Remediation Between Gaming and Film

NB. Major spoilers will follow to the plot of the film Run Lola Run, in order for me to talk about it in detail. I therefore suggest that anyone reading this should watch the film before reading this blog entry... (I will also describe plot elements from other films, most notably, The Matrix Trilogy and the more recent, SuckerPunch).

Remediation is a concept I had come across before, in several different mediums without being aware of it.

Remediation is "the representation of one medium in another..." (Bolter Jay, Grusin Richard, 2000, Page 45). A simple example of this is taking a feature, a time limit, from one medium, gaming and applying that into another medium, film, in the form of Run Lola Run.

In this case I will focus on remediation between films and video games. Many other kinds of remediation exist, scrolling TV news tickers emulate internet news sites, the fundamental rules of perspective of 3D shapes on a flat plane used in many current video games, were created in the Renaissance, centuries ago.  Some video games are in fact based directly on existing movie or book franchises.

These games are sometimes referred to as "movie tie-in games" when the game releases at the same time or shortly after the film. If these games are rushed to retail to meet the films deadline, then it is possible a decline in quality will follow. A well known example of a game based on a movie held in high regard by gamers and critics alike, is the N64 FPS game Goldeneye. This game was eventually released several years after the film that prompted it, thus leading to a dramatic overall of the gameplay features, likely increasing the games overall quality.

Anyway, onto how Run Lola Run uses Remediation from video games...

Run Lola Run

This was a very interesting film, and an excellent example of remediation in action. In this case, elements common to gaming, were taken and used in a film, which creates quite a unique experience. (We watched the film in German, with English subtitles).

Before I talk about the different elements which were inspired by games, I will first cover the bare bones plot of the movie, to give my writing some much needed context. The plot involves Lola and Mani trying to repay gangsters the £20,000 they accidently left on a train. Mani is contemplating armed robbery to get the money he needs to pay the gangster that employed him. Lola’s goal is to get to Mani, who will only wait 20 minutes before robbing the shop. The film has a number of unexpected twists, which I will describe below.

Time Limit

Perhaps the most obvious instance of remediation is the 20 minute time limit that Lola has to save Mani, before he tries to earn the money needed by robbing the nearby shop. Time limits are a common element in most older video games. A few notable examples are Space Invaders, Sonic 1,  and Mario Brothers Donkey Kong. In Space Invaders the player gets a Game Over if the spiky blue aliens reach the bottom edge of the screen. In Sonic 1, and the other original Genesis games, each level has a time limit of 10 minutes. Once this time limit is reached, Sonic loses a life and will be reset at the last checkpoint.

The film itself really seemed to have a large element of tension, since we, the audience, know that Lola is constantly running out of time to achieve her aim of saving Mani. Every time she is delayed, we wince, as we know that it costs her precious time, and consequently brings Mani closer to committing the crime and suffering the consequences.

Which brings up to the next element the film borrows from games, if Lola fails, in her task of Mani saving within the 20 minute time limit, she gets extra...

Lives

Lives. Lola seems to have multiple lives to achieve her goal. Lives are a tried and true gaming concept dating back to games like, Donkey Kong Space Invaders, and Pac Man. It seemed like a novel, clever idea to continue the film in this way. At the end of the first 20 minute run, I was convinced that the film was over, Mani was captured, and Lola was dead...

I will now summarise the key changes that occur in each new life. As I said above, major plot points/spoilers will be discussed in this section. You have been warned.

Attempt 1 - This is the first attempt, which introduces us to Lola and Mani's characters, and the people they interact with in the 20 minute time-frame they have. It sets the scene for the rest of the film, and gives us some idea of what to expect.

Result = Mani is captured; Lola is shot by a panicking policeman and dies. Lola gets another chance to try to save Mani.

Attempt 2 -

Result = Lola managed to rob her fathers business and escape with the money needed. Mani is run over by an ambulance, when running towards Lola. Lola gets another chance to try to save Mani.

Attempt 3 -

Result = Lola manages to win most of the money needed in a casino. Mani manages to chase down the homeless person who ended up with their money on the train. Mani gets the money back by threatening him with the gun. Meanwhile Lola saves a man in an ambulance.

Eventually Lola catches up to Mani, and is very angry with him, since he managed to get the money himself, and she went through all that distress for nothing. (Frankly I was surprised that Lola didn't leave Mani, after all her efforts were for nothing. The film broke so many conventional ideas, that I was almost disappointed that it had a conventional, "happy ending").

