The battle lines of the internet are amazing. I used to get really angry when I would read posts or comments about how the Wii is only for kids and casual gamers and how hardcore gamers have to play certain types of games. Even though the two aren't mutually exclusive, there is a line between graphics that push the boundaries between life and game and graphics that push the given hardware to it's limits while maintaining the stylized aesthetic of the game world. Even though the two aren't opposed to each other, people like to pit games with bright flashy colors against games with more neutral palettes. Games like Super Mario Galaxy 2 facing off against Resistance 3... sounds pretty silly when I put it like that, but it is silly.
I own an Xbox 360 and Wii. In less than a year I intend on owning a Wii U. I play every genre of game imaginable; From Need for Speed to Marvel vs Capcom, Terraria to NBA Jam, Super Mario Galaxy 2 to Halo, Final Fantasy to Boom Blox, I play them all. Not all regularly, but they all make their way into my lineup of games. I've mentioned my lineup before. I like to have a little something for everyone. It makes me a better gamer and makes my house more hospitable to non gamers. It allows me to trick people into doing what I want to do, whether it be watch everyone play Dance Central(though I'm pretty good myself), work as a team in a 4 player co-op like Castle Crashers or New Super Mario Bros Wii, or pwn everyone in a pick up and play competitive game like Driift Mania(yeah, with 2 i's), Geometry Wars, or Tetris Party.
By any definition I can not be denied entrance to the "hardcore" camp of gamers, but at the same time I embrace the lighter, "casual" fare that existed just fine before Wii, but now has a place to call home. Sometimes I don't want to put that perfectly thrown grenade in the throat of another player; sometimes I don't want to grind to level 50 so that I can finally unlock that awesome piece of armor; sometimes I don't want to play a nerve racking round of Pac-Man Championship Edition DX; sometimes I just want to kick back and let my friends into my World of Goo or wrap myself up in Kirby's Epic Yarn. I'm not any less of a gamer because of my varied. I'm just a little be Casual and a little bit Hardcore.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Castle Crashers: an RPG For Everyone
I've become quite well known in my groups of friends for finding games that everyone likes. I actually go out of my way to find local mulitplayer games that my gamer friends and non-gamer friends alike can enjoy. I've often resorted to the Wii for these games. Things like World of Goo, New Super Mario Bros, Tetris Party, Dr. Mario, Boom Blox, Mario Kart, Geometry Wars, and NBA Jam. I search out the games that fit that transcend that metaphysical barrier between the "casual" and "hardcore"(I try to not use those terms, but it fits). One particular XBox 360 game seems to have taken the cake.
I've had Castle Crashers for a couple of years at this point, but I stumbled upon a sub-group of my friends that likes RPG's, so this was just perfect. I decided I could easily use one of my stronger characters and act as a buffer to keep them alive as they work through the game and we could have a good amount of fun. 2 weeks later I have a total of 12 people playing Castle Crashers at various times. It seems that I've found the perfect game. My wife plays, my friends' wives play, a Final Fantasy Veteran plays, a FPS fanatic plays, a PC gamer, a nanny, a photographer, everyone it seems will play this game and love it.
Well it got old being the strongest character while all these different groups are playing through the beginning levels. Then I realized the true genius of the simplicity of the leveling mechanic of Castle Crashers: it can be played so many different ways with so many different characters who all have different magics and characteristics. While at the same time, it is a simple 4 player brawler with a great sense of humor. I just want to keep playing... I want to level up every available character just for the heck of it. I now have 3 characters who are my main investment characters and they were all leveled up differently, one with all magic, one with all speed and one perfectly balanced between all stats.
It was just quite refreshing to rediscover this little gem. Thanks Behemoth, couldn't have done it without you...
I've had Castle Crashers for a couple of years at this point, but I stumbled upon a sub-group of my friends that likes RPG's, so this was just perfect. I decided I could easily use one of my stronger characters and act as a buffer to keep them alive as they work through the game and we could have a good amount of fun. 2 weeks later I have a total of 12 people playing Castle Crashers at various times. It seems that I've found the perfect game. My wife plays, my friends' wives play, a Final Fantasy Veteran plays, a FPS fanatic plays, a PC gamer, a nanny, a photographer, everyone it seems will play this game and love it.
Well it got old being the strongest character while all these different groups are playing through the beginning levels. Then I realized the true genius of the simplicity of the leveling mechanic of Castle Crashers: it can be played so many different ways with so many different characters who all have different magics and characteristics. While at the same time, it is a simple 4 player brawler with a great sense of humor. I just want to keep playing... I want to level up every available character just for the heck of it. I now have 3 characters who are my main investment characters and they were all leveled up differently, one with all magic, one with all speed and one perfectly balanced between all stats.
