Video games and Gaming

Through out the semester, evenyone would always ask me if i was going to my next class on monday afternoons. My response was always "Of Course, its video games and gaming." Many people were taken back by me going to a college course on video games, because they never knew the course was available. Many people also made fun of me because i was taking this class. But honestly they wont really understand the point of this class unless they have taken it. But without this class i would have never realized the impact of video games on people through out the world today. I personally just though games were a tool to keep people entertained in times of being bored. But the fact that games have the ability to help kids learn, help people become social, open peoples minds to creativity is amazing. This course helped not just me but my class mates as well the importance of gaming. I never found myself talking about video games so much, but during the breaks from this class, i noticed that the only thing me and my friends/classmates would ever talk about would be what ever we were talkin about in class, or something that had to do with gaming. The course really opened my mind to things i never even thought of before thanks to the help of, well obviously Dr. Greh, but we had some help along the way including people from ted talks, and dan floyd. With all these peoples outlooks on the impact video games can have on people, these people have really helped support the past time we love to do in many ways =)

                                                               

the Old Mario

Over the past few weeks i found myself taking some of my spar time to play Super Mario Brothers for the Wii, which in my opinion was a fail of a game. Everybody is used to super mario for the nintendo, super nintendo, or even the N64. All these different systems had a unique way of making the mario game original. When it first started with the nintendo, the game was a hit right off the back. With a simple concept of a plumber who is sent to save a princess by traveling through pipes to eventually reach and defeat the dragon who kidnapped her. Sound wierd? Yes, but very unique. This one of a kind game originally was developed and looked like this
As you can see, that the graphics are a little but choppy. And by that i mean, instead of the character and its surrounding looking realistic, it has more of box type imagery to it.

When Super Nintendo came out the release of Super mario bros 3 came out. and the graphics here have increased dramaticly. With the characters looking much more smooth and proper, it really added a new element to the game. To go along with the way the characters looked, they added a few more elements to the game.  Instead of just getting a mushroom to make you get taller, or a flower to make you throw fire, the game gave you a feather. This feather gave you the ability to make your character Mario or Luigi fly to the sky. The picture below actually shows you mario flying while being equipped with the feather. And next to him you see luigi dressed in a frog outfit. This was another ability added to the game. When playing with that costume on, it give you a slight advantage in water levels. With the ability to jump higher, but swim faster gave an edge to the game, that none had before.

In the N64 we were introduced to aa whole new game play. With Mario 64 you were the character Mario on search for the Princess you are in love with. But instead of going from level to level, land to land, you were actually in the dragon named bowsers castle. This game was less of a level game, but more of a free wondering game. Never having to do a level in order, you just had to beat what ever came in your path and save the princess. This Mario game was the 1st to use 3D graphics for the game play. Probably my favorite mario games of all time, Mario 64 in my opinion might have been the jump start to games such as Fallout and Dead space, where you have the ability to free wander where ever you please. And as you can see in the picture below, the graphics look more computer designed rather than hand drawn.

Today in my opinion mario games arent the same. I played the one for the Wii and i just felt like it didnt fit with the other game. In this one you were aloud to play with four players at once during a level, an ability of having a windmill on your head, and even a mushroom that makes you smaller rather then bigger. Really?!? whats the point in being a smaller mario!? I wish i can go back in to the days where mario consisted of 4 buttons and a directional pad, and we call it a day. But with the new generation these are the types of games they will learn to love. Maybe its just me wishing things were like the old days with such a classical game.

this is not the mario I have loved for so many years. =(

Next stop....Vegas!

So in the beginning of the semester I did a blog on a game called Fallout 3. With the amount i talk about the game in and outside of class, im pretty sure it is not that hard to realize that it was probably my favortie game played of all time. But on October 16th i was presented with the newest edition to the Fallout Series, "Fallout New Vegas." In the previous game we were set in an abominated wasterland in Washington D.C. Starting out as a baby, you grew up in a vault. The game actually starts off with your Mother giving birth to you, and your father is actually the one who delivered your character. The sad part about this is your mother died during birth, so you actually never met her, and were raised by your father. Here is where you edit the way your character would look when he would mature and get older.  To give you a little sense of how the game starts off I found this video that explains the back ground story to the game and the birth stage of the game. If you watch it i think this video might be a little helpful into understanding whats going on. enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HTC3UdS7s4&feature=related

Now Fallout New Vegas has a whole new an unique way of starting of the story. This time You are a delivery man who got shot during the deal making process by a mysterious man in a checkeres suit. But somebody had saved your life, and a doctor heals you up and helps get back up on two feet. From here you make your journey to find the man who tried to end your life by putting a bullet right through your head. Whats also interesting about New Vegas is, that yes it is an abominated wasteland but, the destruction isnt as sever as the wasteland in Washington D.C. In this game, there is the actual Vegas strip that was touch by the bomb and is still up and running. To give you a little glipse of what Fallout New Vegas is about, i would watch this video, i think you would truley enjoy it and its is not as long as the previous one i just showed you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws-aXeeaN00

So instead of me giving away the game and going detail by detail, i would rather jus show you a few images from Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas, just so you can see the difference in the two.

This is a picture of the Brotherhood of Steel from Fallout 3. These were the advanced soldiers who maintained oder in the wasteland of D.C. They were someone you wanted to be if you went down the road of a good guy or hero.

This is an NCR Soldier. This is basically the brotherhood of steel for New Vegas but actually more advanced. As you go through the game you end up talking to a man who tells you that the NCR and BrotherHood of Steel got into a battle for a piece of land but the NCR was no match for them, and ran the Brotherhood out off California.
Hope you got a little sense of why i love the Fallout series. And hopefully this makes people want to look more into the games. =)

Zombies, Zombies, Zombies

Dead Rising 2.

