Characters in video games are the people we are spending our time with for the duration of the game. For every good game, there is a good character. In this blog post I will discuss some amazing characters and what made them so great to begin with.

Let’s take a look at Mario. Mario is a plumber from the game Super Mario bros, who takes on Bowser and saves the princess, but you didn’t need me to tell you that. In recent years Mario has become almost as recognisable as McDonalds or Coca Cola, which for a video game character is very amazing. Mario is so popular that Japan considered using him as the face of the next Japan Olympics. But who really is Mario? Well it’s pretty sad to say that Mario actually only has a few lines of dialogue, and most of them are just expressionary sounds like “ow” or “wowowow.” We don’t need to see who Mario is as a person because his sole goal is to save the princess, and it also sometimes feels like that’s the only reason he’s here. While there isn’t much to know about Mario, he is still incredibly popular and well known. I think one reason Mario is so shallow is because he is such an old character, from the beginning of video games. When characters evolved from what were simple games, like playing tennis, it was a new concept. Mario and Link from the Legend of Zelda were very one-dimensional characters in what was a totally new genre at the time. Today, one of the important elements of a video game is the character’s personality and motivations. That is why today’s characters have more substance. 

The next character I would like to examine is the DragonBorn from the Elder Scrolls, Skyrim. The DragonBorn, or Dovahkiin, whose name is decided by the player, is a stoic hero who speaks with dragons. It’s pretty badass, but ultimately, who is he? While anyone who plays the Elder Scrolls knows that the dragon born speaks with dragons, they also decide for themselves who he’s going to be. For me, the dragonborn is a good guy whose only job is to make sure that Tamriel is safe, but if you asked some of my friends the same question they would probably say that he is more of an agent of chaos. This decision about how the character will act makes the DragonBorn perfect for every player because as a base character, you know you are all powerful, and you don’t have to make the hard choices if you don’t want to. Also, the fact that the character can be interpreted in different ways makes the game more interesting. 

While these two characters are widely recognizable, they are far from the only ones. Nintendo is the best at making characters that are recognizable everywhere because they are oriented for kids but parents watch their kids play and become familiar with these characters as well. They also market the characters with toys and other experiences.

The video game market has been ever expanding so that every player can play, and this can be shown in cheaper release costs of certain platforms, and the availability of online sales and purchases. But cost and access to platforms is only a few of the many ways video game companies opt to include everyone. In this blog I will be talking about the many ways that companies are trying to include everyone in the fun with games.

One major event in recent years is the Xbox adaptive controller. The Xbox adaptive controller is a fully customizable, DJ board sized game controller that allows the user to make it easier for a disabled player to play. Depending on the limitations a person may have on their ability to use traditional controllers, many can make the adaptive controller work for them. This could include people who only have the use of one hand or who have less strength or limited mobility, or even no hands at all.

Most people don’t need to use the adaptive controller because Xbox controllers have been made to suit a wide range of abilities and include some people who are disabled in some way.  There are many people who have a disability and they become incredible gamers using the traditional or adaptive controllers. 

In May of 2018, Xbox aired an advertisement for the controller that put out a message saying that video games are the way people bond, and that helping kids who are handicapped play games is crucial to their social development and feeling included in developmental activities. I think that what Xbox did is a massive breakthrough in getting everyone involved in the fun.

Another huge accessibility update that many people don’t talk about is the increased sensitivity of controllers. I was diagnosed with ADHD and a fine motor skill impediment, so playing games has been difficult because my reaction time is quite delayed. I find that in recent times, or at least since the Xbox1/PS4 release, I have been able to keep up with my friends’ skill levels in games because the controllers are more high-tech and sensitive to actions. This is also true for me when I game on the computer because I purposely purchased a keyboard that was more sensitive to touch, and I have actually noticed that my typing speed has gotten significantly better since I purchased it.

