| Election 08 |
[Aug. 30th, 2008|01:19 pm] |
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| |  amused | ] |
Is it just me or does the Republican Ticket now look like a bizarre porno? The old man and the beauty queen? I mean seriously... What the fuck? |
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| Russian Roulette |
[Aug. 11th, 2008|10:37 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  confused | ] |
I appreciate that Russia's motives in invading Georgia are probably not be "pure as the driven snow" but in the pursuit of accuracy, and at the expense of sounding childish, Georgia started it.
The region of South Ossetia has been in dispute since Georgia separated from the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, and the conflict between Georgian and South Ossetian forces there has been ongoing. After agreeing to a ceasefire and Russian mediated talks, the Georgian government waited until the start of Beijing Olympics, when the eyes of the world were elsewhere, and sent tanks and artillery into the disputed region. A region that has been for several years a de facto independent state.
Russia called on the international community to work "to avert massive bloodshed" in South Ossetia, and at some point there was even an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss a response to the conflict.
The fighting continued with the Georgian bombardment apparently killing at least fifteen civilians along with thirteen Russian peacekeepers in their barracks in South Ossetia. Not long after this Russian military forces entered the disputed region.
There's been a lot of rumours and propaganda flying around but when it comes down to it Russia is acting to save the lives of civilians threatened by their own government. Something the West seems perfectly happy to do itself when it feels like it.
The Russians have greatly overreacted and have taken this far beyond a simple act of peace enforcement to one of borderline invasion, but at the same time the response of Western governments to the conflict has been highly hypocritical. When Serbian forces invaded Kosovo there was a general outcry (And yes Russia basically ignored the entire situation, I'm not saying they are entirely consistent), and eventually the West reacted. But when the Georgian government invaded South Ossetia the West condemned the Russia government for acting in protection of the citizens of South Ossetia.
I wonder what would have happened in Kosovo is Serbia had been looking to join NATO as Georgia has? Or if Serbia had an oil pipeline to the West?
I'm not trying to say Russia is the champion of the oppressed citizens of South Ossetia or that they are in any way without blame in this, but the way in which this war is being reported by western media is heavily biased towards presenting Georgia as the victims and Russia as the evil oppressor. All but ignoring the fact it was Georgian military action against civilians that sparked this conflict in the first place, action taken somewhat suspiciously while the rest of the world was looking somewhere else.
Russia has now invaded, and according to their government now withdrawn from towns in Georgia itself, and if they continue their actions into a full blown invasion then regardless of the motivations for their initial action it'll be clear than they intent far more than protection of the citizens of South Ossetia. For the moment they have overreacted but not taken any action explicitly inconsistent with their stated aims. |
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| Priorities |
[Jun. 7th, 2008|09:57 pm] |
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| | confused | ] |
So in less than a week I'm going to be traveling down for a trial for a new job, and if I'm successful it's really going to be nothing short of life changing. Maybe not in some epic manner but it is still going to result in a significant change to my life, I'm going to have to move to a city I've never even visited before and where I know nobody, to embark on a career I've been aiming for for years, yet somehow I can't seem to make any of that feel important to me.
No right now the only things I can actually hold onto as being important are the fact that Steven Moffat is taking over the running of Doctor Who (Fantastic news, as he's probably one of the best television writer in the world), and the continued rumours that James Nesbitt is going to replace the magnificent David Tennant and The Doctor.
I think my priorities are wrong somewhere. |
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| Visual Storytelling. |
[Jun. 6th, 2008|01:20 am] |
So I've just been watching Revenge Of The Sith, yeah so I don't hate it sue me, and something struck me. George Lucas has always said he considers himself a very visual director, and well given his "talent" for dialogue I'm not really surprised, but it's actually interesting to look at the Star Wars prequels and consider them from a purely visual perspective.
Watching the prequels without the sound is a little weird, and really you need John William's score, but if you ignore the dialogue (Something you should really be doing anyway) and just watch the films they hold together very well. It's possible to understand what's going on, the emotion and subtext of each scene simply from the visual composition. The awful dialogue is even more damaging in such a film as its obvious lack of subtly and generally poor delivery is such that it actively damages the film.
