports

When a developer makes the same game for multiple consoles at the same time these are called ports. Most of the time ports try to be identical to each other. Not only is this much easier on the developer but the public tends to prefer the idea that the game they are getting on their console is just as good as the game on their friend's console. However, no matter how similiar the games are it is impossible to expect that the games will be identical. Every console has different capabilites and hardware and it is impossible to perfectly emulate the experience across a wide range of consoles.

The controller

As I stated in my previous blogs about controllers (part 1, part 2, and part 3) every system has their own unique control scheme and every single one of them can change the way their games are played. Currently the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 are the closest in graphical capability so many games do cross over. The PS3 controller has motion control built into it, while the 360 does not. This leads to some developers adding some extra gameplay mechanics that use the motion controls of the PS3.

In Dark Sector the lead protagonist has a glave which can be thrown. The PS3 allows you to control your projectile by tilting the controller. It actually worked quite well.

Currently the Nintendo Wii has the most radically different controller out of the three consoles. However, because its hardware is so different it cannot handle ports of PS3 or 360 games. But, still some developers have tried to bring 360 and PS3 games over to the Wii. Since Wii games cannot look as good as its counterparts, developers had to rely on the unique control scheme to sell its games. This has led to many games with unneeded motion controls tacked on confusing the player and making the game more uncomfortable to play, and this always happens when the game was not intended for motion controls. Just look at these reviews for an example of what I am talking about (Marvel Ultimate Alliance Wii 360, The Simpsons Game Wii 360)

One of the unique examples of the Wii game being better than the 360 counterpart was "Ray-Man Raving Rabbits." The game was originally designed for the Wii and had a great deal of motion control used in a fun way. The 360 had no motion controls and most of the fun and charm was lost on the port. The 360 tried some things using its camera but it was mostly an afterthought and not fully realized. Wii reviews, 360 reviews.

In the 90s, when the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis were competing, ports across the platforms found themselves in a unique predicament. The original Genesis controller only had 3 buttons while the SNES had 6. For platformers this was not an issue since most of those games only used 2 or 3 buttons on average. The real problem came with fighting games, most notably the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat series. Street Fighter had 6 attacks (strong, medium, and weak kick/punch) and so did Mortal Kombat (high, medium, and low kick/punch), both of these control schemes mapped perfectly onto a SNES controller. Players using the Sega Genisis had these games stripped down to just kick and punch (in Street fighter to pull off the extra layers of attacks you had to press the start button along with pressing the others, it wasn't the best control choice). Luckily all of these issues were erased when Sega upgraded the controller to 6 buttons.

Graphics

No matter what generation of consoles are out each hardware has different capabilites. Developers that are making ports have no choice but to use one console as their lead system and upscale/downscale to the other consoles. Sometimes the graphical changes are barely noticeable while others suffer from not being able to keep up with the lead system.

Star Wars: The Force Unleased is a recent game that came out on all 3 consoles (Wii, 360 and PS3). Therefore it is a good example of how developers are porting to all consoles. The order of the pictures (top to bottom) 360, PS3, Wii. You can see how the PS3 and 360 game looks only slightly different, while the Wii game looks much worse.

Ghostbusters: The Video game was released recently across all 3 main consoles. The developers did a smart thing by changing the Wii port drastically. Rather than struggle with creating the realistic graphics on the Wii, they went with cartoony character models. It is much better to have the game look stylized than outdated. Cartoon models also work perfectly with Ghostbusters since it is a humorous game with strange events. They also changed the level design to better suit the Wii controls.

Overall the Wii suffers the most from ports since both the hardware capabilites and the controller are too radically different from the competition. When developers are creating games for all systems it is impossible to fit the lead system's experience (either the PS3 or the 360) for the Wii. Before this generation the PS2 had games looking slightly less polished than the Xbox and Gamecube ports (but it was still very playable and the difference was very slight). The same could be said for the SNES and the Genisis (the SNES was a more powerful system but Genesis owners weren't losing much with their ports). The Playstation/Nintendo 64 generation had less cross platform ports since the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation were very different. The few ports that did exisit were not drastically different since they were created with both systems in mind.

Check back again Tuesday Part 2 - Vide Game Remakes.

Sonic the Hedgehog

2009-06-22T06:13:00.000+09:00

When I wrote about Super Mario Bros I talked about how much of a revolutionary game it was. As a revolutionary new piece of art, Super Mario Bros influenced many games that came out after it. This led to a few memorable games and a lot of mediocre and bad games. A lot of designers just didn't have the talent to build upon the groundwork that Super Mario laid, and created Mario clones that had nothing to say for themselves. Sega was two years into its Genesis console and was still somewhat trying to make a name for itself around the world. Many people still associated games with Nintendo and great platforming with Mario. Sega set out to change this but they couldn't just copy Super Mario. They made a platforming game that was similiar enough to be easily accesible but different enough to feel new and exciting. This is how Sonic the Hedgehog came about and left his mark on the video game industry.

Character Design

Sega had to make a name for itself and it quickly found out that it couldn't just simply copy Nintendo's successes. Nintendo had a certain feel and art style to their games and if Sega tried to emulate it too much it would have been lost in the background. So rather than, playing it safe like Nintendo, they attempted to bring a little attitude and edginess to their console. The new mascot of the company line was Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic is a Hedgehog in name only, he bares a very slight resemblence to the real animal. This overly cartooned look has worked great for so many Warner Bros characters (for example the Tazmanian Devil doesn't look to much like the real animal and neither does the road runner), and it was with this school of thought that Sonic was created. They changed the typical colour a hedgehog has from brown to blue (again something Warner Bros does frequently). The colour brown is a fairly earthy looking tone and is used in games in the background and does not stand out (many post apocalytic games use brown to show how degenerated the earth has become) thus it would not be a suitable colour for Sonic. Blue is much like the colour green because it is a softer colour that welcomes the player. Furthermore, when used to colour something that is not typically blue (like a hedgehog) it catches our attention since we know something looks a little odd. Sonic was already a fairly edgy character for its time (something I will get to later) so using a harder colour like red would have overdone it. Blue is the perfect soft colour that balances out the character.

Beyond the gameplay, visual representation of Sonic lays his personality, which was fairly fleshed out for a 2D platformer. Now at this time neither voice nor text was used to have Sonic communicate so his personality had to shine through other aspects. Like a really good silent movie, Sonic showed a lot more about himself through his expressions and movements. Sonic was given slightly downturned eyelids giving him an angrier expression. This is a simple technique any artist can do to change their creations expression (drawn a simple happy face and see how different it looks when you put a pair of down turned eyebrowns over the eyes). Sonic's animation also was laced with his personality. He also moved extremely fast, giving the player the sense that he was controlling something much more powerful than they were used to. His speed was such a part of the character that if you left the controller still for a moment Sonic would turn his head and look at the player, tapping his toe in frustration. Sonic basically called out to the player to be controlled and have fun. Putting both his slightly edgey look together with his speed made Sonic an instant hit with a lot of gamers that were looking for a character that had a unique and fun personality.

Speed

Not only did speed have a lot to do with the character design but also the gameplay. When it first came out it was a sight to behold, watching Sonic clear his way through a section of a level in seconds. Speed does not neccesarily equal "fun" though and the game designers knew this. If the levels were too simple and the player could speed through it with ease the game would become extremely boring. Obstacles and sections that forced Sonic to slow down for a bit were put in the game to challange the player as well as change up the gameplay before moving on to speeder sections again. As the player learned how to deal with these slower sections he/she could then play them faster, giving the player a sense of achiement that translated to the screen. At its best Sonic was controlled chaos, moving at high speeds while the player had to make twitch decisions in order to keep up the momentum.

There was also something to be said about the secrets and pathways through the levels. Most levels were linear but usually offered some hard to reach locations for the player to find powerups or extra rings. These sections of slowdown were a reward for players who took a second to think before they sped off (these sections were much more common in Sonic 2). Having these parts as optional also helped create a two-tiered game, one for those who want to explore a little and one for those who enjoy speeding as fast as they can through a game.

