The DS Lite

Working at 500% capacity due to ever decreasing size of my team here at the office means that those moments I would choose to update koffdrop.com are becoming more and more scarce. It’s not that I have less to say, far from it, it’s just that I have so much less time to say it in.

My workplace has kindly offered to help out by blocking pretty much every website I normally visit in my working hours and a few more just to be on the safe side. This, the fact that I’m doing the work of at least three people whilst remaining underpaid in the first place and a number of other factors are not helping my mood.

I’ll always make some time to deliver some critique of Nintendo’s latest moves though, of that you can be sure.

Whilst expectations of a redesigned DS were high Nintendo apparently snubbed them with a statement indicating that no information would be forthcoming at this years E3 show, they firmly denied any such redesign would be available. In a move that barely conceals their smugness they announced the DS Lite, due for release on March 2nd in Japan.

Of course, this confirms that there is no need for an unveiling at E3 in May due to the unit having been available for two months by that time. Nintendo, once again, enjoying the delivery of misinformation to their industry and consumers and the bizarre psychology whereby thousands of gamers thank them for such treatment. I remain unimpressed by such behaviour and fully expect some mention of the DS Lite at E3 regardless of Nintendo’s claims.

So, barely a year after it’s initial release, Nintendo have redesigned the unit, moved a few things around and make it look as much as an Apple product as the Revolution appears to be. I guess Apple-chic is probably a little more important if you’re going to be out and about trying to look hip with your iPod and DS at the same time. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before Mr. Jobs and Mr. Iwata get into bed together and spit out some MP3 playing DS compatible gizmo that is the size of your fingernail and comes with the complete works of Pixar pre-loaded and launches with a re-release of Mario 64. God, I bet some of you would love that.

Will the DS Lite follow in the same footsteps as the GBA’s redesign into the SP and mysteriously lose some basic functionality that can only be restored by buying a Nintendo made adaptor? If you’re not sure what I’m going on about, try locating the earphone socket on your GBA SP. I’m all for improved design (although, frankly, I’d rather they got it right the first time rather than staggered out their designs to an easily swayed public) but not at the expense of basic features. It becomes a game of smoke and mirrors:

“Look at our lovely redesigned DS. Don’t you want it? You WANT it! See how sleek it is, how cool it will make you feel. You will say WOW”

“Erm.. ..where do I plug my headphones in, dude?”

“See it sleek and pale design. Just like other top luxury product! You can play GBA games! You can play DS games! You can run Linux!”

“Headphone socket. Where?”

“See how it will compare to Nintendo Revolution in appearance. All this is better! All this is new! This is not as it was before! BUY NOW!”

“Whatever.”

OK, so I’m being overly harsh towards this redesign. Once bitten twice shy, right? I mean, if Nintendo hadn’t already pulled that stunt once then I wouldn’t have reason to question their morals. Oh, and before you feel sorry for Nintendo and claim that they simply didn’t have space in the GBA SP to fit a 3.5mm headphone jack it’s worth bearing in mind that the redesign didn’t happen by accident. It’s not like they said “We must make it this size, not 1mm larger”. The exclusion of the earphone socket and it’s decision to be replaced by an adapter at an additional cost was no accident of design – it was premeditated. Not only that, but in the GBA SP’s current design it would have been possible to fit an earphone socket.

My final concerns on the redesigned DS is it’s name. Nintendo state that the term DS Lite is in reference to the pale complexion and lighter weight of this new machine. In the English language, both those qualities would be described using the word “lighter”. Logically, this would suggest a name of DS Light instead of DS Lite. Whilst “Lite” is a trendier term and, perhaps less easy to confuse with a lamp or torch it is tends to be associated with a product lighter in features or limited in some way when compare to the original. A consumer might read “DS Light” and think “torch” but, crucially, a consumer might read “DS Lite” and think “less”. I recall that press conference with Reggie Fils-Aime lumbering around on stage giving definitions for the term “DS”. Everyone instantly assumed “Dual Screen” but the man from Nintendo tried to convince us it stood for, amongst other things “Developers System”. I don’t think anyone believed him.

For the reason’s stated above, I don’t believe “Lite” stands for lighter weight and lighter appearance. It may be the most poorly chosen of names from a company who have a tendancy to consistently abuse their position as industry icons.