It was just quite refreshing to rediscover this little gem. Thanks Behemoth, couldn't have done it without you...
Fighting Games: A Legacy
My first fighting game was Street Fighter II on Game Boy. Needless to say, some of the nuances of the genre were lost on a 5 year old, but even then, the importance of not letting your opponent hit back was more than clear. Juggling, ranged attacks, spacial awareness, memorization, adaptation, improvisational combos would all come to pass as I grew in age and wisdom.
Following Street Fighter II, I actually didn't really get into a fighting game again until Super Smash Bros. While it isn't a typical fighting game, the keys were there. While it didn't use the same skill set at Street Fighter, it still embodies all that makes fighting games great on a competitive level. Followed up by Melee and Brawl, I couldn't help but love the style of this fighting game.
After Melee, I was dragged into a new gaming scene: Tekken 5. The Jump into 3D was a fair shock. Now I can avoid those pesky ranged attacks by a simple side step! At the end of the day, however I was never as drawn into the 3D fighting as I was the 2D. There are probably several reasons, the main one being simply preference. I have nothing against the gameplay at all. The combos were just as satisfying and the combat just as smooth, I just prefer the 2D.
Since Tekken 5, fighting games disappeared from my typical lineup. I like to have a solid rotation of multiple genres in my gaming. I think it is good to have a lengthy RPG to be working through, one or two local multiplayer games for parties and game nights, one or two online multiplayer games for when I don't have anyone around, and then a platformer. Now fighters can fall into both of the multiplayer styles, but for whatever reason, I had games in those voids but no fighting games.
Well all that to say, I've returned to form with fighting games. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 currently resides in my Xbox 360. I love it. All the twitch of Street Fighter II, 2D visuals, and enough depth that I'll never run out of things to learn(unless I go on a binge, let's hope I don't do that again...) I can't keep up online, but I enjoy the single player arcade and I have a couple friends who love to play. It's good to be back.
Following Street Fighter II, I actually didn't really get into a fighting game again until Super Smash Bros. While it isn't a typical fighting game, the keys were there. While it didn't use the same skill set at Street Fighter, it still embodies all that makes fighting games great on a competitive level. Followed up by Melee and Brawl, I couldn't help but love the style of this fighting game.
After Melee, I was dragged into a new gaming scene: Tekken 5. The Jump into 3D was a fair shock. Now I can avoid those pesky ranged attacks by a simple side step! At the end of the day, however I was never as drawn into the 3D fighting as I was the 2D. There are probably several reasons, the main one being simply preference. I have nothing against the gameplay at all. The combos were just as satisfying and the combat just as smooth, I just prefer the 2D.
Since Tekken 5, fighting games disappeared from my typical lineup. I like to have a solid rotation of multiple genres in my gaming. I think it is good to have a lengthy RPG to be working through, one or two local multiplayer games for parties and game nights, one or two online multiplayer games for when I don't have anyone around, and then a platformer. Now fighters can fall into both of the multiplayer styles, but for whatever reason, I had games in those voids but no fighting games.
Well all that to say, I've returned to form with fighting games. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 currently resides in my Xbox 360. I love it. All the twitch of Street Fighter II, 2D visuals, and enough depth that I'll never run out of things to learn(unless I go on a binge, let's hope I don't do that again...) I can't keep up online, but I enjoy the single player arcade and I have a couple friends who love to play. It's good to be back.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
My Family and the Games We Play
Having played video games since I was three(literally) and being a part of a family that has often played games(Trivial Pursuit, Taboo, Spades, Chess, Rummy, Catch Phrase, Volleyball, Football, Softball, Basketball, Cranium, Hand and Foot, Dominoes, Risk, Clue, Scrabble, and Monopoly were just some of the standby's throughout my life) I have very high respect for games and what they have to offer. Maybe it has just been ingrained in me since my first game of Othello; maybe playing the magic recorder in The Legend of Zelda just stuck with me. I don't know, all I know is that games of all size and style and difficulty have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.
