FFXIII is a Revolutionary Game -- Yeah, I Said It

I'm only 12 hours into this sucker, but I have good reason to believe that FFXIII is the direction JRPGs will and should take in the future. There's been a lot of criticism going around, probably moreso than any other FF to date (FFXI notwithstanding), but I'm convinced those naysayers are all RPG geezers who can't stomach a change in their tired, old gameplay formula.

FFXIII is about efficiency. There is no bullshit, fluff, or filler to be found. I'm 12 hours into this game and I have yet to step into a town and shoot the shit with a villager about the impending meteor/magi war/tree of life. And I love that. There's still a story in this game, but it's all told through (beautiful) FMV which I would much rather be rewarded with after a tough boss battle instead of a scavenger hunt across the world trying to find some old wise man.

The argument against this style is that it's too "linear." Protip: JRPGs are all pretty much linear. Just because they pad it with some side quests and a town full of ye olde slack jawed yokels doesn't make them any less linear. You're still moving from point a to point b according to the game's script; any sense of exploration or discovery is wholly concocted inside the player's head.

FFXIII chose two things to focus on (pun intended) in this new FF iteration: story and battle system. Now the story itself may not be as coherent as I would like, but I do admire the amount of effort put into fleshing out the characters and the diversity of personalities and histories portrayed. Square-Enix also gets big points for combining all the previous themes in FF games into separate storylines that'll please all kinds of FF fans (Hope/Lightning=emo kids, Vanille/Sazh=happy kids, Snow=overly romantic kid).

The battle system has also been completely overhauled to stress efficiency. I'm not completely in love with the Paradigm system because I often feel like things are out of my direct control. I'm more of a general looking down at his troops and telling them how to fight as opposed to doing everything for them. But in the end, the system works and it's FAST. It's a tradeoff: I have a hard time pinpointing specific targets in combat when necessary, but also don't have to worry about that same problem when it's tedious (e.g. healing party members). I think I prefer FFXII's style of automation over FFXIII's. In FFXII all party members' actions were chosen by the player, it was just done beforehand and setup in programming, conditional syntax. In FFXIII, Square Enix did all of that programming and I simply have to say "be offensive!" or "time to heal." The former is a more fun battle system, but both are an improvement over the micromanaging nightmare of most RPGs.

One other thing that stresses efficiency is the shopping/crafting system. First off, it all takes place inside of the Save point. This comes off kind of weird and sometimes makes me feel like I'm playing PSO, but ultimately it's a big timesaver and a big F-U to RPG tropes. Square Enix KNOWS you're going to want to shop for potions and shit. They know you wanna make your weapon badass. Square Enix is all like DO IT, you don't have to wait for a town or anything. Go ahead and have fun. It's jarring, shocking even for RPG diehards but why bother going to the trouble of town traveling if you can just do it on the spot? Makes sense to me.

I also must say, I love the crafting syste. Upgrade your weapon as much or as little as you want, Sqaure don't care! I'm currently putting all of my resources into Lightning's Gladius and I've got it rocking at Lvl 15 with a full 90 more points of damage than any weapon on other characters. There's nothing linear about the crafting system and I can't wait to see where my weapons end up once I pump components into them.

So yes, that's my mid-game report. I wish all RPGs would follow this no-bullshit formula. I can see myself finishing this game in 30 hours and that's a nice round number for RPGs instead of the 60 or 70 hours some other games demand. Turns out those extra 30 hours were spent just traveling back to town to by items and talking to NPCs. FFXIII doesn't need that and the result is the first JRPG that I cannot put down.

Old Things and New Things

Hello everyone.

I don't write on this thing very much, do I?

Well that's about change...slightly!

First, here is a link to my Sociology undergraduate these. The subject is the creation of Latino/a racial identity in Second Life. I'm posting it for posterity in hopes that it will serve a purpose to someone, somewhere researching the same thing. Here's the abstract:

ABSTRACT: This study examines Latino/a identity in the online virtual world known as Second Life. The author has analyzed data taken from 10 semi-structured in-depth interviews with self-identified Latino/a users in Second Life. Additionally, data is also used from field notes and participant observation in the in-game nightclub known as La Boniquita. The author highlights patterns in the data that suggest reasons for why a pan-ethnic Latino/a consciousness has emerged in the Latin communities of Second Life. Special attention is paid to the use of language, both English and Spanish, in order to explain patterns of inequality. The author frames the existence of Latino/a users as being a group that is discriminated against, both institutionally and through social exchange with other users. The author concludes that the community and solidarity witnessed in Second Life Latino/a communities can be linked to members’ shared experience in terms of cultural similarities and situational forces, both of which parallel the creation of Latino/a ethnic consciousness in the real world.

