On Gaming

I've never been a gamer.  Like, at all.  It's kind of embarrassing, what little I know about the gaming world.  "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" on Gameboy Advance held my attention for a good long while and then later I was obsessed with "Super Mario Sunshine" on Gamecube.  But that was about it.  I don't have anything against video games themselves; I just enjoyed watching movies more and making my own.  I think the best thing about video games is that you get to actually interact in the story.  That's pretty incredible, when you think about it.  I think they're a great way to just relax and have some fun.  However, I disagree with the idea of video games providing the player with a realistic sense of accomplishment.  Video games do give the player a sense of accomplishment, but in my mind it's not a realistic accomplishment.  So you can save Princess Peach from Bowser's castle...big deal.  Well, what if you did that AND collected all the coins? Now wouldn't that be a real accomplishment! Sure. 

Now how does that apply in real life? 

Don't get me wrong; as I said, video games are designed for fun.  For entertainment.  But they also give players unrealistic goals to achieve and because it's much easier to obtain these goals in video games than it is to obtain goals in real life, video games can become addicting in an unhealthy way.  Players may feel quite accomplished after six hours straight of gaming, but have they actually accomplished anything?  

On a somewhat different note, I enjoyed the documentary today.  I have HUGE respect for those game developers.  The amount of work they did, all of the things they risked, was incredible.  And it payed off in the end.  Video games are meant to be entertaining and they can be great fun.  But let's not go off on a deep end to argue that they're "good for you" because they give you a sense of accomplishment.  No, they're "good for you" simply because they're fun.  

Don't know if any of you gamers recognize this level, but it used to make me SO MAD. Couldn't believe it when I finally passed it.                  

Giant Con Info

HEY GUYS! If you're wondering about the con in Marion, I've got your info. Here's the day-by-day…

Friday: Open 6 pm to Midnight. $5 entry to the Halloween party. $50 entry to the Vintage Comic Book party. Free entry for trunk-or-treat. Free entry with donation to the Humane Society for the Zombie walk. Walk starts at 6, trunk-or-treat starts at 8, vintage comic party starts at 7. Halloween party starts around 8 and lasts til midnight.

Saturday: $5 entry to the con. Vendor hall opens at 10. Sign in for Humans vs Zombies starts at noon, gameplay starts at 1:00. Sign in for Magic: the Gathering, Yu-gi-oh, and Pokemon begins at 10. Sign in for costume contest, along with pre-judging begins at 4 pm. Costume contest (adults) begins at 5:00. Vendor hall closes at 6. Gameplay will still go on later if need be.

Sunday- $5 entry to the con. Kids 6 and under get in for free. Vendor hall opens at noon. Sign in for kids costume contest begins at 1:00, kids costume contest begins at 2. Vendor hall closes at 6:00.
I believe free to play board games will be available through the whole con.

Comment on this blog or cooperate amongst yourselves if you need rides to Marion; everyone who wants to go should be able to get there somehow! We'll sort it out!

Here's the address of the hotel that the con is in - 501 E 4th street, Marion, IN 46952 
I believe it's called Hotel Marion.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Indie Game: The Movie is a very cool documentary and I think there is a lot to be learned from it. I'm not a huge gamer like some people in class make themselves out to be, so I had a hard time getting into it at first. I was less interested in the developers talking about aspects of their games, and more captivated when their individual struggles were highlighted. From production, to release, and then to the response from gamers worldwide- I was fascinated how each developer handled themselves each step of the way. 

Jonathan Blow, the developer of Braid, created a very successful game, but failed to let gamers embrace it in their own way. The movie showed him responding to comments all over the internet which, in my mind, was a disservice to himself. His constant need to correct people and argue with them about the meaning of his game was his downfall. Because of this, nobody took him seriously. There's a saying that being apart of an internet argument is like the special olympics- you might win, but you're still retarded. People can portray you as a terrible person online, and Blow walked into that trap by engaging the people who played his game. He should've just sat silent and been cool with differing opinions. 

It seemed to me that Phil Fish brought a lot of stress upon himself which could've been avoided. For some reason the concept of his game, Fez, came out years before the finished version was released. The hype was built, but Fish didn't deliver, and people were annoyed because it was taking so long. I feel like if he never said anything about Fez in the first place, he wouldn't have had to live up to the stressful demands that people brought upon him. In my opinion, you lose your fan base when things aren't coming together in an orderly amount of time. 

Edmund McMillen, the developer of Super Meat Boy, stands out to me as the most professional and well composed. After Super Meat Boy was released, I got a sense that he was truly joyful and grateful for the people that supported him throughout his entire journey. At one point in the movie, his wife is crying because she is proud of him, and both of them simply sit there and embrace that moment. And when people post reaction videos on YouTube about Super Meat Boy, McMillen can't help but smile and beam with happiness. 

