Strategies for casual gamers so they can enjoy the hardcore game experience

Casual gamers. Some say they are the moving force within the gaming industry, some say they represent the industry's downfall and others just don't care. From my point of view as a hardcore gamer, it is best to say that casual gamers are in a vast majority just entry level gamers. As we all know today's hardcore gamers didn't began playing video games with games like Call of Duty 4. We old schoolers started with a bunch of simple games and then we went up the gaming ladder as richer gaming experiences arrived. The goal of this article is to give casual gamers some tips on how to handle different hardcore games so that if one day they are interested in one, they don't get scared by the game's design, difficulty, game play, etc. Each one of the guides will consist of tips on what to do in certain situations that usually frustrates casual gamers. If you are a casual gamer this article may open yourself to some great games on different genres that you may be missing.

Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360)

Survivor's guide on JRPGs:

-Patience is a virtue. Take your time to become familiar with the game's system. Get some levels, skills and powers and then proceed carefully. At first it seems tedious but it pays off when that boss cannot even touch you. Doing this at the beggining of an JRPG makes the gameplay a lot smoother and easier to digest.

-When going into a big city or dungeon divide the place in zones and check them well before going further. Feel a sense of exploration and try to poke your own curiosity. Visualize the place as if you were watching a movie, wanting to know what the townsfolk say or how to solve a puzzle. Avoid looking the place as a big maze because most of them aren't as hard as they look.

-Learn the different uses for items and keep a steady stock always. Most players spend all their game money on weapons and armor but then lack in items and support. For entry level players, Items and support make wonders because it is easier to see that many potions will keep you alive than to calculate weaknesses, damage % and other stuff.

-Most JRPG uses elemental systems for weapons, armor and enemies. The most used basics are (Fire dominates Earth and Wind, Earth dominates Water, Water dominates Fire, Wind dominates Water and Light Dominates Darkness) These elemental attributes can change from game to game but the names and classifications are always similar.

-If you lose more than 2 times on a certain place, boss, etc. Take a break to do other things or play other games. The ideas on how to win will come later and all will even feel easier when you play later with a fresh mind. Been stubborn and forcing yourself to keep playing will only make you hate the game in the long way.

-If you really like the game, share the experience. Having more friends liking the game and been hooked will make the experience a lot richer and more fun than just playing alone and keeping your excitement to yourself.

Elder Scrolls: Oblivion (Xbox 360, PS3 and PC)

Survivor's guide on American RPGs:

-Because it is harder just to level up at the beggining, try to enjoy every level you gain. American rpgs are best known for their freedom and emulation of life itself. Do what you would do if you were really there and level ups will come without you even noticing. Be sure to assign skills points after each level up.

-Be careful with who you fight. Level differences are not very palpable on american RPGs. If your gut tells you that the enemy will be too strong chances are that you are right.

-Talk with everyone! On american RPGs a great deal of the NPCs (characters you don't control) have quests to give and after games like Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Borderlands, Fallout 3, etc. It is known that most of those quests will be fun and worth a ton of experience points and/or money.

-Money on american RPGs is very scarce. Try to always "find" your weapons and armor by defeating enemies or looking for treasure (this is called looting). You will be amazed when you see that the sword you just found on that cave later sells for a very expensive price on the nearest town and you got it for free (Of course not all equipment can be obtained this way).

-Try a little bit of everything. Some american RPGs have different options to join groups, guilds, factions etc. The best thing is that each one has a different set of quests and missions.

Myst 3: Exile (PC)

Survivor's guide on Adventure games (point and click):

-Always have a pencil and piece of paper ready to write down anything that look suspicious. For example if you see a strange riddle, clue, object pattern write/draw it on paper so you don't have to backtrack later just to read it. (Some adventure games nowadays come with features like taking photos and/or writing notes in game but not every game is like this)

-Divide big places into areas and start solving puzzles in one place at a time. If you cannot work out a puzzle on some area then you can go to another and give it a try. Puzzles may or may not be related between places but if you do everything neatly, you won't get lost.