I think that at the rate we are going, soon it will be widely accessible for everyone to play games at a competitive level. I know that with the “primitive” gaming consoles, my performance was far lower due to my limitation, however since the newest generation of consoles came out, and the technology became much more responsive I have been able to keep up with my friends when we play competitively.  I can only imagine that the feeling I got when I first experienced playing a game more like it was intended can only be far greater in people who previously were not even able to play games.

The console wars started far before my time, and truly began almost as soon as video games hit the market. The Atari and the Sega Genesis came out around the same time and this principle also began the idea of console specific games. In this blog I will outline what makes certain consoles better than others, or at least why there is even a fight to be had in this regard.

First of all, I am biased. I own a Playstation and a PC. So disclaimer, not everyone is going to agree with me.

The Xbox 1 is one of the newest consoles on the market with its soon-to-be predecessor the Xbox series X. the Xbox has been held in great regard as a very good video game system that performs well. The Xbox also has many fan-favorite exclusives like Halo and Gears of War, which drive some of the fan base to purchase this over any other console. The Xbox 1 actually only plays games in 720p, compared to the Playstation which plays in 1080p, but the difference is almost nonexistent to the naked eye. This fact alone, even though being so trivial actually led many people to purchase the Playstation instead, because many people who play video games want it to look as good as possible. This is why many people buy gaming computers over consoles, because they can have more of the processing power in the hands of the consumer and are not limited to the limits of PS4 or Xbox. 

The PS4 is a worthy rival to the Xbox. While Playstation has many games that are exclusive to it, to me they do not compare to the Xbox exclusive games. This is okay because most major developers want to release the best games on both consoles so they can make more money. The Playstation 4 sold me personally because of their free game of the month and subscription to PS Now which allows users to play older games from their Playstation 4. This was very quickly replicated by Xbox. 

And finally we come to the PC. As a PC gamer I am almost obligated to say that PC is the best, and it really is. The selection of games on PC is far greater then Xbox or PS4 because many indie developers will release games only on PC. Not only that, but you can also customize a PC however you’d like and if you don’t have enough money for an Xbox or PS4, then a cheaper gaming computer actually may be a better deal. Plus the magical 3 words. No monthly fees. Xbox and Playstation both charge a whopping $50-60 a year to use their online services, whereas PC does not have this monthly payment because Steam is free to all users.

Overall, I would recommend that everyone get a console and a PC because consoles are easier to play with friends whereas PC has many more uses besides video games. But if you do not have enough money, I think a PC is the better deal.

RPG games are my favorite genre of games. Who doesn’t want to live a completely separate life from the one they do now and be a character that has badass abilities and talks to cool people?  In this blog post I will discuss some of my favorite RPG games and why they are my favorite.

First and foremost, I consider Elder Scrolls Skyrim to be my favorite RPG game. The game is about being a character who is the dragon born and has the ability to speak dragon, which comes off as powerful speaking magic to humans, known as thu’um. In this game you are able to do a wide range of quests and missions to make your character much better and stronger. But it is not the main story that makes Skyrim awesome, it is the amount of side quests that there are in the game. There is a whopping 500 hours of gameplay if you decide to take on every single quest, and that’s quite a lot considering many games that come out now are boasting about 40-50 hour gameplays. This game definitely made an impression on me when I first began playing RPG games. 

The next RPG I would like to discuss is Fallout. While Fallout is made by the same company as Skyrim, the gameplay elements have many key differences. For example, Skyrim focuses mostly on hand-to-hand combat or sharp weapons like axes and swords, but Fallout takes place far in the future and mostly features guns and explosives. This game is just as long, and feels like there is some tension in the world, which is exactly what I like in games. A sense of place in an RPG game is one of my favorite elements because it makes your actions significantly more important in the game.

Finally, on the topic of having a place in the world in RPG games, there is The Witcher. The Witcher is a game about a monster hunter for hire that experiences immense racism everywhere he goes for siding with the side that pays more. However Geralt of Rivia actually shows that he has his place in the world by solving many problems along his travels and killing bad monsters everywhere he goes. This game was also so beautiful that the player almost feels guilty using fast travel because they may miss out on the scenery around them. This game was one of the first games that i got so lost in that I forgot what day it was in the real world.

