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A battle cry fills the air that is already rank with the smell of burning flesh and gunsmoke, nervous anticipation filled the hearts of the few who are remaining, guarding 'their town'. They know the attack is imminent, and that if their plan fails there is no chance of them winning, they are outnumbered five to one, and the only advantage they have is one of suprise, one of a secret weapon. On the horizon, the view of the setting sun is mired by the rising dust clouds, the invaders are coming, and the time for waiting is over, its now or never, the weapon has to be fired...
Is this a scene from a movie? A level of a game? Well, yes and no.
No, because this is not from a movie, or a game, but yes, because it could be. If I told you that this was in fact a scenario that a child has created playing with their toys, Im sure you would be more than accepting of it, after all Im sure that at some point in time you were a child playing with toys, creating your own missions, your own objectives, your own problems that need to be overcome. For example, when I was younger, I used to collect transformer toys, I bought all the videos, - I was a fan. But when I had the toys, did I recreate scenes from the series or movies? No. Did I just use their special glowing missile launchine cannons? No. Did I create my own adventures, my own movie, my own game? Yes.
While I realise that playing with toys and playing a videogame are two completely seperate entities, after all, the videogame is supposed to provide you with all the narrative, right? Well, why? Playing the WWF games, I dont only follow the storylines they give, I use a little known trick to further enhance my enjoyment of the game, my imagination. I create past events and rivalries between the characters, a history of events that mean this is not just a versus match, but rather the latest battle between two arch nemesis, each one vying for victory in a long running feud, but neither one able to put the other one down for good. Not only is winning important, but winning in style is, I want to hit not only my Top Rope Powerbomb Finisher, which my character calls the Genocide Powerbomb, but I want to make them submit, to tap out, to show who is the better man. Locking on a figure 4, victory would appear to be imminent,- his leg injured and his body aching after the powerbomb, his spirit is broken he will submit. But, as he inches closer to the ropes, Worry sets in, what if he wouln't submit, what if my obsession with gaining a victory via submission will cost me the match, what if after escaping the figure 4 he rolls me up for the fluke victory, what to do. As his fingertips reach, mere millimetres from the ropes, he gets pulled back closer to the centre, he finally realises he will not escape, and taps out. I am victorious, the feud is over, and I have won. And to think, some people would have thought this was just a regular exhibition versus match. Can't they see the history, dont they have the appropriate knowledge to flavour the match - It was all there, you just had to use your imagination.
And people complain about the lack of imagination exhibited by gamesmakers, while its true that a grunt in Quake 3 may not have had as much work put into his backstory as a character in a final fantasy game, but theres always the oppurtunity for you to fill in the gaps yourself. Taking Final Fantasy 7 for example, everyone who played it would have seen more or less the same story for Cloud, yet some would say one thing about him, wheras others will say the polar opposite. They have filled in the gaps and flavoured the character to their liking. Did Cloud and Tifa have a thing for each other at the end, or was Cloud still heartbroken over Aeris? Two different people could play the game and come up with the differing interpretations. Wheras the Grunt in Quake 3, may have been out for revenge Gladiator style on those who killed his family, but upon getting revenge, still felt the pain, and carried on in his destructive ways. Or he could just be a grunt. A generic soldier. Its up to you, the gamesplayer, the one with the imagination.
So while originality in games is great,and a well defined character can emote to you on many different levels, dont go moaning because the characters in 'Shoot Em Up X' dont have as detailed a backstory as those in Final Fantasy X, make your own up, and enjoy the game as much as you can. While some games are invariably bad; due to awkwark controls or jerky graphics and slowdown, don't complain about the narratives, as just like a child playing with action figures, or drawing pictures, your imagination can both create adventures and fill in the blanks, a game is just another toy, some more characters to add to your story, a base for you to start from.
Just imagine the possibilities....
Is this a scene from a movie? A level of a game? Well, yes and no.
No, because this is not from a movie, or a game, but yes, because it could be. If I told you that this was in fact a scenario that a child has created playing with their toys, Im sure you would be more than accepting of it, after all Im sure that at some point in time you were a child playing with toys, creating your own missions, your own objectives, your own problems that need to be overcome. For example, when I was younger, I used to collect transformer toys, I bought all the videos, - I was a fan. But when I had the toys, did I recreate scenes from the series or movies? No. Did I just use their special glowing missile launchine cannons? No. Did I create my own adventures, my own movie, my own game? Yes.
