Aside from a shameless plug for one of my favourite songs off the last Bon Jovi studio album (The Circle), I thought I would talk about gaming at work today. Given that I currently work for a travel agent (oh the irony), there really isn't a lot to do inbetween taking calls. So it has begun - most of the girls (and guys) manning the phones have taken that awkward first step into casual gaming.
I found this rather amusing at first. Being a battle-weary veteran of the industry and as a voracious consumer of the same, I was vaguely smug that my "new" colleagues were experiencing games in the workplace. While they played online versions of SMB, I was quietly training my team of Pokemon to take on the Elite Four. Not that I was against online gaming, quite the opposite. I am quite the fan of Kongregate's Super Stacker.
But it got me thinking. Previously, they were all very interested in what I was playing in my DS, asking me about the games I owned (answer: quite a few, but restricted to a few favourite series), where I was up to in the game and how long I had been playing for. Since most of the shifts I do are long-haul, I take advantage of the time to do some serious training (more recently, I have been serious about EV training. Who knew stats could be so important?). The next logical step, I suppose, is therefore taking advantage of my knowledge of games (console and online based) and exploring their options.
The funniest moment in all of this was when I turned around from my computer and found four of my colleagues all playing the same game. On the exact same level. Each was employing a different methodology of completing the level (completist, speed-run, careful progression), but they were all talking about it. Now, I've read articles in the past that have talked about gaming in the work place and I've even heard the argument that it can be considered unprofessional and childish. I would disagree. What struck me in this particular circumstance was the team-building that was going on. Not only were these people reinforcing crucial social networks, but they were working as a team to finish the game.
I'm not saying that I'm the leading expert in all things gaming, nor am I a psychologist, but it occurs to me that perhaps instead of less fun 'team-building' exercises, maybe a good round of CoD in the boardroom would encourage healthy working relationships.
It might also do something towards improving hand-eye co-ordination in offices.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
I Made It Through The Wilderness...
Hey there faithful followers!
Yes, 'tis I, back from the black. I know, I know, it's been a while and the secret project that I was working on is now out in the form of the online game Mojikan. I've since moved on and gone back to working on my own games and business plan for my own studio, but that is neither here nor there. The point of this is that with or without me, Mojikan is a pretty cool game. Check it out and see if you agree. Not all of it is particularly new and inventive, but it is expertly put together.
In other news, I've been playing Pokemon: Platinum Version as a prelude to the recently released Pokemon: Black and Pokemon: White versions. The new feature with this release/generation is the limited edition Pokemon Victini (now tell me, when you heard that it wouldn't be around for long, you wanted that little lucky fox more, didn't you?) and the integration of a full three dimensional game-world. This graphical style shift has been something the series has been screaming out for since the early 2000s, so seeing that Nintendo has finally listened can only mean that the series is taking a step in the right direction.
Unsurprisingly enough, Duke Nukem Forever has been delayed. Again. The upshot of this little snippet is that now America will have to wait with the rest of the world, instead of getting it four days early. Har har. Something else that intrigues me about this particular game is how vehement a lot of feminist writers are getting. I read an article that said Shelby Knox was trying to get it banned from Wal-mart, which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Looking at this from a gaming, marketing and consumer perspective, the lunacy is over-whelming. From a consumer perspective, she is trying to limit my access to this highly-sought-after game. As every teenager who has glugged a little sneaky spirits knows, the more you can't have it, the more you want it. Not only that, you are more inclined to seek it out.
From a marketing perspective, you are cutting a huge slice of core game-players out of the potential market. Not only that, you are restricting your customer pool to current hard-core game-players, instead of capitalising on the nostaglia factor of adult game-players with families who may no longer visit boutique game stores on a regular basis. Restricting distribution for a game so long in development is simple madness and given Ms. Knox's comments regarding the target consumers, I respectfully am disinclined to agree, but I will expand on that in a moment.
Finally, from a gaming perspective. As a media form that has never been wholly 'socially acceptable', gaming sports its fair share of battle scars. After Bulletstorm and Homefront, you think the hoo-hah would have died down. There have been SO many studies that have disproven (and proven) that video games are the cause of violence in children and adults. There will probably never be any real proof either way, but in the end, it comes down to parenting. Whether or not you want YOUR children to be exposed to this type of material is the same case as if you were to decide whether or not you would allow them to watch a MA15+ film. YOU are the adult and YOU need to make the decision, not the ESRB. Be a responsible parent and we will be responsible game-players.
