Link to Animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfhaL0TP-GU Animation Story/What Happens My animation takes place in a prison cell, where the main character Mike has woken up. It turns out the prison has been taken over by clowns. The animation starts in Mikes cell, and the camera moves towards the exit of the prison throughout the animation. Doors fall over and slam shut on their own, and the lights flicker and turn off. How Did I Create The Animation? My animation was created in Maya, and is primarily made up of a long camera track. The camera moves from point A to point B and things happen along the way. To create the basic camera movements, I set a key frame, moved the camera to where I wanted it and then set another key frame. This is used for animating anything, not just the camera. I could change the speed of the camera depending on how far apart I put the key frames. For example, 2 seconds into the video the camera moves quickly as it looks at the broken door. They key frames I used there were very close together (Key frames are marked as red lines.)
And at 4 seconds when the camera moves towards the door, the key frames were further apart.
The movement of the doors was very simple. I set a key frame for the door when it was in an open or closed position, used the rotate and movement tools to change it's position, then set another key frame. Then when the animation is played it shows the door opening or closing in one smooth motion.
The lights work the same as well. Set a key frame when they are on, then set another when they are off, or vice versa.
To animate the clowns head I had to connect it to a skeleton. A skeleton adds all the bones and joints to the model, and allows me to move different limbs by interacting with joints. Below is a picture of the clown with a skeleton inside it, with one of the neck joints selected.
Evaluation
Things I Would Change?
Fix the problems I had with the skeleton/model. When trying to move most limbs, the body stretches and becomes deformed. You'll notice at the end of the animation when the clown moves his head that the shape of his head changes slightly.
Animate the clown more, maybe make it walk, run, or grab the camera.
Add more detail to the environment (footprints, blood stains etc.) One reason why I didn't add more detail is because that wasn't my main concern. The priority was the animation itself.
Add some ambient sound.
Things I Like
The environment. I think its quite a creepy setting and looks nice with the lighting.
The camera movements, such as peeking round the corner at the start and waking up from the bed.
As you know, at the start of the year I was tasked with creating a game based around Killer Klowns with Unreal Engine 4. Now that the game is complete I am going to evaluate what I have done and compare the final product with my initial ideas and brief.
My Initial Brief and Ideas
At first, I wasn't sure if I would be working in a group or not, so I came up with these ideas on my own.
Idea 1: Characters - Mike Tobacco, Debbie Stone (protagonists from the movie) Nameless character/hunter (game protagonist. Player has the option to call them whatever they want.) Setting - Crescent Cove Town, California (Location from the film.) Plot - 28 years after the killer clown incident from the film (2016,) the killer clowns return to the town of Crescent Cove in an attempt to fully destroy everything and everyone there. The protagonist (player) receives a call from two people who claim to have dealt with the killer clowns before, Mike and Debbie. They talk to you about the possibility of another invasion, and ask you to leave your classified location and travel to Crescent Cove. Gameplay - In the game, the player starts in the town. While there, the player will have to complete tasks from the townsfolk such as defending them from clowns, or fetching a certain item for them. After completing the quests in the town, the player will be able to travel to different areas. Towards the end, the game could become more linear, and the player will be guided to boss battles etc. The player can enter the police station to refill on ammo, and any of the shops in the town to get health. The game will be played in third person, and will use the standard PC controls (WASD, space, shift etc.) Or it will be played from a top-down perspective and will control like an ARPG game (mouse to move and target enemies etc.) Things I Will Need For The Game
Models
Townsfolk
Clowns
Weapons (Crossbow, pistol)
Cars
Houses
Trees
Circus tent
Other random objects (boxes, bins etc)
Audio
Background music
Footsteps
Shooting sounds (alien ray guns, pistols, bows)
Clown laughter/zombie/alien noises
Ambient sound
Fire
Alternate Game Idea/Idea 2
Characters - Mike Tobacco, Debbie Stone Setting - Crescent Cove Town, California Plot - The game will use the same basic plot as the film. Killer clowns have invaded the town of Crescent Cove. Gameplay - The game will involve the player moving around the town to different locations with the task of defending a house, object or human in that area for a set amount of time. Upon completing an area, the player will be guided to the next area. After completing every area in the town, the player will be tasked with going into a big circus tent, where they will fight a boss. The player gets points for successfully defending areas, and loses points for failing to defend areas. Point's will add up and will be shown to the player at the end of the game. They will be able to put their name and score into a leaderboard. The player can also run out of ammo and of course lose health and die. Ammo and health packs will be placed in set locations around the town, and the player can walk over them to pick them up. The game will be a first person shooter and will use standard PC controls. Things I Will Need For This Game Models
Townsfolk
Clowns
Weapons (Crossbow, pistol)
Cars
Houses
Trees
Circus tent
Other random objects (boxes, bins etc)
Audio
Background music
Footsteps
Shooting sounds (alien ray guns, pistols, bows)
Clown laughter/zombie/alien noises
Ambient sound
Fire
Final Game Video of Final Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlhwqj5096U
I ended up working in a group of three for the final game, and the final game turned out to be quite different from my original ideas.