Consider how The Phantom Menace would feel if you watched it like a silent movie (With potentially text for some of the specifically important dialogue, of which there is actually rather little), with just the visuals and the music, sure Jar Jar is still around but trust me he's much less annoying when silent. You would get the idea of there being some political dispute regarding the invaded planet (Naboo, though of course you'd never know its name), but the precise nature of what that dispute is isn't necessary to your understanding of what's happening. Everything you need to understand the events and theme of the film exists purely in the visuals; I'd go so far as to say in terms of the purely visual storytelling the prequels are on par with the originals as some of the best films of their genre.
I accept they aren't expressionistic masterpieces, they are pulp fiction and will remain so, but it's interesting to consider how strongly they hold up as "silent movies" and also how damaging the weak dialogue and over complicated politicking is. It's also interesting to consider how many other films rely so heavily on talking head exposition to explain their plots, especially in film, a medium defined by it's ability to represent moving images. |
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| That little bit closer. |
[Jun. 5th, 2008|05:28 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | excited | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Killradio - Do You Know (Knife In Your Back) | ] |
I got a phone call today, not really that unusual (Actually it is, nobody ever phones me). It was from Jagex the company I applied for a job with. I did "very well" in the interview and they want me to go down to their offices in Cambridge (192 miles away according to Google Maps) on Thursday and Friday of next week for a trial.
To say I'm a little excited would possibly be an understatement... actually it probably wouldn't as really I'm not entirely sure how I feel right now, it's a very strange time. Feels a little surreal actually. |
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| So Close... |
[Jun. 3rd, 2008|11:15 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  anxious | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Fiction Plane - It's A Lie | ] |
So there was this... argument with our telecom company concerning how much money we owed them... and well... the internet kinda... sorta disappeared. Which for a number of reason was a little awkward.
No least because I'd actually gotten around to finishing my short story and actually apply for the job I've mentioned previously. I sent off my application just before I returned to Cornwall for my grand father's funeral and was in a bit of a strange mood for the whole week. Waiting to see if I heard anything back from them and trying to come to terms with exactly how I felt regarding my grand father's death and the funeral itself. I'll leave the specifics of what happen for another time, maybe, and instead explain what's been happening since I got back home.
About four days after I got back, and about two after the internet went "away", I recieved a phonecall asking if I'd be able to take part in a number of online tests for the job I'd applied for. The tests themselves turned out to be three questions each with a thirty minute time limit, each section focused on a different requirement of the job: Creative Writing, Game Design, and Programming. Now having no internet I ended up going to the community office in town and using on of their machines, so I answered all three questions sitting in a small town community office with my iPod. The first two questions I did one after the other, but by the end of the second I needed a break to calm down, so went home. That night was the Girls Aloud gig, but again I'll talk about that later. The following afternoon (The community office didn't open until three that day), I completed the Programming section.
The original E-Mail (Which I'd had to read on my phone, having no located the community office at that point), told me that I'd be informed of how I did within two working days. Those were two long days, and I was wandering around the house with my phone near me at all times, and by the morning of the second day I'd resorted to once again checking my E-Mail on my phone. Around two that day I recieved another E-Mail telling me they were having some problems processing the applications and it would take a few more days.
So nearly a week after I completed the final question, I got another E-Mail letting me know that I'd done well enough on those tests to warrent a phone interview, which was conducted on Monday morning (I recieved the E-Mail regarding it on Friday). The interview was to involve questions about the company itself, the role, and my own experience; I was advised to do some research on the company over the weekend.
Long story short, I ended up with nearly six pages of research on the company and their existing products; a lot of which gathered at two in the morning browsing Wikipedia on my phone, something I suggest nobody else ever attempts with a Nokia 3110C.
When I finally got the call at ten in the morning on monday, I was as ready as I guess I was ever going to be. The first question was about the company and I answered it pretty well, surprisingly well from the tone of the interview. After that it was a lot of questions about games in general and my own experience working in teams and on creative projects. At one point I remember discussing the weapon balancing in Halo and at another I was deconstructing the game mechanics of BioShock. All in all I think I did quite well in the interview and needed a grand total of one paragraph of the six pages of research I did, but such is life.