Apart from that, I wish it every success.

A musical interlude

Videogames related, of course!

First off is a great interview with the legendary Yuzo Koshiro. Koshiro managed to make 16 bit machines sing. His titles include the Streets of Rage series on the Sega Megadrive and also the Actraiser games on the SNES. He’s still a busy guy today but clearly keeps a lower profile.

Secondly I’d like to point you to another video located on video.google.com. The game is Rez, the video is of the final stage being played to perfection. You can see it here. I think Rez is a stunning piece of work and more of an experience than just a game. Admittedly, the gaming side of things is fairly simple but the overal sensory package of incredibly realised visuals, thumping sonics and a vibrating controller working overtime to such a degree that it makes your hands ache is simply unrivalled. This game was way ahead of it’s time and is well worth picking up if you can find it. I’ve lots to say on Rez – none of which is going to change your mind if you don’t like it of course. But, hey, that’s your loss.

Laziness Is The Mother Of All Inventions

This is just too awesome to be true. Finally, no more need to use those aching neck muscles. Why hold your own head when this wonderfully sturdy support can do it for you? Get the edge in your favourite murder simulators now that you don’t need to waste energy fighting gravity.

Head here for details on this exciting product!

And, whilst keeping with the vaguely jovial tone, allow me to direct you towards a particularly good issue of VG Cats.

Operation Splitfish

I’m sorry to say that my first post of 2006 is not a happy one. As the long, cold winter of this seemingly never-ending bout of console wars drags on the latest ‘event’ is one that I’ve named ‘Operation Splitfish’

Splitfish is the name of a third party peripheral manufacturer who, at the recent CES 2006, showed off a 2-piece game controller for the PlayStation 2 console. Superficially this resembles the same type of freehand control mechanism presented by Nintendo with their Revolution and ‘nunchuck’ extension. Apparently the device will also offer some sort of light-gun / light pointing device.

There is no doubt that the Revolution has influenced / inspired this controller and to suggest any different would be foolish.

Regardless, the news has been greeted by many commentators with the chant of “Sony have copied Nintendo again!”. Amongst the many comments I have read there are many criticising Sony of such a crime when, as a few sensible folk have pointed out, this isn’t a Sony designed product. In fact, arguments persist on the topic of Sony stealing Nintendo ideas and analogue control and vibrating feedback are cited as examples. The issue here is that Sony are not doing the copying – this doesn’t pacify the Nintendo supporters who go on to claim that because it’s made for a Sony product that Sony are responsible for it’s existence. This belief is founded by way of any product requiring approval by Sony for use with their system. Strange then, that wildly popular PlayStation products such as third party controllers, Action Replay cartridges and more explicitly state that they are unapproved, unofficial products not sanctioned by Sony. The Splitfish may well be one of these products – to those that are interested in checking the facts before throwing the accusations. Curiously, it was on Nintendo that non-official products first appeared with the infamous case of the Game Genie for the NES. Nintendo attempted to block it’s existence and took the product and it’s makers to court. Game Genie won the case and the rest is history – thanks to Nintendo it is perfectly possible to make a device for a Nintendo or Sony or any console product without it being officially approved by the console manufacturer.

The most entertaining dismissal of this legal precedent is one comment I read that states “Sony allowed it to happen, therefore Sony are at fault for the copying”. It seems that, like a determined ferret, once a gamer sinks his teeth into their idea of an argument, they’re simply not going to let go. To take that particular line of thinking further it is possible to argue that had Nintendo not got too greedy with the Famicom CD project they partnered with Sony, Sony may not have gone off on their own to produce the PlayStation 1 and 2. Therefore, applying the same logic, it’s not unreasonable to say that “Nintendo allowed it to happen, therefore they are to blame”.

You see, with a modicum of thought, common sense and an appreciation for facts and history it is easy to see through all this excited feedback for what it is: utter nonsense. Throught a whole trail of commentary I read a few posts from people trying to inject some common sense into the comments. It was completely ignored and overshadowed by fingerpointing by others with user names of LinkMaster or x_SAMUS_x.

This example of gamer culture is the portent of it’s own demise. As a culture our credibility is already in question – as are our morals and ethics.