In the game, you play as Mike. Since the clown invasion he has been trying to warn others about them, but nobody believes him. He becomes depressed and starts drinking a lot, which leads to him being locked up overnight due to public intoxication. The levels in the game take place in Mikes drunken dreams while he is locked up. This is why the game takes place in several random locations. We all wanted to be creative and make levels that weren't strictly based around clowns an the film, so we made whatever we wanted, this is how we came up with the idea for the story, since if we used a story similar to the film it wouldn't have made much sense. Ideas/Game Content Before we got further into development of the game, we had a few ideas that we ended up not using, since we didn't have much time and the tasks were quite hard. We originally wanted to include NPC's in the levels, but instead I went with the easier option by using trigger boxes and a small blueprint to display text on screen since I wasn't confident with character modelling or animation. I was also having trouble finding a good dialogue system online that I could use, so this was my solution. I made several weapon models in Maya that we ended up not using. We decided when making the weapons that we didn't want the player to use any guns, so we made it melee only. I created a baseball bat for the player that we didn't use. This was because the combat system that Josh implemented came with it's own animations and weapons etc, and putting my model in would've been hard. I also made a rifle and pistol for the clowns to use against the player, however we didn't use these in the end and went with contact damage instead.
I think the best features in our game are the inventory and combat system, because they are very important features and are fairly impressive due to their advanced blueprints. Having the inventory system allows us to add more variation to the game since the player can pick up new weapons and items. I also really like our environments and think they look nice and are interesting to explore. Evaluation - What Do I Like and What Would I Change? I'm overall quite happy with our game. I like how the core mechanics turned out and I think we did a good job with designing our environments. However, if we had more time there are some things I would try to change.
Try and implement more of our own assets (such as weapons and objects like barrels and crates)
Get different types of weapons working, such as guns and bows.
Add a lot more sounds to the game. Since we were so focused on mechanics and environments we forgot about sounds for the most part. All we have pretty much is a small sound that plays when you hit an enemy.
Do some more character modelling and animation to add some variation to the enemies, and to also get a proper player character.
O.O. Design refers to the technical aspects of a game, and primarily the code, which is what I will be talking about in this assignment. I will be showing blueprint code in Unreal Engine 4 that I am using for my Killer Klowns game, and the written code I used for my Space Invaders game in Gamemaker. Health Bar Blueprint - UE4 Since the main focus of our Killer Klowns game is the combat, the player needs to have health that changes depending on his interactions with the in game enemies, and the player also needs a visual tell so they are aware of the state of their character. To accomplish this we have used a health bar blueprint.
The blueprint is split into two sections which have been labeled to make it easier to understand.
Part 1
The first part of the blueprint controls the health bar and how it behaves. On the left you can see different health values. Current health, max health and health regeneration. When the player takes damage from an enemy, their health will drop, the blueprint recognizes that the players health has dropped, and updates the percentage of the health bar on screen. If the players health has dropped it then begins regenerating at a rate of 5hp per second.
