Games these days...

After having my passion rekindled recently by a young person who loved games I checked out E3 an event that in the past was highly anticipated and looked forward to by myself.

If you've seen the press recently you'll know that it was not what people wanted and has slowly started to loose what its intent was and that was to get people exited about video games....

It was no exception for me, I too felt more than a little bit disappointed. I sighed with boredom when Nintendo announced a new side scrolling super Mario brothers plat former. Most of the games were another sequel to an existing franchise. Resi 6? I stopped playing after resi 4.

I will try and look at this argument from both sides. If I was a video games developer in a deteriorating industry. I would probably be a little apprehensive about doing anything new and a little unwilling to try and fork out the cash (if available) to attempt anything new for a fear of complete failure.

As a gamer I miss the old feeling of taking the risk playing an entirely new video game and discovering that it was a gem. You just don't see it any more.

I am losing the inclination to play and have been for quite some time. At one time they were evolving into something greater all the time. At this point in time video game evolution has stopped.

Second thoughts... evolution is not the right word to use at least not anymore. If they had evolved the changes that were made would be advantageous and ensure there future survival.

The word we are looking for is upgraded, upgrade is not the same thing as evolution. its human nature to upgrade Our own natural weakness as people, makes us do so, to want and make something bigger and better, but the thing about this weakness is that it is usually at the cost of something that we really shouldn't let go of.

It is not just a man thing, it is a hu – man thing.

We do it with our partners, our homes, our cars, our stereo, our mobile phone, our shops, our cities.

Our shoes. Our computers. Most of these upgrades make us do less work by the way inducing laziness... or just make us look good (or at least we think they do)

We wanted better visuals we got them but lost the magic that made our games. Good visuals are nothing without the magic. That's why I would rather go back to an old game with less flashy graphics and experience the magic over again rather than try something new that looks flashy but will inevitable suck.

“I created the greatest city in the world.... but I cut down all the trees.

I can marvel at that city but never again can I be in touch with nature and go for a walk in the woods, damn. Suddenly the city does not seem that great!”

There is nothing that I anticipate any more. Its all gone stale. Its like making home made bread for the first time you know before you put it in the oven it “hasn't worked” is there any point in turning the oven on?

I feel sorry for anyone doing games design all those ideas and nowhere to put them. Its OK for us though ( sarcasm intended) all we have to do is make pretty rocks for games that suck ( If only it were that simple......) In an industry where the need for pretty rocks declines every day.

Yes I am scared.

I say anyone with any sense will keep there options open.  When the going gets tough, the tough find something else to make with 3D or to apply our skills to.. Even the very subject we study will evolve into something else eventually, it has been said and I hypothesise that will be sooner rather than later.

I still want to hang on to any hope I have that things will get better and this is just some kind of lull in the action. I cannot visualise a positive outcome though and thats just depressing.

Games review - hack to the future

Hack to the future

One of the beauty's of being a grown up, Is reliving moments from your childhood , especially when there's a present under the Christmas tree that looks and feels like a video game and it has your name on it. My son insists that I am “very naughty” but does not mind playing it with me after all.

I find myself in a knights school in what appears to be a studio Ghibli film, being taught how to lift pots up, I through them at the cook who insists I will be expelled if I carry on. I run up the stairs until my stamina gauge runs out this leaves me immobilised for a whole 7 seconds, “

“I can see this is going to cause problems later on Ty” I say

I can put up with a game that looks like a studio Ghibli film as long as it has all of the other qualities I see as good. Simple things like being able to run across an entire level without becoming exhausted.

“ he's been smoking since the last game in the series and that's why he's so unfit” laughs Tyler the developers probably have been too, but what I don't know because this game has been rushed and its obvious by its visuals.

“look at those muddy textures,” I say, I shake my head, never used to let that bother me...

The character starts to move forward without me doing anything, I take the nun-chuck out and put it back in again. Hindering game play.

“Uughhh, the stupid nun-chucks freezing time” Tyler says.

I run up a set of stairs, I get knackered ...again.....and am unable to move for 7 seconds leaving me vulnerable to enemy's .

He moans about how this character is too much like a real person to be cool.

“How real could games get mummy?

The curiosity is killing him, we discuss why the game sucks some more, Ty insists its a curse from Santa for opening my Christmas presents early.

