Video Game Journalism

Many issues face reviewers  in games journalism from different areas, be it from the general public voicing their opinions, feedback from the media and game developers, and the time they are allowed to review said games in order to meet deadlines. Kieron Gillen said that, ‘Put it like this: Games journalists are stupid because they don’t have time to think’. A modern British video games magazine is put together in 19 days, and within that time a they must research and write enough to fill all of 150 pages. The rush from magazine to magazine leaves them with little time for any serious  delve into a game, they must work with the time allowance that they have been supplied.

New games journalism is comparable to travel journalism, the writer responds to subjective experiences presented to them by the game world as well as other players. Personal experiences and anecdotes play a vital role in NGJ creating a unique story. The story is not necessarily indicative of the experience any other player will have with the game and will be unlikely to offer any objective value-judgements regarding the game's merits or failings. Instead, attention is focused on the subjective experience of the person playing the game.

My own view on this is one of less than satisfaction. The idea of providing a reader with personal anecdotes based of a subjective experience of one particular person is in no way helpful to another in the simple fact of interesting them to invest in that game, rather give them an entertaining read and leave them with a strange want for the writer to make an According to Clarkson volume equivalent, if they are any good.

I feel a ranking system based off numerical values like most magazines use now is sufficient along with the traditional game journalism to hype up a game. The numbered system from individual games allows me to compare different games I have previously played to a new one, possibly enticing me to buy this new adventure if the reviews are positive or better.

Although saying that I would quite enjoy the NGJ style if I had already completed a play through of a game only then to read it. The writing would then be more of an engagement with the reader and share experiences from the game.

There are quite a few different forms of game writing that I have found in my research, text based being the most popular and most informative providing in depth reviews both web or print based through forums, websites and magazines. Another type would be positive and negative styled reviews on the game, although most reviewers I have seen, their opinion changes between games as it should, but some reviews are constantly positive or negative in their reviewing style either for comical effect in the form of Zero Punctuation : http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation

Who uses this negative and visual style through 2D animations to almost literally rip games to shreds for hilarious end results.

On the flip side to that a review by ‘boomboxdan’:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/egrr_550_62798

Is almost sickeningly  positive about Project Gotham Racing 3 only to end up with and 8/10 which just angers the reader and is clearly displayed in the comments below.

In conclusion I think I would strongly value objectivity over subjectivity as it is much more usable to a large audience as oppose to an entertaining story in to the mind of the writer.

References from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_journalism#New_Games_Journalism

http://gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/assorted-essays/how-to-use-and-abuse-the-games-press-and-how-the-games-press-wants-to-use-and-abuse-you/

http://gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/assorted-essays/the-new-games-journalism/

Brief history of video games 2000's-Present

The 2000s showed innovation on both consoles and PCs, and an increasingly competitive market for portable game systems.

In the sixth generation of video game consoles, Sega exited the hardware market, Nintendo fell behind, Sony solidified its lead in the industry, and Microsoft developed a gaming console.

The generation opened with the launch of the Dreamcast in 1998. It was the first console to have a built-in modem for Internet support and online play.

The second release of the generation was Sony's PlayStation 2. Nintendo followed a year later with the Nintendo GameCube, their first disc-based console. 
Before the end of 2001, Microsoft Corporation, best known for its Windows operating system and its professional productivity software, entered the console market with the Xbox.

Microsoft then sold the Xbox so that they could concentrate on drawing profit from game development and publishing instead. From this in in November 2001 they released Bungie Studio's Halo: Combat Evolved instantly became the driving point of the Xbox's success.

In 2001 Grand Theft Auto III was released, popularizing open world games by using a non-linear style of game play.

In 2001 Nintendo demonstrated it’s dominance in the handheld market through the sales of the Game Boy Advance.

In the early 2000s, mobile games had gained mainstream popularity in Japan's mobile phone culture, years before the United States or Europe. By 2003, a wide variety of mobile games were available on Japanese phones, ranging from puzzle games and virtual pet titles that utilize camera phone and fingerprint scanner technologies to 3D games with PlayStation-quality graphics.

From 2004 to the present this generation opened early for handheld consoles, as Nintendo introduced their Nintendo DS and Sony premiered the PlayStation Portable within a month of each other in 2004. 

