Hero?

You Are The Champion
"Don't worry, I got it."
You play as the Hero. You are the one who usually tries to take on the world for any cause you believe in. You are a natural leader in most circles and are not afraid to take that position if a situation calls for it. Others look to you for inspiration and praise you for your acheivements. Even though they love and adore you, however, you are left feeling alone or overwhelmed many times. You're almost always positive and keep your chin up despite any setbacks because you know that you will succeed in the end, no matter how long it takes.

Which Classic Story Role Do You Play?
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Interview Game - Courtesy of Kate

Over in kate's blog, I got a whiff of the Interview game. Taking up the challenge, here's the set of five questions that she's put up for me to answer.

1) If you can change any ONE part of Philippine History, what/which one will it be and why? (Just one!)

I'd change the fact that we weren't able to find economic stability after Ramos. Somehow, whatever momentum that was started during the Ramos administration vaporized really, really fast, leaving us back again, if not further in debt.

2) If given a chance to speak to one of the Gods in any religion, who would it be and why?

Hmm... I'd speak with the Judeo-Christian God. He seems to be the forgiving sort right now and is one who encourages a lot of dialogue. Besides, it should be fun to go and give Jesus a couple of high fives and talk about our favorite movies or something.

3) In relation to number 2, if you had 3 questions, what they be?

Three questions to ask God... hmm...

- "What can we do to unite Protestants, Muslims and Catholics?"

- "Did you really expect technology to expand and change society the way that it's doing now?

and finally

- "Won't you forgive all of mankind, for they do not know what they do?" (hey, if I was gonna talk to the big man upstairs, then I might as well use it to win a few people a chance at redemption)

4) Name 3 of your greatest treasures (no people please).

Are these singular items? Umm... the watch given to me as a Graduation Gift, the heart shaped locket given to me for safekeeping and my RPG collection. The watch and locket is with me for sentimental value, both gifts from the people that I consider to be most dear and most understanding in my life. My RPG collection is something I've spent considerable time and effort on to go to waste. :p

5) Chocolates or beef?

Chocolate. Definitely. I'm not eating beef for religious reasons, and I can have as much Chocolate as I want. Hence, realistically speaking, chocolate is more accessible, more satisfying and a hell of a lot more fun in the right ways. ;)

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Here are The Official Interview Game Rules:

1. If you want to participate, leave a comment below saying "“interview me."”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions - each personÂ’s will be different.
3. You will update your journal/blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

If you don'’t have a blog, I will still ask you 5 unique questions and you can post your answers here.

Any takers?

Intelligent videogame design.

I was just thinking of what would make a good blog topic today, when I stumbled upon this Penny-Arcade webcomic that pretty accurately sums up what I think of the way videogames are being made. Go ahead, click in the link and check it out, I'll wait.

Back? Great.

Now that you've seen the webcomic, let's get to the topic of discussion. I'm not sure if it's nostalgia talking, but for some reason, not a lot of games nowadays have something to back them up after the snazzy graphics.

But rather than going about bashing things, I'll take the positive approach. Let's go and take a look at the games which have shown more than their fair share of intelligent design, and story that extends to beyond pretty graphics.

Gameplay & Experience

In terms of gameplay, few people can resist the experimental, and highly immersive world of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the latest in the MGS series. The game excels in the field of gameplay and user experience, pushing the envelope of immersiveness. Aside from running around and sneaking, there's a host of other actions that Snake can do, like hanging off ledges, switching camouflage, carrying bodies around, engaging in close quarters combat and hunting for food. The beauty of Metal Gear is that it's one of those games that really takes the player and makes you forget that you're holding a controller.

I guess their TV Ad gives you a pretty good idea at how the experience feels. [please note that it's streaming video]

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Take note that I was just talking about gameplay and experience up there. For story, you need something else. So far, the Baldur's Gate series and Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic have been very pleasant surprises in that aspect. Some games can do without story... like Doom, but some games need story, especially cRPGs. Sadly, I can't really discuss the story of these much without giving away huge chunks of spoilers that can (and will) annoy potential players.

However, I think that there's one game that deserves special mention, and that's Planescape: Torment. Few games that start off with you as an amnesiac play to a good level of satisfaction, but Torment leaves them all in the dust. The player assumes the role of a nameless, hideously scarred, immortal zombie. The itself game revolves around finding out who you were, as well as helping the people that you meet along the way, who may or may not have remembered you from before. The individual stories you encounter are all fascinating, and your own history keeps the player stuck to the keyboard way into the night.

If you're bored and you can't find a copy of Torment (which I don't blame you for, it's a fairly dated game) check out this novelization, I doubt if it's official, and I haven't read it (yet) but it might be worth checking out.

Anyway, I'd go on and on more about this, but I think I've exhauste d my reader time limit by now.

