Games

Finally got around to playing Dishonored 2 recently and it reminded me how brilliant level design can impact enjoyment. People love Bethesda titles such as Skyrim and (arguably) Fallout 4 for the unrestricted world they give the player to explore but can they ever be as good as games in which levels, environments, enemies etc. are designed specifically for the player to encounter in a way that the designer had in mind? You could have examples of titles that display the positives of each design philosophy and a few titles that show off the negatives (lack of structure, lack of freedom etc.) and give your own opinion of a possible ideal middle ground?

While Hollywood remakes are rampant at the moment, we have been inundated with a spate of soulless cash-ins; but do video games have to share the same fate? The mechanics of video games are much more complex, and as such can do with a gamelpay and graphics overhaul every decade or two to keep the game alive.
It would be interesting for someone to put forward the case that there is actually a need for remakes within the video game market.

Investigate the seemingly modern phenomenon of media being "ruined" by it's fandom. Works like Steven Universe, Undertale, and Minecraft all have encountered problems with people being reticent to engage with them despite merit of the works themselves due to preconceived notions of what kind of people engage with those works. In some cases, particularly Steven Universe, high profile twitter users have expressed fear of discussing the show for worry of how the fandom may lash out at them. How new is this phenomenon? Is critiquing a work based on it's fans valid? How can creators avoid this stigma? Should they have to?

Video games seem to be one of the stronger emerging forms of media these days and that in turn has caused a sort of cultural and social shift for some. Consider Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAS) which have friend and party functions built into their games. MMOs as well have an in-built social function with things like public chatting in Runescape. It would also seem that these social aspects in video games would transcend the in-game functions and disperse into various mutual fandoms. Online communities and more for all these games are growing and becoming more prominent along with the medium. How do you think this has come to be? What does this mean for the culture surrounding video games compared to how it was before?

Most of what we see to see in the media relating to VR technology seems to all come back to videogames. Certainly it's one of the most obvious applications for the technology, having been brought up in numerous futeristic sci-fi scenarios, but what about outside of that? What are its other uses, perhaps in museums, cinema, or even the classroom? The 'Scotland VR' app might be a good place to start.

Kickstarter is the crowdfunding platform many video game developers have turned to in order to fund the development of their personal project. Take a look back at the biggest games of the last five years that have been created with the help of Kickstarter (Undertale, Mighty No. 9, Shovel Knight, etc.). What caused some of them to succeed upon release? What made some of these games disappoint backers and players alike when they released?

Analyze the path the Fighting Game Community has taken and how its path towards more mainstream "Esports" appeal may be pulling it further from its roots. Look at how the origins of Fighting Games, which until about 2009 were competitively played primarily in arcades, separated them from other competitive fighting games primarily played online. Look at how the economic factors required to play online games in the early 2000s vs the quarters required to play in an arcade created two separate groups. Look at how attempts to court sponsors to major FGC events could be seen as disrespectful to its roots. The racial undertones of Evo's "No Thuggery" rule.

The Pokémon franchise has captivated audiences worldwide from generation to generation. But what is it about Pokémon that has captivated the people for all these years? Is it the characters within the game, the story plot, the setting, or the phrase "gotta catch 'em all"? Each Pokémon game consisted on having a focus ( a representation on what the game is about). Analyze each game of Pokémon and discuss what these games are talking about.