Ben's Gaming Blog

My Gaming Blog Showing My University Work and Review on Games and Events around the world!

Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts

My View on Game Addiction

Posted by Ben Hands On Wednesday, 26 January 2011 0 comments

Social Impact and Significance of Video Games – Why Have video games become so addictive and how do they lead to violence?

It is estimated that about half of the United Kingdom’s homes have a least 1 or more consoles in their presence. Nearly 40% of the UK population are currently active gamers and half of that percentage can play for up 10 hours per day, the first area where video game addiction becomes apparent.

Video game addiction is known as a compulsory event that interferes with day to day life causing problems with family relationships and social contact.
The Seventh generation of video game consoles is one of the main eras of gaming addiction due to their popularity and added internet services. In my opinion, The Wii (which is currently the best selling console of the generation) is more a family console due to its simplicity and age range of games. As an example the Wii Series (Sports, Play and Fit) have PEGI 3 Age Ratings. The Xbox 360 is popular for its multiplayer features and ability to create and share games for the community to play. The Playstation 3 is more complex with its graphics and also online play with is free to use whereas the Xbox 360 is around £30-£40 a year to subscribe to Xbox Live.
From My Perspective, I have been playing video games for at least 15 years starting with the Sega Mega Drive until I got the Playstation 1 and 2 which is where my enjoyment for video games began. The Playstation 3 inspired me to pursue a career in video games design; it is also when I got addicted to 1 game which is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare which was my first main experience of online multiplayer. Since joining University, my gaming is taken mainly from an academic aspect; mainly inspiration for ideas but also for gameplay and design.

Playing Video games can have the same symptoms as smoking and drugs or others that effect behaviour of Gamers. Players are more interested in activities within games rather than activities in the real world. As mentioned in the Introduction, players can play for up to 10-20 hours a day causing many disruptions to personal hygiene (failing to have a Bath or Shower), nutrition (failing to follow a daily eating routine), weight (gaining or losing), sleeping patterns (lack of sleep, inconvenient timing) and finally causing sufficient damage to health (which will be covered later on). Gaming is also known to be a cure for stress. Players use gaming to come away from day to day life by accessing a virtual world of their choosing.
Online Games have had massive concerns with the press and there have been many documentaries about this problem. The most recent was shown on Britain’s longest running documentary series ‘Panorama’ where they discussed about Addiction to Gaming around the world as well the UK.

One mother described World of Warcraft and gaming in general as a ‘Dangerous Tool’ after her son caused a violent outburst when she cut off the internet connection. One section of the Documentary mentioned about Blizzard Entertainment who are best known for creating the popular MMO World of Warcraft who gave out a statement on the show saying:
"Our games are designed to be fun… but like all forms of entertainment… day-to-day life should always take precedence. World of Warcraft contains practical tools that assist players and parents in monitoring playing time.

Many of the popular television shows have parodied gaming addiction using their own made up games, the likes of South Park and The Simpsons. As an Example, in one episode of South Park “Make Love, Not Warcraft” it makes lots of references to World of Warcraft and Gaming Addiction.

Some Governments has taken game addiction seriously especially in China where nearly 20 million people currently play online computer games in which they added a restriction to how much can be played online which is set to a maximum of 3 hours after which the player would then be disconnected from the game and would be unable to play online for 24 hours but players have managed to bypass this system so they introduced a new system where after 3 hours players only get half of the experience and after 5 hours players get no experience. In the US, Deborah Taylor Tate, who is one of five Federal Communications Commissioners, previously stated:

“With the explosion of educational resources available online, one might
think parents would be 100% pleased with the internet’s role in their children’s
lives.  But surveys show just the opposite: a late 2006 survey that showed 59% of parents think the internet has been a totally positive influence in their
children’s lives-- down from 67% in 2004.  You might find it alarming that one
of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction— such as World of Warcraft—which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide.” VII
Game Addiction has lead to unexpected deaths in the USA and China. Some examples include a murder in Shanghai with a Dragon Saber Sword from Legend of Mir, a Cardiac arrest in South Korea where a player played continuously for 50 hours and epileptic seizures caused a boy to die after playing a Nintendo 64 for 8 Hours a Day, 6 day a week. One story that I found disturbing was a teenager from Ohio who shot both his parents after taking away his copy of Halo 3. He was charged with aggravated murder on his mother even though he had no idea that his mother would be dead forever whereas the players in the game can respawn.