Still, I'm curious, what videogames have you guys played that truly hooked you, and why?

Taking a moment be be silly

Happy, happy, joy, joy

Hey guys,

Not much going on today, aside from the silent satisfaction of watching the days go by, inching ever forward to the day I wrap my hands around a copy of Legend of the Five Rings 3rd edition. Work's been good to me, and I'm learning a lot about HTML, Javascript and Dreamweaver. Hopefully if I keep this up, I can actually make some improvements on this blog.

Anyway, as you can tell by the title and the unnaturally happy looking pair of electrons today, I'm not in much of a Zen mood, or a Rant mood, which is a good thing, because it can only mean that I'm having a good day.

It's also the first day of the New Worlds Alliance Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention 2005 at the Ayala Activity Center. Tomorrow's the next day, and it sucks that I can't go because it's a work day. But then again, given a choice between two days of toiling in a thankful post in a geek convention and securing finanical stability, I can live to see next years convention. ;)

Gaming wise, I didn't get to hold Mage again this week, and I'm working my way out of a slump. At least I'm rediscovering the joy that is Neverwinter Nights, and I'm playing through it the first time with my default character in D&D computer games: My Paladin.

I don't know why, but every D&D game I've played in the computer always ends up being a Paladin, with a Great Sword and Full Plate. Kicking ass for the divine has never been so much fun.

Anyway, that's it for today's update, I'll probably be back to my more... sober moods tomorrow, so if anyone's looking for meaty updates, try then. :)

Have a great day everyone!

It's about damn time...

Finally, people are coming to realize that the gaming industry is going to remain stuck in it's current size if it doesn't learn to expand it's market.

As explained in this BBC article Videogames are mired by the fact that they are designed primarily for a male audience. In order for the industry to grow, they have to learn to extend their appeal to the other half of the market, the women who comprise a great portion of our population.

Few videogames exist that have unisex appeal. Sure you've got some women who play Quake, but more often than not, they're exceptions rather than the norm. Thankfully some games do exist that cater to both sexes.

One of these would be The Sims. I'm sure everyone has heard of this game, and it's often the only game that some girls I know of play at all.

Another outstanding game that fits the bill is Harvest Moon, the addictive Farm Sim that has everyone enthusiastically talking about tomatoes and turnips while some people obsess about bovine acquisition. ;)

Why am I so concerned about this? Well, for one thing, the pen and paper RPG gamer population of the Philippines is not making much headway, gender-wise. Sure there are a great gamer chicks that show up but that's 1 out of every 10 or so male gamers.

So, I'd like to hear from the gamer girls out there. What made you guys take up gaming, and what did you like/ dislike about the current situation, and how do you suppose we can improve it?

Thriving on the Drama

Last night, while fiddling around with the Registry Entries of my home PC, I overheard the dialogue and basic plot of my mom's newest fixation. It was a local TV drama centered on the misery of a group of children who were left out into the streets, taken in by cruel adults and generally subjected to all sorts of abuse.

I wasn't paying too much attention to it, as most of the dialogue and plot seemed to sum up as:

Evil Situation 1 happens.

Kids Cry.

Evil situation 2 happens, making things worse.

Adults get angry, beat up kids.

Kids Cry.

Evil Situation... well you get the point.

Given a chance to mull about the situation while watching the a status bar counting percentages, it occured to me that given the nearly religious hold that Media has in this third world country, is this a factor in the lack of motivation displayed by the common Filipino?

It's hard to say what is the cause and what is the effect. But to put it in Mage terms, something becomes real only when enough people believe in it. Given this possibility, it scares me to see what's been going on.

There are no TV shows here that actually show a competent police force, oftentimes relegating them to the role of deus ex machina when they are in need of somehow freeing a kidnapped group of teenages for example. Otherwise, the police are extras, showing up only to oppress the poor or to generally act incompetent.

The poor are never shown to improve their lot without an act of deus ex machina or crime. There is no progress, no means of working your way out of the slums. The poor are portayed to be happy to wallow in their situation, to be thankful to God that they have not suffered this particular day.

The rich are always evil. To have money is to be a self-serving and evil individual. There are no stories about good rich people, and even if there are, these are exceptions. The only good rich people, are those that fall in love with poor people. Everyone else is a spineless old man with no ability to chastise his evil heir who tortures poor people.

After all of this, is it any wonder that people here don't have any hope? They get brainwashed by images of hopelessness, messages of trusting their fatalism and passive acceptance over self improvement. Rather than learning to plan for the long term, they are reduced to being happy about their hand to mouth subsistence.

There are victories in life, and it isn't in dwelling in the drama. There are things that can be achieved, and dreams fulfilled. We all know that life sucks, but it's not an excuse to stop and feel sorry for ourselves.