Overall I greatly enjoyed watching Run Lola Run! It seemed like a well made, thought out film, which I'd happily recommend to friends.

Another example of remediation from gaming to film is the well known sci-fi franchise the Matrix trilogy.

The Matrix Trilogy

Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix

The Matrix Trilogy is another good example of remediation in action. Video games have often tried to change and manipulate the laws of reality, gravity, physics etc, in gaming. This is exactly what Neo, Trinity and Morpheus do while inside the Matrix. They bend and warp the rules to suit themselves. This allows them to react and fight with super-human speed, run up and along walls, jump massive distances, and even fly. In addition to this, characters can enter a state known as "Bullet Time" where time slows down to the point where they can see and dodge individual bullets. As the trilogy progresses Neo becomes progressively more powerful and gains new abilities, in much the same way a video game character would level up in an RPG. Indeed by the end of the second film, The Matrix Reloaded, Neo is able to exhort some control of his abilities in reality, although this takes a terrible toll on his physical body.

Suckerpunch

Suckerpunch Trench Battle

Suckerpunch is a recent action/adventure film and perhaps the most recent example of remediation in film. Large segments of the film take place in the main protagonists mind, and these are the bits which use remediation heavily. Below I shall describe some of these segments, and relate them to games I have either played, or have knowledge of.

One futuristic section of the film is set on a fast moving train, where the characters must get to and disarm a bomb before it reaches a massive city and detonates. This segment is highly reminiscent of the first Gears of War game. In Gears 1 the main protagonists are using a train to transport a bomb to an enemy base. In both cases, the characters must fight multiple enemies on the train, in order to disarm or transport it.

Another segment of the film, involves the characters fighting their way through a futuristic version of WW2-like trenches to reach a military bunker. Once inside the bunker a map must be stolen. That sentence may seem normal, until you consider that the enemy soldiers are not German infantry, but steam powered zombies. The look of these soldiers recalls the Hellgast in Playstation 3's Killzone series of games. One of the main characters also pilots a hulking mech, complete with grenade launchers, machine guns, and jump jets that allow it to fly for periods of time.

Suckerpunch Zombie Soldier   

Helghast soldier from Killzone.

An earlier segment of the film has the main protagonist Baby Doll fighting and overcoming gigantic stone samurai warriors. These warriors wield both conventional weapons such as swords, and spears, as well as shoulder mounted missiles launchers and massively destructive mini-guns. This segment, sans the modern weapons, reminds me heavily of games like Ninja Gaiden, where the player plays as a fast moving ninja master character. In Ninja Gaiden the player fights both human Samurai and demonic enemies, called fiends. The general feel of the fast paced, brutal combat seemed to be replicated in this film.

I think it is also worth mentioning that the overall plot of the film, the girls stealing the 5 items (which they acquire by fighting through epic CGI battle sequences), to use in an escape plan, is similar in structure to many video games. Many video games have the player going on a quest, overcoming challenges to gain x number of magical items. Indeed, the popular Legend of Zelda, series of video games usually boils down to this basic narrative formula.

It was enjoyable to write about some of the films I've seen recently, and show how these relate to gaming.

Thanks for reading.

Bibliography

Jay Bolter & Richard Grusin (2000) Remediation: Understanding New Media MIT Press

Examples of Remediation Worth Watching

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright), 2010

This crazy film was based on an even crazier comic. The entire film is packed with hundreds of video game references, everything from on-screen statistics meters, dramatic "KO!'s" to direct uses of video game music. (Legend of Zelda forest theme).

Favourite moment = When Scott confronts his "dark" self. Excellent parody of gaming conventions.

Run Lola Run! (Tom Tykwer) 1998

Favourite moment = When Lola escapes her fathers bank in the second attempt, only to think the police are pointing the guns at her...

The Matrix (The Wachowskis) 1999

The first Matrix film. Favourite moment = When Neo first realises the potential of his powers, and uses them to defeat an enemy agent.

The Matrix Reloaded (The Wachowskis) 2003

The second Matrix film. Favourite moment = Highway chase/battle scene. Lots of fighting on top of and around cars/trucks.

The Matrix Revolutions (The Wachowskis) 2003

The third and final Matrix film. Favourite moment = Neo and Smiths final battle in the rain.

SuckerPunch (Zack Snyder) 2011

A bizarre thriller/action adventure film. Great CGI battle sequences.

