We're MOVING!

I've spent the past few days making the transition to Critical-Gaming's new home.

http://critical-gaming.com/

The new site is rough, but I'll get it running to tip top shape in no time. I hope everyone makes the transition smoothly.

I have a lot of cool ideas for the new site that I don't think are possible using Blogger.

Thanks Blogger. Thanks Google.

I intend to leave this site up unless there's a really good reason to take it down.

Be Careful. You Might Suck....Is That A Challenge?

In the 9/27/2008 episode of 1up yours, the crew responds to the topic of video game difficulty and whether or not games need to adhere to the convention of increasing in difficulty to the end. You can listen to the conversation starting at around 1:21:00.

Be Careful. You Might Suck

Before I get into my response to some of the comments from the podcast, I wanted to say that it is important to consider one's own gaming skills before addressing game difficulty of any particular game. When a game is properly (classically) designed with levels that are composed of game ideas that are gradually developed from simple to complex uses of the core mechanics and when the forms of the game communicate their function clearly, the difficulty of such a game is created in large part from the player's ability (or lack thereof) to learn/ utilize the instructive resources the game provides. In other words, it's not the game's fault you aren't paying attention to the clues or using/thinking about the mechanics in the way the game has carefully taught you to. Furthermore, when a game allows the players to adjust the difficulty of the challenges, understanding how difficult the game is is a matter of understanding how the adjustable game elements circumvent the require use of the core mechanics and what effects doing so has on the game experience as a whole. In this way, game difficulty starts in the design but rests on the player.

Video games are functionally just controlled learning environments or electronic teachers. In the same way the best teachers can make learning fun, exciting, and easy, the best designed games can take the frustration and difficulty out of the learning processes. In such cases, all there is left for the player to struggle with to complete a challenge is the execution. In general, the execution of core mechanics needed to complete most of the challenges in most video games is relatively simple. For example, aiming and shooting in most FPSs is pretty simple. Understanding when to shoot, where to aim, when to take cover, and other battle strategies comprise the majority of what the player must learn to be successful.

For another example, the input for the mechanics in Mega Man 9 are very simple reflecting the design of the NES era. Everyone understands that holding the JUMP button down makes Mega Man JUMP the highest. Because the JUMP mechanic is direct, letting go of the JUMP button instantly causes Mega Man to drop while quickly tapping the button makes him hop around. The SHOOT mechanic is even simpler. Hit the SHOOT button and a bullet comes out. Along with the MOVE mechanic the player has all the abilities necessary to progress through the vast majority of the game. From this simple base, the levels are designed to test the player's ability to control space by jummping (vertical) and shooting (horizontal). The best part of such a design is, to get through the majority of challenges, players simply have to use some combination of MOVE, JUMP, and SHOOT. With such a simple set of possible solutions, it's hard to imagine that some gamers have an incredibly difficult time understanding how to overcome the game's challenges.

For these reasons (and for these), I do not believe Mega Man 9 is "really too hard" or "brutal" as John Davison and Shane Bettenhausen describe in the podcast. You would think that these game enthusiasts/writers would be able to breeze through a game like Mega Man 9 considering how similar it is to several other Mega Man games that have been out for many years. If Shane can understands how the calculator class in Final Fantasy Tactics is the most powerful class because of how his abilities evolve across his/her long term development, then surely he should be able to understand and use the tools Capcom made easily available in Mega Man 9 to help players get through the game.

The more I hear games writers talk about how difficult games are, the more I believe that they're not very good at video games. I've written before about how the concept of "skill" can be broken down into 5 categories: dexterity, timing, knowledge, reflex, and adaptation. I don't expect game writers to have the dexterity and timing of a Piano virtuoso (or a Guitar Hero for that matter). I don't expect them to have encyclopedic (or gamefaqs level) knowledge of a game. I don't expect their reflexes to match the Ogre Brothers or any other FPS twitch fire master. And I don't expect them to be able to adapt to dynamically changing situations with the ease of a StarCraft master. These video game writers may not be the best at video games, but I do expect them to be good enough to where their extensive experience with analyzing and playing games allows them to reach the insights necessary to understand the intricacies of what a game really is and how it works including its difficulty.

