Persuasive Packaging

It goes without saying most triple AAA titles that come out these days have at least two distinct formats; a disk in a plastic case or a deluxe collectors edition with tons of stuff in addition to the game.  Of course a third, and increasingly common form, is digital distribution.  Back before the internet though it really came down to the box since there were only a few monthly publications that had relevant information regarding what was on store shelves.

Box art was obviously a big deal, and unlike now, where sizes have become standardized, computer games back in the day came in all sorts of rectangular shapes.  Fold out front covers were one way companies increased how many screenshots, quotes and bullet points they could display.  The quality of the packaging was also very important with embossed slipcases over heavy reinforced cardboard being the pinnacle of the design concept.  Then there were some interesting outliers such as the aptly named Shadow of the Beast, which came in a box so huge it could easily be mistaken for a board game rather than an Amiga title (apparently the extra space was need for the T-shirt included inside).  Conversely, Adventure Construction Set came in a box so slender it looked like a vinyl record case.  Thief 1 and 2 were sold in a trapezoid shaped boxes, while Day of the Tentacle tried to draw attention by hitting store shelves in a box shaped like a triangular peg.

When it comes down to what's in the box, soundtracks, art books, and plastic figurines tend to be all the rage now.  So much so these collectibles are sometimes included in pre-orders at no extra charge.  I got a copy of Dark Souls in a tin case with all the above mentioned extras for the same price as a regular copy simply because I ordered it off Amazon before the release date.  Not a bad deal really, but it was hardly my first experience with free gaming trinkets.  For that you'd have to go way back to the very first Leisure Suit Larry game and the novelty "Lefty's Bar" napkin that was included with each copy of the game.  This was hardly anything special though compared to the mainline Ultima series which had cloth maps, pendents, tarot cards, and drawstring pouches containing fantasy coinage or even metal runes.

Copy protection wheels were another common accessory.  Although these eventually gave way to looking up individual words in tome-like instruction manuals.  These packaged books (yes, books and not pamphlets) not only contained information on how to play the game, but also had extensive setting material and flavor text.  In particular, the original Heroes of Might and Magic contained a series of correspondence letters written by a traitor to his former master.  Wing Commander had a short comic, and Space Quest featured an in-fiction magazine that had articles, interviews, plus mail order advertisements for Labion Terror Beast Mating Whistles among other things (yes, you need one of those in Space Quest 2).  There was lots of history to be found, both made up (as in the case of Homeworld) and real (like the Art of War games).

Overall, most of the stuff that comes with the games themselves ends up being a bunch of shelf space wasting junk.  In defense of the GTA series though, I will say it's nicely practical that the posters included with the games have world maps printed on the backside.  What really makes me sad though is people scrambling to get crap like cheap headsets, night sight goggles or plastic helmets that are too tiny to actually wear, yet the gorgeously illuminated wizard's book for Ni no Kuni is only available as a PDF file attachment for the US version of the game.  This is especially depressing when you consider that the book is a genuinely useful piece of realia tied directly to gameplay.  I guess busts of Duke Nukem or the dismembered torso of a bikini wearing zombie in Dead Island are more marketable though, right?...*sigh*

Unseen, But Not Undiscovered

I read a statistic that claimed half of all the people who play video games are female.  While my first instinct was to cry "bullshit," I've since thought about it a bit and come to the conclusion that if we're counting casual titles with really bare bones gameplay then, yes, it's most likely accurate.  A good example would be the hidden object subgenre of puzzle games.

Sort of a digital evolution of those activity books for young children, the primary mechanic of hidden object games is to look at relatively static pictures and find things from a provided list.  The closest I've ever gotten to playing one of these games is a free flash title called 6 Differences.  In the case of that game it's a dreamlike visual tale about pulling an all-nighter in a big city.  The storytelling is practically nonexistent and there's no dialogue.  However, in the case of many hidden object games the story is much more prominent with text driven conversations and narration.  Plots also tend to by centered around mother/daughter relationships.  I should point out that not all these games are about ponies, rainbows and other "girly stuff."  A lot of titles feature themes straight out of pulp novellas.

Another interesting aspect to the hidden object subgenre is the way the games are marketed.  They tend to be downloadable only, include free trail versions, are very cheaply priced and have low system requirements.  Personally, the artwork and certain story elements remind me a little of point-and-click adventure games.  Especially when it comes to the relaxed pace and overall style.  Unlike adventure games that I played in my youth though hidden object games tend to feature an integrated hint system.

While not something I feel terribly compelled to get into, I have to admit it's a category of video games that I knew nothing about until its existence was pointed out to me in a video courtesy of Extra Credits.  Kudos to them for shining a light on what is a rather low profile part of the gaming industry.

Hate the Game, Not the Genre

Fist, this is advice to me as much as anyone that happens to be reading.  Second, I figured I'd post it here because maybe what I've got to say will prove useful to others. Third, and finally, it's a bad habit in the gaming community to hate things they don't get. Call it "tribalism" if you want. I some psychologists might refer to it as "insecurity" steaming from low self-esteem. Personally, I don't think it matters what you call it, being a jerk just because you can isn't cool.

Hate speech, bigotry, trolling are a few names for it, but the fact is I highly doubt a lot of the people making insulting remarks on the internet are all that prejudice against blacks, women, gays, Jews, and so on. Rather it's their best attempt to get a rise out of listeners. They know deep down that they're nobodies so they vent their frustrations by trying to bring everyone else down to their level. Hence the reason we got PC elitists/haters, fan boys for Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo and a whole mess of people who praise one genre and bash another.