Favourite moment = Futuristic WW2 trench battle sequence.

Games Mentioned

Goldeneye (Nintendo 64) Rareware, 1997

Gears of War 1 (Xbox 360) Epic, 2006

Killzone (Playstation 3) Geurrilla Games, 2004

Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) Team Ninja, 2003

The Road to Valve

PROLOGUE

On a sleepy Tuesday evening in March, Jens noticed that someone on our forum had found not only the location of his apartment, but also had the photos from Google street-view, and photos from the inside, as provided by real estate agents. I guess there really is no right way to deal with such delicate matters, so Jens did what anyone of us would have

done; post the link in the company chat. I can’t for sure remember what we made of this proposed stalker, for only moments later Thomas posted his entry:

“Valve is wondering if we wanna come to the Portal 2 Launch Party in Seattle, but since neither Jens or I can go, we wanted to see if anyone here would be interested.”

Maybe the creepy stalker turned out to be just a regular fan with a love of fine Swedish architecture, or he found some other semi-celebrity to murder. Anyhow, it’s good that Jens is still with us, as his unfortunate departure would not only have caused some retroactive guilt, but also put a serious damper on our excitement about the upcoming trip to Seattle.

Out of the six people working at Frictional Games, three was going. Marc felt under the weather and chose to join Jens and Thomas to hold down the fort while Mikael (that’s me!), Luis, and Marcus, prepared for the journey.

Mikael, Luis, Marcus

SATURDAY

Less than a month later I stood in line to catch my connecting flight out of Frankfurt headed for Seattle. It should be noted that Frictional Games don’t have an office, so I would be meeting Marcus and Luis for the first time on the trip. Marcus would join me in Frankfurt, while Luis was flying in via Paris.

At first everything went smooth, I even had time to change my seat, seeing as Marcus and I hadn’t been seated together. Of course, I mixed up the rows and got a seat even further away. Marcus texted me: “I’m not gonna make the flight!” That’s bad news, I thought, as I was ushered aboard the plane. People crammed themselves into the plane and still no sight of Marcus. Then I got a text from Marcus: “I made it!” I wiggled myself into a weird stand, turned around, and caught a glimpse of his waving hand a few rows back. Looks like we won’t be seeing each other until Seattle.

STILL SATURDAY

As the plane landed I said farewell to the farmer from Oregon, who I had badgered for information about Seattle, and waited for Marcus to emerge from the back rows. He smiled broadly and shook my hand.

“Mr. Marcus, I presume.”

"Yes, and I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you."

Those weren’t the exact words, but I feel the Stanley-Livingstone greeting is appropriate considering the long wait.

Our Russian driver dropped us off outside our hotel in Bellevue, a neighboring city to Seattle, just across Lake Washington. While checking in, I made sure to ask about Seattle and the sights in Bellevue. The concierge swiftly pulled out a map and marked all the points-of-interest for me. I did not know it yet, but I would end up with quite a few of these maps at the end of our trip.

Luis showed up an hour later. Having found our third team member, it all seemed to come together. Luis natural suave worked well with the joviality of Marcus and my own phlegmatic disposition. After a quiet celebration of our triumph of getting there, we faced a new problem; we had basically been awake for 30+ hours and it wasn’t even noon yet.

We decided to stay in Bellevue that day and get some general shopping out of the way. The concierge pulled out another map and marked the stores of interest. We took in as much as we could of the American experience as we roamed streets and the mall near the hotel. We considered it a wild stab in the dark, but we decided to head for Game Stop and check if they had Amnesia in stock. Not only did we find a copy of Amnesia, but also the Penumbra Collection! Proud and a little full of ourselves, we went looking for food. The concierge pulled out another map, and started marking the restaurants. Despite her efforts, we ended up at Subway.

“Excuse me, I ordered a medium,” I said, shocked by the size of my drink.

“Yeah, that’s the medium,” the cashier rolled her eyes.

“But, what will the other guests drink?”

Marcus, Luis and I, eyed the huge medium cup with unease as we chowed down on our subs. The day continued and our lack of sleep became more and more apparent. Coffee didn’t help, especially not for Luis, who kept insisting on drinking hot chocolate. We made it to around 8:00 p.m. before we caved in.

SUNDAY

The next day happened to be the only day we really had time to do something before the whole Portal 2-mayhem started. We had to make this day count, but first some breakfast. We found our way to a diner called Palomino.

