The taylz of Games art

The end is neigh

2010-04-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

As the end of second year has dawned on us i feel like i have accomplished something. Don't know what it is though.

A better understanding of games?

Playing more games?

Or even the fact after a difficult year i have still managed to keep to deadlines?

But one thing i have learnt this year, is not in education, but in myself. If anything, the one thing that i have accomplished is despite having Dyslexia and Semantic pragmatic, and the sudden passing of my dad, i have proved that i am a strong person and that even others in my position can achieve achievement too.

So I'm looking at second year as an experience and continue to live strong and tackle lifes challenges.

I would like to thank my friends for being there for me, the help and support. Without them and the the rest of my classmates (lol) i wouldn't be as sane as i am now.

And thanks to the tutors for being understanding of my situation and the advice and guidance they have given me throughout the year.

Peace out.

It's in the game!

2010-03-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

Lately i have been having great urges to brave the gaming world and take it on.

I'm not much of a gaming person but after playing Tekken 6 around a friends house i started to get interested. So i went out to the outdoor market and looked through their games and picked up a copy of 'Soul Calibur III' and 'Devil may cry'. And what an experience! Kicking guys asses in the comfort of my bedroom, and shooting bloody puppets has never felt so good and I'm enjoying it!

Then the other day i was looking through the games again whilst looking at the wii games because i wanted to do something nice for my sister (don't know why, it was another urge) so i ended up buying 'Nights'. Also through out the PS2 games, i found Jak and Daxter and Kingdom Hearts II. I know what your thinking and i don't care, I'm expanding my horizons and having an experience. Bottom line is, is that I'm buying games and its making me happy. They are helping me understand the course a lot more.

Cometh the Repo man!

2010-02-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

Oops wrong one. But he is truly frightening. You don't want to have your organs repossessed by this guy...

This is the Repo man I'm talking about :D Y SO SRS?

Movie review V

2010-02-14T06:08:00.000-08:00

Gee whizz it's been a good 2 months or so since i last did a review. This should be interesting.

'Enemy at the gates'
Another war movie but interesting. There was a lot of suspense and action and there were ideas to be made from it in the game sense. I had to lol at the fact the dvd kept dying and we went to the labs to finish it but everyone decided to go on call of duty and have our own 'enemy at the gates' battle.

'Below'
Set under water for a change and really good. Hurray for insanity. It was almost like playing Phoenix wright and guessing who did it. As the movie went on there was suspense as a lot of things were happening and when you think you figured out who did it, they were dead. It was good to watch.

'The jacket'
This was one of those 'WTF' movies. It was full of strangeness, hallucinations and even time travel. It felt depressing and a little weird to follow.

'12 monkeys'
There seems to be a theme going on here... I think mike is trying to tell us this is where were heading if we don't leave now. Again interesting, and i found it a little awkward to follow.

'Leon'
Now this is more like it. A good movie and no giant lizard in sight. We watched the directors cut version and i thought it was good. The lass was a peach and really made the movie more entertaining.

'Monty python and the holy grail'
...What? Of all the movies shown, this one was the most queer. The only other Monty python movie I've seen and it seemed to have gone on for ages. But i have to admit that it was good on some parts. The ending was a massive downer.

Go team SHOCK!HORROR!

2010-02-03T02:19:00.000-08:00

Lol. I'm happy with my group. I'm with awesome people (not saying everyone else isn't).

I was so stoked a week ago but now I'm not too sure. It's mainly for the theme: 'Resident evil'. I haven't played the game and i don't like them kind of games. So I'm stumped. But it's not going to stop me from trying.

The queens building was a brilliant idea considering the 3rd years said they get kicked out of everywhere in town. I like the layout of the queens and after yesterday when we got to the 3rd floor it gave me a better perspective of the building and what we found gave me ideas.

So while I'm panicking over the project i think it'll be a great experience for me to work with people i ACTUALLY know and can easily get along with.

Something different

2010-01-27T05:04:00.000-08:00

Ok i am going to pull out of the negatives this time and tell you my evil plan.

I am planning on writing a fantasy novel. There is no final storyline yet because i keep changing it and adding to make it work. My aim is to make something out of this world with new and improved cliques. I'm tired of listening, reading and watching the same old thing it is becoming predictable. Theres a limit to what can be done, you can come up with amazing characters and ideas but at the end of the day it will fall into the same categories.

My story is based in another dimension. There's two sides to this world, light and dark. a groups of mixed youths and adults go on a hunt to find the villain who destroyed cities looking for something. The group soon find themselves on the run and in a race to find the thing the villain is looking for before it does. It's a journey through out the worlds in a race against time to save lives.

Thats a jist of it but it still needs work. So watch this space...

In other news: More Avatar...

2010-01-26T06:40:00.000-08:00

Everyone has been saying how awesome the movie was and i began to hate it without seeing it. You should know by now that i am a tough movie critic and now I'm shredding movies apart pointing out how good the CGI is and if humans can do the same stuff as the CGI characters, which is no.

I finally go and see it in 3D cos there were no 2D screenings. Not only was i sat 3 rows from the screen but i began to get bored of the movie. Don't get me wrong it was good, the CGI was good but it wasn't quite there. I don't like long movies because i start fidgeting and wish i was else where, no matter how much i want to watch the movie.

So I've seen it so wheres the problem?

The answer is in the news.

Most watched movie. Most expensive movie. Best CGI. ECT...

Shut up! I don't care. It wasn't that amazing. And to be fair i might never want to watch it again. And stop boasting about it on the Internet! No one wants to know how to make themselves look like a Navi.

Also i was told that theres a forum on Avatar and people are saying they want to commit suicide so they can go to Pandora. What?

Oh well till the next rant on the next 'big' thing.

Are you a mass murderer?

2010-01-22T04:45:00.000-08:00

Watch this if you are thinking about becoming one.

Youtube vid

Aimees must see movies.

2010-01-11T11:13:00.000-08:00

I have seen a lot of movies in my life time and 70% of them disappointed me, and 5% make my DVD collection.

Movies are being repeated all the time. Its the same as another, but with a different title and characters. Which is why we are now getting ridiculous names in which some don't have anything to do with the movie.

So i am going to give you a List of movies i think are worth a watch:

Cloverfield It was like watching 'The Blair witch project' because both movies involve a person recording the events through a camera. This kept me in suspense all the way through. Although the monster attack was quite random it was the fact the actors played well in believing that it was actually happening. I now don't want to go to Manhattan in case of a monster attack.

Repo! The genetic opera It was worth the wait to see this. Not only can you laugh but you can also see Paris Hilton in her natural environment. All we need now is David Attenbrough. It is a musical, and there is gore. Death, disaster, woes and betrayal make this movie a winner. Just so you know Repo is set in the future where organ transplants are available to everyone. If you don't keep up with the payments then the founder of GeneCo who supplies the organs will send out the Repo man and he will take that organ.

Edward Scissorhands An old classic and done by Tim Burton. Whats to say about this except its brilliant. Tim Burtons movies are always good. Look out for the witchfinder general Vincent price.