On top of that, I've always played games with people. It didn't matter if a video game was meant for just one person; Di(sister) and I have played through, together, several Mario's, several Zelda's, and a handful of other video games. To this day, I search far and wide for games that Rachel and I, and the rest of the family can play together. I've recently added Settlers of Catan, Polarity, Acquire, Tetris, Dr. Mario, and several others to our repertoire. All I'm saying is that we play games... as a group, as a family. Grandpa has gone to great lengths over the years to satisfy our needs for games(a basketball hoop and a small golf course that he built come to mind)
I realize that games have very little value on the surface. At some point, I have to remind myself that a game is simply the completion of objectives( or "playing") given a set of confinements(or "rules"). However, more important to the game, over rules, strategy or skill, are the players. I'm going to use three games as examples: Volleyball, Dominoes, and Crainium.
Volleyball is a skill based strategy sport. The rules offer a fair amount of variation depending on the size group playing and their skill level. Very rarely do the rules interfere with play. More often than not, especially in our circles, we make and mend the rules as the situation arises. Ultimately, the rules are simply a vehicle for determining points in this game. While the strategy is mildly simple, "hit the ball where no one is", there are many ways to go about doing that. The weight of a simple tap can be far greater than a huge spike in the right hands(or off the right hands, however you want to say it). The strategy is also changed depending on the players. This is one game where different skill levels affect how one plays. The greatest player must play to the skill level of their teammates. While some may view this as a negative, I think it allows for a great variation in the style and competitive level of play. It provides balance to the game and allows players of all skills to compete. Not all of us can be Trent "The Fairy" Vickers(cousin), the rest of us have to resort to trash talk and poor gamesmanship, like Kenny(uncle). However, because of the flexible rules and strategies of volleyball, these two very different players can play together in an equally competitive environment. Volleyball is a situation where the players determine rules and strategy and, therefore, makes a great group game allowing for many players of many skills.
There are many variations of Dominoes, however I'm going to pick out our typical "scoring style" dominoes to compare and contrast. Dominoes is a luck fueled skill game. The rules of Dominoes are incredibly simple. 1) Lead with highest double, 2) play matching tiles, 3) you can't play off of all sides of a double but the first. 4) Make multiples of 5 to score. That is pretty much it. However, where Volleyball has flexible rules that appeal to all skill sets, Scoring Dominoes has the rigid set of simple rules to ensure that all can play. The variations of this style of dominoes are fairly limited. The two strategies are mostly determined by luck of the draw. If you have the ability to score, you typically will, however if you can't, you then lean on blocking others so that you can go out before them. Obviously there are a couple variations determined by situation and the tiles played, but these are the basic outlines of how the game is played. The skill level of the players truly has little to do with the outcome, it is a result of luck and the players choices. The skill involved is a management of tiles assuring yourself of having plays balanced against scoring as often as possible. Dominoes is a situation where a simple, rigid rule set allows players of all skill levels to play and to play with anyone, though victory will usually go to the highest skilled players.
Crainium is a rules based personality game. This game best exemplifies the importance of people in games. The rules of Cranium are long and specific. They are based on situations and actually create several sub-games within the larger game. While the rules are too numerous to mention here, the idea is that each turn is turned into a mini game where one team competes against itself in a challenge to earn a roll of the die. Strategy is relegated to attempting to choose the challenges at which your team is more adept when you can, however, more often than not, it is determined by luck. This game emphasizes the same traits found in games like Catch Phrase, Taboo, Charades, or Guesstures. You have to know how to manipulate language, actions, and sounds to achieve the goals. Coming with this manipulation is the ability to relate to your team members. Often, a team of people who don't know each other well, will perform below a team of close friends. This is what makes this game people centric. It isn't that the game looses its fun when you play with people you don't know; the benefit is what you learn playing with new people. However, in competitive play(which our family tends to lean on) it is advantageous to have a good base of knowledge about your teammates and how they communicate.
I take the time to look at these three games not because I'm bored, but because I'm a geek and these are the things I think about. I love the ideas surrounding how and why people do things. Anthropology, psychology, meta-game, relationships are all things that fascinate me. I love pondering why I enjoy the things I enjoy vs. why others enjoy the things they enjoy. The whole idea here, is that the people make the games. Playing games with people is great because it brings people together that might not normally spend as much time together. Apparently games and families share traits. Only in family and games would you find a farmer, a county commissioner, a video game geek, a soldier, a soccer star, a Fairy, an Ice Flyer marketing manager, three teachers, an organist, a softball player, a diva, a server, a woodworker, and a professional camel rider throwing bones on a table eating frozen peanut butter pie and pound cake... simultaneously. It's a beautiful thing...
