There has been some controversy about how video game companies will make the players pay extra for content in a game. DLCs (downloadable content) are good because the company can add more to a game after it comes out. Sometimes it is a fair amount of extra content and it's more reasonable to buy it, like in Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC where the player gets a huge bundle of extra features to interact with which results in a lot more game time. In other cases the companies take away parts of the game that were in previous versions and charges the player extra for it, like characters in Super Smash bros. 4. There is also less content to be earned or unlocked in some games because it is turned into DLC. How is this making an impact on the way games are made? How is the video game audience reacting? What companies are using DLCs wrong/right? What could these companies do to be more fair to the players? How is the way DLCs are used evolving?
Is how DLC is being released (at the same time) now affecting games' longevity? DLC used to come out months after the game release, once designers had time to improve the game thanks to profits from the original sale. It kept things fresh and gave players a reason to come back to a game long after completion. – Slaidey9 years ago
Analyze the diverse spectrum of female characters in video games. First, how exactly do we define femininity? What makes these female characters and their femininity unique? How is their femininity addressed or portrayed? How has femininity in video games evolved over time? Can certain characters fall into more than one "type" of femininity (for example, Lara Croft, who has been both sexualized and emasculated on different occasions and through different games in the series)? It might be helpful for the writer to condense his/her list into a "top five" of female characters that best represent this varying spectrum of femininity in gaming.
It would also be a good idea to touch on the BioWare games (Mass Effect and Dragon Age) to show how the female NPCs are treated, and talk about the fact that the protagonist can be either male or female, and how that affects each story.
– Tarben8 years ago
A very big problem with a lot of older/classic games is the treatment of female characters in them. More often than not you'll find a character like Princess Peach, whose only defining characteristic is that she is female. I've always found it particularly interesting that Zelda plays a minor role in the Legend of Zelda games despite the entire franchise being named after her -- especially when you consider that one of the key times that she gets to play a major role, she is disguised as a man (Sheik). – tbarker8 years ago
Analyze the game of Dark Souls and discuss how the difficulty of the game can teach to us failure is something to be embraced. How we can learn from past failures and improve.
In addition discuss how failure can come easily despite being successful (or highly leveled) in the game, and reflect upon this metaphorically in life.
Not simply the failure in terms of game play, but also the failure in grasping any formation of plot: specifically the first time around. Looking at our first play-through versus our next; it's safe to say that the failure was the intention of the writers and developers . – CoryMacRae8 years ago
In the intro level of Dark Souls, the game makes you fail to progress. – TGoutos8 years ago
Think also of the deaths that come at the hands of other players invading your world. I am one of those who enjoys that side of the game most, relishing in the stress I put on other players as I assault them while they try to complete a level, and the intriguing feeling of success that comes from bringing about another player's failure.
– jeffevancook8 years ago
I'm not so sure that the Dark Souls series presents failure as something to be embraced. Specifically because I do not think that there is such a thing as "failure" in the Souls universe. A notable feature of the Souls games is that there is nothing like a "Mission/Quest/etc. Failed" message anywhere in the game. To my mind the message "You died" is very deliberate in its ambiguity as related to a success/failure. Within the mythos of the Souls universe, the death of any one player cannot be immediately characterized as a failure, but seems rather more fittingly described as yet another incremental step towards the completion of the cycle. Indeed, even in the extreme case where the character is confronted with an "insurmountable" obstacle in the form of an overpowering enemy, say, it is not immediately clear that s/he has failed. For in such a case, s/he will succumb to the accursed dark sign, which will in turn transform him/her into an enemy and a potential source of power for the next Undead. This is, of course, premised on taking the perspective of the character controlled by the player, and no so much the player him or herself. – HeavyMentalGamer8 years ago
Dark souls is definitely a game about learning through one's mistakes. I'd love to see this article get done, it's along the lines of something I myself have been thinking of writing about Dark Souls. – MrMuffin8 years ago
This article would work well for someone who is interested in Japanese erotica adapted from a French novel. 'Belladonna of Sadness' (1973) by Mushi Production; the French novel 'La Sorcière' (1862, Jules Michelet) was the source material.