Part 2
The second part of the blueprint displays the health and updates it visually so that the player can see it.
There is also a widget called "HealthBarWidget" which is responsible for displaying the actual bar shape on the screen. In the widget you can customise the size, colour etc.
The health bar widget. You can see the bar at the bottom.
The health bar in game.
Health/Lives - Gamemaker - Space Invaders In Space Invaders, when the player dies they go invisible for a short period of time and then respawn. This next code in obj_alienbullet is in a collision event with obj_player, and it checks whether the player can take damage or not. If the player is visible, then they can be hit by the bullet and they will lose 1 life, however if they are invisible (respawing) then they cannot be hit. Like the player bullet, the enemy bullet is also destroyed upon impact.
When the player dies, the game also freezes for a short period of time. During this period all bullets in the room are destroyed. To do this, I simply added this code in a step event for the player bullet and alien bullet which destroys all bullets while the enemy is invisible (respawning.)
We also want to enemies to stop moving while the player is respawning, and to do this I simply added a line at the top of the movement code in the alarm event for obj_alien. This line only lets the aliens move if the player is visible.
Now we move on to adding the lives to the player, first a variable needs to be created in the create event called live=3, and then in the step event we use code that restarts the game when the lives are lower than 0.
Health - Which Engine Do I Prefer?
For this task I prefer Unreal Engine. The blueprint is fairly simple, and I like how you can use the widget to easily see and choose whereabouts on the screen the health bar will be. Blueprints also feel a lot more organised than Gamemakers code.
Dialogue - Unreal Engine - Killer Klowns Game
For my Killer Klowns level I wanted text/dialogue to pop up on the screen when the player approaches certain houses. To accomplish this I used trigger boxes, widgets and small level blueprints.
I placed a trigger box in front of the house that I wanted to use.
Then I created a widget blueprint called House_Dialogue1. This includes the text itself, and allows me to change the font, colour and the position of the text on the screen/HUD.
I then created a blueprint in the level blueprint that connects the trigger box with the text widget. When the player walks inside the trigger box, text pops up at the bottom of the screen and stays there until the player leaves the box.
The text shown in game.
Dialogue - Gamemaker - Brainbox Game
For dialogue in Gamemaker I used basic drag and drop events. In the player object I added a collision event with my computer terminal, and in the actions tab I added "display a message."
When the player collides with the computer terminal, a small window appears over the game displaying the message. This automatically pauses the game in the background.
The text shown in game.
Dialogue - Which Engine Do I Prefer?
For this task I prefer game maker. The drag and drop code is really easy to understand and to use. You go into your character object, drag in a collision event, add the object you want to collide with to the event, then add an action (what you want the game to do when the objects collide.)
Overview I will be creating a cutscene for my Killer Klowns game. The cutscene takes place in small prison in the town of Crescent Cove, the town where the Klown attack took place in the film. This cutscene reveals that Mike (the protagonist of our game and the film) has been locked up for a night due to alcohol drinking/public intoxication, and each of the levels has been one of his dreams. He's been drinking because people don't believe that the Killer Klowns are real. His cell door has been knocked down, the prison is a mess, and when Mike reaches the reception of the prison, he runs into a Klown. The cutscene then ends.
Objectives The objective of this animation is to reveal the back story of the game to the player, and to help them to understand the content in the levels. E.g. why the health packs are displayed as wine bottles, and why the locations of the levels are quite random. Target Audience The target audience for our game is teens aged 16 and up, and primarily fans of the Killer Klowns film. Specifically, the target audience for this cutscene is people who have played the game from start to finish. Available Materials For my cutscene I will need: Prison level/building Main character model (Mike) Cell bed model Cell door model Light bulb model Chair model Desk model Overall Style/Look Our game in general has a fairly photo-realistic art style/look. This cutscene won't be any different. The level will be quite dark, and ambient sound will be used to make it quite creepy and tense for the player. First person perspective
Critical Analysis of Resident Evil 4 What is Resident Evil 4? Resident Evil 4 is a survival horror/action game developed by Capcom and originally released for the Nintendo Gamecube and PlayStation 2 in 2005. RE4 received critical acclaim, was extremely influential, and is known as one of the best video games ever made.