Music

The music in Sonic blended perfectly with the gameplay and atmosphere of the game. Like the game the music was fast. Each tune had multiple layers to it adding to the complexity of the score. However, the best aspect of the music was how well it blended with the sound FX. I have talked about this before and Sonic is one of the perfect examples of how developers mixed the sounds of the gameplay with the background music. The springs Sonic bounces on, and the rings he collects both have a musical sound to them that add to the music of the game. Since Sonic only has seven zones I can go into a little more detail into what makes them special.

Green Hill Zone: The music here is fast, while at the same time light and fun. It is a perfect intro song that welcomes the player while at the same time sets the fast paced mood.

Marble Zone: The music here is a bit slower. This level does force sonic to stop and preform some trickier jumps. There is also areas in which Sonic has to stop and wait for pillars to rise.

Spring Yard Zone: The music is again a bit slower. In this level Sonic is a bit more out of control because of the abundance of springs. The slower music matches suggests that the player take some time to think before he/she acts.

Labyrinth Zone: Again the music here a little slower. This zone does involve water which slows Sonic down, thus the music matches the gameplay.

Star Light Zone: A night time level, and the music matches the atmosphere. The music is somewhat relaxed but the beat in the background is a little faster then the previous songs.

Scrap Brain Zone: The music is picking up speed again in this level. It is also much more complex then the levels before it. This level throws in new platforming mechanics which require fast gameplay.

Final Zone: The last zone involves almost no running. It is basically a larger boss fight. The music does sound a lot more menacing in this level, which is something that had not been heard in the previous songs. It is a perfect song for a final boss fight.

Influence/Conclusion

For better or worse (most likely worse) Sonic inspired game designers just as much as Mario did. And quite like Mario, most games that tried to copy Sonic's success fell flat. Since Sonic was an animal with an attitude and a gimick (speed) every developer tried to get out their own mascot with the same formula. Games came out titled Gex the Gecko, Bubsy (the Squirrel), Aero the AcroBAT, Zero the Kamakazi Squirrel, and countless others. As with any piece of art there are going to be imitators and very few will be worth remembering. Much like how once Walt Disney started making a hit off his creations everyone tried to copy his magic and failed.

It just goes to show how original Sonic was when he came out. Rather than being another Mario clone, the game stood out on its own and gained its fanbase. Sadly Sonic has now become the very thing it once avoided, a hollow mascot. In many ways Sonic is a product of its time. His edginess (in the newer games) now seems cheesy and the games storylines are ridiculous. The bad 90s animal mascots, that Sonic helped influence, have now all died out on other platforms, but are alive and well within Sonics games. But it really doesn't matter how far Sonic has fallen because nothing can take away how great the original games for Genesis are.

Voice in games

2009-06-18T06:04:00.003+09:00

It seems like it would be a strange thing to cover but voice in video games has evolved so much and has changed the way we play games. There is so much to cover on the topic I am only going to skim the surface talking about early representations of voice in games, and how it is used today (both the bad and the good). Voice is one of the things that can bring games to a more personal level, because once a game starts talking to you it makes the player sit up and pay attention.

Origins of Voice in Games

Early games (the 70s all the way to the mid 90s) didn't have room for much voice acting. It was a technical limitation more than the designers choice. Early consoles just couldn't handle realistic voices that well. However, this is not to say that many early games did not try. There were two pioneers of voice acting in games: fighting games and sports games. Both of these genres had the upper hand in voice because they only needed a limited amount. It was still impossible to consider voice acting for an entire action or adventure game, but it was possible to give each fighter a little phrase and the announcer to say "FIGHT". In sports games all they needed was a few phrases to encompass the sport (for example, a football game only needed the words; touchdown, incomplete, safety, fumble and some other known football phrases). Because the dialogue was so short and there wasn't that much variety it was much easier to pull off simple voice-overs to give the games an extra layer of realism.

Sometimes early games would also use voice on the title screen, having the game announce itself. An early example of this is the Ghostbusters game for the Commodore 64, NES, and Sega Master System. You can hear how distorted the voice sounds, which was the main reason voice could not be an intergrated part of gaming in those days. This particular clip comes from the commodore 64 version.

Joe Montanna II: Sports Talk Football was one of the earliest sports games with commentary. You can hear how the Genesis could pull off clearer sound than the Ghostbusters clip, but the voice quality still is not good enough to encompass an entire game.

A clip from Mortal Kombat. However, many fighting games at the time used this same technique. Using an annoucer for the fight and giving the characters short catchphrases during special moves gives the game a little more realism.

Street Fighter II also had some classic early voice acting when the fighters yelled out their special moves. These phrases are still used in Street Fighter games today because they became so entranced in the franchise.

CD gaming

What brought voice in games mainstream without a doubt was the CD format. CDs could hold much more information than any cartridge or disk could and also could produce high quality sound. With CD based media, developers no longer had to worry about low quality voices and could now persue making games that had full voice tracks. This is when action, adventure and RPGs started to get full voice casts making them cinematic experiences. Sports games also benefited even more from this, now being able to have full colour commentary during the games.

Metal Gear Solid was one of the most cinematic games of its time. It was all done on 2 CDs on a 2x speed CD drive. However, this was enough to fully voice the entire game, with hours of speech.

Resident Evil was an earlier Playstation game that featured full voice acting. The voice acting is known for being comically cheesy but it added to the B-Movie feel of the game. These are some of the funnier quotes in the series. You can see how the bad translation and voice acting stand out even more with voice.

Nintendo the black sheep

The Nintendo 64 was not a CD based console so it lacked a lot of voice in its games. It was a powerful console so it could pull it off but the cartridge had a fairly limited capacity and one of the easiest things to cut in order to save space was voice. However, even today (with the Wii having a DVD drive) they do not regularly make games with voice acting. Sometimes this is done with a good reason. For example, Mario games have very limited voice acting but the characters voices are so cartoony that it would be annoying to hear them speak at great lengths. However there are many games that could use voice acting that do not have any at all. The Zelda games have a very colourful cast of characters and each one could have a great voice. For some reason the characters remain mute and you have to read the text on the screen. The games still stand as being fun and classics, but I believe some voice acting could really make the games epic.

Here is the voice of Mario. It is fun enough for a platformer game where you only heard Mario at select times. As you can see he also does the voice Wario (and other characters not shown in this clip).

Paper Mario is a Mario RPG, therefore it has a lot of story and text. Many people complain about the amount of dialogue to read, but I would rather read it than to hear the character in Mario's world speak. Many of which have very high pitched voices, or in Mario and Luigi's case Italian stereotyped voices that cannot be taken seriously.

When Voices go Bad

There are many times when voice acting goes completely wrong. With the ability to put voice in the games also comes the responsiblity to ensure that actors will take the role seriously, and game designers will write great dialogue. Voice acting in games is a double edged sword.If you have a great cast the game becomes much more immersive and memorable. If the voice acting is awful it can ruin the experience making the game seem much shallower than it might be.

A classic example or voice acting gone wrong. In the SNES Starfox the characters had little sound effects for their voice. But, when the N64 version came out they decided to upgrade to a full voice cast. The characters went from charming and fun to cheesy and borderline annoying. Thankfully the game was good enough to withstand this. However, later Starfox games suffered more as the voice acting became more and more prevalent.

Castlevania Symphony of the Night is one of the greatest games of all time, but it isn't perfect. The one thing that holds it down is the voice acting which makes the games plot seem much less meaningful and shallow (it is already a fairly simple plot). Luckily the game does not have that many areas that focus on story.

The Good Voice Acting

Not all games are plagued with horrible voice acting, some even really pull out all the stops when it comes to the voices in the game. When game designers take great care and pride in their dialogue and voices it really elevates the game. Great voice acting can enhance the storyline, make the game more realistic, give the player greater reason to have an emotional attachment, and all around make the game more polished. I am going to end off this post on a good note showing you what voice acting can lead to and how it can enhance the video game art form.

Psychonauts is a great game, and not only because of its gameplay. Tim Schafer (the lead designer) has a real knack for comedy and it really comes through in his writing. Even with great dialogue you still need great actors to delever it or it will fall flat.Thankfully, Psychonauts develops on a truely humourous experience thanks to the voice acting.

