The Dream Game

My life took a sharp turn as soon as I was introduced to basketball when I first moved to the United States. I began playing this marvelous sport daily aspiring for only two outcomes; one, becoming a professional basketball player, and two, getting taller. Unfortunately, due to genetics I wasn’t able to grow much taller, but there is still hope for me becoming an NBA star. Aside from the physical sport I’ve also been a big fan of NBA video games for a long period of time such as the most recently released, “NBA 2k16”. Unlike all previously made NBA 2K games this one is as real as it gets.

              For those who don’t know, NBA 2k16 is a simulated basketball video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2k Sports. Throughout the years Visual Concepts have done a marvelous job at enhancing their video game graphics, sounds, dynamics and etc. Consequently, consumers, like me, have more of an incentive to continue playing the game because it is fun! Specifically, NBA 2k16 has exceeded their expectations by allowing the film director and producer, Spike Lee, to direct and write a portion of NBA 2k16. Within the videogame there is a single player option (MyCareer Mode) that allows the player to create his/her own NBA character. More so, this character will get to experience a career of an NBA player who gets to travel, play games, go to practice, talk to the media and etc. Nonetheless, Spike Lee has made this year’s edition more special by altering MyCareer Mode to making it more narrative-oriented. I believe that Spike Lee presented himself as a phenomenal artist because he has elevated the player’s experience greatly by giving a more in depth view of an NBA player’s life.

Though a lot of the videogame’s success came from Spike Lee, this all wouldn’t have been possible without the work of Visual Concepts, 2k sports, and all the people who were involved in creating this artwork. According to the American sociologist, Howard Becker, everyone involved in the creation of NBA 2k16 is considered an artist because they all contributed in some way or another. In his book Art Worlds and Collective Activity he states that:

“participants in the making of art works, and members of society generally, regard some of the activities necessary to the production of a form of art as “artistic,” requiring the special gifts or sensibility of an artist. They further regard those activities as the core activities of art… [and they] define the people who perform other activities as (to borrow a military term) support personnel, reserving the title of “artist” for those who perform the core activities.”

Ultimately, I am very appreciative of everyone involved in the creation of this videogame because if weren’t for them I wouldn’t be able to beat my friends whenever they come and visit me. I personally suggest that everyone who owns a Sony PlayStation or an Xbox should buy NBA 2k16. If you don’t believe me then take look at IGN Entertainment’s review by clicking here.

 

Howard Becker, “Art Worlds and Collective Activity.” In Art Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press: pp. 1-39.

 

MW 3 or WW 3?

The game I chose to play for this blog was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The genre of this specific video game is first-person shooter. I would also personally classify it as a war game. There are multiple platforms that this game can be played on including Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. Later on, it also came out on the Wii. I played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on the Xbox 360 because I already have the console and the game therefore it was easy to access. I picked this specific game because I really enjoy playing it when I am stressed and need to get some anger or frustration out. This is especially important because my first semester at the University of California Merced has been SOOOO STRESSFUL!!

This game has many different game options. There’s a story mode called Campaign where the player completes missions in order to advance. Another mode is called Special Operations (Special Ops). In this mode there are three different types of games called survival, mission, and chaos. They each have their own instructions. I played the mission one and that one gives the player special missions that must be completed in a certain amount of time. The final game option is Multiplayer. This is probably the most popular option because you can go on Xbox live and play with other people around the world. There are many different types of games in this mode including capture the flag, team death match, free for all, and infected to name a few. This is honestly where I spend most of my time in the game because it is fun to play with real people instead of a computer.

The objective of any of these game modes is to kill the enemies while trying to achieve a goal. That goal may be a high score, a completed mission, or even just doing better than the player did on the last game. With that being said, the developers of this video game are Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, and also Raven Software. I believe that these developers played a strong role in being an artist for this game. The publisher of the game was the company Activision, and this company too contributed to the role of being the artist. There were many other contributors including the director, Steve Ackrich, the producers, Mark Rubin and Jason Ades, and the designers, Calvin Smith, Michael Condrey, and Jon Porter. When I first started thinking about “authorship” and “artistry” I thought of Howard Becker’s theory.

“Imagine, as one extreme case, a situation in which one person did everything:made everything, invented everything, had all the ideas, performed or executed the work, experienced and appreciated it, all without the assistance or help of anyone else. We can hardly imagine such a thing, because all the arts we know, like all the human activities we know, involve the cooperation of others.”

