My Blog Page
As of my freshman year, I will be posting content centered around a certain topic. You can expect my blog posts to feature well-written sentences.
Brady Bryan
I'm sure that everyone remembers their first time playing their first video game, or at least what the first video game they ever played was. For me, it was a racing game for the first Playstation when I was only two. Of course we all most likely did not know how to play or what to do our first time around, but for those of us that decided to stick around and continue to play, we became familiarized with what was expected of us over time. We had to defeat the boss or beat everyone else in a race or just go on an adventure. It was the first time we ever had a virtual interactive activity where our stimuli experienced new stimulus. As confusing or uneducated as that sounds, it was something none of us had ever experienced before. Fast forward to today and those of us who chose to continue playing video games throughout the years have either continued to feel a nostalgic enjoyment when playing or watching a game announcement that features beloved characters, beloved gameplay mechanics, or fantastic music, or have gradually dwindled in responsiveness to the latest games such as myself. Backtracking somewhere between the first time we played video games and the current timeline, we can find ourselves playing games that could hold our attention for days upon weeks upon months. While this may be due to limited options to entertain ourselves with, we could just sit down and play our games in any way that we wanted without being pressured to complete a mission with the utmost urgency. When I was around ten years of age, I would come home from school and play Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 for the Playstation 2. As any aware person knows, Dragon Ball is a franchise that is heavily associated with large, grand-scale fights of grandeur. I would rarely play the story mode (mostly in part due to my not knowing that there was a story mode as I simply wanted to beat up enemies) and instead play the training mode for days and days. I would choose my character and another character to be my opponent, and create my own head-canon, essentially creating a story mode of my own. As extremely repetitive as this was, I was never bored since the fights were "cool-looking and awesome." When I play Budokai Tenkaichi 2 now, I'm still surprised at how well this game holds up today in terms of animation, gameplay mechanics, user interface, etc., but needless to say, I'm not as "on cloud nine" as I used to be when I played it long ago. Much of that wondrous excitement has dwindled as more and more games came out over the years. This can be attributed to the feeling becoming commonplace with the release of numerous other games that illicit the same feeling to the point where it no longer affected me. This could also be the result of the newer games not living up to the hype that video games years ago once did, although this can be refuted by the fact that earlier video games had a stronger affect on us as it was a medium not fully realized. I truly am envious of fans that are able to become overwhelmingly overjoyed when they see something that is enticing from a video game advertisement as it reminds me of the times when I once felt that way, namely open-world games. Seeing everything that the player is capable of performing in a large-scale environment was (and still can be) a wondrous feeling. Recap:
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Brady Bryan
Remember the magical feeling we would get from playing video games as a kid? Remember experiencing a fun, engaging, interactive piece of media that no matter how repetitive your style of gaming was, retained the same enjoyable sensation for hours on end? Yeah, what happened to that? Where did it go? I no longer feel the same way I once did about video games about ten years ago. Comparably, it feels as though I am experiencing a less severe version of burnout when playing despite not being the creator of the game. This has been a feeling that has been looming over me for the last two years. Even when I procrastinate on accomplishing something such as homework, I get the urge to play video games over anything else. However, I get that empty feeling that I can't seem to shake. The biggest factor is that I know that other people are experiencing the same feeling. There are countless times where my friends (or sometimes myself) are harassing each other to play a multiplayer game together such as Rainbow Six Siege, but immediately get bored of the game after two matches (three if lucky). At this point we either get on a different game or we stop playing completely. One moment the fervor to play a game comes, the next moment it disappears. The fervor to play dissipates faster if we lose or die continuously (which is extremely commonplace). After all, dying is less fun than living. Instead of playing games to have fun, I have been playing video games to pass time, which feels sinful to me because my personal enjoyment of video game comes from aiming to have the most fun I can, disregarding time as a factor and/or result of gameplay. However, since I get this feeling with pretty much any game, every game feels the same to me in some way, shape, or form. Obviously playing Pokemon or Mario should not feel the same as playing Call of Duty or Rainbow Six Siege, but unfortunately it does. Perhaps there is an instance where I do not feel such a despicable feeling while playing games that has to do with the content of the games that I have come to familiarize myself with. This was more of an analytical look at how video games have been affecting me for the past couple of years, and how it affects my cognition of the fictional world, which in turn affects my cognition of the real world. When something you once loved so dearly that you were practically inseparable becomes a cyclical pattern of dull or limited enjoyment, that sinking feeling seeps into other activities. With that being said, what made games so special in the first place? Why do we feel so incomplete playing what we love? Think of this blog post as the first part of an analytical chain of posts. Recap:
