Asynchronous play has been advertised as a totally new idea by Microsoft, allowing gamers to gain experience or money for use in a much larger console based game by playing a small, portable casual game, for example. Fantastic idea! If only you could do something similar in World of Warcraft, then maybe you could have something of a life as well. However, all of this starts to sound a little familiar, and if you're someone who ever owned the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure or Power Stone, you'll know that the little Visual Memory Units (VMU) were used in exactly the same way. As if there were any more evidence needed to show Sega were way ahead of themselves with the Dreamcast.
In other news, I noticed a post on Kotaku by Brian Ashcraft about how foreigners react to other foreigners in Japan. His interpretation is right on the money and sounded freakishly like myself when I was living there! Even if you've never lived in a foreign country, it's an interesting insight into how a homogeneous society like Japan can affect your view of your surroundings.
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Guided Tour Gaming
I recently had a conversation with my fiancee while she was in Hawaii about the way Japanese people vacation. While she's more adventurous and would rather discover a place for herself, most Japanese travellers stick almost exclusively to packaged tours and guides.
Initially I only joked that Japanese people love tours, but I began to realise that it applies a lot to our older generations too. I then made the leap to roughly equating this with other guided forms of entertainment like books and film. Since Japanese people still love being guided through an experience, it may go some way to explaining the apparent linearity of the games being produced in the country even now. Sure there may be a moment in a JRPG where you'll be allowed to wonder around and do what you like, but no more so than when the tour bus stops at the next shopping mall, giving you a chance to "explore".
While our younger generations have taken more to freedom of exploration, the younger Japanese population seems to be mostly content with the guided entertainment their previous generations enjoyed. While there may be nothing wrong with this in some cases, it does feel a bit like that format has simply been transposed onto gaming without changing the underlying premise to any great extent.
This is not to say that books or movies are no longer interesting, because they still have their place in the world of entertainment ideas, but gaming offers us a new way to express creativity like never before. The odd story-driven gaming experience has been fantastic, however, and discounting it entirely would certainly not be the way to go.
Gaming commentators have been speculating the question of why Japanese gaming has fallen so far behind in recent years, and I think the reason really does lie behind this cultural stagnation more than anything else. They've found what they can sell in Japan and they'll continue doing it until the public gets bored of it, and Japanese people have the amazing ability to find entertainment over and over in the face of repetition.
GDC will see some discussion over telling a great story while maintaining interesting game design, and I really hope a few Japanese developers take away some ideas from this too.
Initially I only joked that Japanese people love tours, but I began to realise that it applies a lot to our older generations too. I then made the leap to roughly equating this with other guided forms of entertainment like books and film. Since Japanese people still love being guided through an experience, it may go some way to explaining the apparent linearity of the games being produced in the country even now. Sure there may be a moment in a JRPG where you'll be allowed to wonder around and do what you like, but no more so than when the tour bus stops at the next shopping mall, giving you a chance to "explore".
While our younger generations have taken more to freedom of exploration, the younger Japanese population seems to be mostly content with the guided entertainment their previous generations enjoyed. While there may be nothing wrong with this in some cases, it does feel a bit like that format has simply been transposed onto gaming without changing the underlying premise to any great extent.
This is not to say that books or movies are no longer interesting, because they still have their place in the world of entertainment ideas, but gaming offers us a new way to express creativity like never before. The odd story-driven gaming experience has been fantastic, however, and discounting it entirely would certainly not be the way to go.
Gaming commentators have been speculating the question of why Japanese gaming has fallen so far behind in recent years, and I think the reason really does lie behind this cultural stagnation more than anything else. They've found what they can sell in Japan and they'll continue doing it until the public gets bored of it, and Japanese people have the amazing ability to find entertainment over and over in the face of repetition.
GDC will see some discussion over telling a great story while maintaining interesting game design, and I really hope a few Japanese developers take away some ideas from this too.
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Wii Voting Channel shows Japan is different, none surprised.
The most interesting thing I find about the Everybody Votes Channel on the Nintendo Wii is the worldwide poll. Not least because when the results come in, it gives us a relatively clear picture on how the world is thinking, allowing the organisation of votes by percentage.
These results are the most interesting for me because Japan is almost always at one extreme or the other! For example, when the question "Are you better at using your brain or your brawn" came up, most countries were for brain, but Japan was more than 50% for brawn. Crazy I know, we all thought they were super-smart.
However, the most telling results were those of "Have you visited a foreign country" and similarly a few months later "Do you want to live in a foreign country?" In both cases European countries were fairly high on the list for Yes, but Japan was right down the bottom with most people giving No as their answer.
Could the seeming lack of desire to be internationally aware from Japanese Wii owners show that Japan is indeed the most isolated of modern countries? (Modern countries being defined as those who have a substantial Wii install base, and are participating in the voting channel).
Maybe not surprising, but still a little saddening.
These results are the most interesting for me because Japan is almost always at one extreme or the other! For example, when the question "Are you better at using your brain or your brawn" came up, most countries were for brain, but Japan was more than 50% for brawn. Crazy I know, we all thought they were super-smart.
