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There is a question that I have been asked frequently (not by the same person though), and that is, 'Wouldn't you prefer games which are full of cute and cuddliness instead of the same bloody and gorey titles that are designed to attract male gamers?'
Sure, I may be a girl, but does that necessarily mean I can't like some of the same things boys do? After all, I like the James Bond movies, The Terminator movies, the Star Wars movies; Are you going to try to tell me that no boys here liked the more 'cutesy' movies such as Shrek, Toy Story and Monsters Inc? It is the same with the videogames business. Girls and boys can like different genres alike, maybe for different reasons, but it can happen.
Occasionally, I am asked by some people, "If you could make the perfect game for yourself, what would it be like?" Well obviously, if I knew that, I would be a very rich business-woman selling the game and involving more girls into the world of videogaming.
Perfection is something that cannot be achieved in a videogame. Not even Official Playstation 2 Magazine could say that Timeplitters 2 was perfect. They may have given it 10/10, but one of their scores for a particular element of the games was 9/10. It's just not feasable to create a perfect game.
So maybe I cannot say what would be included in the game, but I can describe what would make a game seem well above average to myself. To me, the near-perfect game would have an unpredictable storyline. One with unusual plot twists that don't spoil the game. It would also have to include a wide variety of play. So, for example, if it was a First Person Shooter (FPS) then it would certainly have to be more than just a run -> shoot -> hide -> shoot -> run -> etc. The game would have to be simple to play, yet difficult to complete, with visuals that look clean and crisp, even if they aren't fully 3D worlds - after all, 3D graphics aren't everything in a game. The music would have to be brilliantly atmospheric, or atleast something that both suits the game and is still a joy to listen to. After all, there's nothing more off-putting than badly written music.
Infact, there are many different detirmining factors as to what would make a game brilliant, but again, if I went into too much detail, would the game still seem near-perfect to me? I enjoy the unpredictability of videogames - such as the storyline of Skies of Arcadia. I was quite suprised to see Aika, the main female character, nearly get raped by an evil Valuan commander that it felt a joy to rescue her. That is why, although I already have a copy of Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast, I will also be buying the now GameCube exclusive Skies of Arcadia.
Skies of Arcadia is my favourite game. It was full of unpredictability, drama, and required skill and intelligence to complete. It was a passionate storyline full of emotion and also incorporated the sad truths of real life such as war, poverty and the human urge to conquer. The music was fantastic, suited every moment and even changed in-battle whether you were winning or losing! It was such a brilliant game that even though I now know what's coming, I'm still going to be hooked to it on my GameCube when it is eventually released. The game could still be improved upon, but even so, it is still my favourite game.
So if you are ever asked what would make the perfect game. Don't rush straight in with some funny-duddy ideas on how it could be similar to a particular Playstation 2 game, or include elements from a game on the X-box. Think about it carefully and consider what it is that makes that games you really enjoy seem so amazingly fun to play. If a game was too similar to another, would you still insist on buying it?
Thankyou for reading.
Dani.
> how old are you again cc?
Didn't she give an indication - twice, in this topic?