GameblurgKids Talking About the Future

mc chris is coming to Atlanta, Georgia on the 3rd of November (out-of-staters, other tour dates are listed below). The notorious rapper, whose lyrics center around pressing matters of the Star Wars universe, peeping toms and zombies, provides an exciting (and more importantly, cheap) show to his supporting fans, as well as the curious, as his unique style and voice often raises eyebrows and draw attention. Undoubtedly, his captivating lyrics and unparalleled voice tends to grow on you if your interests lie along the lines of videogames, comics or science fiction (which, if you’re hear, you fit in that description somewhere). If you’re familiar with his music, stay stoked, join us weeks from now, as we will be there, rockin’ out and what not. If you’re wondering what we are talking about still, but interested in coming: mc chris=great artist, rapping about Animal Crossing and bounty hunters. Either way, November 3rd, Monday night, clear your calendar, TiVo Heroes, and come chill and listen to some great music. You won’t regret it. Ticket info below.

mc chris/Atlanta info

Doors Open at 7:00PM
mc chris
The Masquerade
695 North Ave NE
Atlanta, GA
Mon Nov. 03 2008 7:00PM

mc chris/elsewhere (Check for tour dates, there are quite a few in many cities)

One exciting thing about being apart of GameBlurg is the ability to exhibit different ideas, theories, and concerns that differ from mine, or any of the other members of the GameBlurg crew. A good friend of mine, who goes by the alias, “SmithSpot”, once expressed a compelling argument about offline play, and its deterioration among the gaming community. So passionate about the subject at hand, he actually wrote a piece explaining his displeasure about the lack of support for what was once a vital inclusion in videogame projects. Here, “SmithSpot” provides an argument towards revitalizing offline play and its role of importance on appropriate titles. Hope you all enjoy our 1st guest post. 

Written by “SmithSpot”

For years now I have been noticing the slow death of human interaction due to online play. Now it seems no one prefers to have face-to-face interaction with their friends while playing video games. Now friends rather meet up with each other online and play with each other. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but even game developers are following suit, if not forcing the online play onto the gaming community. The implication of online capabilities has risen in many games. In some instances during development, a game may be frowned upon because of its lack of online support, but what about the “offline support”. Did our trusty developers seem to sweep offline gamers under the rug that was rolled out by Xbox Live?

Battling in close quarters in the same room as your opponent can cultivate the excitement that is deemed important to the relationship between foes in the player vs. player atmosphere. From raging outbreaks to victorious cheers, the face-to-face interaction holds much importance to a videogame title and the emotional investments players make into it. The anonymity that online play generates dissapaears as players realize that they are not just competing against another similarly suited avatar, they’re facing human beings. Whether this realization creates joy or havoc, it destroys the robotic assumption one has towards the countless drones one encounters during their repetitive play online. The games listed below of few of an increasing number in games that have ignored those of us who actually have gamer friends outside of Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

Call of Duty 4: Not being able to play with four players on a local connection destroyed the longevity of the game to those who share the preference of face-to-face gaming. Although Actvision does allow us to play head to head, free for all, and/or 2 on 2, they do not allow you customize your own weapons like you are able to do in online play. You are force to play with the default setting and the combos they decide, which detracts from the full experience that is secluded to online arenas.

Burnout Series: Ever since the game was first released it was an two player capable game. I remember playing my brothers and my cousins in the game. Speeding pass them and causing them to crashing into the back of a tractor-trailer. But the latest version “Burnout Paradise” is strictly a one player game. Yeah sure you can compete against other, but guess how? You’ve guessed it. It’s only allowed online.

PlayStation Home: Now you want me to revert to interact with people who live throughout the eyes of their virtual avatars? I don’t need to even explain this one, it’s a given.

People continue to criticize the popular Nintendo Wii because of its lack of online play, graphic power, “gimmicky games”, etc. What people fail to realize is that the popularity of the system is contributed by the offline capabilities of the game. It forces people to play amongst one another. With its elementary control system, Nintendo’s console allows any human being with a functioning brain to play along appropriately. I don’t know if any of you have children, but seeing the smile on my 2 year old daughter when she plays Wii Sports with me is priceless. It also goes the other way. You just don’t understand how enjoyable it is for the child to have their parents, aunt, uncle, and/or grandparents play along with them. Generally, the parent’s stereotypically mediocre performance is irrelevant, as the child typically enjoys the bonding that is now missed because of longer work days, more homework, television, etc. I enjoy playing the person face-to-face rather than over a mic.

It’s nice, sometime fun, and conveinant to play online, but there is nothing better than having a great game on Madden and having others see it, witness it, and cheer you on as you make that one incredible catch in the end zone to take the lead with 10 seconds left in the game. In our gaming universe, nothing is more cordial than being able to say “good game” with a hand shake rather than sending a “GG” message over Xbox Live. Human interaction is far more sincere than the experiences Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network offer. Stop sending friend requests and start getting to know the gamers in your neighborhood a little better.

In such a loud environment, I never thought I would have much fun attempting to focus on “live blogging”. I’ve always imagined the hassle of finding a quiet place to collect my thoughts so far in the event, and capture the environment in writing, but now that I’ve actually started, it’s kind of exciting: it’s hard not to blog right now! Not to mention, all I have to do is show pretty pictures to back up my ramblings.