The Halo series is basically a sci-fi epic action game. Unlike some developers of first person shooters, the developers at Bungie actually cared about their story and wanted to make it something to remember. Now the plot in Halo isn't the greatest thing ever written but it does have more depth to it than a typical action game. The voice actors in the Halo series really know how to pull off a fun sci-fi feel.

Kingdom Hearts is a strange game. It is Disney meets Final Fantasy with the lead character Sora going from world to world meeting all kinds of characters. The people at Square-Enix made sure to capture the voices from the original Disney material. Even though they didn't have the original voice cast they tracked down people who played the parts other times (cartoons, or direct to DVD movies).

Uncharted Drakes Fortune is the closest thing I have ever played to an action movie. It borrows a lot of its themes from the Indiana Jones films and it shows. Part of what made Indiana Jones so great was the top notch acting, and Uncharted captured this with having some really fun characters, all of which had great voices.

Voice in video games is a relatively new aspect of the art form. It is something that can either help elevate a game to a real level of polish or make the game seem amateur. Since video games are only now obtaining mainstream recognition (and even then it is very fleeting) as a real medium it has become easier to find real dedicated actors to fill the voices. Video games voices is something that has gotten better over time and hopefully will only continue to do so.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

2009-06-15T06:29:00.001+09:00

It is strange to think that I am going to write about a Star Wars game as a form of art. I was actually putting this post off and doubting myself if it could be classified as art (as if such a classification exsists). Then I thought about what art means to me. Art is something that pulls the observer into its world causing them to think, and also influences the world around it (the world being other video games in the case of games as art). For me that is just part of the overall feeling I have about "art" but it is also part of what makes Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) so great, and a piece of video game art.

Franchi$e

I talked about how franchises rarely work out when I covered movie based games. When a game designer is working on a game franchise they have a limited world to work with as well as a fanbase that already expects a certain things. In a way creating a game based off an exsisting franchise is a very daunting process. Many times developers spend too much time worrying about the franchise and not enough time on making a good game. This has especailly been the case with Star Wars games since many publishers think that slapping on the Star Wars logo on a game of any quality will sell (and they are partly right). Bioware, the developers of the game, got around many of these obstacles by setting the game 6000 years before the film, thus breaking any ties to the films continuity, giving the designers more room to develop. By doing this they could take things they liked from the Star Wars universe in order to please fans while at the same time setting the game in a different setting with different character, which welcomed newcomers. Personally I am not what anyone would label as a Star Wars fan, I have seen the movies but would never care to own any of them or check up on its expanded universe. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was a great game first and foremost and a Star Wars game second, which is why I (and so many other people) had such a great time with it.

Storyline (spoilers if you have not played the game)

The storyline starts off as a fairly cliched RPG. You are a hero with an unknown past, and you are setting out to discover the mysteries of your history. This is standard fare for many games and if it was left as such it probably would not have left a mark. What really makes the story shine are the twists and turns throughout the game that really turn the cliche on its head.

As you play through the game you learn that there is a split among the Jedi. Some have left their peaceful ways and become Sith after a war tore them apart. You know that there are two main Sith in the game Darth Malak and Darth Revan. Darth Malak is constantly hunting you and your team down, and Darth Revan is a former ally of Darth Malak who is presumed dead but his influence still echos throughout the game. No matter which way you play the game (more on that aspect later) you constantly feel the presence of these two antagonists. The part of the story line that really grabs the player comes at the last third of the game, as you find out that Darth Revan is not dead and in fact your character is a brainwashed version of him/her. The Jedi basically reprogrammed Revan as a blank slate. The whole plot twist of "you are the villian the whole time" is an old trick, but what really makes it shine is the moral standing of your character. Throughout the game you have a great deal of control over your character and you can decide whether you want to be peaceful or spread fear. If you are the type of player who plays on the dark side this "Darth Revan" revelation is like an awakening learning that your dark past still influences you, and you might feel betrayed by those around you for playing with your mind. If you are playing as a heroic and peaceful figure you might feel a sense of forgiveness and retribution as you try to fix things your character has done wrong. Because, you have so much control over the character and his/her interactions the designers really played with your feelings on how you view the game world and allow for an oppertunity to play with typical plot twists.

Here is the moment in the game where you find out your character's back story.

Light Side / Dark Side

The revolutionary aspect of this game was the ability to play as a hero or as a villian. There have been games that have done this before (notably the Elder Scroll games on the PC) but KOTOR set a new standard. RPGs usually have a main quest along with a large numer of side quests, both of which can be completely altered by the player's decisions. There are times where you might meet a character who has information you need and you can either act kindly to them or pay them for it, or you can torture them having them give up the information violently. This effects how that character will see you from now on (if you are nice they might welcome you every time you visit, if you are violent towards them they might be scared of you or possibly dead by your hands). There is also an instance where your actions can get you kicked off a planet and you can never return again. It would be impossible to outline all of the ways of the game because there are so many actions you can partake in.

The game's 2 endings are drastically different and it depends on if you chose to be good or evil.

This level of gameplay allows for a greater interaction between the game and the player. No longer is the player completely passive bringing their hero from point A to point B. Now the player is forced to think about their actions and how they want to play the game. Allowing the player this much control can give him/her the freedom to experience things that so few games offer. Most games on the shelves feature a hero fighting for justice, but KOTOR allows the player to play as the villian and get behind what motivates evil. KOTOR does a great job at giving the player reasons to play as good and evil and having a storyline that can adapt to both.

Characters (Meat Bags)

The final layer that makes KOTOR more than just another Star Wars game is its cast of characters. Each character is so well rounded and fleshed out that they become just as important to the story as the lead character. However, if you don't wish to interact with a certain character you don't have to take them out with you thus giving the game replayability with different characters each time. Every character has their own stance on most decisions you make which may or may not help you along in your quest.

Bastila Shan: For most the game she is a light-side Jedi. If you make a wrong decision she may be disappointed in your actions. She is the Jedi council's voice throughout the game trying to lead you to a peaceful path. However, this all changes when she is kidnapped and turned to the dark side through brainwashing (much like how you were turned to the light side). When you meet her again you can either try and reform her, kill her, or take her on as your dark side apprentice. She is the character who has the most opportunity for change and can really evolve by the time the game ends.

Bastila can also be the center of a romantic story line in the game. If you chose to be a male character you can flirt with her many times throughout the game. This is completely optional which allows players to play the game how they want.

Carth Onasi: He is the pilot of the Ebon Hawk, your ship, and is a loyal friend. He has a smart attitude and has a lot of snappy one liners in the game. He is more of a heroic and noble figure so if you choose to fall too far into the dark side near the end of the game he will leave you. In many ways he is a stand in for Han-Solo but is not a direct copy of the character.

Carth's attitude comes to the surface many times in the game.

Canderous Ordo: A war vet who has become much more emotionally detached from humanity. He is one of the most wooden characters in the game but it works to the advantage of the game. Having one character that is a bit more straight forward helps the other characters stand out. Also if everyone was colourful the game would start to become a little less grounded. Ordo is more of a dark side character since he has been twisted by the horrors of war.

A quest that features Canderous. You can get a better idea of his personality.

Mission Vao: The first character you meet who is more light hearted. She is young and innocent making her a perfect light side character. She is a much welcome break from the cast of characters who have heavy emotional baggage (she has some too since she grew up in poverty but it doesn't get to her as much). However, her story can make a very drastic dark turn if you decide to stay on the dark side as she dies by Zaalbar's hands.

Zaalbar: Mission's Wookie companion has a much deeper story than most animal characters would have. He was banished from his home world for attacking his brother using his claws. Later it is found out that his brother was part of a slave trading ring on his home planet selling fellow wookies as workers. He is kind and well intentioned and loyal to the end. If you do decided to go on the dark side he dies after killing Mission.

Zaalbar and Mission's end if you chose the dark side

Jolee Bindo: He is another Jedi that can join your party but offers something different than all the other Jedi you have met. Jolee is neither light or dark side. He does not belong to the Jedi Council or wants to destroy it. He is simply a lone man carving his own path in life. He is one of the few characters that constantly sees both sides of every issue and makes a great center for the range of characters.