Analysis of Game Components Graphics When Resident Evil 4 was released, one of the things it was praised for was it's graphics. For it's time, I think that the graphics were amazing, and in general they still hold up now. I use the term "in general" since there are many different versions of the game on different platforms, and some look better than others. You can tell that the original versions are fairly old, as they run in 480p resolution and some of the textures are quite low res. The graphics still don't look terrible though, and the models are pretty good. They are just missing some modern features such as more realistic hair and skin. The newest version that was released on Steam in early 2014 is the version I have been playing recently. It claims to be the "Ultimate HD Edition" even though the textures are pretty much the same. I still think that the graphics are decent, and if you take the games age into account it's pretty amazing.
Two guys, Cris and Albert, are working on a complete HD overhaul of the games textures. Lots of the game has been completed already, however they still have a lot left to complete. Below you will see some images from their site re4hd.com, comparing the 2014 Steam release textures to their HD remake.
As you can see, the RE4HD textures look a lot nicer, but the original textures could be worse.
Sound
Resident Evil 4's sound is still very good in my opinion, especially on the 2014 Steam release, where all the sounds have been upped to a higher quality. The older versions of the game seem to have a mixture of low quality sounds and higher quality sounds. For example, the item pick up sound is quite low, but the weapon sounds are higher.
Overall I think the sound design is pretty spot on. The guns sound clean, crisp and powerful. Enemies are constantly making noise and shouting to one another. This paired with stereo sound results in quite a creepy experience since you can hear people sneaking up on you etc. The games soundtrack is excellent and each of the tracks fit really well with the enemies/levels they are paired with, and makes the experience much more tense and affects the players emotions.
For example, the music for the first Ganado encounter (Ganados is the spanish name for the enemies in the game) is very loud and fits with the level since you are being attack by a huge mob of enemies. If you listen carefully it has chainsaw sound effects mixed in. This is because the mini-boss of this area is a man with a chainsaw, who is very powerful and is a huge threat to the player. These sounds could have been added to the music to make the player paranoid, and maybe become confused.
The loud and scary music in the game is then contrasted with the track "Serenity" which plays when the player enters a safe area. Hearing this makes the player feel relieved, especially if they have just completed a scary of stressful segment. It also has a slight eerie feel to it, which keeps the player on edge and let's them know their journey isn't over yet.
Selection and Construction of Content
The main campaign is made up of chapters and acts, going up to chapter 5 act 4 (5-4.) The game is paced really well, and the player moves through three big main areas during the game. The village (chapter 1-1 to 2-3,) the castle (chapter 3-1 to 4-4,) and the island (chapter 5-1 to 5-4,) each building up to a big boss fight with a main character at the end. There is technically another chapter after 5-4, which is the final boss, however it isn't listen as a conventional chapter like the others.
Upon completing the game the following content is unlocked:
Professional difficulty for the campaign
Infinite rocket launcher for purchase in the main game
The first set of special outfits for Leon and Ashley
Assignment Ada (30 minute mini campaign) Completing this will unlock the Chicago Typewriter (infinite ammo Tommy gun) for purchase in the Separate Ways campaign
Separate Ways (2-4 hour mini campaign) Completing this will unlock the Chicago Typewriter for the main game, and the second set of special outfits for Leon and Ashley
New title screen image
New round (players can play the game again on the same save, keeping all their gear and upgrades.)
Mercenaries (time/score based minigame taking place on different levels relating to the campaign) Getting a 5 star rating with all 5 characters on every level will unlock the Handcannon for purchase in the main game.
Due to all the unlocks, the game holds lots of replay value.