Read the original article, it’s comments and witness the worst gamer culture has to offer

I’m getting truly sick and tired of this war. The whole Sony VS Nintendo thing got into gear with the handhelds and hasn’t ever let go. Each side finds a few specs or sales figures it likes and fires them over to the other side trying to score a hit on some landmark of operational significance.

Every war has it’s casualty and this war is taking CREDIBILITY it’s hostage. It is simply not possible to set foot into the warzone without being stripped of your innocence, your dignity or your credibility being questioned. Neither side will give an inch – it is total defeat or else. There doesn’t seem to be a middle-ground. And, quite frankly, the head honchos are lapping it up whilst the foot-soldiers are throwing themselves into the line of fire, willing to lay it on the line for the sake of a couple of Japanese companies who don’t even know they exist.

I’m going to start my own, dignified, revolution. I’m going to send out a cry for common sense in gamers. Those that are tired of the fighting and the futile, purile trading of insults, specs and landmark titles can join in. Together we can crawl off the battlefied and return to the heart of all of this. Playing videogames.

Of course, I will still state my cases when I feel the need. This site is my mouthpiece after all. But, as always, I’ll fight opinion with fact. I’ll fight hearsay with history..

..and my own bloody minded opinion. Naturally.

Are Nintendo playing the arcade game?

My last post recieved a fair bit of internet interest. Unfortunately, it was mostly as predicted and I’ve not read too much substance by way of replies here or at any of the forums that my article found itself linked on. Many of the comments I got back reeked of desperation and, for want of a better phrase, lacked logic. It’s quite a shame as there are two clear instances where I specifically asked folk with such mentalities to steer clear of reading further or making poorly considered comments. Some people have even tried to argue with me that I don’t get the point being made in the article. As you can imagine, I disagree quite strongly with this and find little credibility in the argument that follows such an assumption. I am happy to say that, in some quarters, there has been reasoned and considered responses – these are the exceptions rather than the rule though.

If there’s one thing your typical Nintendo fan loves to quote, it’s history. Hear them wax lyrical about how Halflife 2 owes everything to Goldeneye on the N64. Listen to them talk in wonder about how Nintendo consistently innovate and never copy (Nintendo don’t copy, they re-invent). History is important – it shows us what we might expect from the future, it can highlight trends and serve as both a promise and an omen.

How many of you reading this regularly visit a videogame arcade? If you do visit do you go as frequently as you used to? I suspect the answer is ‘no’ in most cases to both those questions. Arcade games in the 80s and 90s were quite a different scene to what you see today. Most games were standup cabinets and featured games where a skilled player could last over 15 minutes on a single credit. Or course, there were games at home too. During this period monochrome graphics and low resolutions were wowing us in our homes whilst the hi-res, sprite scaling antics of the arcades made it seem worth paying £1 a go for a 3 minute experience.

As the years ticked by consoles like the SNES and Megadrive gave us what felt like ‘arcade perfect’ conversions of titles like Final Fight and Golden Axe. Of course, looking back we can see some quite large differences between home and arcade – but in the day, we felt we were really playing with power.

3D hit the arcades with titles like Virtua Racing and amazed everyone. Then Ridge Racer appeared and just floored people like never before. A year later we were playing it in our home – arcade perfect or thereabouts.

This trend continues but the technology leader has become blurred. Arcade hardware and console hardware have become almost one and the same. The home consoles can easily provide arcade perfect versions of Tekken 5 and such games are designed for arcade and home in tandem.

Whilst videogames in the home have gone from strength to strength arcade games have paid the price. They don’t have the edge that placed them so far above home gaming. Visually they find it an increasingly difficult challenge to compete. Virtua Fighter 5 on Sega’s new Lindbergh hardware looks astounding – but if Xbox 360 images and PlayStation 3 images are to be believed then gamers at home won’t be left behind.

Arcade games have suffered enormously because of this. To compete they model the most succesful games on short-term gameplay. The most succesful arcade games of the last few generations are racing, sports and fighting games. If you’re bad at these games you’ll probably be beaten in under a minute. If you’re good at these games you’ll possibly win them in under 5 minutes. The entire game model is designed to get the punter to pump in more credits – regardless of their skill. No more long games like R-Type style shooters or Wonderboy style platformers.