Also, henceforth I will incorporate writings more broadly related to videogames and technology. I don't think it's prudent to focus so much on the race/oppression and videogames angles, plus I also have a lot more to day about other game/tech related things. So be on the lookout!

Bromance: This is Real

It's the small details that really flesh things out. I think it's all too easy for people to ignore or forget this. Now that right there is some wisdom you can carry with you to the bank, but let me take a moment to contextualize it.

I recently played and beat Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (only recently got a PS3 so still have a lot of catching up to do). It's the first RnC game I've played and I found the gameplay to be a solid and fun mix of third person action, shooting, and equipment tweaking. But in this business, that by itself is usually not enough to extend the life of a series beyond a sequel and handheld spinoff. How has Insomniac managed to sustain the life of this series and cultivate a strong and dedicated fanbase? Probably with scenes like this (skip to 3:10):



If you missed it, there was a short yet ever so strong brofist between and Ratchet and Clank after they reunited. Insomniac manages to convey real world feelings and behavior in their characters that goes a long way towards making the world feel more believeable. We've all seen how other games try to convey genuine emotion (e.g. Final Fantasy): deep emotional one liners("What is your focus?!"), an increase in volume for voice actors/music, and when all else fails, kill someone off. Epic fail.

I must give a huge thumbs up to whoever does the writing and story work for RnC games. They manage to bridge themes, feelings, and actions from the fleshy, non-polygonal world and infuse their characters with a genuine charm that other games so often miss. Here's hoping FFXIII includes at least one brofist.

e3 Day 1

I'll break away for a moment from the initial purpose of this blog. The occasion is e3 after all and if there's ever a time to make an exception, it is this week. e3 is no longer hidden away in various posh hotel lobbies on the Santa Monica coastline; it's back to the nerdy, sweaty, swag-filled halls of the LA convention center and once again accessible to the masses (sorta).

It's hard to write a general blog about the day without sounding like a boring bullet-point Word file. Rest assured, I played games, met people, and bought ridiculously overpriced food so my experience diverged little from the accepted e3 narrative. But I had FUN and enjoyed myself moreso than any other e3 before. This year I had a sense that the industry really has a strong direction regarding games and the culture it wants to create and be a part of. 3 or 4 years ago, the future looked murky and no one could fathom another era of Generic Space Shooter 3 as being anything but mediocre.

Nintendo helped redefine the casual gaming experience; they rolled a very dangerous pair of dice with the Wii and DS and came up winners. This year I am witness to the very best in refined gameplay experience for that casual audience. Super Mario Bros. Wii was a genuinely fun party experience for four. XBLA and PSN promise a multitude of indie games that appeal to your most colorful, campy, gaming sensibilities (Fat Princess) and your visceral, twitch nostalgia (Shadow Complex). The industry finally says they have something for everybody and can back it up with real, fun games.

There are those E3's that are legendary where we get new consoles unveiled, and new gameplay concepts. But for me, these middle of the road e3's are spectacular in a subtle way. Games that finally live up to the promises of launch games and early press conferences make me excited for this generation and confident that we have plenty to milk from the PS360Wii era in years to come.

Street Fighter IV and Ludacris: The Purpose of Media

Sorry for the long period since my last post. Confession: I've spent every single available hour playing the recently released Street Fighter IV on the Xbox 360. In the past two or three years I have grown into the fighting game genre playing DOA4, a CvS machine at college, and VF5 while I was in Japan (lord help you if you can unravel all those acronyms with ease). Street Fighter is my latest and most dedicated attempt to master the genre. Finally, QCF+P is something I understand and can do consistently. My nerd powers have increased ten fold.

And yet, for all the fun that last two weeks and 250 matches have borne, I cannot shake my guilty conscious as I play. Close-ups of Cammy's butt litter my HDTV making me wonder why I'm playing into some developer's fantastical, degrading creation. As I circle around the character select screen, I come upon El Fuerte, the Mexican lucha libre wrestler. A little stereotypical? Yes, of course, but it's made worse by his second occupation as a cook which plays into that American conception of Mexicans/Latinos as low-skilled laborers. Everywhere I look I can find something wrong. African Americans are portrayed as ruthless, violent creatures who are driven by greed and materialism (Balrog). India is presented as poor and desolate, yet somehow mystical and mysterious (Dhalsim). And the portrayal of women is par for the course: sexually appealing for a male audience (see Sakura's Alternate Costume Color 10).

For all these complaints, the game never ceases to be an amazingly rewarding and deep fighting game experience. Sadly, this is the key to victory for any triple-A titles: they can ignore any sense of socially conscious responsibility as long as they make a good game. I don't care how consciously on-point your game is, if it's no fun to play then I do not want to struggle through it. At the end of the day, it is the gameplay experience which appeals and moves units.