-Howard Becker

According to Becker, the “author” or “artist” all has to do with the group making the art. In this case, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s artist would be everyone who contributed to it. Unfortunately, the problem with this theory is that the designers, Calvin Smith, Michael Condrey, and Jon Porter are being under recognized for their contribution to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. These are the three who made it all happen. Without them designing the game, there wouldn’t be this game. They are the ones who created this game, in turn they must be the very important persons’ (V.I.P.’s) of this specific game. That being said, I don’t disagree with Becker’s argument that the group is responsible for contributing to art, I just believe that the designers deserve a little more credit than all the others who helped make the game. In other words, each person who contributed to making the game is an “artist,” but the “V.I.P. artists” are definitely the designers.

Sky Gamblers Air Supremacy

This few weeks I decided to choose a game from my iPhone, Sky Gamblers Air Supremacy.  It is much more convenient for me because I am always doing something so I do not have the time to sit in front of the television and play. My kid will totally want to take the control from me or take advantage that I am not paying attention and destroy the house, she can make a lot of damage for a one-year-old. I found the game through the apple store in top free charts. It is about an army jet shooting other planes. The game has different options in regards of what language you want it in, such as Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, German, English and few more. It also has different lessons called tutorials on how to play the game, there is heads up display and interface, airplane casual control, basic landing and takeoff, basic weapons and flares and a few more. In the bottom left screen is your joystick to control the speed and direction of the plane, you also tilt the phone to control its direction. The plane was very difficult to control for me; it took time to get use to it. Once you finish with the tutorials and feel like you are
ready to play an actual game you go into battle, it gets intense really fast.

The graphics in this iPhone game are incredible, it looks as if I was playing the game from an Xbox One. There are several 3D graphics such as the mountains, the plane itself, the clouds and the buildings in the cities. There were also some 2D graphics such as the ocean and the blue sky. The design of cell phone games has really evolved, compared to games such as snake that was so popular especially if you had a Nokia. Games at that point in time barely had any color besides the obvious green screen all around also the game was flat, in no way or form did it look 3 dimensional.

The authors of Sky Gamblers Air Supremacy have really evolved this game. Authors is hard to see in a game because we are so used to hearing author and quickly relating it to a book. Authors are seen as the story writer of again a book. We also assume there is just one author. For example, Suzanne Collins might be well known by many for the series of The Hunger Games. We loved the authors work so much it was made into movies. See, this game has an author as well but not just one, in fact this game has several authors. The company Atypical Games LLC is what shows in the “front cover” as the author. Have in mind this company involves several people, you can only imagine all the people that had to be involved for this games to be created. There are the game designers, Zsolt Fazakas and Schohterus Constantin, the pro
grammers, the ones that did the 2D and the 3D graphics, the sound engineers, and even those who translated the game into specific languages. “All artistic work, like all human activity, involves the joint activity of a number, often a large number, of people. Through their cooperation, the art work we eventually see or hear comes to be and continues to be.” Every person who was involved was important. Each wrote a part of the story for this game.

References

Howard Becker, “Art Worlds and Collective Activity.” In Art Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press: pp. 1-39.

Can You Escape

Game List of Kaarek Kirsipuu in Apple store

This week, I chose to play the game named Can You Escape. This is smartphone base puzzles game, which already had several seasons and series created by Kaarel Kirsipuu, and I played from Can You Escape to Can You Escape 5. The purpose of this room is to break out of the rooms. Solve the puzzles and find all the hidden objects that you have to use in the room in order to advance to the next floor. Also, different rooms have different kinds of puzzles to solve, which is fun and challenging to make me feel addictively. In this game, I need to be careful and patient that is the most important part to solve those hidden objects and solving puzzles. When I am able to successful to escape one room, I really feel achievement and accomplishment. This is not just a game for entertainment, but also it can treat my ability of thinking. If you have interesting for this series of games, you can watch the trailer.