Additionally, and most tellingly, arcade games have become dependent on novel experiences to differentiate them from the home gamer. You can play Outrun 2 on your Xbox – but the arcade offers a nice car to sit in, pedals and steering wheel. How about 18 Wheeler? You could play it on your PS2 but the arcade difference is the huge, juggernaut sized steering wheel, novelty CB radio and roof-chain to sound your horn. There are but two examples of how arcades compete with the home using novelty and gimmicks.

Arcades compensate for their lack of graphical superiority with home machines by creating novelty experiences with gimmicky controls.

A major exception to this is the fighting game scene. Community and tournaments have kept this scene alive irrespective of any technological advances in graphics or control. However, even this area of arcade gaming has felt the presence of Microsoft’s Xbox Live service. It’s easy to find another human challenger to play Streetfighter 3 with if you have an Xbox. Online play truly enhances the sense of community (although nothing can beat true, in-person, tournament play) and this is one area where home gaming looks set to expand and where arcades don’t really have anywhere to go.

So what’s the point of all this rambling?

It’s a history lesson. Have a look at the arcade industry to see what happens when you stop competingly graphically and start compensating by using novelty controls.

As much as one company will tell us how unimportant technology and graphics are, I look at what’s happened to the arcade industry and feel that someone’s trying to lie to me. Especially when, two generations ago, that same someone released hardware named after the technology it was based on – the Nintendo 64. When you’ve got it, you flaunt it. When you haven’t got it you attempt to discredit it.

This is marketing. Marketing isn’t truth.

I don’t agree that graphics are everything. But I don’t agree that graphics aren’t important. If history tells us one thing it’s that, like it or not, graphics and visual technology are very very important indeed. They are far more significant than any reliance on novel controls. This has brought a thriving arcade industry to it’s knees. An industry that asks you to pay £1 for a game. What will it do to a company asking you for thirty times that much for a game?

Zelda – too little, too late?

So, Zelda. Often accompanied with “ZOMFG!” style comments up and down gaming forums over the internet. As many people appreciate – I’m very critical of Nintendo. In fact, my level of critque towards nearly any of their actions can be scientifically measured. That is to say that my level of criticism of Nintendo matches the same level of unthinking adulation they receive in by other parties. I am the yin to the fanboy yang.

So, leaving the latest Revolution gossip (ok, vacuous hyperbole) to one side for the moment, let us focus on Nintendo’s Gamecube swansong: another Zelda game. I’m not going to criticise the game on what I’ve played of it because that’d be dumb. I’ve not played any of it. Oh sure, I’ve played the other Zeldas and am confident that Nintendo won’t change too much in terms of gameplay mechanics (check those videos – I’ve already spotted good ‘ol block-pushing puzzles – meh).

Instead, allow me to tackle the most notable feature that everyone first went on about when the game was announced: the graphics. Or, to put it in gamer terms “ZOMFG! Hav U seen teh gfx on teh new Zleda game???”.

For the moment, we’ll forget about how Nintendo are going to juxtapose the Revolution stance of ‘fixing a lacklustre industry’ by tackling new directions in gameplay whilst simultaneously making another Zelda game with familiar gameplay but with a graphical upgrade. As we know, it’s never about the graphics when it comes to Nintendo, right? Right.

So perhaps that’s why I say “Yes, those graphics in The Twilight Princess are great – for a Zelda game”

I can hear Retroid having spasms as he reads that. But before you go wild and get ready to hit that ADD COMMENT button why not stop and think about what I’m saying? Firstly, there’s no denying that this next Zelda game looks heaps better than the previous installments. But let’s not add a +10 to our mental scoring just because it’s Nintendo and let’s not add another +10 because it’s Zelda. Let’s keep our feet on the ground and remain objective.

A shiny game is a shiny game – just because it’s Nintendo or Zelda doesn’t make it any shinier.

Now, do me a favour, re-read that last sentence and if you find yourself having difficulty coming to terms with that then kindly fuck off. You’re not the sort of person I’m interested in talking to.