Personally, I know the insight that I bring to my writing is greatly aided by my diverse skill set. Ignoring my experience in fields outside of gaming for the purposes of this dicussion, pushing myself to develop the skills to become a world class Super Smash Brothers player helpd me understand game difficulty for all games in a number of ways.

1. No matter what game I play, as long as a game is designed around understanding mechanics and the skillful execution of those mechanics (as opposed to luck or stat building), I haven't found a challenge that's more difficult than fighting against the nation's best. Though my opponents pushed me beyond the limits of my dexterity, reflexs, timing, and adaptation, the game itself didn't become any more difficult. In those touranment matches, we still played by the same rules that I had a deep knowledge of. The amount of individuality each player brings to this dynamic next gen fighter makes every fight different testing and pushing all of the facets of my skills.
2. All proper challenges becomes easy when fully understood. It's that "ah ha" moment that people reach when learning anything. Once you "get it" it becomes funny to you when you consider how much trouble a challenge gave you.
   
3. I've also learned that some of the biggest challenges you'll face in a video game are re-learning something, overcoming your own mental barriers, and understanding how you learn within a learning environement. Learning is work as it is. But having to work to undo that work and still have to work at learning it the right way can be exhausting. It's amazing how people will find all the time in the world to do/learn something the wrong way yet struggle to do it the right way from the beginning.
   
4. I've learned that developing a high level of adaptation skill helps keep my ability to quickly learn sharp. The better you get at learning, the easier it is to learn the next thing.

With that said, I think it's important for every games writer or aspiring writer to understand at least one video game as thoroughly as possible and to becomes as good as possible at one game (preferably a multiplayer game).

As this blog continues to grow I understand more games more completely than I ever have before. By studying a game,which often requires revisitation, and writing essays, I'm able to understand the inner workings of a game on a much higher intellectual level. Understanding how each element of a game works together to build the whole experience also develops my ability to key in on all the non verbal methods video games use to communicate and teach. In other words, the more you understand a game the wider your critical-eye becomes.

By playing a video game at a high competitive level, I was forced in a way to look at game mechanics and the range of their function in a complete way. By going to that level, you will learn more about video games, yourself as a learner, and yourself as someone who is capable of doing anything. And doing/action is the thing that outraces words by a factor of a thousand.

Is That A Challenge?

For the remainder of this article, I'll be responding to the comments made on the podcast in bullet point format.

• The "death mechanic" is an old gameplay convention: You get it wrong, you die, you go back, and you try it again: Dying in a video game is a natural/organic conclusion when a game centers around violent actions. In order for a game to be a game, there must be a goal. For this goal, there generally has to be a way to win and lose. Functionally, the "death mechanic" is analogous to many different kinds of losing even when the player doesn't die.
  
• Death in games is designed to make money in arcades: Certainly all game's aren't design to steal our quarters. Even if the "death mechanic" was popularized in this way, arcade machines still aren't even close to slot machines and their ability to steal money.
  
• The difficulty of Mega Man 9 just "clicks" for certain people: Perhaps people who want a good challenge that can be significantly curbed by learning how the game works and adjusting the difficulty when necessary. In other words, MM9 is for the type of gamer that seeks a flexible learning environment where the learner is in control. I've noticed that many of the hardcore gamers on the internet and professional games enthusiasts have grown soft. Their complaints about Mega Man 9 and their inability to even beat the first set of bosses are alarming. I thought the hardcore gamer was supposed to have the skills to tackle games like Mega Man. I thought the hardcore gamer wanted their game's to be "hard." The fact that he adjustable difficulty in Mega Man 9 takes off the apparent "hard edge" makes me feel that anyone who is still having problems with the game needs to increase their skills, buckle down, and learn something about the game. That, or buy more E tanks.
  
• The primary reason to play a game is not necessarily challenge anymore: This is true to an extent. Besides the challenge that inherently comes from establishing a goal within a game world, a lot of play exists where the player is free to noodle around without deliberately reaching the goal. However, just because gamers can play video games without looking for a challenge, doesn't mean that the challenge should or can be removed from the game. Go ahead, mess around in Super Mario Brothers. Don't try and beat the level. Eventually, the time will run out and if you keep that up, you'll lose all of your lives. There's nothing wrong with playing like this, of course. But I can't say that doing so brings the player closer to understanding Super Mario Brothers beyond the surface level.

