Games Self Assessment
Please research and answer the following questions:
- Do you play video games these days? How much time per week do you spend playing them?
I play video games pretty much everyday and the time I spend playing on them is quite randomised, it can be upwards of 12 hours a day to 2 hours a day. This depends on if my enthusiasm for playing games is high that.
- Name 4 key features of a video game?
User Interface – Basically all the buttons you see on the screen counts as UI. The buttons, maps and menus on the screen all count as a UI. For example if I was playing ‘Terraria’ and I wanted to view my inventory – I would click this and it would open up. These are features you can interact with.
Storytelling – For me, if there is a game that has an immersive and interesting story and there’s characters that you are invested in the player will care more about this. If you have characters act like an Artificial Intelligence the player cannot be invested. If you have a character that has human emotion, we care more about these characters.
Socially Interactive Game – There are games that I really enjoy but only played with friends. These games when played solo are not as interesting and become boring. When played with friends, it brings in a fun experience where you can socialise and mess around.
Detail – You can’t have games that are specifically made to make money, as there is no care in that. Games that are rushed have bigs and glitches and this effects the player base. There should be care taken to complete the game and game modes, responding to feedback of the players.
- What was the first game you ever played? Where and when did you play it?
My memory is bad but I remember playing games since I was very young, essentially a toddler. The first game I think I was played was ‘Need for Speed – Underground’ on XBOX.
4. Children enjoy video games. How old should a child be before he or she is allowed to play video games?
I think it’s really in the childs interest. You can manage it by managing their time, so this can be managed well but I think any age is fine. I was playing as a toddler and I think it can be good for a childs social development. I use VR chat and this bridges games and social platforms, even though there are game aspects the main point of the game is to meet people and develop communication skills.
- Have you ever played a game that requires physical movement, like with the Nintendo Wii? What are the benefits of this kind of game?
My VR headset. I play a game called ‘Beat Saber’ the point of this game is to basically have two controllers – each one a colour red or blue. You have to hit the right block with the right colour in the right direction to a song. The songs increase in speed. I have played this game a lot and it can make your arms ache as you are physically moving to attain in the game.
- People play games on computers, phones, consoles and in arcades. On what kind of machine or device do you prefer to play a game?
I prefer to use a PC, because the parts inside the PC can be customised and you can buy better parts to ensure the PC runs faster, As games become more detailed, you need stronger devices to play the game. My PC has a lot of RGB, which also makes the PC look nice for design purposes.
- What is your favorite all-time game? Why was it great?
Borderlands 2 mostly because of ‘Handsome Jack’ the main antagonist of the game. I like his charismatic nature and the nostalgia of the game, as i’ve played it since 2012, when i was around 8 or 9.
- Some video games are very violent. Do you think they influence their players to be violent in real life? If so, what should we do about it?
No. I think this is to do with how parents raise children. I don’t think games can encourage people to be violent. If you think someone is becoming violent due to games, it needs to be limited but has more responsibility on the way the child was raised. Some people monitor certification for gamers, this wasn’t the case for me and I don’t think I have been influenced.
- Are video games addictive? Why can’t some people stop playing?
Games are addictive, there is essentially what you call a ‘snowball effect’ to this. You start off playing for an hour, then two, then three and so forth. People can get dopamine from the joy of palying games. I think I am far in the snowball effect. Sometimes I will play the game even if I am bored out of habit. I play on multiple devices and try to have breaks but I had a VR session that lasted 48 hours and I don’t think this is healthy.
- It seems that most video game players are male. Why do boys like video games more than girls do?
I would qualify as the type of content in the game. females can enjoy games as much as males but males often play these games.
Games Design Job Roles
My name is Charlie and I am an avid gamer. I have a passion for Virtual Reality (VR) and Integrated Reality (IR). I am interested in technical developments in games and would like to build a career in Games development.
I am most interested in being a Quality Assurance (QA) tester for games. This role involves finding bugs and glitches in games and testing what needs to be fixed before the game is launched.
Screen Skills suggests that a QA Tester ‘
ames testers don’t get paid just to play games all day, despite popular belief. They test specific aspects of a game, write detailed reports of each bug they find and then re-test when the development team has fixed it. They look for program bugs, spelling mistakes, graphical or audio glitches and even copyright issues.
Testers work to deadlines and understand how their role as a tester fits into the production schedule. They must be able to document their findings accurately, usually in a software quality management system. And they need great game stamina as they may play the same part of a game over and over again – long after it’s stopped being fun.’
