Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Why Changing the Mass Effect 3 Ending Would Be Bad for Video Games






"With its compelling cinematic setting, the Mass Effect series stands as an example of how video games can be great works of art. Changing the ending only reinforces the beliefs of video game naysayers, who insist that games are nothing more than mindless entertainment." 








I'll start by speaking frankly: video games are not respected as an art medium. There's no doubt that gaming is on the rise; sales continue to break records year after year. Yet, video games still aren't getting the same recognition from the mainstream as other forms of media entertainment.

I use the word "entertainment" because I think that's how video games are viewed by a lot of people, particularly the older generations. Still, I don't think that gamers can solely blame crotchety old folks for being closed-minded to the medium. It's up to gamers of all ages to prove to non-believers that video games have evolved since the arcade era and are no longer just mindless distractions.

For every game that is made just for fun, there is another game that focuses on creative art direction. For every game with no story, there's another with a compelling narrative, filled with rich characters and themes. Video games are just as much of an art medium as film, music, and literature -- we just have to prove it. The first way to accomplish this is for the gamers themselves to treat video games as art, and not just view them as a commercial product. Yes, I think video game consumers share a huge chunk of the blame.

Recently a petition addressed to BioWare arrived in my inbox. The petition called for a new ending to Mass Effect 3, citing outrage over the game's actual ending. While I wasn't completely satisfied with the Mass Effect 3 ending, I didn't for a second consider signing such an asinine petition.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Reflecting Back on the Nintendo Wii




It was Christmas 2006 when I unwrapped my Nintendo Wii. The tag on the paper informed me that "Santa" was the one who purchased me this gift. Although I was in my 20s, this still seemed more believable to me than my mother actually finding one during the holiday rush.

I had read all the launch reviews, I had studied all the media reactions to the console, and I knew that it was near impossible to get one by Christmas. I didn't expect to be able to get my hands on a Wii until the following spring, which only hyped the system that much more for me.

My only real experience with motion controlled gaming came from light gun based games, or arcade machines that used plastic motorcycles as a controller. Honestly, I wasn't completely sure what to expect from the Wii motion controls at first. I had seen the commercials of kids diving behind their couches to duck from enemy fire...did I have enough space in my bedroom to play the Wii?

My adventure on the Wii began with Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess. It was without a doubt the launch title that received the most praise, and after a few hours of playing, I completely understood why. I was in the zone when I played Twilight Princess. I was on my feet the entire time I played, slashing at enemies in an overzealous manner. I was a master of the bow and arrow, holding my arms out as if I were firing the real thing.

While I wasn't as involved in the motion controls as the gamers in television ads, I was still letting my imagination run wild. I enjoyed the Nintendo Wii experience immensely; it certainly lived up to the hype for me in every way during our initial romance.

Little did I know that somewhere along the way that romance would sour. At some point in the future the love I had for the Nintendo Wii would fade, and my love for other game consoles would resurface.

Monday, September 19, 2011

The Digital Revolution: Count Me Out.

The PlayStation Vita is coming to a store near you very soon, and with it Sony is saying goodbye to the UMD format. Taking a page from the failed PSP GO, the PlayStation Vita will make all games available through digital distribution, with an additional option to purchase titles on physical Vita game cards. All games can be downloaded from the PlayStation Network store, where they are then saved to proprietary flash memory cards.

There are many reasons why the PSP Go failed, and the existence of the Vita means that Sony doesn't think it has much to do with the digital-only distribution. Sony is putting a lot of money into the hybrid PlayStation Vita, and that means they really believe in it as a viable product. More importantly, it means they are testing the waters to see if a future console that solely features digital distribution can succeed.

The only way to make a portable console even more portable is to eliminate the need to carry around games. Testing the waters of digital distribution with a handheld console is appropriate, but it's likely not going to end there. With the recent rise in sales on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, the message being sent by consumers is that they enjoy having software made available to them on demand. It's very possible that the next generation of home consoles will be digital only, or at the very least feature a much larger digital library than we see currently.

If you're like me, your multimedia life is digital already: my music library is on my PC, I stream movies more often than I watch DVDs, and I have bought my fair share of games from Xbox Live Arcade. The inevitable conquest of the virtual console is at hand, and your game discs will soon sit next to cartridges in a museum display. While this may please some of you, I will be dragged into this dark age of gaming kicking and screaming.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Pikmin and Philosophy


"This game is so cute!" That was the reaction my ex-girlfriend had when she played the 2001 GameCube hit Pikmin. On the surface she is absolutely correct. Pikmin is a game that stars tiny little plant creatures, each with their own silly flower hat.

The art direction for the game is as colorful as the pikmin themselves, with a design that makes even vicious monsters seem like desirable household pets. The protagonist of the game, Captain Olimar, flew in on a miniature spaceship while wearing an antenna on his head. Basically, your simple minded ex-girlfriend has every reason to call Pikmin a "cute" game.

I ask that you stop giggling for just a moment. Remove your mind from those happy Pikmin memories, and take just a few minutes to really think about the events that transpired during the game. As I sit here taking my own advice, I begin to feel cold chills when I remember all those pikmin who died by my hand. I can still hear them scream as they fell to their death in water, or became the meal of a giant bug.

I even remember controlling Captain Olimar as he threw pikmin purposely into harm's way, just to occupy a monster in hopes of creating safe passage. Suddenly Pikmin doesn't seem like such a cute game anymore. Below the cuddly surface, this is a dark game seeping with brilliant social commentary.