Sometimes I feel that if you don't want to be challenged then you shouldn't play a video game. Goals are an inherent part of games. The mere existence of a goal that can't be reached with idleness means the player must do something to overcome the challenge. Whether the challenge is easy to you or incredibly difficult, it's still a challenge. So when the 1up crew describes not wanting to be challenge, I take it to mean that they don't want to work or learn to overcome an obstacle. In other words, they don't want to change, but they still want the game to appear/react as if they had.

Carrying the attitude of not wanting to learn/engage with a video game develops a gamer that wants fewer consequences in their experience. After all, with fewer consequences there are fewer ways to lose. When there's fewer ways to lose, the gamer grows less worried about failing. When there are less ways to fail, the challenges and goals in the game become simplified and/or the gamer will become satisfied with doing almost nothing. When gamers don't want to learn and would rather just "relax" and "zone out" when playing a game, the lack of engagement practically destroys the players ability to learn. After all, learning is active/interactive, not passive.

This notion that entertainment doesn't (or even shouldn't) engage the mind is ridiculous and probably stems from a world filled with sub par TV shows and other mediocre products of entertainment. It's easy to be "entertained" by a TV set. You turn it on and it seems to do all the rest of the work by itself. Learning is work even when it's fun. As soon as you get used to having fun or being entertained from passive experiences, it becomes easy to delude yourself into thinking that passiveness is just as good as being engaged in an activity. As soon as you prefer to turn your brain off, you've robbed yourself of the chance to develop something wonderful.

My fear with the gamer who gets used to passively playing games or is unwilling to learn is that they'll never reach higher, more complex, and richer game experiences. Garnett Lee described such an experience as a wonderful and delicious "gaming casserole." In other words, in order for the designers to empower the player with the ability understand and master the game world, the player must learn the mechanics and rules step by step. The only way to ensure the player has some level of understanding on a mechanic/concept is to test them. Games create tests by constructing challenges.Without challenge, without being engaged, and without learning the interactivity that sits at the heart of the video games medium is nothing.

We are gamers. We are learners. We seek challenges so we can better understand game worlds, ourselves, and the real world we live in. You might suck today. But with an open mind and a will to learn, you'll develop the skills and a critical-eye through which the world can be viewed.

"wow... that's music!"

As my anticipation for Guitar Hero World Tour, what will be my single biggest gaming purchase this year, grows I can't help but also grow more excited about Wii Music. Wii Music is the game that most of the gaming industry doesn't understand or know how to talk about. Like the other phenomenons that fly under the same series (Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit) Wii Music is designed in a way that is very different from the popular examples in related genres. Wii Music is designed as a true music game.

I've been playing music for a very long time now; piano for over 13 years and violin for over 11 years. Though I've participated in contests, orchestras, and solo performances with both of these instruments and written several compositions, I come to understand music as something that a musician can't help but make. It's something different from the theory, correctly played notes, and one's experience with an instrument. My experience with the cello, harmonica, guitar, bass, and drums aren't nearly as extensive as with my primary 2 instruments. But in my experience, I've found that I can make music with anything that makes noise or can produce note tones.

It's interesting when you think about how the source of my expression for playing video games, painting, drawing, sculpting, writing, and playing music comes from the same play. In each art form each in their different ways, every move/strategy/brush stroke/word/note is made in attempt to communicate something whether individually or as part of a bigger phrase. My piano teachers over the years never taught me to play music, but they always commented on how I had "it." Random audience members from concerts would always go out of their way to specifically compliment my playing. Playing notes is something entirely different from playing music. This is something that has come naturally to me.