I was told that if I'd been successful I'd be informed within two days and asked to come for a two day trial, to be held next week. I've heard nothing today so hopefully I'll hear something tomorrow.
I'm maybe a two day trial away from the kind of job I've wanted since I was about fifteen, and really I don't know how I feel about it. |
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| Spinning (Off) a yarn. |
[May. 10th, 2008|12:40 pm] |
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| | amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Feeder - Just The Way I'm feeling | ] |
I'm currently finishing up a Perfect Dark novel by Greg Rucka entitled Initial Vector, and it's surprisingly good. It's not a fantastic book by any means and it's not going to win any awards but it does manage to make the characters of and the world they inhabits much more interesting that they ever were in the game.
I never played the original Perfect Dark, regrettably, and while I enjoyed the Xbox 360 prequel, Perfect Dark: Zero, it was really in spite of itself. I liked the basic idea of the game but the writing, characterisation and gameplay were rather uneven. It's ironic to consider that if the original games had been as well structured and written as the spin-off novel they would have been a better products. |
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| If it was a movie it'd be raining today... |
[May. 6th, 2008|08:40 pm] |
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| |  weird | ] |
Strange day today.
I don't think I've brought it up before but my paternal grandfather has been in hospital for the last few weeks and I got the phonecall this morning telling me he'd passed away last night.
I don't really know how to take it, I'm not sure how what I feel, let alone how I think I should feel. I guess in these circumstances there is no way I "should" feel. I've spoken to my family and nobody seems to want to really talk about how we are all feeling right now, but I'm sure that will come in time. Considering the condition he's been in for the past few months I'd been expecting the worst, though the longer he hung on the more it felt he'd continue to hang on. I'll be going back home next week to see my family, and for the funeral and after that I don't know what I'll be doing. I mean that literally, as I also found out today that the Warehouse where I work will be unable to keep me on after Friday.
Again it's something I've been expecting for a few weeks now, and my manager has been very open about everything, but it's just not the greatest news to hear on the day you lose a grandparent.
I've finished the first draft of the short story I've been working on for my portfolio, and once I've cleaned it up I'm going to apply for the job I mentioned previously, and any others I see as well.
Like I said, strange day. It's also been one of the warmest and pleasant days we've had so far this year, really felt like a day for new beginnings rather than endings, and I guess in a lot of ways maybe it is. Once again I'm in that odd position of not really knowing what I'll be doing a month, or even a week for today. I'm back watching episodes of Babylon 5 because it always seems to be the right thing to watch at times of confusion, it really is an incredible show (Cardboard looking sets and some weak acting aside of course).
"The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain."
This has the feeling of a moment of transition, and that's a little scary, exciting but scary.
And that's pretty much how I feel right now, scared, excited, upset, a little angry and strangely lonely. |
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| To wait, or not to wait. |
[Apr. 20th, 2008|01:52 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | All Together Now - The Farm | ] |
Weird situation right now. There's a job vacancy I'm quite interested in applying for, it's basically designing, writing and scripting quests for a Java based MMO. The job is in Cambridge, which is about two hundred miles away; though that's not really my main concern. The job description requires a fair quantity of creative writing, which again I don't have a problem with but since I lost a lot of my work when I was fucking around with my computer I don't have many creative writing samples to add to my portfolio. So I've been working on a short story for the past few days, it's an idea of had in my head for a while but if I'm honest it's not my best work by any means. It's also an story that takes place in a pre-existing fictional universe, maybe a bad idea as something to use for my portfolio. At same time given the current state of the games industry I think that showing I can work with somebody else's intellectual property is probably a good thing.
The problem I have, and really one I should have seen coming, is that it's taking a little more time than I would have liked. On top of that I've been trying to come up with some other ideas for short creative writing samples to include. I was thinking along the lines of fictional newspaper articles, or fictional obituaries. Just little things that show I can work in a variety of formats and styles and which would be quick and easy to read. I would say hopefully quick and easy to write but I'm not really that naive I know even a small thing will take quite a bit of work.
