Hide and Geek

It’s far from a secret that Nintendo’s marketing focus has shifted in emphasis over the last few years. After hitting the market with user friendly gaming, Nintendo realised a new segment of the market to give its attention.

It’s also a well published proclamation that this manoeuvre, however prudent it later became, has left Nintendo much less capable of making their mark in the ‘core’ gaming demographic. It could be debated the ‘casual’ gaming market as it stands will be short lived, or that this kind of gaming is here to stay and Nintendo will be at the forefront of casual gaming for ever more. This, however, is not what was intended for this discussion.

How did this happen in the first place? Did Nintendo just decide to ignore the core gamer demographic, or is it the core gamer that fell out of love with Nintendo?

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Want to make somebody truly happy this Christmas? Then pay attention as Hide and Geek freelancer Tom Connick takes us through his handy shopping list…

Uncertainty is a horrible thing, and never is it more apparent when partaking in that most dreaded of seasonal activities; the Christmas shop. “Will Gran, like this vase? What can I buy for Mum on my budget of twenty quid? Does my brat of a sibling even deserve a present at all?” Stress levels are high, so high in fact, even the thought of a Christmas tree could result in some form of mental breakdown.

But never fear. Take a metaphorical chill pill, put the kettle on and sit down. Hide & Geek are here, as always, to make your life that little bit easier. And so we present to you, the HnG Christmas Shopping List!*

*No responsibility is held by HnG for any bratty siblings, any disappointed Mums or any nervous breakdowns

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Ever notice when you’re playing a certain game that you completely switch off for a minute? You are no longer actively concentrating on the game, and your hands take orders from something other than your active brain. It’s a familiar feeling for some gamers, and what we in the industry affectionately refer to as being in the zone.

The zone is a state of mind that players of videogames can reach, where concentration shuts down completely, and there is no concept of the world outside of the game. Interaction and engagement reach such a point that there is nothing else in the player’s life, just the game. It’s a side effect of complete immersion, a state of mind where the subconscious takes over for a period of time.

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The hive mind can be a brilliant thing, answers can be obtained quickly and problems solved in minutes. People can rally for one cause or another and groups can be formed to support or oppose the smallest decision. When the hive is in agreement and overwhelming correct then nearly anything can be achieved, within context of course. The problem arises when the hive isn’t right and it rolls on through making the wrong judgement because people are to afraid to speak out. You then get a roll on effect of people whom choose to be different purely for difference sake. Fighting with ridiculous logic and without purpose other than to play devils advocate, even when the general consensus is actually right.

Take Too Human for example, full of promise, hype, anticipation and also fundamental failings. The game universally panned by regular people and critics too yet there were those people who claim it to be an amazing game. I’m not putting the game down to a level of Yaris but it is a very poor game that garnered a large amount of the aforementioned ‘be different’ crowd. So lets look at the wider effect on the games community from this phenomenon.

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In the past 2-3 years the games industry has passed over the proverbial cusp that had prevented it from reaching mainstream appeal. Look only as far back as the launch of the Xbox 360 and games would be simply shot down as a hobby of anti-socialites and geeks. The medium as a whole was the equivalent of a dark ally that an onlooker wouldn’t dare stroll down alone. Fast forward to today and it’s hard to escape the uprising of fascination with the worlds most promising entertainment form. Everything from advertising, announcements as well as the products themselves have become mainstream events and spectacles.

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Games are a complicated combination of visuals, sounds and user input. The basic image of video gaming has remained unchanged since it’s conception; a player sat in front of a screen, controlling a game with a controller or keyboard. What if the way we play games could be changed? Admittedly the Wii has taken gaming in a new direction, putting new emphasis on the way we interact with games. However, It still results in a similar mental image of gaming. What then, if a game changed the way it interacted with us?

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Read on….

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I played Oblivion til my eyes bled when the game was first released on XBox 360. I played it every waking hour of the day, but the game obviously wasn’t content with just this, as when I went to sleep I dreamt of made up quests and obtaining made up treasures. The game offered a beautiful world with endless options, no boundaries and no restriction of choice. It offered a living, breathing world with it’s own personality and charm, a world that I eventually left due to unknown reasons. Probably a full gamerscore.

Anyway, I started playing Oblivion again today (on PC this time…) as part of a games research project, this time however, I’m looking at the game through a specific lens. I’m analysing the world of Oblivion itself, how the environments are constructed, the story and lore behind the world and what exactly gives the game it’s unique atmosphere. But I digress.

I haven’t played the game for a good couple of years, but stepping back into the world of Cyrodiil was just like listening to a song that you haven’t heard for years. It managed to conjure up all the thoughts and feelings that were running through my head when I played the game previously. It’s a strange combination of familiarity and nostalgia. Returning to the game offered me a strange sense of belonging, like the game had been happy to welcome me back after my long absence. This was mainly achieved through the sound and music, I believe there’s some science behind the fact that sound has a stronger link to memory than any other sense. The satisfying sound effects of picking up a new item, or improving a skill instantly triggered feelings of nostalgia. These tiny sound effects alone instantly brought me back to a state of mind I was in when I played the game 2 years before.

It’s a strange and fascinating thought that a game, a mere combination of code and polygons, can make a player feel such strong attachments to a virtual environment. Of course this feeling isn’t just limited to Oblivion, many games I’ve returned to years later have had similar effects on me. But Oblivion’s rich, fully realised, lore driven world was a joy to return to. It was like returning to the holiday location your parents forced you to visit year after year. I knew my way round, I recognised certain landscapes and I was familiar with the locals. I’m sure this is a feeling many gamers have noticed during their gaming lifetime, but returning to Oblivion is the best example of this phenomena I’ve experienced to date.

/Jamin’s back off to Cyrodiil

The classic Game Over screen may seem like a dying convention, with death now being incorporated into play as just another gameplay mechanic. Is this really good for games though? Do gamers not need punishment for failure? A consequence for their actions? In this short feature, Hide and Geek asks; could death be handled any differently in games?

Jamin prepares for the afterlife and delves deeper into death, difficulty and design…

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