Sweeny Todd Wow second TB movie, and more Johnny Depp. Love this because it is dark. And Alan Rickman is in it.

Legally Blonde Lol, as if this made my collection but after watching it a second time i bought it. Why? Because believe it or not it shows me i can do anything everyone else does. It's like I'm Elle woods doing law that she didn't want to do but managed to turn it around and become a brilliant attorney. So this is worth a watch.

Lord of the rings: two towers I hate LOTR but the second is my fave. The design, sets and characters strike me and i think its alright.

The Nightmare before Christmas Wow a record. TB #3. A Tim classic. And really does give me the willies. The clown and the young kid with his eyes sewn shut scare the hell out of me.

Jurassic Park All are brilliant, and really done well. The animatronics are really awesome and intrigue me.

Beauty and the beast Surprise, surprise, another Disney movie. And frankly my fave movie of all time. I love the moral behind it of how not to judge a person based on their looks. I am awaiting for the dvd release this year.

Law abiding citizen This is a new one for me. Something i wouldn't normally watch but after watching it with my boyfriend I'm glad i did. The crimes the guy committed were awesome, each one carefully thought out and the twist at the end was brilliant.

Thats all folks!

Welcome 2010

2010-01-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

Wow it's been a decade already?

I think it's time to reflect what i have achieved.

2000- Started secondary school
2005- Received a blue Peter badge thought the post for a story on the 4000th episode.
2005- Sort of started college but had to study a GCSE to get more grades.
2006- Finally started first year of college.
2007- Got an award for progress in Psychology
2008- Started uni.

Wow very little happened there but my biggest achievements were the blue peter badge and getting to uni.

Where theres greatness there will be some saddness.

2001- 9/11 The destruction of the twin towers.
2002- 9/11 exactly a year later my nanna loses her battle with cancer... The day before my birthday. I was about 14.
2005?- My grandad, then a couple of months later my auntie both passed away. My aunt was about 43.
2008- The cat my sister named died after eating poison.
2009- To add to my misery i find out i have Dyslexia and semantic pragmatic. Shall i never be happy again!
2009- My dad passed away, only 49. Then MJ.

But i have lived through it and my biggest hurdle is my dad, and it's really taken its toll.

I try not to let anything get to me but to be honest i am a very emotional person when things don't go my way, whether its breaking my routine or not going my way i will get upset.

Thank you all for being there and helping me and also giving me a good time even if we just talk and i come over and bother you!

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Remeber how to 'Reboot'?

2009-12-15T12:31:00.000-08:00

Oh hell yes, Reboot is back baby!

I have just finished downloading the series including a special of how it was created :D

If you don't know what reboot is i don't blame you. It's the first CGI animated series created (followed by Toy-story being the first CGI animated movie).
The story takes place inside a computer system that its inhabitants call 'Mainframe'. It's Good vs Evil as the main character, Bob, fights a virus called 'Megabyte', from taking over Mainframe.

During the series a warning of an 'Incoming game' where the user (person operating the computer ie you) is loading a game. Bob tries to bet to the game to defeat the user in order to save Mainframe as where-ever the game is played in Mainframe and the user wins, that part of Mainframe is destroyed (yet the computer still works).

It is better to watch rather than have me attempt to explain it.

After watching a few episodes i have finally convinced myself it is made in max/maya. And you can tell.

Hey, itsa Mario! And whatsa that douchebag dooina here?

2009-12-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Title is in my worst italian accent eva!

Last night i was around my boyfriends. He had a few friends round who brought a dvd round. Knowing the movies they watched were bogus and boring i decided to give it a go.

The movie was called: 'King of kong: A fistful of quarters'.

Strange but it shows how competitive a little game can be. Set out as a documentary, it follows a young man called Steve Wiebe who has a strong ambition to beat the top score on a Donkey kong jr arcade game. During the movie the biggest douchebag of a sore loser pops us with a sour look on his face if your not talking about him and him alone.

It was an experience watching it, and i urge you to do the same as well even if you haven't seen it. Just be aware that you will be in a debate at the end of it like we did last night.

The features are good as well, especially the 'Really, really short history of Donkey kong' it is literally short.

Movies and games will never be the same again.

2009-12-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

A lot of students are going to be now saying: 'Since taking game art i now appreciate and understand how much goes into special effects in movies and games'.

Well along them lines anyway.

Before coming to uni i only knew so little of what went into the special effects in movies and even how the movie was made. Dvds i had with special features? Never touched them. I refused to see how the movie was made and how they did the special effects because it would spoil this special feeling i had towards the movie. Since we watched the special features in Black hawk down last year, i find myself more intrigued to go through my entire dvd collection and watch the ones with special features. Now i know how the special effects are done, i can't watch a movie without yelling at the tv 'as if i have to be that good', 'that is insane', 'that's gotta take forever to do' and 'check out the textures'.

One movie was interesting because you would see most of the special effects since they hadn't been filled in yet. Unfortunately it was a pirate copy but it just showed you how much special effects went in a movie.

Games are completely different. Although i was and still am scared of playing them i now see them in a completely new light. EVERYTHING is pain-staking made. Learning from first hand i found how the characters, environment and odd objects are made. But there is more to it that making and colouring, theres lighting, cameras, rigging, animation, the list is endless. With every game i have played recently i have been looking at repeated textures, which are high and low poly characters and environments.

Some of that may of made sense but to summarise:

I have been looking at movies and games in more depth of how it's made, looking at special features on dvd's, and i don't play games anymore because I'm more interested in repeated textures.

Taylz of a diary I

2009-11-27T15:11:00.000-08:00

I thought that the idea of keeping a diary once in a while about how we use our time during the day was a genius idea. So heres my first page.

Friday 17th November 2009

I got up at 10:25 am. After an hour of trying to wake myself up i decided to do the worse thing i could do or my OCD and take out the rubbish. 5 bags worth. After the lift failed i had to drag the bags (all of them at once) down narrow corridors, 3 flights of stairs, 2 bags decided to split, rubbish flew everywhere but i just got on with it. After a nice shower i went to the SU for an errand and went to get lunch.

At 1:00pm i open 3Ds studio max 9 to do work, just opened my file and it froze. So restarted and reopened and did work for at least 3 and a half hours. I then had my tea and watched cartoons i had on my hard drive for 2 and a half hours before leaving for Poi society at 8:30pm at Bede park. Towards the end of my time at the poi society, me and my boyfriend walked for a bit to get warm and we ended up going to the bowstring bridge that was being taken down. That wasn't a pleasant sight to be honest. Then we followed the road around and walked down the canal where i decided to go back to my flat.

The end <3

Movie review IV

2009-11-25T04:17:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the second year selection :D

'Sexy beast'
Gave us a few laughs especially the motormouth, jeez was he good. Gave the word 'pee freely' a whole new meaning. Not sure what to think about it on a whole but it was interesting.

'Manhunter'
Possibly the only film i can't remember that the hell happens in it. But I'm guessing it was alright.

