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Game File, Industry Now

The VGX Awards Show was a Fail, Again

After watching the revamped VGX awards show and witnessing every tweet rip the show apart, I can’t help but wonder why Spike can’t get it right. This attempt to make the show and video games just as relevant as movies and music is unnecessary. If Spike does decide to take another shot at the awards thing, at least hire people who know a lot of something (we’ve seen what a little something gets us) about video games, to put the show together. Is that too much to ask?

Ever since Spike first aired the Video Game Awards show in 2003, the gaming community has, understandably, torn it down. Video games always took a back seat to the glitz and glamour, celebrity appearances, and musical performances. The VGX was supposed to be Spike’s attempt at finally making their awards show about the games and the people who make them. The intimate setting and one-on-one interviews were supposed to give developers a chance to talk about their creations and give gamers a sneak peek of what is to come. Instead, the interviews felt like a rushed and sloppy E3. The developers would talk for five minutes, Joel McHale would make an awkward joke, and then Geoff Keighley would cut the interview short, announcing time was running out. It’s like Keighley’s sole purpose as co-host was to make sure everything stayed on time. Honestly, I didn’t really care for the interviews. I just wanted to see the world premiere trailers and demos. Directors aren’t interviewed during the Oscars, so why do interviews during an awards show? That is what E3, comic con, and other conventions are for.

Other awards shows enlist a celebrity for the hosting gig, and Spike has followed this tradition every year: David Spade, Snoop Dogg, Samuel Jackson (four times), Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, Zachary Levi, and now Geoff Keighley and comedian Joel McHale. I’m sure all of these hosts have played video games, and I’m sure some of them enjoy video games very much, but what is wrong with getting someone within the gaming industry—preferably someone who talks to an audience about video games on a daily basis—to host the show? There are a number of people with podcasts and websites where their sole purpose is to talk about video games and feel comfortable doing it. Keighley and McHale made it feel awkward.

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Watching Joel force jokes and Geoff chuckle uncomfortably and quickly move on to the next thing made it painful to watch. The hosts also made sure to constantly comment on how much they love and play video games. They don’t have a real passion for video games and it showed. The sarcasm, disinterest, and constant berating of gamers were just too much.

Video games are a unique form of entertainment. Dousing it with the same formalities as any other awards show does not work. The gaming community is strong enough to stand on its own without needing to force its relevance. The funny skits, the secret trailers, and the gameplay demos are what kept me watching. I was even excited about the concert at the end of the show because I knew the music would be from a video game. These things should be kept for the next show.

Go ahead, have the awards take place at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, but fill it with real fans. Have musical performances as long as the music is from video games. Don’t even worry about making it a star studded affair; for once, it’s not about the celebrities. Hire hosts who love video games and would genuinely be excited. Put the show back on television—a marathon of Cops aired on the Spike channel during the VGX stream. Take elements of other awards shows and make them relevant to video games, instead of trying to force it into this traditional pattern. Gamers may have their disagreements (PS4 vs. Xbox One) and temper tantrums (Mass Effect 3 ending), but there is one thing we can all agree on: Spike failed again. Will it be able to gain back our trust or even our attention? At this point, I really don’t know. Maybe Spike should just give up and let someone else give it a try.

Adventure, Arcade, Indie Pennant

Indie Game Alert: A Clumsy Adventure

Take a little running, add some well timed jumps with a dash of simple physics, and you have Excamedia’s A Clumsy Adventure. Planned as a PS Vita title, Excamedia looks to bring back some classic gaming difficulty on the go. There is definitely no attempt to reinvent the wheel here, but the simplicity is endearing.

Players will control Zack, an ex-Marine; sounds awesome, right? Well, unfortunately, Zack is the only person who thinks Zack is awesome, and his clumsiness gets him kicked out of the military. He stumbles upon this adventure and must set off to avoid various platforming pitfalls and enemies, including end level bosses.

