mattduckman's GameLogBlogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=437Tony Hawk Pro Skater (N64) - Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:39:16https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3165GAMEPLAY Skating is fun, but dangerous. This video game takes all the danger and glory out of skating, leaving only the fun. I think it was the Playstation version that had blood come out of the skaters as they fell, and it got a T rating for that. Of course, everyone knows that blood is directly proportional to fun. Of course, with Primus, you're bound to have a good time. It really really really sucks when you're trying to something really really cool, and then you fuck up and fall and lose all your special and the judges hate you and they make you cry because they're all bastards. That happened to me a lot. It adds frustration to the game. In a way, that makes it more realistic, because skating can be frustrating. It ain't all fun and games out there. DESIGN This game is really fun because you put against a clock to do really cool stuff without messing up too much. It's a good design, because the cooler the stuff that's being done, the more potential there is to mess up. So you have to push yourself while knowing your limits at the same time. Also, I like how some of the levels are designed, like the one that's all down hill, and you have to go off a jump and get really high and grind for like 10 minutes to collect something. As I mentioned before, this game has realistic elements of frustration and difficultly, while still being ridiculous at the same time. Also, I liked the game designer's choice to include Primus, it really adds to the gameplaying experience. (This entry has been edited2 times. It was last edited on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:40:25.)Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:39:16 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3165&iddiary=5938Tony Hawk Pro Skater (N64) - Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:22:32https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3165SUMMARY This objective of this game is to be a kick-ass skater. You achieve this by doing sick combos and collecting stuff in a given time limit. Doing all this unlocks new levels where you can do it all again. Some of them levels are skate competitions where you have to get a good score from the judges three times in order to pass. There's also cool music that plays in the background, from various artists such as Primus and Goldfinger. GAMEPLAY There's no doubt this game is fun. It's got cool music (mentioned above), an opportunity for cool tricks, and the ability to vandalize stuff. I felt pretty cool playing this game. It's really fun to go really fast and do a long grind with kickflips and stuff thrown in there, and stuff like that always gets you a lot of points. This game is good for all ages as well. I remember back in the day I used to play this game with my dad. I always beat him. But he enjoyed it nevertheless. The game provides a simple challenge: how well can you skate? Not only that, but what qualifies as good skating? Doing difficult gaps and combos always scores big, and the simple stuff always scores small, giving you the idea of what you really need to do to become a good skater in the game. Furthermore, Primus is awesome.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:22:32 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3165&iddiary=5903Super Mario 64 (N64) - Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:47:34https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2847GAMEPLAY I went to the back garden area and read all the signs and learned how to do all the crazy jumps. That helped me a lot through the game. The gameplay experience was about the same: I tried to do something, I failed, eventually I got it, and then I was happy. I went through levels pretty quickly, sometimes too quickly, which led to me jumping off cliffs and stuff like that. Ultimately, it was fun; good times. DESIGN I know it's supposed to be challenging to cross narrow paths, and I know I was using a keypad instead of a joystick, but sometimes it just seemed ridiculous how easy it was to fall. Since I got used to the keypad, I felt that having a joystick wouldn't really help. Although I did like the set up of the game. There's a whole bunch of stars that you can get, but there's only really like 6 levels in the whole game. They slightly tweak each one after you get a star to lead you towards the next one. Even in the levels, things aren't really linear, because you can explore the levels and create your own paths.Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:47:34 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2847&iddiary=5356Super Mario 64 (N64) - Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:34:51https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2847SUMMARY This game (I think) is the first one in the Mario series to be in 3-D. Mario comes to the castle for some cake or something delicious to find that Bowser has taken control of the castle by stealing all the stars and hiding them. It's Mario's job to take them back and rescue the princess. GAMEPLAY First of all, I'm way too lazy to go to the library and pick up a N64. Instead, I used an emulator for my computer. One of the things I noticed right away is that the keypad isn't as nice as a joystick. Naturally, I managed, and I had a good time playing the game. One problem with this game is that it can get very frustrating doing the same things over and over again. My roommates were amused to see me playing Super Mario 64 on my computer, so that gave the little bit of boost I needed to get through some of the levels. Despite my frustration, I got through the first 4 stars fairly easily.Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:34:51 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2847&iddiary=5328Roller Coaster Tycoon (PC) - Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:02:17https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2376GAME PLAY: Even this though this game is fun and I enjoyed playing it, I found that I'm probably older than the intended audience of this game. I remember playing this for hours on end, for many days in a row, and never getting bored of it. That was back in middle school, and now I find that I was getting bored on the second game. Achieving the goal of the scenario I played wasn't challenging at all, and there wasn't much for me to do while I waited for year 2 to come. DESIGN: This game is designed very nicely; it's a game of complex resource management. The resources are the guest's happiness, your money, your land, you park rating, and the number of guests. They are all connected and the game requires that you maximize as many of these as you can. It may be that the game is directed at a younger audience, or that I'm too familiar with it, but the challenge isn't enough to keep the game fun for very long. It would be nice if there was a different mode to this game, or different challenges for when the traditional ones get boring. This may actually be included in the expansion pack that I don't have. I like how the game lets you really see the park at many different zoom positions and angles, and it really allows you to get into the game.