This obvious yet disappointing lesson is inherent in any kind of entertainment/art media. Case in point: Ludacris. If I take one more drink/I'm gonna end up fucking you. A wonderfully classy anthem in these most uncertain of times -_- While we can descontruct, criticize, and decolonize ourselves of the awful mysognist expletives in Ludacris' latest, it is ultimately hard to deny that is a good song. It is musically pleasing with a luscious, flowing bass line and a smooth wordsmith at the helm. Irregardless of your consciousness level, anyone from Upperclass White Boy to Radical Feminist of Color can be found dancing together at your local club scene or college after party.

In the past I would have called this a contradiction, but today I recognize the ability to live purely and devoid of all things problematic and exploitative to be impossible. There is a necessity for release. Art/Entertainment is able to connect with us on a level that transcends the academic and intellectual. Music, videogames, film, books, etc. help extend the level of human expression. Art and entertainment allow us to create, imagine, and explore ourselves in a spiritual and cathartic manner. We may be able to analyze why media represents this in that way, but we cannot deny that its power and influence is everpresent and worthy of respect.

Street Fighter is racist and sexist. Ludacris is misogynist and immature. But they're both doing something right. For my socially conscious, left of the left, progressive radical anarchists of color, I ask you to consider these media expressions as challenges. Let Ludacris teach you how to write a damn good sounding song. Let Capcom teach you how to create a deep yet accessible fighter. Do not simply consume your media, but learn from it and move forward. Create with a purpose and a message but cultivate your creativity and imagination. Reserve your arrogance, maintain an open-mind and learn from those you disagree with most.

--david

Socially Conscious Games: The 'why' and 'how' explained

There has been a recent push by a few developers in the gaming community to address issues relating to social problems and politics through gaming. The website Games for Change is a prime example of this, devoting itself to provide "support, visibility and shared resources to individuals and organizations using digital games for social change." There have been a multitude of socially conscious games made available to the public. These games are almost always free internet-based Flash games, aimed at outreach through education and play such as the Hurricane Katrina game. As this movement continues, I would like to offer my analysis of the reasoning behind making socially conscious games, being a socially conscious gamer, and how to better bridge the gap between the gaming industry and this burgeoning force.

Why should we make/play socially conscious games?

"Why" is the first question we must answer. Why would "gamers" and "gaming" as a hobbyist group take on this kind of resonsibility? One answer is that this movement is part of the maturation process of the medium. It's like games are going through puberty. At a relatively young 40 years of age, gaming is beginning to take on adult themes and becoming socially aware to the world around it. 20 or 30 years ago, gaming was only fit to statiate something visceral and mechanical within us. 2D space shooters and falling-block puzzlers tested our reflexes and decision making, but they did little to challenge preconceptions of our real world existence. However, today we find ourselves all grown up. Consoles push more polygons and produce better simulations. As a result, game developers have more time to focus on the oftentimes forgotten aspects of game design (story, purpose, message, etc.). And finally, we gamers have grown up as well and expect something substantive from our gaming experience. The powder-puff clouds and rainbow color pallete of yesterday's games cannot sustain our attentions forever.

However, while the maturation process theory may begin to explain the trend in socially conscious gaming, it fails to identify the unique approach that videogames as a medium can bring to the discourse. The lack of this understanding in socially conscious games is what relegates the field to flash game fodder and the dreaded "edutainment" label. Most games that try to be socially conscious take a "hard" approach. By this I mean that such games hit you with hard facts about their issue or goal, with some bad uninspired gameplay sprinkled in-between the lecture. There is no fluidity between game and message. When I play these games I often wonder why I didn't just read their message on a website instead of having to work for it. I become less inclined to listen and end up skipping dialogue or stopping play altogether.

A different approach

In order to produce a socially conscious game that successfully uses the medium, we must first understand what it means to make a good game. I'm no designer or programmer, so my opinion comes from that as a user, but a good videogame must be able to tell a story through its gameplay. I do not mean story as in a script or a larger narrative, but rather the stories that each individual user creates through play. What separates games from other mediums is the ability to dynamically create a story. A novel is the same novel the first time and the tenth time you read it. A song has the same lyrics no matter how many times you listen to it. These are all linear experiences that alienate the user from the creation. However, videogames are dynamic systems with the ability to produce worlds and simulations. How a user chooses to achieve the goals set out by the games are up to him/her to discover individually. And unlike film or music, a game cannot play itself. Playing a game respresents not only the will of the creators to create an engaging experience, but also the approval of the player who must actively participate in order to finish. This reciprocal relationship between game and user has the ability to produce a deeply personal connection with each individual. By understanding this connection, we can begin to produce a better socially conscious gaming experience.

