Over the weekend I managed to win some money at a poker game (not the greatest way...but money is money) and I took some of it to a Gamestop to buy No More Heroes. I was a bit curious after watching all the footage and the slow and mounting hype towards its release. I can honestly say it was worth throwing down the cash for this.
Lets start with the the basics. NMH revolves around one Travis Touchdown (a guy that happens be a wrestling/anime/assassin otaku) as he takes on multiple opponents in a ranking system in hopes to get laid with a chick. Now if this was it, I would be amused, curious, and skeptic how such a ridiculous plot device could ever work for a Wii game...and amazingly it holds ground. I played this game over the weekend and I don't regret it at all.
Some interesting points of the game are the side jobs Travis has to do, since in order to fight the next ranked opponent he needs funds...and it isn't cheap either. These vary from your typical kill-everything-that-moves job, to filling up gas, and then to land mine removal. Yes...kill missions makes sense, and land mine removal works too, but I can see how being a gas fueler is a bit...off. As, like most of the game, it works well into the theme of the game, where basic held concepts of a game are mostly thrown out the window.
The best part of the game though is the ranked assasaination missions. After paying the fee you head to the location to start the stage/level, or as the game calls it a 'warm-up match'. For the most part you basically run through the corridors killing any opponents that get in your way. However, to set itself different, the stages are never quite the same, and the enemies you face usually reflect the the stage enviornment. Its a nice touch.
After you get through the 'warm-up' match, you go onto the battle against the ranked opponent. For each character before and after the battle you get a snippet of who they are, some personality, and possibly an idea of how they ended up where they are. Considering how limited you get to know them, the game does an incredible job of fleshing out the characters. Each battle I had let me really connect with the characters, despite how weird, out of place, or ridiculous they were. I still remember some liners from each of them.
The game controls remarkably well. For the most part you move with the nunchuck, redirect the camera with Z, attack or interact with A, and shake the Wiimote. Depending on the context, these controls differ. In doing the sidejobs you might make the Wiimote motion of filling a gas tank, or picking up trash. In battle, when you knock an enemies health to critical, an arrow pops up pointing the direction to swing the Wiimote. Pulling it off causes Travis to slash (in a very awesome way) his opponent, usually as finishing move. In some cases you can pull off the motions of wrestling moves, and then watch as Travis uses them on his opponent.
The controls are not without fault though. Against groups of enemies, there is no way to actively switch between who you want to target. Allow, despite how awesome killing an opponent is, it can get repititive. Most enemies tend to fall quite easily to your skills, and only become more difficult towards the end of the game. Pulling off wrestling move finishers prove difficult, and I found just shaking the remote more effective. It kills the point of doing the motions.
Graphically, NMH sports plenty of dynamic settings. The cel-shade style adds to the crazy realistic unrealism in the game. Each stage is unique, and always creates a different feel, despite usually covering the same general idea (kill everything to move on). Not only that, prior to entering a ranked match, you always start off with taking out your weapon. Its not significant, but a nice touch. The general hub city is littered with several signs and posts parodying American standards and businesses. It definitely does feel like an atypical (though unrealistic) West Coast city. An extra touch is that you can customise Travis's look with various shirts and clothes you find around town. For some reason it feels fun to go on an assasination mission wearing torn jeans, a brown jacket, and a T-shirt with anime girls on it.
Counteracting this is that it will get old. The city is interesting, but it quickly becomes bland when you find out you cannot completely interact with it, and even fewer places stand out after playing for a while. When you have to keep going through the city to find other locations, this problem stands out more.
Overall, I found this game to have one major strength and weakness, its variety. The game will keep throwing you into radically different situations, whether its the sidejobs you're doing to earn cash or the assasination ranked missions. For that, there is enough to keep you busy playing the game until you've made it to the end, and then some. However, the variety is the greatest fault. Each thing you do is unique and fun by itself, but if you tend to stick to one thing, whether assaination or sidejobs, it will get boring and tedious.
Despite some of the faults, No More Heroes is one of the most unique titles to make it onto the Wii console. If you are an adult gamer, this is definitely one title you should try, but I'd definitely add it to any gamer's Wii library.
