UK Gaming Survey
October 29th, 2008
As part of my research into culture and games I knew that I’d need some help. There is no way that I can provide a legitimate case for the matter if I don’t provide more perspectives than just my own. Especially when dealing with something like culture. As such I’ve been calling upon the help of others to help substantiate this investigation (I make it sound so serious >_<). So to kick things off I want to take things slowly and explore the subtle nuances dividing the UK from other western countries. I’d like to thank Damon from the Consolation Prize blog and UK game marketer Bruce Everiss for their time in helping me along.
The point of this article is to warm you into the idea of differences among seemingly similar cultures. It’s an introduction of sorts thanks to the insightful responses which should act as a starting point for further analysis. I put a lot of thought into the questions, so I hope you get a lot out of it. ^_^
C-12: Final Resistance (Recommendation)
October 26th, 2008
It’s not often when I go out on a limb and recommend a game to you, my audience. I figure that you readers are smart enough to know what is and is not worthy of your play time. The only instance by where I feel compelled to recommend something – unless asked, of course – is when I feel whatever I am recommending is greatly underapreciated. C-12: Final Resistance is just that.
C-12 is a 3rd person action adventure by SCE Studio Cambridge for the PSone, released in April 2001(PAL) and July 2002(NA).
C-12: Final Resistance is a third person, action adventure in the vein of the much loved Syphon Filter series, set in a post apocalyptic future with english accents. To be fair, C-12 is pretty run-of-the-mill; the mechanics are solid, gameplay is varied (enough), graphics are pleasant and overall the production hits a pretty high standard for a first party effort. There isn’t anything particularly fantastic nor particularly terrible about C-12 which I guess is why the game was kicked aside in the review space. Reviewers didn’t care for the late release, particularly since it came out in Europe over a year earlier and offered little to justify the delay.
Still, C-12 is a fantastic action romp. Much like the Syphon Filter games it gives you plenty of diversity in its play and then manages to balance them all out in equilibrium. The overall presentation is also quite apt and it’s clear that a lot of effort was put into polishing the whole product. Neat touches such as the laser sight of Vaughan’s…eyeball and sparks from broken electrical items round off the package. There’s some video below;
Social Stigmatization and Culture
October 24th, 2008
It’s 11:30pm on a week night and I’m starting to get a little worried. My list of ready-made blog articles are beginning to shrink and I desperately need some more ideas to fight the tide. There are plenty of hand-wavy ideas in the slosh but I need something to jump out at me, so I load up Google Reader and read until something clicks. It doesn’t take long for someone else’s work to remind me of one of those endearing ideas that I’d left on the wayside a few months back, and then without even thinking I’ve found a way to segue it into culture. Wow too good, now..no more procrastination.
Social Stigma of Games
As someone apt enough to be reading this blog, I suspect that social stigma in relation to video games should be a familiar topic. I certainly am familiar with it. Fortunately the transition from high school to university (and the catching up in maturity levels) has eased the stigma a little. Transforming the perception of social inadequate over to fruitful, interesting…maybe even sophisticated if I lie to them and say that I “do” games criticism.
Despite the change, there is no doubt that being a consumer of this medium brings with it a lot of social baggage. You can see it in their faces, when you let it slip that you spent last weekend hunched in a dark room, glorifying over the onscreen fireworks display instead of having a night out with some friends, beverages and maybe a funny story or two.
Why though? Why does playing games automatically place us on the bottom rung of the social ladder? There are many good reasons, all more or less due to a lack of understanding, you can read some of them here.
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