dezembro 04, 2005

Virtual Storytelling | 05


Conference on Virtual Storytelling on the November 30 till December 2, 2005 at Strasbourg, France.

novembro 04, 2005

no Time

I've never been the type of a daily writer. However since last April time is really not enough. I've a new role in the world since April, I became a father on the 18th of April. And also, since September I'm teaching at my University in full time. Beyond that I've to proceed with my PhD.

About being a father, it's a great thing, is new and it takes time. On the other side, teaching is also interesting but it takes even more time. So for the PhD it only rests a very little amount of time. I should finishing middle of next year, however by now I've already accepted that it will have to wait till the end of 2006.

In the middle of all this, it should be obvious that I couldn't have time for this Blog, at least during this period. However, I'm still publishing information and collecting Links in another page (in Portuguese) but only focused in Videogames, if interested just take a look at VIDEOJOGOS.

junho 16, 2005

Science and Videogames

Three Scientific areas of researching Videogames

a) Game Design "is the process of designing the content, background and rules of a game" at wikipedia.
"...conceiving and designing rules and structures that result in an experience for players" in The Rules of Play (2003)

Big concerns, analyse and develop new forms of gameplay and interactivity.

b) Video Game studies "is the still-young field of analysing video games from a social science or humanities perspective." at wikipedia

Big concerns, analyse textual and cultural meanings present in videogames. Special approaches at the moment are ludology and narratology.

c) Game Programming deals with programming and can "include advanced physics, artificial intelligence, 3D graphics, digitized sound, a custom musical score, complex strategy and may use several input devices (such as mice, keyboards, gamepads and joysticks) and may be playable against other people via the Internet or over a LAN." at wikipedia

Big Concerns, studying new forms of programming and new harware in order to deliver always the most powerfull capacities for graphics and AI.

junho 14, 2005

Gamer's Manifesto

«
. Give us A.I. that will actually outsmart us now and then
. Give us a genre of game we've never seen before.
. Give me environments that realistically react to what I do

. Ban, Loadings.
. Ban, Superimposing on the screen.
. Ban Cinematic camera angles.
. Ban, Confusing, mapless floor plans.
. Ban, Unnecessarily difficult end levels.
. Ban, Patenting
»

excerpts adapted from Gamer's Manifesto, 2005 by David Wong and Haimoimoi

maio 30, 2005

Videogame Genres

. Action Adventure Game
. Adventure Game
. Driving Game
. Fighting Game
. Massively Multiplayer Game
. Platformer
. Puzzle/Rhythm Game
. Role-Playing Game
. Shooter
. Sports Game
. Strategy Game


as used by E3 Expo in 2005

maio 21, 2005

PlayStation 3

Graphic capacity, seems just like a beautiful dream.


Hardware specs unveiled at E3 presentation are just like something from outer world. You can take a look at the presentation here. You need to sign up to download and don't forget this is a video presentation of 1h50m and so 1Gb.

To be released in SPRING 2006

abril 08, 2005

Designing games for the Future

by Peter Molyneux

«
Clear Concepts. More than ever, Molyneux said, games need to begin with a clear, absolute concept. In Fable, for instance, the concept is: "Be a hero." In Grand Theft Auto, it's "Be a gangster." These simple but clear concepts are the key to a successful game idea.

Greater Accessibility. Once upon a time, gamers were willing to spend hours learning how to play a video game. But as gaming becomes a truly mass market industry, players demand ever simpler, ever more accessible gameplay experiences. Molyneux now believes that designers have about ten seconds to grab a player before the player will lose interest.

Simple to Understand. Along similar lines, Molyneux believes that players must be given a clear sense of what they can do and what they are supposed to do in a game. One of Molyneux's guiding principles is to create games with very simple, very concise controls that anybody at all could jump right into without needing a tutorial.

Deeper Interaction. As gameplay gets simpler, game depth needs to expand. When an interface reaches critical simplicity, a player must trust that those few available commands will lead to a great depth of possible experiences.

Morphable Gameplay. The success of games such as Fable and Grand Theft Auto, said Molyneux, is that they allow a player to both play through a game, and play in the game. One person's experimentation is another's gameplay ? so allowing for a diverse range of playing styles opens the field to attract multiple gaming audiences.

Cool Stuff. Lastly, Molyneux emphasized the important of continuing to think of new, cool things to attract gamers to games. In spite of the continuing technological and creative innovations in the industry, gamers ultimately play games because they want to have fun and do cool things.
»
at Gamasutra


I completely agree with Molyneux. Games of the future, are for the masses and so we need to think with a wide audience scope in mind.

We can add to this, Andrew view at grandtextauto

"Without well-formed experiences - efficient pacing, filtering out the 'boring bits' - games may not breakthrough to a mass audience. Most people just don't have the time to spend hours and hours playing a game for a few moments of meaningful drama. Games will need to be as "efficient" as movies, TV and books in this regard."

And then my last thought on conventions and transparency

"When we arrive at a point where the gameplay will be as transparent as film mechanics, stories will become the center of the experience." And so emotions will be diversified enough to build unforgettable art pieces that will last for decades and maybe centuries.