Back to Zelda then. Let’s take this title on it’s superficial merits – how pretty it looks. Does it look prettier than all those other games that came before it? Hmmm.. I bet many are inclined to say that it is. I, of course, approached that question from the opposite point of view, did ten minutes worth of savvy Googling and found some game comparisons. The only modifications made to each picture was to resize each image to 400 pixels wide. The rest speaks for itself:

Castles…

Faces…

Interiors…

Exteriors…

And there you have it. The most telling thing here is that, these comparisons to Zelda are being made on hardware that is universally regarded as inferior to Gamecube and, of the three different alternative games shown, two of them are over three years old. Note also that the alternative games feature gameplay elements very likely to be featured in *any* new Zelda game – dungeon crawling, third person combat, horse riding, interior and exterior environments.

In all cases, Zelda included, the people behind the games are regarded to be the leaders in their field – visionaries. These alternative games are already with us and running on weaker hardware and have been around for a ages. So, rather than holding out for Nintendo to show everyone the way it appears, to me, that we expected to wait until Nintendo can catch up with older games on inferior hardware.

I question Nintendo’s hype and actions a great deal – but I do so from a position where I want to see FACTUAL responses or refer to HISTORICAL events. Increasingly, I find myself remaining unconvinced by the answers the facts present to me. I am not interested in hearing promises made by Nintendo’s VP of Marketing. I am not interested in hearing from some kid who’ll gleefully quote “A rushed game is bad, a delayed game will eventually become good” because Miyamoto said it. Miyamoto may have said it but I bet he wasn’t thinking about Starfox Adventures when he did so.

If you feel like responding to this post please do so. But please ensure that you remove the romance, ignore the hype, forget the speculation and just look objectively at the known facts of the situation.

Zelda? That’s for wimps!

A while ago I was recommended a game from some place. I don’t recall where. The recommendation was so enthusiastic that I felt it’d be rude not to investigate. The game is known as DROD – Deadly Rooms of Death and it looks like this:

DROD – Not too tricky.. yet

Clearly, this game isn’t about the graphics. Whilst this may disappoint some of you, others can take joy in knowing that it is possible to play this game on a low-spec PC. For those of you wishing for better graphics then you’ll be pleased to learn that the image above is taken from the FREE version of the game. A newer engine has since been produced which features updated graphics – however, the same top-down view is used.

So what’s so good about this game then?

Well, apart from being a jewel in the crown of the ‘gameplay over graphics’ argument (one which often gets forgotten as a new generation of hardware launches) the game is FREE, contains humour that’s just the safe side of black and, as already mentioned, doesn’t require you to remortgage your house to play it on a PC.

The game is a series of rooms spread across a series of floors. You play Beethro – a sort of medieval Rentokil employee. You must eliminate all the dangers in each room of the floor to gain entry to the next. In many respects the game plays like those Zelda dungeon sequences. A series of very simple entitles combine to make increasingly challenging rooms.

An example of these entities and their simple nature are switches (which toggle barriers), roaches (enemies that instinctively approach you directly)and eyes (stationary until you enter their line of site, then they move towards you). Each entity has behaviour that, on it’s own, is very simple to understand. However, once the game starts to combine them together along with fiendish wall and floor design it becomes apparent that ‘simple’ does not mean ‘easy’.

If your head is still in Zelda dungeons then allow me to point out some crucial differences between Zelda and DROD. For starters, DROD isn’t an action based game. Quick reactions are not necessary because enemies don’t move until you do. Movement is conducted by using the number pad keys including 7,9,1 and 3 for diagonal movement. Beethro moves from square to square with each press of the key. After Beethro moves, the enemies move. If you don’t move then nothing happens. Whilst this may sound rather placid and unexciting it makes the game incredibly fair and approachable. There are no random scenarios, there are no times when the game is giving you impossible odds. Everything can be achieved by some thoughtful movement and a little planning. In fact, the best way of playing the game is to look at each room and think before moving.

Like Link, Beethro has a sword. Unlike Link that’s all he’ll ever have in his arsenal. This is no RPG and there are no power ups. Death is instant and always your fault. Beethro’s sword skills are basic – it points forwards. Pressing the Q and W keys rotate Beethro and sword and count as a move – just like stepping across tiles does.

The golden rule is to keep your sword between Beethro and his enemies and you can’t lose. Of course, sticking to that rule isn’t as easy as it might seem 🙂

And that’s all you need to know to play the game. Needless to say, the first few levels will get you warmed up and get you totally familiar with the mechanics of gameplay. After level 3 things start to get more serious and you’ll probably find that keeping Beethro alive probably involves fancier footwork than you might have assumed the game would allow.

