interface tweak vol. 1

Ok, so, I a slight modification to the right-hand menu. I know that new entries are not quite as visible as they were before (as links), but this is closer to what I originally meant...linking to the main pages instead of archive pages. I suck at Movable Type, I know.

hot weather, hotter games

Every once in a while my freelance writing for Pelaaja magazine gets me nice stuff. I' m going to review Dark Chronicle (known also as Dark Cloud 2), a cel-shaded Japanese RPG, so I'll have to spend some serious time playing it the following couple of weeks. I also got Amplitude, which I just raved about yesterday. Cool :)

And, I'm definitely having a Christmas in the middle of all this summer heat, as I expect my copies of F-Zero GX and Viewtiful Joe to arrive today in the post. Expect research'y impressions in a few days!

Revision bites

As always, you find that you have to revise previously written stuff as you go along. Now, writing about mechanics, I realise that the rule paper needs a couple of revisions: one game element should be added (the interface) and, what is more significant, many things discussed under elements - especially procedures - are actually mechanics, I realise now.

Well, there will be a day when all things add up nicely...or at least add up, by force. Some say it's called a deadline.

Boards, monsters and beats

Been playing board games, the Buffy one, and finally we managed to play the acclaimed Puerto Rico. The game has gathered dust on a shelf as we were in need of a third player...who was resilient enough to learn the rules with us. Thanks are due to Heidi :)

It was pretty late and I was tired so I really can't give it a fair judgment, but whether it's on computer or a board, I find these 'colonise and trade in a pseudo-exotic pseudo-historic pseudo-Middle-American setting' themed games boring. Pirate stuff or a space colony would be a completely different thing ;) Still, in the end PR was quite easy to play and seemed quite complex underneath. We'll give it more tries.

Then, more Silent Hill 3. It continues to impress with its mood. The sound effects are awesome. Scary stuff that keeps you going back.

Oh, and I managed to snatch a demo disk of Amplitude from the Koneisto electronic music festival. I'm a big fan of Frequency, so it's no surprise that this sequel has got me salivating. And it totally rocks, just like Don Johnson Big Band's cover of 2Pac's 'California Love' on Saturday :D

Slaying on a board

We've been playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer board game (by Hasbro) the last couple of nights. It's pretty good with cool props and the series' flavour nicely intact.

I'm planning to use the game as a case study about the relationship of game theme and game mechanics. Basically I'm interested in how a board game requires certain kinds of mechanics, and how they compare to the ones in a video game that has the same particular theme (in this case, the Buffy games, especially the upcoming Chaos Bleeds with multiplayer modes). That would be included in my thesis chapter on themes and genres, which I'm hoping to write around September...

my mobile lapse

It's funny that it hadn't occurred to me until just now that I haven't posted an entry about some games I've been playing on my phone during the last week. I was writing this article for Pelaaja, a Finnish gaming magazine, on mobile games...but the point is that, even though especially one of the games was quite good (Yo-Yo Fighter by a Finnish company Sumea), I guess subconsciously I did not regard them worth an entry, as I did not consider them 'real' games. Funny, that.

Mechanics 1-2-3

I'm in the process of listing different game mechanics, and it occurred to me that maybe I should start an expanding list on the site...and for these kinds of entries I really should find time to implement that commentary functionality :P

Say No to boss fights

No games at the weekend until Sunday. Then, plenty of WE6FE (I'll let it rest now until WE7 arrives), some EyeToy stuff (Wishi Washi was quite fun, especially for those watching...) and finally, after too long a pause, more Silent Hill 3.

The atmosphere of SH3 is really something. It's a pity, then, that the boss fight I got into was more frustrating than anything else. In terms of challenge structure, I can understand boss fights, but as a player I do not enjoy them. Largely because I'm not good at them - they seriously disrupt my sense of immersion into the game-world. Boss fights are pretty much the only thing I dislike in the latest Zelda and Metroid Prime. Especially in the latter, because I think they break the mood of atmospheric exploration and switch into anxious, sequential repetition. Pretty much the same with Silent Hill.

All mentioned titles are contemporary Japanese games, mind you. Makes one - even a fan like myself - think about the supposed innovativeness of Japanese game design. Then again, for some, boss fights are the culmination of gaming pleasure. Still, they kill me in the marvellous Rez, too :(

mechanic, mechanics, mechanism...