“Do you know what Palomino means in Spanish?” mused Luis as we waited for the food to be served. Marcus and I looked at each other with a we are going to regret this-look.

“What?” we dared.

“You know, it’s like, stains in your underpants.”

The waitress swooped down with our food.

“Everything in order?” she asked.

“Thanks, we’re good.”

“How do we get to Seattle?” I asked the concierge. She seemed confused at first, perhaps as there was no reason for her to give me a map, but told me that taxis were easy to find.

“So, taxi is the way to go, no busses or trains?”

“Oh, there are busses,” she shined and circled some areas on a map. “But, it is quite the long ride, maybe an hour. Taxis take twenty minutes or so.”

“Taxi it is,” I said while trying to figure out if I could leave the redundant map on the counter. I tried to evade her cheerful gaze, but failed. The concierge smiled and nodded approvingly as I took the map and pocketed it.

Some form of Needle

The first stop was the Science Fiction Museum, which apparently doubled as a rock museum, i.e. musical rock, not geological rocks. Personally, I feel pairing up the nerds with the bullies is a bit cruel. Perhaps it’s a part of some form of outreach program, who knows? After a strangely brief visit (not our fault, it was small) to the museum, we took the elevator to the top of Seattle’s most famous building, the Space Needle. The elevator girl yawned through her informational speech, which I assume she had repeated thousands of times before. Length, width, volume, all that good stuff, if you ever find the need to build your own Space Needle. The view was spectacular, which sort of is the point with the place. On the way down the suicidally bored elevator girl asked if we had any questions. I’ll bite, I thought and asked:

“That strange building on the hill…”

“It’s a school.”

“A school? It’s so big,” I interrupted.

“It just looks big, it’s actually quite small.”

“Fascinating,” I closed the conversation, staring into her dead eyes. Just before I started to wave my hand in front of her, to see if she was still with us, the elevator went: “Ding!” The doors opened and the girl ushered us outside.

We made our way down to the waterfront, passed a marina and an aquarium, and continued to Pike Place. It was a public market with vendors selling various knick-knacks, souvenirs, and fish. After dodging our way passed people and crustaceans, we emerged on the other side and headed up into the city.

Marcus approved!

We strolled through the skyscraper area with an appropriate amount of awe, making us look impressed, but not too touristy, until.

“Hey, look at the bus!” called Marcus. Luis and I looked at the bus breaking for the traffic light up ahead. The ad splayed across the side read: Portal 2! Whatever remnants of cool we still possessed escaped us. It was a funny feeling, being proud for Valve’s sake. It was not like we had anything to do with the game itself, we still did our thing. We were still Frictional Games, yet we happily associated ourselves with the American giant. So we took some pictures.

Suddenly we noticed some people we recognized on the other side of the street. It was a group of indie-developers from Two Tribes.

“Are you guys coming tonight? All the indies are meeting,” they said.

“Right, at Joey’s, we’ll be there.”

“Is it true, that this is the first time you guys met?”

“Yeah. We don’t really have an office. Luis is not even in the same country.”

“That’s insane. You made Amnesia without ever meeting?”

“Yeah.”

“Weird.”

“Um, ok.”

After a brief encounter with Seattle’s chinatown, we made our way back across the lake, to Bellevue and the hotel. We were starving and a place called Pagliacci Pizza would have to do.

“Could you pull back on the cheese… like a lot?” asked Marcus. The waiter looked puzzled and simply said yes. American food, sure was bit excessive sometimes.

“I’m sure we are fine. As long as Pagliacci doesn’t mean something nasty in Spanish.”

Luis raised his eyebrow mischievously.

It really didn’t mean anything, and I knew it wouldn’t. Since Pagliacci is a very famous opera about a clown, who murders his wife and her lover on stage. Which sort of goes to tell, if you are picking out a restaurant name, depressing wins over nasty every time.

The food was actually really good, except for the beer which was like a strange mix between apple juice and a Budweiser.

The evening finally culminated at Joey’s where we got to meet the other indie-developers. It was a nice and welcoming group which quickly turned the night into a merry event.

“You guys did Amnesia, without even meeting – not once?!”

“Yeah.”

“Weeeeiiiird.”

“Um, ok.”

MONDAY

This day would be all about Valve and the release of Portal 2. I woke up giddy as a kid on Christmas Day. At least if that kid just happened to have been doing some heavy drinking the night before. I popped a painkiller and headed downstairs to the lobby. Now to figure out how to find Valve. I felt the concierge reaching for a map behind me as one of the other indies said: “Oh, we know where it is, just follow us.”