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:02:17 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2376&iddiary=4701Roller Coaster Tycoon (PC) - Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:53:03https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2376SUMMARY: Roller Coaster Tycoon is a game where you are given some land and expected to build a successful amusement park; each scenario has a certain benchmark you have to meet. You build rides, design roller coasters, build bathrooms and food stands, hire cleaning and maintenance staff, and make sure that you have relatively happy guests and a sizable profit for further expansion. GAMEPLAY: The scenario I did was a start from scratch. There isn't much to worry about except providing the guests with things to do. Once the game goes on, the other aspects come into play, and it's important to check what the guests are thinking to make sure they are as happy as they could be. For example, if you open a new ride and people say it's too expensive, it would be beneficial to lower the price. As the park gets really popular, overcrowding becomes a big problem. Ride lines become very long, the walkways are busy, and the guests start to get unhappy. The new challenge becomes finding new things to build in the little space that you have left. I found that rides can sometimes be modified to accommodate for more cars, so the line can move along faster. A funny thing that happens in this game is that you become mad at your guests if they complain a lot. There's even a feature in the game where you can place guests wherever you want. If they begin to piss you off enough, sometimes it's fun to just throw them in the lake and let them drown. This is technically bad for your park rating, but a couple deaths won't really make a difference.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:53:03 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2376&iddiary=4527Super Smash Brothers (N64) - Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:01:02https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2142GAMEPLAY The second game session was much like the first. Very exciting game play, great social aspects, and great action. For this session, I focused on using characters that I'm not too familiar with. I found that this didn't make the game play any more difficult really. The thing with characters is that using certain moves makes the game play more fun, and there's really no difficulty in learning new characters. DESIGN The game is very well designed for varied yet non stop fun. Yet there are a few complaints I have with the design. The camera in the game zooms in and out to make all of the players visible. The problem is that when playing on a small screen, when the players spread out, it makes things really hard to see. As I said before, the characters are very easy to use, and I think this is one of the greatest design pluses. Anyone can play this game and find it fun. The downside is that eventually this game can get tiring to play, but I think that would take many hours to happen. I like how the worlds are against you as well, because it adds an extra challenge to the game that's not seen in all fighting games.Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:01:02 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2142&iddiary=4362Super Smash Brothers (N64) - Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:44:51https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2142SUMMARY Super Smash Brothers puts a lot of the Mario characters together to dual it out with various items and weapons. Each character has a basic move and a special move, along with the ability to grab and jumps. These fights take place on different worlds, each one related to one of the characters. The world can also be your enemy, as dangers such as lava or wind can throw you off guard or lead to your doom. GAMEPLAY Super Smash Brothers is a very excellent multiplayer game, even if you are playing against a computer. Each character makes certain noises when performing their moves, and these can piss you off as they are being played against you. I noticed that as I played the game, a lot of it is based on sound. For example, when a player acquires the hammer, music plays while it is active. You don't actually have to see the hammer to know that all hell is about to break loose. This game is very fun and exciting to play. It leaves you up on your toes, because the game is designed so that eventually, every player must die. Also, the game play can also be exciting for people in the room who aren't playing. As the game nears the end, things get very hectic. The room reactions with the game play along with the game play itself make it very fun.Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:44:51 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2142&iddiary=4353StarCraft: Brood War (PC) - Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:16:06https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1668GAME PLAY This time I played a multiplayer game against my friend. I played as Zerg and he played as Protoss. As I mentioned before, I'm only really familiar with the Zerg, with made this game play a lot more interesting. But, it also proved a disadvantage as well, since I'm unsure how to defend myself against certain attacks, and I'm unsure about the basic strategy of the Protoss, so it leaves me a little blind during the game. I was able to get into this game a lot more, and the fact that I was playing against my friend made it more interesting. Unfortunately for me, he was familiar with the Zerg, so he was able to play a bit more effectively. Even though he ended up beating me in the end, I found this session to be a lot of fun. DESIGN: I think this game is pretty well designed. It's built so that certain races have certain advantages and disadvantages over the others so it's pretty balanced. As I learned in this game and in games past, it's really important to know all the races, not just the one your playing. This gives the game a bit more strategy and planning, all that end out in a fun gaming experience. It takes a while to learn all the aspects of the races, but I imagine that once the player accomplishes that, the game loses some of it's greatness, because you can basically derive a formula for executing your wrath. Just because of the style of the game, the flow is very nice, and you can pretty much play a game all the way through without getting distracted or bored.Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:16:06 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1668&iddiary=3729StarCraft: Brood War (PC) - Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:52:23https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1668SUMMARY: Starcraft is a strategic war game where you manage resources, defenses, and offensives as one of the three races that are in battle in space. The three races are Terran, Zerg, and Protoss. You have an aerial view of the map, and your objective is to explore the map, defeat all your enemies, and keep you and your allies undefeated. GAME PLAY: I played the Terran campaign, in which I am given instructions to defeat certain bases and protect certain characters. This is a race that I'm not too familiar with, and has a completely different unit management that what I'm used to - the Zerg. This obviously caused some frustration while I was playing the game, but the game is still very interesting to play. Because of your ability to browse the map, you can attack with one army, and be building another up back at your base, all at the same time with little difficulty. Ultimately, it was a good gaming session, and I look forward to my next.Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:52:23 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1668&iddiary=3715