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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna

I’ve started a game called Occupy White Walls, a sort of MMO art gallery building thingy. The grind is starting to hit; you basically have to excavate space one 4-metre cube at a time, and raise money by throwing open the doors as often as possible. Some people have been here long enough to create visual cacaphonies; I would too, but there doesn’t seem to be all that much modern art or abstract expressionism available. If you do play, please visit the gallery of hiatus (me.)

games occupy white walls art architecture hiatus
newyorker

Why Gamers Can’t Stop Playing First-Person Shooters

newyorker

image

Maria Konnikova looks at the psychology of first-person shooter games, and why their appeal is unlikely to disappear any time soon: http://nyr.kr/If1pOF

[First]-person shooters can create a sense of community and solidarity that some people may be unable to find in their day-to-day lives—and a sense of effectiveness and control that may, in turn, spill over into non-virtual life.

Above: Call of Duty: Ghosts. Courtesy of Activision/Infinity Ward/AP.

bemused-geek-nz

My bolding, my pull quote.

Source: newyorker.com New Yorker psychology games
audscratprophetlilith

“Games cost much too much money to focus on a niche market,” she said. “To survive, they need to be such a broadly popular part of entertainment culture that you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t play games. Women represent over 50 percent of the population, tend to be in charge of household finances, and are the majority purchasers of games (when factoring in games bought by women as gifts for husbands, children, friends, etc.). To indulge a community that is actively trying to alienate this powerful market segment (not to mention gay men, casual gamers of all types and anyone new to the hobby), is suicidal.

"It’s important to listen to fans about what’s important to them, but it’s equally important to listen to people who are not currently gamers about why they aren’t playing. Hardcore gamers want a product that is made specifically for them and is actively unfriendly to anyone new. They will beg and bully to get this product and then praise and wax nostalgic over any game that lives up to their standards even if the company that made it went bankrupt. They don’t care about keeping companies in business or artists employed. Their only job as fans is to say what pleases them, and it would be foolish to expect them to think beyond that. But to cater to those desires without thinking about how to bring new audiences in and make them comfortable will ultimately result in a stagnant and money-losing industry.

"I could go on and on about this, but I’m just going to consider one example: the word ‘noob.’ If you decide to take up almost any other hobby in the world, you can find beginning classes teaching you how to do it. If you want to knit, you can go to a yarn store and meet fellow knitters who will help you get the basics. If you want to play basketball, you can join a rec center or community league at a beginner level. And generally, the people already involved in those hobbies are thrilled to have someone with whom they can share their passion. But if you want to get started as a gamer, you get told, ‘go home noob,’ because people in this hobby hate newcomers so much they turned the word itself into an insult. How are we supposed to thrive as an industry if we are actively hostile to growing our audience?”

- Jennifer Hepler (source)

I’m not sure how to comment on this truthbomb more than to say “THIS,” because—on top of being the right fucking thing to do—making a more inclusive environment for all kinds of gamers is the only logical growth strategy. Now someone tell every other game company to read this as well.

(via subitoallegra)

My boldface btw.

Maybe part of the problem is that, unlike other hobbies, games involve dominating a virtual world to a level unattainable anywhere else. The newcomer is seen as a threat to the hardcore gamer’s dominance, perhaps?

games culture so very true

I Hate Video Walkthroughs: A Rant

(This is actually a repost from 2010, but it’s still relevant.)

I would like to say a few words on video walkthroughs for Flash Games.

Censored, then: Stupid Idea.

I am well aware that the majority of the witless horde out there are too cretinous and illiterate to actually read let alone have the capacity to think without soiling themselves from the strain. They want someone to show them how to complete the puzzle, or better still walk them through the entire thing so they can preen about their diminished achievement.

So much for the supporters of video walkthroughs. Why the vitriol?

Streaming video is too slow

There is nothing worse than clicking “walkthrough” and having to wait for some wunderkind’sprecious video to first load the player, then precache the first three seconds, then fetch the next one second, and the next, and the next… assuming the server doesn’t cack itself. In short: That five minute vidcap takes far longer to run than you think.

I just want to know about this, I’ve already done all that

This then is my beef. At one point close to the end in a point-and-click adventure game, I was stymied, and found myself irritably sitting through almost the entirety of a video before it actually got to the place I was stuck.

With a set of static images, helpful Javascript and some text, I could just jump straight to the problem point and back.

I’m a freak. I read instructions, and understand them.

Which reminds me:

Video walkthroughs destroy the sense of discovery

If you watch one part of the walkthrough, what’s to stop someone watching the whole thing? Part of the fun in a game is the discovering of new things, making the connection. But that’s too haaaard for the modern moron; just do what that guy in the video does. Yay. You’ve won the game… by aping someone else.

When I’m stuck, I want immediate help, not a whirling throbber and grainy YouTube footage. Screw modern technology. Let’s have… what are those things… oh yeah. Web pages.

Leave online video for the cam whores and cute kittens falling off Roombas.

rant games walkthrough
armorgames.com

Sushi Cat 2 | Armor Games

The long-awaited sequel to one of my favourite games!

The game is a physics/pachinko/bagatelle one: you drop a squishy blue cat into the obstacles, trying to eat enough sushi to reach the next level. As you nom away, your cat grows bigger, making it difficult but amusingly cute to ooze through some spaces. Special pieces give you temporary powerups. And in Sushi Cat 2, there are golden sushi to unlock bonus costumes.

The powerups here are not as annoying as some of the ones in the previous games, and I found myself enjoying it immensely. Go ahead.

After all, you’ve gotta love a cat whose answer to problems is “eat more sushi”!

games flash games bagatelle pachinko sushi cat
newgrounds.com

Treasure Tower: Random Platformer Panic

A great little game that I thought I never would find again, since there are quadrillions of games with the word “tower” in the title. And since that was all I could remember, it’s taken me this long to find the bloody thing.