'Trespass'
This was a good movie. The main set at the warehouse was realllllllly good, everything happened there, complete with gangsters and a hobo. The set itself was highly detailed, almost how you would find a run down abandoned warehouse in real life. The fight to retrieve the treasure and to survive was intense.

'Identity'
Mike you have done it again. Just like the Mist, they were a lot of people talking afterwards, and even talk about getting it on DVD. My kind of movie with a psychopath, blood and gore. It was a good movie with a good storyline. The set was simple, the characters were brilliant and twists at every corner. It was that kind of movie where it was hard to follow until at the end when we find out that what we saw was a dream based on an actual event.

'Black Hawk down'
This seems familiar, have i seen this before? Because Mike was ill Chris took over. I was expecting a different movie but at the end of the day it was a unanimous vote since the first yrs haven't seen it and Chris wanted to show them the extras. Lol from what i saw all the 2nd yrs (and possible 3rd) got up and left.

Movie review III

2009-11-25T03:51:00.000-08:00

Lol, this one is soooooooo overdue. I hadn't realised i didn't finish the movie review for yr 1.

Right lest get started.

'United 93'
Just taking a step back with this one even though it was in my last review but i was seriously unwell to watch it. But i did go to the library and took it out which was a big mistake. Why? It was unpleasant to watch. It was the kind of movie that upsets you and makes you think why people would do such a terrible thing. The contents were executed really well. It was long winded at times but it was setting the mood that something horrible was going to happen. At the end where the plane takes a nose dive and the viewers felt as though they were in the cockpit at the time it happened was the scariest part i think. But it shows you what the world is capable of.

'Black Hawk down'
Not much of a war fan and i try to stay clear of them. BHD was different. Not only were the CGI done really well but the fact that the set, the people and effects were amazing. It was worth to watch the movie then to watch features at the end. On a whole it was a good movie, and it just made my DVD list and that's a bloody hard thing to achieve, I'm that picky.

'Saving private Ryan'
Again another movie i missed and had to take out. On a whole it wasn't too bad but that's 3 hours I'm not getting back. I don't know what to say about this movie apart from the settings were really good and the half hour long shooting at the beginning was good.

'Local hero'
Appeared on the news a couple of days ago for reasons i can't remember. Not overly exciting but it does show how a community works and strives to save their home. And the obsession of the sky and the aurora borealis.

And that is the end of First year movies.

On to year 2!!!

Audery Kawasaki

2009-11-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already heard her name you should.

I love her work, not only has it got a manga feel to it but it is also influenced by art nouveau. She workes a lot on wood panels which i find unusual but it give this brilliant effect.

In my last year of GSCE in fine art, a friend of mine did her project based on Kawasaki and her final pieces looked amazing. Unfortunatly i don't have pictures of her final pieces but they weren't far off Kawasakis work.

Heres are a few examples of Kawasakis work and her website

Love, peace, death and a loss of your innocence.

2009-11-21T04:06:00.000-08:00

I was watching this anime called 'Macademi Wasshoi' (Magicians academy) and there is one episode that makes your eyes burn, send shivers up your spine and guaranteed you will never look at angels or the french the same way again. Ok that was a little exaggerated but it's along them lines.

I recommend you watch it to the end past the credits. But i will warn you it is 30 mins long but it's worth it for a laugh. I seen it 5 times because its that good and even better in Japanese.

Just a little side note: The robot boy that appears at the beginning has a swans head on his head, that was from the previous episode.

Enjoy.

Macademi Wasshoi episode 5 - youtube

(P.s: This is a 3 parter, i couldnt get the whole episode up)

(C) to Hirumamo5 for uploading the video.

Of art and creation

2009-10-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

Since Mikes lecture on creativity and art, it made me wonder what makes art. Is it the old masters, portraits, landscapes or randomness in contemporary art? There is no right or wrong answer as i have learnt over the years since GCSE fine art. Art can be anything because everything is a thing of beauty to someone.

Personally i love the old masters. Theres nothing i like more than to be jealous of their work with beautiful painted figures, amazing quick brush strokes, awsome blending and intricate detail. That is something i would love to do but even i have limits, even the limits won't stop me from trying. I also believe that anyone can accomplish this if they tried. Heck way back when in China, painters would get kids who had little or no experience to paint the oriental designs we see today.

What we don't realise is that we improve more everyday. Your a better person than you were yesterday. Like on the advert (forget which one) it said 'do something everyday that scares you.' So my advice (as well as the industries) 'Draw something everyday'. Carry a sketch book with you so you can sketch something good you can see or if you have a good idea. And keep a camera handy you may never know where the next best thing is going to come from. I have said my piece so now i will leave you now and create magic wonders on a piece of paper.

I read a big peoples book!

2009-06-11T03:07:00.000-07:00

*sobs* Why...WHY?

Okay tantrum over. The other day i decided to hunt down 'Mortal engines'. 3 times i forgot the guys last name. But either way i bought the book. Last book i bought was Harry Potter 7, and i was there for the grand unveiling which was a nightmare and the book was crap. 1 day and 2 hours it took me to read it. But enough of that. But i am not a huge fan of reading, i hate reading unless the book i'm reading is a manga, me lykes pictures :D

To my surprise i wanted to read 'Mortal engines'. So curled up in bed and read the first page... God help me did i like it! One more chapter and i'm going to bed... Oh just one more it's only 3 pages. I had to force myself to go to bed at 1 in the morning. Next day i blitzed through it.

One of the BEST books i have ever read!

So much action. So many twist in the plots. It was such a page turner. And i am raring to create these amazing images that have been brewing in my mind.

For someone who hates reading i would recommend this book to anyone!

A wroking update.

2009-06-02T02:58:00.000-07:00

Jeez it feels forever since i last posted on here.

But i do have an excuse for 3 weeks of it. I had tonsillitis. It got that bad on the second week i dragged myself to the hospital. And during one of the worse days when i couldn't keep anything down so i starved for 2 days, i was told i had Glandular fever as well. So now i have to be wary of what i eat.

I can admit i haven't done any 3D work since Easter. Reason being my dad died the day before i went back home so i was having a great amount of difficulty taking it in. Then a few weeks after his funeral i now know he's gone and now i get very emotional. But i have done a bit of work. I have modelled something interesting from a dream i had. Just need to finish it off and texture. Anyone have tutorials on alpha channels? Because i need to know how to do alpha channels for a fence which is going to be a pain in the ass to hand draw... Still have to finish of a character and there's another project I'd like to do as well. On that note i have taken advice and i am hopefully improving on my anatomy, still needs a bit more work, but it's still early days.

Not long after Easter i had a dyslexia assessment and was told i have dyslexia and semantic pragmatic. Which explain why i found it very difficult in my second primary school, secondary school, college, and now in uni. I still fine it hard but i am going to get the help and I'm going to retrain over the summer so come second year Heather would be wondering if i ate the tutorials. The semantic pragmatic is to do with speech, so if i hadn't made any sense, that's why. It's hard fr me to make sense of words and to explain things, so the blogs are really hard for me to do because i don't understand what the question is asking and what i need to put in. If i knew i had a problem i would of confronted the tutors more. I just assumed it was because I'm lazy, but I'm lazy because I'm afraid of asking for help because i know i wont understand.