Juhani: She is one character you may never have in your party. When you meet her she is a dark side jedi who is harming the planet she is on. You can either kill her or try and reform her. Even after being rescued she still leans towards the dark side. But, she does grow out of her violent tendancies towards the end of the game and will even try to stop you (along with Jolee) if you follow the dark side.

Here you can see how Juhani and Jolee's story ends if you chose the dark side.

HK-47: KOTOR is a fairly heavy game with a long plot and many characters, and both of these bring in a lot of dark aspects to the game. HK-47 is also a dark character but rather than adding to the somber tone, he is comedic. In a game like KOTOR a comedic character may seem out of place, but Bioware pulls this off by keeping HK-47 in the realm of dark comedy. He wants nothing more than to kill all living things (and calls them meat bags because that is all they are worth to him). His psychodic tendancies never become disturbing because through his robot voice, and the way his dialogue is written it changes from something that could be frightening into something to laugh at.

Some examples of why HK-47 is such a great character

Star Wars: Kinghts of the Old Republic is a game that should have never entered the realm of art. It is a game that is based off a large movie franchise and could have played it safe. However, Bioware took great care into creating a great game that would make any player take notice whether they like Star Wars or not. Judged on its own and taking in everything that went into creating this memorable experience, there is no doubt that this game has artistic merit.

Controllers - Now

2009-06-11T06:26:00.003+09:00

This is the conclusion of a 3 part series. You can read part 1 and part 2 by clicking the links. *NOTE* I am purposely skipping the Dual Shock 2 for the Playstation 2 since it was basically the same controller with added pressure sensitivety, therefore nothing really changed, but it was already a near perfect controller already.

Gamecube Controller

In 2001, the Gamecube hit and it was Nintendo's chance to make up for the mistakes it made with the N64. When you first see the controller you notice that it looks like a fisher price toy. It is very colorful with many buttons in many different sizes. The colours do not really matter though it is the functionality of the controller that does. The Gamecube controller was basically the N64 controller done right. The Z trigger was moved to the top right shoulder. The L and R buttons were now triggers with more depth than any controller on the market. Because the L and R triggers had so much depth to them designers could use their pressure sensitivity so that the deeper the button was pressed it would change the action on the screen (for example some games used the triggers as a zoom lens for a sniper rifle. The more the trigger was pressed, the closer the zoom). The face buttons were strange shapes and sizes but it was an attempt to make them more comfortable and easier to read with just using your fingers. The main action button was bigger making it easier to find. Overall, it ended up being an unneeded change since players were comfortable with the traditional button setup. The best change was the N64 C buttons being turned into a second analog stick which made 3D games even more involving.

Game types - The Gamecube suffered from a lack of support from developers. While the controller probably had nothing to do with it, it was clear that most game genres just played better on the Xbox or the Playstation 2. However when Nintendo made games, they really took advantage of the controller and used its unique design to create really unique games. "Super Smash Bros Melee" was a fighting/party game and it could only be pulled off using the Gamecube controller (even the new wii version is best played by plugging in a gamecube controller).

Xbox

The Xbox also hit the market in 2001 and with it came a massive controller. The first thing that players noticed was the size of the controller and it was a problem. Even big handed individuals (like myself) found the controller too big to be comfortable. Since players were used to smaller controllers it was too much of a change. It made some right moves by having the 2 analog sticks in staggered locations to make room for comfortably using the face buttons. However, the face buttons had a problem, namely the black and white buttons. The A, B, X, and Y buttons were fine and were in the same positions as gamers were used to. The black and white buttons were placed up high in a hard to get to place while still using the rest of the face buttons. Also the black and White buttons were far too small which stood out on the massive controller. The L and R shoulder buttons were triggers much like the dreamcast controller and they were perfect. The Xbox and the Gamecube together made sure that triggers were standard making the Playstation's shoulder buttons seem a little stiff in comparison. Pictured below are both controllers side by side. You can see how much bigger and boxier the controller on the left is, and how much of an improvement the controller on the right is.

In 2002 the Xbox hit Japan and with it came new controllers. These controllers were smaller in order to fit into Japanese gamers hands. It was quickly found that these smaller controllers were superior to the American controllers and became standard worldwide. The black and white buttons were now in a different position as well and they were still awkward to use.

Game types - The Xbox was made by Microsoft so it was almost like a console/PC hybrid. Because of this it brought the most popular PC genre, the First Person Shooter, home. The N64 might have done it first but the xbox perfected how to put an FPS on a console and its controller was almost perfect for them. The Playstation 2 and the Gamecube just couldn't produce the same quality of FPS and 3rd person shooters as the Xbox could.

Xbox 360

Coming out in 2005 the Xbox 360 was an instant hit, and the controller was part of its success. Many gaming publications and websites mentioned how improved the controller was and it is now one of the best controllers on the market. The changes made from the original Xbox controller were simple but effective. The controller remained small and was much smoother and less boxy, so it was very comfortable to hold. The triggers remained and the black and white buttons became bumpers placed in front of the triggers. It basically made the 360 controller an improved Playstation Dual Shock. One thing that really set it apart from what came before was the big Xbox button in the middle. This button functioned much like a menu button on a DVD remote letting the player switch back to the Xbox 360 Operating system and use its features. For example if the 360 has music already on the harddrive the Xbox button could be used to navigate to a custom soundtrack and have the players own music play over the game. It brought up the customization aspect that is very prevalent in today's games. It is a button that has become standard on all controllers since.

Game types - Much like the xbox, the 360 also has a great deal of first person shooters and 3rd person shooters. However, every genre seems to work great when mapped onto the 360 controller. Recently developers have even tried bringing in complicated RTS games (which many thought impossible without a mouse and keyboard) and successfully mapping the controls to the 360.

Playstation 3

Released in 2006, the Playstation 3 Sixaxis controller copied key features from the 360 and the not yet released (by only a handful of days) Nintendo Wii. It had a Playstation button that functioned the same as the Xbox button. It also had some motion control like the Wii. The Playstation's motion control is limited but it does add a little over the typical controller. By tilting the controller you can control the action on the screen. This Sixaxis controller has been used to do everything from drive cars, to lob grenades. Many players do not like the Sixaxis controls and feel that developers added in the feature as an afterthought. It works best when it is optional or is only used for simple tasks. The other change to the Playstation 3 controller was turning the R2 and L2 buttons into triggers, which was a welcome addition. In 2007, the Dual Shock 3 came out which looks exactly the same as the Sixaxis but had added force feedback (which every other controller had).

Game types - The Playstation 3 controller is similiar enough to the 360 that their game types are very similiar. The only difference is that the Playstation 3 allows for motion controls. This worked great in action games like "Uncharted" allowing for better aiming of grenades. But the game "Lair" which only had motion control was a failure both commercially and critically because it is too hard to control everything by twisting the controller.

Wii

The final controller discussed is by far the most different controller and the biggest change to gameplay since the NES. In 2006, Nintendo launched the Wii with an odd looking controller. It focused a lot more on motion controls than action buttons. Alone the controller only has 6 buttons and a d-pad (and only 2-4 buttons can be used at once comfortably), and when attached with the nunchuck it has an extra analog stick and 2 more buttons. The controller can be held either horizontally or vertically depending on the game allowing for many different control sets between games. Alone, looking at just the buttons, it is a pretty awkward and useless controller that is a giant step backward from its predecessors. But, with the motion controls it really is a revolutionary design choice. Games can tell how far the controller is away from the screen as well has how it is positioned. This has led to a wide variety of designers trying to make use of its unique features (and usually failing). Regardless of whether designers are getting it right the Wii has been such a hit based on the motion controls alone. It currently outsells both the 360 and the PS3.

Game types - Because it is such a radically different controller, it has attracted a strange number of new game types. The most common game being the mini-game collection (a series of small activities that use the motion controls). Sometimes the motion controls really pull off unique games, like "Zack and Wiki" and can be precise enough to offer amazing first person controls, like "Metroid Prime 3" or the "medal of Honor" series. Overall the Wii controller is full of potential but it does not seem to be fullfilling it yet.