In one of my English class back in High School, the teacher had a small toyish ukulele. Everyday, I would go to class early and practice on this plastic like instrument that was always out of tune. After a few attempts, I was able to play the Super Mario Brothers main theme with some cool ornamentation too. After I nailed Mario, I worked out a unique composition in the style of classic guitar music. Though the strings were in a different tuning every day, I was able to get consistent results. The more work I put into this "toy" the more musical range I discovered and the more my playing sounded like authentic music. Because of experiences like this, I never underestimate the ability for strange even toy instruments to make music. Music is something I will always strive to produce because it's in my and it must be expressed. For this reason, the 50 or so instruments that come packed into Wii Music excite me just as much or more so than Guitar Hero World Tour. How else would I be able to play 50 musical instruments to create music even if they're "toys?"

Wii Music is a game made by the same company and the same genius designer that has made the world's greatest video games. The same mind that created Mario and Zelda is now looking at looking at creating a game entirely around the function of creating music. Using the modern advances in technology and game design, Miyamoto is attempting with Wii Music to make a game about making music with simulated instruments as opposed to hitting buttons to a fixed rhythm on a plastic instrument/video game controller. Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Donkey Konga, and all the other music-rhythm games may be nice games, but as a musician I know that there really isn't any musicality in the gameplay. At some point, not being able to play my own notes to my own rhythms makes me realize I'm stuck in a game that's more linear than even the most basic 2D platformers. In other words, music rhythm games generally have one way to play and one way only which severely limits the possibility for musical expression.

As a violin teacher, I'm working with a student who has been playing the violin for 3 years having started in middle school. She told me she wants to play with more confidence and energy but is unsure how to do so. The only way to play with more energy, I explained, is to put more energy into your playing. Every time she tries, she reverts to the ways she's comfortable playing; more reserved and somewhat vapid. Even this student musician playing a real instrument holds back her own musicality because she's afraid to mimic me or the other violinists. She has created too many psychological barriers against herself.

Most musical instruments are physical machines that produce sound entirely through mechanical means. Imitating and even exaggerating the physical motions of real musicians goes a long way in developing the techniques needed to play like a professional. This is why Wii Music's motion controls are genius.

The psychological barriers many develop when playing on a real instrument wouldn't exist in Wii Music because it's perceived as a video game; a toy meant to be played. The psychological barrier that stems from the perception that a musical instrument is a very expensive object that must be taken very seriously would never developer around such a game for the Wii. Furthermore, because the player is playing "air instruments" there's a natural tendency to exaggerate one's motions. In a strange way, the inherent design of Wii Music can bring musicians and non-musicians alike closer to physically playing more like professional musicians.

Some people are upset with how Wii Music makes it impossible to play bad notes or lose like in a traditional video game. Somehow, these people have drawn the conclusion that real music is legitimized only because of the possibility that the performer could have played wrong notes or failed in some way. Even with the structure Wii Music puts players in, it is still quite possible to play some horrible sounding music. Remember E3 08? The performers on stage played a Mario tune that sounded terrible. That alone should convince anyone that there's enough room in Wii Music to fail or succeed in varying degrees. Because musical expression is at the center of Wii Music's design, the success of a performance is subjective. I doubt there will be a percentage score given to players at the end of each song.

The Bad



The Good




The Variations. Skip to 1:00

Iwata
I think Wii Music has enormous potential. Because instead of accurately performing actions in time with a score, gameplay is about enjoying limitless possibilities all of which are correct.

Just listen to theme and variation between these recordings of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

When I first listened to these three videos, the first thing I said was, "wow... that's music!"

Wii Music is a game that will fill a unique space in the gaming industry. It's for people who want to know what it's like to play music, to play music in a group, and even do a little composing without the expensive price tag of buying a musical instrument/lessons or working through the steep learning curve of music theory. Wii Music is also for musicians who want to play around with instruments they can't get their hands on or can't afford. With around 50 musical instruments in Wii Music, there's bound to be something you've never seen/touched/played that you would like to. In other words, Wii Music is for everyone. Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Elite Beat Agents, Donkey Konga, DDR, PaRappa The Rapper, and Guitaroo Man players shouldn't feel threatened or challenged in any way. Wii Music seems to be in a genre of it's own.

In the meantime check out these two Wii Music links.

• Why Wii Music is Genius by Seanmalstrom: Though I would argue against some of his extreme statements his intent is in the right direction.
  