In console gaming, Microsoft stepped forward first in November 2005 with the Xbox 360, and Sony followed in 2006 with the PlayStation 3, released in Europe in March 2007.

With high definition video an undeniable hit with veteran gamers seeking immersive experiences, expectations for visuals in games along with the increasing complexity of productions resulted in a spike in the development budgets of gaming companies producing many of the launch titles for the Xbox such as: Call of duty 2 and Quake 4.

Meanwhile, Nintendo took cues from PC gaming and their own success with the Nintendo Wii, and crafted games that capitalized on the intuitive nature of motion control.

Beginning with PCs, a new trend in casual gaming began with games with limited complexity that were designed for shortened or impromptu play sessions, began to draw attention from the industry. Many were puzzle games, such as Popcap's Bejeweled and PlayFirst's Diner Dash.

In 2008, social network games began gaining mainstream popularity following the release of Happy Farm in China. This influenced the creation of many clones, one most well known being Facebook’s game Farmville. Other popular social network games include Mob Wars and Mafia Wars.

In 2009,  the industry took another leap forward with cloud gaming. These services allow the graphics rendering of the video games to be done away from the end user, and a video stream of the game to be passed to the user. OnLive allows the user to communicate with their servers where the video game rendering is taking place.

On November 4, 2010, Microsoft released Kinect in North America.  It uses a sensor and dual-camera device to track the motion of the players themselves, becoming the first motion control system capable of tracking the player in 3D space without the need for a controller.

On January 27, 2011, the PlayStation Vita was announced and then later released on December the 17th in Japan.

On March 25 2011  Nintendo released its new handheld: the successor to the Nintendo DS known as the Nintendo 3DS. The system incorporates 3D graphics using parallax barrier technology rather than glasses.

On April 25, 2011, Nintendo released a statement officially announcing a system to succeed the Wii. The new was officially introduced on June 7, 2011 with the official name Wii U.

In the past 12 years the video game industry has yet again taken massive strides in visual and technical development. With the rise and rise of console games and along with them production budgets, but also the increase in popularity of casual games, appealing to a larger audience to  the point that nearly all modern video games have difficulty settings that can be applicable to any gaming style.

References from:

http://www.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2029221,00.html

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/evolution-of-home-video-game-consoles-1967-2011/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games#Home_computer_games_.28late_1970s.E2.80.93early_1980s.29

A short visual history of video games:

http://vimeo.com/2050495

Brief video game history 1980's-1990's

The golden age of arcade video games reached its zenith in the 1980s. The age brought with it many technically innovative and genre-defining games developed and released in the first few years of the decade, including:

Action-adventure game: The Legend of Zelda (1986).

Action role-playing games: Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu (1985) is considered the first full-fledged action role-playing game.

Adventure games: Zork (1980) further popularized text adventure games in home computers.

Beat 'em up: Karateka (1984), with its pioneering rotoscoped animation, and Kung-Fu Master (1984).

Cinematic platformer: Prince of Persia (1989) was the first cinematic platformer.

Computer role-playing video games: Akalabeth (1980) was created in the same year as Rogue (1980).

Console role-playing video games: Dragon Warrior (1986), developed by Yuji Horii, was one of the earliest role-playing video games.

Fighting games: Karate Champ (1984), Data East's action game, is credited with establishing and popularizing the one-on-one fighting game genre.

Hack and slash: Golden Axe (1988).

Interactive movies: Astron Belt (1983), an early first-person shooter, was the first Laserdisc video game in development.

Platform games: Space Panic (1980). Donkey Kong (1981), an arcade game created by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, was the first game that allowed players to jump over obstacles and across gaps, making it the first true platformer. This game also introduced Mario, an icon of the genre. Mario Bros. (1983).

Scrolling platformers: Jump Bug (1981), Alpha Denshi's platform-shooter, was the first platform game to use scrolling graphics.

Scrolling shooters: Defender (1980) established the use of side-scrolling in shoot 'em ups, offering horizontally extended levels.

Isometric platformer: Congo Bongo (1983), developed by Sega, was the first isometric platformer.

Isometric shooter: Zaxxon (1982) was the first game to use isometric projection.