Welcome to Fortune City, Nevada! The new entertainment capital of America! The outbreak claimed three of our nation's great cities, but they can never take our pride! Fortune City is the home of the hit TV show "Terror Is Reality", a series that pits 4 heroes against a plague of captured, leftover zombies. Though the highest grossing pay-per-view event ever, it is constantly attacked by a group bent on curing the zombies and bringing them back  to their normal selves. When Chuck Green steps into the arena, everything changes. After a "Terror Is Reality" episode, Chuck leaves his daughter to go sign some paperwork. On his way up the elevator, the power goes out and he's knocked unconscious. Upon waking up, he sees that the zombies have broken out, the terror now truly becoming reality. Chuck is later accused of releasing the horde, causing the breakout, and inciting terror for the sake of "ethical treatment of zombies."

This game is very far from the "ethical treatment of zombies". With a million+ ways to slaughter your opposition, a unique combination system, and more zombies than you can count, this gruesome game throws you into an open-world environment where you can pretty much do whatever you want. Sure, some doors are locked and some zombies are stronger; you even meet psychotic survivors while out attempting to rescue the sane ones. Whatever you choose to do, be it follow the storyline or endlessly explore, Dead Rising 2 offers an immersive play style and hours of gameplay.

The Bad Trip

Alan Wake tells the story of a famous author who is ironically struggling with writer's block. While on vacation with his wife in the remote town of Bright Falls, a series of... unnatural events occur, the foremost being his wife's disappearance. His search begins with a torn-up manuscript: signed and titled by Alan himself. The kicker? He can't ever remember writing it. Upon collecting more pages in his search, he realizes that he is the now the main character in this phantom novel's storyline. Every time you acquire and read a lost page, you get a hint or clue as to what is going to happen next. As he travels throughout this mountainous village, he meets new people and attempts to share his story with him. But how to explain his situation without being feared insane? Was he alone? Is this solely happening to him? Or is this a plague on all of Bright Falls? What about his wife? Ultimately: What's going on!?

The second in my psychological thriller category, Alan Wake presents a lot more interaction than Heavy Rain, my last blog post. The player is capable of aiming and firing both a flashlight and a pistol (as well as several other weapons) in order to beat back the darkness that besiege him. Traveling through a somewhat funneled, yet open environment, the player is urged to take the "other route" in order to look for collectibles and manuscript pages, which, in turn, only tantalize them to return to the main route and progress the story that they are simultaneously reading. An interesting take on the new thriller genre of gaming, Alan Wake is a challenging and (quite literally) dark story that forever leaves you asking "Why?" However, this game does a remarkable job of reminding us that the best stories are the ones that don't make sense.

A World My Own

Fallout 3 tells the story of a child being born into the most hostile environment known to mankind. The scene is Post-apocalyptic downtown and suburban Washington, D.C. Somehow in the past, but with the weapons of the future, the game follows the path of the young hero; the character you create. Male or Female, smart or strong, you take complete control of how you want to play your way through the desolate, yet massive landscape of the downtown Washington area. Just when you think you're about to discover something new, you are set upon by raiders or freedom fighters, or the last of the government's troops. Danger lurks around every corner, but you are more than able to fight back, and fight hard.

The game boasts a fully customizable weapon system, some guns being stronger than others, but still just as useful given the right attachments. A specialized combat control unit allows players to tailor combat to the way they want to fight -- no prisoners or tactical assault. The game also contains and intricate karma system. This adds a unique characteristic to the game: forcing the player to live with the consequences of his actions - "good" or "evil". Top it all off with beautifully barren, alive, yet scorned, abandoned wastelands in full High Definition quality.  

Fallout 3's storyline focuses on the lone son of the widowed scientist of Vault 101, an underground bunker impenetrable by nuclear explosion. The need of an expert's assistance is required to finish, and the father is forced with escaping to the badlands in order to attend. This would mean breaking out of the Vault and entering the irradiated wastelands. Both neither wise, nor good for one's longevity. When the father goes missing and is rumored to be kidnapped or murdered, the youth is forced with the heavy task of saving him, following exactly in his father's footsteps out of the Vault and into what's left of reality. But in the end, what's more real? Life, safe in the Vault? Knowing nothing of the outside world? Or taking the risk of reconstruction?Any way you choose, this game is always a winner and deserves the numerous awards it received.

Heavy Rain

Ok so i finally played ant finished the game known as heavy rain for the ps3. This had to be one of the sickest games i have ever played. What is awesome about this game is that it is more then just a game, it is basically a movie and you have all the control. You can literally make certain choices throughout the whole video game, and the game will change. As the game goes on it sorta reminds me of a law and order meets the son of sam. My friend Ned Kelly introduced me to the game, and he told me to pay attention to the one factor of the game that makes it amazing. He told me to listen to the sound track. Honestly the music for every scene in the game is what truley mad this game a work of art. In the link below is a scene from the game which shows the games aspects in the best possiable way. Also listen to the music during the scene, really helps capture the essence of whats going on.


Discription-- You are playing as a character Ethan who is on a mission to save his son from a serial killer known as the oragami killer. The Oragami killer has told you to go to this guys house and kill him, for the next hint or clue to saving your son. At the end of this one scene you need to make a choice; kill him or spare him. But remember, you must kill him to save your son, so are you a murderer? Or as the oragami killer puts it in the game; "How far will you go to save your son?".....enjoy



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYXSiRzdND4&feature=related