Now, getting back to what I was saying about Shelby Knox. The woman claims that the 'capture the babe' mode will promote a culture of sexual violence against women in the youth culture today. Well, sorry to tell you this, but I am friends with a DJ crew in Sydney, all of whom are lovely and sweet boys. But the culture they live in is filled with girls who consider it a status boost to sleep with a DJ, to wear next to nothing and get off-their-head drunk. This culture already exists on the music scene and has done for so many years now. Is one long-standing joke of the game industry going to make an impact? Probably not. The people who will play this game see it for its true value - a tongue-in-cheek look at western action heroes who are so pumped full of testosterone that they can barely move for cannons. It's a farce and we all know it, even the girls involved in this community. So why is it that no-one else can?
Discuss. I'm going for a cup of tea (how very british).
Yes, 'tis I, back from the black. I know, I know, it's been a while and the secret project that I was working on is now out in the form of the online game Mojikan. I've since moved on and gone back to working on my own games and business plan for my own studio, but that is neither here nor there. The point of this is that with or without me, Mojikan is a pretty cool game. Check it out and see if you agree. Not all of it is particularly new and inventive, but it is expertly put together.
In other news, I've been playing Pokemon: Platinum Version as a prelude to the recently released Pokemon: Black and Pokemon: White versions. The new feature with this release/generation is the limited edition Pokemon Victini (now tell me, when you heard that it wouldn't be around for long, you wanted that little lucky fox more, didn't you?) and the integration of a full three dimensional game-world. This graphical style shift has been something the series has been screaming out for since the early 2000s, so seeing that Nintendo has finally listened can only mean that the series is taking a step in the right direction.
Unsurprisingly enough, Duke Nukem Forever has been delayed. Again. The upshot of this little snippet is that now America will have to wait with the rest of the world, instead of getting it four days early. Har har. Something else that intrigues me about this particular game is how vehement a lot of feminist writers are getting. I read an article that said Shelby Knox was trying to get it banned from Wal-mart, which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Looking at this from a gaming, marketing and consumer perspective, the lunacy is over-whelming. From a consumer perspective, she is trying to limit my access to this highly-sought-after game. As every teenager who has glugged a little sneaky spirits knows, the more you can't have it, the more you want it. Not only that, you are more inclined to seek it out.
From a marketing perspective, you are cutting a huge slice of core game-players out of the potential market. Not only that, you are restricting your customer pool to current hard-core game-players, instead of capitalising on the nostaglia factor of adult game-players with families who may no longer visit boutique game stores on a regular basis. Restricting distribution for a game so long in development is simple madness and given Ms. Knox's comments regarding the target consumers, I respectfully am disinclined to agree, but I will expand on that in a moment.
Finally, from a gaming perspective. As a media form that has never been wholly 'socially acceptable', gaming sports its fair share of battle scars. After Bulletstorm and Homefront, you think the hoo-hah would have died down. There have been SO many studies that have disproven (and proven) that video games are the cause of violence in children and adults. There will probably never be any real proof either way, but in the end, it comes down to parenting. Whether or not you want YOUR children to be exposed to this type of material is the same case as if you were to decide whether or not you would allow them to watch a MA15+ film. YOU are the adult and YOU need to make the decision, not the ESRB. Be a responsible parent and we will be responsible game-players.
Now, getting back to what I was saying about Shelby Knox. The woman claims that the 'capture the babe' mode will promote a culture of sexual violence against women in the youth culture today. Well, sorry to tell you this, but I am friends with a DJ crew in Sydney, all of whom are lovely and sweet boys. But the culture they live in is filled with girls who consider it a status boost to sleep with a DJ, to wear next to nothing and get off-their-head drunk. This culture already exists on the music scene and has done for so many years now. Is one long-standing joke of the game industry going to make an impact? Probably not. The people who will play this game see it for its true value - a tongue-in-cheek look at western action heroes who are so pumped full of testosterone that they can barely move for cannons. It's a farce and we all know it, even the girls involved in this community. So why is it that no-one else can?
Discuss. I'm going for a cup of tea (how very british).
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