Over 1000 games were released in 2009 and this has been the same with 2010. Experts are predicting the same outcome in 2011. Some notable games include Killzone 3 and Duke Nukem Forever. This section will explore the computer games which have a big effect on addiction explaining why and how they have become addictive for many hardcore gamers.
World of Warcraft is the biggest and most popular MMO on the Planet. Created by Blizzard Entertainment, this video game has been taking over internet gaming by storm with currently 12 million subscribers especially since they released the latest expansion pack on 7th December.


Players can develop their character to learn new talents and skills by battling and taking on quests. World of Warcraft is known for its highest addiction rating with the average hardcore gamer playing for a very long period of time which can cause major health problems and irritation of the nerves and reflex of the eyes. Japan is known for many free to access Online Gaming Cafes where players can play many of the current MMO’s on the market which has given a lot of concern with the government as the Chinese government are with their experience system in place.

So, the question is why is it so addicitive? In my Opinion, ranking is main reason; players keep coming back for more, levelling up their characters to obtain new features which take time and practice to obtain. Mining is also is one element that makes up for my question. Players can mine for gold and can use their own in-game bank to buy and sell items.
World of Warcraft has caused violent scenes to occur for many reasons such as a player account been hacked, cancellation of an account, losing all data, gold, characters created and an internet connection cut off. Many Videos on Youtube have been uploaded of reactions not just of World of Warcraft but many other online games. The most popular has been seen by 38 million people and hit the media since its popularity.

Call of Duty and Halo are the two main first person shooters competitors on the market but the Call of Duty Series is further ahead with 55 million copies sold worldwide with Halo at 34 million although both Halo’s 2 and 3 are the biggest selling games for Xbox and Xbox 360. The most recent games from each series: Black Ops and Reach, went Head to Head with Black Ops selling 7 Millions Copies on its day of release whereas Halo Reach sold only 3 Million. Both of these games have been given criticism especially one level in Modern Warfare 2 called ‘No Russian’ where you are part of terrorist cult killing civilians in Moscow International Airport. This was either removed (Mainly in Russia) or modified. What makes these games addictive is mainly its multiplayer features in each game where player battle against each other in teams or individually to rank up to a specific level. Players can also customised weapons and abilities to help them progress in this mode.

It all became popular with the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare when this system was introduced. So how did these games become addictive to some players? Unlockables are the main aspects; as players level up, they obtain new features within the game but some items can only be obtained after a huge amount of gaming time. These games have also lead to many divorces, break-ups (mainly by women) and broken relationships with family and friends. It is also listed that these series of games is listed as one of the top 10 reasons for a college or University drop out.

There are many other areas of gaming which make games addictive. One of the newer aspects which were introduced with the Xbox 360 is the achievement system. My simplest explanation for this system is ‘A task that has no immediate feedback’ which means something that has no purpose and does not lead specific goals. Achievements are challenges that must be met in order to unlock them. Xbox uses a Gamer Score whereas Playstation uses a trophy system with the same concept but includes a platinum trophy for players that have completed the other trophies within a game. Achievements have good and bad aspects about them which make part of how games become addictive. The Good points are firstly, they reward players for effort on completing a task which make them come back for more, they can also have a social bond with the community, and it creates a lot of replay value for players with the number of multiple modes to play.

One player claimed that they were addicted to video games when the trophy system was introduced:
‘I myself have been a victim of MMO addiction which I finally cured by becoming a console gamer. The addiction nearly retook me over when trophies were introduced. To understand MMO addiction you really have to partake in playing them at a competitive level - I was very high on leaderboards for 2 games, 1 of which I was the highest level of my class on the server I was on and the last one I played I maxed out the character level and got banned from the official game forum for obsessively complaining about the game and lack of updates. So I for one understand this MMO addiction and wouldn't wish it on anyone.’

This leads to the reasons why the achievement system is a bad idea and why it has lead to addiction. It can become very obsessive to complete and collect each achievement and make players have a false sense of accomplishment for the achievement. It can also break immersion with games and other media and can be also frivolous.

As mentioned in the introduction, Addiction has lead to violence on very different levels and has had the potential to influence certain groups to conduct acts seen within games. Laws are lacking to make sure age ratings are taken seriously but kids between the ages of 9-16 are playing games illegally like Grand Theft Auto where the acts within the game are things that children cannot take in and process properly. Mainly non-gamers are people who argue that video games encourage violence in real lives saying video games increase aggressive cognitions, emotions and behaviours.