Opinion - For some reason, this game feels like a prototype of sorts. Everything was incredibly fun, but there are definitely parts that could be improved upon, like the control system, graphical outlook, music variety, and more types of missions. Depite being on a inferior hardware system, it they did an incredible job. I really hope a sequel comes out, because this type of game feels like it needs just a little more polish and tweaking before it can reach the status of 'classic'. I also recommend playing this game in pieces, to enhance the gameplay experience.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Types of Gamers, Part Two
Yesterday I went over the all-encompasing, basic types of gamers, the hardcore and the casual. Now its time to be a bit more descriptive of the gamers beyond these broad catagories. This is by no means exact, and its only an opinion from my perspective, so don't kill me please ^^;
Fanboy/Girl
This type of gamer has strong ties to a brand or franchise. Plain and simple, most of thier games tend to center around a primary system/franchise. During most of the 90s this was basically Nintendo or Sega, and currently its split between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. They usually also have high confidence in the franchise they choose, and for the most part, end up being part hardcore due to the same reasons. Following the same logic, one can usually tell the more fan personish a person is by how much knowledge they know about thier 'expertise'', or by how strongly they promote it.
A good example of this is Nintendo, and the infamously known 'Nintendo Defense Force', a group of people who defend any criticism or remarks against Nintendo and its related franchises. A Nintendo Fanperson tends to have a significant number of games either published by Nintendo as a 1st party title (Mario games), or 3rd-party titles closely affilated with them (Kirby, Smash Bros., F-Zero).
Better known 3rd-party franchises with a decent fanbase include Final Fantasy (SquareEnix), Dragon Quest (SquareEnix, Apparant in Japan only), Mega Man (Capcom), Street Fighter (Capcom), Halo (Bungie).
First Person Shooters (FPS)
This type of gamer I believe is the percieved stereotype of western Gamers in Japan (and possibly a chunk of Southeast Asia). They tend to focus on games where you end up in a First Person perspective, usually with a weapon of some sort to use against various foes thrown at you. They could be in corridors, forests, buildings, weird alien spaceships, a dream, etc. For the most part they are the enemy, and with your weapon, you make them fall down before they do the same to you. Most of the time your weapon is a gun, hence 'shooter'.
Unlike the Fanboy/girl, a FPS gamer doesn't necessarily stick to one franchise, but ends up playing various FPS games, looking for the one that fits his/her niche. Currently most of the good FPS games are with the Xbox 360, with high profile games like Bioshock, Halo, and Call of Duty 4. Nintendo Wii...lets skip that. Sony from my memory has Resistance, a good game, but yea, Xbox pretty much dominates in that aspect.
Beyond the basic premise of kill or be killed, a significant factor in FPS gamers is that many are attracted to the multiplayer capabilities of a game. Sometimes this factor alone could determine the overall financial success and fanbase of a game, and in some instances, the success of a system itself (as was Halo with the Xbox). I can't figure out why, but the concept of going against a friend in a virtual battlefield always has some strange allure, and being able to kill them in painful (or ridiculous) ways drags out the competitive, sometimes-evil side of me, heh. It rings true for a great number of the FPS gamers out there also.
Role Playing Gamer (RPGamer)
Another type, this time centering around the idea of assuming a persona/avatar in a fictional world, and then through a structured battle system, proceed through a (usually) set plot until its completion. Sometimes the persona could be an amnesiac, a soldier, random passerby getting dragged into a drama, a hero...heck, the protagonist could be a person trying to repair the mess they've created.
To the RPgamer, the story, the battle system, and the flow of the game take precedence over everything else. Pretty graphics help a bit, but for the most part, those three are the main pillars a RPgamer looks for. To emphasize the importance of these: A great story with a crappy battle system ailenates a gamer from their persona, a good flow of the game takes the gamer from the begginging to the end at an engaging pace, instead of disrupting them with too many or too few random events, a poor story kills the entire point of assuming a persona in the first place.