Earthbound

2009-06-08T08:31:00.001+09:00

This game may have come out in 1995 (94 in Japan) but I played through it for the first time just this last month. I had heard how great the game is from many people and decided to try it out for this blog. I am glad I did because even though this game is 15 years old it is just as fresh as any game out today. In fact it has some elements in it that the RPG genre has yet to catch up on. Even though my expectations were high coming into this game they were still blown away. I had more fun playing this game than many games that came out this year. Many games, especially in the RPG genre, are stuck using the same cliches over and over again. Shigesato Itoi, creator of the game, made a point to throw out everything that is typically expected of an RPG only keeping the bare essentials. He made a completely unique game that is without an equal. It is without a doubt a piece of video game art.

The Game World

A typical RPG is either set in a fantasy realm, full of castles and dragons, or a futuristic world, full of cyber-punk imagery and post apocolyptic worlds. Earthbound is set in 90s America and the game world spans across some small towns, a large city, deserts, and forrests. The game also has a psychadelic side to it bringing out a dinosaur land, a world done completely with neon lights on a black background, a Chinese Kingdom, and even alien fortresses. It is a strange mix of locals but it works in the players favour, you are always experiencing something new and the change from one location to another is actually done smoothly.

Onett - The town you start off in. A typical little American town.

Moonside is on the other end of the spectrum. The colour scheme and art direction does a complete 180 from what the player is used to. But it is a welcome surprise and adds to the charm the game has.

Characters and Plot

What brings all the strange places together is the journey of the characters of the game. The game starts off with a meteor crash in which Ness (the lead character) is given the responsibility to defeat an evil being know as Giygas. He has to travel far and wide to find spiritual locations to unite himself with the earth. Ness is not just chosen at random, he has psychic abilities that allow him to manipulate objects around him. But Ness is vunerable in other ways that the typical RPG hero is not. Since the game spans such a great distance from Ness' original starting point, he can get homesick. If you do not call your mother on a regular basis he will become upset and begin to fail in battles. It is touches like this that humanizes the lead hero, and reminds the player that he is just a boy who is taking on something bigger than himself whether he has powers or not. He also relies on his father heavily throughout the game. Much like many children, Ness' father is constantly away at work and the only way to reach him is by phone. The father is soley responsible for saving the game when needed and putting money into Ness' bank account (the only way you get money). This again humanizes the experience since many people do have a parent who is constantly away from home but only does so in order to support the family. Even though the father is never visible, without him you could not beat the game.

The four main characters are in the center of this screenshot. They are Ness (red cap), Jeff (glasses), Paula (the girl), and Poo (Wearing white and stragne hair).

Throughout the game, 3 other characters join you; Paula, Jeff, and Poo. Paula is a lot like Ness in the way that she has the same abilities. You rescue her early in the game and she quickly becomes a valuable member. Jeff is a boy genious who helps along a lot of the Sci-Fi aspects of the game. He has no abilities like Ness, Paula, or Poo but can use a wide array of machines. Because he plays differently than the other team members he brings some welcome change to the gameplay. Poo is a Chinese prince. He has some of the abilities that Paula and Ness do but to a lesser extent. He is out on a spiritual mission as well, and helps ground the game in its psychadelic atmosphere.

Enemies

The enemies in the game even have a completely different look than most RPGs. You will find yourself fighting everything from wild animals to aliens to zombies to new age retro hippies. Every place has its own unique cast of characters and with it brings new enemies.

Dali's Clock. An obvious nod to Salvador Dali.

A battle against a new age retro hippie. One of the more bizarre enemies in the game.

The typical RPG (back then and even today) involves a lead hero leading a cast of characters on a journey. Throughout the game they encounter many enemies and defeat them to gain money, items, and experience. These battle are usually random encounters (you can't see the enemy on the screen, you are just walking and suddenly sent to battle). Earthbound kept the fun aspect of the RPG genre, collecting items and leveling up your characters, but removed the random encounters. It seems like a no brainer to have the enemies on the screen but Earthbound was one of the first games to do it. This allowed you to see what enemies were coming up and you could avoid them or prepare ahead. It was a simple change like this that made the game much more accessible and less frustrating. Another thing that typical RPGs have is the inability to avoid needless fights. If your character is at a high level but you have to cross a field filled with weak enemies you will be wasting your time fighting them off taking up game time and the player's time. But in Earthbound this is fixed, by simply having the enemies recognize that you are a higher level than them. No longer do they run towards you in battle but run away making them easier to avoid. If you do happen to accidently bump into a weak enemy the battle is completely skipped and a screen flashes telling you you've won. These are very basic changes but it goes to show that the developers didn't just work with big ideas but also took time to think about the little things that make the game experience better.

Power of Prayer

A short but important part of the game and its message is Paula's Pray command. In battle Paula can pray which sometimes leads to your party being healed or some other positive status effect. It could damage your party, or it can have a negative status effect on your enemies. Either way it is a risky move to make and you can safely go through the game without ever praying. It should only be used as a last ditch effort if you are dying and have no items or PP points (what you use to cast healing and other magical attacks). It is an interesting addition to have your party pray for their own success while at the same time the player is praying that it will work, it is an appropriately named command. However if you are well prepared throughout the game you may never need to use it, that is until the last battle. Once you are coming to the end of the battle with the final boss your attacks are meaningless. The only way to defeat him is to pray. While you pray all the people you met throughout the game start to pray with you leading you to an eventual victory. It is not through violence that you beat the game but through the power of prayer. Its a powerful message that has a passive solution to a voilent enemy, it also shows you how much you connected to the characters around you throughout the game.

A sample of the last battle in Earthbound. You can see how prayer works in this battle. Also notice how the boss has some strange dialogue. This text was taken directly from an experience the lead designer had when he accidently saw a rape scene in a movie. It frightened him as a child and decided to use the dialogue to represent the ultimate evil in the game.

Western Culture

Earthbound can be seen as a giant love letter to western culture. The designers of the game are all Japanese and only have a fleeting interpretation of life in the west the same way most westerners think of life in Japan. It is an interesting look at how they view our pop-culture. Earthbound could have dipped too far into plagerism, but instead they sprinkled references throughout creating a homage and not a copy.

One set of reccuring characters are the Runaway Five (part of the joke is that there are actually six members in the group). The two lead singers are complete homages to the Blues Brothers (Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi). In fact, the characters look so similiar that they had to change their clothes slightly for the American release in order to avoid copy-right infringment. Like the Blues Brothers they are constantly in trouble (in the game they are always in debt that they can't pay off) and Ness has to find a way to help them out in order to move on in the game. You can even watch them perform a bluesy song if you buy a ticket to their concert.

Starman is on the box for the game as well as a regular enemy.

The Diamond Dog is a boss in Earthbound.

There are many references to western music (more will be talked about in the music section) but there are three instances where songs take a phsyical form. One of the references is to the Beatles "Yellow Submarine." In the game you are in need of a submarine for transportation and finally get to a yellow submarine. There is a little joke sign next to it saying "The yellow color is a coincidence." The movie "Yellow Submarine" is a psycadelic journey of the four Beatles, making it a great tool for the psychadelic journey of the four lead characters of Earthbound. The other song titles that comes to life are both David Bowie songs. "Starman" is a famous Bowie song and also a main enemy in the game. "Diamond Dogs" is another David Bowie hit and a boss in the game is called Diamond Dog.

You can see how Aloysius Minch is a sleazy character.

One of the lead antagonists in the game is Pokey; a greedy little kid the same age as Ness. Pokey's father is also an evil character named "Aloysius Minch." This is a play on "Atticus Finch" the father figure in To Kill a Mocking Bird. Aloysius Minch is a twisted evil version of that character.

There are many more references to western culture but one of my personal favourites is the Mr. T character. All the towns in Earthbound are alive with many residents walking about and one of them looks exactly like Mr. T. This cannot be a coincedence

Music

Original Music

The music in the game also is influenced by western music and culture but first I am going to go through what I felt were the best pieces of original music in the game. The music in Earthbound is powerful when it needs to be, fun and light during the city exploration, and psycadelic when the game takes a turn into the odd and bizarre.

ONETT MUSIC

Onett is the first town you go to and has one of the most basic scores for the game. Its light, fun, and kind of sounds like something you would hear in a cartoon. It's the perfect music to welcome the player into the game.

