Faith. Life. Gaming.
Helped work on a Best Theology Video Games of 2015 list with the guys over at Theology Gaming. Want to invite you to check it out. It’s good. Made me want to play Metal Gear Solid V.
I even make the bold claim that Destiny: Taken King is the Best Mirror Of Our Faith Journey. Read to the end.
Hey kids, you may be too young to see the actual Avengers movies. Blah, blah, blah, age appropriate content, right? How about a sanitized LEGO version? We’ll add humor, Stan Lee, and plenty of time to smash things as the Hulk. What do you say? Is that a yes? Then cool. January 26, 2016 can’t come soon enough.
Better start saving that allowance money.
In the depths of Bowser’s Castle, no doubt a plan unfolded most dire.
We must strike back at this free-to-play horde, but how, the Nintendo suits inquired.
We will wrap real money purchases in story, with solid mechanics and feel to boot. We will then rake in all the money, and dance upon our loot.
A dog recruited, yes, he will be their undoing.
We will tell a tale of hardship and tears, of a marriage gone awry. Of puppies in need, mini-games will provide their feed, players can haggle till the pups howl high.
Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, simple yes, but that is what we will call it.
A herald of games to come, the players will never see it coming.
Note: Nintendo Badge Arcade invaded my 3DS last week. A riff on the popular Japanese crane game genre, Nintendo Badge Arcade features:
The game boils down to using a crane to grab digital badges to decorate your 3DS menu screen. The badges do nothing else. Nothing. But the badges do look cool.
Nintendo has created a unique formula for the free-to-play market. I shudder though to think of what real money transactions will take place in their upcoming Pokémon GO. Gotta catch them all, right?
The Walking Dead: Season 2. An intense melodrama framed against a backdrop of a society unhinged. Survival key to everything. Language uncouth.
“F–k.”
Telltale Games typically feature the above word, repeated over and over, like a chorus of a modern worship song. As the drama of young Clementine spirals out of control, the characters around her sing out. A fearful hallelujah to an unknown god.
I struggle with language in video games.
Coarse language has the appearance of a written shortcut. A writer’s bloody tool to add flavor, character, and meaning without earning it. I want depth. Written shorthand short-changes the player. No matter what the situation, no matter how “realistic” such words might be, I see this as lazy writing.
Weaving characters into intricate plots is an art. Video games are art in motion. While time can be a commodity, a reason to force narrative shorthand, I think that it is an excuse.
– Words NEED to be strung together in such a way that the audience, the player, is left savoring wordplay.
– The English language DEMANDS exploration. So many words lie neglected, dusty, and ready for use.
– Characters NEED to be developed to the point where they have EARNED the very words they speak.
I am not calling for shelter but for thoughtful engagement and consideration of the words used in video games. The worlds we explore deserve better.
Tabitha, Wyatt, and I played Wii Music for the first time. Our jam session ended in a battle.
Mii Maestro, a minigame within the game, allows players to use the Wii Remote as a conductor’s baton. Your repressed childhood dream of conducting an orchestra:
ACHIEVED
At the end of each musical piece, the game rates your conducting ability. Game on, Hall family.
The fog of music has erased my mind of whatever score Wyatt received. My own brilliant performance of conducting Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was spectacular. I knew that I had nailed it. I also knew that there was no way that Tabitha was going to best my score of 74. I was wrong.
Not only did she beat my score with an 80, her inspired rendition received a thunderous applause. Mii applause.
My pride shattered. How could I have been schooled in Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? Wait, did I just type that?
I spent $0.97 on Wii Music. Worth every penny for a small moment of friendly competition. Now to find batteries for the other Wii Remotes. Multiplayer awaits.
JohnnyBGamer