-If you get really stucked, first check your items to see if you can combine any of them. Then try to use a little logic to use those items in certain places (ex: Keys at doors, Mysterious stone at pedestal, etc). If logic doesn't work then go to each area and use all items on all possible puzzles.

If that doesn't work, Then there is a high chance that you missed an item or a simple puzzle somewhere. Check all areas carefully be on the look for strange shapes that doesn't seem to fit with the scene, you will eventually find what you are looking for.

-Some adventure games require the player to know certain real life knowledge to proceed. Don't be afraid of using the web to learn how to do that certain things (For example in the game Dracula: Path of the dragon you must decipher the type of blood of some people by using catalysts and stuff like the pros do. I'm no lab assistant but I figured it out by using the net to look on how to do the procedure).

Street Fighter IV (Xbox 360, PS3 and PC)

Survivor's guide on Fighting games:

-Start by playing on practice mode with all the available characters until one fits your style. Don't judge a character by their looks, some can even look dumb but be devastating.

-You don't have to learn in depth stuff to win at a fighting game. You just have to master the art of blocking and counterattacking. Each character does it on its own way.

-Don't jump too much. Jumping makes you really vulnerable in most situations.

-Always keep on the move. Been a sitting duck will give the opponent a chance to jump at you and trap you in a corner.

-Every character has a move for getting out of corner traps, be sure to master it and use it wisely because sometimes if the move fails to hit, it will leave you open.

-Stay cool trough out the fights. The whole idea of a match is to make the opponent make mistakes, so keep it steady and try to break the opponents patience. If your opponent starts nagging and complaining pay it no mind and keep putting pressure on him.

Gran Turismo 5 (PS3)

Survivor's guide on Racing simulation games:

-These racing games are not the same as the arcade games that you may have played. Here you have to use the brakes and take curves effectively. The basic way of taking a curve is enter from the outside slowing down a bit. Then take the curve moving to the inside and exit the curve as tight a possible. You will see the car move to the outside again, itfthe speed is correct you won't go off the road to braking is important. (For a deep explanation on taking curves see the Gran Turismo 2 player manual).

-Go automatic. Driving on manual transmission won't do much of a difference unless you are a professional player playing in competitions and such.

-If you see you can tinker a bit with your car do it, and then do test runs to see how well the car works. Always try to read about good car tuning for certain situations, write down information than can be related to the tuning you can do on the game and see if the real life tips apply to the game itself. If they don't then you have to use trial and error to get the most of your ride.

These are the hardest genres to play for the casual gamers and that's why I focused on them. Hope that these guides are helpful to casual gamers out there so they can enjoy the experience of a hardcore game and have the same fun we have. Thanks for reading, see you all on my next blog.

Music and game design a match made in heaven

In the last weekend I managed to get to the state of Florida (Orlando, FL to be exact) where for the first time I started the engine for my near future, that from this moment on is almost decided (Masters degree on Game Design at Full Sail University). Although one of the most important aspects of my time in Florida was to get info and insight on what I want to study for my masters degree, I also went to a lot of places and had lots of fun. One of those places I went was a piano store near Florida mall where an awesome guy treated us very nicely as he showed us all the different pianos he had. One of them particularly got my attention. It was a piano/sound console/studio combo. the guy showed up this device by playing music along with some drums loops. He also emulated different instruments such as guitars, bass, choirs and even an entire orchestra. He played rock, jazz, classic, blues and even tropical music.

Sonic Adventure music is a cool mix of alternative rock and hip hop

That's when it hit me. As the guy kept playing I actually stopped paying attention to him and went into some kind of trance. I was lost in thought, I was still listening to the music but instead of watching him play I was in my mind creating a scene for a game. As the tunes followed I thought of everything. I remember it was an rpg game scene. The camera flew trough a small village where the main character was getting near the village. The grass was a little tall around the village (around knee height) but once passed the main gate it was all nice and rustic, The houses were made of wood but were very elegant some having 2 floors. In the middle of the village there was a statue of a soldier with an awesome abstract shaped spear on his hand, but this soldier was not human, it was sort of a dragon/beast hybrid, maybe a hero of the past. On the back of the village a huge windmill could be seen and people were everywhere selling stuff on small booths, children playing and others just minding their own business. There was a small cool breeze that I could even feel on my face as my imagination easily created this world for me. The hero was walking trough the village when the music stopped and I went out of my trance.