POLESTAR

My personal favourite song in the entire game. It starts off light and easy but takes a turn into a more heavy and chilling atmosphere. You first hear it when you visit Polestar Pre-School. The light aspect of the song blends with the environment of children at the preschool. However, one of the children has been kidnapped which makes the darker turn of the music make sense. You can feel that this once happy place has had a turn for the worst. Once you rescue Paula (the girl who was kidnapped) the music in this area changes back to a light hearted song permanently.

Coffee Cup

My other favourite song in the game is when you are drinking coffee. You have 2 instances where this can happen in the game. You can take a drink of coffee and reflect on how much you progressed through the game. During the song, text scrolls on the screen against a psycadelic background. It is probably one of the strangest songs in the game but it matches the way the game feels at this point. The first time you drink coffee is in Saturn Village, which is a strange place inhabited by odd looking creatures. The second time you drink coffee is in a cave where you have recently taught the creatures to not be so shy and believe in themselves.

Western Remixes

A good deal of the music is not completely original but remixes of classic western music. I won't put all the references here since it would take too long to go through all of them, but here are some of my favourites.

Belch Factory

Pink Floyd is one of my favourite bands, and it's in Belch Factory they are sampled. The intro to the Belch Factory score mimicks the intro to "Welcome To The Machine" by Pink Floyd.

FLYING TIME

There are pionts in the game that you are flying in the Skyrunner (an obvious nod to Skywalker from Star Wars). While you are flying, a remix of the intro from " We Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who.

Naming Screen

One of the most frantic songs in the game is at the naming screen. The song is actually a sample of the Monty Python theme song played at different speeds. Listen closely you might not catch it at first.

Earthbound is a great game with so many layers to it. Not only is the game fun to play but it is obvious that the designers took a lot of time and effort giving the game a unique feel that is completely unmatched in any game. When Earthbound hit North America is was actually a failure since RPGs were not as popular at the time and the direction of the game was so radically different from what people were used to. In many ways it was too far ahead of its time and only now are some developers catching up.

Controllers 90s

2009-06-04T06:00:00.002+09:00

This is a continutation of this post. Now I am going to look at how controllers changed throughout the 90s to today. You'll see that the NES controller basically continues it dominance as the best way to interact with games and as all the popular consoles at this time were basically upgrades of the NES model.

Super Nintendo (SNES)

In 1990, Nintendo finally came out with a new system, and with it a better controller. Early systems (namely the Intellivision and Colecovision) had many buttons on the controller but they were placed in such a way it was very difficult to take full advantage of them. This is why the NES controller and later the Sega Genesis controller were such hits, they had minimal buttons and all were easy to use. The SNES had four buttons that could be reached with the right thumb. Since games were becoming more complex it was difficult to map a game on just 2 to 3 buttons and these 4 buttons gave developers a lot more action to play with. Furthermore fighting games were becoming more popular in the early 90s and controllers needed at least 6 buttons to mimick the arcade. Nintendo knew that 6 buttons all located for the right thumb would be too much to handle. So the additional two buttons were placed on top of the controller. It felt natural to hold the controller with a thumb on the d-pad a thumb over the A,B,X,Y buttons and the pointer fingers resting on top of the controller against the L and R buttons. Now the player could quickly locate and use 6 buttons and fully control the directional pad with no issues. It lead to faster and more complex games. The player now had the tools to move the artform forward.

Game Types - With more buttons on the controller and all of them being very easy to access games got even more complex and fast. The SNES could handle all the genres that the Genisis and the NES had but with an added layer of gameplay. This controller also allowed fighting games to be successfully ported over to the console. "Street Fighter 2" being an example of what the console and the controller could handle.

Sega Genesis (6 button)

Pictured left is the old controller and on the right is the new 6 button controller.

In 1993 many games were being mapped to the Super Nintendo's 6 button layout making them difficult to convert over to the Genesis. Sega had to create a new controller to keep up with game design. So they added 3 new buttons to the controller. Rather than copying the SNES and placing 2 of the buttons on top of the controller, they placed all 6 buttons for the right thumb. The controls were managable but not as easy to use as the Super Nintendo. The 6 buttons covered too much space and it was difficult to use all of them effectively. It was a step in the right direction and cemented the fact that games now needed 6 buttons, but the controller was a little too awkward.

Game types - The original Genisis controller could handle many genres but was not so good at fighting games. Fighting games on the SNES had better controls soley because it had the number of buttons needed for the arcade port. The 6 button Genisis controller allowed the consoles library to open itself to more games.

Sega Saturn

Not much is to be said about the first Sega Saturn controller. It copied the 6 button Genesis controller but it had shoulder buttons, like the SNES, as well. But the hardware itself was a bit too clunky and the buttons felt stiff. It was hated by most gamers and the Sega Saturn was a failure in the marketplace. Sure there were many factors that led to the Saturn's problems but the controller didn't help. It just goes to show that if a controller is uncomfortable and not well liked it is hard to get people to use it and developers to create games for it. The Sega Saturn was also rushed to market in 1994 and this controller is proof that more time could have been spent polishing.

In 1996, Sega released a new controller featuring an analog stick. While the stick was a welcome change (and an answer to the N64 controller mentioned below) it suffered from being way too big and awkward to hold. The circular controller fit in no ones hands properly. The other thing it got right was the new shoulder triggers. Rather than a pair of stiff buttons on top of the controller it had triggers. These triggers were much easier to use and had depth to them mimicking a gun trigger. It was a simple and welcome change but sadly it did not become standard on all controllers until much later.

Game types - The Saturn was never ment to be a 3D machine and was marketed as more as the ultimate 2D game console. This also showed in the controller which worked fine for 2D games but fell apart for 3D games. The 3D games that did succeed on the Saturn, usually limited the controls. In the case of the remarkable "panzer Dragoon" games they were made on rail shooters thus not having as much 3D movement. When the newer 3D controller came out it allowed for more 3D control but it was a little to late since the Saturn was almost on the way out.

Playstation (original controller)

Coming out just a month later than the Saturn in Japan the Playstation knew exactly what to do right. The system was originally going to be a Super Nintendo CD add-on and it shows with the controller. The Playstation controller was a simple upgrade to the SNES one (if it is not broke don't fix it). All that was added was grips to hold it more comfortably and two extra shoulder buttons, now giving the player 8 action buttons to work with. Since this remote, 8 buttons has become the standard, it is just enough to give the game designers enough to make their games complex while keeping it managable for the player to work with.

Game Types - The Playstation really pushed 3D games and it worked well enough on its first controller. The D-Pad worked but didn't give full 3D movement. 3D games felt a little clunky on the original controller. However the extra shoulder buttons did allow for more complex games in every genre.

Nintendo 64

In 1996, Nintendo tried to reinvent the controller again. They did a lot of things right but also quite a few things wrong. The main addition to the controller was an analog stick giving the player full 360 degrees of movement. 3D games were becoming the norm and the best way to manipulate a 3D environment is with a controller that lets you move in all directions smoothly. The analog stick worked perfectly and it has become a standard addition to every controller since. Nintendo took steps backward by placing 6 buttons for the right thumb, which was already proven to be too much. The d-pad was still on the controller but it was placed in such a way you could not use the d-pad and the analog stick at the same time (which was needed for some games, one set of controls to move another set of controls for the camera). 4 of the buttons on the right side became the new camera buttons but they cannot mimic the precision that the d-pad would have had. Also turning 4 buttons into camera buttons ment that now only 4 buttons could be used for action. It also had the weird placement of 3 shoulder buttons (on on the left shoulder, one on the right shoulder, and one in the middle). Even though there were 3 buttons you could only comfortably use 2 at the same time thus restricting the player. It was a revolutionary controller that changed the way game designers created games in some ways but also a lesson on what not to do for others.

There is one addition to the N64 controller that came out in 1997. The Rumble Pack allowed the controller to have force feedback. You could literally feel the action in the game through the controller. It was an immediate success and developers loved it. It is one of the biggest advances in bringing the player into the game world to date.

