Alongside the video games industry there are
games reviews and games journalists. These people tell us what is right and
wrong in the gaming world, and what we should spend our hard earned cash on for
a bit of entertainment. Not being a very hard-core gamer myself I really don’t
know much if anything about games journalism and reviews. After a tiny amount
of research I’ve learnt a few basics. A lot of games reviews come with a score,
usually a number out of 10 or even a percentage. But as we progress many other
forms of game reviews are cropping up. One that I particularly pay attention
to, and doing this blog I’ve only just realised I do, are lets play’s on YouTube.
Whereby a normal everyday game lover films him or herself playing a game and
commenting as they go through. A lot of these are for entertainment purposes
but some do voice their opinions on many aspects of a game. I’m pretty sure
that game companies and reviewers work incognito to help each other, the whole
thing is clinical, controlled and edited as they see fit. THIS IS NOT GAMING
and has led to the public creating their own reviewing and advertising network.
Being a spectator rather than a player myself it takes a lot more for me to
consider actually purchasing a game and play it hence why gaming reviews do nothing
for me. I don’t watch someone play to find a number, a score out of 10, I watch
for the experience. The NGJ are redundant in many ways to the public they claim
to serve, they are there purely as a business outlet, an extension of the games
industry. As a race we have become lazy in this modern world, we will always
pit for the easy option and pretty much want everything handed to us on a
plate. We choose not to think for ourselves when it comes to retail. When buying
a product online, from websites such as Ebay, before purchasing, you’ll read
the review before purchasing. Everywhere we go we look to others to show us the
way and what they think and this fuels our decision almost making it for us if
we’re really feeling lazy and zombified at the time. Gaming and reviews are in
a world of their own. Purely working for themselves within a system that actually
alienates the gaming public. Money circulates between them Underhand payments
from games companies to games reviewers such as IGN, to write about their game
in a positive light to boost sales. What they make and the press surrounding
them is something entirely different to what we as gamers actually experience
when exploring these worlds they have created. Something that springs to mind as
an example, being a game watcher I’m quite the fan of the YouTube channel
PewDiePie. http://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie?feature=watch
For those who don’t know, he makes videos called ‘let’s play’ where he plays a
game and films himself playing it in episodes for the viewer to watch as a
series. He’s popular for his funny comments and has a huge fan base spread
right across the globe. I hadn’t been watching him for long when I came across
his series for the game The Walking Dead which funnily enough was a highly
acclaimed game, winning countless awards including 2012 Game of the year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(2012_video_game)
I watched the series not expecting much, if anything the visual style of the
game put me off a little, but being based on a comic book series I can see why
they went for this particular style.
I became hooked, drawn in and the clever decision making that affects the
characters and also change the flow of the story. I was up watching it until
the ridiculous hours of the morning. Like a book I couldn’t put down I had to
find out what happened next. The story takes a turn for the worst and as the
story drew to a close, PewDiePie himself was becoming incredibly emotionally
involved in the characters and story line. So much so that the ending scene
reduced him to tears and so was I. I had never cried at watching a game like
that and it amazed me. Writing this blog I realised, if I were to read a review
of this game and hear it won awards, I may have batted an eye lid but never
would’ve attempted to experience it in any way. Watching the story unfold
before your eyes, hearing the comments and the thought process of the player,
you couldn’t help but become emotionally involved. If I had to read a
journalist interpretation on the game I seriously doubt they would be able to
hook and completely immerse all my emotions into the game and story. What I’m
saying is, the idea of a review where none of the gaming is being viewed by the
public and writing is all they have to go by. This is then supposed to help us
decide whether we would enjoy playing a game, the whole thing just doesn’t
work. A game is a world, it evokes and awakens all your senses, apart from the
obvious taste and smell. The only way writing would evoke these feelings, would
be if it were a novel. That obviously isn’t the intention of a review,
deadlines and word counts are what matter. In my opinion I would never judge a
game by what review it got. No matter who gave it or where it was published. I
have to be shown it or at least be told face to face with someone who has
experienced it first-hand. This is a true test and a closest insight to a game
you can get, without actually playing it. Depending on your preference in terms
of your relationship with games, for me there’s no better review then seeing it
with your own eyes.
My personal gaming history is probably not as
colourful as most of the people on my course. My gaming history mainly consists
of watching people play. I’ve mentioned this in previous posts, but I’m going
to go into more detail, giving ages and what was going on round about that time
in the gaming world.