 I joke that we should build a time machine and go into the future too see how real games could get, when it is ready I tell my now ten year old son that I will meet him in this exact spot in the year 2030 the year it is predicted that computers will be as superior as the human brain.

We have arranged for him to have the latest games console ready to show me when I arrive, He nearly wets himself with excitement and proceeds to give me his own ideas of the future such as jet packs, hover cars hovering wheelchairs, dogs that can walk through walls, freeze rays and automatic walking sticks,.... robot servants and all those future clichés.

We drop the subject of time travelling for a while and continue to play Skyward sword. We are on an island in the sky I pick up an item we got earlier and went straight to the item screen again..... this stopped game play for 20 seconds, and happens every time we pick up an item.

The character starts to walk on its own because I held the analogue stick during this.

Ty starts to spasm in frustration at this, it is getting rather boring now......

My mind wanders from the game , I get in the time machine set the destination year to 2030. The time machine makes noises that would make the sound effects guy from doctor who jealous. I arrive, I get out of the time machine to see my now 30 year old son who towers over me standing there waiting to show me the new console of the future.....

I come back down to earth. I find myself riding a bird through the sky and shaking the controller with my right hand so vigorously that it looks like I'm imitating a sexual act. I giggle to myself, If anyone was able to see in my living room window I would be getting some serious dirty looks.

I look around the future front room looking for the T.V, it is not there. “ oh we just put these on now, mum” he says handing me what looks like a space helmet and a pair of gloves. I reluctantly place the “helmet” over my head and out the gloves on. I feel him push my head. “just switching it on” he says reassuringly.

I land the bird and walk too near the edge and fall off, a small scene where a fellow knight on a bird rescues me and tells me off for walking to close to the edge..... it lasts about 30 seconds....and is repeated every time I fall off, perhaps I should stop daydreaming....

I see a list of options in front of me. He tells me that I move my finger and press thin air to load the game I want. I select the latest zombie fighter from the list and suddenly the list disappears and I gasp I find myself in an actual creepy mansion or what appears to be one. I hear a muffled “graphics are good aren't they” “eh yeah I answer”

“Will you stop falling off the edge its annoying” says Ty

“er, sorry” I say, I was in my own world.

“you were daydreaming about that time machine again weren't you?” he questioned.

“Its not me, its this motion plus it makes the controllers go dodgy all of the time”

I take the Nun chuck out and put it in again. Another 15 seconds to wait....

“ pretend your fingers are a gun and fire” says Ty. I reluctantly walk around for a bit in this place. There are dead bodies on the floor that look so real it makes me feel ill. I feel more fear than enjoyment. My heart is racing, An zombie jumps out....

I'm playing a song on a harp by swinging the controller in time to the music it takes a long time to get the hang of it, I yawn it makes me feel quite sleepy....

I flick my fingers upwards to fire bullets, its a head shot bits of brain fly everywhere. This is too sick to be fun. The now headless zombie lies dead on the floor.... More of them come from nowhere....

I'm fighting a giant statue boss now.... it takes 2 minutes, I didn't even have to use a potion, maybe this is too make up for the drag in game play earlier......

“Do you think I'm either getting better or there getting easier” I ask my son.

“no, that was well easy......” he says....

“ It was too easy it was boring” I add..... another long cut scene occurs.... It seems to never end...

The zombies start to crowd round me now, there is no where to run. More and more of them come out of the shadows, it looks too real, I scream....

“MUMMY”

I snap back into reality, the boss has been resurrected and has hit me taking away the last of my hearts.

GAME OVER.

Video games and the female psyche

I was reflecting on a previous post that I had written about video game history from a Woman's point of view and I realised that I had brought forward a few issues with the way the industry targets the female gamer.

When thinking about it in more detail I realised the problems I had written about where only the tip of the iceberg.

Out of interest I was browsing some online articles and I found an article of particular interest 

Video game firms make a play for women.  

After reading it, it dawned on me. This is not a repeat of the "us girls don't want pink games" from the last post, or a "your so sexist towards us". Its more of a "it is so obvious what you've done wrong, it makes me laugh".

It inspired me so much that I simply had to write about it or I would burst.

The reason this article was so interesting is because it claimed that the industry had met the needs of the female market and it had facts and figures to back this up.

In this article I intend to address

• why what they claim they have achieved is wrong
• what they have really achieved
• exactly where they are going wrong
• why the video game industry find it so hard to make games that appeal to an exclusively female audience.
• how they can do it

The games industry has released games recently that they claim have reached the female market.

