Here’s a sad fact, video games for the most part are juvenile. As an avid gamer, and admirer of them it pains me to say it, but after many decades, gaming has not changed from the trash appearance it received when first introduced, the only difference now – Publishers and developers make more money and reach a larger audience. I suppose like all great mediums, when something new comes to the scene they are torn apart by skeptics and pushed to the side as merely playthings or toys that will corrupt children’s minds. Comic book’s faced this, films did as well (many forget the first movies to ever be made were made for exploitation purposes, such as pornographic films.) But through the years, and through people willing to use these new forms of entertainment and storytelling to a great advantage, both mediums for the most part overcame the dreadful stereotypes associated with them. For now however, video games are the newest target for the destruction of our civilization, for being mindless, and for distracting people from real things. Unfortunately they are right, video games still have the stink of pop trash on them, and only a few people seem to care.

Let’s face it, pop trash makes a lot of money (need proof? Britney Spears is still making albums.) Things that distract us from our ordinary boring lives sell because, well, they distract us from our boring lives. It doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that people like being put into impossible situations, facing what appears to be impossible odds and to overcome those odds with some flash. As people we like to be excited, and anything shiny that can grab our attention for a couple of hours is surely worth the price.

Like popular music, video games fit into the category of disposable entertainment. We download a song, listen to it until it becomes annoying and never bother with it again. We have forgotten about the art of an entire album and have settled for what ever gets stuck in our head for a day or two. Well, we buy video games for ridiculous prices (often $60 plus) play them, beat them, and trade them in for considerably less than we payed for them. Rarely do they hold any lasting value. Sure, people will argue that’s why we have multiplayer to expand the life cycle of the game, but in essence online multiplayer usually consists of a repetitive game of tag with guns.

That’s not to say that there aren’t developers out there using the video game medium to its potential as a new tool for creativity. Many do try, and the result ends with poor sales, proving that as gamers we’d rather see something disposable but of the moment, rather than something original and timeless. Some recent examples could be the incredibly high sales of Modern Warfare 2, essentially a graphical improvement over its predecessor, which became one of the highest grossing games of all time. Some will argue that Modern Warfare does not fit in this category because it has a universal storyline, but universal doesn’t mean good. It lacks heart, and after one play through it becomes clear that just about any North American development team could have made the same game. A game that lacks any true creativity in it’s design or gameplay, and whose storyline feels like a teenage Tom Clancy fan’s wet dream, ends up being both pointless and predictable. But it’s not only Modern Warfare, the same problem applies to just about every game developed today.

It wasn’t until the 1980′s that comic books finally started being treated as a worthy medium to tell stories. The reason for this is because a handful of writers decided to go against the grain, and strayed away from the expected to take a risk. Certainly there were comic books released before the 80′s that tried to go against the grain and some succeeded, but none garnered true success. Alan Moore’s The Watchmen, now proudly known as one of the fathers of the revolution in comic books, along with Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns achieved both success as well as artistic praise. So what does this mean? Do video games deserved to someday put into the same category as film and comic books? Well, because I’m optimistic I believe so, and I think it’s only a matter of time before gaming receives that wave of breakthrough titles that not only garner millions of dollars but the respect and enjoyment that other mediums have already. Again, there have been games released in the past that have tried this, some resulted better than others, but none have been revolutionary.

One could argue it’s not just video games, but it’s that the stereotype about video games is true. Both developers and gamers gather artistic inspiration and influences from the same place, whatever makes the most profit. As a culture it does suffer from the “hyper geek” service of fantasy-themed elements that only the select devoted will respond with. Or perhaps, like movies, video games are suffering from the same inevitable watering down of quality through self reference. If the same people are all taking inspiration from the same place, then the reality is everything is the same with only minor changes. They take from the same place because as a culture its all we know, through media, hype, and sales we take from what we know best, the problem being what we know best is what everyone else knows best. If a chance isn’t taken on creativity then nothing new can ever gain success, and sure we will be happy for a moment until we forget and move on repeatedly, but nothing that repeats can last forever.