The other strange thing I'm finding is that one part of me doesn't want to apply for the job, sure part of it is my natural tendency to procrastinate but I'm also starting to realise I actually quite like my life right now. Sure there are issues, some of which I've described previously but overall things could be a lot worse. I'm still not sure if I'm going to be able to stay in my current job long term, though if I don't I'll just have to find something else. I'm finally about to get around to getting a driving licence which will eventually open up the range jobs available. Though all that aside I'm kinda having fun living here, it'd not ideal for a number of reasons but it's still, dare I say it, good.
So right now I'm not sure whether to apply or not. Of course I might not get the job anyway, it's just going to be weird having to move again so soon.
Hmm... |
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| Electric Dreams? |
[Apr. 6th, 2008|03:57 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Giorgio Moroder - Together In Electric Dreams | ] |
Well that was fun... *Cough*
Long story short, I've been without internet access for ever... Ok about three weeks but it really did feel like I was missing a part of my brain. I've joked about how much I rely on Google and Wikipedia as augmentations to my memory but being without either was just bizarreand irritating. Simply watching a film became a process in frustration as instead of just Googling an actor to find out where I recognised them from I would spend the entire time trying to work it out and not actually focus on the film.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Anyway, I'm back now. And currently sitting here at four in the morning working through the various E-Mails I've received and websites that have have been updated since I've been away. I'll sleep at some point, probably.
So what else... Oh yeah Doctor Who is back... Yay etc. There's some woman I'm attracted to at work, but, well, it's just odd. I'm attracted to her but really I don't quite know why, I've barely spoken to her and it's a potentially complicated situation and well if I'm being honest there are more attractive people there. Despite all that she still somehow manages to make me act like a child; alright, alright more like a child. I guess that's just the way the whole attraction thing works I suppose; and for the record I do speak to her, or at least try to... sort of, she's quiet, and like I said it's complicated. Look stop staring at me like that. I said stop it, stop it...
Oh and I now own a Playstation 3.
I'm sure there's other things but I can't remember them right now. |
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| To catch a falling star. |
[Feb. 3rd, 2008|02:21 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  bouncy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Take That - Never Forget | ] |
Watch Stardust.
I was going to make a longer post about it the film, and I may do at a later date, but really that's all you need to know. It's a Fantasy Romantic Comedy Adventure in the spirit of The Princess Bride and it's instantly become one of my favourite films; right up there with Children Of Men, Pan's Labyrinth and the Vengeance Trilogy.
Watch it and I dare you not to have fun. |
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| So far from normal... |
[Jan. 16th, 2008|05:27 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  listless | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Hoosiers - Run Rabbit Run | ] |
I've not been sleeping wonderfully for the last few days, and last night I have yet another of my really fucking weird dreams. It's not up there with the giant beetle clutching a bourbon biscuit and chasing me around the kitchen but it's still pretty damn odd. However before I explain it I think I need to detail a bit of what's happened over the last few days as I'm sure it's in some way responsible for my dream.
So I took the job at the Printing place, and have been working there since Friday (Including four hours overtime on Saturday morning), and while it's not great it's also not utterly terrible either, and it's money. I accepted the job last Wednesday only to receive a call on Thursday from the School asking if I could come in for an interview for the ICT Technician job this coming Friday (the 18th). I've managed to get the time of work to go to the interview and the more I think about it the more I think it's be a pretty cool job for me to do. It's something I'd likely enjoy, having basically do something very similar while I was a sixth form student at my own school, and it's finally a job that requires me to use my brain and the almost inherent tech skills I seem to just absorbed with fuck all effort on my part. I mean considering I got the lowest degree result you can get while still passing it's pretty clear I didn't particularly learn anything when I was being taught it ;)
So yeah I'm kind of really hoping I get the job while also being convinced I'll do something stupid again and not get it, which is typical me, I mean if they are willing to ask me in for an interview I've clearly got a chance with the job. It doesn't help that I've put my former Manager down as a reference and I can't get in contact with her at the moment to confirm that she's alright to provide it, as she's apparently on holiday until after my interview. Lovely.