The stress of time management and meeting deadlines took a tole on everyone in the film. Unlike Blow and Fish, McMillen has a significant other whom he constantly got support from, where as they seemed to commit their lives entirely to their games and nothing else. By the end of the movie, I wasn't convinced that Blow and fish felt truly accomplished. Only McMillen seemed to be truly satisfied. 

artists behind the awesomeness

      Growing up, I watched my brothers play all the classic Nintendo games. Our family was hardcore Nintendo and even named our dog Zelda, after the video game character. Personally, I never really understood the thrill of playing, but I loved watching. While there are things about video games that I don't necessarily root for, something I really appreciate about them are their stories. (I'm just a sucker for stories guys). I loved seeing the good and bad characters interact in the Mario games, and I especially had a deep love for the Zelda games, the development of the characters in the series. I could sit and watch for hours as Link went from one world to the next so I could see what the next big villain would look and act like, and what new puzzles the player would have to solve. They put in perfectly in the film: video games are like interactive stories, and it was so true to me. That I think is what captured my attention and inspired me, as well.

     Something I never really thought about much was the artists behind the games. I mean, of course I knew that somebody had to actually make the game that my brothers played, but I never thought about what they went through. That's why I really enjoyed the documentary we watched in class today. It gave me this idea of the artists and all of the work that goes into making those. There are programmers and people who come up with stories and characters, people who work on the style of the game itself, people who think about the different levels... Watching those guys- wow- I mean they only had two people! Two! This documentary gave some serious light on the huge pressure that these guys have to deal with: legal things, pressure from fans, deadlines... It was really enlightening and I seriously appreciate what goes into these games now, more than ever, especially the little indie ones, who don't have hundreds to help out. 

(me: mind blown)

Indie Games...

Man, that movie we watched today just I don't know gave me motivation that I have been seem to be lacking. Just seeing all of those guys going through the struggles of having an idenpendent gaming system gave me the reason to try even harder for my passions. Yeah, it isn't video gaming that I'm going for but rather 2D animation hence why I'm tkaing this program in the first place.

But what I thought that was really fascinating was the game fez. Since it appeared to be in a pixalated form at first but then once you firgured out the game it actually lived in a 3D setting rather than the normal 2D is just mind blowing (To be honest I haven't heard of this game before now, I'm not really a "gamer" to begin with). Also, what got was how these guys felt towards the games, even though the hard times like depression and such but they ended up pulling through and are able to get the game out to the world. It takes determination, will, and hope to be able to pull the things off that they did. And I do have to say I admire that, it really takes a lot from your life. Like said in class, in order to recieve greatness you have to sacrifice something in return. Its just the price for it.

 

❤ PIXAR & DISNEY ❤

IF YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN TOY STORY 3:

SPOILER ALERT!!

Oh Disney and Pixar.... I have loved you ever since I was a little toddler. It all started back when Toy Story came out on November 22, 1995. Here we go with the mind boggling truth that Toy Story is currently going to be 19 YEARS OLD next month!!!! Can you believe it? Where did the time go??? All three of these movies are definitely the most successful ones in my opinion, I'll get back to you on that once Finding Dory comes out. I absolutely loved all three of these movies, and I am guilty of crying every time I was Toy Story 3. I mean someone so connected to Toy Story since she was born.... how could I NOT cry after Andy left Woody like that? It was so touching and sad!!! On a different note, I would like to give partial credit to Disney, because if it was not for this amazing animation industry I might not even be here studying DMA in the first place. My passion has always been watching animated films by mostly Disney, but Pixar is pretty good as well. The other passion of mine is how fond I am of technology. There are very few times that I cannot figure out something about technology on my own. I have always been so in love with animation and technology that how could I NOT study animation as one of my majors?? So thank you Disney, you are one of my biggest inspirations.

"Video games have made you tolerant of bad animation..."

In a previous class, Prof. Leeper made the statement that video games, which usually have lower quality animation compared to films, have made us tolerant of bad animation in general. At least when it comes to video games, I'd say he's right, but not for the reason he thinks.

When judging an animated films, you only have the storytelling, the acting, and the animation to critique. But with video games, you have more facets to consider, such as mechanics  and frame rate as well as the storytelling (if applicable), and as a gamer, I tend to weigh some of these other aspects as slightly more important than how the game looks. 

For me, the most important aspect of a video game is mechanics, or how the game plays. You can have a great story and beautiful animation, but if you game is hard to control and frustrating, I'm not going to enjoy it. Connected to this is how enjoyable the game is. For instance, I once played a game about fighter jets. The mechanics were great; the game ran smoothly, and the controls were responsive and intuitive. However, while the mechanics were solid, it just wasn't very enjoyable, as most of the game was just circling the enemy and firing seeker missiles at them. 