At Valve we were quickly ushered into a hallway where a cornucopia of food were presented to us as breakfast. Pastries, fruit, and coffee. It was enough to please even the most starving developers. On the other side of the hall was a table filled with Valve swag. Portal bags, signed copies of the game, t-shirts, companion cubes, the list goes on.

“Are these for the champions of the ARG?”

“There too many of them, they must be for us!”

The indies descended upon the free stuff, lifting it into the air, laughing maniacally as if receiving bounty from the gods. Slight embellishment, but we might as well had.

Time for the tour. It may come as a surprise to many, but game developer’s offices are quite conventional. I’m sure many have found out the hard way, but it simply isn’t that convenient to work inside a laser-tag course or a room fitted like a medieval castle. It usually comes down to some minor decoration – a headcrab, a turret, a gold crowbar, and so on. What did catch my attention was Gabe’s knife collection. The collection has an entire room dedicated for it and it is indeed filled with neatly displayed knives in all shapes and forms. I find it funny how readily we accept this oddity inside the offices of a successful company, while in someone’s home, we would instinctually stab the closest friend in hope his cries would distract the owner long enough to get the heck out of there.

Lunch was a massive joint effort and the small army of developers sieged a local restaurant to cure their hunger. Across the table sat John from Steam. We talked about this and that, also happened to mention our strange experience with American beer at the pizza place.

“There is some really good beer here, you just need to know where to find them,” he said and we thought little more about it.

Seat hogging indies

Everyone gathered inside a conference room for an ARG post-mortem meeting. The few chairs filled up quickly, so people ended up leaning on the walls or sitting on the floor. The place was packed, but it was a nice feeling. It felt like going to a convention, with a lot of positive and smiling people. As everyone started to share their experience with the ARG, my eyes opened up to what really had been happening. It is difficult to explain, but I felt that we might have been working too much on pleasing our fans and not the fans of Portal 2. I started to doubt our efforts, but I would soon be swayed.

“Jeep, when would you say you first felt like the ARG was really taking off?” asked one of the indies. It should be explained that Jeep is a man working at Valve. Not only did he spearhead the ARG, but he is also one of the original creators of Portal. Whatever he has to say, it counts for something, at least in this situation.

Jeep sat on the floor in a lotus position, serene like a buddhist monk.

“I think it was when I first saw the glyphs in Amnesia,” he answered after a moment of forethought.

My spirit lifted, we were in the clear. I looked over at Marcus and Luis and we shared a silent Hell yeah!-moment.

We headed back to the hotel to drop off our free stuff and suddenly found ourselves in the lobby again. Valve had planned dinner at a place called Purple. No one of the nearby indies knew where it was, but it was supposed to be close by.

“Do not fret, for I know a way,” I said confidently, “Concierge! We require a route to Purple!”

“Ooh, I found it on my iPhone,” noted another indie.

“Please be quiet, I’m trying to bring this whole map thing to a deserving finale.”

The concierge produced a final map for my collection and circled the hotel and the restaurant called Purple. It was a great moment of camaraderie. I felt a high-five coming on.

“I can see you guys are having a moment, but we really need to get going,” said one of the indies.

“Fine.”

"It's alive!"

After we shared a fancy dinner at Purple we made our way back to the office for the release party. The place had been transformed into a club with people dancing and drinking. We grabbed a few beers and sat down in the lounge area. Then John, the Steam guy, popped up.

“Hey, guys, I heard you wanted to try some fine American brew.”

John had brought with him some real beer and started to fill our glasses. It was truly a heartwarming experience. We were just three guys among a huge pile of indies and he really made us feel welcomed.

“Is it true you guys never met while making Amnesia?” he asked.

“We know – it’s weird,” we sighed in unison.

“I was gonna go with impressive, but yeah, I guess it is kinda weird.”

Luis with some guy named Chet

The evening turned out really well. As the ARG finished, Portal 2 was launched with an actual switch thrown by the Champions of the ARG. After more beer and cake (no lie), we were ready to head back to the hotel. As we were leaving, Chet Faliszek, writer at Valve, approached us.

“I just wanted to say, I really like what you did with Amnesia.”

“Really? You like our work? Are we even allowed to speak to you?”

“Of course, we’re peers. You made a great game, we made a great game. Simple as that.”