While I realise that playing with toys and playing a videogame are two completely seperate entities, after all, the videogame is supposed to provide you with all the narrative, right? Well, why? Playing the WWF games, I dont only follow the storylines they give, I use a little known trick to further enhance my enjoyment of the game, my imagination. I create past events and rivalries between the characters, a history of events that mean this is not just a versus match, but rather the latest battle between two arch nemesis, each one vying for victory in a long running feud, but neither one able to put the other one down for good. Not only is winning important, but winning in style is, I want to hit not only my Top Rope Powerbomb Finisher, which my character calls the Genocide Powerbomb, but I want to make them submit, to tap out, to show who is the better man. Locking on a figure 4, victory would appear to be imminent,- his leg injured and his body aching after the powerbomb, his spirit is broken he will submit. But, as he inches closer to the ropes, Worry sets in, what if he wouln't submit, what if my obsession with gaining a victory via submission will cost me the match, what if after escaping the figure 4 he rolls me up for the fluke victory, what to do. As his fingertips reach, mere millimetres from the ropes, he gets pulled back closer to the centre, he finally realises he will not escape, and taps out. I am victorious, the feud is over, and I have won. And to think, some people would have thought this was just a regular exhibition versus match. Can't they see the history, dont they have the appropriate knowledge to flavour the match - It was all there, you just had to use your imagination.
And people complain about the lack of imagination exhibited by gamesmakers, while its true that a grunt in Quake 3 may not have had as much work put into his backstory as a character in a final fantasy game, but theres always the oppurtunity for you to fill in the gaps yourself. Taking Final Fantasy 7 for example, everyone who played it would have seen more or less the same story for Cloud, yet some would say one thing about him, wheras others will say the polar opposite. They have filled in the gaps and flavoured the character to their liking. Did Cloud and Tifa have a thing for each other at the end, or was Cloud still heartbroken over Aeris? Two different people could play the game and come up with the differing interpretations. Wheras the Grunt in Quake 3, may have been out for revenge Gladiator style on those who killed his family, but upon getting revenge, still felt the pain, and carried on in his destructive ways. Or he could just be a grunt. A generic soldier. Its up to you, the gamesplayer, the one with the imagination.
So while originality in games is great,and a well defined character can emote to you on many different levels, dont go moaning because the characters in 'Shoot Em Up X' dont have as detailed a backstory as those in Final Fantasy X, make your own up, and enjoy the game as much as you can. While some games are invariably bad; due to awkwark controls or jerky graphics and slowdown, don't complain about the narratives, as just like a child playing with action figures, or drawing pictures, your imagination can both create adventures and fill in the blanks, a game is just another toy, some more characters to add to your story, a base for you to start from.
Just imagine the possibilities....
? indeed.
?
A battle cry fills the air that is already rank with the smell of burning flesh and gunsmoke, nervous anticipation filled the hearts of the few who are remaining, guarding 'their town'. They know the attack is imminent, and that if their plan fails there is no chance of them winning, they are outnumbered five to one, and the only advantage they have is one of suprise, one of a secret weapon. On the horizon, the view of the setting sun is mired by the rising dust clouds, the invaders are coming, and the time for waiting is over, its now or never, the weapon has to be fired...
Is this a scene from a movie? A level of a game? Well, yes and no.
No, because this is not from a movie, or a game, but yes, because it could be. If I told you that this was in fact a scenario that a child has created playing with their toys, Im sure you would be more than accepting of it, after all Im sure that at some point in time you were a child playing with toys, creating your own missions, your own objectives, your own problems that need to be overcome. For example, when I was younger, I used to collect transformer toys, I bought all the videos, - I was a fan. But when I had the toys, did I recreate scenes from the series or movies? No. Did I just use their special glowing missile launchine cannons? No. Did I create my own adventures, my own movie, my own game? Yes.
While I realise that playing with toys and playing a videogame are two completely seperate entities, after all, the videogame is supposed to provide you with all the narrative, right? Well, why? Playing the WWF games, I dont only follow the storylines they give, I use a little known trick to further enhance my enjoyment of the game, my imagination. I create past events and rivalries between the characters, a history of events that mean this is not just a versus match, but rather the latest battle between two arch nemesis, each one vying for victory in a long running feud, but neither one able to put the other one down for good. Not only is winning important, but winning in style is, I want to hit not only my Top Rope Powerbomb Finisher, which my character calls the Genocide Powerbomb, but I want to make them submit, to tap out, to show who is the better man. Locking on a figure 4, victory would appear to be imminent,- his leg injured and his body aching after the powerbomb, his spirit is broken he will submit. But, as he inches closer to the ropes, Worry sets in, what if he wouln't submit, what if my obsession with gaining a victory via submission will cost me the match, what if after escaping the figure 4 he rolls me up for the fluke victory, what to do. As his fingertips reach, mere millimetres from the ropes, he gets pulled back closer to the centre, he finally realises he will not escape, and taps out. I am victorious, the feud is over, and I have won. And to think, some people would have thought this was just a regular exhibition versus match. Can't they see the history, dont they have the appropriate knowledge to flavour the match - It was all there, you just had to use your imagination.