Nobuo Uematsu's band. Nobuo is the creator of most of the music heard in the Final Fantasy saga (except for 11 and 12)

It was then when I realized that the best way to come with ideas for a videogame (ideas like places, characters, script, levels, plot events, etc) come easier with music. I discovered that all these years all my ideas came from music and developed from there. I must admit that I see everything around me as a cinematic experience. I hear music in my head everytime something happens be it a sad, happy, dramatic, heroic, exciting or funny moment my brain processes it all as if it were a game or a movie. Funny thing is that when I go back to real life and I see that there is no music to enhance the mood regardless of what happens I feel that the event is dull and colorless. Call me crazy if you like, but that is how my creative engine works.

Castlevania: Symphony of The Night has one of the most beautiful soundtracks in the gaming world

To get into some details lets decompose a melody and see what affects what, first comes the pitch. The pitch of the melody defines the entire mood of the scene as I create it. Low pitch can be a dramatic or sad scene maybe a scene presenting the bad guys while a mid tone can reflect a calm scene and high tones mean tension, effort, confrontation, and in some cases a funny scene. The tempo of the melody gives me an idea of the speed of the action so it could be a character slowly walking, it could be the character riding a horse to his/her destination, the characters riding a hover craft, spaceship or even a dragon all this depends on the speed the notes are played.

An entire orchestra, it is a beautiful sight

The instruments that are played in the melody deeply help to make that visualization I am looking for. For example violins can reflect a refined environment or a refined character for example an aristocrat, an elegant villain or something gothic. Electric guitars could mean an exciting scene or cool character (like Sega did with Sonic the hedgehog in Sonic Adventure where they gave him a nice alternative rock song that gave the character this cool and young attitude).
This way the instruments give a great deal of material if the listener is sensitive to it (and has heard a lot of music linking melodies to different experiences in life). Also more instruments mean a lot more concentrated feelings that is why I personally prefer orchestras as they feature lots of different instruments and opens even more doors in my imagination than popular music does. On the other hand, if I have to chose a solo instrument to give it a shot at certain parts of the creative process I'd choose a piano because of its versatility in conveying feelings (especially for sad and dramatic events, conversations, etc)

The classic grand piano

So, to summarize everything that was previously discussed in this article, the pitch, tempo and music instruments can be used to make a world inside of the game designer's head. Different melodies, different music genres they all have something to offer. All this was learned from a simple visit to a piano store and it has changed the way I approach game design in all means. As a candidate for game design now I know that this technique will help me a lot in the near future and I will make the most out of it, so now I put my headphones on and write away creating worlds in a faster, more efficient and fun way.

Favorite types of music to ignite my creativity: (I like them all but these are the top of the line)
-Orchestral music
-Japanese music
-Rock and Heavy Metal
-Rock Opera
-Piano concerts
-Folk, Tropical, Choir groups
-Techno and trance

Survival Horror Games as they should be: Are they coming back?

Many gamers, if not all of us at one time have played a survival horror game. Old school gamers such as myself can mention quite a few (From old PC to PS2) like the old Resident Evil and Silent hill sagas, old Alone in the dark games, Clock tower, Fatal Frame (my personal favorite), Rule of Rose, Siren, Deep Fear, Parasite Eve, Hunting Grounds and the list goes on. Newcomers can mention games like the new Alone in the Dark, The chapter based version of Siren, Dead Space, Silent Hill: Home Coming, Silent Hill origins, Escape from Bug island (It isn't so good but I had to mention it) and some others. In the past two years it seems as if the survival horror genre is starting to turn back to its roots and dismiss all that experimentation that focused on the action rather than suspense, helplessness and horror.