This epic film was created by men, and originally written by a man nearly 100 years prior; how does an 2016 American interpretation of a 1970's Japanese adaptation of a 1860's French idea find a story of women's awakening? Meaning, across the ages and cultures, how does a person now and here see this woman's sexual awakening and how it translates to her strength as a woman? How does this epic play now, and how does the retelling in film expands itself from the classic novel?
I think the title should be adjusted due to the word multi-cultural being used twice and using the words contemporary and modern is redundant. There are some search engine optimization suggestions in the guide that may help this topic get more exposure. – Munjeera8 years ago
Flashback:The Quest for Identity was radically different from the rest of 1992's gaming crop. Pseudo-cinematic cutscenes, a complex plot, remarkably smooth animation, and creative game mechanics made the game unforgettable for anyone who played it. While its sequel and remake failed miserably and poisoned the property, the original game remains brilliant and preceded the modern trend toward games with more serious stories and characters. This article should explore these aspects of the game as well as how echoes of the game are present in today's games.
One of my personal favorites from then. You could also look into the Another World game series and how widely Flashback was ported across consoles and computers.
– Misagh8 years ago
There are quite a number of board games out there (some entertaining and some a headache). However, we see indie games pop up all of the time. There are even hobby shops dedicated to selling and introducing board games to their general area. Interestingly enough, these games do not seem to have the same media presence that more commercial board games enjoy (anything by Hasbro, for example), yet some games have become incredibly popular. Why is this? What makes them so much fun to pick up and play? Is this all handled by enthusiastic tabletop gamers who make it their only mission to bless the world with the games that they love?
It is worth exploring the indie board game world as a whole and it is worth looking at what makes them popular, despite their powerful competition.
Maybe this topic is just one more enthusiastic tabletop gamer's attempt to bless the world with indie board games.
The popularity of indie board games seems to be a fairly recent trend, not that indie board games haven't been around for much longer. I think they were more popular until the invention of video games and that games from smaller creators and publishers have struggled to compete with the ubiquity of video games. Even a massively popular game like Settlers of Catan was released well after it was possible to own their own video game consoles in their homes. Hasbro and Parker Bros and the like had the benefit of starting when board games were about the most sophisticated forms of group home entertainment around. – chrischan8 years ago
I think looking at the rise of German style board games is important. One criticism I have of American style games that I played as a child was that you eliminated your opponents, so there would be a point where only two people are left in a 6-player game, and the end could take another hour to resolve. In a game like ticket to ride, settlers or scrabble everyone stays to the end. This keeps evreyone involved to the end, and makes games more fun to play. – ahalbert8 years ago
The whole indie board game culture appears to be rather new. This is unlike the Hasbro company that has been around a while longer. Although indie games do not get a lot of exposure, like hasbro games do, they still get a name for themselves. Games like Coup and Pandemic are being played by celebrities (Will Wheaton) as youtube channels and consequently kids and adults are spending their time watching these videos and it peaks their interests them and gets them involved in some way or another. – gamorth8 years ago
Every avid gamer thinks they can design a game, and sometimes it may not cost a lot to actually bring a blueprint to a playable format. Game design workshops and tournaments also pop up everywhere in the country. All this may explain the frequent release of indie games in the last two decades or so. It is, however, one thing that a game is playable but another thing that it is actually fun. I have play-tested a number of games and can affirm that game design is a grueling process: the mechanics, balance of power of different factions, balance of luck and skills, instructions, graphics, and so on. If you don't hate playing your game after this process, you probably haven't tested it enough. But if you can put all the pieces together and have an original idea, your game can become popular. The large gaming companies have the advantage of experience and a good sense of the market. Hence, indie games really need to be very good to take a share from them. – ctshng4 years ago
I know this is a hot topic but I feel like I can't gauge it will enough from my limited perspective. How many games are out there that portray women as something other than a hooker? How about as the lead and most vital character? When they are in the game what do they wear and can this representation be changed based on the comfort level of the user? I am all about wearing whatever you please. People should be free to wear what they like. However, I am curious to learn more about representation and if the options even exist. It seems that most often women are mostly naked, wielding a sword or gun, and are B-stars in video games. Is this accurate or is this mostly based off of media representation.