So anyway this dream. Basically it was about me getting an IT Technician job at a large school (Much larger than the place I'm actually applying for), and arriving for work a little late on the first day. Now this school was split into two in some manner, I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but there's was a reception area of sorts that I arrived at first. There I met a girl (again fuzzy on the details) but she was brunette and around my age and rather attractive. I started talking to her and fuck knows what I said but it ended with her giving me a kiss and telling me to met her when I'd finished work. I can't remember how she pronounced her name but I do remember it was written as Nebula. After talking to her I was now very late so I rushed to the other part of the school. Here the details are even less solid but I went up some stairs to an office to meet my manager who seemed to me to be the person I was expected even though he said he wasn't the person I was expecting. He also looked a little like Phil Collins and didn't seem to notice, or care, that I was late. Some other things happened over the next few minutes (Or whatever it was, dreams are weird like that), but basically I got on with my job, though I do remember a minor crisis of sorts that happened in a large computer room that I had to sort out, I have a strange feeling it was some kind of hostage situation but I'm not sure. I also met some other girl but I don't really remember her. The dream ended with me in what I think was a small kitchen off a staff room, and having a conversation with somebody who I feel I knew but can't recall any details about. I was telling her about this other girl I'd met and about Nebula. When I mentioned Nebula he seemed to react as if I should be careful of her, he also referred to her by the nickname Fifty-Fifty. My last recollection is of wondering if I should keep my "date" with Nebula\Fifty-Fifty.
So yeah... odd... I do wonder if it means anything beyond the obvious, I want the job and I'm really feeling depressingly single right now. |
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| Stupidity 101 |
[Jan. 8th, 2008|11:33 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Poxy Boggards - Red is the Rose / Loch Lommond | ] |
Urgh... a lot has happened over the last few months. Long story short, I quit work and moved house to a new place five hundred miles away from the old one. Numerous reasons abound, but the core issue was working nights wasn't conductive to my mental health.
I'll probably bitch, whine and moan about all that at some other time for the moment I'm going to concentrate on my current act of out stupidity. Yes folks, it's that time again...
So currently unemployed and living off my final pay cheque form my last job, plus around fifty quid I got for working a few days in a DIY shop down the road that I decided not to accept a full time position in (Manifold reasons, but basically I don't think I could have worked there an maintained my sanity). So I had an interview this afternoon for 3 Month Temporary job in a warehouse of a local Printing Group, everything was fairly straight forward and I guess if I'd said yes there and then I'd have a job now, albeit one that feels pretty much like the one I just left except with daytime hours and not having to deal with customers directly. But still a job and money and all that stuff.
But this is me we're talking about, of course I didn't say yes that would have been the sensible thing to do. No I said I'd get back to him, because I've also applied for another job, this one as an ICT Technician at a local school, something I think would be, at least a little, less inclined to cause me significant mental malaise. The problem for me is that I won't even know if I've got an interview for the ICT job until Thursday, and after that any interview itself would be next Friday, and I'd maybe find out if I'd gotten the job a day to a week after that.
I can imagine most people are thinking something along the lines of: "This is a no brainer. Take the warehouse job and leave it for the ICT job if you get it." which yeah, I'll admit is an utterly sane and sensible thing to do and something that undoubtedly people do all the time.
But of course, as I've stated already, this is me we're talking about. Basically put I have a big problem with saying yes to a job only to potentially turn around inside a week or two and leave for something different. It's an utterly stupid issue to have really, potentially one of biblically stupid proportions. So I'm currently feeling all stupid and such because I'm not comfortable saying yes to a job I guess I don't want anyway but can't really afford to turn down, because I might (And I'll be honest it's a big might) stand a chance with another job some time down the line. All because I'm not comfortable doing what hundreds of other people must have done and will continue to do.
It's nice being special isn't it... Urgh... *Bangs head on table* |
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| Somewhat familiar. |
[Nov. 10th, 2007|07:24 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Mika - Billy Brown | ] |
Now I'm looking forward to The Golden Compass movie, but walking past the poster outside the cinema I did a bit of the double take, the armour on the Bear "King" Iofur Raknison looks somewhat familiar.