I'll be the first to admit that I had some pretty big biases when I was a teenager, so it's not like I'm above all this. However there is something I'd really like to stress. Even though I'm burned out on shooters I don't hate the genre. In fact I don't hate any genre. Sure I'm not so big on sports games, but there are still some I like; Blades of Steel, Pigskin, as well as a select number of racing games. Here's the thing though, when I grew up I grew out of stereotyping stuff and so should everyone else.

On the other hand it's okay not to like a game, just make sure you have real reasons for feeling so. Saying it sucks amounts to nothing, and taking such overly simplistic trash talk online will probably get you a lot of well deserved flack. If you don't like a game judge it on the merits of that particular title and criticize it based on supportable evidence. Also, keep in mind that if it's not you cup of tea don't drink it. Let other people have their fun and you likewise. Trust me you'll save yourself and everyone else a lot of misery in the long run by taking a more mature stance.

Recently companies like Google have been taking a lot of heat for allowing abusive language, but I think there is a big danger in censoring speech. It's all too easy to start shutting down people just because they have an unpopular opinion, or simply disagree with the powers that be. The only real solution is to teach manners to those who have anti-social attitudes. More often than not pushing them down only serves to re-enforce their destructive behaviors. Hard as it might be, if you want results your going to have to pull them out of their hole and up to a level of more reasonable discourse.

Skin Deep

Lightning, Jade, April, Zoe, Nariko...just naming some of those rare fresh faced 21st century female protagonists to appear in the world of video games. Sadly, none of them did particularly well as far as selling games go. Hence the reason most marketing departments demand that the main character be a 30 something short-haired white males. Not that this is unusual or anything. Movies and TV tend to strongly favor similar leads. "Doomed to be the sexy" seems to be a common complaint brought up now and then with female video game characters as well. Yes, I agree that throwing in a pair of tits is a sleazy (and all too often used) way to try and sell more copies of an otherwise crap game. No, I don't agree that it's necessarily unfair that heroines in games look beautiful while their hero counterparts are often depicted as short, fat, ugly etc. One could argue that the mildly unattractive Mario paired up with Princess Peach is symbolic of the huge amounts of effort some males go through just to get (and keep) an exceptionally hot girlfriend. Honestly though I think arguing about appearances in video games is an overly shallow viewpoint to take.

The upcoming Tomb Raider game has taken a lot of flack for it's depictions of violence against women, as well as strong hints at rape culture. Every time I hear this kind of claim I find myself thinking that the originator's sense of scale might be off or at the very least they didn't study much world history. Pre-modern first world society was (and still is) a bad deal all around for both men and women. Do you think all those ancient torture devices were just for show? Racks and Brazen Bulls have been around since antiquity. Certain forms of legally enforced mutilation such as "crucifixion" and "drawing-and-quartering" were used so extensively that they had their own terminology. Castration for the purposes of making eunuchs was also common in many parts of the world. Records from the Ottoman Empire indicate that only 1 in 10 boys recovered from the procedure. Yet in popular media this violence against men is often depicted as a joke. I could go on, but it's a divergent topic, back to video games!

Rather than nitpick over the details of physical appearance I'd much rather see titles that explore gender themes and the social aspects of relationships such as marriage and having children. Very rarely are these fundamental parts of humanity given any attention in gaming. Even in warrior dominated societies weddings and the production of heirs was extremely important for political reasons if nothing else. Only a handful of obscure Japanese titles have even tried to delve into this territory to any degree though. Worse yet one of the most recent entries brought over to the west, Record of Agarest War, suffered from pandering fan service and poorly implemented gameplay. I'd love to see a game which has procedural generated offspring based on the (possibly customized) appearance of the parents. Multi-generational stories are also something sorely neglected by developers and storytellers in general.

Sorry if this is a bit rambling...I'll try to finish with a focused conclusion. The video game industry does need to grow up with regards to it's handling of human sexuality, but from were I sit I'm not seeing a lot of ideas being tossed out there. Instead forums and message boards typically get filled up with petty arguments over hip, waist and bust ratios or more annoyingly whether Fat Princess is objectively offensive to people with weight issues or not. Quit being so vain people and focus on the stuff that matters!

Where Have All the Gaming Girls Gone?

Ever notice that the magazine racks at your local newsstand/bookstore feature predominately pictures of women? Even magazines specifically targeting men will have an attractive female on the cover (or in some cases sharing the spotlight with a muscular alpha male). I always found this a bit odd, but then again video games are drifting toward the opposite extreme.

Now I know what your probably going to say "There are plenty of games out there that let you choose your gender and appearance" to which I would answer "Of course there are, but those characters are very much blank slates devoid of any personality save that which you give them."

No, for the purposes of this observation I'm only interested in game titles where you can play a female protagonist more or less exclusively in which said woman has a distinct personality (or at the very least a set of characteristics which define who she is). So what comes to mind? Samus Aran? Lara Croft? Jill Valentine? Granted female protagonists have always been in the minority, but check the list of women that popped into your head. Notice something most of them have in common? Sexy?...well yes, but I was thinking more about birthdays. Particularly the fact that they're almost entirely products of the 80s and 90s.

So this begs the question (especially when it comes to this console generation of games) "Where have all the ladies gone?" Well...the truth is they don't sell like they used to. One only needs to look at the sales figures for Samus' latest outing on the Wii (or if you want to go back into slightly more dated titles Heavenly Sword) to realize that games staring female protagonists don't exactly make the big bucks. Conversely, short-haired, scruffy faced, gravelly voiced male protagonists seem to be all the rage these days.

Maybe some of you readers are thinking "Good riddance!" and I wont disagree with the sentiment since I too prefer to play characters of my own gender. But I can't help feeling that gaming would be better in general if the sexes were more equally represented. As it stands now only Lara Croft still really holds a place in the limelight of iconic gaming characters. Even then I wonder if she'll be able to keep her place now that  her next outing will feature her with a realistic bust size. I guess only time will really tell.