Narrative Structure
After the events of Resident Evil 2 where Leon S Kennedy survived the Raccoon City zombie outbreak, he was hired by the President to protect his family. When the Presidents daughter Ashley Graham is suddenly kidnapped on her way home from college, Leon is sent on a rescue mission to get her back. He is sent to a rural part of Spain, where Ashley is apparently being held. When Leon reaches the village, it turns out all the villagers are hostile, and Leon ends up in an intense battle where he has to fight for survival. Leon continues on through the village encountering different characters, such as Luis Sera, a researcher who was working for the group before turning against them. Bitories Mendes, a tall, strong man who is the chief of the village. And Ada Wong, who saves Leon from his first encounter with the chief and appears as the game goes on.
It is revealed that the group is called the "Los Illuminados," and each of them carry a mind controlling parasite known as the "Las Plagas." Leon and Ashley find out from Saddler that they have both been injected with the parasite, and his plan was to send Ashley home and cause the parasite to spread and cause havoc for America. Leon and Ashley are now racing against the clock to remove the parasite before Saddler takes control of them.
Leon moves through the village, fighting through hordes of Ganados, and eventually killing Bitores Mendes. He then moves on to a huge castle, owned by Ramon Salazar, a once normal Castellan who has been influenced by Saddler and has joined in with his evil plans to spread Las Plagas. The castle is full of creepy Cultists that all worship Las Plagas. After killing Salazars right hand man and fighting through a tower full of Cultists, Leon reaches Salazar who reveals Ashley has been taken to an island. Leon kills Salazar and travels to the island by boat with Ada.
The island is quite different when compared to the other areas, since it is like a military base. The enemies have more powerful weapons and the architecture is a lot more modern. Leon moves through the facilities fighting new types of enemy, and ends up encountering Jack Krauser, his old comrade. Krauser is now working for Saddler and he tells Leon that he is the one that kidnapped Ashley. They have an intense knife fight, which eventually ends due to Ada appearing and making Krauser run away. Leon fights U-3, a disgusting creature created by Saddler, and shortly after kills Krauser. Leon moves through waves of Ganado military and is helped by Mike, a guy in a helicopter sent to back up Leon.
Shortly after Leon and Ashley are reunited, and escape a dangerous encounter with Saddler due to Ada saving them again. They find a machine that removes the Plagas from them with radiation. Leon then confronts Saddler, and with Adas help kills him. Ada takes Saddlers Plagas sample from Leon at gunpoint due to orders from Albert Wesker. She tells Leon that he should leave the island quickly since she has armed bombs around it. She leaves in a helicopter and Leon and Ashley escape on a Jet Ski, seconds before the island explodes.
What Do I Think of the Story?
I think the story is really good. The characters that are introduced are very interesting, and some of them are quite mysterious. There are several surprises during the game, such as Jack Krauser working for Saddler even though he is Leon's old comrade. You also find notes throughout the game that give you further information about Las Plagas, and how it was resurrected.
Representation of Characters
Main Characters
Leon S Kennedy: Leon is the main character and the character you play as. He is represented positively since he is a good guy, and is trying to stop Saddler's evil plans.
Ashley Graham: Ashley is the Presidents daughter and the person that Leon is trying to rescue. She is constantly getting kidnapped throughout the game, and Leon has to keep rescuing her. This follows the typical vulnerable damsel in distress stereotype. She is represented both positively and negatively, but it depends on how the player feels really. I personally quite liked her, and felt sorry for her because of the things that she goes through. However lots of players found her quite annoying because she's always getting kidnapped and calling for help. "HELP ME LEON! HEEEEEEEEELP!"
Osmund Saddler: The main antagonist who leads the Los Illuminados. He is represented negatively since his only intentions are evil. He does follow some villain stereotypes, such as having a goal of world domination, having a creepy accent etc.
Ramon Salazar: Salazar is another main antagonist who is working for Saddler. He also has control over the Plagas parasite. He is represented negatively and is a horrible man. Under his villain shell however, he is quite clearly a coward, and often acts like a child by almost throwing a tantrum. The fact that he always has a right and left hand man protecting him at all times also shows that he is vulnerable on his own.
