Will"s Mid term exam

William Jamison

MS 391: Digital Games Midterm

10/08/10

Nielsen writes that “sound and music are essential to enhancing the gaming experience. Discuss a video game that uses sound and /or music as an integral part of its narrative structure. How are sound and music used to give the player vital information about the decisions they must make while playing? How do they create a game space or fictional world?

Sound/music is a very important element that many gamers tend to take for granted. The sounds that are linked to gameplay are used to create a setting; it helps players visualize the gaming envirornent, developing a realistic effect that relates to real world application. Neislen states “sound ad music are essential to enhancing the gaming experience... it can have a visceral link to our emotions, and when used effectively can instill feelings from excitement, to melancholy, to desperation” (Neilsen Ch. 5, p. 127). Sports games use audio to help the gamer engage in into the sports culture, which includes media broadcastings and product placement, sports announcers and of course, the gaming sound effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50xwJ8AIebY

For example, NBA 2K11 is a basketball game that really highlights the conversion of media related audio to the video game. The game programmers include audio effects such as the announcer, who speaks throughout the game announcing plays and even advertising sponsored companies. The crowd plays an important role, it cheers and participates throughout the game to motivate the player These type of audio effects help simulate a real NBA game; it brings the culture of basketball to the fictional world in your gaming platform.

Players often use video games as engines for making new narratives or telling their own stories, stories which are sometimes at odds with the messages and intentions of game designers. Should game developers have the right to censor or control player-made machinima? Why or why not?

Player made machinima is something that is getting more popular in the video game era. It should be looked at as an art form because players who create this machinima put in lot of time and effort to share these types of media to the world. Although most video game technology is patented, player made machinima is used to not only tell new narratives, but can be used as a helpful tool for some video gamers. For example, I would watch friends and family tackle the hardest boards on popular games like Mortal Kombat for Sega Genesis or Crash Bandicoot for the Playstation console. I would watch their game play because it would hype me to play the game or it will help me learn the controls better. Now with the increase of technology, you can watch recorded game play online or watch people from around the world play challenging levels.

Machinina can also be used as a tool to help game developers. Video are made for the public, and who knows better about what they want in a video game better than the players! Game developers can use machinima to compile new ideas for even better games in the future. Machinina can also be used to help advertise the game and get more people to play. An example from experience, my first encounter with Halo was from a video movie online. It was basically highlights of game play, which featured some of the most amazing views and deaths that made me instantly interested in the game. I feel machinima is an active way to help bridge that gap between beginner game players and experts. The visual effects of machinima can easily attract the eyes of gamers, and is another way to get people interested in games.

Death is a persistent feature of video games. Describe both ht indirect and direct aesthetics of death in a game that you are familiar with. Is death “Juicy” in this game? What effect does this have on gameplay?

Fighting games are one of my all time favorites when it comes to video games. A new favorite added to the list would be UFC Undisputed, a multiplayer, mixed martial arts game that allows you to choose characters from the actual UFC sport and fight your component using their style of fighting. As we all know, death is definitely an important and “juicy” feature in most fighting games because you can then differentiate the winner and the loser. Kiastrup states in her article, “… from a general game design perspective the infliction of death can be seen as a way to teach players to handle the game aspect of the world in a more successful way--- it is a method to force players to improve their play, whether they are playing the game alone or together with other players” (Kiastrup, p. 146). UFC Undisputed is leveled with both indirect and direct aesthetics of death. An example of indirect aesthetics comes from the basic rules of death in the gameplay; the loser dies and the winner lives. Direct aesthetics come from the video and audio features that are used to enhance the pleasure of playing the game and winning! UFC has a creative way of showing a near death experience by having the screen come up as a hazy grey, to inform the player that they will soon be knocked out. Like many sports games, UFC also have an announcer, who hypes up the fight by specifically pointing out certain hits throughout the game. Here is an example of near K.O experience during the gameplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyyccCdleL4&feature=related