• Iwata Asks Wii Music: Only the first volume is available at this time.
  

Nintendo Stealth Conference: Let's Hit It.

• Many of the games shown in this video are shown too briefly to make any kind of substantive observations. Let's see how it goes.
  

2008

• DSi: Slimmer, SD card slow, internal flash memory, bigger screens, internet browser, DS online store, and 2 cameras. Over the past few years, I've faced several road blocks when designing software fore the DS because it lacked many of these key features. Once again, Nintendo supplies the hardware/features that I need to design my innovative games freely.
  
• The fashion game: Looks to have very high production values considering the detailed customization and the 3D graphics.
  
• Nintendo Pedometer & Wii Fit for my pocket? Sign me up. I loved my Pokemon Pikachu with its built in pedometer when I was in middle school, and I look forward to this next step. Nintendo had to find a way to put Mii's on the DS. They're the best tool Nintendo has to make games personal and accessible to the broadest audience.
  
• The Kirby game looks just as colorful as other games in the same series.
  
• The Valkyrie Profile, Chrono Trigger, and the Shiren The Wanderer look very traditional in their core RPG design. Let's hope at least 2 of these 3 have some tricks up their sleeve.
  
• The Soccer game looks slick. It appears that many developers have figured out how to make nice looking 3D DS games. The implementation of the Mii's fits, and the game appears to support a range of detailed stats.
  
• Sooo many RPGs. I guess they come with the territory.
  
• Professor Layton looks as dashing as ever. In other words, it looks like more of the same.
  

2009

• The Iwata, Reggie, and Miyamoto Mii's are charming. I'm not sure what kind of game/software they're in.
  
• Mario & Luigi look like they're control with the touch screen for battles. Interesting change.
• Wario Paint/Ware: Looks like Mario Paint. Plays like Wario Ware. Perhaps everyone makes micro games and shares them for content that's always unique. Either way, this game has piqued my interests.
  
• 3D picross. I liked 2D picross. Hopefully they'll find an intuitive way to manipulate the camera. The rubik cube DS game's camera controls are pretty complicated and finicky.
  
• More RPGs. Such is Japan.
  

• Much of the Wii game footage is too short to deduce anything. There's a lot to look forward to this fall and next year from the Wii. The games shown in the video run the full gamut of "casual" to "hardcore" games and from familiar to new IPs. There'es something for everyone.

Until we get more information...

Shawn Elliott Approves of Critical-Gaming

Well, Shawn Elliott didn't mention the Critical-Gaming blog specifically. However, the comments he made in the latest Gamsutra podcast on GDCRadio are in line with exactly what's been going on here at the blog for almost a year now.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Doesn't that look like the face of approval?

Among the things he mentions in that podcast and others are...

• reviewing/writing about games after reflecting on the experience that was hopefully done away from pressing time constraints
• writing about games with a thesis instead of creating buyers guides
• finding a unique angle to write from that's as meaningful as it is personal
  
• making a bridge between literary critical theory to talk about video games
• using the structures and unique metaphors of other practices/disciplines/art forms to approach game writing and game design.
  
• taking small investigative ventures probing some aspect of the gaming culture
• writing cross game analyses
  
• being responsible/held accountable for one's writing. Taking a stance and arguing points.
  
• developing and applying a critical eye to video games

Sound familiar?

Good luck Shawn Elliott. It's good to know we're fighting the same fight.

Samba De Amigo Critical Hit

• Good core music-rhythm design: SHAKE, RAPID SHAKES, POSE, DANCE. Between these mechanics, the various rhythm patterns, and the 6 shaking zones Samba De Amigo can create more significant variation than most music-rhythm games.
  
• For single notes, the player can perform a "trick shot" by shaking the two "maracas" in the same position at the same time. This option gives players a way to increase the difficulty of relatively simple sections while scoring more points in the process.
  
• The core design is very similar to the Elite Beat Agents/the Ouendan series for the Nintendo DS. Shakes = TAPS. POSE = DRAG. DANCE = SPIN (where players can put more energy in to this mechanic to earn more points). Furthermore, the game is designed around creating an interactive sound scape of percussion as opposed to an interactive music track like in Guitar Hero. In Samba De Amigo, players aren't making music. Rather, players shake and dance to the beat.
  