Many Websites include advice for parents on how to make sure that children are safe whilst playing video games. Many Websites give advice such as: Checking the content of the game before showing it to their children (like you do with films), gaming with friends or family, having a set limit of game time, ban them from gaming if necessary until appropriate. UKIE (United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment) states areas of health and safety about playing video games, shows age ratings and gives ‘Play Safe’ gaming tips.


UKIE, most recently, quoted on the Panorama documentary stating how serious they take health and safely with gaming:
"UKIE is aware of some individuals that play games excessively but often the causes of many of the sad cases that we hear about are down to other underlying medical, social or environmental issues concerning the individuals concerned. UKIE and the wider video games and interactive entertainment industry takes the health and wellbeing of consumers very seriously and promotes balance and moderation as part of its safe and sensible gaming message. This includes recommending gamers take regular breaks of at least five minutes every 45-60 minutes as a rule of thumb.”

In conclusion, there is no official cure for game addiction. It is up to the player themselves to stop their game addiction by doing other various activities instead of using up their spare time to play video games. But for some gamers this can be hard to do like trying to quit smoking. Many players can realise playing games could have severe consequences to education and work causing gamers to have no money to live on with losing jobs due to excessive gameplay. In my opinion, been a casual gamer has less strain than a hardcore gamer so player can find it easier to enjoy gaming to the full.

Posted by Ben Hands on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 0 comments
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Final Fantasy XIII Review

Posted by Ben Hands On Friday, 20 August 2010 0 comments

Review of Final Fantasy XIII

Introduction

The Final Fantasy Franchise has been a dominant force in the gaming world since the official first release in the late 1980’s and since then; the world of Final Fantasy has expanded widely from 2D basic 8-bit assets to polygenic 3D designs for next generation consoles including Playstation and Xbox. Square Soft’s success kicked off from the ground with the launch of Final Fantasy VII, selling 330,000 on its debut. Also, Final Fantasy X sold more than a million copies on preorder on the game’s debut and is known to be one of the greatest games ever created. But with Final Fantasy XII failing to get to the top of the ladder with its predecessors, it meant Square Enix needed to create another big Final Fantasy Game. After a 3 and Half Year wait since the first trailer was revealed, Final Fantasy XIII has finally hit shelves in the UK and US. But has it been worth the wait?

History

Square’s first Final Fantasy was released in 1987 and was made for the NES. It was hard for Square to get Final Fantasy off the ground as there were a few competitors with Sega’s Phantasy Star and the Dragon Quest Series. Square decided to make a sequel before shipping the game outside of Japan. The second game was virtually the same as its predecessor but with better graphics and designs. This continues in the series up until then sixth game in the series where the gameplay was mostly the same for each game. This changed dramatically when the first 3D game was released for the Playstation in 1997. This was when sales skyrocketed in Japan and around the World. This also happened with VIII and IX until the release of Final Fantasy X which used better graphics and breath taking FMV’s that caught hearts of gamers all around the world. Then, in 2003, Square merged with the Dragon Quest company Enix to form Square Enix. This came with the release of Square Enix’s first Final Fantasy MMO which is still competing with many of the MMO’s created by other companies (mainly World of Warcraft). Next was Final Fantasy XII which also received good critical feedback but did lack in story and gameplay since the battle system was more original than the other Systems used in its predecessors. Square Enix has finally upgraded its series to the latest generation consoles with Final Fantasy XIII which has so far sold 3 million copies as of Feburary 2010.

Story

The Story can become confusing until you play through the game long enough in order to know what is happening. The Game is set on the floating island of cocoon high above the world of pulse where mechanical creatures known as fal'Cie watch over cocoon choosing ordinary people to become L’Cie where they are assigned a focus of which they must complete or a irreversible doom awaits them.
The Main Characters Lightning and Snow are trying to fight the forces of cocoon to help a young girl named Serah who as been marked as L’cie. After an unforeseen turn of events, this leave Lightning and her crew all marked as L’Cie. To make matters worse each character has the same focus to complete which is to save cocoon and being down cocoons creator Oprhan whilst trying to fight in battle to decide the fate of cocoon future.
The game is split into 13 chapters (hence the title) which also includes cutscenes from the characters past leading up to the main story. Final Fantasy XIII’s language can become confusing at first until you played through the first few chapters but it can become to hard understand the difference between L’cie and fal’cie without researching each term although the game’s Datalog works as an encyclopaedia for Final Fantasy XIII. This won’t interfere with the way the game is played due the beautiful landscape of cocoon itself.