So i hope everyone had a great Easter and i hope you have a great summer, i know i will.

BRING ON HARD LABOUR!!!

24. The end of the first year.

2009-03-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well what can i say? Pretty every thing has been negative in the past year. But they have been some good things as well.

The good points are that i managed to get into uni and my firm choice at that. Moving to Leicester was a hard experience by leaving my mum behind but i was prepared for that since i lived in my bedroom at home anyway. Starting Game art was a whole new experience, never knew what i was letting myself into. So far the course has been amazing. I learnt so much in one year it's unbelievable. I made a lot of new friends, I've been to amazing places and I've had a great time. Everyone has been so good to me and putting up with me for a year. I wouldn't want to change anything so far in my life, and i would love to continue next year.

I think i should talk about a couple of bad things this year as well BUT!!! I have learnt from my mistakes and i wish to amend them! Firstly Game production. I have never used 3Ds max before, and it was quite a shock when i first started. Over the past few months i was thrown into using different modifiers which haven't worked well for me, one of which is the unwrap modifier. Everything has gone wrong every time i have used it. They are still a lot of things i need to sort out with models and stuff but i am going to get help with that when i go back home. Visual design, problems with light and shade, positioning and the basic knowledge of the human figure as well as buildings and objects. Critical studies, i have always had mega problems with answering questions, can't answer straight forward ones and can't answer essays, and i failed Psychology in college because i didn't understand what is being asked and what i should include in the answer.

Hopefully that is it. But you have to remember there are more positive than negatives. I love my course and over the summer i am going to be working hard to improve greatly in all areas. Second year is going to be harder and i am willing to take it up on whatever it throws at me!

22. GDC week.

2009-03-16T04:06:00.000-07:00

I really don't know much about these conferences. And i certainly never heard of this one. It's rather intriguing to know that there is a Games development conference in the world. Just a little disappointed it's in America, like everything else. The best anime conventions, holidays, theme parks and even a Harry Potter theme park which should be in the making when it should be in England! Every one of these are in America. Too expensive and probably worth it. Don't get me wrong if i had the money i would love to go to America and even go to one of these GDC's because looking at the website it looks really interesting.

Looking at whats lined up, I'd say they are pretty interesting, and the fact that really people from major companies will be there to give a talk about different issues. They are a lot of things i do need help with and i think it would be a great opportunity to go to these lectures and see what the professionals have to say.

In the visual arts section, 'Lighting with purpose' Would be a good one, because i am really bad at where the light source is and how to apply it to a model properly to give it more depth and 3dness to it.

In the Game design section, 'The cruise director of Azeroth: Directed gameplay within World of Warcraft', luckily for Mike i wouldn't be that interested. Looking at the lecture description, it looks confusing to me.

But other than that I'm happy to see what the GDC is all about and get myself there one year. I think it'll be a great experience and the things i could take away from it will be very valuable.

21. Where do you want to go, and how do you get there?

2009-03-06T06:57:00.000-08:00

Please don't ask me this, because you won't like the answer.

To be truthful i have been having a lot of problems trying to figure what i wanted to do in life. I have wanted to be an archaeologist, a Paleontologist, artist and then a writer. But i have never thought about being a game artist. Instead of doing what i love best i.e drawing i wanted a job that paid decent money that i can pay bills, food, housing and go on holidays as well as pay for my manga addiction and Japanese stuffs.

At the time, I only chose game art because i read on a website that it paid £35000 a year. I didn't know jack squat about Game art until it came to deciding what we wanted to do after college in year 12. This was a last minute decision. My friend was already in her 1st year of uni doing Game art in Teesside and she said it was really good. So that's what i took. I loved doing art so it was a good opportunity to carry it on through uni. i managed to get offers from all 5 chosen unis, Demontfort was the worst because my folders zip broke after receiving an offer from Mike and i had to take all my books home in a bag he gave me. But in a way i guess the bag was a lucky item since i got into Demontfort.

It wasn't until i started my lessons when i learnt what Game art was about in terms of how the course was set out and what we had to do in lessons (at that time i forgot the presentation at the interview). I started thinking if i had taken the right course because i was struggling like mad with 3Ds max. As the months went on my views started to change. At first i was dreading everything and i wasn't 'feeling' the artistic side to Game art until i settled down and got use to the work that was given and now i am really enjoying it. I'm improving and learning new things all the time. The only thing that's letting me down is the fact I'm not sleeping well, if i don't have a decent nights sleep then i will feel like the living dead and my concentration and eagerness to work goes down the can. I don't know why it's happening but i am out to prove my worth, it's just another barrier that i can't shift.

To where i want to be after my studies... Well that's another story. At the moment i don't know, i still have stuff to learn, things to sort out so ask me again in a years time. I just wanted to go to uni, it was my dream. In all i love uni and i especially love my course. And this is from a girl who despises computers and doesn't like playing games much. Other than that the skies the limit, i have time to think where I'd like to be in 3 years time and what i have to do to get there, in the mean time I'm going to work the best i can for when the time comes.

I wouldn't change my decision for the world.

20. Creativity part 2

2009-03-06T06:55:00.000-08:00

Since the last time i did research and wrote about my thoughts on creativity, i find out what it means to be creative.

Creativity is the journey of self discovery. To get there you need many components, something which i lack. You need: motivation, passion, enthusiasm and even inspiration. Some of the great masters had these but it didn't come naturally, not naturally enough anyway.

It's like learning to crawl before you walk, you start off with the basics. Learn to hold a pencil, learn how to make lines, learn how to colour in the lines and hey presto you have a basic picture of a flower. It may not be perfect but its a start. But what does all this mean? Well funnily enough, talent is something you gain from experience, patience and practice. No one is born with natural talent, it's like saying a 5 year old can perform complicated surgery just using a spork and a rubber band. That's just pants. To be the best you need to put the effort in and practice. Drawing everyday will help keep the mind focused and helps improve what you already know. But you also need to clock in the hours as well. 10,000 hours over 3 years. Impossible? I think not. Do the work that is set for you, do it and then do your own stuff, mini projects if you like. All of this are key elements in succeeding to become a great artist and showing everyone that it can be done if you put your mind to it.

So, get creating!!!

This is a continuation since i didn't know we were going back through what it's meant to be creative and learning the shocking truth about education and creativity in schools. So here we go again.

After watching the video in lecture i completely agree, creativity ceases to exist in the school curriculum. Now a days children arn't allowed to be creative because they are high expectations in the 3 top subjects that half of it we don't really need to learn. Maths, English and Science. When are we going to use trigonometry when stacking shelves? Where are we going to use the 3 allotropes of carbon in an office? We don't need these yet there there to catch us out and told it's more important than your own creativity. These are the things that hare holding us back. We only need the basics of what is taught from these subjects, not the complicated stuff that we won't find in our chosen careers.