As an aside, I've noticed that in most RPGs these days, developers and gamers tend to place a higher emphasis on appearances, rather than storytelling quality. 10-15 years ago, due to technology, developers didn't have much to work with in terms of graphics, thus, they needed to compensate for this in another matter, plot development. I mean, just think about it. There isn't really much point for your 8 pixel character beating on other pixel characters unless there was some motivation...say those monsters are the reason your town (also a good place to heal and get items) was burned down, one of your party members (an important offensive member) was killed, and the boss (if defeated, would join you) was only a few rooms away. As technology evolved, storytelling ended up taking more of a backseat for pretty graphics. This isn't bad by itself, but the graphics can distract you from the plot, and in some games, the plot can suck.
Anyhow...examples of RPGs off the top of my head include - Final Fantasy(and its incarnations), Mass Effect, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Quest, Pokemon
Blah...this is alot of writing, and I've only done 3 categories...ugh. Next time, I'll focus on Fighting, Strategy, and Sports.
Fanboy/Girl
This type of gamer has strong ties to a brand or franchise. Plain and simple, most of thier games tend to center around a primary system/franchise. During most of the 90s this was basically Nintendo or Sega, and currently its split between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. They usually also have high confidence in the franchise they choose, and for the most part, end up being part hardcore due to the same reasons. Following the same logic, one can usually tell the more fan personish a person is by how much knowledge they know about thier 'expertise'', or by how strongly they promote it.
A good example of this is Nintendo, and the infamously known 'Nintendo Defense Force', a group of people who defend any criticism or remarks against Nintendo and its related franchises. A Nintendo Fanperson tends to have a significant number of games either published by Nintendo as a 1st party title (Mario games), or 3rd-party titles closely affilated with them (Kirby, Smash Bros., F-Zero).
Better known 3rd-party franchises with a decent fanbase include Final Fantasy (SquareEnix), Dragon Quest (SquareEnix, Apparant in Japan only), Mega Man (Capcom), Street Fighter (Capcom), Halo (Bungie).
First Person Shooters (FPS)
This type of gamer I believe is the percieved stereotype of western Gamers in Japan (and possibly a chunk of Southeast Asia). They tend to focus on games where you end up in a First Person perspective, usually with a weapon of some sort to use against various foes thrown at you. They could be in corridors, forests, buildings, weird alien spaceships, a dream, etc. For the most part they are the enemy, and with your weapon, you make them fall down before they do the same to you. Most of the time your weapon is a gun, hence 'shooter'.
Unlike the Fanboy/girl, a FPS gamer doesn't necessarily stick to one franchise, but ends up playing various FPS games, looking for the one that fits his/her niche. Currently most of the good FPS games are with the Xbox 360, with high profile games like Bioshock, Halo, and Call of Duty 4. Nintendo Wii...lets skip that. Sony from my memory has Resistance, a good game, but yea, Xbox pretty much dominates in that aspect.
Beyond the basic premise of kill or be killed, a significant factor in FPS gamers is that many are attracted to the multiplayer capabilities of a game. Sometimes this factor alone could determine the overall financial success and fanbase of a game, and in some instances, the success of a system itself (as was Halo with the Xbox). I can't figure out why, but the concept of going against a friend in a virtual battlefield always has some strange allure, and being able to kill them in painful (or ridiculous) ways drags out the competitive, sometimes-evil side of me, heh. It rings true for a great number of the FPS gamers out there also.
Role Playing Gamer (RPGamer)
Another type, this time centering around the idea of assuming a persona/avatar in a fictional world, and then through a structured battle system, proceed through a (usually) set plot until its completion. Sometimes the persona could be an amnesiac, a soldier, random passerby getting dragged into a drama, a hero...heck, the protagonist could be a person trying to repair the mess they've created.
To the RPgamer, the story, the battle system, and the flow of the game take precedence over everything else. Pretty graphics help a bit, but for the most part, those three are the main pillars a RPgamer looks for. To emphasize the importance of these: A great story with a crappy battle system ailenates a gamer from their persona, a good flow of the game takes the gamer from the begginging to the end at an engaging pace, instead of disrupting them with too many or too few random events, a poor story kills the entire point of assuming a persona in the first place.