The next major facet of a video game is the story (though this doesn't apply to sports games like Madden which aren't trying to tell a story). As far as storytelling goes, The Last of Us is one of, if not the best video games ever written. This post-apocalyptic survivor-horror game takes place 20 years after an outbreak of a strain of the Cordyceps fungus (which actually exists) makes the jump to humans. The story follows hardened survivor Joel (voiced and motion captured by Troy Baker) as he escorts young Ellie (voiced and motion captured by Ashley Johnson) across the US. The game's narrative has been praised for its characterization, subtext, exploration of the human condition as well as depiction of LGBT characters, and has won awards for just about every facet of the game. In addition to all of this, the game itself looks spectacular. However, in order to achieve this level of quality and detail and have the game run smoothly, the developers did have to drop the frame rate down to 30fps.

Frame rate affects how "smooth" the game looks when playing; the higher the frame rate, the better. This is especially important in multiplayer games, where being able to make small adjustments gives you an advantage, and having higher frame rates allows this. Now I know when Prof. Leeper mentioned the Call of Duty series in class it got a few snickers and groans, but in this respect it really shines by consistently delivering 60fps, even at the expense of graphic fidelity, and still remains the measuring stick against which other competitive multiplayer experiences are compared. Though from the previews of the latest installment, I'm not sure that's there's even that much of a dip in graphic fidelity anymore.

From Ghosts, the previous installment by Infinity Ward

From the latest installment Advanced Warfare by Sledgehammer Games  

Additionally, in terms of things to do at least, each Call of Duty game does have plenty to offer. The previous installment Ghosts had a story campaign, competitive online multiplayer, local offline matches with bots, private matches, a separate co-op mode with its own story and mechanics, a squad multiplayer mode with bots, as well as a co-op horde mode.

In summary, the reason gamers might be more lenient toward lesser quality animation is that when it comes to video games, there are more factors to consider and most of them have a bigger impact on the quality of a video game than the animation itself. 

Pixar Shorts

While in my previous post I got to bash Pixar really hard for how they have lost their unique design, I guess I can still find it in my heart to praise there short films.  Regardless of all things said last post, they still have great imagination and are also great story tellers.  As a kid I fell in love with Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and was literally so sad for years that they never came out with Toy Story three.  They finally did as an adult and even though it was yet again another sequel to Toy Story 2 it's plot line was absolutely amazing.  As a kid seeing these short flims I always really loved Geri's Game.  I found it hilarious how they were able to tell the story from one characters point of view, but they made it look as though there we're two characters involved.  From an animator's point of view I am extremely curious as to whether they had to use two models of Geri to pull of the animation. I think it would probably be pretty hard to create the animation without a second Geri lol.  It's amazing to see how far Pixar has come in technology.  They way they rendered their short films back then look horrendous, but at the same time they still hold up simply because of their great story telling.  The baby from their first short looked sooooo bad, but regardless their story telling completely made up for it.  It ended up being a extremely meaningful piece.  All in all regardless of how I feel about Pixar's lack of individual artistic touch, they tell awesome stories.

Shorty Shorts

Ahhh Pixar, one of my true loves. I don't think I've ever been more happy to be in the DMA department because we were watching Pixar shorts for class. Those shorts are my childhood! Knick Knack is my favorite one besides Partly Cloudy and Boundin'.

Over the years, Pixar has experimented with the many different aspects of CGI animation. I liked Partly Cloudy because of the colors and the way the clouds were animated. It was so realistic and cartoony at the same time. Knick Knack is just funny and kind of darker than other short films. And Boundin' has a good message with good characters that are also adorable. Speaking of adorable, Geri's Game is really cute and funny too.

I mean look at this face!!!!!!!!!!

I could watch Pixar movies and shorts all the time, and that is why I love ABC Family because they show both on Pixar weekend movie marathons. The people that make these productions are the reason why I am here. 

Pixar

Honestly, I wasn't really into Toy Story all that much. I think I've seen the first movie twice? Bugs life is a completely different story though. I remember being obsessed with it, and buying merch and everything. I don't really remember what it was about it that made me love it so much, but I think I fell in love with the characters. It might be the book nerd in me, but I always tend to think about the story before the actual look. This helps when I design because I don't have a preconceived image in my mind. I just have the picture I want to see come to life.

When reading, it's always easy for me to develop a picture in my mind of what each scene should look like. That's probably why I love design so much. It lets me express what I see, and help the story be told. Children's media is wonderful because it provides so many oppurtunities for over the top things. Children enjoy bright colors, and adventures. It helps me be more creative. My favorite book is actually a children's series, so obviously I feel the most comfortable when exploring children's media.

crying deer taking a test

 

Work in progress, boy was that hard to find again, nothing but unfinished animations (obviously) and where the heck is there an HD version? The reason I ask is because of the short 1-2 second clip where it shows the deer crying from the apes singing. There was something in that moment that was so fantastic, I’m shore we can all think of a moment in a cartoon or something when this kind of thing has happened, but let’s face it, to beat that timing is virtually impossible. The deer is in shot for but a moment, quick ear drop, tear rolls down, and in my opinion the greatest moment in the entire film has passed.