Overview of the Room

The game player should employ a trial-and-error solving method to scrounge for clues, as well as sleuth out way escape a series of rooms. The set-ups in the game are fully functional and interactive, with every drawer, chair and fixture serving as a possible point of detection. For example, the first level room of Can You Escape, I check the lock that use with key and next to the door, that is a wired wooden box then I touch it, and I can get close to the box. On the top of the box, there is a picture puzzle that I need to solve it to a right picture. The picture is about a horse and turn

The picture puzzle with horse

around every piece of the whole picture make it integrated, and the picture is art and I canknew its aesthetic to make it integrated. When I figure it out, the wooden box will open and get a metallic piece. Then I try to search other places, and the drawer, which has similar metal piece that means their match. So the one I find is the handle of the drawer. After I open it, i find one screwdriver. Then, we can see there is a picture but with 4-digit number. after that, we use the screwdriver to open the stockade and inside has safe box, which can use the 4-digit code as passcode to open, and the key is inside. Through out the processing of solving these puzzles and finally get the key to escape the room, which is a ring by ring process just like the detective work to solve a case. The process is a kind of aesthetic that is full of logic and wisdom

The game developer, which is named Kaarel Kirsipuu that shows below the game name in the App store; however, in the google app store, there is other name – MobiGrow. After researching, I believe that Kaarel Kirsipuus is the main game designer and the MobiGrow is the mobile app development company that provide technical and commercial support, so the authorship of those games are belong to both. However, the artist of this game is Kaarel Kirsipuu, who makes Can You Escape logical and aesthetically, according to Becker’s writing “art worlds produce works and also give them aesthetic value.”(39)

reference: Howard Becker, “Art Worlds and Collective Activity.” In Art Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press: pp. 1-39.

Who’s Doing the Shoveling?

The independent video game studio who created Shovel Knight

The game for this blog is one that I had recently played in the past week called “Shovel Knight” on the Wii U. The game itself is a side-scrolling adventure where you, as the knight wielding the shovel try to defeat a group of evil knights known as the “Order of no Quarter” to rescue his beloved “Shield Knight.” The game primarily allows the player to traverse different areas where along the way they visit stores and places for items and loot. The game itself follows mechanics from other games such as duck tales where the shovel is used in place of a cane but can also be used as a sword. The game also features unique variations depending on what version the game is played on. If you play on a  Nintendo system such as a 3DS or the Wii U, you have the ability to play with a touch screen along with obtaining multiplayer modes and challenge stages. Other consoles such as the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox one, have a unique boss with their own unique stage. The game has many other platforms to play on allowing anyone to play on a system of their choice.

Gameplay within Shovel Knight

 The game itself was created by the people at Yacht Club Games who are independent developers that essentially succeeded in crowdfunding this project. Which bring us into the whole idea of who really owns the authorship of this game. The creators Yacht Club Games would be considered the ones who came up with the game but without help of the crowdfunding backers there game would not even have life. Not to mention the composers such as Jake Kaufman and Manami Matsumae who are freelancers known throughout the gaming world that helped in creating the music found within the game. This brings me to my belief on who possibly owns this game authorship. Like the theorist Howard Becker, I see the authorship of the game being placed in the hands of all who developed it. Becker would explain it that those who didn’t have the ability to create the game as “less rare, less characteristic of art, less necessary to the work’s success, less worthy of respect“(Art Worlds and Collective Activity,1982). The quote itself shows that those who did not directly work on the game affected one of its people in a unique way are still part of what they game became. The big thing is that people who gave made this game include smaller people who gave up something to make sure this game came out, whether its money or time in supporting the studios work. The credit sequence within the game mentions many people as well outside of the initial groups mentioned as to show that without them they would not have been able to create the game. Most games do this as they clearly know that one person did not create the game without some outside help or influence by another person. Yacht Club games even go far as to have a level dedicated to the backers of the game who really believe in them and gave more money of course to the crowdfunding.

“Shovel Knight vs God of War’s Kratos”

The framework of the game was created by Yacht Club studios, while the game itself would not be created without the many backers, influences( such as “duck tales”), composers, and support from the families of the company. Personally, I believe create something that becomes a huge success as Shovel knight requires many people as a whole.

Howard Becker, “Art Worlds and Collective Activity.” pp. 17.

Let’s “Trove it Up!”

When was the last time you heard Gangnam Style? Do you still remember the hype about horse ride dance?

Now, what if I told you, that I saw someone dancing the horse dance, while on a floating DDR pad, as a hulking-flamethrowing-dragon?

Yep, is that kind of game.