First draft of the next chapter, 'Game Mechanics and Dynamics', is about 60% complete. I've reviewed existing (few) definitions of mechanics and dynamics, introduced my own definition, sort of reverse engineered some well-known mechanics...and working on an analysis method and categories for different mechanics.

I'm pretty pleased with how its going. As a non-native English speaker my biggest headache has been with the terminology and its proper grammatic usage...'mechanics', 'mechanism', 'mechanic' ?? :/

Anyway, the chapter should be up here at the site in about a month or so.

I, toy

EyeToy arrived yesterday and we tested it briefly. It was definitely easy to get into and good fun :) But it's pretty hot over here right now, so we were sweating like mad after just a couple of rounds! A late evening round of Carcassonne was soothing.

Countryside Carcassonne

A weekend away at the Finnish countryside without even a GBA. But, not without games :) We played a couple of rounds of Carcassonne, a fine German board game. It is based on laying tiles and occupying them. Once again, playing a board game was useful for my chapter in progress about game mechanics. I guess board game mechanics are often more rigid yet more accessible as they are less ambigious than the interface-riddled ones of most digital games.

Then there was a document on tv about 'hikikomori', the Japanese illness where young people, due to different societal pressures, lock themselves into their rooms and stay there for years. Most of these young men play videogames, extensively. One relatively healthy guy who was interviewed was shown playing Winning Eleven... :O

It was kinda eery. But hey, at least the guy had good taste when it comes to games!

Content crisis

I did not think that I could write 30 pages on rules. Now I see that I can easily do the same with mechanics, dynamics and genres. This means that I have to revise my table of contens dramatically.

I already did that - away with the multiplayer'y and mobile thingies. I'm also thinking of changing the chapter on audiovisuality into 'game rhetorics'...which would mean that I'd have to learn what rhetorics really is.

*sigh*... I guess I'll update the TOC on the site in a couple of days anyway.

Anatomy of Games

Aubrey Hesselgren has posted an article titled "The Anatomy of Games" at Antifactory.org. Aubrey discusses game states, player's interpretations of them, and interaction patterns and feedback loops in multiplayer situations (among other things). It's a highly worthwhile read!

Games are their rules

"Making and Breaking Games: a Typology of Rules", the chapter I've been working on is now available as a PDF document. My theoretical take on what rules are - no more, no less. A trimmed down version will be presented at Level Up later this year. Comments are welcome!

Mechanics, Dynamics, Genres await.

le premiere PDF

All right, as promised, here's my rule typology paper up for grabs. Check Chapter in Progress for more on the subject.

party party, Mario party!

We played some Mario Party 4 on the cube with my Love over the weekend. It was pretty good fun, although we were quite annoyed at the negative feedback mechanics of the game. And we should definitely get two other players involved. The NPCs roll irritatingly high numbers each time!

Onto Silent Hill 3. [small spoiler alert] It's a ride on rails but it's good. Great scary moment in one of the mall lavatories where knocking on a closed door produced a response...and when you turned Heather away from the door, it creaked open!

I've been thinking that these kinds of scipted, environment-based sequences are not just gimmicks that add to the atmosphere but intrinsic game mechanics particular to modern video games. I'll call them 'theme-driven mechanics' for now... anyway, they take the form of small scripted events, like the one in SH3, or longer cut-scenes. The point is that as so many contemporary games do incorporate narrative sequences, why not try to understand their role and function within the game dynamics? I'll have to develop that notion further in my expanding theory of rules, game mechanics, and genres.

silent ponderings

I posted an entry on my brief session with Silent Hill 3 last week...on the subject, there's interesting notes on SH2 at gamedevleague. I agree completely on the control scheme issue. Jamie also refers to Half-life designer Ken Birdwell's notion of experiental density, which I think is very useful when thinking about creating rhythm and introducing challenges into a complex game environment.

a toy in my eye

Just pre-ordered the EyeToy peripheral for PS2. Can't wait to punch the air in front of my console!

slowly evolving

Ok, so I'm glad to see that the site is getting visitors. Warm thanks are due to Gonzalo, ludologist extraordinaire cosmopolite :)

I will be adding stuff and functionalities to the site gradually. First, I'm working on putting some of my papers up on PDF format, starting with my paper on rule typology. Other things to look for are standard blog stuff: comments (scary!), search, and so on. As soon as I understand what this 'trackback' everyone seems to implement is, I might consider that too...