But the biggest kick in the pants is that education seems to leave out Art and textiles. We need to be creative in order to make things work. Without creativity the same things are going to repeat and they won't be fresh ideas. Children need to be creative and be free to explore the world through their own creative ways, not stuck in a classroom and told to learn their timestables perfectly or they'll never get a job. That's not right. Children are children; they need to have fun, something a lot of us don't have any more since either we have jobs or far too serious. We need a balance between what we should learn and what we need to learn. Make Art more important, it's a great way to express thoughts and feelings. Isn't it true what they say? A picture says a thousand words? In this case a picture means your wasting your time if you don't buckle down and get that degree or apprenticeship and earning mega bucks in order to put food on the table and pay your bills.

As a wise man once said 'Follow your dreams now whilst you still have the chance, because once the time comes, you will never get another chance.'

I'm half way there. Because Game art has a little of everything i want to do. And more importantly it expanded my horizons and taught me a lot of things i never learnt in college and it opens many doors of opportunity.

(Again i have ranted rather than answering the question...)

19. Life Changing or Career Building?

2009-02-23T08:07:00.000-08:00

In order to be good at something you have to have a passion for it. Whether it be journalism, art, literature or even drama. If you have that passion you will rise above the rest.

In game art people do amazing things. When you pick up a modern game you can see how effective the art is and imagine the time and effort that went into making that one game that you spend 3 days completing. You begin to appreciate the artwork, modelling and the intelligence behind the challenges and gameplay. Because this is what it takes to be a game artist.

Nowadays you need these qualities to have a chance at the gaming world. Dedication and hard work will make you stand out more and increase your chances of employment. But before you can think about that you need to be educated and trained into the environment. Many of the game industry workers have been trained in traditional illustration, compute programming or design courses, skills needed in the industry.

In order to know what to look out for, visit the companies websites and have a look at their skill requirements. Then compare with the university syllabus, it could be worth looking into. But having the right qualifications doesn't mean you got the job, a potential employer will be looking for the skills.

Basically if you do the research then you know what you want out of life. Time and dedication are the key to success and the right skills will give you the winning chance of landing a job.

The movie reviews II

2009-02-16T02:16:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since i have discussed about the movies. Out of the four below i haven't been to see two of them. One i have seen many, many times before and the other i didn't want to risk being ill over everything and everyone. But once i have time i will watch it.

'War of the worlds'. Seen it many, many times. Although i am not a big fan of it, it is a good movie when i really think about it. The designs behind the tripods and the whole atmosphere if it is well rewarding.

'United 94' (me thinks). The one i hadn't seen. But i was told it was depressing.

'Collateral'. Really not my kind of movie. I didn't like it, it was boring, but the shoot outs were alright i have give them credit for that. The best part of the film was when Pitt threw an office chair through the window, jumped through and tripped over it. How stupid can you be.

'L.A. Confidential'. I like detective stuffs, but this was boring in some places. I don't like romance in movies except for horror movies because i know they'll die at some point. But other than that, some parts were verrrrrry interesting. Like the Nite owl killing, i likes how the people were dragged into the mens room and slaughtered. Jeez i sound like a psychopath.... But it beats romance any day.

The end.

18. Sound for games.

2009-02-12T06:45:00.000-08:00

Sound designers can provide incredibly detailed sound, so real it's like your in the characters shoes in the game. Not only the characters and background music come into play but also other everyday sounds like footsteps, wind and even echoes all make the experience that little more realistic. Doing something like closing your eyes and listening to the sounds in the game creates visions of what is happening in the game.

When the budget has to cut back, the audio is the first to go. The audio in games scale down a bit because of their large files. This is also due to their high quality. And just like all areas of the gaming industry, you need a music license.

For me i find it hard to pay attention to most music in games. They are some memorable ones, one of which is in Final fantasy VII at the end of a battle and also the 'Steel samurai' theme in Phoenix Wright. I will listen to the music when i am progressing through the game but when leveling up i do listen to my own music on iTunes. This is because the game music will annoy me to hell.

One of the best places to find in game music is at BeeMp3, Bearshare/limewire and there was Galbadia hotel but its unavailable. Also my friend gave me all sorts of websites but they are somewhere in my bedroom back at Middlesbrough.

17. Game engines

2009-02-04T03:19:00.000-08:00

The definition of a game engine is that its a programme code which controls the structure and mechanics of the game. Without it then theres no game.

Game engines can be reused again for sources of inspiration. An existing game engine can empower your own ideas and can be a great starting point. Not every game needs to be started from scratch, it can be developed by an already existing game engine. It's an unseen code that drives the visual action on screen. Obviously they are rules to different games how their characters behave. So using an existing game engine you can then replace the visual aspects and model data to create the new one which is different. Reusing existing game engines is also very financial, meaning companies save money rather than splashing out on a whole new game engine.

Creating a game engine from scratch takes a long time and very problematic for programmers to remove bugs in the code, and mentioned before, very pricey. It may seem simple but no matter how you look at it everything comes at a price. When using an existing game engine you have to pay for a license and the company your using the game engine from.

16. Gaming cultures.

2009-02-01T07:12:00.000-08:00

As far as games go, there's a hell of a lot that i don't like. And it's mainly Final fantasy, Gears of war, Halo and other shoot 'em ups and strategy games. I am apart of one gaming culture and i can probably say it's the only one I'm interested in, and that's 'Phoenix Wright/ Apollo Justice' and other detective games even though they maybe long winded like 'Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles' and 'Hotel Dusk: Room 215' .

It's mainly Phoenix Wright that i like playing because i have all the games so far and i am now eagerly awaiting for the next installments. One being about Phoenix's Childhood friend and enemy in the courtroom, Miles Edgeworth who is having a game to himself, 'Gakuten Kenji'. Not much of a title since it's still being produced in Japan and will come out in Europe in May. Then theres the next installment of Apollo Justice coming out later on afterwards.

Since these series only take about a few days to a week to complete, playing when and where i can it will pretty much take up all my free time that i don't even want to eat or sleep. Especially with the Phoenix wright games, they take me about a week to complete 4-5 cases depending on the game. And i ain't the brightest bulb in the box so i do have a hell of a lot of problems figuring out which evidence goes where and get penalized in the process for thinking of possibilities. But it is fun to shout out 'Objection', 'Take that' and 'Hold it' into the mic.

For more about Phoenix Wright and the other games in the series look at: Court-records. Best place to find info on anything as well as a load of other stuff you cant find anywhere else.

They are people who i do know through MSN but there mainly people who i have been friends with in secondary school, college and uni. But i really don't like talking on MSN unless it's important or i can't reach them during the day.

Best music video ever!

2009-01-24T04:08:00.000-08:00

This is A-Ha: Take on me.

I just love the animation and the way how the story unfolds in the comic book itself. I love the video, the drawings are nicely done and well i just like it, so to me this is the best music video ever.

Find it here: A-Ha: take on me.