Light gun shooter: The NES Zapper was the first mainstream light gun. The most successful lightgun game was Duck Hunt (1984), which came packaged with the NES.

Maze games: Pac-Man (1980) was the first game to achieve widespread popularity in mainstream culture and the first game character to be popular in his own right.

Platform-adventure games: Metroid (1986) was the earliest game to fuse platform game fundamentals.

Racing games: Turbo (1981), by Sega, was the first racing game with a third-person perspective, rear-view format.

Rail shooter: Astron Belt (1983) was an early first-person rail shooter.

Real-time strategy: Herzog Zwei (1989) is considered to be the first real-time strategy game, predating the genre-popularizing Dune II.

Run & gun shooters: Hover Attack (1984) for the Sharp X1 was an early run & gun shooter that freely scrolled in all directions and allowed the player to shoot diagonally as well as straight ahead.

Rhythm game: Dance Aerobics was released in 1987, and allowed players to create music by stepping on Nintendo'sPower Pad peripheral. It has been called the first rhythm-action game in retrospect.

Stealth games: 005 (1981), an arcade game by Sega, was the earliest example of a stealth-based game. Metal Gear (1987),

 developed by Hideo Kojima, was the first stealth game in an action-adventure framework, and became the first commercially successful stealth game.

Survival horror: Haunted House (1981) introduced elements of horror fiction into video games. Sweet Home (1989) introduced many of the modern staples of the survival horror genre. Gameplay involved battling horrifying creatures and solving puzzles. Developed by Capcom, the game would become an influence upon their later release Resident Evil (1996).

Vehicle simulation games: Battlezone (1980) used wireframe vector graphics to create the first true three-dimensional game world. Elite (1984), designed by David Braben and Ian Bell, ushered in the age of modern style 3D graphics. The game contains convincing vector worlds, full 6 degree freedom of movement, and thousands of visitable planetary systems. It is considered a pioneer of the space flight simulator game genre.

Visual novels: The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983), was the first visual novel and one of the earliest Japanese graphic adventure games.

Home Gaming Computers

Following the success of the Apple II and Commodore PET in the late 1970s, a series of cheaper and incompatible rivals emerged in the early 1980s. This batch included the Commodore VIC-20 and 64; Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum; NEC PC-8000, PC-6001, PC-88 and PC-98; Sharp X1 and X68000; and Atari 8-bit family, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, and MSX series.

Although the industry of video games was going from  strength to strength at the end of 1983 the industry experienced losses more severe than the 1977 crash. This was the "crash" of the video game industry, as well as the bankruptcy of several companies that produced North American home computers and video game consoles from late 1983 to early 1984. It brought an end to what is considered to be the second generation of console video gaming.

In 1985, the American Video Game Console market was revived with Nintendo’s release of its 8-bit console, the Famicom, known outside Asia as Nintendo Entertainment System(NES). It was bundled with Super Mario Bros. and instantly became a success. The NES dominated the North American and the Japanese market until the rise of the next generation of consoles in the early 1990s.

The 1990s were a decade of marked innovation in video gaming. It was a decade of transition from raster graphics to 3D graphics and gave rise to several genres of video games including first-person shooter,real-time strategy, and MMO.

In 1993, Atari re-entered the home console market with the introduction of the Atari Jaguar. Also in 1993, The 3DO Company released the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer.

In 1994, three new consoles were released in Japan: the Sega Saturn, the PlayStation, and the PC-FX, the PlayStation quickly outsold all of its competitors, with the exception of the aging Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In 1996 Capcom released Resident Evil, the first well known survival horror game.

It was a huge success selling over 2 million copies and is considered one of the best games on the PlayStation. Another major game and console would be the Nintendo 64 (1996) and the release of Goldeneye 007 (1997)

, which is considered one of the first major first person shooter that was exclusive to a console.

Finally in 1998 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released for the Nintendo 64 and is widely considered the highest critically acclaimed game of all time.

In conclusion the ‘middle’ history of computer games was –apart from the crash of 1977-

 one of innovation and dramatic change to the industry that enabled companies to produce much more visually pleasing and complex levels within affordable home console systems that resulted in the ‘boom’ of the industry of the era and such iconic names like Playstation and Nintendo 64.