The gimmick is that every level is randomly generated from a set of styles, layouts and enemies, so you have no idea what’s coming.

And the clock is constantly ticking down, drowned out by furious MIDI piano rags.

I think it’s a fun time. Well worth having a bash at.

games

Some Thoughts on Finishing Fallout: New Vegas

I just now completed Fallout: New Vegas, nearly a month after purchasing and downloading it.

Initially, the independent ending wasn’t my stated intention; I just wanted to play through and complete the game at least once. So I was playing along with Mister House up until the fifth quest.

Kill an entire bunker of Brotherhood of Steel types? Uh… right. I sided with Yes Man instead.

It wasn’t until that point that I realised what was making me uneasy in my headlong plunge towards completion. It’s the fact that there’s no clearly defined “good” or “bad” endings - technically speaking. There’s three basic paths, but unlike, say, Morrowind or Oblivion, they have more impact than whether you join House Hlaalu or the Fighter’s Guild - they literally close off alternatives.

Despite this, the more I read online about the endgame, the more it begins to feel like Morrowind: inevitably, you find yourself pulled back to Hoover Dam/Red Mountain, then to the final boss fight with Legate Lanius/Dagoth Ur. The main difference is that you have to choose a Great House to join, instead of being able to remain a freelancer. (Which, I suppose, makes sense in a way; I can’t imagine some rogue element wandering through and picking off one of the most feared warriors in the Mojave.)

The fact that completing the game makes me uneasy about how it’s done can only mean one thing. Obsidian’s writing team did one heck of a job.

games fallout new vegas
armorgames.com

Nice Flash Roguelike: Hack Slash Crawl

I’ve been poking around at the NetHack types of adventure games, where everything is randomised - including you.

NetHack is deep: in your first game, you will die quickly, and come back worrying about how to survive. You will learn, eventually, and move onto higher concerns. You will stop worrying about your score, and start considering questions of optimality, efficiency, and elegance. You will consult tables and guides in search of an edge because everyone knows the best way to have fun in a game is to take 20 until you beat an impossible DC, rather than try to actually succeed at something hard yet possible. You may dive into the very source code, looking to explain that one-in-a-thousand shot you just pulled off. You will probably learn some C, and possibly get into heated debates about the merits of pseudorandom number generators, expected returns, inconsistencies between competing mythologies, and the ethics of exploiting bugs.

Hack Slash Crawl is less complex - it’s a game where you score points (mana pearls) by exploring a randomly generated isometric maze and killing enemies. Just point and click to move, fight, collect, and pick and choose which bits you’ll keep for later and which bits are going to be sold for profit (and high scores.)

There are some problems. For instance, if you have a ring which gives you a healing spell, armor that gives you a healing spell, and a helmet that gives you a healing spell, you’ll find three of your spell slots are filled with healing spells. That’s a bit annoying. Also, the enemies are never identified; there doesn’t appear to be a bestiary telling you what you’re fighting or about to fight.

At the same time, it’s a nice bit of fun, letting you fret over whether or not to simply charge in, or try to draw out the enemies one by one, or maybe sneak around them. Also, in the times I played, the mazes were always logically designed - no dead end corridors, and every monster waits patiently in a room - until you get too close.

If NetHack variants scare you, Hack Slash Crawl is a stripped-down no-frills version that will probably appeal.

games flash NetHack Rogue-like Armor Games
sulman-deactivated20190627
sulman: “ First Person Shooter maps through the ages. Very true, actually. ” Painfully so. I used to make Quake maps, and back then cutscenes were fiddly things to set up, and most of the time unneeded. Unfortunately, with today’s narrative-driven...
sulman

First Person Shooter maps through the ages. Very true, actually.

bemused-geek-nz

Painfully so. I used to make Quake maps, and back then cutscenes were fiddly things to set up, and most of the time unneeded. Unfortunately, with today’s narrative-driven games…

…Actually, the right-hand diagram could represent a Serious Sam level. Just go s/cutscene/arena combat/ and there you have it.

too true games diagram map

I Hate Video Walkthroughs

I would like to say a few words on video walkthroughs for Flash Games.

Censored, then: Stupid Idea.

I am well aware that the majority of the witless horde out there are too cretinous and illiterate to actually read let alone have the capacity to think without soiling themselves from the strain. They want someone to show them how to complete the puzzle, or better still walk them through the entire thing so they can preen about their diminished achievement.

So much for the supporters of video walkthroughs. Why the vitriol?

Streaming video is too slow

There is nothing worse than clicking “walkthrough” and having to wait for some wunderkind’sprecious video to first load the player, then precache the first three seconds, then fetch the next one second, and the next, and the next… assuming the server doesn’t cack itself. In short: That five minute vidcap takes far longer to run than you think.

I just want to know about this, I’ve already done all that

This then is my beef. At one point close to the end in a point-and-click adventure game, I was stymied, and found myself irritably sitting through almost the entirety of a video before it actually got to the place I was stuck.

With a set of static images, helpful Javascript and some text, I could just jump straight to the problem point and back.

I’m a freak. I read instructions, and understand them.

Which reminds me:

Video walkthroughs destroy the sense of discovery

If you watch one part of the walkthrough, what’s to stop someone watching the whole thing? Part of the fun in a game is the discovering of new things, making the connection. But that’s too haaaard for the modern moron; just do what that guy in the video does. Yay. You’ve won the game… by aping someone else.

When I’m stuck, I want immediate help, not a whirling throbber and grainy YouTube footage. Screw modern technology. Let’s have… what are those things… oh yeah. Web pages.

Leave online video for the cam whores and cute kittens falling off Roombas.

rant games flash games video walkthrough fail
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