Game types - With the analog stick the N64 execelled at one thing above the Playstation, 3D platformers. The N64 controller just handled a 3D environment so much better then any other console when it came out. But the limited buttons and the akward placement did not allow for as complex games as the Playstation had, and fighting games were few and far between and controlled horribly. The controller was created specifically to control "Super Mario 64" so it worked best with games that were similiar to it. It also pulled off first person shooters successfully but still not as great as it the PC could.

Dual Shock

Coming out in late 1997 in Japan, the Dual Shock was Sony's answer to the Nintendo 64 controller (The Dual Analog came out a bit before but it was the Dual Shock that was the true final product. Because the Nintendo 64 controller had an analoge stick it was far easier for game designers to create better 3d platformers and first person shooters. The Dual Shock trumped the N64 controller by having two analog sticks (which is now standard on almost all controllers) which allowed for much more precision in a 3D landscape and tighter controls. It achieved such prefection that the later playstation 2 and 3 controllers were barely changed (The Playstation 2 controller had such a small amount of change it won't be mentioned later in the blog). The Dual Shock also had rumble inside the controller which made games much more realistic and cemented the fact that all games needed rumble support from now on. It became the new standard replacing the SNES controller as the blueprint that all game companies design their games and hardware from.

Game Types - Once the dual shock came out the Playstaion became the king of 3D control. It could do everything the N64 controller could and more since it had better button placement and more buttons. Once this controller became standard complex 3D games started to become the norm.

Dreamcast controller
Released on 9/9/99 the Dreamcast controller was matched with a great system but the controller itself had many flaws. Unlike the Playstation controller, the Dreamcast only had two shoulder buttons (that were thankfully triggers). This brought the number of action buttons that designers had to work with down. It also only had one analog stick which was another step back since game designers have already proven the two analog sticks are needed for many action games. It also was rather big and a little awkward to hold. The other major flaw was that the D-pad was placed too far down and was awkward to use.

Its big claim to fame was the VMU unit in the middle of the controller that promised adding a new layer of gameplay. It was a small little extra memory card/controller/game that allowed the designers to put extra content on the VMU. For example in the Sonic games the VMU became a home to a virtual pet you could take care of. It could have been a lot more but because of the Dreamcast's short life span it never came to full realization.

Game types: As I said before the Dreamcast controller was a step back from the Dual Shock. However, it was not such a disaster like the N64 controller and it could still handle many genres well. The 2K sports games played particularly well on the Dreamcast and "Soul Calibur" was one of the best fighting games out at the time and it controlled perfectly.

Portal

2009-06-01T06:23:00.000+09:00

About a year and a half ago The Orange Box came out. Even though it contained the successful Half Life 2 and the two episododic sequels, it was the game Portal (which was bundled in the package) that really caught everyone's attention. At its core it was a puzzle game but the level of polish, charm, and humour is where everything really shined.

Blue and Orange

The Puzzle aspect of Portal is where the actual gameplay lays. Without it no amount of clever writing could make the game playable. Luckily the puzzle aspect of the game was unique, fresh, and revolutionary. Puzzles comprised of going into a room and figuring your way out of it. You had a gun which shot orange and blue portals. Go through a blue portal and you come out the orange portal, and vice versa. Like any good puzzle game it has a simple premise that can be used in a variety of ways to make it more complex and flexible. Since Portal was a new game with a new puzzle the game designers designed the rooms in such a way that each one got just a little bit more complicated. The learning curve in a game is one of the hardest things to master and all designers should really look at Portal as a great example of how to do it right. When games start off too hard many players give up and become frustrated, but if a game is too easy for too long the player becomes bored. Its a hard task to design a game that ramps up the difficulty just fast enough to accommodate almost everyone. Portal was never overbearing and with enough practice anyone could complete the game. This wasn't becasue the game was too easy but because it was designed in such a way to constantly improve the players abilities in a seemless way. One of the best ways to understand art is to learn to appreciate it, and the designers of Portal did a fantastic job on keeping the player in the know.

Short and Sweet

Game length is one of the ongoing debates within the gaming community. Some people demand long epic games, and become frustrated when a game isn't more than at least 12 hours. Others get bored when a game refuses to end after playing for 20+ hours. My personal feelings are that a game should last as long as the designers vision warrents it. Portal clocks in at about 3-5 hours (depending on how well you adapt to the puzzles) on the first play through. It is the most focused 3-5 hours of gaming anyone could ask for. Because the game is short and focused it never has a chance to let the player down. On the other hand, you would expect since the game is so fun that the player would be disappointed when it ends, however this is not the case. Portal is a puzzle game and even the best puzzle games would get a little repetitive if dragged out for too long. Of course after beating the game you are excited to see what the developers of the game will bring in their next game but you do not feel cheated. The other thing that the short length brings is the ability to beat the game in a single sitting (or two). Many games take a long time to beat and by the end of the game you have forgotten what happened at the start of it. You can take everything the game has to offer in a short period of time which makes it all that much more powerful and memorable. Portal is the perfect length for the game it is supposed to be.

The Lab

The art direction in Portal is also another stand out feature. At first glance of any screenshot the game looks very sterile. This overly white and clean look to the start of the game adds to the mystery in the atmosphere. You wake up as a test subject and really have no clue what your character is doing in the lab. The white walls have a contrasting effect, both looking calming to the player (since there is no sensory overload) and at the same time confusing (since it still looks very sterile and odd). Throughout the rooms you see slightly frosted glass up near the cieling and you can somewhat see an office space. These little things stand out against the white walls since any change in colour or art will immediately catch the player's eye.

A little bit later in the game once you have become completely comfortable with the controls and puzzle aspect, the environment changes. You go from white sterile labs to dark run down back rooms. The art direction changes when the player escapes the lab tests. The later levels stand out even more because it is such a contrast to what came before it.

The Cake is a Lie

The one thing that no one expected from a puzzle game was a good story. Typically a puzzle game doesn't need a story since they are rewarding enough on their own as a mind teaser. But the designers went above and beyond what they needed to do and made sure that not only that Portal had a great stroy but a humorous one. Creating a good video game story line is hard enough as it is, but creating one that is funny is even harder. Video games have never been known for getting players to laugh, it is much easier to create action and stress then pull off comedy. The comedy in Portal would be categorized under "black comedy" or "dark humour" which is described as (by dictionary.com):

the juxtaposition of morbid and farcical elements (in writing or drama) to give a disturbing effect

As stated before, Portal starts off with the player in a lab not knowing how they got there or what they are doing there. It seems like they are running tests that revolve around portal technology. This scenario seems more like the set up for a horror story then a comedy but that is what makes it a dark comedy. GLaDOS (a robotic voice that gives you your instructions) is constantly promising you cake after completing the tests. Furthermore she taunts you in many rooms even saying how impossible the room is or that you might end up dead soon. Alone these lines are not funny but when delievered through a robotic voice they have comedic timing and tone to them. When you finally get to the cake you learn that it is a lie. The cake is there but it is across a pit of fire that will kill you. It is at this point the player realizes that GLaDOS has taken over the lab and you may be the only survivor. Having the cake as bait to lure the player to their death gives that Wily Coyote vs Road Runner aspect to the game. GLaDOS is Wily with all her traps and technology and the player is the Road Runner with all the smarts and wit.

An example of GLaDOS wit through monotone.

One room in particular has you using a companion cube. Many rooms have the player picking up cubes and placing them on buttons to solve puzzles, but this cube is different. GLaDOS instructs you to love and care for this cube and keep it with you. It even has some hearts painted on the cube. This whole idea is silly but the player cannot help but get a little attached to it. The cube does help you get through most of the level and you are pretty happy with yourself and the cube for solving the puzzles.

However, in order to leave the level you have to burn the cube, effectively killing it. GLaDOS taunts you saying that you killed the cube faster than any other test subject making the player seem heartless. It may be silly but it is dark humour at its best. You laugh at the fact that you are growing attached to a silly metal box and then get a little upset when you effectively have to put down your only friend. The companion cube would not stand out so much if it wasn't for the fact that you meet no people throughout the game. All you have is yourself and GLaDOS (who is mean spirited and trying to kill you). The little companion cube with a heart painted on it is the biggest personality in the game that you interact with. It is a ridiculous scenario and one that really exemplifies what dark comedy can achieve.