In other news we finally had another fun test, seriously I don’t know what other teachers are doing wrong because I am always excited for Leeper’s tests. For one thing they are often funny, because who doesn’t love that look on Leeper’s face when you ask him to read all the answers again. Why can’t other peoples tests be fun? Although I think part of why I do so well is because the questions are read aloud, I never got much when I read it myself.

 

Paperman

Speaking of shorts, my favorite short comes from Disney. Paperman was linked to Tangled and I just thought of it as an overall cute story. A little known fact about myself is that I am a hopeless romantic so when I first saw it I established an automatic connection.

Paperman starts with a regular Joe waiting for the train and then a floating piece of paper draws a cute conservative gal into the frame with her jumping for the raskly fella. They notice each other and right away you can tell there is mutual admiration from their body language. Disney knows how to perceive a character where the audience just connects right away. But then the girl leaves on the train and that sinking feeling of I just lost “the ONE” and I didn’t even catch her name, we’ve all felt it, overcomes the poor guy.

Because fate works in mysterious ways; while sitting at his desk a heap of wind blows the paper sitting there towards the window and as “Joe” looks up he sees cute mystery girl across the way conducting a meeting. He then has a LIGHT BULB moment and starts to make paper airplanes out of the sketchy looking documents to go all Buzz Lightyear on the situation. His attempts are valiant, but there just isn’t enough paper and his co-workers don’t want to share.

All the failed flights of love are magically awoken by the one piece of paper that has the girls lipstick illuminated in red and by the end the admiring duo are reunited. In the credits it leaves us with them having a cute date at the diner and a smile upon your face.

Now my job would not be complete unless I pointed out the inspirational take away from Paperman as a whole. Personally I perceive the message as a subliminal hint to never give up because when the regular Joe does, fate, so to speak, has other plans and guides him back to what he so heavily pursued during the story. You see, to give up is to give up hope and with Lord looking over you there is always hope for, as Disney would say, for all your dreams to come true. All it takes is a little courage, will power, and persistence.

Extra Credits!!

So since we are about to go into the world of video games I thought I would bring up an excellent group that talks about video games.  Extra Credits!!  They are a video game talk series that talks about the success of video games and the failures of video games.  They talk about how video games need and point out story telling in games.  They also talk about evolution in games.  They also reinforce working around the technology to tell and do video games.  This series has maybe been around for 3-4 years now but has some great topics.  This is how I learned about the uncanny valley.  These guys use to be on the Escapist magazine but left due to various reasons.  The escapist is still good and I recommend a look.  I am now going to post a couple of Urls to some of their videos.  I hope you all enjoy and look at the world of video games just a little bit differently even if you do not like them or want to join it.
Episodes:
propaganda in video games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP4_bMhZ4gA
Religion in games part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBVb2WECSLw
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRNhNHXbUmk
Uncanny Valley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K1Kd9mZL8g
(WARNING:The tin toy baby makes an apperance)
I hope you enjoy these few

Extra Credit

In the first reading by C.S. Lewis, he says that children's media isn't good if it's only of interest to children. Instead, he suggests that adults should be able to relate as well and find themselves drawn into the story as well. Looking back at what we've watched, I think that Tout rein is a great example. Although I'm not sure that this piece was done with children in mind, it is definitely something that they could relate to. Adults too can sit down and watch this piece and see the beauty of it. The story is  clear and relatable to the viewer, and therefore it connects to both the young and the old. 

Lux Luster

Luxo Jr was a touching short that I think I may have first seen on PBS once upon a time. But what made it stick in my head wasn't that it was animated lamps but that it was a kid (a kid lamp) playing with a ball and actually standing on one and bouncing. (Something I would attempt many times over the next several years and fail horrendously.) Had the story been the lady and the lamp, I wouldn't have been as impressed. As Greg Singer reminds us, the key to Pixar's great success isn't their technology, nor is it their story, but their methods of telling a story. A story is only as good as the one who tells it after all. Think of the best joke you ever heard and imagine someone telling it poorly. Point made. But I'll take it further, in Tools and Media Management we filmed a short film we came up with about a company that has to let some employees go and uses a series of jousts instead of a panel of reviewers. We all got the same footage, but there have been some rather interesting differences in the final versions produced by all the students. Perhaps none of us made the best possible version of the film, but then again "if it is worth doing, it is worth doing badly"