The free version of the game has 25 levels in it and, by level 8, you’re going to be facing challenges and downright cruel design that will make Zelda look like a walk in the park. Under no circumstances should you underestimate this game based on it’s simple controls, turn-based nature or basic looking graphics.

As it is, DROD represents one of the most finely crafted and cleverly designed games I have ever played and I’m only sorry to say that I joined the party so late.

http://www.drod.net

Head to the downloads section and look for the file that’s shown as “0 kb” – that’s the full King Dugans Dungeon (KDD) set of dungeons for free. The actual download size is around 13mb.

There are no shortage of fan-made levels and graphics on the forums of the site. Also, a whole updated version of the game which includes lots of cosmetic updates and brand new dungeons (referred to as Keeps) collectively called “Journey to the Rooted Hold” available for purchase. If you storm through the 300+ rooms in the free version of the original game then I recommend you purchase the newer version.

It’s also worth pointing out that you never need to be stuck!

The DROD forum is a marvelous place and has a truly superb search function that allows you to select which set of dungeon/keep levels you want help on, choose a floor, click on a graphical represenation of the room and then see a series of support posts related to that specific room. Absolutely fantastic.

I understand the game makers are making a community based interface that you can subscribe to that allows you to see high scores, best runs and other information about your particular room as you play it.

I very rarely openly declare my undying love for a single game. I also find myself very rarely so impressed with a game demo that I want to invest in the full thing. DROD defies my nature in both these aspects and I can’t recommend it highly enough but will attempt to do so until the day I die. It is supremely well designed and extraordinarily easy to pick up. It is, without question, the best game you’ve never heard of!

You’ve never had it so good

As the arrival of the next generation is literally knocking on people’s front doors I find myself in a reflective mood. Some people are already expressing disappointment with what they’re seeing. I tend to think they’ve had their expectations set too high. We want the huge leap that we got when 2D became 3D, or when games stopped being 3 flickery sprites and started to resemble actual games. As the frontiers fall away people still expect new ones to be broken – without realising that there may not be that many frontiers left to break.

I don’t think HD is a new frontier, I think it’s refinement. I don’t think motion senseing is a new frontier, I think it’s a gimmick. I think consoles and online options may still hold some surpises for us all – even then, these will be more subtle than the giant technological advances of previous generations.

For a moment, rather than trying to see where that next frontier might be and what might be done to break through it, cast your mind backwards. Take stock of all the achievements that have been made – all in the name of entertainment.

Space War and Pong – without any question, these are the foundations of every single game we play today. They started a ball rolling that has gathered so much speed and pace that it’s almost out of control. History books show what happened next – Space Invaders, Asteroids, Defender and others. Breaking down barriers of thought with their crude digitial stylings. Opening up sensations of entertainment and challenge that humans had never before encountered. These are milestones of an entire race – not just mere videogames.

With that, perhaps overblown, statement another realisation rings true: the great minds of these achievements are still with us. We don’t need to wonder about their processes and thoughts as we do with Da Vinci, Einstein, Shakespeare or Lennon. Those of us with an interest in the culture, meaning and origin of games are the privileged few. We can speak to the innovators! With the exception of a very few (Dani Bunten, Gunpei Yokoi) they are still with us and being productive. Hell, we can even email these visionairies directly or, at the very least, find current interviews with them by using the internet (Thanks to Tim Berners Lee).

In twenty years time, who is to say who will still be with us? Will we wish for a few more games from the sadly departed? Will we wish to have the time to ask them a couple of questions or to learn their processes and methods to better understand them and the medium we adore?

Today’s gamers have it all – the techonology and the achievements that make our passtime more than just a series of random dots. Not only that, but those that inspire, invent, create and revolutionise are still with us. They are the Creators of our passion. We should not worship them, but we should not ignore them or dismiss them. We are in a unique position to learn from the masters – future generations will not be so fortunate as us.

So, don’t be so quick to dismiss a box of circuits. Your energy would be better invested by counting your blessings.

Us and them

This year has seen a lot of activity involving games, politicians and legislation. Some states in the US have brought in legislation to control the sales of videogames to minors in an effort to protect them from the so-called corrupting influences of our media. A frequent response to such behaviour is for someone to explain that no other form of entertainment media is controlled by government legislation – it’s controlled by the industry. Why should games be any different.

