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Mar 6th, 2008 at 02:12:35 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
GAMEPLAY:
Now the second time around, things really began to take a change. My competitors and I became obsessed with getting strikes. There were many techniques I had discovered in the process of bowling. Some key moves that stood out to me and as well seemed very realistic, was a curve strike, the ability to bowl the ball really slow, and the speed a player was able to get.
The curve strike was a killer and my goof friend was really good at them. It consisted of swinging the arm right next to the gutter and just before you let go of the B button (releasing the ball), you would have to tilt the controller to the left or right. It was a killer move to master and one of my friends was able to get seven in a row. I on the other hand got a couple. Secondly, bowling the ball really slow helped when there were only one or two remaining pins. You could swing slowly to the point where the character went directly up to the line and then release the ball at a very slow speed. Lastly, I was amazed at how fast I could throw the ball; you could really get some speed!
Another thing I had noticed was the people in our room and my obsession with getting strikes. We actually forced our friend to stay longer (he was really good at the curve strikes) so as to see if he could beat his own score. The interaction between player/audience to the video game was thoroughly enjoyable. Overall, I believe the gameplay was a ten out of ten hands down and acceptable for anyone of any age.
DESIGN:
What was very interesting about Wii Sports when it came to the design of the overall game was its simplicity. I would think that with this new type of video game, new aspects and innovative techniques would be used when it came to design, but when it boils down to it, Wii Sports is an interactive game that is good old fashion fun.
In bowling, the bowlers were these cartoon little characters, fun and cute looking; they set the tone for the game. They didn’t even have any arms! There was not much personality to the characters besides their obvious physical looks and there is not story whatsoever to Wii Sports.
As for level design, the bowling arena looked exactly like a realistic one would look like. There were no extra cool features when bowling; it was simply exactly like the bowling arenas that you and I play on. What caught my attention though was how exactly when the payer was not playing, how the overall experience of bowling was captured in the video game. I saw it very much like a sports channel. First I would bowl, and lets say I would get a strike. There would be multiple slow-motion angles of my ball hitting the pins, and then “Wii Sports” would flash into the screen transitioning back to the player. I think its interesting that society watches these professional sports on the television, and now it’s the player interacting with and in the television, even though it’s the games character who represents the player. With Wii Sports simplicity and fun, I was able to interact with the videogame physically, interact with my opponents, and interact with the audience in a positive enjoyable manner.
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Mar 6th, 2008 at 01:49:38 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
SUMMARY:
In Wii Sports for Wii, the player or players (up to four) have the choice to either partake in bowling, tennis, boxing, or golf. Instead of a just pressing buttons on a normal controller hooked into the game system, the players play the game according to the hand movement of the wireless controller.
GAMEPLAY:
This game was probably one of the best games I have ever played. This was my first experience with the Wii consol and it was really a fun game. Unlike typical games, the Wii makes you really get involved in the game when it came to playing the sports. The game that my friends and I chose to play was bowling, and it amazed me how accurate or should I say how realistically you had to throw the ball in order to get a good score. A slight movement on the controller could fatally lessen your score as your bowling ball went into the gutter.
I believe that the really cool aspect of the game was the interaction I had with the people surrounding me. Cramped into a triple, eight of us played and watched the game. I remember feeling pressure from not only the competition I had but as well with the audience around me. There were tons of “Ohhhhhhhs” and “Ahhhhhhhhs,” it really was quite a scene. People were getting mad at each other, people were rejoicing, people were competitive, the game really brought out a sense of really fun interactive competition. Sure there are games that are competitive, but this physical interaction differs from them all. With Wii Sports, I believe the game makes its players have a significant presence in the magic circle, but because of its physical aspect, the game has a sense of reality as well.
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 02:44:56 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
Summary:
In my second time playing, I began to get a really good sense of flow from the game. To put it into simple terms, I would get through a level (which implied killing every bad guy there was, getting various guns and ammo, and advancing through levels) so as to move on into the next. The next level would produce a new environment for me to interact with my enemies, therefore making the gameplay a continuous source of fun.
What I began to notice at first unconsciously and then gradually consciously, was how comfortable I was shooting and aiming with my various guns. My ability to zoom in on people with certain guns and with my trusty aimer always in front of me, shooting was made much easier than lets say a game without an aimer or lock-ons. I do not really remember any other games made for the N64 at the moment, but I think that GoldenEye 007’s ease of play contributed significantly to its success.
Design:
I think that what this game lacks, especially for me now as being a previous player, is innovative aspects of the game. To be honest, I love this game to death, but really there isn’t any times where I feel like something within the game was very out of the ordinary and different from other games from the past. Every video game pretty much has variation if it has multiple levels, so I will commend GoldenEye 007 in its variation of levels. There are levels in which I was able to just go entirely through without having to back trace my steps, and there were some in which I had to figure out exactly I would have to retrace my steps. But really, it’s nothing to be amazed about.
The game creates conflict in two different ways. One obvious way is the interaction with the bad guys. In order for me to complete a level, I needed to kill those who were strictly created to kill me. The second way in which the game creates a sense of conflict is the level design. In many ways, I did not have freedom to move about in my levels, because there was only one way to go, one bridge to go on, one hallway to go down, one vent to climb through, etc.
The tone of the game is neither a happy one nor dark one; it’s more of an adventurous feel. The sounds of bullets whizzing by, the sometimes overwhelming amount of bad guys, and just the fact that I was James Bond gave the game this adventurous feeling. What I thought was interesting about the game was its reward structure which was a folder at the end of each level telling the player his or hers stats. These included: The time in which you had finished the game, the best time, accuracy, weapon of choice, shots total, kills total, and the percentages of head shots, body shots, limb shots, and other shots. It made me feel that I had done a good job in killing and getting through a level, and sometimes made me feel as if I slacked and didn’t really get as involved in the game as I could have. Overall I would rate this game a 10 out of 10 simply because it a classic that I have grown to continually enjoy.
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 02:44:23 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
Summary:
In N64’s GoldenEye 007, the single and multi-player aspects of the game, control James Bond: a man based on the character from the movie GoldenEye. The game is a first person shooter and the goal of the game is to work ones way around and complete each level without being killed.
Gameplay:
When playing games from N64, its hard not to have a good time, especially because of the fact that the N64 represented a part of my youth. In playing this game, I could not help but to reminisce over the countless hours playing GoldenEye 007. It felt good to go back to my roots and hear the soundtracks, the sounds of shooting and reloading guns, the way in which James Bond would make this particular breathing sound when hurt, it was all ever so familiar. When playing games from the past, I tend to feel very comfortable with the game. There is nothing new when I hear the sound of those alarms, or the sound of my sniper. And in a way, the game is almost too comfortable, which most definitely good, but I believe a video game should keep its player on edge and curious.
When it came to characters within the game, I believe there really was not much to critique. Although the player, or I was not able to see myself in GoldenEye 007, being a man such as 007 from the movie makes the player have an already preconditioned view of what he or she actually is. James Bond’s personality is not gradually revealed as the game progresses and therefore has no room for change. The only change that James Bond would receive was getting hurt and switching up his guns. As for the ‘bad’ guys, all I could really say about them is that they shot at me. Sure their outfits changed and their guns changed, but I felt as if each bad guy throughout the levels I have played so far is basically the same.
The game itself was of course really fun to play. The only reason is because of my past involvement as a kid and also because the game has a simple goal which is fun and not too hard to overcome. This goal of course is to get through levels without dying.
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Chewbacca has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 23 days |
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