Brady Bryan
Ever since mainstream game consoles have cemented themselves as the primary form of video game entertainment, video game companies have released AAA games for the magical number of $60. Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption, Monster Hunter, and more recently Nintendo Switch games now cost a hefty $60. However, as more games that cost $60 are produced and shipped to stores or obnoxiously advertised on the home consoles' game store, more and more people began to realize that perhaps paying such a large sum of money for a considerably lackluster game is less than desirable, especially now that the typically cartoony, kid-friendly Nintendo has increased the price of their games from around $40 to $60. So why was this done? The switch to console game production (no pun intended) warranted an increase in game prices for numerous possible reasons. One of the most possible reasons is that console games are considerably more expensive to make especially since they will have to run optimally on the latest firmware and hardware. This is largely due to keeping up with the current innovations and standards that AAA games are known for, along with making the game at the very least look enticing to the consumer; a sort of eye candy if you would. The marketing and general budget behind most console games are comparably pricier than other games as most AAA games are the flagship games of each game company, so it would only make sense that the developers would want to invest as much as necessary to ensure the success of sales. Another reason why AAA games cost $60 dollars is to keep up with competitor prices. Reasons like these are understandable so long as the quality is assured, but in recent years, the quality of console games (and by extension, triple AAA games) have gradually dwindled. Take Pokemon Sword and Shield for example. The game already has extremely mixed feelings surrounding it, and the damning evidence to support the claim of the game being a product of lazy production is abundant. For the first mainstream Pokemon video games to be $60 dollars (other than arguably Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee), the game lacks proper animations, freezes at certain areas of the game, and could be textured better. At this point, one would have to ask themselves whether or not that sounds like a $60 experience. With all of the bad press that the games have been receiving, those adamant in saying that the games are a joke seem to have an extra platform to stand on. Other AAA games such as Breath of the Wild also lag considerably in certain areas. However, it is more excusable than Sword and Shield due to its higher resolution textures, always-rendered landscape, and other 3D models and objects. In short, $60 games no longer meant that the experience would also be worth the money spent, and it is for that reason why many consumers wait for the games to be on sale as the price then is far more suitable for the quality and content. It is made clear that the workspace provided for the developers was not carefully considered as the games ported to and created for the Switch (among other consoles) run at a sub-optimal frame rate. Recap:
Brady Bryan
Earlier today, the latest installment of the main series Pokemon games, Pokemon Sword and Shield, released. Both games have been the subject of much conversation (especially on social media) for the last few months after The Pokemon Company released several game trailers showing off some of the new features and mechanics of the games. As the games are the newest generation of the main series games ("Generation 8"), fans came to expect the game to look vastly different from the older handheld games as these two would be released on the Nintendo Switch. Due to the technological innovations of the Switch, fans expected the games to have high quality graphics and textures. However, certain 3D models within the game appear to have low-resolution textures and lacked shadows where necessary. One model that the community has used as the front runner for Game Freak's laziness is this infamous tree. Due to the extremely low quality of the tree from one of the trailers, numerous memes revolving the tree have spawned such as this one. This is the result of a larger issue taken with the two games: Game Freak, the company that created the Pokemon franchise, has been heavily neglecting the quality of their games in recent years. While this sounds typical of most fanbases of video games, this takes the cake for the most divisive topic, especially on Twitter. It's borderline dangerous how this topic has divided Twitter with such hashtags such as #GameFreakLied which stems from a statement from Game Freak in which they claimed to not reuse any old 3D Pokemon models in Sword and Shield, but was proved by dataminers to be false