To be able to talk about this topic accurately we must ask ourselves, What do we expect of a survival horror game? My personal taste calls for the dark suspenseful atmosphere where you roam the place clueless, looking for answers as the storyline develops itself dropping you in dangerous situations where you must use your wits to survive. I like the "usually harmless normal person" approach, because it raises the fear factor up a notch. I rather play as a normal guy who finds himself trapped in a horrible experience (a great life threatening ordeal) than a soldier who has a vast knowledge of weapons and already has the physical training to endure the situation. I like to feel helpless, having to use (for example) a metal pipe to smash a monster to bits because I spent all my ammo or if the pipe doesn't work just run like hell. Resident Evil games always have characters with military training in them, but all of them seem more human and vulnerable enough (except for Resident Evil 5 where they are bad ass heroes).

Good character design is one of the things that seemed lost in time when developers starting changing the way they were doing these type of games. Another aspect that was wrongfully changed lies in the gameplay itself. Today's game storylines seem good but they are dragged down because of an incorrect gameplay implementation. Instead of a full plot driven environment with no pauses, the games feel like they are divided in stages (Some even do it on purpose as in Resident Evil 4 and 5). Lets stop for a moment and compare this to horror movies. In an horror movie you don't see the actors stopping the plot and saying "OK we survived the first part, lets see how good we did". You see the movie go from beginning to end with no pauses (if the movie was filmed and edited correctly of course). So why must survival horror games have pauses if they try to be a cinematic (as realistic as possible) experience? Aren't the pauses making the game look more linear and less real?

Cuuuuut! Ok people stage is over now! We regroup tomorrow on the cave to film the cave scenes ok? I want you all at 6am at the cave site, bad guys plz come already dressed in your costumes...

Dividing a game in stages is alright for action, platformers and other types of games where player immersion into the game world isn't an issue, but for survival horror it just ruins the experience. Take for example Resident Evil 2; You could go trough an entire scenario (remember Leon A, Claire B - Claire A, Leon B) without a single pause because all the ratings and evaluations on how well you played were made at the end of the game. Developers these days may put pauses because they want players to be able to backtrack at will to do silly fetch side quests, or go all the way back just to unlock a treasure box which has a useless item. Don't get me wrong, backtracking is good, all the good old survival horror games have it, but it is for story purposes, perfectly synchronized with the things you must do in order to get further and then and only then you may have a chance to collect other items and make side quests.

Now lets talk about Action vs Horror. When we say "survival horror" it means only one thing. "Survive THE horror". It doesn't mean survive the onslaught or survive the raid or even survive the horde. Now lets go deeper in the word "horror". Horror means getting scared, fear for your life, jump out of your seat moments, not knowing what awaits you at the next corner, but realizing that it won't be anything pretty, the atmosphere of nightmarish stuff, few or no things to defend yourself, that's horror. Action means a more "lightened" approach, the stress of battle, going against all odds, shoot and kill until you can take no more (or your HP drops to 0), lot of weapons and ammo to spend, been a hero, that's action. Now we compare both of these types of experience. Which one fills the space of a survival horror game more accurately? Horror right? Now why developers are trying to forcefully push action into survival horror even replacing the horror itself? The irony kills me.

Other aspects that hopefully will return:
-Return focus on slow but deadly and resistant creatures instead of fast weaker ones.
-Focus more on puzzles and plot and less on action sequences.
-Make more indoor maps than outdoor ones.
-Make a better use of music for setting the mood.
-Return to the weird camera angles instead of over the shoulder permanent view.
-Less or no quick time events (it is more frightening to get out of a situation having full control than having to smash buttons up).
-Once again play with the player's mind and keep them doubtful of what will happen but wanting to see more.
-Give bits and pieces of the plot throughout the game so the player can have his/her own ideas until he/she actually gets to a cutscene.

Now that we have seen all the aspects that were changed and we saw how good they used to be, we can rejoice knowing that old school survival horror is returning. Cursed Mountain and the new Silent Hill on Wii are good examples of how the genre is returning to its former glory. We can only hope to see new titles with the correct formula scaring the hell out of us gamers in the near future. When they do come, I will surely inform so be sure to come back anytime you like to Press A + B and Start.

Note: All the games cited in this article are good games (except Escape from Bug Island lol) I only criticized the changes on the survival horror genre perse. So I am no hater I just state the facts and hope to read your opinions on the subject (I appreciate a good argument).