It did jump twice but i think it's my laptop because it's always happening.

15. An introduction to the Game Industry

2009-01-22T05:50:00.000-08:00

The gaming industry has had a bit of a rollercoaster ride. In the 80's the industry crashed because of the production of too many badly made games, this was partially Nintendo. Nowadays the industry is doing okay. Companies, especially EA are taking in smaller companies to be one big company. Because of the economic downfall and many people are made redundant, smaller companies are merging with bigger companies and only recruiting people they need to do a project and made redundant afterwards because there not needed anymore.

Games are becoming more popular especially with Xbox360 and the Nintendo wii, but there is also a downfall. Piracy. Public enemy number one to the gaming industry. One of the new products on the market now is the new Nintendo DS 'M3DS real'. What it does is that you purchase a memory card to go into the back of the game card and download DS games off the Internet. Good news for us, mega bad to the gaming industry because there loosing money for every unsold game. It pushes the costs up to buy a game in the shop to replace the millions the company has put into making the game in the first place. BUT, there is a little hope for the Xbox360 games. Because with the Xbox live, Microsoft is able to scan for any chips that has been put in the Xbox and ban that person from ever purchasing or playing the Xbox again.

[Note: All the above was information from a lovely man from Gamestation. He also gave me 2 websites where he got all the info from: Gamestm and Edge.]

The movie reviews.

2009-01-15T05:47:00.000-08:00

Alas movie reviews! Now that we have watched a fair amount of movies i think it's about time i put my views across about them.

First 'The night of the hunter'. Brilliant movie in it's own way. Really not one of the best but it still has it's charm, and quirky storyline. I think it did really well, got a few laughs and the lighting techniques were really good.

'Carnival of souls'. Not as interesting. A bit of it was a little confusing but it was okay i guess. Funny part was right at the end when the car is pulled out and the lass in the middle moves her eyes. Never knew the dead were still active even after death.

'Dark city'. Defiantly worth a watch. Set in an alternative universe it was brilliant from start to finish. The lighting was brilliant, storyline was good and a few weird stuff happens.

'The city of lost children'. Completely french without a single beautiful person in sight which makes this movie more interesting. Storyline was good, a lot was going on with the background and lighting. Another brilliant movie.

'Brazil'. Now what was going on with this? It was so confusing in places and i found it difficult to follow because so much was going on. It was like Topsy turvy town. Didn't enjoy it much.

'Children of men'. Wanted to watch this for some time. Nice to see crazy people again. Storyline was again unusual, a world without children is like tele without the vision, its just a box. Turn out okay i guess. Staged really well.

'Donnie darko'. Finally i got to watch the infamous Donnie darko. An even stranger storyline but it was done really well. I loved the way how the movie was shot in actual sunlight and darkness than the green screen garb. The movie became more radiant and life like as though it had soul. Another brilliant movie.

'The mist'. Finey something i actually enjoyed! The storyline was strange and there was this abnormality to it especially when it's reveled that scientists blew a hole in the time space continuum or whatever. Other than that it was brill. Mind you one thing that i still can't get over is the fact the OTT crazy preacher woman... saved everyones lives... But still the way how she overreacted, i am glad she was shot.

Well that's it for now. Tune in next time when i go into detail of why i should care about jack-squat.

Can't wait to watch the next line up of movies!!!

12. Creativity.

2009-01-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

Jeez, this must of taken ages to cut out. Look at the other great food works.

Creativity is something that each and everyone of us have. It's the way we use it to create ideas and concepts to make something new. This comes about in many different ways from an idea popping into your head to being inspired by others work. Even though they are no set boundries for creativity, the world is your blank canvas and you can do what you like.

When it comes to creativity, what is it meant to look like? It can look like anything. You just need to get inspiration and passion. All aspects of playing a game is due to creativity. Characters, scenery and the minute detail that no one notices.

To me i think it is important to have creativity in a game because then it makes game play more interesting. If a game hasn't got much going on, no good character designs, and interesting scenery then it'll be boring. The more creative the better.

Games in genral i find that Koei make great characters. I love everything about the game but leveling up, pain in the ass to fight, pain in the ass to jump into dungeons that you can't get out of without paying or completing the many levels.

As an artist in my spare time i do look for things that inspire me. I would love to be even more creative and even more patiant. In the gaming industry i would want to explore different ways of creating, so basically concept art. But for this moment in time i would like to learn more of the basics of 3Ds max and Photoshop CS2, as well as exploring my ability to create the next best thing.

The little red book of nightmares

2009-01-10T12:25:00.001-08:00

I have a little red book that i use to write my dreams in, which i think are going to make a good story.

Now i'm not that great at writing stories but some of these ideas are really awsome. And i would LOVE to write a book about my dreams as short stories. A hell of a lot of planning needs to go into it and tidying up as well as making sense.

So [watch this space]

11. The elements of Game Design - Gameplay

2009-01-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

Game play is the involvement within the game. Basically it's how you go about playing the game with the character you got. They are different types of ways of going about game play like: Strategy, turn-based, simulation and MMORPG are pretty much the main ones.
Strategy is based on the outcome of the players decision. The character is control ed and therefore the player itself.
Turn-based is when you and the enemy take it in turns to attack.
Simulation is a real life situation. A lot of simulation games come from board games such as Monopoly and Risk. It's a combination of strategy and luck.
MMORPG is a lot like strategy except for one tinsy detail: you can play against other people from all over the world which makes games such as: (Sorry Mike) World of warcraft, Runescape and one-person shooters like Gears of war and Halo popular.

Game play is important in itself because that's the whole point of playing a game. Without game play then there's no point. In a way game play is like telling a story, even though there's a set story for the character and you have to do certain things in order to proceed there's always the players story to tell because their the ones making it happen based on their own decisions.

Me and games.

2008-12-30T07:39:00.000-08:00

I've never really liked playing on games because i was always afraid that i would lose. That's apart of life. You learn from your mistakes and make amends. But for me i am a perfectionist and it has to be done right the first time.

One of the first computer games i can remember playing is the Super Mario brothers on the Nintendo 64. I could only play on the first world on the first 2-3 levels because i was afraid that i was going to lose if i went further as the levels got harder. I feel ashamed about it. It's like in real life that I'm afraid of dying, I'm afraid of dying in games. Stupid i know.

As i got older i have been more involved with games. Although as reluctant as i am, i try to get games that are turn based. I managed to buy a few Final fantasy games and completed 2/4 strategy and 1 turn based. From Final fantasy VII to Final fantasy X-2 guess which was the easiest for me. I enjoyed the final fantasy games but strategy games are still a little hard for me. I'm such a wuss.

Since finding out that i was more into turn based, i have enjoyed playing some of the Koei games such as Disgaea, Makai kingdom and Phantom brave although they have been very long winded to level up, but the storyline is good and i love the art.

I don't play on games as much as i would like, either i can't find the time, too tired that i can't concentrate, have better things to do and think that games are just a waste of time.

First term at a glance

2008-12-26T04:48:00.000-08:00

Where to begin?