It's totally accurate. The writer of this might also want to mention that in some games, the male character actually gets points/achievements for having sex with the female character! – Jaye Freeland8 years ago
Off of the media point, I'm sure there is a difference in the frequency of female protags (and their portrayal) based on whether the game is Indie or AAA. Are you hoping to look more at games with a heavy story element as opposed to sandbox/open world games? Dishonored 2 is bringing a female protag to the title, which looks interesting. But there is also the Assassin's Creed debacle, which can't really be ignored here. And what is the difference between portrayal of female characters in general, and when the female characters are the protagonist? But maybe that is splitting hairs and veering off of an incredibly interesting topic. Best of luck to the writer! A few notable games: Portal, Tomb Raider, The Last of Us. – chandlerwp8 years ago
The fact that Naught Dog had to fight to put Ellie on the front cover of The Last Of Us is a testament to how the gaming community is perceived to be male dominated. The idea that a female can be a protagonist, and not overtly sexualized like early Lara Croft, and the game can be a success is still pretty foreign to developers. This would be a very interesting topic for someone to write about, but it would require a lot of research. Like chandlerwp mentioned, Indie versus AAA games have a pretty interesting disparity when it comes to portrayals of woman. That idea alone should be included in the article. I feel that this article would do well if the author could find reputable statistics. – Lexzie8 years ago
I think another thing to consider is female protagonists who are and aren't overtly sexualized yet still have good characterization. For instance, take Laura Croft and the tomb raider series or Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII. Both are lead female protagonists with decent characterization and stubborn personalities that make them popular characters. Yet their physical appearances greatly differ. For instance, I personally find that while both of them are hardcore, gun-wielding, femme fatals, Lightning's outfit is actually in good taste. Perhaps you could compare the difference in popularity between female leads who fall within the stereotype or break out of it. There are a couple great examples of this (just naming another one off the top of my head is the game Remember Me where female protagonist Nilin is dressed well, has decent characterization, yet the game wasn't a hit out of the ball park). Another thing you can consider is the rise of female gamers and how the target audience is beginning to change for AAA games. – Mela8 years ago
Many games (RPGs especially) don't set a gender for the protagonist. Elder Scrolls: Skryim, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age all have player-made main characters. Dragon Age (and Mass Effect, to a lesser degree) has a number of very well-done female NPCs as well. – Tarben8 years ago
People have boasted about the power of fiction and movies in modern culture as a way to teach and inform people about important issues of the past, present and future. Can video games do the same? And if so, are video games seen as less of an art form in the public eye as opposed to movies or literature?
I don't think that video games have the same stigma attached to them that they once did. The gaming industry has evolved to the point where even non-gamers are beginning to recognize it as a "legitimate" medium of entertainment. The industry isn't what it used to be, and profits will show that. Especially considering the way games integrate diverse audiences nowadays. The Wii, for example, boasts its family-friendly games, like Mario Party. The Kinect dance games are good for parties and families, too. Think about mobile games also--a "gamer" might not consider Candy Crush a real game, but that's what it is. Games are so different from what they used to be that a large amount of people who play them wouldn't consider themselves "gamers," yet they too appreciate what the industry has to offer. I could go on and on about this. I think it's a good topic. – Christina Legler8 years ago
People take video games much more seriously nowadays and I think that their status is still in the making (ex: the appearance of female characters is still being debated and changing). You could take a look at Nancy Drew interactive games. They show gamers the consequences of their actions and they are educational. I think role-playing video games in general are a good way to help people realize important issues because they are in a character's mind and take things personally. – JennyCardinal8 years ago
The question "are games art?" is still highly debated to this day. Would be very interesting to get the perspective of non-gamers. – MrMuffin8 years ago