They claim that certain dance games have increased the amount of females playing games, This is true, but they have not met this target market directly.

Its not because all women like dancing, far from it. I asked myself “What do these games have in common” The simple answer is they are multi player games. The industry has succeeded in meeting the needs of families that women are part of, not women as individuals.

By introducing these games that allow different family members to play together, compete and compare scores, they have merely sparked a females increased ability to bond or connect with others, and that is the psychology of a Woman's mind and also a scientific fact. They have also sparked the competition that is natural for any organisms living in the same environment.

From my own experience as a mother, and from observing the women I know, I have seen it with my own eyes. I've done the family video game thing with my family, as have my sisters, female friends and even women I know who have never even touched a console previously have done it. I am talking about women who hate the thought of video games.

This is not a bad thing. Knowing this, it may be easy to think “ the industry is on the right track, they are half way there” maybe... but ultimately that is WRONG. 

There are several far greater reasons why the industrys attempts at targeting a female audience dont work, and I'm going to explain why.

The Psychology behind it all

A few years ago when constantly assessing my own thoughts and my frustrations with my own constant indecision on everything, I conducted some research into the psychology of the female mind, I only discovered what I already knew but was too much of a “girl” too admit too. 
 

A Woman's brain is filled with contradictions on a day to day basis constantly assessing everything, all of the time. A typical male may say  "A women is never satisfied by anything," and he would be absolutely correct, we are not.

That is how we are "wired". Maybe the diagram of a woman's brain below will be easier to comprehend.

above sourced from  http://plancksconstant.org/blog1/2006/11/ever_wonder_how_a_wo.html

The point I am trying to make is that naturally we look for the bigger and better deal so nothing is good enough for long, and that counts for everything in our lives including video games. Think about the women you know.

The biggest mistake of all

Probably the worst mistake that the industry has made when assessing exactly what us women want when conducting research for games is to target us in groups, let me explain.

To really know what women love you also have to be aware of a Woman's greatest fear. Because Women are naturally social animals as I have previously addressed, there greatest fear is social awkwardness, yes really. 
 

The real issue is, is that no woman will admit that social awkwardness is there biggest fear, without feeling socially awkward. I think that's called a catch 22 situation. 
 

When targeting women in groups of course there going to say what they think there companions will say so as not to feel awkward socially. This is based on there own pre conception of what they should want not what they really want, else all the market research would have worked.
Blame the media, I certainly do. In reality the media that should be the biggest influence on what games women buy is also the biggest downfall. They cancel each other out.

  http://trueslant.com/fruzsinaeordogh/2010/05/29/video-game-industry-still-doesnt-understand-women/

“Do video game execs even do market research? If so, who are the ladies they are choosing for their research? Malibu Barbies?”

Apart from the family and fitness games the most popular game amongst females is Farmville and that is a FACT. Guess what? its on a SOCIAL- NETWORKING SITE. In short if other women do it then so will I. It is the socially done thing. 
It is also relevant to say that it is no coincidence that the popularity of social networking sites such as facebook coincides with the rise of casual games. 

 

Below is a quote from a single female, but her thoughts are mirrored by many.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704882404574463652777885432.html

“Nancy Chu, a 26-year-old software engineer in Mountain View, Calif., doesn't consider herself a game player but likes "Guitar Hero" because of the game's social aspect.”

There is an exception, Wii fit is probably the biggest “success story” and its sucess is down to all of the points I have made, be it social or psychological. Think about it, the media brainwash's us with ideas such as Women should want to keep trim and slim - hence the success of Wii fit. Wii fit worked so why hasnt the industry done it again? Its laughable because I dont think the industry is aware of exactly why it worked.


In conclusion the answers are there right in front of the industry's eyes. They will never be able to create a game that directly appeals to all women. The best they can hope to do is con us into thinking that playing these games is the social norm. Tap into our natural programming. Only then will they capture that female market. 


quick note 

Without going to much off topic, this is not a new idea, it has been done in history, through the use of  propaganda. To convince women to work in the factorys. Its the same concept, they convince women its the social norm, so they did it, it works. This is no different from the way products are advertised today, in my opinion. Its effectiveley brainwashing in some sense .

Victoria Cichocki 07/11/2011