Rumor on the street is, Valve (creators of Half Life 2, and Left 4 Dead) are working on a Mac specific version of their Steam service. The rumors occurred after users of the new beta uncovered Mac OS specific graphics in the code.

Digging deep through open beta files, Steam forum members found OS graphic icons such as; the open maximize and minimize jewel icons that are used in the operating systems windows. Although that seems like not much of anything, reports say that there were a few more Mac graphic icons buried within, including dock graphics and specific OS X menu files.

Again this is merely a rumor at this point, and Valve have not talked about Steam on the Mac before. They did, however recently announce the beta for the new Steam update as the popular service continues to expand. Some of the new features included in the update will allow players to sort their games, and allows them to track all of their achievements in a more traditional fashion.

Steam has been highly praised over the years, as being the number one thing keeping PC game sales alive. This would be a nice gesture to all the Mac gamers, as they have usually always been snubbed by the gaming world. However with growing popularity of iPhone games, and the upcoming iPad table, Mac have been pushing more and more to become a reliable source in the gaming world. In addition, newer Mac computers run on Intel processors, which allow them more gaming capability.

We’ll keep you up to date on any news regarding a possible Steam expansion to the Mac world.

It’s quite clear that the newest revolution in movies, and in experiencing them is three dimensional technology. Let’s face it, it’s good for business, and it’s terrific for ticket sales garnering lots of hype. Although the push to create and sell three dimensional televisions to the home market is steadily starting to increase, and the talk about games utilizing the new technology is almost a sure thing, a much quieter revolution has been beginning to take form in the video game universe.

Sure everyone knows about the Nintendo Wii, and how it has ruled the gaming world since its release back in 2006. With the ability to control your games with a motion controller, it introduced gamers to a whole new experience. Sure their are the skeptics (me being one of them) who will argue that most motion controlled games for the console only use the motion because it can, rather than for a purpose. None the less, gamers of all ages embraced the new technology, and with Nintendo dominating the sales charts it was only a matter of time before Sony, and Microsoft joined the party. Now with both companies planning to release their very own motion devices by the end of 2010, one thing is for sure – motion controlled games are here to stay.

Yet amongst the hype, and skepticism that surrounds both three dimensional games, as well as motion controlled games, perhaps one of the most exciting changes in the way games are being played is happening right under our feet. Video games as a personal experience, unique to each player. Now I know that doesn’t sound as glamorous as 3D, or motion, but think of the endless possibilities of them combined. New releases such as Mass Effect 2 (which sold extremely well), and to a greater effect, Heavy Rain, both are becoming known for giving gamers a personal experience unique to them. In other words, the next morning when your standing around the water cooler, and a co-worker is explaining the outcome of his incredible experience he enjoyed the night before, you are stunned and confused to find out that the same thing never happened to you.

It is always stressed that no two people are the same. We all have different likes and dislikes, values and opinions – so why are we forced to share the same gaming experience? I know it could easily be said that, if a developer has a story in mind they want to tell they should tell it with a beginning, middle, and end having every player come to the same conclusion, similar to the way a movie script is handled. With that being said, video games are not movies, similar to novels they are something we don’t mind spending fifteen or more hours playing. Giving gamers unique experience based around morals, and around how they interact with real people in their everyday lives is most certainly a revolution in gaming.

How is this achieved though? How can you make a player sincere, angry, and emotional around a character in a video game? It’s simple, by making the on screen character as human as possible. From the way they interact with the environment they are in, the situation, too detail things such as the way they move, their reactions to the players actions. Moral choices is not something new to video games. For years now allowing the player to either play on the good or bad side has been interwoven into countless games. Most times however the choices the player makes has no real lasting effect on the outcome of the experience, and tends to only have an effect on the overall world the game takes place in. For example, grabbing an enemy by the neck and having the ability to kill him or not will usually only grant the player a different power up depending on if he kills or doesn’t. That has no effect on the player, other than them having to think about which power up will get them to the end of the game with more ease. However giving that non-player character human like personality, and completely changing the outcome for the player whether or not he kills the enemy will leave a lasting effect on both the outcome of the story, as well as the player himself.