However, the most telling results were those of "Have you visited a foreign country" and similarly a few months later "Do you want to live in a foreign country?" In both cases European countries were fairly high on the list for Yes, but Japan was right down the bottom with most people giving No as their answer.
Could the seeming lack of desire to be internationally aware from Japanese Wii owners show that Japan is indeed the most isolated of modern countries? (Modern countries being defined as those who have a substantial Wii install base, and are participating in the voting channel).
Maybe not surprising, but still a little saddening.
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
Grenades
Sometimes it takes great inspiration to come up with an innovative new gaming mechanic, but I think it takes just as much imagination to think about removing one.
Let's take the example of grenades in first-person-shooters. Sure, they've been included in every realistic shooter since the dawn of simulated parabolic physics, but they began working their way into non-realistic games as a mechanic for reasons that I can barely fathom.
Halo 3 doesn't need grenades, and all too often they lead to frantic throwing of said weapons when a player's in trouble, throwing randomly around corners when there's a blip on the radar, and generally getting in the way of the fun of the game. I'd like to highlight the random nature of both cases here, because that's precisely what they lead to in an unrealistic game like Halo 3 - randomness.
Everyone loves it when they manage to stick a plasma grenade, but that's not what usually happens and it's more or less by chance most of the time anyway. Grenades make the multiplayer aspect of the game far less enjoyable for me, but maybe because I'm a multiplayer FPS veteran, hailing from the days of Unreal Tournament, where it was all about the action, the dodging and the shooting. Imagine that, in an FPS. Perhaps there should be a new genre - First Person Grenade Throwing.
Hats off to the designers of Team Fortress 2, who actually realised this during their development process. Listen to the developer commentaries and you'll see what I mean. It truly does take some real thought about gameplay to make the difficult decision to remove popular mechanics in order to ensure things are fun again, so well done I say.
Well done.
Let's take the example of grenades in first-person-shooters. Sure, they've been included in every realistic shooter since the dawn of simulated parabolic physics, but they began working their way into non-realistic games as a mechanic for reasons that I can barely fathom.
Halo 3 doesn't need grenades, and all too often they lead to frantic throwing of said weapons when a player's in trouble, throwing randomly around corners when there's a blip on the radar, and generally getting in the way of the fun of the game. I'd like to highlight the random nature of both cases here, because that's precisely what they lead to in an unrealistic game like Halo 3 - randomness.
Everyone loves it when they manage to stick a plasma grenade, but that's not what usually happens and it's more or less by chance most of the time anyway. Grenades make the multiplayer aspect of the game far less enjoyable for me, but maybe because I'm a multiplayer FPS veteran, hailing from the days of Unreal Tournament, where it was all about the action, the dodging and the shooting. Imagine that, in an FPS. Perhaps there should be a new genre - First Person Grenade Throwing.
Hats off to the designers of Team Fortress 2, who actually realised this during their development process. Listen to the developer commentaries and you'll see what I mean. It truly does take some real thought about gameplay to make the difficult decision to remove popular mechanics in order to ensure things are fun again, so well done I say.
Well done.
Monday, 12 November 2007
Frag Dolls
I just want to voice how annoyed and frustrated I am at how anybody can get a job involving nothing more than playing games, attending game events and generally being in the gaming media eye, simply because they are a girl and interested in games.
Ubisoft have a lot to answer for! I feel positively discriminated against, but I suppose like all things, the minority is always more valuable. Perhaps male fashion designers fall into this category, or male chefs - it's just the way things are, but damn is it annoying.
I'll be a member of your next PR gaming clan! Just thought I'd put the word out there...
Edit: Apologies for the frustration, but as soon as I heard that the Frag Dolls simply responded to an ad put out there by Ubisoft, I had to vent. Nothing against female gamers, but this is a clear attempt to appeal to even more male gamers if you ask me.
Ubisoft have a lot to answer for! I feel positively discriminated against, but I suppose like all things, the minority is always more valuable. Perhaps male fashion designers fall into this category, or male chefs - it's just the way things are, but damn is it annoying.
I'll be a member of your next PR gaming clan! Just thought I'd put the word out there...
Edit: Apologies for the frustration, but as soon as I heard that the Frag Dolls simply responded to an ad put out there by Ubisoft, I had to vent. Nothing against female gamers, but this is a clear attempt to appeal to even more male gamers if you ask me.
Sunday, 23 September 2007
The Problem with Podcasts
About a year ago I started listening to the Gamespot.com podcast - The Hotspot - to keep informed on the changing industry as the launch of the Wii and PS3 drew ever closer. As I was still living in Japan at the time, I found it interesting to see how things unfolded from a totally different perspective. Being British, I had gotten used to hearing about new consoles a long time before I ever got to see one in stores. This time however, I was in the region where it all happens. I witnessed first-hand the sell-out of the PS3 in its first weeks contrasted against its marked availability thereafter. I saw the shortage of the Nintendo Wii and the mad-rushes it spawned whenever a word was spoken of stock availability.