Borderlands: A nice surprise in gaming

I can still look in my collection of gaming magazines and take that article that I read several months ago. It talked about a game that promised to be an hybrid of rpg and fps genres. I looked at the pics the article had and they looked nice but I still wasn't convinced. All things said I remained on that state of mind until I actually tried it, been hooked ever since. That game is called Borderlands and it is a tale of going the distance for the team who developed it.

The first time I saw it, it looked like an ordinary rpg/fps to me. The graphics where the standard 3D we see in games nowadays and the premise was very simple although I have to admit I was impressed by the weapon building and customization that it offered because I like to invent stuff while I am on a game world. I love it when I can make a strategic custom weapon, build or skill that works and can help me survive in any situation. Back when I saw the game for the first time I was playing Fall out 3 so the thought of this game been a "cashout" on the success of Fall out 3 stood like a worm on my brain until I actually played the game. Some time after I read the first article everything turned silent. As experience tells me, when developers get silent about a game it is because: A) They want the game's hype to build up or B) The game was canned. Sadly, Borderlands was at the verge of actually been canned.

Many months later I saw another article. It felt nice to see the game again because I hate it when developers put their hearts into making a game just for it to be scrapped because no publisher supported it (seen too many brillant ideas fade to nothing). In this case, the game survived when developers re-made it giving it a new look and implementing new ideas. Borderlands now looked cooler and most importantly, it looked fresh and original. My inner hype started to build up for this game and I got it for Xbox 360 when it came out. First thing I noticed was the change of graphics, from a standard 3D and realistic texture environment to a cell shaded slick and "fun to look at" display. The graphics reminded me a lot of games like No More Heroes so that was a nice touch. After that, I pressed start to get the Borderlands experience started.

What can I say? The first impression the game play gave me can only be described in the following phrase: "I played and played until sunrise". I was hooked from the moment I chose the character class I would play as (That was a hunter since I like long range weapons). You (as the character) are thrown in a cyberpunk wasteland where you have to survive in order to find the legendary vault (yes, the vault part is very Fall out like but it kind of develops in its own way). You are guided by a mysterious woman who appears as an optical illusion ( a mirage maybe) and tells you the things you should do (see her as a main plot guide). Apart from the main plot there are tons of quests to do that up until now (16 levels later) don't look or feel repetitive and that is one of the things I really appreciate in any action type rpg (Thats why I love games like Oblivion and Fall out 3)

The array of weapons is impressive and as far as I am in the game I have just found ways to customize some skills and give elemental attributes to my attacks which is awesome. The game world seems huge but even it if isn't, the concentrated content of each place does its job to keep the player entertained. For example, one quest had me going throughout all the first area looking for pieces of a diary and every time I found one of the diary recordings I could hear its contents. It was like a side story of a women researcher who landed on the planet (pandora) but I don't want to spoil the details so give the quest a try (It gives nice experience pts too). That quest is an example of how the game can be fun and keep you wanting to see more even with a simple fetch quest.

The online cooperative play (a max of 4 players) runs smooth and its really nice to play. The response is quite fast (no lag) and players who enter "your game" will appear as near as possible (nearest outpost) which eliminates the need for a lobby and gives the experience some sense of realism (since on a wasteland potential allies won't be waiting for you on a specified place lol). When someone joins your game, the level of the creatures and enemies will go up, meaning that even if your good friend who is "maxed out" enters your game it doesn't mean it is going to be easy (sorry for experience leechers hehe).

Overall, Borderlands is a nice surprise that gave me a whole new reason to stay playing past midnight. It feels like an rpg with its simple level up system and skill point assignation, but keeps the fast paced hectic action you get from a fps. Sometimes it really plays like you're in an mmorpg raiding a dungeon and your party faces a ton of enemies (only that it is a lot faster) and it manages every aspect of it in a good way. Final thoughts, Borderlands is not exactly a Fall out clone. It is a fps game focused on story elements and action, with a "lite"but solid rpg system and the online coop to share the experience with your friends. Small package with a bang, a job well done by it's developers and a nice decision for the publishers who supported it.