To the Writers, I Give Authorship

Boy o’ boy, 17minutes of credits sure can leave a person wondering who is really behind creating Batman: Arkham Knight. Luckily for us, we aren’t here to figure out who is Really behind creating this beautiful work of Art (yes, work of Art). But before I lay my gracious argument, ill explain what this game is:

Batman: Arkham Knight is a single player action-adventure game created by Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros. for multiple systems including PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It is based on the DC comics superhero Batman, and it is the successor to the previous game Batman: Arkham Origins. It was written by:

1. Sefton Hill
2. Ian Ball
3. And Martin Lancaster

The game’s main storyline follows Batman as he confronts Scarecrow (the main villain), who launched attacks on Gotham, causing a city wide evacuation. The main story is complemented by a wide array of side missions that, once you successfully complete them all, will lead to 100% completion of the game.

I would like to stop there because I imagine you guys get the gist of the game. Now, this game has dozens upon dozens of names of people that contributed to the creation of this game. But I personally want to give authorship to the writers. Now, given the backlash I received on my last post, I expect people to disagree with me on this. Lets step outside of our boxes for a second and peep this: without the creation of the story line (and no, it is not Bill Finger because this story line is not the same as the original), the designers, the character voices, the visual effects, the sounds, it would not have been created the way it was without the story. You do not design a game, game world, and everything else first and then come up with a story. Just as you need a script before you start a movie or a television series, you need the story line for the game first, and everything else follows suit.

Batman Storymode Gameplay

“Whatever the artist, defined as the person who performs the core activity (in my argument, the writers) without which the work would not be art, does not do must be done by someone else. The artist thus works in the center of a network of cooperating people, all of whose work is essential to the final outcome” (Becker Pg, 25) This quote hits the nail right on the head for me. When some of you read this, you’ll think “Becker clearly says that it’s a collective effort, so let me go ahead and disagree with this.” I am not for a second saying that it isn’t a collective effort, because this game would be nothing without the 17+ minutes of people who contributed. But when Becker mentions that core activity, I immediately think writers of the storyline.

I love horror movies. When I was in high school, I went to see this movie called ‘My Bloody Valentine 3D‘. And although the movie was gory and violent and (at the time) a tad bit scary, I hated it. I hated it because in-between all of the scary action, the storyline SUCKED! If you ever check the rating for horror movies, out of 5 stars, the average is a 2 because mainly, the story line sucks. This falls onto the writers and producers. My point is, the writers of this Batman game matters so much because if the story mode sucked, no matter how good the graphics or anything else, the game just kinda sucks. The collective depends on the core, the core is the writers, so to the writers, I give authorship.

Collective Authorship 64

Harvest Moon 64 is a farm simulator and RPG that was released in 1999 for Nintendo 64. The game revolves around the player taking over his grandpa’s farm after his death. You are told by your father that you are to improve the farm and he will be back in three years to check your progress. Once you take control, you are able to do a vast amount of activities to make money and improve your farm. By using tools that upgrade the more you use them, you can destroy unsightly rocks, pull weeds, and hoe areas to get ready to plant vegetables. You have a barn where you keep chickens and cows, and the more you take care of them, the higher grade their eggs and milk will be, selling for more money. The game is not restricted to the farm, but there is the local village where you can buy supplies, and also socialize with villagers to improve relationships by helping them. Harvest Moon 64 is a very deep and entertaining game, so it is not surprising that it took quite a few people to author it. Not only can the creator take credit for birthing the idea, but also the many workers at the game developer, translators, and the music composer who added to the experience we share when we play the game. The authors of Harvest Moon 64 are: Yasuhiro Wada, Victor Interactive Software, Natsume Inc., and Tsuyoshi Tanaka for they are responsible for the experience and aesthetics of the game as a whole.