I wasn't able to partake wholly of the gaming industry (though I did buy a Japanese Wii), so I enjoyed listening to the slick, yet still humble offerings of the Gamespot crew to keep me abreast of recent developments in this fast-paced arena.
Since I had been listening to one gaming podcast for about a year, I decided to branch out to others to get a feel for different approaches and opinions. For some reason I expected the same level of quality from other major gaming media outlets - how wrong I was.
While I shan't name the particular podcast here, I do have a few general observations about what makes a bad podcast: Firstly, talking the way you do when you're not being recorded doesn't work well in recordings. This includes arguing, interrupting and talking at the same time. What's more, crass language a "mature" podcast does not make. Why must it be so that mature equals swearing? In my opinion, a mature podcast is one that is well structured, allows everyone their time to speak and give their opinion with respect, and uses a vocabulary conducive to discussion, not argument. Secondly, assuming everyone knows what you're talking about causes the loss of your audience to the point they can no longer follow and become disinterested. Particularly, talking in acronyms for titles and concepts makes the general conversation hard to follow - made worse by immature bickering. Acronyms are used in typing because the time taken in typing a full name is proportionately much longer than it takes to simply say it. Acronyms are also not specific and rely mainly on the context, which again is hampered by the already difficult-to-follow conversation. Humour is another issue, but one that is largely based on opinion. I for one appreciate the irony that the Gamespot crew observes so well in their podcasts.
While The Hotspot is a kid-friendly podcast and has a listener base to reflect that in some ways, the discussion is never dumbed-down and there's a great deal for a truly mature audience to appreciate.
I wasn't able to partake wholly of the gaming industry (though I did buy a Japanese Wii), so I enjoyed listening to the slick, yet still humble offerings of the Gamespot crew to keep me abreast of recent developments in this fast-paced arena.
Since I had been listening to one gaming podcast for about a year, I decided to branch out to others to get a feel for different approaches and opinions. For some reason I expected the same level of quality from other major gaming media outlets - how wrong I was.
While I shan't name the particular podcast here, I do have a few general observations about what makes a bad podcast: Firstly, talking the way you do when you're not being recorded doesn't work well in recordings. This includes arguing, interrupting and talking at the same time. What's more, crass language a "mature" podcast does not make. Why must it be so that mature equals swearing? In my opinion, a mature podcast is one that is well structured, allows everyone their time to speak and give their opinion with respect, and uses a vocabulary conducive to discussion, not argument. Secondly, assuming everyone knows what you're talking about causes the loss of your audience to the point they can no longer follow and become disinterested. Particularly, talking in acronyms for titles and concepts makes the general conversation hard to follow - made worse by immature bickering. Acronyms are used in typing because the time taken in typing a full name is proportionately much longer than it takes to simply say it. Acronyms are also not specific and rely mainly on the context, which again is hampered by the already difficult-to-follow conversation. Humour is another issue, but one that is largely based on opinion. I for one appreciate the irony that the Gamespot crew observes so well in their podcasts.
While The Hotspot is a kid-friendly podcast and has a listener base to reflect that in some ways, the discussion is never dumbed-down and there's a great deal for a truly mature audience to appreciate.
Friday, 6 July 2007
Arithmetic
I've mentioned before that Japan has a very cash-driven society, which while being somewhat inconvenient at times, has the added effect of improving the overall level of arithmetic ability. Often shop staff will not even need to refer to the cash register in order to calculate how much change should be given to you, making the whole process extremely swift. It was a very common practice to purposefully overspend a certain amount to ensure you'd get the desired change, improving customer arithmetic too!
However, having come back to the UK, I've noticed that the level of mental arithmetic ability is severely lacking. At the train station for example, the ticket I usually bought is £18.60, for which I can assume people usually pay £20 and end up with a pile of change, but I decided to try and engineer a return of a £5 note. Upon paying £23.60, I had been met with perplexed gazes on no less than 3 separate occasions. Staring at the amount they had been given, they would repeat the price to me - as if I had misheard - to which I would reply "Well that's £5 change, isn't it?"
It's often mentioned how the level of English ability is steadily decreasing amongst our population, but if staff dealing with money all day cannot handle this level of simple mathematics, I fear the level of all basic and core subject may be slipping. What's more, it seems valuable school time is now going to be spent teaching children how to be respectful, polite, and deal with anger - something that absolutely should have been taught by parents in the first place.
However, having come back to the UK, I've noticed that the level of mental arithmetic ability is severely lacking. At the train station for example, the ticket I usually bought is £18.60, for which I can assume people usually pay £20 and end up with a pile of change, but I decided to try and engineer a return of a £5 note. Upon paying £23.60, I had been met with perplexed gazes on no less than 3 separate occasions. Staring at the amount they had been given, they would repeat the price to me - as if I had misheard - to which I would reply "Well that's £5 change, isn't it?"
It's often mentioned how the level of English ability is steadily decreasing amongst our population, but if staff dealing with money all day cannot handle this level of simple mathematics, I fear the level of all basic and core subject may be slipping. What's more, it seems valuable school time is now going to be spent teaching children how to be respectful, polite, and deal with anger - something that absolutely should have been taught by parents in the first place.
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