Now combining interaction with non-player characters and motion gameplay would easily make games the best experiences people can have with their entertainment. The ability to interact with your hands, feet, and movements with engaging narratives filled with characters we care about as well as giving the player choices on how they want to go about the story depending on the mood they are in at the time can truly immerse the player. It’s long been argued over whether or not video games have reached the level of artistic merit that films have achieved. I’m not about to stand on one side of that argument, but one thing is for sure – the next big step in the way we get our entertainment (whether we like it or not) is through immersion. Video games have the advantage here, it’s always been easy for game developers to get gamers attached to characters more so than it has been with film. Time is on the side of game developers, and soon the only way to separate each gaming experience will be by allowing the game to be in the players hands. Taking the way he/she lives their own lives and molding that into an interactive gaming experience is what developers should be looking at.

Chinatown Wars Reviewed For The iPhone

The instant Nintendo DS, and PSP classic is now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but does it stand up to it’s counterparts?

First off, the game sells for $9.99, making it one of the more expensive apps found on the App Store, but at the same time much cheaper than the other versions available. It’s a very good deal.

Overall, I am happy to say that the game makes good use of the touch sensitive controls of the iPhone. While free roaming on foot, you use a virtual joystick that has now become common for most avid Apple gamers, found on the left corner of the screen. It’s surprisingly easy and fluid, feeling closer to an actual gamepad than a lot of other games on the phone.

On the other side of the screen are your kick, punch, and jump buttons that you’ll use as you navigate your way through the wide open environment. When nearing a vehicle, an icon at the bottom of the screen appears, letting you “borrow” a ride in typical GTA fashion. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the game comes in the form of driving the multiple types of cars available to you. The on-screen controls, do not work nearly as well as they should here and can cause some frustration when involved in some intense missions. Thankfully however, the game does offer a driver assist system that works well, but shouldn’t really have been needed.

On the visual side of things, Chinatown Wars looks very similar to it’s Nintendo DS counterpart. The colors are sharp, and the characters are all as dark and twisted as you remembered them to be. I never really had an issue with slowdown, or lag, and the iPhone proves it is more than capable of handling such a massive game. That leads me to my next point, the game is grand in scale, and might just be the biggest iPhone game attempted too date. The city is large, and you can avoid the storyline objectives altogether if you choose, and spend countless hours roaming the streets, beating up pedestrians, running from the cops, or doing whatever else you do in the GTA universe. Add to that numerous side missions, and you can be sure that the game has some weight to it, something most games on the device are lacking.

Anyone familar with Grand Theft Auto games will feel at home here. It’s not a cash-in on the name, or a half-hearted attempt at making a “real” game for the iPhone. Like other GTA games, you can save your game and check your stats at various apartments scattered throughout the city. You’ll meet old friends, and make some new ones as well, all while being involved with a very well paced, and intriguing story. The violence and the profanity, is all crammed onto the tiny device, and it stands up well against the other versions current available. That’s not to say it’s not without it’s faults. The controls while acceptable, just are not as good as players should expect them too be. They are far from terrible, but they will be the cause of your death more than once, I guarantee, leaving you with the feeling that the game has somehow cheated you.

Then again, with a $9.99 price tag, it is hard to complain and is a must download for any fan of the Grand Theft Auto series.

8

Pros:

Nearly the same experience found on the Nintendo DS

Nice graphics

Includes all that GTA goodness, hookers and baseball bats included

Cons:

Controls not perfect, especially when driving or in heated gunfights

More expensive than most Apps

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