I guess it's back to the 20th of September, the move in weekend. It was the first time in my life i have moved so far away from my home town Middlesbrough, in fact its the first time i've moved. It was strange at first. but after unpacking half of my original bedroom in to my new one at Liberty park, i felt right at home.

Freashers week wasn't all that great but at least i had time to spend exploring the town and getting use to being away from home. I made a lot of new friends in that week as well, as well as joining two societies: Anime, and the rocksoc (short for rock society).

Then came the first of many weeks of uni life. I got to know people in my class, and saw the sheer size of the class. I'm not keen on being in a large class because i feel insecure. I got to know my tutors which was a little strange since i've never really been involved with my teachers in college.

Classes have been hard, especially with game production.. I have never used 3D max before and i'm still struggling to understand half of the commands and other stuff to prepare the objects for analysis. Since we didnt have the computers at the beginning we didnt have time to go through the tutorials again and i was doing projects that i had no idea how to go about, but i tried my best and even asked my friends how they did certain things and i am going to try them out. Visual design should be easy but the lack of B pencils got me into trouble. Critical studies is a great excuse to relax and watch movies, especially when i have an hour lecture on the morning, a three hour lunch, two hour lecture/ movie in the afternoon, two hour tea and me time, then out at 5:30pm to my two clubs and i dont get back till 11 or after midnight.

3 months later and i'm enjoying uni life, missing everyone at home and low on cash. I really need a job badly so i can eat and have a home for next year. I love Leicester, i like uni, i have loads of friends and i'm living my life like i've never done before.

10. The elements of game design: Story and character

2008-12-07T05:34:00.000-08:00

Characters that we come across in everyday life in books, TV, films and games, all ave a significant role just like we do. These characters whether main, sub or background characters all help to make a story come to life. The way how i see it, a strong character brings a strong story. But I'm very picky with what i want to watch and whether i would like it or not, mainly because of the story and the characters. For example: Harry Potter films and books; the books go on forever and start to become repetitive and nothing much happens, and in the films the acting is crap and the story is worse because they can't fit a whole book in 3 hours.

To make a good character, i think you need to give the character a good history, good profile, and a good character design, without these the story is going to fall to pieces. One thing i do find had when creating characters is that i can't design the character how i want them to be and also give them a history and profile to match. Most of my characters don't make sense.

When creating characters, if you have made a great script then you have a great story. And for a great story to happen you need great characters to go with it. Acting and appearance is important because they are what make the character come alive. Acting gives the character a personality and appearance makes us see if this person is the good guy or the bad guy. Without them or a lack of one or the other, then the characters will be lame.

I wouldn't say that I'd find something 'irresistible', that word doesn't exist in the world of TV, books and films simply because everything is pants and repeating the same idea but using different characters. I like to watch Harry hills TV burp because it makes me laugh and he takes the mick out of all the shows i hate. And although i don't find comedians funny, Harry hill is there for me on the Saturday nights for TV entertainment. Also Heroes is another show i like to watch, again not my cup of tea, but it has improved since season 1. Would love to watch season 3 because everyone keeps saying how epic it is but I'm not around on Wednesdays to watch it and I'm not staying up on Sunday nights because i like to sleep.

9. An introduction to game technology

2008-12-05T03:30:00.000-08:00

Having looked at a small glimpse of the gaming platforms from 1967-present, I have only ever played on a small fraction. In order I had: A Super NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) for a short time, the Amiga (can't remember which version), PlayStation, Gameboy color, PlayStation 2, and a Nintendo DS lite.

As far as platforms go, there's a lot that do the same thing in similar ways. The one that i find most interesting is the Amiga. Simply because it's a keyboard with the addition of a joystick and a mouse. The games came as floppy disks which didn't store much oh them but from the collection i had so very few were enjoyable. Mr. Nutz was probably my favourite because it was a squirrel. But thinking back now, Trollz was the best. Even though i couldn't play the games properly because i was scared I'd lose it was still most interesting platform i had.

The easiest one i found to use was the gameboy color, simply because you had a direction pad and two buttons. Even though the games were lame (i only had two, and borrowed a friends and still haven't given it back), the controls were easy enough.

The one that looks the nicest is the Nintendo DS lite. I chosen this one because its simple compact design. The lite design is so much better and less chunkier than the first version. The DS lite is lighter, has two screens in which the bottom screen you can interact with it with the stylus. You can play the Gameboy Advance games as well as DS ones, as well as certain games like Pokemon, and Harvest moon, they both have GBA and DS games so if you insert both games you can interact with them. EG Harvest moon DS allows you to interact with more villagers when you insert Harvest moon: More friends of Mineral town (GBA).

Looking back at the early consoles and todays consoles, i find that now we don't use joysticks anymore unless its necessary for the game like flight simulation. But game pads are used quite a lot and deemed necessary to play games. Except for the likes of Rockband/2 and Guitar hero/ world tour where the instruments act as the game pad.

8. Storytelling in games

2008-11-30T05:36:00.000-08:00

Looking at how popular some games are nowadays they are popular because of the great storyline, characters and amount of interaction within the game. I found that through the games i've played the storyline is most important because thats what draws a person into playing. If theres no great storyline then theres no great depth of interaction during game play.

The final fantasy games is one example. And one of the most popular final fantasy games is Final fantasy 7. Everywhere i look theres fanart, cosplays and people talking about Final fantasy 7. A couple of days ago i watched Final fantasy 7: Advent children and i can see why the movie alone was good. But the game itself is better because of the storyline as well as the game play that keeps us hooked til the very end. And because of the success with Final fantasy 7, theres a prequel called 'Final fantasy 7: Crisis core'. Although i havent played it, it is still as popular as the original.

As a player i would like to make the story happen rather than let it happen to me. If you can do that then the game will be more interesting because you dont know who its going to affect the end of the game. Like on Disgaea: hour of darkness, depending on what you do during gameplay will determain how the game will end. MMORPGs like World of warcraft are different, because there is no storyline, you just play how you want to although your doing quests and fighting monsters. My answer for the last question: "Is call of duty a war story?" is: I have no idea. I don't like games like that. So i am going to take a random guess and say that it is because of the title.

7. An introduction to Art directions for games.

2008-11-22T07:16:00.000-08:00

An art director is responsible for the appearance and interaction of the game, stretching technical and artistic capabilities. The art director works along side the creative director to define the artistic and stylistic goals for the game. Works with the Art manager to ensure that the artistic side is fully manageable and kept within the budget and schedule. And also the art director works along side the recruitment team to make them an exceptional team.

To me i think that Art direction is an important role, and having read more about being an art director, I have found that the art director gets involved with everything, knowing about the production technologies, aids in visual consistency and creation and maintenance capabilities, oversees production design, supervises art reviews and solves problems during the production and much, much more.

