While writing a recent article about my thoughts on GTA V, I found myself going on a bit of a tangent about where I think video games in general are going and why certain games are perceived the way that they currently are as compared to not so long ago.
My overall opinion of the latest Grand Theft Auto is that Rockstar have taken on a huge project which by and large they have carried out with a lot of success. It has all of the elements that make up a Grand Theft Auto game, even taking it up a notch in many areas, but I can't help but take from it a slight feeling of being underwhelmed.
I think it could be due to the fact that audiences are becoming more intelligent by the day and are generally starting to realise how plot points work. More and more I'm seeing people point out how certain tropes are frequently used and how stale they are in comparison to years gone by when they were being used in gaming for the first time. In a modern day world where attention spans are dwindling and information is always at hand, we thrive on being inspired through creativity as quickly as possible.
It's no surprise that cult hit games such as Halo, Minecraft and Trials all have one thing in common. Custom content creation. Once the planet has been saved, the dragon has been killed, and the quadruple backflip has been performed successfully, players can then move on to what has become arguably the larger portion of these games when looking at the big picture of a game's lifespan.
Making maps and the social interactivity that comes as a result feeds a player's need to stay in that universe while also adding their touch to the familiar surroundings. The feeling of accomplishment in completing one of these projects, from concept to creation, and the feedback from other gamers is what makes the experience so worthwhile.
It's for this reason that I believe creation-based games are going to become more and more common over the next decade. In fact you only have to look at Spark, a game that was revealed at this year's E3 event, to see that the lines are slowly blurring between video game and game engine. Where the entry point for using software such as UDK or Unity has seemed so daunting before, suddenly putting in place many of the same mechanics, making it more user friendly, and disguising it purely as a game, the premise becomes much more approachable to the general public. You thought it was surreal now that almost any kid of any age can pick up an iPad and navigate around it with ease? Just imagine when shortly we'll be seeing a 5 year old create a working and playable game level from scratch within a half hour or so.
Monday, 23 September 2013
Thoughts About GTA V
It's been a great week with the release of GTA V in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. By Thursday night I had completed the main storyline and I was ready to be unleashed on the unsuspecting general public of Los Santos.
By far the character of Trevor has been the revelation of the game. As I'm sure many other players would agree with, Rockstar's approach to this lovable redneck has been a breath of fresh air with the company not being bogged down by having to be politically correct all the time. Examples of stereotypical accents and overenthusiastic bouts of violence during cutscenes show what makes this series a staple every generation. You can never make everybody happy but here I think Rockstar gave a little extra to their hardcore fans which in my opinion is always a great thing to see and should happen far more often.
One of the biggest things I took out of the game, something that has been vastly understated, is the sheer potential for GTA V, even on a console, as a machinima engine. With all of the cinematic angles, detailed assets and subtle nuances of the in-game world, it becomes the perfect backdrop to really come to life through the creativity of others. I'm really looking forward to what comes out in the coming weeks and months.
I've been recording up a storm the last few days, so much so that I have over 30 hours of content to cut down and turn into something worth watching. So far I have released a short supercut of the relationship between Lamar & Franklin, but there is so much more planned in the immediate future. With such a huge in-game world there are many areas to explore and expose to the world.
So many walkthroughs and guides have popped up on YouTube for GTA V that the market has become saturated. I too had initially planned on doing something similar before coming to the realisation that without an already established fanbase there was little chance of the videos being seen. So instead I plan on editing together some more interesting clips showing some of the more unique activities one can do or at least showing things from a different perspective.
Keep an eye out for more content coming shortly. Having recently started my own YouTube channel and this blog my hope is that the readers out there will see my videos and articles develop and can one day be used as a reminder of where I came from. Ultimately I just want to get my name/brand out there so that when the time comes and I finally release a fully fledged video game, no matter what platform it's on, as many people as possible will get to enjoy it because isn't that what we're all here to do?
By far the character of Trevor has been the revelation of the game. As I'm sure many other players would agree with, Rockstar's approach to this lovable redneck has been a breath of fresh air with the company not being bogged down by having to be politically correct all the time. Examples of stereotypical accents and overenthusiastic bouts of violence during cutscenes show what makes this series a staple every generation. You can never make everybody happy but here I think Rockstar gave a little extra to their hardcore fans which in my opinion is always a great thing to see and should happen far more often.
One of the biggest things I took out of the game, something that has been vastly understated, is the sheer potential for GTA V, even on a console, as a machinima engine. With all of the cinematic angles, detailed assets and subtle nuances of the in-game world, it becomes the perfect backdrop to really come to life through the creativity of others. I'm really looking forward to what comes out in the coming weeks and months.
I've been recording up a storm the last few days, so much so that I have over 30 hours of content to cut down and turn into something worth watching. So far I have released a short supercut of the relationship between Lamar & Franklin, but there is so much more planned in the immediate future. With such a huge in-game world there are many areas to explore and expose to the world.
So many walkthroughs and guides have popped up on YouTube for GTA V that the market has become saturated. I too had initially planned on doing something similar before coming to the realisation that without an already established fanbase there was little chance of the videos being seen. So instead I plan on editing together some more interesting clips showing some of the more unique activities one can do or at least showing things from a different perspective.
Keep an eye out for more content coming shortly. Having recently started my own YouTube channel and this blog my hope is that the readers out there will see my videos and articles develop and can one day be used as a reminder of where I came from. Ultimately I just want to get my name/brand out there so that when the time comes and I finally release a fully fledged video game, no matter what platform it's on, as many people as possible will get to enjoy it because isn't that what we're all here to do?
Monday, 16 September 2013
GTA V Midnight Launch
Excited for the GTA V midnight launch tonight. One benefit of being in Australia is getting the game more than 12 hours ahead of the US, even if it does cost $50 more, which gives me a good head start on recording some footage and getting it online earlier than the rest of the world. Look out for some videos coming out soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)