Strategic games can be fun occasionally but I find them boring, so assessing how ‘fun’ a game is can be subjective to other players. I would most like to work for independent games studios like ‘Omori’.
Screen Skills states that the skills and knowledge needed to be a QA tester are:
- Playing games: be an avid game play and understand what makes for a good gameplay experience
- Following instructions: be able to follow the test brief accurately (and not get distracted by other aspects of the game)
- Communication: define and articulate the quality of the gaming experience
- Attention to detail: be precise about a bug and record it accurately
- Patience: not get bored when you must play the same aspects of a game repeatedly
I feel that I have evidenced these skills throughout my game playing and studies. I would prefer to work for a studio that cares more about games than the financial assets of a game. I think that putting care into a game is more important.
Games Research
Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2 is a 2012 first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. Taking place five years following the events of Borderlands, the game is once again set on the planet of Pandora.
I like Bordelrands 2 because I like the character of the villain as the main reason. He has quite the charismatic nature and a pretty good back story. The villain’s original face was scarred so he wars a fake face over his original face because of that. Borderlands 2 is a ‘looter shooter’ game which means that it is where the player kills enemies, loots better weapons and continues in the game with stronger weapons and assets.
Borderlands 2 is available on both console and PC. I play it on PC because I feel that it is better to play that way as I am more accustomed to the controls and on PC you can install modifications to expand the game, you are unable to do this on console. Modifications include new weapons, new enemies and potential new bosses. You can also make the game harder and easier with modifications – so this allows for expanded game play and a broader audience.
Borderlands 2 – I have been playing this game since it’s release back in 2012. I had it on the XBOX 360 and Ps3 back then but have since started to play it on PC.
These are characters from Borderlands 2. There is diversity in the characters, they all have unique skills and dialogue. All of the characters are human except for one – where the game keeps the identity a mystery. The female character on the left is known as a ‘siren’ this is a character type where they have tattoos on their arms to signify that they are a siren and it gives them additional skills and powers.
This is a scene from gameplay for Borderlands 2. In this scene, there is a company in the game called ‘Hyperion’ and this is where the company launches robots from a giant space station in the sky and they attack bandits in the dam. They need to save someone from the Dam who is being held at ransom. As a player you must go and attempt to save this person, while the robots attack you.
Visually Borderlands 2 uses a lot of primarily yellow and white colours. The game uses gritty and darker colours to suggest a depressing and morbid place. The planet used in the game is known as a wasteland and the colours and imagery suggest that it’s got lots of industrial waste.
State of Decay 2
State of Decay 2 is a survival video game developed by Undead Labs and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game is a followup to State of Decay and was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One on May 22, 2018
State of Decay 2 is a game set in America, where in a fictional Universe a plague breaks out called ‘the blood plague’. There are zombies who are coated in blood, if these zombies scratch you or touch you, you take on a certain amount of infection. If you don’t cure it in time – your character becomes a zombie. To cure it you must kill ‘blood plague zombies’ and collect blood samples. If you get three samples, you can get a cure to it. You don’t have to be fully infected for the plague to go away. You start off with three people and you hear people on the radio who you can ask for help. if you manage to help these characters, they become more friendly and you can eventually recruit them to your own team.
This is one of the maps in the game. there are several maps in the game. Each map has different places and environments. Some being more difficult to traverse in cars due to high mountains and deep valleys, which you can get the car stuck in.
The aesthetic of the game is American and dystopian.
When you get into a part of a car, usually if you are in a truck you can get into the back but if a zombie gets into the back it can pull you out. The blood plague zombie on the right side of the car is different to the standard zombie on the elft – this is signified by the darker colour of the zombie and the red eyes. This is something I will consider when developing my own characters.
There are certain mutations which can occur when someone gets a virus. This will turn the character into a ‘freak’. There are different mutations, one being ‘the feral’ which walks on it’s hands and legs and can chase you down in the car. The one in the screenshot is a ‘juggernaut’ which is susceptible to much more damage and takes longer to take it down. The strength of the juggernaut is signified by when it runs at you the screen shakes.
Arma 3
ARMA 3 is an open-world, realism-based, military tactical shooter video game developed and published by Bohemia Interactive exclusively through the Steam distribution platform. It was released for Microsoft Windows in September 2013, and later announced for macOS and Linux in August 2015.