As an aside, I've noticed that in most RPGs these days, developers and gamers tend to place a higher emphasis on appearances, rather than storytelling quality. 10-15 years ago, due to technology, developers didn't have much to work with in terms of graphics, thus, they needed to compensate for this in another matter, plot development. I mean, just think about it. There isn't really much point for your 8 pixel character beating on other pixel characters unless there was some motivation...say those monsters are the reason your town (also a good place to heal and get items) was burned down, one of your party members (an important offensive member) was killed, and the boss (if defeated, would join you) was only a few rooms away. As technology evolved, storytelling ended up taking more of a backseat for pretty graphics. This isn't bad by itself, but the graphics can distract you from the plot, and in some games, the plot can suck.
Anyhow...examples of RPGs off the top of my head include - Final Fantasy(and its incarnations), Mass Effect, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Quest, Pokemon
Blah...this is alot of writing, and I've only done 3 categories...ugh. Next time, I'll focus on Fighting, Strategy, and Sports.
Monday, January 21, 2008
The types of 'gamers' I know of
I've been playing video games for a large chunk of life. I still remember realizing I had a Nintendo system with super mario bros. in it. And I also remember losing a ridiculous amount of times since I could never reach the final boss, no matter what I tried (as I was a kid, and didn't really think beyond 'hop, bop, grab fireflower and shoot things'). Well, here I am over a decade and a half later with considerable experience on my lap. I've grown from a person dedicated to beating a game to a person who likes to liesurely romp through things at my own pace, to a person who is a bit more...harsh in how I choose games.
Most importantly though, throughout the years I've come to notice the various types of gamers out there, what they tend to gravitate towards, and which type of games manage to nab the most people, irregardless of preference. Lets start with the most general types of gamers and what games they usually gain interest in:
Casual
This is the most general of general gamers out there. These type of people play games for various reasons, but most notably due to simple amusement, a need to kill time, media buzz, or the fact that its there and they're curious. These people can range anywhere from your 14-year old kid playing Halo and World of Warcraft to a 62-year old playing Solitare and Wii Sports. A significant fact is that this is the mainstream type of audience, so anything that has high buzz or popularity attract these types of people (naturally).
'Casual' games tend to cater towards a simplistic, accesible type of playing style, almost reminscent of those old coin-op machines with donkey kong or pac-man. Its not overly complex, though it does have the possibility of depth. A large majority of these games base themselves around one or two concepts, then build themselves up from there. Just look at the PopCap games (www.popcap.com) and tell me that 80% of their games don't center around this. These premises act as the hook to draw people in. Of course, there are various exceptions to the rule as games such as World of Warcraft and Halo are by no means simple, but still are incredibly accessible. To sum of these games in a phrase: Pick up and play.
To name games 'casual' gamers play, well, I can cite a few. Tetris, Solitare (on PC, and practically anywhere else on a computer), Peggle, Super Mario Bros., Bust-a-Move, Halo, World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, and various imitators.
Hardcore
The 'hardcore' gamer is what most people who call themselves gamers associate to more closely but I have a feeling there are a few people wrong on this concept. Back10-15 years, this would've applied to anyone who owned a gaming system like a sega genesis or a super nintendo, as in American Pop Culture, nerd = hardcore (along with all that other fun stuff). Today, this concept has changed to reflect the playing styles of people. I don't got any statistical info on hand, but I am damn sure that the majority of households in the U.S. have people who either: A. Have a gaming system relevant to the past 5 years or so or B. Have played games on a system relevant to the past 5 years or so.
My opinion is that the modern term 'hardcore gamer' refers to a person who is dedicated to playing games a great deal more than the average 'casual' gamer. Usually this includes many RPGs, shooters, adventure games, fighting games, etc, but this all includes casual games, strangely. A 'hardcore gamer' tends to get more in-depth to a game than most casual gamers do. I mean, if you're familar with terms most others have no idea of (i.e., DPS, Aggro, T-spin), or techniques and tricks that need some practice (i.e. spawn points, accuracy in shots, shortcuts through areas, special moves) then yes, you fall into the category of a hardcore gamer. Ironically, this can apply to casual games too...which makes the explaing the term 'hardcore gamer' a bit difficult.
Due to the all-encompasing area of a hardcore gamer, its diffcult to point out games they tend to play, as it range from team strategy and shooting skills in Counter-Strike to block oraganization and quick decision making in Tetris.