Georgia and similar surrounding states in the south continuing to rebuild a fragile gaming community is as reinvigorating as ever as hoards of gamers flood the Georgia World Congress Center. As you’ll soon see, the Impact Clash series has grown immensely, drawing fighting gamers from every crevice of the southern gaming nation. Pictures of Georgia awesomeness ensues after the jump.

Will post more pictures later on tonight…apparently, the Internet Cafe (Wi-Fi is $75 for 24 hr, so this was the cheapest, less lame option) is being overrun my business convention junkies, and I refuse to wait in this line again.

Edit: Here are the rest. Enjoy! (By the way…all of the blurry pictures, let’s just imagine someone kept bumping into me every time I took a picture, just for sake of argument/embarrassment of my shaky hands.) Also, next time we’ll do more conventional things, i.e. taking pictures of winners, taking a bit of video, etc.

Had a lot of fun. Hope to see you all at IC3!

At the heart of our cute videogaming mecca filled with presumably harmless “play-things” rests an undeniable truth: we make money. A lot of it. Under the crevices of hot venture gossip lays speak of the videogame industry’s promising future, and more importantly, any way to capitalize on the business’ astounding growth. Recently, fluttering rumors of Google takeovers and Electronic Arts’ devouring attempts have simultaneously disrupted the thoughts of concerned gamers worldwide. And although the thought of consolidation is scary, as we will all soon come to realize, it is inevitable.

Few things in the world are more entertaining than groveling fan boys trying to get in the way of power-hungry businessmen. The aggression that channels throughout the tie-wearing monsters is fueled by money, and where there is new money, there is interest, which can ultimately lead to overbearing acquisition. There are plenty of pros and cons to what will become a familiar situation, but one thing that needs to be understood is at the end of the day, consolidation is a vast part of industries of any kind.

Ironically, consolidation prompts…consolidation. From aggressive fan bases to methodical stock-wielding suits, videogame publishers/developers are exceedingly competitive, and if there are advancements from one side of the map, there will be similar retaliation from the other. Publishers are currently (yes, probably this very second) in the process are buying this, merging that, wisely out of fear that their similar competitors are doing the same. Unfortunately, this fear and what it generates is an important part of our business, as it is a large contributor of cultivating the advancement in technology and industrial design. Before the early days (Computer Space/Tennis for Two) of the videogame business, there weren’t so many options to choose from for specific gaming experiences, but now, there are so many choices that publishers/developers must aggressively pull out many stops in order to convince you to consider their game before any other.

Not all aspects of consolidation are negative. I don’t mean to toot an old horn, but rising costs in videogame development require drastic measures to be taken from struggling developers in order to survive the production of the inevitable wave of future-gen software. The upside is the ability to pay rent, and heightened with the possibilities of producing AAA titles in order to keep afloat and start making profit. The downside (apart from the obvious, which is failing altogether) lies with the effects that the drastic staff/company changes will undoubtedly have on the company’s infrastructure. Merging companies are also proposed with the possibility of losing original vision and an even deeper loss in the ability to create distinctive and innovative titles.

For those companies who are deep in the pockets, and don’t need petty mergers to help them keep the lights on, may take the other route: buying the competition. To understand this core concept of acquisition, it requires particular understanding of the concept of progression. The key here is to excel at, what should be a dominant goal at any big publisher, maintaining a dominating, household brand. Building/buying growth can reap specific benefits. For instance, diversifying your company’s portfolio by way of acquisition aids in the overall goal to have a greedy hand in every lucrative trend, fad, etc. that makes its way in and out through the videogaming industry.

It doesn’t aid the argument against consolidation that the one most related industry across from videogaming (movies) has a small list of controlling media infrastructures that overlook a vast majority of the content that escapes into their main media outlets (movie theaters). Generally, if you have seen a movie in theaters in the past five years, you have undoubtedly at least one logo that ultimately leads tracks back to the homes of “The Big Six” (Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures, NBC, Time Warner, Walt Disney).

Drawing comparisons from other entertainment industries, such as music and movies, in due time, the hope of an innocent, free-spirited nation of indie-producers came to an end, just like the videogame industry’s arrangement of games escaping from so many separate directions (publishers) will be over in due time. Luckily for this generation of gamers, this will not happen in the near future, as it will take years for big publishers to continue to lose enough money to be put into the desperate position of being up for sale.

Eager ears catch wind of innovative work, attempt to snatch it up (or outright, steal its idea) and devour what was once pure and transform it into a sequel-riddled debacle. Games are all about imagination, and creating astounding experiences that exist outside of our normal livelihoods, but the captivation of the videogame industry under a few selective roofs could threaten that very idea. Luckily, whether in the regards of programmers, designers, etc., we’re all artists at our craft (How good of an artist some of us are is a question for another day). The videogame industry primes and births artists, aesthetically and technically, and we can only hope that our industry’s best continue to express themselves throughout this wave of consolidation as it steadily begins to infest our industry’s DNA. Irregardless of whatever transpires, as long as there’s someone with the dream and drive to create personal games that deviate from industry trends, we’ll always have our “indie darlings”.