The changes in videos games in just one decade were phenomenal between the 80-90’s moving past and beyond  8 and 16bit technology to 64bit,  the first CD-ROM drives were first seen in 1988 and 3D graphics entered into mainstream hands.

Many of the features and conventions of modern game genres were also laid out within this time through games like Zelda and Goldeneye, Super Mario and Final Fantasy.

List of games consoles 1967-2011:
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/evolution-of-home-video-game-consoles-1967-2011/

References from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games#Home_computer_games_.28late_1970s.E2.80.93early_1980s.29

http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/007game.html

Love this artist, especially the loose painterly style he uses

http://andreasrocha.deviantart.com/

A brief history of the video games and a quick overview of my own personal history of video games

The history of videos games dates as far back as the 1940’s, when in 1947 Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. and Estle Ray Mann filed a United States patent request for an invention they described as a "cathode ray tube amusement device." Video gaming would not reach mainstream popularity until the 1970s and 1980s, when arcade video games, gaming consoles and home computer games were introduced to the general public. 

However the first program to be classed purely for entertainment purposes was produced in 1952 by A.S. Douglas, the game itself was the first graphical computer game, being a version of Tic-Tac-Toe and programmed on a EDSAC vacuum-tube computer, which had a cathode ray tube display.

The first Video game ever was created in 1958 by William Higinbotham called “Tennis for Two” and played on a Brookhaven National Laboratory oscilloscope.

From that the first game intended for computer use was created in 1962 by Steve Russell called “Spacewar!”.

The first video game to use a television set for a monitor was made in 1967 by Ralph Baer and was named chase.

The first arcade game was created in 1971 by Ted Dabney and Nolan Bushnell and was named computer space. The duo went on to start Atari computers the same year, re-releasing the game Pong as a home video game.

The first video game console, Odyssey was released in 1972 by Magnavox and came programmed with 12 games.

In 1976, Fairchild released the first programmable home game console called the Fairchild Video Entertainment System, and later renamed Channel F. Channel F was one of the first electronic systems to use the newly invented microchip.

Between 1978 and 1986 arcade games hit a golden age with the release of space invaders, Galaxian and asteroids, as well as this home computers began to appear in the late 70’s and rapidly evolving into the 80’s, this eventually forming PC game software and games such as Frogger, Pac Man and Donkey Kong.

In 1989 Nintendo released the game boy, the first handheld console since the Microvision of the late 70’s.

Here is where I begin my history of video games, well not specifically here, but the game boy was the first ever game console I used with the main games being ones of the Pokémon franchise, I feel that the success of this game related to children’s (and adults) fascination with collecting things and the cool and odd appearances of these creatures.

Many, and many Pokémon games later my next big game was on the game boy advance colour, with Spiderman, with the appeal this time being that, well Spiderman is feckking awesome, and the fact that he possesses superhuman abilities that I feel is one of the main successes of the game itself, letting players control these amazing powers at their whim as oppose to watching from behind a screen.

My first non handheld console in the form of the PS2 introduced me to my next big game, being Jurassic park: operation genesis. A  construction and management simulation game captivated my love for dinosaurs and my favourite film as you can probably guess, being Jurassic park. What I loved about the game was the ability to create and house all my favourite dinosaurs and see how they behave in their surroundings.

After this I took a turn from this genre of game and thanks to my cousins became addicted to car games being introduced to the Need For Speed franchise and starting with my personal favourite: Most Wanted. A racing car game, need for speed allowed me too access and drive amazingly expensive cars and well, crash them together in a mix mash of racing and police pursuits.

From the racing genre to yet another, this time to one of the most highly played today, being the first person shooter. After being introduced to the Halo 2 at a friends house I became enticed by all the action and excitement of the style of play, being able to better NPC’s by shooting them was quite appealing to a 12-13 year old kid, and now I’ve written that I feel sorry for my parents..

Swiftly moving on, with Halo being only on Xbox I eventually gave in and made the big switch between consoles, although by this time the Xbox 360 had been released so I opted for the newer model, gaining Halo 3 and Mass Effect with the console, both games being shooters I played both though rally, although found a dislike to mass effect and the third person style, however this has been redeemed by mass effect 3 it put me off the third person style for a long time.

