Tuesday 30 December 2008

Vampires

I do apologise for not updating my blog as often as I should... but I am getting into it now and should have the rest of the posts written up soon ^_^

One of the things that has been distracting me is that I recently got into reading the Twilight series, my friend bought the book as a christmas present after I went to go see the film with her last week and it's my new favourite book!!

I did really enjoy the film but it is NOTHING in comparison to the book (it never is, look at what they did to The Golden Compass...).
The film also has an awesome soundtrack so you should really check that out too!

It's been aages since I've gotten stuck into a good book so I'm just a bit obsessed haha XD

Watch out for the next game related post!
See ya ~Emi ^o^

Writing about games

Yeah... I have a whole collection of nintendo magazines...
(and there's plenty more where that came from...)

I like to see the previews on games that are coming out to get an idea if they're any good or not. It's so hard to tell what the game is like from just looking at the box, I tend to buy it if the screenshots look good as the visual representation of the game is very important to me.


Also comparing the views on games that I've played on and enjoyed is always interesting as you get to see other peoples perspective. Many aspects of the game would have to be considered when reviewing it: graphics, audio, gameplay, innovation... I guess each game would be judged on these categories whilst seeing if it matches the consoles intended capabilities.
I value the objective view on games when I'm reading the reviews, it is meant to be read by anyone interested in the game so in order to apply to that audience the review would have to be unbiased by simply ranking the game for what it is, not so much what they made of it.

I don't think a ranking system for games is exactly necessary for sales, you're still going to get people buying the crap games despite what reviewers say, however I do think influences whether gamers choose to buy the game or not.

What is NGJ?? New games journalism apparently... I suppose online reviews would have more of an impact than magazines due to them already being available for everyone to read and for free. They would be more subjective than magazines as it is more a persons opinion when they are blogging rather than an 'official' review which would probably have guidelines for them to stick to.

How do I feel about my own writing? I do actually love doing this just because gaming is something I'm passionate about (god how geeky does that sound...) but it does make me feel better about thinking that I did choose the right course because I always have plenty to say for these blogs once I actually get around to writing them ^^'

See ya ~Emi ^o^

The history of video games part 3

The most recent developments in the gaming world... the 2000s- the future!
So where are we at the moment? For handhelds, the DS and the PSP and for home consoles the PS3, XBOX360 and Wii dominate the market with the latest technology. These make up the seventh generation of gaming.

The main difference in how far these games have come in the past few decades is apparent in the visuals, where high power and resolution graphics result in breathtaking scenery and unthinkable amounts of detail.

However, the one console for me that is pushing the boundaries of the gaming industry is the Wii. The innovative concept of the Wii remote making the user rethink the gaming experience as interaction is taken to a whole new level. I think this is where the future for video games is headed, as there's only so far you can take graphics before people will start looking for something more in their gaming.
It is therefore inevitable that sooner or later the rival consoles will be forced to reanalyze their hardware designs in order to keep up with Nintendo.

It's hard to know what to expect from the future of gaming... I guess I hope for there to be a mix of both amazing graphics and the exploration for exciting new control schemes then everyone would be happy, right?
Don't know if any of you have ever read the manga series .Hack before- the plot basically revolves around the characters of a video game called 'The World', but the way they access the game is through a headset, so it's as if they're actually in the game which I thought was quite cool :)



See ya ~Emi ^o^

Thursday 27 November 2008

The history of video games part 2

Yup it's time for the next installment of... Emi's gaming blog! ^__^
Sooo the 80s-90s... Well, things were going okay at the start of the decade, with technological advances allowing the development of actual 3D environments in games such as 'Battlezone' and 'Monster Maze' with the use of vector graphics.
Nintendo's Game and Watch product line began in 1980 and was a
successful handheld with its superior battery power, and would later influence the design of future handhelds.

In the early 80s Pacman was achieving widespread popularity in mainstream culture, also online gaming was starting to emerge which would be the starting point for todays MMORPG.

In 1983 crappy games such as E.T for the Atari 2600 effectively brought the second generation of consoles to an end with the video game crash... but it wasn't all bad, the industry soon recovered - the 3rd generation of consoles revived the industry with games like The Legend of Zelda (^_^) being released for the NES in 1986.

Hmm so I already mentioned how I got into games... but why did I keep playing? My first Zelda game was Oracle of Seasons for the gameboy and I guess I loved that game so much that I could just play it over and over and it wouldn't get old... then I found out about others in the series so I started playing those too :D
I think my favourite of the series is Link's Awakening... I know the graphics aren't that good but it is a gameboy game after all! There was something I just really like about that game it's just so quirky and cute.
The last game I played on was Crash Bandicoot on my flat mates PS2 but I still need to bring my Gamecube to uni so maybe I'll do that when I go back home for Christmas...

Till next time!
See ya ~Emi ^o^

Tuesday 14 October 2008

History of video games

Hiiii :D Wow I can't believe its November already! I've been meaning to start this blog for A WHILE but kept putting it off until now so... here it is ^_^

Uhmm my names Emily and a lot of people wouldn't think I play video games... but I do! I used to go round to my friends house when I was like 8 and play on Diddy Kong Racing and Rayman haha good times :P
Yeah I am a girly girl so I do love my fashion, shopping, makeup etc. but theres always time for games :)
When I was 10 I went on holiday to southern Spain and visited Gibraltar (yeah this does actually relate...) sooo when I was there my dad randomly asked me if I wanted a gameboy and I was like yeah awesome haha so anyway we bought one for me and my sister to share with a copy of pokemon red (oh yes) and I was hooked! My favourite games ever are Zelda games!! I LOVE them, my auntie got me into them when I was 11 so I guess I've been playing for a while :D seeee told you I played games :P

ANYWAY that's enough about me, so... the history of video games. Well I was doing some research on this and I found this really interesting video on Atari's beginnings as a company and how they came to be so successful.

The first video game ever was called 'Tennis for Two' which was made by Mr William Highinbotham in 1958 (50 years ago!! :O). It was designed to be played on a laboratory oscilloscope but it was revolutionary because you could interact with the image on the screen in order to move the ball around. I was totally expecting the first video game to be Japanese just because thats where so many of them are made nowadays so I was quite surprised when I found out that it was the Americans that pioneered them.

In 1962 a man named Steve Russell created 'Space War' for use on a computer, the worlds first fully interactive video game, with the spaceships being able to fire missiles at each other and such.

Ralph Baer created the simple video game 'Chase' which was the first to be played on a tv in 1966. I think he was considered the inventor of video games, but with all the controversy it's hard to tell.

I would upload some nice pictures to go with this but I'm still new to this whole blogging thing so I'm not really sure how to yet >.<

See ya ~Emi ^o^