as the wireframes and models appeared to be one-to-one. Another hashtag that trended on Twitter for the last few months was #Dexit (referencing Brexit) or #BringNationalDexBack. Both are a result of the most troubling and polarizing feat of the controversies. As many who grew up with Pokemon may recognize, the main catchphrase of the series is "Gotta catch 'em all!" which is also the goal of each Pokemon game: gathering every Pokemon in existence. However, Game Freak decided to reduce the number of available Pokemon in Sword and Shield to 400 as opposed to the grand total of 890. The other 590 existing Pokemon do not appear at all, regardless of any attempt to transfer them. It is easy to see why this would raise many eyebrows. Despite people of Twitter going on a tweeting rampage to coerce others to boycott the game to send a message to Game Freak about how the game is incomplete, it still sold with much eagerness. Based on the general reception two hours after the game released in North America. people still seem to thoroughly enjoy the games. Although it is still too early to definitively gauge where the game lies in terms of quality, if the reception continues to be the same as it is right now (albeit with two hours of personal experience), then the game will still sell successfully regardless of backlash. Recap:
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Brady Bryan
Amidst the modern console wars between Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo exists the primary motive for choosing a side in such a heated debate: video game exclusives. Exclusives entice the customers to lean in favor of one console as that specific video game is only available on that platform. It is especially effective when the exclusive game is a critically acclaimed one, making the console shine much brighter which outshines the competition (pun intended). As a financial incentive, this is the best way to bait unsure consumers into rooting for them. An example of a successful exclusive game from each company includes Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, God of War, and Halo. Super Smash Bros. as a franchise requires no introduction as it is one of the most popular franchises in the history of video games. In fact, that sole franchise is the reason for most people purchasing the Nintendo Switch, Wii U, and the Wii. The widespread popularity of Smash Bros. and its mainstream appeal has garnered both it and Nintendo an almost unbeatable first place in the console race. God of War (among other Playstation titles) is one of the most recent Playstation titles to shake the video game community in terms of sheer quality. Even Xbox fans will acknowledge how formidable God of War is. From its combat mechanics to its pacing to its high-quality textures, the game is almost a masterpiece. While Xbox has very minor exclusives such as its Kinect games (that everyone tends to forget about), it too has its own champion: Halo. Years ago, Halo was the sole competitor with Playstation, and served as the reason as to why Xbox had the advantage over Playstation. Many teenagers to young adults recall playing Halo and enjoying both the story mode and online feature. Of course, exclusives on their own are unable to lead the way in the race without their home console being able to sustain them. Had the Xbox not had the infamous "red ring of death" that lead to millions of consoles worldwide becoming inoperable, the Xbox would have seen more success in the coming years. Additionally, if Nintendo properly addressed the awful online services and more precisely catered to what their fans want, the would no doubt win the console wars. Despite this, the war has yet to be decided, leaving room for more intuitive game design unique to each company. Recap:
Brady Bryan
Almost everyone has grown up playing a favorite video game of theirs, or even a card or board game that they hold in high regard. The connection between the player and the game the player grew up with is commonly referred to as nostalgia, and based on how deep the love runs for the game in question, the nostalgia varies in intensity. In some cases it can even warp the player's view towards both that specific game and others game that are similar to it, hence why it is also referred to as the "rose-tinted" glasses. Nostalgia has the power to drive a player to support the creators and its franchise further than most other consumers both commercially and socially. One fiercely driven with nostalgic passion may purchase items and collectibles of the game and decorating their property with it (although the same could be said for regular fans of other franchises). Some YouTubers will film the inside of their rooms depicting collectibles from their favorite game, correlating to the primary focus of their channel. This means that a PokeTuber (Pokemon YouTuber) would decorate their walls, furniture, shelves, and beds with Pokemon props, plushies, and figures. In the sense of nostalgia affecting how one interacts with one another, it is a source of eagerness where the fan of the game would be more than happy to discuss their favorite topics. While this prospect sounds harmless and ideal, nostalgia can also have negative side effects. For instance, the "rose-tinted glasses" may often blind the hardcore fan and prevent them from realizing certain aspects of the game or acknowledging its flaws. A scenario where one person says that the beloved game contains minor content that prevents them from enjoying the game as much as the blinded fan