Back to dinosaurs now with the game Turok, again a first person shooter combining my love for Jurassic park also in a sci-fi setting This game ticked all the boxes for me providing hours of play time sneaking around the many levels of the game. One feature I particular I found brilliant was the idea of being able to hide in the tall grass like the raptors from the films, enabling the player to plan stealthy assaults on particular unaware targets.

From this I changed genres yet again with the release of Portal 2, being hugely anticipated by a few of my friends I thought I would try it out. The puzzle based game is highly frustrating and greatly rewarding as you try and escape Apeture laboratories. I loved the laid back approach I could have to the game, being  able to solve the puzzles as your leisure whilst still containing a storyline.

Any finally,: Dead Space. I am a huge fan of the franchise and the fact that after 2 games I can still being scared shitless walking down an empty hallway. Dead Space was my first proper horror game and an introduction in to the genre I won’t soon forget. The game itself was highly regarded upon release for it gameplay and atmosphere. But the striking thing for me was the sci-fi appearance and the necromorphs, being a different take on the zombie, a more revolting mangled mess of spikes and limbs to create a disturbing visual image.

A new recent edition to this list would be Dishonored. A first person stealth action adventure game, dishonored reminded me of Turok however with the added magical abilities that allow the game to create much more challenging and interesting levels.

Reference material from:
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcomputer_videogames.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games

About Me

My name is Nick Bradshaw and I am from the north west of England,  Cheshire where the weather seems to always consist of the same old same old.. Rain.

For as long as I can remember I have always loved to draw, finding it very therapeutic, and being fuelled by my family and friends enthusiasm I took a major interest in art based subjects at school and college, being enticed by the idea of nurturing my artistic skills as oppose to the academic route writing essay after essay.

During the options stage of high school was where I really began to think about what I might like to as a career, based on these early decisions I took a digital arts course as one of my options and immediately being astounded and amazed by the artistic feats that could and are achieved through the digital medium,  I was shown both 3D and 2D work that captivated my imagination and made me realise that this was for me.

I chose De Montfort and this particular game art course almost by accident, originally the course was at the bottom of my short-list for universities, mostly due to my naivety at the time, however after thoroughly researching and visiting each individual choice on my list I came to realise the sheer level and standard of work being produced here was far better than the others.

My ambitions for this year is (other than actually getting through to the next) is to improve both my 2D and 3D skills to that of a higher standard and not get too distracted by my house mates that constantly want to go out until the sun rises.

My interests include games as you might expect, but also I have a big love for music and sports such as basketball and cycling.

 Ultimately I would love a career in the film or games industry, to be one of the people that get to turn their hobby into a career, and a pay check!

My dream job would be one at EA, being the company responsible for two of my all time favourite franchises, Dead Space and Need For Speed.

The description for the role is as follows:

The 2D Artist will be responsible for creating breath-taking Hidden Object scenes, using a mix of technical skills and traditional illustration concepts. We’re looking for someone with Photoshop skills that transcend the realms of mere mortals.   The ideal candidate will bring a strong understanding of perspective, composition and colour theory and have a proven track record in traditional and digital illustration techniques.

Responsibilities:

Working with the Lead Artist and a team of 3D and 2D artists, design scenes for Hidden Object games

Work with 3D artists to determine the proper textures and lighting of each scene

Using Photoshop and other software packages, place objects in each scene

Execute a final paint of each scene to maximize visual impact

Select and prep photo files to create new objects for placement

Assist with the art direction of outsourced assets as needed

Accurately estimate the time it takes to complete tasks on time

Required Experience and Skills

Expert level knowledge of Photoshop (digital painting) and Illustrator

Strong fundamental skills in use of line, light, shadow, colour and perspective

Ability to work within established art styles

Excellent communication and team skills

Must have an upbeat, positive attitude and enjoy working in a team environment

Ability to modify work based on feedback and critique from fellow Artists, Engineers and Producers

Eagerness to collaborate with team members to consistently deliver final game assets that meet the established standard

A good understanding of games, with the ability to identify flaws in design, art, and “feel”

At the moment it all seems a bit daunting and dangerously out of my reach, however after graduating, hopefully with a respectable mark this can become a serious consideration possibly resulting in a change of scenery and by that I mean country, as nice as Britain is I would love to see much more of the world and experience another set of weather conditions haha.