Whilst I agree with this sort of response in principle it makes me think about gaming and whether the positioning alongside that of film, music and books is truly justified.

Clearly, I’m biased. I freely admit that. Whatever I may feel about videogames I can assure you that I still indulge in other forms of entertainment. In fact movies are probably my second greatest passion after videogames (it goes without saying that my greatest, greatest passion is my wife – who can regularly kick my ass at SSX. What a woman!). I feel that videogames have the added dimension of interactivity that elevates and seperates them from their established cousins.

The whole interactivity thing is a blessing and a curse regardless of which side of the line you stand with regards to games being harmful or not. I feel that the connection a player may make with a game has the potential to be far stronger than any other medium. Nothing else puts you in the middle of events, directly responsible for the direction they unfold in or the pace at which they unfold like a videogame can. Films are, perhaps the most passive and undemanding of the three alternatives I’ve mentioned as nothing is required of the viewer to enjoy them other than to sit still and keep their eyes and ears open. Music requires a little more effort to get the most out of it – to listen and interpret the lyrics. Of the three it is books which demand your attention, vocabulary, imagination and understanding that are possibly the closest in terms of involvement a particpant comes when making comparisons to videogames. Typically, the more effort something requires the greater a sense of achievement is gained from it’s completion. Once again, films are the least rewarding and disposable whilst music and certainly books have the potential to become incredibly important to us. They can represent some of the greatest and most rapturous rides that our consciousness has ever experienced. I firmly believe the return is directly related to the investment the viewer/listener/reader makes.

It’s no surprise then, when you see such direct involvement with the medium and such commitment and dexterity required by the player that I feel the rewards and satisfaction can be in a whole different league to a film. Of course this isn’t a golden rule. The worst games won’t be as rewarding as the best books. But that level of interaction just takes the participant to the next step and opens a greater dimension of return for their investment.

Certainly, let’s continue to group gaming with other forms of entertainment, it would be silly not to. But we should not ignore gaming’s most unique qualities and differences from other mediums. Nor should anyone else. Failure to do so is a failure to understand the medium and, fundamentally, make judgements on it. Those that know the medium the best – the developers and the gamers – are the experts. They are best qualified to aid studies into any effects gaming might have on the physical or psychological behaviour of the player. If you are not a gamer yourself then to dismiss their value as vital and accurate representatives of this medium is to demonstrate a total lack of understanding, respect or objectivity for it.

GTA GTA GTA (Had enough yet?)

I linked to a newspiece a few days ago. The story was about how celebrated game designer Warren Spector was giving his views on the perception on gaming. The part of Warren’s comments that appear to have stuck in the gamer’s collective consciousness was his criticism of GTA.

Warren is “really angry at the GTA guys” for doing so much for gaming on a technology and design level but for pushing the content in such a confrontational and alarmist way. I can see the guy’s point. GTA3 was an absolute revolution for gaming. Gamers had pined for a truly three dimensional GTA for a few years but what they got was a hell of a lot more. Take 2 and Rockstar had succesfully created what felt like a living city for the game to take place in – one that was so convincing that the player was compelled to wander around and discover the world for themselves.

Of course, a player can only play a game in the way it was designed to be played. With such an open-ended style of game as GTA the core A-to-B mission represent a fraction of what can be done. After that, it’s up to the player to exploit the tools and elements in the game world set by the designers to see what they can do. GTA is primarily about cars. So the player is grabbing cars and doing things you’re not normally allowed to do in real life – stealing, driving too fast, crashing, aiming at pedestrians, looking for impossible jumps, driving on the wrong side of the road, creating pile-ups, baiting the police – you name it. And then there’s weapons – you don’t need to think to hard to consider your options here. To GTA’s credit, there’s a heck of a lot more than just doing stuff in vehicles. The game responds to your actions in a variety of ways and opens up goals for you. Steal a taxi? Start getting fares. Steal a police car? Go on mercenary missions. There’s property development and even basic RISK style territorial gameplay challenges in the later games.

But what is GTA known for? Encouraging you to misbehave.