And people complain about the lack of imagination exhibited by gamesmakers, while its true that a grunt in Quake 3 may not have had as much work put into his backstory as a character in a final fantasy game, but theres always the oppurtunity for you to fill in the gaps yourself. Taking Final Fantasy 7 for example, everyone who played it would have seen more or less the same story for Cloud, yet some would say one thing about him, wheras others will say the polar opposite. They have filled in the gaps and flavoured the character to their liking. Did Cloud and Tifa have a thing for each other at the end, or was Cloud still heartbroken over Aeris? Two different people could play the game and come up with the differing interpretations. Wheras the Grunt in Quake 3, may have been out for revenge Gladiator style on those who killed his family, but upon getting revenge, still felt the pain, and carried on in his destructive ways. Or he could just be a grunt. A generic soldier. Its up to you, the gamesplayer, the one with the imagination.
So while originality in games is great,and a well defined character can emote to you on many different levels, dont go moaning because the characters in 'Shoot Em Up X' dont have as detailed a backstory as those in Final Fantasy X, make your own up, and enjoy the game as much as you can. While some games are invariably bad; due to awkwark controls or jerky graphics and slowdown, don't complain about the narratives, as just like a child playing with action figures, or drawing pictures, your imagination can both create adventures and fill in the blanks, a game is just another toy, some more characters to add to your story, a base for you to start from.
Just imagine the possibilities....
Is this a scene from a movie? A level of a game? Well, yes and no.
No, because this is not from a movie, or a game, but yes, because it could be. If I told you that this was in fact a scenario that a child has created playing with their toys, Im sure you would be more than accepting of it, after all Im sure that at some point in time you were a child playing with toys, creating your own missions, your own objectives, your own problems that need to be overcome. For example, when I was younger, I used to collect transformer toys, I bought all the videos, - I was a fan. But when I had the toys, did I recreate scenes from the series or movies? No. Did I just use their special glowing missile launchine cannons? No. Did I create my own adventures, my own movie, my own game? Yes.
While I realise that playing with toys and playing a videogame are two completely seperate entities, after all, the videogame is supposed to provide you with all the narrative, right? Well, why? Playing the WWF games, I dont only follow the storylines they give, I use a little known trick to further enhance my enjoyment of the game, my imagination. I create past events and rivalries between the characters, a history of events that mean this is not just a versus match, but rather the latest battle between two arch nemesis, each one vying for victory in a long running feud, but neither one able to put the other one down for good. Not only is winning important, but winning in style is, I want to hit not only my Top Rope Powerbomb Finisher, which my character calls the Genocide Powerbomb, but I want to make them submit, to tap out, to show who is the better man. Locking on a figure 4, victory would appear to be imminent,- his leg injured and his body aching after the powerbomb, his spirit is broken he will submit. But, as he inches closer to the ropes, Worry sets in, what if he wouln't submit, what if my obsession with gaining a victory via submission will cost me the match, what if after escaping the figure 4 he rolls me up for the fluke victory, what to do. As his fingertips reach, mere millimetres from the ropes, he gets pulled back closer to the centre, he finally realises he will not escape, and taps out. I am victorious, the feud is over, and I have won. And to think, some people would have thought this was just a regular exhibition versus match. Can't they see the history, dont they have the appropriate knowledge to flavour the match - It was all there, you just had to use your imagination.
And people complain about the lack of imagination exhibited by gamesmakers, while its true that a grunt in Quake 3 may not have had as much work put into his backstory as a character in a final fantasy game, but theres always the oppurtunity for you to fill in the gaps yourself. Taking Final Fantasy 7 for example, everyone who played it would have seen more or less the same story for Cloud, yet some would say one thing about him, wheras others will say the polar opposite. They have filled in the gaps and flavoured the character to their liking. Did Cloud and Tifa have a thing for each other at the end, or was Cloud still heartbroken over Aeris? Two different people could play the game and come up with the differing interpretations. Wheras the Grunt in Quake 3, may have been out for revenge Gladiator style on those who killed his family, but upon getting revenge, still felt the pain, and carried on in his destructive ways. Or he could just be a grunt. A generic soldier. Its up to you, the gamesplayer, the one with the imagination.
So while originality in games is great,and a well defined character can emote to you on many different levels, dont go moaning because the characters in 'Shoot Em Up X' dont have as detailed a backstory as those in Final Fantasy X, make your own up, and enjoy the game as much as you can. While some games are invariably bad; due to awkwark controls or jerky graphics and slowdown, don't complain about the narratives, as just like a child playing with action figures, or drawing pictures, your imagination can both create adventures and fill in the blanks, a game is just another toy, some more characters to add to your story, a base for you to start from.
Just imagine the possibilities....