Overall, most RPG games are here to take you for a ride in someone else’s shoes and I’m excited to see what the next few years of RPG games hold. Considering the technology that is coming out soon with the PS5 and Xbox Series X is supposed to be much more powerful, I hope to see a lot more new concepts and ideas in the next generation of RPG games.

Diegesis is the principle of what is known to the character, whereas non-diegesis is when things are unknown to the character. These principles confused me at first, but recently I have been able to distinguish what is diegetic and what is not, so for this blog I will help clear up the confusion that I once had. 

Diegetic elements are things that are known to the character and the audience together. This can be something as simple as a sound or as complex as a secret that is unravelling before the character’s eyes. As long as it is clear to both us and the character it can be categorized as diagetic. Simple right? 

Well non-diegetic elements are elements that are only known to outside observers. An example of non diegetic elements would be narration or background music that isn’t available to the character. 

Let me give you an example.

Stanley walks down the street with his two friends. They are reading texts as they walk and laugh and things that are going on with their friend group. One friend decides to turn the song 

Funkytown on from his phone, everyone dances. 

These are all diegetic elements because we know that this is happening. But when you look into the situation there is a lot more going on behind the scenes. You may realize that Tammy, the girl sitting next to Stanley, has a crush on him, but neither of them have stated anything about this, however we know because of context clues. That would be considered a non-diegetic element, because we know that this is going on, but Stanley has no idea and Tammy has never stated this fact verbally. 

What makes non-diegetic elements harder to detect is sometimes they may even appear as diegetic elements. Though it is clear through all of Tammy’s body language and actions that she likes Stanley, because it is not common knowledge to the viewer or the people in the scene, it is considered non-diegetic. 

There are many examples of non-diegetics becoming diegetics, for example when a character breaks the 4th wall, it becomes unclear whether his actions are known to the characters, or if only we know the information that the character shared when they broke the 4th wall. 

The way that I have learned to distinguish between them is by viewing the characters reactions when something happens that is unclear if it is diegetic or not. This tip works for most things that aren’t background sounds, as sometimes background sounds are made in a way that compliments the scene and goes with the actions on scene, which can really be confusing to tell if everyone hears it.

I find that most cinematic elements tend to be diegetic, because it is more natural for the writers to tell stories where everyone knows what it happening and the story line can develop. But with video games, it is important that some elements are not known to some of the characters, especially when building quests. In general it is hard to show something on a screen that is next to characters but also unknown to all of them.

With the rise of online gaming becoming the new standard, every game has its leaderboards to see the age old question: who is the best? I, unfortunately, have never been on a leaderboard in my life, and during games I often come last on the team. So, fittingly, I will be discussing all of the problems associated with leaderboards.

Well, the first problem is obvious: when you’re at the top you’re at the top. This is bad because when you are at the top, people expect you to play like a top player and when you mess up, there are a lot more consequences. Many people who are at the top of a certain leaderboard are endorsed by e-sports or even just the game itself to play at a skilled level and be a shining example of what it is like to be the best at this game, but if you play one game at a less than perfect level, the impact of that game affects your overall stats and makes the companies that endorse you skeptical. The problem is the only place to go from the top is down. 

If you’re at the level where you’re getting endorsements, you are also expected to play within the community in a non-toxic way. In recent times, gamer Ninja, who is the number one fortnite player, has gotten in trouble for saying some truly awful things on a hot mic. I think it’s good that the role models for gamers and kids should not say toxic or disparaging things that may influence others to become trolls or be racist or sexist, but I could see that someone may not want to have to take on a different personality just because they are good at video games.  On the other hand, all sports personalities are also expected to behave well because that is part of what endorsements are for and they do not want to alienate any fans (or parents of fans).  And i guess he is getting plenty of money, so perhaps it is not so bad to be the best version of yourself and get rich too with your gaming talent. 

