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Game Design Talk: Do You Need Context in Your Video Games?

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Having recently completed Vanquish, the game got me thinking about the context behind any given video game. What I mean by context in this sense, is the context behind your actions within a game. For instance, the story of a Super Mario game might be paper thin, but the context for actions is clear: you’re trying to save Princess Peach. Oftentimes, people will use the word ‘story’ in place of ‘context’, but I think context is a better fitting word in this sense.

The context behind Vanquish is awful for a number of reasons, yet I really enjoyed playing that game strictly because I loved the gameplay mechanics that drove the experience. I simply chose to tune out the convoluted story, poor dialogue and bad voice acting.

Though I’ve sort of talked about this topic in the past, I wanted to open this up for discussion. Do you need context in your video games in order to enjoy them?

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Off-Topic: Car Shopping

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Up until recently, my 2001 Nissan Sentra has been an MVP in my life for many years. While I was in a bit over my head financially when I initially bought it, the investment ultimately paid off. With its help, I was able to get back into the radio industry, decide that I didn’t want to work in that industry anymore, go back to school and land a full-time job in an industry I’m happy with. It also didn’t hurt that having a car has made my relationship with my girlfriend Steff a lot easier, as distance hasn’t played as much of a factor as it could have.

Up until recently, it was fairly reliable too. Unfortunately, due to some core engine problems that make maintaining the car more trouble than its worth, I’m going to have to let it die a pre-mature death. As my Nissan sits motionless in my driveway for another week, I’ve begun my search for a new vehicle.

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Will You Ever Grow Out of Video Games?

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A few months ago, my dad came down to the basement as I was playing a video game. I don’t remember which game, but I guess that’s irrelevant to the story. He said something that kind of struck a chord with me. “Are you ever gonna give this up?”

Once upon a time, video games used to be a kids-only deal. My dad used to be into games during the Atari/golden era of arcades, but he pretty much dropped games because that’s what adults did at the time. I’m well into my 20s, but I haven’t let the medium go and don’t plan on doing so any time soon. He’s still confused as to why I haven’t given up this ‘kiddie thing’.

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Off-Topic: Bring The Beat Back

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Long before the Internet knew me as a video game blogger, I made music. I was an aspiring hip-hop music producer. I wanted to be the next Dr. Dre, Timbaland or Kanye West. During my run, I made hundreds of hours of music. Some of that music ended up on Soundclick and MySpace, which were heard by thousands of people. I even managed to make a few fans in the process. However, most of my work (and the stories that go with them) never left my bedroom studio.

Out of fear that my work will ultimately go to waste if it’s never heard, I began archiving my music on Bring the Beat Back.

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The 2012 Goal for In Third Person

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In Third Person has come a long way from its humble roots as my pet project that was lucky to get 10 hits a day. While it’s still very much a pet project, the site is fortunate enough to reach an audience of thousands of visitors a month. Ever since the WordPress front page promo, thousands of visitors every month manage to find their way to my little slice of the internet. To say that this was all part of the plan would be a lie. I’m still surprised to see the number of views my posts get and the number of great conversations I have with readers in the comments.

Instead of simply riding the tides to wherever it takes me, I’d like to set a 2012 goal for In Third Person.

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Happy 20th Birthday Street Fighter II

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Has it really been 20 years? Apparently so. Street Fighter II is officially 20 years old this month, which is definitely something worth noting for gamers of all tastes and walks of life. Street Fighter II is one of those revolutionary games that changed the course of the entire medium. It birthed the fighting game genre as we still know it today. It’s control conventions and design choices originally set by Street Fighter are still used in fighting games and other genres. It revived the arcade scene. It defined a whole era of gaming. Most importantly, it’s legacy still carries on in the hearts of many a gamer that have thrown a hadoken in their lifetime.

Yours truly is one of those gamers that will forever have a soft spot for that game. Outside of owning three copies of this game (not including any updates like Champion Edition or Super), this game changed my life.

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Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Learning How to Not Suck

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Being good at fighting games is hard. Due to my recent success at Super Street Fighter IV, I’ve sort of taken that fact for granted. However, I got better at Street Fighter through hundreds of hours of practice, tournament experience and absorbing anything and everything I could online in regards to making myself a better player. Before I went through all of that, I spent dozens of hours playing the game online; losing almost every single one of those matches.

Though I was able to coast through the bottom tier of ranked Marvel vs. Capcom 3 matches, my winning percentage has taken a serious dip. I know enough about the game to recognize that I’m losing to people who suck at the game, but I don’t have the skills and know-how myself to beat them. Am I willing to put in the time and effort to not suck?

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Donate to Child’s Play Charity This Christmas

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I know it’s Christmas Eve, and you’re likely to be extremely busy today, but if you can spare a few minutes and a few bucks, please donate to the Child’s Play Charity. There are a lot of great causes you can support this holiday season, but as gamers, this one is a great one to get behind. Child’s Play has helped raise over $7 million dollars in donations of toys, video games, books and cash for sick kids in children’s hospitals around the world.

I have been donating to my local children’s hospital through Child’s Play for the last few years now and I’ll continue to support the program for as long as it’s around. You don’t have to follow my lead if you don’t want to, but if you’re got some extra holiday spirit to share, here’s one more option.

Game Music I Love: Mega Man 2

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In Japan, Megaman is known as Rockman. He wasn’t named after rocks you would find on the ground. He was named after rock music. Other characters in the series have rock music inspired names, such as Roll (get it? Rock and Roll?), Bass and his sidekick dog, Treble.

At the time, the developers of Megaman 2 wanted to make a rocking soudtrack. Unfortunately, the technology wasn’t around in the early 1980s to put the sounds of real instruments. Instead, they composed one of the most rocking video game soundtracks ever using 8-bit sounds. As a youngster, I had no idea that was the creative vision behind the music. I just thought it was awesome.
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Girlfriend Gaming: Dance on Broadway Review

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Dance on Broadway is a very interesting game. When Ubisoft scored huge with Just Dance, there was no question that they would capitalize on that success. What I didn’t see happening though, was Ubisoft creating a dancing game based on Broadway musicals. I’m not sure if there are enough aspiring Broadway dancers that want to live out their Hairspray dreams through a Wii game to justify this game’s existence.

Even my girlfriend, who just so happens to be a fan of Just Dance and musicals, was reluctant to pick this up. With only 20 songs on the disc, it’s not easy to justify picking this up at regular price. Thanks to a Wal-Mart sale that took 50% off the regular price, she now owns it and we’ve strutted and shimmied our way through a number of show tunes. I haven’t played through every song, but I think I’ve played enough to say if this one deserves a standing ovation or whether it should exit stage left.

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