I'm a bit spent on writing this blog, so next time I'll continue beyond casual and hardcore, to more the area where the line blurs between the hardcore and casual gamers, the niche types.
Most importantly though, throughout the years I've come to notice the various types of gamers out there, what they tend to gravitate towards, and which type of games manage to nab the most people, irregardless of preference. Lets start with the most general types of gamers and what games they usually gain interest in:
Casual
This is the most general of general gamers out there. These type of people play games for various reasons, but most notably due to simple amusement, a need to kill time, media buzz, or the fact that its there and they're curious. These people can range anywhere from your 14-year old kid playing Halo and World of Warcraft to a 62-year old playing Solitare and Wii Sports. A significant fact is that this is the mainstream type of audience, so anything that has high buzz or popularity attract these types of people (naturally).
'Casual' games tend to cater towards a simplistic, accesible type of playing style, almost reminscent of those old coin-op machines with donkey kong or pac-man. Its not overly complex, though it does have the possibility of depth. A large majority of these games base themselves around one or two concepts, then build themselves up from there. Just look at the PopCap games (www.popcap.com) and tell me that 80% of their games don't center around this. These premises act as the hook to draw people in. Of course, there are various exceptions to the rule as games such as World of Warcraft and Halo are by no means simple, but still are incredibly accessible. To sum of these games in a phrase: Pick up and play.
To name games 'casual' gamers play, well, I can cite a few. Tetris, Solitare (on PC, and practically anywhere else on a computer), Peggle, Super Mario Bros., Bust-a-Move, Halo, World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, and various imitators.
Hardcore
The 'hardcore' gamer is what most people who call themselves gamers associate to more closely but I have a feeling there are a few people wrong on this concept. Back10-15 years, this would've applied to anyone who owned a gaming system like a sega genesis or a super nintendo, as in American Pop Culture, nerd = hardcore (along with all that other fun stuff). Today, this concept has changed to reflect the playing styles of people. I don't got any statistical info on hand, but I am damn sure that the majority of households in the U.S. have people who either: A. Have a gaming system relevant to the past 5 years or so or B. Have played games on a system relevant to the past 5 years or so.
My opinion is that the modern term 'hardcore gamer' refers to a person who is dedicated to playing games a great deal more than the average 'casual' gamer. Usually this includes many RPGs, shooters, adventure games, fighting games, etc, but this all includes casual games, strangely. A 'hardcore gamer' tends to get more in-depth to a game than most casual gamers do. I mean, if you're familar with terms most others have no idea of (i.e., DPS, Aggro, T-spin), or techniques and tricks that need some practice (i.e. spawn points, accuracy in shots, shortcuts through areas, special moves) then yes, you fall into the category of a hardcore gamer. Ironically, this can apply to casual games too...which makes the explaing the term 'hardcore gamer' a bit difficult.
Due to the all-encompasing area of a hardcore gamer, its diffcult to point out games they tend to play, as it range from team strategy and shooting skills in Counter-Strike to block oraganization and quick decision making in Tetris.
I'm a bit spent on writing this blog, so next time I'll continue beyond casual and hardcore, to more the area where the line blurs between the hardcore and casual gamers, the niche types.
Welcome to my blog
Hello, welcome to my blog. This is my blog. Ugh...sounds a little too formal.
Scratch that.
This is a gamer's blog. Recently I've come to realize I'd like to work in the game journalism industry, as I like playing video games and voicing my opinion on the matter. Considering I need practice, I figure this blog should help me develop my skills as a journalist, while also giving one person's perspective not only in reviewing, but as a gamer myself. Hopefully you'll find this little blog of mine amusing, informative, or whatnot. Feel free to throw opinions and feedback.
I'll try to update this thing about 1-2 times a week, depending on content and how I feel.
Scratch that.
This is a gamer's blog. Recently I've come to realize I'd like to work in the game journalism industry, as I like playing video games and voicing my opinion on the matter. Considering I need practice, I figure this blog should help me develop my skills as a journalist, while also giving one person's perspective not only in reviewing, but as a gamer myself. Hopefully you'll find this little blog of mine amusing, informative, or whatnot. Feel free to throw opinions and feedback.
I'll try to update this thing about 1-2 times a week, depending on content and how I feel.
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