Finally you have the story that is told through the writting on the wall. You see this from time to time when you have a chance to get out of the lab tests. You can see previous scribbles left from old test subjects. They warn you that the cake is a lie and that the place is more dangerous than you may expect. This part is actually a little creepy which helps bring out the humorous parts of the game more. By having this dark and creepy part of the game the humour stands out in contrast.

Music

The music throughout the game is mostly dark and mysterious. It has a lingering effect on the player and almost goes unnoticed just enhancing the players mood. It is very subtle which works to the games advantage since the game has a very sterile and lonely feel to it. Too much noise would hurt the mood. Also the eerie sounds help bring out the humour a little more and twist it into dark humour.

Notice how the score of the game is very subtle and adds to the eerie atmosphere.

The music in the game that got the most attention was the song that comes at the end of the game. This song was such a success that it became downloadable on iTunes and a song to play on Rock Band. The song reinforces the humourous aspect of the game. It is sung by GLaDOS and she is taunting the player letting them know that this game was just a trial and everything went to plan. Even though you supposedly killed GLaDOS in the final battle/puzzle she is singing away telling you it all went to her plan. It is a nice twist on the final scare that usually happens in horror movies (where the monster or killer comes back at the very end for a quick scare nodding towards a sequel). Rather than having the quick scare or just a scene of GLaDOS coming back to life, she sings a fun little song. The best way to appreciate it is to play through the game so you can see how it is a nice capper to the whole experience. I will end my blog the same way. Please listen and enjoy Still Alive, written by Jonathan Coulton.

One of the best endings to any game. Its dark humor at its best, the evil robot who has been trying to kill you the entire game comes back to taunt you in a sweet little song.

Controllers - 70s to the 80s

2009-05-28T06:09:00.000+09:00

div>Video games are a unique form of art since you need multiple tools to appreciate them. You need a TV to display the art, a console to play the art, and a controller to interact with the art. The controller is literally the players hands in the game's world, without it the entire artform falls apart. Even though we do not always actively think about the controller in our hands (it has become almost second nature to me even when holding a new controller) any subtle change to the design can enhance or change the way a game can play. I will be going through the most popular consoles and the most revolutionary controllers and how each one changed the way we interact.

Magnavox Odyssey

The first video game console was released in 1972. The controller is actually pretty awkward to use. It had no button, besides a reset button (nothing to do with gameplay), and had two dials on the sides to control the game. Since the game had no action buttons, games were limited to very simple games that only required movement. In fact, all the games revolved around just two blocks moving around. The only thing that makes this controller stand out was the fact it was one of the first.

The other controller later came out for the system and did revolutionize console gaming. The light gun for the Magnavox Odyssey was the first of its kind sold at retail. The gun would detect light that would flash on the screen when you pulled the trigger. If your gun was aimed at the white light then you hit your target. This light gun was the size of a rifle and looked realistic, something that has not been copied too much since (mostly because of laws stating that you cannot make realistic guns as toys).

Game types - As stated before because of the simplicity of the hardware and the controller all the games had to revolve around just 2 blocks moving around and sometimes an additional small block used as a weapon or ball.

Atari 2600

It was 5 years later in 1977 that any big change came to the home console market. The Atari 2600 was a big success and one of the things that helped it was the controller. Arcade gaming was still popular in the late 70s and early 80s and most of these games featured a joystick and a few buttons. Atari brought the joystick into the home which many gamers were already used to. Since the control was so similiar to the arcade it was easier to bring the arcade experience home. Controlling with the stick was much easier than using dials. It felt a lot more natural and offered the player more control over the content in the game. The Atari controller also placed a small red fire button on the controller. Having only one button limited the type of games that could be played, but most games at the time were fairly simple anyways. A single fire button was usually sufficiant for most games in the late 70s and early 80s. It seems simple but adding a button brought a lot more depth to the gameplay, you can now not only control the direction of the characters but the actions as well.

Game types - Because the controller was so limited with just a joystick and one action button games basically had just a single character to control and it usually could fire something, or jump but not both.

Intellivision

In 1980 the Intellivision hit and with it brought some new controls. Rather than having a joystick, it had a disc that could move in 16 directions. The disc was more advanced than the Atari joystick but because of its design it was not the easiest to manipulate. The controller also has a full keypad and 4 buttons on the side. The side buttons were somewhat difficult to use effectively depending on how you held the controller, while the keypad could only be used when you were not using the control disc. Because you could not manipulate the disc and the keypad at the same time players would sometimes have to use two controllers at once (one for the keys and one for directions). This was not a comfortable situation. The intellivision controller was advanced in many ways (having more buttons allowed for more action on the screen and more control over the game) but had too many hardware issues to truely be amazing.

One unique and fun thing about the controller was the overlays you could put over the keypad. Each game had its own control scheme and many players were not used to using a full keypad for console games. In order to help the player, he/she could use a controller overlay that would tell you which button did what.

ColecoVision

Coming out 2 years later than the Intellivision, in 1982, the ColecoVision did a lot of things right with the controller. The control disc was raised and created a hybrid disc/joystick that was much easier to use. Unlike the Atari joystick you could control it with just your thumb and like the Intellivision disc it had a lot more movement. Because you only had to use your thumb it kept the rest of your hand free to press other buttons, allowing more action to happen on the screen. The keypad and overlay was also replicated from the Intellivision. Overall this controller was everything the Intellivision controller could have been if it just spent a bit more time in product testing.

Game types - Both the ColecoVision and the Intellivison were very similar in execution and games because of there similiar controllers. Games now had much more they could do and the overlay allowed for a more complex series of actions the character on the screen could prefrom.

Nintendo Entertainment System

Even though the NES came out in Japan in 1983, under the name Famicom, the controller was basically a copy of Nintendo's Game and Watch, which came out in 1980. The controller was simple as it had only two buttons and a directional pad. The directional pad was where the real change to gaming came from. It was a slightly raised cross but offered precise control. Because it was such a small directional pad it was the first controller that could be held comfortably. It just fit in the player's hand and you could access all the buttons you need with your thumbs. Taking away the complexities of the previous controllers on the market the NES quickly became an accessible and hot selling machine. Even though the controller did not have as many action buttons, because of how easy and comfortable it was to use the games could be faster and more action paced without losing the player. The joysticks and keypads of previous systems were completely scrapped, and to this day all video game controllers are built off of the foundation that the NES controller laid.

The NES light gun also deserves a mention. It used the same technology the Magnovox one did but it was much lighter and more compact.

The Japanese Controllers were different in colour scheme as well as having one extra feature. The second controller had a microphone on it. The mic wasn't used in many games (I can only think of one) and all it did was allow the player to project his/her voice on the TV speakers.

Finally in 1993 the NES under went a re-design. The controllers were functionally the same but were now curved and felt more comfortable.

Game types - Even though it scalled back on the buttons the games were far superior to those on any console before. With just two action buttons and a control pad the NES could pull off fast action games, racing games, and RPGs with ease. However all these games were fairly simple in design.

Sega Genesis (3 button)

In 1989, Sega released its 3rd major console (the SG-1000, and the Sega master system were the previous two). The Genesis, or Mega Drive as it is called in many other parts of the world, was the first console to really bring in a revolutionary controller. As stated before too many buttons can get a bit too complicated, but the NES had only 2 buttons which limited the amount of actions the player could preform. The Sega Genesis had three buttons all lined up in a row. The player could easily rest his/her thumb in the middle and reach all three buttons. The Sega Genesis was the first 16 bit system and the first to bring truely powerful arcade quality graphics to the home. Because, it was so much more powerful than anything before it, it needed the extra inputs to keep up with how games were evolving. Sega also upgraded the D-pad making it multidirectional. Rather than having just up, down, left, and, right it also included the diagonals. This added a greater deal of control over the characters on the screen while remaining compact and easy to use.

Game Types - With an extra action button it added a new layer to the NES controller. It had many similar types of games but they could now preform more actions on the screen. The Genesis controller also allowed one of the earliest Real Time Stradegy games, "Herzog Zwei", to be played