Side Characters
Luis Sera: Luis is a researcher who was working for Saddler to help him resurrect and spread Las Plagas. Luis leaves notes throughout the game that the player can find. They explain how Las Plagas work, and sometimes prepare Leon for new enemy encounters. Luis betrayed Saddler and instead tried to help Leon and Ashley. I find Luis to be a very likeable character, since he's quite charming and funny.
Ada Wong: Similar to Luis, Ada appears at certain points of the game and helps Leon, despite working for Albert Wesker who is a villain. She's very mysterious, and when Leon first encounters her he doesn't actually get to see her face or know who she is. She is also very vague with explaining things to Leon, and often only talks with him for a short amount of time before disappearing again.
Despite technically being a villain, Ada is represented positively a lot of the time since she helps Leon. She also ends up betraying Wesker after the events of RE4.
Jack Krauser: Krauser was once Leons comrade, however in RE4 he is working for Saddler. Towards the end of the game Krauser is sent by Krauser to eliminate Leon, and it is revealed that Krauser is the one that kidnapped Ashley, because he wanted to gain Saddlers trust. After Leon kills Krauser, Saddler reveals that he didn't really trust Krauser anyway since he was an American, and that Leon would be a better partner after the Plagas takes over his body.
He is represented negatively throughout the game since his only goal is to kill Leon. We can also tell that he is easily influenced since he was used by Saddler.
Resident Evil 4's Target Demographic
Resident Evil 4 is aimed at people around the age of 16 and above since it includes mature content. The game doesn't really include much blood and gore, however. Resident Evil 4 starts a new adventure and can be played by anyone, even newcomers to the series, since everything is explained and it doesn't really link to the older games that much.
How is the Audience Addressed? Resident Evil 4 addresses the audience as though they are new to the RE series. The backstory is explained at the beginning of the game, which talks about the events of the first RE game. New enemies and characters are introduced throughout the game making it easy for a newcomer to play it. Since the developers were pretty much reinventing the franchise, they wanted anyone to be able to pick up the game and enjoy it without feeling lost or confused. Analysis of the Survival Horror Genre Resident Evil 4 completely changed the way that Resident Evil games play. The first three games used static camera angles, and the gameplay was much slower paced. Ammo and other resources were also much harder to find, and you had to use your ammo wisely. Resident Evil 4 was in development for quite a long time, where at least four versions of the game were scrapped. In the end, Shinji Mikami (one of the games writers/directors) took over and decided to shift the Resident Evil series to a new gameplay system, since he felt that the previous system was "more of the same" and that the development team were getting bored. The game used full 3D environments, and had a camera angle that followed the player over their shoulder, instead of being in one set place. There was a bigger emphasis on action and shooting, and things such as ammo became much easier to find. Lots of the games levels put the player against overwhelming odds, which is where the shooting mechanics really came into play. Despite shifting towards action, the game still kept it's thick and extremely well crafted atmosphere, along with terrifying enemies and tense situations. This meant that it still resonated with fans extremely well. The developers kept things that the fans liked, but made enough significant changes to make the series feel fresh again. However, since Resident Evil 4, the survival horror genre and the franchise in general has gone down hill. The next main instalments of the RE series were even more action oriented and almost completely disregarded the survival horror roots. The genre and RE franchise is getting back on track however, with the recent release of Resident Evil 7. The franchise has returned to it's survival horror roots, with powerful enemies, constant fear and much slower paced gameplay.
Violence in Video Games Most of today's best selling games include violence, and for many years this has caused a lot of controversy. However, there are also positives to playing video games, however the positives are often hidden as the media shows video games in a negative light most of the time. Audience Theory
Hypodermic Needle Model The hypodermic needle model is a method used by the media to send a direct message to the public, that is received and accepted. It is called the hypodermic needle model because it is a way of 'injecting' a message directly into the receiver/recipients.