is one where the fan reacts appropriately and acknowledges where the person is coming from (albeit rare), or behaves irrationally and disregards all opinions opposite of their own. As a person who grew up with Pokemon, I hold the game to a high regard. However, after growing up and learning about the various aspects of quality (among other soft skills), I will be the first one to tell you that Pokemon has its fair share of flaws despite arguably being the second best-selling franchise next to Super Mario. To have a personal connection to something you love is one thing, but to recognize (or fail to recognize) the favorable and unfavorable facets is another. Whether you wear a deep or light shade of "rose-tinted glasses" is irrelevant as there will always be someone that either shares the same opinion or completely disagrees. I could say something corny such as "In the end, all that matters is what you think," but that simply isn't true. Do not be quick to discredit the negative aspects of your favorite game simply because you love it as such claims hold no substance and cannot be backed up by sufficient evidence. So instead of "In the end, only your opinion matters," in the end, like what you want, but take the nostalgia glasses off when necessary because sometimes, it makes you look foolish. Recap:
Brady Bryan
Super Mario, the most popular video game franchise in the history of the world, let alone gaming has recently released another iteration of its beloved Mario Kart franchise: Mario Kart Tour. Garnering hype up to its release, this game may very well become the next mobile craze that Pokemon Go once was. The app is available to both iPhone and Android users for free (a given, if you ask me). The game is locked to a vertical aspect, which sucks because the original games are played in a horizontal aspect. The vertical aspect lock is nonsensical and hinders performance potential. Despite that, the game retains the same bright-colored, cartoony look that fans of the Mario Kart series are familiar with, most closely resembling Mario Kart 7 graphics. The exact replicas of the courses from the main Kart games with the addition of a few original courses add a sense of nostalgia which is always welcome. The old courses even retain their music from their original games which overcame me with memories of when I played Mario Kart Wii seven years ago. While others take issue with the controls, the controls are simple, yet effective. The blame probably comes from the stupid disorienting vertical aspect lock. Since the speed stays the same, the skill ceiling for this game feels capped beyond swiping left and right. Since the way to play feels so limited, I just can't seem to play the game past fifteen minutes or unless I'm procrastinating because of its simplicity. I suppose its easy controls make it easier for younger kids to pick and play the game, which is the target demographic (at least, that's the audience it appeals to the most). In conclusion, Mario Kart Tour, with its easy controls and inherent competitive nature may just become the new Pokemon Go craze with friends wanting to race you all the time. Good times with friends are imminent with this pocket Mario Kart, which is why I give this game 4/5 stars. Recap:
Brady Bryan
Up until recent years, DLC has always been treated as additional content to a game that simply provides the player with an alternate experience that would not have normally happened in accordance to game being played. It was more of a means to expand upon the features of a game with numerous events and missions that can often provide the player with better skills, items, or weapons, giving them the upper edge when it comes to facing off against other players. However, DLC nowadays either give the player skills that make the player far too overpowered than the should, or included content that should have been in the base game upon release. Regarding the statement that DLC "breaks the game" by adding skills or items that give the user the upper edge, most online multiplayer PvP (player vs player) games recently are extremely guilty of this. For those who are unable to purchase the DLC (which is arguably more expensive than it should be), playing against others is a nightmare as they can defeat you nine times out of ten. This is also known as making the metagame "unbalanced" as the game is no longer fair. One game criminally guilty of this is Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker. If one were to click on any video to learn about what the best skills are in the game, to their dismay they would quickly discover that most, if not all of the skills discussed are DLC. When I first played the game, I was appalled to discover that the game was borderline unwinnable, let alone unplayable without certain DLC skills. However, as numerous patches to the game were released, the developers adjusted the skills to be less powerful and adjusted the base game skills to be more effective, thus bringing back some sense of balance to the game. Unfortunately, this is a rare occurrence among game developers as they will either do a halfhearted job at balancing skills where they cause the initially overpowered move to become exceptionally ineffective and nonviable, or they simply do not adjust the move. As for DLC that should have been in the base game, there are too many modern examples of games that do this, and it is blatant that the developers did this to earn a quick buck. Certain games of a franchise will choose to add a character that was integral to the plot