Gameplay

Final Fantasy XIII’s Characters are summed up into two stats, Strength and Magic, this does make this the most basic statistical Final Fantasy Game so far but this does not put people off with how the game works.
Players can pick what battles they want to fight as the enemies appear on screen meaning the ATB System (Active Time Battle) has made a return but of course some fights cannot be skipped e.g. boss fights.
The Combat also takes place in the way that Final Fantasy X and X-2 did in separate battle areas. The Combat System in Final Fantasy XIII at the beginning of the story is very slow and takes a very gradual climb to pick up occurring until later the story.
Each new element is unlocked in tiny bits and takes a long time before you can have access to all the features that Final Fantasy XIII has to offer. The Unlocking Feature did work with other Final Fantasy games but it fails to get this unlocking system off the ground.

The Battle Commands are cued up to be executed in one go, with the default command been Auto-Battle which does a good job of picking out the right attacks for the current situation. Also the party leader can only be commanded in battle and members in battle are AI controlled.
The Game’s Battle system uses a Mechanic known as the Paradigm Shift which allows the character to change the way they attack or defend in battle allowing them to execute new commands in battle which can be swapped anytime in battle. This does help with making sure you use the right jobs for offensive and defensive battling.
The Eidolons can be called into battle by only the party leader which replaces the party members until the Eidolons hit points are empty. They are only really to be called in dangerous situations as they are very costly to use but the design for each summon has been well thought though to make them look as cool as possible.
If the party in successful in battle, they will awarded with a rating and also will gain crystal points to spend at the games Crystarium which is a lot like the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X allowing upgrades for stats. The main Difference though is that there are separate grids for each characters role and the Crystarium expands bigger and becomes more advanced during the adventure allowing for more upgrades to the characters. There is also no penalty for losing in battle as you will respawn at the same enemy that you were defeated by which makes the game less frustrating for people who don’t save the game now and again 

Design

Final Fantasy XIII has a very basic linear path that players go through meaning you are given a set direction to proceed through with few other paths to fight battles or find hidden items (normally guarded by enemies). The Game Really becomes open when the bigger landscapes become available to you to allow the players to explore the vast and wide open world of cocoon where you are able to take on side quests to take a break from the main story. This is always the best place to obtain better equipment and max out stats for harder battles within the game
The Game also feels very enclosed due to the fact there are no towns or villages to explore or interact with. This has been merged in with the save points, this allows the players to shop for items and also upgrade weapons later on in the game. Each shop has various items for each main area of equipment and items.
Equipment upgrades make a return but is used in a much different to what Final Fantasy X did with its upgrade system. You will need components collected from enemies or treasure chests to level up your weapons. Components can also be purchased from the shops at the save points. There are no specific details with each component as they only give basic experience points for a weapon. Overall, it lacks the intelligence of other upgrade systems on other Final Fantasy games
In conclusion to how the game has been designed, Final Fantasy XIII’s layout and structure has been trimmed down removing unnecessary aspects from the story and gameplay which would have been given to OK if included with the game. Final Fantasy XIII will keep you focus on the main objective and little else so for some gamers, the basic linear path of the game may put people off.

Presentation

Square Enix has not disappointed with the visuals of the characters and the games world. They look incredible and some of the main game cutscenes are very extreme aswell as there is so much going on in one cutscene. One thing is the cheap looking hair on some characters and also some of the textures look a bit flat but other than that, the game itself gives off a strong impression. The characters faces can keep you lock onto them throughout the whole game as they never lose their appearances or graphical look during exploration of the game. The effect is also good enough to drown out the cheesy Japanese cliché dialogue. The Environment and the world of cocoon are full of detail with a lot of different variety to view during the 40+ hour campaign. The Monster Designs are also very detailed and very imaginative but with only a few downer to some enemies. The Soundtrack is magnificent and it really adds to the feel of the games story. The Main Battle theme will not lose grasp on you hours into the campaign. For some people, The Main English Theme Leona Lewis’ ‘My Hands’ is a perfect fit for the game but to others, it dreads the way the game has been presented. In my opinion, it would have been better to include the Japanese theme song in the game as well as the English version for the game.

Conclusion

It may become a little confusing at first that you can only control one character in battle but once you get the hang of it and unlock all the features and master the techniques. It is definitely a game that is money well spent. 

Posted by Ben Hands on Friday, August 20, 2010 0 comments
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