The hypodermic needle method is used in the gaming industry, and results in a game having an effect on the player without them thinking too much into the message behind it. An example could be games like DOOM, which centers around it's violence and gun play more than it's story and lore. When someone sees a trailer for DOOM of a gameplay video, they know exactly what is going on and what they're getting in the game; an extremely violent and gory, high octane action game, where to goal is so obliterate hordes of demons. Uses and Gratification Theory The Uses and Gratification Theory is a way of understanding why and how people seek out specific media to meet their specific needs. This is useful in the gaming industry and helps developers and publishers find out why people buy certain games, why they play them, and what their motivations are. They can then add things to the game that will help to make it more popular and appealing (achievement/reward system, co-op/online play etc.) Passive or Active Consumption Active consumption is when an audience discuss a media message that isn't made strictly clear. People may interpret the message in a different way and have different theories, and they won't be told what to think by that particular form of media. People engage with active consumption when talking about games that have detailed lore and things that aren't made clear in the game. Passive consumption is when the audience don't question the message that they are being told, and they just accept it. This means that the message is clear and easy to understand. This could be related to games such as Super Mario, where the objective and story is very clear. The Princess has been kidnapped by Bowser and you have to rescue her. Effects Debate Exposure To Sexual or Violent Content Are under 18's really affected by violent and sexual content? Should parents try their best to stop their children from viewing explicit material? In some extreme cases, it has been argued that violent content, especially video games, can turn people into murderers. There have been tragedies related to video games, such as the murder of 14 year old Stephan Pakeerah. He was stabbed repeatedly and beaten by his older friend Warren. The media and Stephan's parents heavily blamed the Rockstar game 'Manhunt' for the tragic events, as it was apparently found in Warrens room. Along with Jack Thompson, an american attorney who was fighting against violent video games, they failed to sue Rockstar and Sony as they didn't see a connection between the murder and the game. It was also discovered later that the game was found in Stephan's room, not Warrens. This is a good example of the media twisting the truth to show video games in a negative light. Personally, I disagree about video games being the sole reason for creating murders. They CAN influence people and play a small part, but they are usually deliberately shown in negative light. I think most gamers feel the same way. People like Jack Thompson that go against games and think they are the only thing behind teen violence don't actually know much about games or understand how gamers feel. Violent and sexual media does change our behavior in some ways though. As we take in more of it, we become desensitized, and what we see doesn't shock us as much as it did when we first experienced it. This was proven in a 2015 episode of Horizon, where they talked about violent video games and if they are as bad as people make them out to be. The majority of people who played a violent game were less stressed when watching a clip or real life, graphic violence, than the people who played a non violent video game. I can agree with this since I am a gamer myself. I have played so many violent games that I don't feel any sort of emotion when gunning someone down in a game (unless it's an important character in a story driven game.) However, playing games hasn't completely desensitized me to real world violence. I don't like seeing real violence and I can still become disturbed or stressed from seeing it. This is because I know the difference between a game and reality. Lots of other people do too, but some people may fail to see it.
Social
isolation links in with excessive playing time, and when people play games too
much, they stop making contact with friends and family and end up spending a
lot of time alone. This is known as social isolation.
Cost
New games
are released all the time, and occasionally new consoles are released. This
puts pressure on parents because their children will want the newly released
products. It also puts pressure on gamers in general because they may feel like
they need to upgrade their consoles, games and peripherals frequently. As well
as spending money on the games, people also have to pay for their internet and
electricity etc.
Separation
from reality
Some gamers
become so immersed in their games that they think they are part of the virtual
world. This can be enjoyable for some people, but in some cases normally
passive individuals become violent. Some people have even committed murders in
the form of actions seen in games that they had been playing. Games should be
for enjoyment, and if they begin to take over someone’s life, it can be seen as
a problem.
Performance decrease in education and the workplace Video games have been known to distract people from important real world things, such as education and work. Playing games excessively can cause people to sleep less, resulting in them being more tired and performing worse in school or at work. Students have even ended up dropping out of education and have been left with lots of unpaid fees and debt.