On top of that, I've always played games with people. It didn't matter if a video game was meant for just one person; Di(sister) and I have played through, together, several Mario's, several Zelda's, and a handful of other video games. To this day, I search far and wide for games that Rachel and I, and the rest of the family can play together. I've recently added Settlers of Catan, Polarity, Acquire, Tetris, Dr. Mario, and several others to our repertoire. All I'm saying is that we play games... as a group, as a family. Grandpa has gone to great lengths over the years to satisfy our needs for games(a basketball hoop and a small golf course that he built come to mind)
I realize that games have very little value on the surface. At some point, I have to remind myself that a game is simply the completion of objectives( or "playing") given a set of confinements(or "rules"). However, more important to the game, over rules, strategy or skill, are the players. I'm going to use three games as examples: Volleyball, Dominoes, and Crainium.
Volleyball is a skill based strategy sport. The rules offer a fair amount of variation depending on the size group playing and their skill level. Very rarely do the rules interfere with play. More often than not, especially in our circles, we make and mend the rules as the situation arises. Ultimately, the rules are simply a vehicle for determining points in this game. While the strategy is mildly simple, "hit the ball where no one is", there are many ways to go about doing that. The weight of a simple tap can be far greater than a huge spike in the right hands(or off the right hands, however you want to say it). The strategy is also changed depending on the players. This is one game where different skill levels affect how one plays. The greatest player must play to the skill level of their teammates. While some may view this as a negative, I think it allows for a great variation in the style and competitive level of play. It provides balance to the game and allows players of all skills to compete. Not all of us can be Trent "The Fairy" Vickers(cousin), the rest of us have to resort to trash talk and poor gamesmanship, like Kenny(uncle). However, because of the flexible rules and strategies of volleyball, these two very different players can play together in an equally competitive environment. Volleyball is a situation where the players determine rules and strategy and, therefore, makes a great group game allowing for many players of many skills.
There are many variations of Dominoes, however I'm going to pick out our typical "scoring style" dominoes to compare and contrast. Dominoes is a luck fueled skill game. The rules of Dominoes are incredibly simple. 1) Lead with highest double, 2) play matching tiles, 3) you can't play off of all sides of a double but the first. 4) Make multiples of 5 to score. That is pretty much it. However, where Volleyball has flexible rules that appeal to all skill sets, Scoring Dominoes has the rigid set of simple rules to ensure that all can play. The variations of this style of dominoes are fairly limited. The two strategies are mostly determined by luck of the draw. If you have the ability to score, you typically will, however if you can't, you then lean on blocking others so that you can go out before them. Obviously there are a couple variations determined by situation and the tiles played, but these are the basic outlines of how the game is played. The skill level of the players truly has little to do with the outcome, it is a result of luck and the players choices. The skill involved is a management of tiles assuring yourself of having plays balanced against scoring as often as possible. Dominoes is a situation where a simple, rigid rule set allows players of all skill levels to play and to play with anyone, though victory will usually go to the highest skilled players.
Crainium is a rules based personality game. This game best exemplifies the importance of people in games. The rules of Cranium are long and specific. They are based on situations and actually create several sub-games within the larger game. While the rules are too numerous to mention here, the idea is that each turn is turned into a mini game where one team competes against itself in a challenge to earn a roll of the die. Strategy is relegated to attempting to choose the challenges at which your team is more adept when you can, however, more often than not, it is determined by luck. This game emphasizes the same traits found in games like Catch Phrase, Taboo, Charades, or Guesstures. You have to know how to manipulate language, actions, and sounds to achieve the goals. Coming with this manipulation is the ability to relate to your team members. Often, a team of people who don't know each other well, will perform below a team of close friends. This is what makes this game people centric. It isn't that the game looses its fun when you play with people you don't know; the benefit is what you learn playing with new people. However, in competitive play(which our family tends to lean on) it is advantageous to have a good base of knowledge about your teammates and how they communicate.
I take the time to look at these three games not because I'm bored, but because I'm a geek and these are the things I think about. I love the ideas surrounding how and why people do things. Anthropology, psychology, meta-game, relationships are all things that fascinate me. I love pondering why I enjoy the things I enjoy vs. why others enjoy the things they enjoy. The whole idea here, is that the people make the games. Playing games with people is great because it brings people together that might not normally spend as much time together. Apparently games and families share traits. Only in family and games would you find a farmer, a county commissioner, a video game geek, a soldier, a soccer star, a Fairy, an Ice Flyer marketing manager, three teachers, an organist, a softball player, a diva, a server, a woodworker, and a professional camel rider throwing bones on a table eating frozen peanut butter pie and pound cake... simultaneously. It's a beautiful thing...
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