Sympathy and Empathy

A socially conscious game attempts to have the user understand the position of another individual or group of people. The approach most games of this kind have taken is an "empathic" one. Empathy refers to interpersonal understanding defined through intellectual and emotional awareness of another's feelings. When we play a game like Hurrice Katrina: Tempest in the Crescent City, we are presented with a fictional character whom we help guide through a series of events. Throughout her journey, we see her rescue people as she learns of the awful decisions that enabled suffering throughout the Hurricane Katrina incident. While certainly a sound approach, this game is little different than if I had read an article that informed me of the same information (which would likely have had better writing) or a short film (which would have been more visually engaging). In order to fully utilize the games medium for a progressive end, we must be proficient in being able to create systems and worlds that connect with players.

The heart of the videogame experience lies in its ability to create simulations. Simulations are far different from other mediums because users are able to experience something for themselves as opposed to being told as third parties. Thus, videogames are most successful when they produce a "sympathetic" experience for the user, one that allows him or her to share in the event and imagine it for him or herself. A socially conscious game must first and foremost create an engaging gaming experience. Players become invested and learn more from simulated systems that they find interesting and challenging; it is not the explicit, traditional narrative that defines the soul of a game. This challenge is rarely met in the field of games traditionally considered as "socially conscious." Part of the reason is that they are stuck in old technology, probably due to cost and accessibility. Flash games are best for diversions and not for producing captivating world and gaming experiences. A successful socially conscious game must creatively synthesize message, design, and technology in order to provide a convincing simulation of the experience or story it is attempting to convey.

Moving Forward

In order to bridge the gap between an engaging game experience and a socially conscious message, I suggest the following approaches. First, for progressive individuals and organizations who have chosen to use games as a medium for their activism, I encourage you to understand what makes a good game. What kind of genre will convey your message best? Should it be in third-person or first-person? 3D or 2D? While a lot of these decisions are likely made on the basis of lowering costs and development time, I believe that spending a bit more effort identifying your issue and its gaming parallels will result in a more rewarding experience for users. For example, instead of presenting a fixed narrative for a defined character, allow users to craft their own experience through avatar creation. Adding traditional role-playing elements to a game increases the input made by users which results in a more individualized experience.

Finally, for professional developers looking to add socially conscious themes to their games, do not assume that one must make an overtly "political" game in order to be effective. Even the old space marine shooter can include themes of oppression and activism if executed properly. As a developer, your strength lies in your ability to create genuinely engaging games. The next step is to provide a positive message behind those games that will resonate with gamers beyond the twitch mechanics. Making this leap in effort will give a game a different dimension that will appeal to users' social sensibilities and not just their reflexes.

--david

Hello World

Welcome friends, allies, and dissenters. This is Pixel Plated Heart, my first attempt to create and contribute something positive to the videogame community. Before I brief you further on my mission objectives, I feel compelled to introduce myself; after all, vanity lurks at the core of any true blogging initiative. My name is David Ayala and I reside in Los Angeles. I'm 23, fresh out of the liberal-arts-college-factory, and attempting to navigate a new world full of responsibilities and decisions. The learning curve is steep.

And I'm also a gamer. As a lifetime owner of that label, I've witnessed every possible reaction to that declaration. Oftentimes I've shunned my gamer identity, angry at it for revealing too much about my personhood and how I spend my precious hours on other more interesting, yet imaginary earths. One day, when I was about 12 or so, I made a desperate attempt to cleanse myself of the bits and grime, and sold off all my videogames at the pawn shop. I got about $80 for my SNES, NES, and what would have been known then as a "gripload" of games. With a saved soul and heart, I devoted myself to a more dignified existence, pursuing physical activity as a hobby (imagine that!) and collecting baseball cards, not pokemon.

But as the expression goes, you can take Mario out of the Mushroom Kingdom but you can't take mushrooms away from Mario...or something. Soon enough I was back in the game. Nintendo 64, Ocarina of Time, my first issue of EGM: I finally began to play and see games in a different light. They were more than toys, more than a simple diversion. Videogames became the sibling I never had, an escape from a less than dependable home life. They were art to me. Beautiful expressions of joy and success, cunning and malice. Buried deep in the cold bits and bytes of a programming language few can understand, lay the ability for human experience to manifest and grow. In my games, life was mirrored, challenged, vindicated, and validated. They didn't speak to everybody this way, but for me they did something special. My passion for the medium lies in my everlasting conviction that videogames possess the ability to affect individuals in a deeply personal manner. It is with this ideal, held tightly in my heart and channeled through my keyboard, that I move forward with this writing project.

I intend for Pixel Plated Heart to be a place where I can synthesize the videogame life I've nurtured for so long with the experience of living in our complicated modern world. I will engage analyses and criques of videogames in relation to race/class/gender/intersectional discourses. Furthermore, I would like to construct and execute research projects that ask serious questions about games, gamers, and society at large. If I get too boring, let me know. As the medium progresses into a realm beyond big budget entertainment, these kinds of discussions will become necessary for videogames and the industry to exist in a healthy, sustainable manner.

--david