You know what? People are always going to misbehave. In fact, it’s one of life’s great pleasures! How many of you surf the internet at work when you shouldn’t? What about making a personal call on the work phone? Do you park selfishly? Do you veer away from your diet?

Misbehaving and not getting caught is our guilty pleasure – and videogames have opened up a huge array of different ways to misbehave and actively encourage you to. It’s not just GTA. On Warren Spector’s CV you’ll find titles like Thief – not the most morally pure game on the planet. How many people, after they bought a DS started sharing rude doodles with their friends? You have the freedom to draw – so what do you draw? Something rude. It’s silly but you can get away with it!

Give enough possibilty to people in *any* area and the naughty, impish side of humanity will come out. Some people put more effort into that others – such as the strange skins people have created that you can apply to your Sims avatars. What about email scammers or those eBay auctions that are carefully worded so as to fool you? The new Lionhead game The Movies has launched this week. It has a sandbox mode that allows you to virtually direct computer graphics movies (also known as Machinema). The support for the game extends to a community for players to share their home-made movies with each other. I wonder what people will come up with with this particular set of tools the developer has given them..

On a grander scale, some of the things the Garry’s Mod for Half Life 2 on the PC have produced are easily on par with the worst GTA can offer.

GTA isn’t totally innocent of course. Stealing cars and using weapons is necessary to make progress in the game. The game points the player in that direction, suggests that misbehaviour equates to success and let’s the gamer run with the idea. Gamers, on the whole, adore it. GTA’s crime is that the skill and artistry in creating such a cohesive world for the player to run amok in works so damn well!

GTA and videogames as a whole are greatly misunderstood. They are books that are judged by their covers. Typically, a harsh critic outside of the culture might only read the first chapter. If we’re lucky they’ll have read the story to the end. But I don’t think anyone makes any effort to understand the author. I don’t want to suggest that GTA has some deep political subtext, I think it revels in its own adolescent bravado. It’s not shallow, it KNOWS it’s adolescent. It goes out of it’s way to drive the point home – sometimes in obvious, sometimes in not-so-obvious ways. Listen to those fake adverts and talk-radio in the game’s radio stations – they’re not fart gags, that’s observational satire! GTA Vice City and San Andreas are almost a satirical commentary of the era’s they’re set in. The fact that GTA itself will be referenced in commentary of gaming culture for years to come seems poetic justice.

All this is eclipsed by the attitude of critics that want to ignore the subtleties and achievements of the game and point out singular instances of out-of-context moments in GTA. GTA is perfect fodder for anyone who wants to act alarmist. It’s consciously designed that way.

I personally experienced this sort of mentality a while back. I was, once again, trying to justify why I didn’t take the over-authoratative rantings of gamers praising one thing or bashing another. I explained that their assumptions were incorrect and that they were not qualified to comment on, in this case, how easy or difficult game development was if they had never undertaken the task themselves. Metaphors are useful for demonstrating a point of view by putting it into a context that the other person isn’t so attached to. In an attempt to show these people why I couldn’t really accept their ‘wisdom’ as authorative I asked:

If you were a sexually active adult would you accept love-making tips from a group of virgins?

I felt that the topic of sex was fairly universal and this particular question could be appreciated by young and old alike. It also offered those I was speaking with ample oppurtunity to live up to their claims of maturity. So it was disappointing to be greeted with answers that amounted to xenophobic comparisons of British and American libidos (apparently gathered from an animated satire) and accusations of me being a pervert. In fact, the phrase was dissected and savaged from every angle other than the one in which it was presented. I have no doubt that the metaphor was understood but getting angry and waving your arms can often be enough to distract from the core issue and make your own interpretation of events appear to be the ones that matter.

GTA, like any video game, is not to be taken literally!

Is Mario Bros to be branded a ‘tortoise shell jumping murder simulation’? Is Pacman a ‘lesson in gluttony for the undisciplined McDonalds generation?’. Is The Sims *really* training people to be paedophiles? REALLY?

The answer to all of these is yes – if you insist on interpreting the movements of zeros and ones and pixels in an absolutely literal context.

So Warren, I agree with you that it’s a shame Rockstar’s talents gave the player so much freedom but immediately encouraged the player to misbehave. Given half the chance in any situation, we’re going to misbehave anyway. If a game can be made more fun by misbehaving, then gamers will do it – whether the designers intended to or not.