At this point in development, the game is not a graphic marvel, but that’s not really the main focus. The gameplay is where A Clumsy Adventure will hook gamers. For the PC demo I played, the controls were very responsive, which leads me to believe speed-runs will be a major pastime. I am also very interested to see if and how the Vita’s touch capabilities will be utilized. There are definitely opportunities within the side scrolling 3D world to weave in touch functions. I envision it being somewhat like Escape Plan, but I digress.
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There are still a lot of questions to be answered here, but I think the outlook is positive. It will be interesting to see how the game carries over from this initial PC demo to the Vita universe when the time comes.

For more information and the demo, visit Excamedia’s Game Jolt profile page. If you enjoy the game, don’t forget to show your support for Excamedia and A Clumsy Adventure.

Indie Pennant

Indie Game Alert: Super Cool Kids: Dungeon Dash

Survive as long as you can. Escape is just out of reach. Rescue all the cute kittens. These are your only instructions. Who is this character? How did he get stuck in a dungeon? Why did he go into a dungeon? None of these questions will be answered and they won’t matter when the lava and water are catching up to you. Super Cool Kids: Dungeon Dash is a simple, pixel-art game, but it will provide you with hours of fun frustration (i.e. me screaming at my computer screen and jamming on the directional buttons).

You control a little boy (or maybe a man) who is trapped in a dungeon filled with pools of lava and water. To reach the exit, you must dig through dirt and rock. There are two different types of rock you must break through: a soft rock, which doesn’t take much effort to break through, and a harder, gold-speckled rock, which takes an extra two seconds to break through. Avoid the pools of lava and water; digging too close will release a flood into the path you’ve created. You will have little time to react and dig in a different direction, but if you stop it’s game over—one life, no extra chances. Every few seconds, an earthquake rattles the dungeon, which breaks up some of the dirt and rock. This can be a good thing (one less block to break) or a bad thing (lava and water have more space to flood). The farther you advance, the faster the earthquakes occur. The intervals start off every 10 seconds, then 5 seconds, then 2 seconds.

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Because each room is randomly generated, sometimes the game will spawn you in an area that immediately floods and you die. The same thing can happen to kittens and the other items. This can be annoying—especially when you’re really far into the game and have become a kitten-rescuing pro—but it doesn’t happen too often. There are also some small glitches like being able to walk on lava and water for a split second (which is more of an advantage than a problem) and sometimes a block of lava or water will flow into the exit, but it wont keep you from escaping.

This game makes me feel like a kid again: playing Gauntlet 2 for hours, moving through infinite rooms, looking for the final door to let me out. I really like this game because it is so simple—straight to the point without any unnecessary gimmicks. It may be difficult or even impossible, but I would love to see a leaderboard for the game. It would really add to the fun and challenge players to really take a risk when collecting items. I can’t wait to see more from Super Cool Kids. Play the game on the Super Cool Kids website and see for yourself.

Action, Adventure, Games and Software, Indie Pennant, Multiplayer

Indie Game Alert: Skyjacker

A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon an indie game in development, Skyjacker. The closest I’ve ever come to a space simulator is Mass Effect, so this kind of game is new to me. After reading “You play Ael, the most feared and ruthless space-pirate human,” I was instantly intrigued. The main character was abducted by aliens, raised by space pirates, and is now the lone human in this dangerous galaxy.

You are not a hero; you will have to sabotage, kidnap, rob, infiltrate and extract your way to the top. Without a linear path to follow, players can pick and choose which jobs they want to complete. Want to upgrade your ship? Salvage and use weapons, engines, and other parts from ships you hijack. Depending on the type of parts you put on your ship, you can change the way you play the game: “. . . play it like an arcade game, like a classic space game, or with full inertia and momentum.” Ship customization is a welcome change to a flight game of this type. It appears to have a lot of depth to the customization; you can see each piece of your ship, allowing you to pick and choose the parts you want to equip.

