A Hidden Ancient City

Overgrown ancient civilization anyone? I can see a whole city overgrown with roots instead of just moss and bush. This would be a great way the city could be revealed to the player the first time. A tiny carved piece of artwork peeking through a vast array of roots and moss. Hidden benieth is an entry to a dark tunnel wich leads to the lost city of the original Acteoniens.

Outfit Idea for Camilla

I found this image by accident and it reminded me of our character Camilla. This is what she might look like after being with the natives. Just like when Leia from Star Wars has braids in her hair and has a dress on after being with the ewok.

Main Character of "Anabelle"

Note: This is not Anabelle.

Mortal Kombat 9

I really like the way this video game's story is so detailed with all of its characters. Brilliant and classic character designs

Creatures!!

Hi there,

I think one of the best things about games is that you can interact with creatures that are totally imaginary and awesome looking. Here are some new games I found that have very nice creatures. It's hard to believe they are games not feature films...

Saeko

Video Games and the Silent Protagonist

Question I had concerning the silent protagonist:

What would you say about the risk of alienating or distancing the player from a PC via the act of speaking? As soon as a character speaks, they become an other that is not me. They are a person I experience a journey with, much like a film or television show. I help choose their actions, yes, but they then use words that do not come out of my mouth, may never have come out of my mouth.

I experienced this feeling with my brief play of LA Noire. I wanted to connect with the main character, get to know his back story, but he was so adamant not to share it. Even when I was choosing his responses to NPCs, when I would have rather been comforting he would be forceful--and that was the right way to go. It just seems like the bread crumb approach leads the gamer on, but it also leaves them as a slightly distanced god/angel entity that pokes and prods but is not that character.

I grew up playing the Half-Life series and have to say that the character of Gordon Freeman is the most real to me. Though he never says a single word I know what he wants, why he wants it, and what he will do to get it. It doesn't matter that he is a scientist turned slayer of alien demigods--I believe in him (and in turn, me).

What do you guys think?

ParaNorman

Laika (Coraline, James and the Giant Peach) just released this poster for their upcoming film. The plot according to Wikipedia:

In the comedy thriller, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman, who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst of all, moronic grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.

combination of gameplay/story telling

this is an issue i have been thinking for a long time.

for game designers, how are we going to combine gameplay and narration together? (not including traditional RPG, but action/adventure games or action RPGs - like Kingdom Hearts)

Some developers' solutions are limiting narration and use least amount of words -

like team ICO's work - ICO, Shadow of colossus,

other developers choose to use a lot texts in the game to give instructions to players so that those stories won'r distract players from focusing on playing: like Zero: Red Butterfly(probably only has japanese version), Resident Evil(have Wesker's side story as a clue), or Silent Hill.

and like Metal Gear Solid series - I bet it has the longest cinematic scenes ever - but the transition between gameplay and cinematic scenes are really smooth - especially in MGS4 - as they finally could load new content to memory while you are playing.

trailers & cinematics

This is not quite gameplay, but I thought I would post some game trailers that my company has made...

blur studio

Batman: Arkham City

Bioshock 2

Prey 2


- janis

Video Game Resource

Hello everyone. Here is a link you should definitely check out as a resource.

http://www.ign.com/

IGN has information on just about every video game ever made. Also, there are ample game guides, video reviews, playthroughs, and trailers for upcoming games.

They even have games broken down by consule. Worth a look.

-JOey

Let's Play: FINAL FANTASY 7

To continue with the Final Fantasy series here is a wonderful "Let's Play" for Final Fantasy 7:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGn5Cf_ZrU8&feature=related

Again, another very popular RPG originally released on the Sony Playstation platform. A compelling story with ery complex characters and an insanely enormous world.

You can also check out the link on the "Let's Play" page of the blog.

Let's Play: FINAL FANTASY 8

Hello Everyone,

You may have heard me talk about "Let's Play" on Youtube. These are videos where a gamer will play through an entire game with a bit of commentary. One of my favorite "Let's Play" gamers goes by the name of Necroscope. He has posted a "Let's Play" for Squaresoft's epic Final Fantasy 8.


This is what you call a Role Playing Game or (RPG). In this game, in particular, the story and world are enormous. The characters also contain a lot of depth and complexity. So, if you are not familiar with these types of games (RPGs) or anything from the Final Fantasy series this would be a perfect way to see it.

Check it out:

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

You can also find the link on the 'Let's Play' page here on the blog.

LOCATIONS!!

Here are the webpages for the strange locations we went over in class. Have fun checking them out:

http://www.aquiziam.com/ten-strange-places.html

http://mystic-places.blogspot.com/

http://matadornetwork.com/trips/8-more-strange-places-on-planet-earth/

Welcome!

Welcome Class!

This blog will be used as a sort of sounding board for your projects. A place to post ideas, questions and general video game knowledge.

More to come,

Lucas