as one of the arcs of the franchise's plot revolved solely around them as DLC. An example of this can be found in Jump Force, a 3d anime arena brawler. Recently, the creators announced that Madara Uchiha, the main antagonist of Naruto, would be arriving in December as DLC, which angered fans. The players argued that he should have been in the main game all things considered, and claimed that he was replaced by an obscure antagonist instead. They were quick to claim that this was a cash-grab, further deterring its player base from playing the game. DLC used to be more event-focused, and rewarded those who purchased it with interesting skills and equipment that made the transaction worth it. However, the times have changed, along with business decisions in which the interests of the players were once important to the developers. Clearly the integrity of the players have been substituted with stealing money from the pockets of gullible children due to their ease of financial exploitation. Recap:
Brady Bryan
As digital entertainment becomes more and more popular through movies, TV shows, video streaming, and social media, the populous becomes increasingly attached to them due to their ease of access and mainstream appeal. Through these mediums, the consumer forms a bond to their devices as it provides them with the content that appeals to their demographic, whether it be comical, somber, informative, or horrifying. As such, the consumer will openly share their love of a certain digital medium with others, praising it as the best form of current content, more often than not, leading into a debate with others that feel differently. However, as of recently, the one form of digital entertainment that is receiving the most hate from enthusiasts of other digital mediums are video games. Ever since its creation, controversy has always plagued video games due to over-exaggeration and irrational claims that could easily be applied to other forms of media, digital or physical. Such misconceptions cause consumers to inaccurately depict games as a bacteria that rots the brain, insinuates thoughts of violence, and destroys one's social life. When considering such bold accusations, one must also wonder if such claims apply to their own preferred form of media. It is common knowledge that preforming any task repeatedly without taking any breaks is detrimental to all three aspects of one's life. Therefore, not only does that same logic apply to video games, but to movies, TV shows, video streaming, and social media. On the contrary, an argument that the average consumer (particularly the younger generation) spends more time on social media than playing video game can be made as social media can be accessed from anytime, anywhere whereas most games are limited to remaining stationary, as well as consoles being too large to fit in one's pocket for convenience. The same claim about being the source of violence and hindering one's social skills can be applied to other forms of media as well. Video games offer the same, if not, more experiences than other forms of media due to its flexibility and ability to incorporate several emotional appeals into one cohesive narrative. Comedy, horror, heartbreak, action, and psychology can all be found in one single game. So to those who immediately criticize and condemn video games: When being critical about a form of media, be sure to hold the same set of standards to a preferred form of media. Recap:
Brady Bryan
In the last few units, I have learned how to animate cameras utilizing different types of camera angles with different types of cameras, illuminating scenes with various types of lights based on what the scene constitutes, and rigging objects to change how it interacts with the environment while changing form in the middle of its movement. As you can tell from this list of knowledge, these are all time-consuming processes. While this entirely depends on the level one quality one seeks, it is bound to take a while to properly set each object and alter the settings for an optimal render. Lighting has been the hardest skill to learn during the past two months. This is primarily due to certain lights functioning properly when a certain renderer is chosen. Additionally, the color for some lights require adjustment for the scene to not become over-saturated with lighting. The placement of the lights matter much more than one would originally think, especially when considering certain lights. This normally constitutes the addition of multiple lights or an omni light with a decreased intensity. Doing the "Depth of Field" assignment was a pain because the omni light cast shadows on the spheres in directions where they would overlap. While the solution seems simple, moving the spheres around caused them to fall out of the FOV of the camera which would decrease the visibility of the blurriness around further objects, depicting how they affect each other. Aside from minor inconveniences that are bound to happen with first-time learners, lights, cameras, and rigging can be put to good use as I have done here, and they can enhance older projects by quite the margin. I hope to learn more about their applications to enhance the quality of my scenes. Recap:
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AuthorBrady Bryan is quite familiar with blogs since he had to frequently post on his blog in 6th grade. Although its been a long time since then, he still knows what a proper blog should look like. Archives
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