8. Storytelling in games

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.