There was nothing more to be said or done. We were humbled by the great experience of visiting Valve and with good humor returned home the next day.

edited photomontage.

I wanted to change it a bit, most importantly the font I used.

The Portal 2 ARG Postmortem

On Saturday morning, the 11th December, I came across a strange mail as I did my early inbox checking. The email in question was an invite from Valve, asking us to visit them on the 17th, merely 6 days away, for reasons that were quite obscure. The only thing we knew was that it had to do with Portal 2 and that it might involve other game developers. We were of course intrigued, but at the same time a bit reluctant as we had to travel, a not short journey, in only a few days. However, after a few minutes of deep introspection, we thought "what the heck" and decided to go.

Having come to this decision we were not sure if we would be able to travel though. Two years earlier it had become mandatory to have a visa in order to enter the US. Remembering the trouble we had with visas for our trip to Moscow, we feared that we would not receive them in time. Luckily, it turned out that that as soon as you pay for your visa, you are free to go. No wait or anything like that. And thus, Jens and I were ready to cross the Atlantic!

Guess what time of the year we visited...

Seattle (or Bellevue to be more exact) lies at the western American coast and it takes about 24 hours of travel, from door to door, for us Swedes. Needless to say it is quite an exhausting trip. Added to this is a nine hour jet lag, that caused us to lie fully awake in the middle of the night (sleepless in Seattle, har har,...). And as if that was not enough I also managed to blow my left eardrum, forcing me into the weird habit of turning my right ear to face whoever spoke to me. I digress though, enough of our troubles and on with the fun stuff!

The morning after the arrival we went to the Valve headquarters, situated at a 15 minute or so walk from the hotel. At the lobby we were greeted by an automated gun turret which we barely managed to sneak past, only to get ambushed, caught and forced into a meeting room full of indie developers and a few Valve employees. Everything started out with nobody, not even the Valve people, seeming to have a clue what it is all about. It was all quite ominous to be honest. At this point Gabe entered and explained the master plan, which finally made us understand the purpose of our visit. The gist of the idea was to make the community release Portal 2 and do so with the help of a bunch of indie games. Basically, a nice way to make the users take part in the release of the new Valve game and a boost in publicity for the other developers involved.

By throwing a can we misdirected it and had time to slip past...

The two days planned at Valve HQ were then all about figuring out how to go about doing this. Here Valve had no clear guidelines and just basically wanted us to brainstorm all kinds of weird ideas that could be used. My and Jens' crucial question to this was of course: "Do we need to worry about age rating?". When answered with a negative, all kinds of strange ideas started brewing in our evil heads. For instance, one early idea was to have live-footage of someone being tortured (all acted of course, promise!) and make that into massive Milgram-kind-of experiment. This was scrapped for some other ideas though, which I will get back to in wee bit!

The view from Valve's office is quite nice.
Somewhere out there big foot roams...

An important note here is that all these meetings took place without us having to sign a single NDA. This is pretty much unprecedented when dealing with big companies, who all normally require all kinds of soul-selling documents to be signed in blood before anything can be talked about. Valve also gave us full access to their IP, usage of assets for Portal and whatnot. During the visit they also allowed us to roam around the office (no ep3 found, sorry), try out an early build of Portal 2 and let us in on some other secrets (no ep3 there either, again sorry).

In one dark corner a strange ritual seemed to be in process.

When meetings were done on Friday, there were tons of ideas on what to do, a very basic outline of the event flow, but still nothing very concrete. The plan was instead to let everybody think about the things discussed and to set up a wiki and mailing list where the discussions could continue. Now all what was left for us was to go home the next day. Except that did not happen. Instead Heathrow got overwhelmed by some flakes of snow and canceled all flights. We were now officially stuck and had worries whether we would make it home for Christmas or not. Fortunately, we contacted Anna at Valve who put pressure on the booking agency and got us new flights home for the very next day! In business class! Now all was good except that my ear started leaking some strange liquid (and continued doing so for the following two weeks), which I was forced to wipe off every ten minutes. Despite this we managed to get home somewhat alive on Monday night.

After some rest and ear-drainage, we started to lay out plans for our part in the ARG. As we were in a tech-development phase of the next, super secret, project, the artists did not have that much to do and we figured we could let them focus on the ARG instead. This led to us coming up with the idea of a Portal game set in the universe and style of Amnesia, with the addition of a juicy perma-death mechanic. The main reason simply being that we wanted to see how it affected the level of scariness and had high hopes we would mess people up.