The second reason being the top of a leader board is bad is because, well, where’s the challenge after that? Imagine playing your favorite game, moving up the ranks, and then being the best? Part of the reason that games are fun is because there is a challenge, but watching e-sports players play video games is like watching a hot knife go through butter, you know it’s gonna perform.

But I guess what is always hard for someone like me is that I will never be at the top of a leaderboard. And so many others will always be at the bottom. Gaming is one of the most inclusive sports–anyone can play. And any time that they make it more exclusive I think it takes away from one of the best qualities of the game. 

I have been playing video games for quite some time now, and over the years I have noticed keen switches in gameplay experiences and different levels of immersion in video games. There have been many games that have sunk their teeth into me and kept me playing because they are just so dang good, but on the flip side there are games that I flat out couldn’t play for the life of me. In this blog post you can laugh at my failure of video games. Because I really am not the best gamer at all, even though I love everything about video games–the look of them, the immersion in a new world, talking about them with my friends, learning hacks, everything. But if only I was really skilled!!

When I first decided I wanted a challenging video game, I went to the clear first choice: Dark Souls. Dark souls is notorious for being an impossibly challenging game. The premise of Dark Souls is that when you die you lose everything, but when you die you also learn the patterns of the enemies so you come back more knowledgeable the next time. Well at least that’s how it works for other people! I don’t think I ever learned anything that I was able to use the next time around and I found the game way too challenging to be fun.  

 It’s tough to play a game where you are just plain bad at all the mechanics. I played Dark Souls for about 3 days before getting nowhere and giving up, as I feel many people like me do. I usually feel that if I play for 40 hours, I have given a game a full chance and I have kind of gotten my money’s worth out of the game. Some games just grab you well before that amount of time and you can’t stop playing for weeks. Other games just torture you and it’s a chore to get those 40 hours in. For me, Dark Souls was one of those for sure. 

The next game I would like to discuss is The Witcher 3, which has won game of the decade in recent months. I loved The Witcher 3’s story and scenery, but when it came to fighting bad guys I was totally lost. I would usually just spam buttons but you know that never really gets you anywhere. There is a process to getting good at these games, which because my hand-eye coordination is so bad I never mastered. Overall, the story of The Witcher 3 kept me going until the very end, even though death was never far behind me. I wonder if it was a movie instead of a video game if I would have been just as happy. 

When it comes to video game communities, there are a lot of people who will opt to be part of this community through participating in live chats, posting tutorials of gameplay, promoting the game, or even just as an active player. In this blog post I will analyze the various ways that people engage in communities in an effort to make the game more enjoyable for many different people.

The most major impact on gaming communities in recent times has been the advent of streaming. Streaming allows players to show other players what they’re doing in a game in real time, and third party apps allow people to comment in a live messenger on the same website. One app that is very popular is Discord, which is designed for gamers to share content while they do video and speak to each other. This was already popular before coronavirus ended up locking people in their homes because many gamers already liked to stay home and play video games all day and all night. What did not seem “social” to most of society is now the most social thing anyone can do.  And now everyone is on zoom, google meet, Teams and other apps that are very similar to Discord. 

It strikes me as kind of ironic that what used to be antisocial is kind of super social now. While my family members are not used to using something like Discord to communicate, my friends and I are very used to it and we have a community that we have created and built through Discord that is very handy during this difficult time. I feel like I am more likely to be communicating with my friends because of my experience using Discord and also that we have something to do together and talk about.  It is difficult to make conversation on some of these video chat sites but if you are doing something you always did, it feels more natural and normal.  

There are a lot of different communities in the gaming world but for people of my generation, we have grown up playing video games our entire life. It was very common for my friends and me to watch each other play a video game and that allowed a lot of kids to hang out together even if it was a single player game. There are more professional gaming communities as well, where people have a common appreciation of games or particular games. And of course there is always an opportunity to get on a game and meet someone new on online games.  That is a community that is always there, always awake, always online and it is a diverse, international community.  I have met some really interesting people and those that live really far away on some gaming sites and I think I have the benefit of being really comfortable with the technology of games and being able to take advantage of the various communities that are involved in gaming.