Positives Video games don't just have a negative impact on peoples lives. In fact, they can also benefit people in lots of ways. Hand-eye Coordination Playing fast paced action games that require precision aim can improve hand-eye coordination. This is because you are relying on your fingers to hit the correct buttons while your vision is focused on the screen. Fast paced games can also improve your reflexes, and how you adapt to your surroundings. Simulation games have become fairly advanced and realistic, and are actually used to train people such as pilots and surgeons.
Thinking Skills Strategy games improve thinking skills, allowing the players to analyze their situation and react to it faster in game and in the real world. They can also help people to think outside the box more often and find different solutions to their problems.
Social Skills Most gamers play online games, and talk to strangers online. This can lead to peoples confidence improving and help them be more comfortable around people they don't know very well. Good relationships can also be made online, and while you won't get to talk face to face, I still think online relationships can be very important. Lots of people end up meeting their online friends somewhere down the line.
Brain Training Games can be a more effective and fun way of learning things rather than the traditional classroom learning methods. Games give players direct feedback and can feel very rewarding, which gives learners motivation and a more open mind towards learning things.
Should Video Games Be Censored? Maybe a good way of reducing the violence in games would be to censor them. Change dialogue to remove explicit language, remove certain scenes from the game, etc. Video game censorship is something that happens, and is something that can be both negative and positive. For the most part, me and most gamers believe that games are similar to other forms of media in that they are an art form. Violence and gore in games often plays a huge role in making the player feel certain emotions. If violence has a meaning behind it and is important to the game, developers should have every right to include it in their game. The people that agree with censoring are usually adults who are against violent games all together, and would prefer them to not be sold at all (Jack Thompson.) However, it seems that when censoring does occur, it is usually for other reasons. A good example is the censoring in Japanese games that are also sold in America and other countries. Japanese culture is quite different to the culture of western countries, and it's RPG's usually involve female characters in revealing clothing. Things like that are usually changed in the western versions of these games. This is another topic that people are split on. There are lots of gamers in the western world that get irritated at this censoring. Why should it be allowed in Japan but not in their country? Similar to the violence and gore, if the developer wants a character to look that way, it is up to them, and changing it is infringing on their creative freedom. A character with revealing clothing may not necessarily mean that there is sexually explicit content in the game, for example. Survey Results We conducted a survey about violence in video games and the effects it has on teens. We got 20 responses in total.
1. What is your gender? 1 person answered female and 19 answered male. 2. How old are you? 1 person answered 14 or under, 6 people answered 15 to 17, and 13 people answered 18+. 3. How old were you when your first played and 18+ game? 11 people answered 10-12, 5 people answered 13-15, 2 people answered 16-18 and 0 people answered 19+. 4. How many hours a week do you spend playing games? The average amount of hours per week was 21 across all 20 responses. 5. Do you play competitive games? If so, how competitive do you get? The majority of people (about 11) said that they are fairly competitive when it comes to online games.
6. What genres of violent video games do you play? 6 people answered fighting games, 18 people answered shoot em' ups, 9 answered horror games, 15 answered stealth, 15 answered survival, and 8 answered other. 7. Do you get frustrated at video games? 17 people answered yes, and 3 answered no. 8. Do you think that violent games affect your mentality when playing other types of games? 9 answered yes, 11 answered no. 9. Has a violent scene in a game every shocked you or caused distress? 7 answered yes, 13 answered no. 10. How do you feel about violence in video games? The majority of people said that they don't have a problem with video game violence, and that they can tell the difference between virtual and real world violence. Conclusion Video game violence if often blamed for tragic events and for making teens more aggressive. While this technically has been proven, it is not completely true. Whether a video game affects someone mentally varies from person to person, and their mental state before hand should be factored in. Most gamers know the difference between virtual and real world violence, and react differently/have different emotions when exposed to them. Most gamers love violent games, and will continue to play them because of this.