I can't be the only person who's thought this surely? |
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| Experience 112 |
[Oct. 9th, 2007|10:22 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | curious | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Muse - Knights Of Cydonia | ] |
I'd just like to point everybody towards Experience 112 a French Adventure game due for release sometime this year. There's not really much information available on the game, but the basic premise is rather intriguing.
You take on the role of an unspecified individual inside the security control room of a ship-cum-research centre, and have to guide an AI control character through the vessel and aid her in working out what has happened. You achieve this by watching her progress through CCTV cameras and using the security systems to unlock certain areas for her.
A selection of videos are available on GameTrailers which show the manner in which you interact with the world, and although they are in French the general concept comes across clear enough. Hopefully this will get some form of English release, that the website is in English does make this seem likely though I've seen very little mention of it in the gaming press so we'll have to wait and see. |
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| Do I know you? |
[Oct. 9th, 2007|09:44 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cranky | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Muse - City of Delusion | ] |
I'm three nights into my seven night holiday and I've decided to complete some of the numerous games I've currently left unfinished. The first of these is Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. I've played it for a few hours over the last two days and I've reached what appears to be the final level (Xbox 360 Achievements are really useful for letting you work out how many levels are left), and I'd say the game is around a solid 7/10. Technically very strong, and when the game isn't creating arbitrary ways to, make itself more difficult, or take away your squad mates, it can be quite entertaining. But something happened at the start of the final level that just felt incredibly forced and has left a sour taste in my mouth.
First some context. Throughout the course of the game you are ferried around by a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, the pilot of which talks to you on several occasional using the traditional "image in your HUD, voice in your ear" mechanic familiar from everything the lies of Sin, or Deus Ex; here called a Cross-Com. Everything he says is terse and related specifically to the objectives of your current mission. The main theme of those missions , with the exception of certain setbacks and secondary objectives, is to capture a Mexican General Carlos Ontiveros who has instigated a coup d'état against the Mexican government (It's a Tom Clancy game so that's about the best plot you're going to get). Throughout the course of the game General Ontiveros is mentioned but never seen as you are always several steps behind.
At the start of the final level, for no obvious reason your character starts to talk to the Blackhawk pilot (Who does have a name, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you what it is), as if the two are good friends; something I don't remember having been brought up at any point previously. The pilot's behaviour is a little odd and within moments he's shot by another character who then apparently steals his helicopter. I'm informed, by my own character no less, than the murderer is General Ontiveros. The final mission itself involves me chasing him through Mexico City Ostensible to recover an item he's stolen, but really for revenge, as is strongly implied by several characters, including another character I've never met but who talks to me as if we've known each other for some time.
The entire setup is heavy handed; the Blackhawk pilot goes from being a comrade to a good friend, and General Ontiveros from a military target to some gloating villain. Furthermore the final mission is full of occasions where General Ontiveros taunts me via the Cross-Com informing me that "I'll never catch him". It's all a few steps removed from "I'll get you next time Gadget." And comes off as totally counter to the means in which story development (As it is) is handled throughout the rest of the game.
I admit I didn’t play the game for the storyline, but techniques like this just damage the game for no reason. |
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| Just a suggestion. |
[Oct. 6th, 2007|06:44 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cranky | ] |
Can we stop using the phrase "Next Gen" now? It didn't really make much sense the first time it was used and makes even less, "Next Gen" would now mean then PlayStation 4 or Wii 2, or whatever.
So please, just quit it, please. |
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| Video Game Movies. |
[Oct. 6th, 2007|03:26 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | bitchy | ] |
Please, oh dear god please, can we just stop it now. I mean really, just stop it. It was amusing to begin with but now it's a joke that's stopped being funny. Video Game movies are terrible, some might be mildly entertaining for a few minutes but they never even approach the quality level of most other films or even of the games they are based upon.
They exist because Game Publishers are willing to whore their Intellectual Properties out to a Movie Industry that's stopped being creative. Both sides need to stop it, it's not funny anymore it's just painful to witness.