My brother being my main link to gaming has hindered my knowledge of all the
games out there. For example, he wasn’t a Legend of Zelda fan, and yet
everybody claims it’s one of, if not, the best game of all time, and yet
because of my brothers taste I never knew the joys of Zelda until recently and
therefor I was led to be believe otherwise to who owns the best game ever title.
My first gaming experience ever, would probably be, again watching my brother
play on the Sega mega drive. A games console that I have grown up knowing and
playing games such as Sonic 2, Streets of rage 1 and 2, Micro Machines and my
mother’s personal favourite, Columns. My first exposure to games would’ve been
this, even though I can’t quite remember. But I’ve been told countless times of
the stories where I pulled my mother’s hair as my brother was thrashing her on
Micro Machines. Did anything to help my brother succeed, he must have trained
me.
My first memory of a game would probably be Resident Evil. No prizes for
guessing why I remember it. Obviously a terrifying game for anyone let alone a
6 or 7 year old. Not too sure how young I was when I was first ever exposed to
it but I know my brother was 12 when he first played it. Another game I can
remember from an early age was Silent Hill 2, again, for the same reasons for Resident
Evil. I’ll always remember the scene that frightened me the most. It’s the scene
where you come across your first enemy. I literally ran out of the room I was
that terrified. O_O However, another thing I remember thinking about that game
in particular, was that the graphics in the cut scenes looked incredibly realistic
for its time. Especially the opening scene that introduces the main character,
James.
Another game from my childhood and quite possibly the most important game in my
life was of course, Final Fantasy VII. I’m not going to go into detail; I’ve
done it in other posts and I’m getting sick of explaining myself, but I think
this game is the blue print of my ideal game. An incredibly deep and engaging
story line, with a wonderful world filled with so much beauty and breath taking
atmosphere, teamed with a group of lovable characters. The only thing that was missing
were great graphics and talented voice acting. There were rumours of a remake,
but the rumours were soon put to bed. According to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII the rumour was
sparked after the release of a video featuring the opening scene from the original
game but using PS3 graphics. It was soon stated that at that time, there were
far too many other projects that were happening and that there would simply be
no time to start a remake project of such a long game any time soon. I would’ve
loved to have seen this, but I can’t help but think it could potentially ruin
the game, but I guess we’ll never know.
Let’s skip ahead to when I first started properly playing games. I dabbled here
and there with a few titles. One I particularly loved was Guitar Hero. I love
rock music and I thought the idea of appearing to play a guitar in front of a
crowd was such an awesome idea. I played a few of the Sims instalments, but I think
it was when I got a Nintendo DS Lite one Christmas. I had a collection of games
for it, Tomb Raider Legend, Scribblenaugt, Final Fantasy 3, Super Mario Bros,
Legend of Zelda and the Phantom Hourglass, a couple Sims games, and even my old
nemesis, Resident Evil 1, which was exactly the same as the original, and yet I
conquered my fear and completed it, near enough, just had to kill the last
boss. No health in sight though, so I took it as a victory for getting through
the whole game and gave myself a pat on the back.
Next console I had was a Nintendo wii. As well as this I’d have a sneaky go on
my brothers PS3 to play Devil May Cry 4. I completed that numerous times on all
levels of difficulty. Probably one of my first proper gaming experiences.
However, I discovered my first purchased game that I bought and got obsessed
with. I did every single little bit of it. Usually I don’t bother with these
and just do the main story but I got hooked and consumed. I don’t think this
game was highly praised but I loved it. It’s called No More Heroes for the wii.
It had such a unique look that I found really appealing. It had a comic book
style, full of action and violence but it didn’t take itself seriously and did
really well to keep it fun. I loved it, yet the sequel didn’t quite engross me
as much. So it has been left uncompleted.
Ever since then I revisited a few games of my brothers, like Final fantasy 10,
which I managed to complete and was quite proud of myself for doing so.
Ever since that however. I haven’t really touched a game properly for a while.
However I have begun to like watching ‘Lets Plays’ and ‘Walk Through’s’ on YouTube.
It goes back to when I watched my brother on games and just enjoyed the story.
I do think I prefer watching to playing, but there are some games in this world
that you just have to play.
But it’s clear that computer games have been a big part of my life. They’ve influenced
me since before I can remember, and I hope they continue to throughout my time
on this course and in whatever career I find myself in at the end of it.
