Archive for the 'Games' Category
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
MMORPGs: What Would It Take To Tempt You?
I’ve never played World of Warcraft. If I’m honest, I didn’t even know what it was until long after everyone else was a level 55 arch mage. But I’m curious as to what it would take to convince YOU to upload yourself to a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)
This is pure speculation, but I think the online gaming world would be a different shape had the sequels to The Matrix (somehow) lived up to all their hype and The Matrix Online would have been the perfect opportunity to bring new audiences into Neo’s medium. Regardless, The Matrix Online still went ahead, expanding the story-world for the die-hards and the sci-curious, But it could have been bigger.
But are potential audiences just waiting for their favourite franchise to expand into the internet? As the launch of the DC Universe Online draws close, I’m finding myself deeply considering coughing up and crossing the line into online gaming. What’s tempted me? Not just that you can create your own character to then be mentored by the DC Hero or Villain of your choice, but the stories have also been written by some of DC’s top writers and features voice talent from the DCU cartoons (Mark Hamill as the Joker included).
Sounds a lot like Batman: Arkham Asylum really. So if you played and enjoyed Arkham Asylum, why won’t you be signing up for DC Universe Online? Seriously.
‘cos as cool as that video looks (from my POV, anyway), these MMORPGs seem different, don’t they.
In learning about writing for games, I was taught that describing your game as a list of adjectives is a good way to describe the experience (ie - run, shoot, duck, fly, hide, find etc) Is what’s keeping you offline that they aren’t developing the MMORPG with the right adjectives to suit you? If so, what’s missing? Is it a genre thing? Is the fact that the main examples I’ve mentioned feature flying around and probably thumping people what kept you positively unintrigued? (but there are others)
MMORPGs seem to have it all - serial storytelling, stand-alone missions, social networking and an independent gaming experience. So why are they still a niche thing? What’s keeping you offline?
Monday, January 18th, 2010
Where’s the End of Act One in ‘JAWS’ anyway?
It’s probably before the scene picture above, isn’t it. I ended up with the arduous homework for my Computer Games Writing course of having to watch good old horror films such as Alien, The Thing, The Exorcist and Jaws over the last few weeks. Nightmare 
The point of the exercise was to identify and compare the major structural beats and turning points of these films held up as good examples of the genre. And yet sitting there watching it with the clock on and looking for the nice ‘hello, I’m off into the magical new world of act two now‘ clarity of modern film-making seemed strangely absent.
I had always assumed that the death of the little boy on the raft (and the best contra-zoom shot ever!) was the end of Act One as everyone realises there is definitely a shark knocking around. But this only happens at about 11 minutes in whereas we are told that Act One ‘must’ end 25-30 minutes in.
I put that the end of the town meeting (after Quint scrapes his nails down the board) was the end of Act One as he essentially challenges Brody with the facts - take the battle to the shark or we all hide on land and our township goes bankrupt. But is that right either?
While we all came back with different answers, we all agreed that, if Jaws were re-made now, Act Two would begin with Chief Brody heading out to sea with Quint and Hooper, going to battle the shark in the watery world Chief Brody has always been afraid of. As you probably know, this doesn’t happen until over an hour in to the film.
So does Jaws have an hour long first act? Does Jaws show that the ‘rules’ of screenplay structure are malleable enough when your story is that strong? Or does this show Jaws‘ flaws? It’s also an hour before John Hurt’s chest bursts in Alien or before anyone even mentions the word ‘exorcism’ in The Exorcist. Do contemporary audiences not enjoy (or are presumed not to enjoy) the ratcheting build up of films like in the 70s?
And just where is the end of act one in Jaws?
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
Are you Game?
Granted, I’m just trying to wrangle a new career path in order to justify getting an Xbox 360 for Christmas, but writing for computer games has greatly interested me for years now.
At the beginning of December, I managed to gain a place on a Writing for Games training scheme run by Screen Yorkshire and indie games company Team 17 (who created Worms and the just released Alien Breed Evolution pictured above). For the next few months, I’ll be learning how to plot, develop and actually script a narrative for game which, whatever I come up with, will be about running around and blasting aliens.
That’s the interesting part for me and what makes it so different from writing for other media. Whatever this game turns out to be, this game will always be a ‘run and gun’ - but it’s the writer’s role to provide the context: Why are you shooting the aliens? Where are they shooting the aliens? Who is shooting the aliens?
That sounds like a lot of fun to me, for now - the main focus of a game should always be the gameplay, shouldn’t it? But there seems to be a battle brewing between narrative and gameplay on its way. Upcoming games such as the impressive-looking Heavy Rain which are focussing on emotional impact in its audience could open up new levels of interactivity and emotional immersion in a story. If it sells (fingers crossed!)
Even though the cut scenes were clunky, the story for the original Resident Evil had enough to keep me going. Mind you, most of the backstory for that came in the little booklet that came with the game, rather than it. But did that matter?
I found this short and funny video lecture by Daniel Floyd at Screw Attack on Storytelling in Videogames. It succinctly puts across the potential problems as well as the positives of interactivity in big release games. But, to me, it also puts across why writing for games is an exciting new venture as the rules haven’t quite been laid down yet. I’m going to give it a go anyway. Just as soon as I’ve saved Gotham from the Joker in Arkham Asylum 
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Arkham at ‘im (two cross-platform thingies I like)
Just a quick post tonight. The monologues are coming along slowly but surely. I think I’ve realised what has to go and, as is often the case, it is because I am trying to do too much in the page count I have - but I think I’ve cracked a better way to structure (and have cut out some of the crapper gags) so that they shall be finished. Oh yes.
. . . . .
But, in the meantime, here’s a few new online extras I’ve spotted. The recently released Batman: Arkham Asylum game is definitely one of the reasons why I’m asking for an X-Box 360 for Xmas. I thought I was going to have to make do with reading people’s impressed-sounding tweets all weekend but then I saw this little informational site for the titular asylum:
It’s brilliant. So thorough. I wish I’d been there soon as, presumably, the build-up to the game’s release would have factored into its updates.
Similarly, you may have heard about the new Bruce Willis sci-fi actioner Surrogates coming later this year. I must admit that I thought ‘well, might be alright for a Saturday night’ - but there’s a fun little feature on the site to let you ‘choose your surrogate‘. Have a little play.
I find both of these interesting as the Arham site makes an effort to make the fantasy of Batman seem more plausible and realistic whereas Surrogates is taking us away from reality into the future. I think there’s a question about how these actually expand the story world - or is it just obligatory these days?
However, one has me even more hooked on buying a game for a console I don’t even own and the other has caught more attention for a film I wasn’t too fussed about. Do either of these do anything for you?
Oh, and in other news, I caught the giant spider-beast that has been stalking my flat for the last week. No need to burn down the flat now 