There are things that the Movie Industry can learn from the Games Industry, and there are things the Games Industry can learn from the Movie Industry but they need to be adapted to the specifics of the medium in question and not just taken wholesale.
Video Game movies are awful, fact. Stop it now.
But of course they won't, because regardless of quality some of them, God knows why, make money. Oh wait, I've got both Tomb Raider and both Resident Evil films on DVD. Shit. |
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| Ironic |
[Oct. 6th, 2007|02:10 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | curious | ] |
Gears of War, a game so much about moral absolutes of "us and them" it's almost painful. Ironically for a game so dedicated to the notions of black and white it's almost entirely rendered in shades of grey.
I think that says something. I just doubt it's anything good. |
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| Combat Evolved? |
[Oct. 4th, 2007|06:57 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | contemplative | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Audioslave - Jewel Of The Summertime | ] |
My original intent had been to try and explain what made Halo: Combat Evolved different from other First Person Shooters, and therefore somehow justify some of my previous statements regarding it. After writing a breakdown of Halo, I showed it to a friend and he essentially told me what I probably knew already; all I'd done was list the different weapon and enemy types, and done nothing to explain why it played like anything more than a typical FPS.
After some discussion on the subject I discovered that the two of us had totally different experiences of playing Halo and none of them could be put down to elements like the difficult setting or our own skill. We have both played a lot of FPS games and we played on the same difficulty setting (Heroic), yet each of us had a different feeling about the depth of gameplay available in Halo.
Now Halo is good at the fundamentals required for an FPS: it is visually interesting (Most of the time), it runs smoothly, and the visual and auditory feedback is strong. But none of that explains why I feel it provided me with an experience significantly different from that I might find in another FPS game. Thinking about Halo over the subsequent hours I started to realise something: at some point I had noticed that specific weapons were slightly more effective in certain situations that others, and not just in the typical sense of the bigger weapons being more damaging. I had started to realise that the very first weapon you get is still an effective weapon in the closing stages of the game, provided you use it a certain way, this extended across the entire game. From that moment onwards I would always switch around weapons and use different tactics depending on the combination of weapons available and enemies encountered to maximise my progress through each encounter.
I had to started to Min\Max every encounter, utilising my understanding of interactions between Weapons and Enemies, in order to maximise my effectiveness in each encounter. In absolute terms it probably amounted to little more than staying alive for a few seconds longer, or using a few less rounds but in relative terms it made a big difference to how I felt about each encounter.
In addition to the standard FPS requirements of navigation and aiming, I found I was working out the optimal solution to a problem involving maybe a dozen variables (Enemy Type, Enemy Weapons, my own Weapons, etc) in real time, and adjusting that solution every few seconds as I either failed or succeeded at each step. I was performing the same type of mental processing that I engage in during a Real Time Strategy game, but I was doing it for each individual encounter and over a matter of seconds.
Upon this realisation I started to consider why I'd never found myself performing similar mental processing while playing other FPS games. I think it is possible in other such games, so what was there about Halo that made me that much more aware of it?
I think some degree of it comes down to the way in which Halo is structured. In most FPS games, the enemies get progressively more damaging with progressively more hit points the nearer you get to the conclusion. The enemies you encounter at the start of the game are much less of a challenge, on their own, than those in the closing stages. That's not the case in Halo; you can meet an Orange Armoured Grunt in the first level and again in the final level, and in both instances his hit points and the weapons he wields will be exactly the same. There might be many more of them in the later stages, and they might be supported by other enemy types but that individual Grunt is the same as he was at the very start of the game. Because of this it's possibly to learn the optimal means of dispatching a Grunt and use that information throughout the entire game. This system extends to almost all elements of Halo. By the end of the second level you will have encountered three of the eight enemy types, and used six of the eight available weapons. With three levels to go you will have met all the possible enemy types and have access to all of the available weapons; you then have three levels in which to master your skills. Easy to learn, difficult to master.
Of course it's possible to play Halo, and enjoy it, without ever noticing any of this, and whether it actually makes Halo: Combat Evolved a better game than other First Person Shooters is open to debate but what it does do it make Halo a much more engaging experience for me. |
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