This week in Game Studies, we have been studying what it means to play a game. We used casual games to better understand this concept.  Casual gaming is a game where people don’t have to expend much time or energy into the game for it to progress, but it is just fun to play while playing it. Casual games usually have many overarching missions that are menial but make the game have more substance and add more things to do to keep players in a mind-numbing state of play as long as they can. Minecraft, which can be played casually, has personally hooked many hours of my time doing something ridiculous such as farming, making cows breed, digging straight down for hours, and just walking around. There is a little more personal satisfaction that can come from casual games as opposed to pure progression as in other types of games. There is more of a sense of self-satisfaction rather than game achievement, for example building a house in Minecraft makes the game easier, but building a nice house in Minecraft is for your own personal appeal.

We watched some gameplay of Stardew Valley, a casual game that involves building all the elements of a town and discussed what makes Stardew Valley a good example of how play can involve something that would constitute work in another context.  Laying down roads and making farms together would not be considered entertainment if it were being done in real life, but a lot of these types of games are popular and can really absorb someone when playing. Another example was Sims, which was just living in real life but had a very big moment of popularity. 

One thing I think is that maybe people are trying on something that they normally wouldn’t get to do. And that triggers a part of their brain that gets satisfied from the tasks.  The tasks are not that difficult that they need to think about them, but they are interesting because they are productive in some way.  

When I first came across this concept, I remembered something that Professor Cody told us, which is that almost anything can be made into a form of play. This is a very interesting concept because this means that theoretically we could make menial tasks into a form of play, which makes doing work that is undesirable a little bit more desirable and might make the experience of certain workers a little less tedious.I believe there are uses to this outside of the video game market, and can be utilized in the workforce among assembly line workers and people who work in jobs where the tasks might be repetitive and difficult.

In theory, if we applied games to more mainstream tasks, it could be easier for people to both learn and perform jobs. 

This week in Games, Gender and Culture, we spent the week focusing on our individual projects. This week I got familiar with the app called Tabletop Simulator on Steam. Eli, my partner for the project, and I  spent a few hours in Virtual Reality planning out our game in the Sandbox Simulator for Table Top games. When we first began, things were a little hard to understand, but after some work we figured out how to import our own games and create a game within a game. The idea of working in Virtual Reality has tantalized me for a long time and I have been dying to try and do something collaboratively in Virtual Reality. When I picked up the game, the first thing I did was play chess with someone else, just to get a feel for the controls. It was impressive. Within the game there are many preset boards which you can use to create your own game, and this can be done both on desktop and in VR. The first thing Eli and I discussed about our project was the way that we would present our game board, which we hoped to make multi-layered, and we had difficulty figuring this out in VR. In the coming weeks we hope to import our own game board model into the game with photoshop, and continue trying to work out how this game will look. 

But for now I will discuss my immersive experience. There were a variety of games to play in Tabletop Simulators, from Dungeons and Dragons to Chutes and Ladders, and when I went into the list of servers I also noticed that creating your own game was not uncommon amongst the community. Most people seemed to have private servers in which they would make games for the vast majority of people to play and try out, making this game a very portable asset for game design in the future, maybe if only for table top games and less for digitally intensive games.

According to Steam, there is a massive assortment of players who are creating content for Tabletop Simulator, which makes having assets easier to manage. This not only helps us keep track of our things better, but also makes the mess to deal with after playing the game much easier to handle. Last year in Game Design Eli and I worked on a project with many different assets that had many different categories, which made keeping everything in the right spot difficult to do, but in Tabletop Simulator this entire problem is solved with a 3D cut and paste mechanism that makes keeping the game organized a breeze.

This program ended up being one of the biggest blessings for me and Eli during this quarantine, as much of the back end of our logistics about the game were complete, but we had no place to collaborate and create. Having the time to figure this out helped us land on Tabletop Simulator to write our program in. I’m glad that we were able to find it because it will make it easier to do our project.