“Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.”
These are wise words, but I doubt Winston Churchill intended for this statement to apply to electronic games. Yet the industry would be wise to heed his words. To ignore them would be to fall into the same pit that so many developers foolishly dropped into. How can you make a good game if you don’t know what makes a good game? Besides the rich history of existing games to draw upon, they also have to be well-versed in what video game enthusiasts will and won’t pay for. Trends are important, but not as important as history. Our behavior is predictable; this is one of the reasons we see so many sequels year after year. Isn’t that learning from history? READ MORE
Any gamers worth their salt will scoff at the notion that graphics are the most important part of a game. Many of us grew up on the older systems: Atari, NES and the like. Even at the time, we knew the graphics weren’t the most amazing thing ever. They were, at the time, but we knew that things could get better.
Graphics are important. They can affect us emotionally in the same way that characters, storytelling and music can. They pretty much have to; you can’t taste a video game, nor can you touch or smell it. You can’t feel it physically. It’s merely graphics and audio and your input changing them, so it’s not a surprise that one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever seen in a game is almost purely due to graphics. Not just that; anything this affecting has to come from more than photorealistic models and dynamic lighting effects. It is a scene made possible by two games’ worth of storytelling. It is a result of dozens of hours of curiosity, perseverance, appreciation, fear and wonder. It is my favorite moment of the BioShock series, and it comes in the form of you playing as a Little Sister in BioShock 2. READ MORE
The goal of the Serotonin column is to write about how games make us feel. I draw upon my relatively extensive experience playing games over the years and try to find good examples that will show that video games are more than just brainless, immature forms of entertainment. They have to be. Too many smart people play them, too many passionate people are involved making them and too many industrious, eager, educated, wild, thoughtful and persistent people talk about them with just as much enthusiasm as fans of books, movies, theater, sports, television, music and art. READ MORE
I recently returned from a trip to Las Vegas. Now that I’ve escaped the withdrawal symptoms associated with a week-long diet of prime rib and Red-Bull-and-vodkas, I can finally sit down and type. It was quite a trip. We plan one of these events every year or so. Some of us know each other from high school, or college, or the various sports teams that we play on. It’s always a good group. You’ll rarely find an unenthusiastic participant. And somehow, the trip usually lives up to the hype. READ MORE
I’m sure we all have a friend who we sort of wish wasn’t our friend. You hang out with him, or her, and they cause nothing but trouble; they break things accidentally, say inappropriate things at inappropriate times, borrow your stuff without asking you (I call that unanticipated partnership of ownership) or don’t shower. Whatever it is.
But when push comes to shove, when the situation is laid out on the table and you’re looking over the events that occurred, you can point to that friend and you can proudly claim that, faults and all, you’re glad they’re your friend. Until they take the last beer out of your fridge and ask if it’s okay to date your sister. READ MORE