• Not enough negative feedback. When a player shakes at the right time but accidentally slips into the wrong position it feels like the game simply didn't receive the SHAKE input when in fact it did. The game only Boo's when your rank drops a letter grade. Otherwise, it's very hard to tell whether the game really missed the input, you didn't SHAKE in the correct zone, or if you just didn't time it right.
  
• There's no penalty for shaking in the times/spaces between notes. Because playing Samba De Amigo involves a lot of movement, it would be frustrating if the game penalized players for every SHAKE that wasn't timed to a note. Often times, I found myself shaking both hands to keep the beat even though only one was necessary. This design decision is key to keeping the game focused considering the nature of the game and the controller input in addition to allowing the player to "free style" developing their own subdivisions as they sync with the rhythm of a song.
  
• The rating system is very old school Japanese with a few convoluted quirks. Unlike Guitar Hero (a Western music-rhythm game) where players receive full credit for a note as long as they hit it within the timing window, in Samba De Amigo playing exactly on the beat is privileged. Landing close to the beat will award the player with points, but only by landing perfectly on beat will the player receive full points while increasing the multiplier. In traditional Japanese music-rhythm games, the developers just don't want you to play, they want you to play perfectly.
  
• On top of the percentage grade based on correct notes played, in Samba De Amigo, Ouendan, and DDR, a letter grade is given as well. On top of this, the letter grade in Samba De Amigo doesn't directly correspond to the percentage of the correct notes played. I once got a score of 96% and ended up with a C rating. While playing players not only build up their multiplier and score, but a meter that determines their letter grade as well. With a few mistakes, the later grade drops. With much correct playing, the letter grade slowly climbs. Though this system is unnecessarily complicated everyone knows how to improve their score in a music-rhythm game. Play all perfect notes without missing one. Do that, and understanding the scoring system won't matter.
  
• The mini games aren't worth the time or the money Gearbox spent making them. They reminded me of some of Boom Blox's worst mini games... distractions from the core design of the game that should be avoided.
  
• The option to play with Wiimote + Nunchuck or double Wiimotes is much appreciated. The calibration options seem to help as well.

• The tri-colored zone display isn't intuitive for those of us who have gotten used to reading music on a linear "tape reel" type system. Sheet Music, Guitar Hero, Donkey Konga, and even Ouendan have a very linear structure to their notation. In Samba De Amigo, the notes spawn and branch out from the center of the display. While this design may be counter intuitive in one regard, it's great for indicating the spatial relationship the notes have to where the player must SHAKE. I found that when I lost track of all the moving dots, I could still hit all of the notes fairly easily by maintaining a soft focus on the colorful display. The effectiveness of this design is also evident when the POSE/DANCE sections come up. Without thinking, I was able to successfully mirror the position indicated on the screen.
  
• Being forced to play through the Normal and then Hard campaign to unlock the Super Hard mode was slightly irritating. I didn't realize how much I've gotten used to the Western design for music-rhythm games thanks to Guitar Hero. I expected that all the difficulty modes would be unlocked. Over all, unlocking songs and modes in Samba De Amigo isn't a big deal.

• There are many nuances and techniques to playing Samba De Amigo that differ with each song just like there is in any quality music-rhythm game. If you don't spend the time to learn it, you shouldn't fault the game. Many claim that the controls simply aren't accurate enough. In my experience, the Nunchuck works best on the normal difficulty. Clearly, playing with two Wiimotes is ideal. They're more accurate. They have a longer grip. And there isn't a cord hanging between them, which frees the arms for pulling off a double "around the world" dance maneuver. I've score 90+% sight reading Hard mode and about 85+% sight reading Super Hard. If I spend the time to work on a few techniques I'm sure I can ace any of the songs.

• Samba De Amigo is a game that I feel would have benefited the most from implementing Wii Motion Plus technology. The current way the game figures out what positions the Wiimotes are in (high, mid, low) is jittery and finicky. If a sequel comes out with Motion Plus controls and maybe even some Balance Board support, I'll be the first in line.