Sunday 6 December 2009

week 9

I haven’t really though about ergonomics in games console before now. I’ve always thought I was more concerned with graphics and game play. I’ve played on and Amstrad (not sure what series) so I have had the joy of experience the device that has kick started this mini revolution. The classic D-pad and A and B buttons of the NES and Mega Drive are classics and were the first step to making games easier to interact with. These controllers compared to a modern day consoles is like sending G.I’s into a peasant village. There is far more possibilities and combinations that can be deployed that intensifies game play and game content.

I remember seeing the Playstation for the first time and thinking “that’s the coolest looking thing ever.” Compared to PS3 slim it looks like it should be being chased by TIE fighter. In such as small period in time, consoles have changed almost unrecognizably compared to there early forefathers. I can see in the future computers being either accessible through thought alone and a race of Virtual Reality junkies being born. And personally I can’t wait to see that as it will hopefully get rid of the gaming pros that are the lil’ kids on Xbox live

week 8

Story, is it needed? What ever game you play there is always an underlying point to actions you do in the game. In Mortal Kombat the story is to kill everyone else to save the mortal realm where Mass effect has rough storyline planned out that the player can vary on. An RPG with no story would be as entertaining as channel 5 programming. If the player is to play out a story or play out a role, a story is essential. An interesting game is the SIMS; there is not a story at all. The player can completely control their SIMS lives and build and destroy endless possibilities in the character’s surroundings. The SIMS still needs a slight story though, which is written by the player through their interaction.

I think in all games story is present, it is just more obvious in some more than others. I’ve come to this thought by thinking about my own life. I’ve always seen my life as the present and recently I’ve found myself reminiscing past years and realising how interesting my life is. There was no plan at the point of creation of these great events but the effects are evident. I conclude all games have a story. Some games are more obvious in what you should be doing when writing your story. Others appear to have no story but through interaction allow the user to produce their own.

Probably nonsense as always but its posted now.

week 7

Welcome back to another exciting week of blogging where today I will be poorly communicating the role of an art director to you. So what is an art director? I hear you cry. These are the people who are essentially in charge of making sure a game looks like the same game throughout. If you were playing Gears of war (a visually stunning game) and were sitting through a cut scene, on return to game play you found yourself in a land of purple trees and elves you would think you were narcoleptic and had the games swapped whilst you were unconscious.

The role is very similar to a Film director hence the director part. A game, much like a film has a story or script that needs to be portrayed in a manner suitable to its content and history. I’ll use the example of a Star trek MMO game. You could not as an art director make the setting (space) blue in colour and give the spacecraft fluffy dice. An art director must stay within the certain guidelines given to him or her. I feel a difference between an art director in game to one in film is that a director in game could afford to be lazier and let the game play pick up the pieces for a visually poor game.

I feel you must be able to put a twist on a classic as a director in film or game. This means that you must be incredibly creative to re-invent a product whilst maintaining its original foundations. I believe an art director must be able to put his/her finger in all artist pies (3D, sculpture, sketching) but most importantly able to communicate their ideas and visions clearly to those around them to create a product worthy of being called art.