Art direction is similar to other productions like Film, because the way how they both are made from beginning to end are similar, except one requires computers and animation and the other requires a camera and settings. They go through a similar series of developments. Game development goes through: Pre-production, production, Milestones, Nearing completion, Testing, Completion, and Maintenance. More on this at: Wiki- Game development. Whereas film making goes through: Development, Pre-production, post-production, sales and distribution. More on this at: Wiki-film making

The qualities that i need to become an art director isn't impossible, but it is a little out of my reach. Firstly i need to get into the gaming industry and have 5 years experience, leadership experience, A BFA, and instant problem solving More listed at: An Art directors job. These listed are pretty much going to be hard for my to reach, not only do i have to be the best at what i do but i also need to be the best of the best to get a job in the gaming industry as it is competitive to get into.

6. Introduction to game design

2008-11-19T03:43:00.000-08:00

Game play is what the player interacts with and experiences during the game. It's basically what the player does whilst playing. Game play has developed from video games to the more traditional type of game forms.

Atari, Nintendo, EA games/Sports, on-line systems are all leading and popular companies in game design. Since computer games started they have been producing great games. Game design has evolved a lot since the beginning. The programmer was often designing game play, Atari often did this with many of their titles. Beforehand one person could create an entire game alone but since games became more complex to make and create there was now a new position of 'level designer'. Because of this more people were employed to create the vast design of a game.

Now they are many jobs that are there to create a level in a game. Level designers or map designers individually construct the game play. Not all games have the same design patterns. Some games may have a 2d base some may have 3d.

Whats important to me when i play games is that the game itself has to be interesting. Like World of warcraft, the maps are simple for me to follow, theres plenty to do in terms of quests and interaction with creatures and other players. I find that the design of the game and the game play itself to be most important, because without them the game is pretty much boring.

4/5.Writing about games

2008-11-12T03:12:00.000-08:00

When reviewers are writing an article in the gaming industry, and like many other companies like those producing magazines, have a limited time to write their article in. Reviewers watch demos of games that have been brought in by companies who want to sell their game, watch and review. Their wages are paid by the magazine company they work for.

I think that the ranking of the game at the end of a review shows an opinion of what that person thinks of the game. I think its encouraging and helps those who are thinking about putting the game have a better overview of how good the game play is.

I think that NGJ is a good thing. Like the Nintendo magazine it opens a new window in the world of gaming. It shows the latest games and which are the best ones to look out for. The reviews are encouraging as they go into a little depth of the game and tries to sell it to you. One of the best places to go for gaming reviews online are usually in forums. People can come together and share their views of the game and discuss what was good and what was bad about the game.

I feel that my writing could be that little bit better. I'm not entirely use to writing and reviewing games I am learning more as the weeks go by and i am hoping to be able to create a good review of my tasks.

3.A history of computer games Pt3

2008-10-22T03:56:00.000-07:00

Since the beginning of compter games, they have been a few faults. But since then the price of produing a game has gone up and the quality is much better making the gaming experience more enjoyable. In 2004 came a revolution when Halo 2 made a debut appearence and sold over 8 million copies. It hade better graphics, better game play, took over three years to complete and $40 million to create.

In the past few years, the cost of developing a high profile game risen due to the demand of the many consoles we have today. Some require better quality than others. In 1982 is was harder to fund the games because no one had $20 million in their pocket. Where as now companies have the money and the budgets begin to spiral. For one game 'Origin', wasn't able to raise enough money to fund the project and so the gaming company EA took them down.

Nowadays gaming companies are creating sequels to the best selling games such as Halo and Final fantasy VII. And they has been a large increase in the amount of ideas from movie, comics and tv shows which then are made into games and these are becoming increasingly popula.

~*~

What i expect from games in the future are more like add-ons and virtual reality. A few months ago i played on World of warcraft, a ten day trail, and i thought it was the next best thing. I understand that they have add-ons from that but i i would like to see new features, armor, dungoens, quests, increase in the limited levels etc, updated about once a month to make the players more interested in the game.

I am really interested in playing a virtual reality game. I have a manga called 'id_entity' and the story is about this virtual reality game called 'Lost saga'. The game has everything a person could need with updates every so oftern, tournaments, easter eggs and a great character personality because the characters are IN the game. This is the kind of game i would love to play, and although its a MMORPG you get to meet and really interact with other people as thopugh they were in front of you.

2.History of computer games P2

2008-10-16T04:32:00.000-07:00

Come the 1980's, gaming took to a whole new level. From the Cathode ray tube to an actual computer where people cam come together using a phone line to connect and play against each other in a multi-player system which then lead off to bigger games where more people could joining in, this was known as MMORPG (massively multi player online role-playing game).

Soon after, a company called Nintendo started making a handheld games console. These became really popular and encouraged other companies to follow.

Unfortunately in 1983 there was a crash in the video gaming industry as well as bankruptcy in companies in North America that supplied computers and video games. This was because of a poorly conceived games such as E.T and Pac-man. So many unsold games were buried in a landfill.

Come the 3rd generation, development in the handheld exploded again as the gaming companies made plug in consoles for the T.V. One of the first to be made was the Famicon, and 8-bit console from Nintendo. And one of the first game to be manufactured along side it was the popular super Mario bros. This then brought on the ever popular Final fantasy series that took the world by storm, and still remain popular today.

Since the beginning, games have changed and evolved like the consoles they are played in. Over the first two decades, games and consoles excelled at a fast pace and became a well known source of entertainment.

~*~

As my gaming years went on, i moved from the Nintendo 64 to the Amiga. I still wasn't as confident playing on the Amiga but later on in the years in my teens, i did go that one step further and challenged myself to try and get further on a game called 'Mr. Nutz'. I did just that and felt a great sense of an achievement.

I played games on and off during that time, then 10 years later i wasn't introduced to Final Fantasy VIII from a friend. Since then i began to collect a few other final fantasy games and other games that i thought i would be good at. Whilst some still remain unplayed and not completed i have had great enjoyment from the experience.

1.A history of computer games P1

2008-10-14T04:17:00.000-07:00

The first ever known game was created in 1947 by a couple of men called Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estel Ray Mann. They created a missile simulator which was inspired by a World war II radar and they did this on a Cathode ray tube. What the cathode ray tube did was to produce images that used the light emitted from the fluorescent screen. The image was represented in the form of an electrical waveform, television pictures and radar targets. Thomas was a vice president and was apart of the radio manufacturers association committee on cathode ray tubes and won an award for it too.
I find it fascinating that something like this was created so early before Bill Gates created the computer.

The first computer game can think of that i played was probably 'Super Mario brothers' on the Nintendo 64. I didn't enjoy it much because i was afraid of losing and it wasn't my kind of game play.
The most recent one I've played was Hotel Dusk: Room 215. It was my second time playing it since my 19Th birthday.
I don't know why i continued to play games because at the time i wasn't much of a gaming person. I was extremely picky with what i wanted to play and what i wanted to try. But later on i began to learn that there were different ways of game play. I soon discovered that i didn't like strategy games as much because although i liked the game play i didn't like it when it came to fighting monsters. Then there was turn based which i found a whole lot more easier and i had time to plan my strategy, but downside is that the games began to get boring after a while.