Yasuhiro Wada came up with the idea for what is now Harvest Moon. Coming from a small country area in Japan, he thought it was a good idea to show how different, and also what good life lessons can come from farm living. Not only does being the lone person to think of the idea make him an author, but how his interpretation of traditional Japanese values placed into the game makes us feel when we play. Harvest Moon 64 is an aesthetically pleasing experience. When playing, the emotion or feeling of doing well for your grandpa is a strong motivator. You are given a farm after his death, and your job is to improve it and continue the heritage of the farm. These values tie into traditional Japanese culture where people still pay tribute to their ancestors after death. Some Japanese families keep altars at home where they put out food and usually have pictures of the ancestor to show remembrance. Yasuhiro Wada adds this element to HM64 by introducing the game as you return from your grandpa’s funeral. Not only are you trying to do well for your grandpa, but you are ‘cleaning’ his site, which is full of weeds and rocks to begin, to show thanks, appreciation of your past relatives, and to make them proud. The main objective ties into cultural traditions making it contain more than just farming mechanics, but a sense of responsibility you take when you accept the role of player. An emotional attachment to your progress is felt as you work hard in the memory of your grandpa to make him proud. Wada’s idea of values that are presented in HM64 make him an author due to his creative ability and unique narrative that stand out to be very important to the story and experience you have when playing.

  The substance of Harvest Moon 64 was brought to life by the game developer Victor Interactive Software Inc. Many people worked on the coding, the debugging, and visually made HM64 what it is. The art style, animations, sound effects, and mechanics of the game were produced by their team. Although the team takes the idea of Yasuhiro Wada, they are responsible for how the game is structured and looks. This is important in games that can become repetitive. Making the game more visually appealing not only adds to the totality of the project, but also adds to the aesthetics of the experience by creative animations that make you feel something is being done instead of just being simulated. John Sharp sums up what makes HM64 a strong artgame by saying “Artgames use the innate properties of games–among them interactivity, player goals, and obstacles providing challenge for the player–to create revealing and reflective play experiences”(Works of Game, 2015). Harvest Moon 64 contains all of these natural aspects of game and they all combine to make a reflective play experience. Without all of these authors contributing to the complete work, the game would not play the same, and probably would not be the highest rated Harvest Moon by Nintendo Power. The team at Victor Interactive developing on Nintendo 64 had individuals responsible for different parts of the game, but the combined work of these individuals at that time made HM64 what it is as a game and as an experience.

Natsume Inc. is an author of Harvest Moon 64 because they are responsible for translating the game into English. Without the work of Natsume’s team, many people outside of Japan would not be able to experience Harvest Moon. The work they add to the game opens the experience to many other people rather than just one population. Funny enough, Natsume misspells their own name on the main menu of Harvest Moon 64 as Natume. Even with some translation errors on the main menu and in the game, my experience and the experience of millions of others would not have been possible if it was not for their work. This shows that without working on the ‘game’ aspect, even translations add to the total project and decide who can take part and experience different art and games and how.

The last author of Harvest Moon 64 is Tsuyoshi Tanaka, who is the lone composer of the game. Music in simulation games is very important. With the chore of waking up everyday, weeding the farm, watering all the plants, feeding and caring to the animals, it gets repetitive. Without music, or using music that lacks variation or catchy melodies, a simulation game will not be as fun. Not only can the quality of the music affect the outcome of how fun a game is, but it definitely adds to the immersion and experience of the game. The soundtrack’s variations from folk music mixtures of midi-esque music and percussion not only help it as a game, but as an experience. Each location on the map: the village, the mountain, the beach, the farm; they all have their own music and it changes at night as well. You have a different feeling depending on the time and location where you are because the music is made to help you transition in game from moment to moment. The tone and style of music help you understand the current situation by eliciting feelings that are not possible with written cues. The village during festivals has faster percussive music to signify how bustling the town is. The booming horns make it seem something official is taking place. The work of Tanaka not only helped HM64 as a game with his compositions, but also as an experience by depicting certain moods with his productions. This allows us to feel closer to the game and understand the changes in seasons and events.

All of these people added to a singular project, and a lot of them will never be recognized as a true ‘author’ of the work. It is important to showcase how many people deeply impact the outcome of a game or any medium while we do not give it much thought. Many hours or coding, composing, and animating all made HM64 the game that it is. Harvest Moon 64 was one of the first games I was truly addicted to. I would stay up late on the weekends trying to get to the next festival or to level up my cows to golden level milk and growing vegetables. It was so deep and entertaining that you could focus to many aspects such as relationships around town and socializing to getting married, selling items by farming, fishing, and scavenging, or horse betting and getting drunk at the bar. All of these are possible experiences due to the collective work of many people. With one of these authors not included, the game would not exist as it does and would not be as great as it is.

Sharp, J. (2015). Works of Game. MIT.