To build your crew, you will be able to choose from various A.I. or  invite your friends. With the co-op feature, players will be able to work with friends to become stronger and take on riskier missions. Along with the single-player and co-op modes, there is a multiplayer mode, which will include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Last Man Standing. Skyjacker will also allow players to create their own missions (no coding knowledge necessary) using art assets and a design framework.

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Just by looking at the demo, I can tell a lot of thought has been put into this game. The universe is vibrant with colors instead of just being dark and cold. Space is littered with various asteroids and debris, and the planets stand out. The ships you encounter are well detailed and unique. You will fight against (or along side) 10 very different alien races. Each race has unique looks, abilities, technologies and histories.

If you’re looking for something different with a lot of potential, then you should back Skyjacker on its Kickstarter page. Funding ends on November 22, 2013, so you have to be quick. For more information, screenshots, and videos, checkout the Skyjacker website (download playable demo)and Eugene Zhukov’s (project lead) YouTube page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VifzGCYW3M

Game File, Games and Software, Industry Now

Am I a Bad Female Gamer?

When I was a hardcore Battlefield 3 addict (now a hardcore Battlefield 4 addict) and needed a good laugh, I would peruse the Battlefield forum. One day, I came across a female player complaining about the lack of female soldiers in multiplayer. I felt bad, not because I too wanted to play as a kick-ass female soldier, but because it never crossed my mind. I tried to justify my lack of feminism by thinking, “Well, [at that time] female soldiers are not allowed to serve in combat, so it would only make sense to not have a female soldier in multiplayer.” Yes, it is just a game, but DICE does pride itself on how realistic Battlefield is compared to other FPS’s. Besides, you can’t even see your character while playing.

Then it happened again. I stumbled upon an article about how Rockstar missed out on the opportunity to cast a female lead in GTA V. After reading the article, I again thought to myself, “Hmm, I didn’t even think about that.” Even though the author (a guy) is right—it would have been interesting to have a female main character in GTA for once—it never crossed my mind and it didn’t bother me. Why? I’m starting to think I’m just a horrible representative for female gamers. No I’m not taking scantily clad “geek” pictures or recording my boobs on twitch and flirting for a donation, but I still feel ashamed, guilty. I should be standing on a mountain top shouting, “We need more women in games!” but I’m not. I’m quietly enjoying these games as is, as long as they don’t reinforce any negative (“You should be in the kitchen blah, blah, blah”) stereotypes.

Some female gamers have a hard time connecting with the male characters they are forced to play as. Maybe I’m just used to playing as a male, so it doesn’t bother me as much. To me, playing a video game is like reading a book; as long as the story is good, I don’t care about the sex of the characters. I can still make a connection because the story intrigues me or because I sympathize with their situation. I’m reading this book or playing this game because I want to learn about the characters and their story. A female lead doesn’t create an automatic connection; it’s still someone else’s story and whether I enjoy it or not doesn’t depend on the character’s sex. It’s great to see a kick-ass female lead in video games, but it’s not the first complaint I think of if she is missing.

Character creation is becoming more popular in games. Creating my own character gives me the chance to play as a woman and create my own story. That is more satisfying to me because I can make the decisions and create my own path. No there isn’t a female lead in GTA V, but I can create one and choose whether or not I want to go skydiving with Dom or help out Lamar on one of his missions (unlike in the story).

Maybe I’m just ill-prepared to fight for women in games because of how I grew up. My sister (who is ten years older than me) introduced me to video games when I was very young. We had all the systems: NES to PlayStation 1. In middle school and high school, my two best friends (who are sisters and have no brothers) were also gamers. We spent—what had to be—thousands of hours playing GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark. Female gamers were the norm for me growing up. All of the women (including my mom) in my life played video games, and we were never told they are for boys only. Though this issue existed then, I completely missed out on it and am now confused by the outcry of feminism in the gaming world.

I’m not saying I’m against having more positive female characters in gaming, far from it. I’m just saying I suck at being a feminist. Sometimes I don’t see things the same way other women see things.

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