The Sheridan Sun Online
10/03/10 4:33 PM
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Wednesday March 10th, 2010
DISTRACTIONS
Confessions of a non-gamer By Lindsey Papp
Back when the best thing on TV was Nintendo 64 and Duck Hunt was everyone’s favourite video game, it wasn’t difficult for a non-gamer to pick up the game controller. Has it changed so much since then? Is it only dedicated gamers who can rent the new and best games, while everyone else has to start off small? “With so many of us using mice, keyboards, etc., PHOTO BY LINDSEY PAPP there are more games that can be enjoyed by more people then ever before,” said Richard Shoemaker, The Playstation 2 and a game controller. freelance writer and former deputy editor for PCZone magazine. Ralph H. Baer created Magnavox Odyssey, the first video game console, in 1972. It featured arcade games such as Pong, a game similar to tennis, and Space Invaders, where two-dimensional aliens were destroyed with a laser cannon for points. These games were simple, with minimal controls and two-dimensional graphics. Now controllers typically have upwards of 10 buttons, as well as joysticks. “A driving game in an arcade, played with a wheel and stick shift, is much easier to play than one at home when you have to press X, Y and Z to get the same effect,” said Shoemaker.
“A driving game in an arcade, played with a wheel and stick shift, is much easier to play than one at home when you have to press X, Y and Z to get the same effect.” Most of us aren’t strangers to video games. According to a market research study done by the NPD Group in May of 2009, 63 per cent of Americans had played a video game in the last six months, while only 53 per cent went to the movies. “As much as games rival movies and books, increasingly they complement them,” said Shoemaker. Video game sales in Canada have doubled in the last two years, according to the NPD Group, because of the release of unique software aimed at new video game users of all ages. For those new to gaming, video games are separated into maturity categories where they are sold, but video game companies also create games with different experience levels in mind. “Games have always been designed for people with different skill levels,” said Shoemaker.
The difficulty changes from one level to another “The rating system introduced to video games [E for everyone, M for Mature and so on] makes it a lot easier for everyone when choosing what video games to play,” said Kristina Dunn, a part-time
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MORE INFORMATION Video game diary, entry one It’s Friday night and I’m making my first video game attempt. My first choice is a game called Gears of War 2, developed by Epic Games. In this game, you are an uber-soldier and your objective is to make one final stand for humanity. It’s a good thing this is just a video game and no one is really depending on me to save humanity, because I would fail by epic proportions. This game has 22 different enemies for me to fight off. I guess the only good thing is that they don’t all come at you at once, and you only get to the harder enemies the higher up in levels you go, so I really don’t have to worry about them. I didn’t get too far in this game. The character I used was difficult to steer and it’s obvious I have bad aim. But I did enjoy trying to get somewhere in this game. Video game diary, entry two My second gaming attempt was with a game called Grid. This is a racing game featuring underground racing for money and status. I only passed the preview and got into the actual race because the game felt sorry for me. There is no possible way I could have done that myself. I only played this game for about half an hour. I think steering with the little joysticks on the controller was the hardest thing about playing this game. It’s definitely something I would have to work to get used to. Video game diary, entry three My final attempt was with a game called Lego Indiana Jones: The original adventures.This game was by far the easiest to do. There were a lot of hints and clues that popped up. Running around as a little Lego man was way more fun than I thought it would be and I managed to get all the way to the final level. Unfortunately my inability to aim came back to once again bite me in the butt.
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The Sheridan Sun Online
10/03/10 4:33 PM
easier for everyone when choosing what video games to play,” said Kristina Dunn, a part-time Conestoga student in the Webmaster program. Game options include easy, medium and hard levels. These levels affect the difficulty of the game, making one game enjoyable for players of more than one skill level. Throughout the creation process, a game can go through numerous tests. The concept for the game itself can be focus tested, and a pre-release the game will be tested by quality assurance as well as paid testers and external groups. “Typically these testers are veteran players, which can sometimes skew a game toward the hardcore end of the ability spectrum, but a good development team will know this and plan accordingly,” said Shoemaker. When you are trying to get into a new video game, it might be more difficult to involve yourself in the foreign concept of the game.
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“If you can relate to the rules of the game in the real world, then you can probably get into it quicker when playing the video game,” said Shoemaker. “Games that rely on abstraction [and fantasy] can be the most difficult to get to grips with.” “Even after 14 years of playing video games, I still have trouble with the first-person shooter option,” said Dunn.
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