With the above set, I threw together a basic design for the game; a sort of Saw-like trial run orchestrated by a, Báthory-inspired, mad young lady. At this point we did not worry too much about of the ARG puzzles, mainly because there was nothing decided, and figured we could just add it later on.

My design of the add-on story "Justine" started out very basic (and honestly quite dull), but through great efforts by the rest of the team it managed to get really nice. For instance the puzzles, especially the first one, were not all that great at first, something that Jens managed to fix when scripting. Mikael, our writer, added quite a lot of depth to the initial plot and our artists, Marc and Marcus, created very nice levels and graphics out of my crummy sketches and often non-existing descriptions. Because of their endeavors me and Luis managed to stay focused on the tech most of the time, only chipping in a bit at the end.

Design sketch for first "Justine" Level. This is all the artists had to work with basically.

The ARG really picked up pace once Jeep from Valve put together a document outlining the basic steps of the meta game. It was here that the guidelines for each of the three updates were set and now we started contemplating how to add the clues to Amnesia. Our first idea was to release the "Justine" expansion at the start of the ARG and then add new elements to it at each update. Mikael was put on designing these puzzles.

As the ARG was getting closer, we started to realize that we would not have "Justine" ready until the meta-game's start date. This forced us to re-think how the different hints were added in our game (meaning the puzzle work done by Mikael had to be thrown out). Amnesia being a serious game that is all about atmosphere, we did not want to add cheeky out-of-place stuff scattered here and there; instead we wanted all hints to fit the game. The idea was now to have all of the updates in Amnesia, but to have them as elements that an unsuspecting player would take for a part of the game.

In this new design, we had all three clue updates in the normal Amnesia: The Dark Descent and then for the final "crescendo" event we would release the "Justine" expansion, with the goal of having X amount of people complete to unlock our final part of the ARG. Our, somewhat sadistic, hope was the people would reluctantly force themselves through the game to complete the final part of the ARG.

However, it turned out I had missed that this part of the ARG had changed (which Dan of Dejobaan pointed out to me), and was now just all about playing games instead of achieving certain objectives. This forced us to release "Justine" a bit earlier and also moved a hint, meant for the normal game, into "Justine" instead. Again Mikael was put on the task of creating the puzzles needed.

The day before the ARG started, I put together a cryptic blog post, with the intent of introducing the community to a character that might help and confuse them during the ARG. Our initial plan was to keep everything "in-character" according to our own sub-story, with forums posts complaining about escaped animals and the like, hopefully with people wondering what was true and what was not. Unfortunately, it was figured out very quickly that the whole thing was an ARG for Portal 2 (or at least the general Internet-consensus was this) and instead we just used the character to hand over some hints.

The potatoes emerge from the darkness!

Finally the ARG arrived and people threw themselves over our update. This first update was really just meant to contain very little of interest, essentially only displaying a special glyph, a letter and peculiar sentence. To pad out the update a bit, and to hide the hints from people searching the new files, we added some un-exciting assets from "Justine" and a few fake hieroglyphs that were only visible to those not looking for the glyphs in-game. It turned out that almost no attention was paid to the important content though, instead most people were extremely excited about the "Justine" assets, some even convinced that a new secret level was hidden somewhere (and found several plausible locations for this lost place). The hieroglyphs also turned out to be more interesting than the correct glyph, and people even started to decipher their meaning. I actually felt a bit bad about this, and even though no ancient Egyptian expertise would be needed, we decided to use the glyphs somehow in later updates.

14 hieroglyphs, 1 ARG glyph, and one strange Marc:ian sign.

This brings us to the second update, in which we were supposed to have some minor Portal hints. Our choice of hint was to project the shadow of one of the Portal 2 robots onto a wall in the start menu. My hope was that people would take a screenshot, and make photoshop-enhanced images, ala big foot footage, with heated discussions on what it look like ensuing. That did not work out as planned of course, and instead someone found the actual texture, where the portal 2 robot was clearly visible, even before it was spotted in the menu. Our evil plan was spoiled. Lesson learned: always hide the fun stuff!

The shadow of a robot was not all that was part of the second update though. We had also added some clues, that lead up to a special steam overlay and a password for Rush. At first these clues where all simply in a note and a clear voice message. But as we thought it was so fun to watch people trying to crack the riddles and search our files at the first update, we decided to add more content and make the puzzles a bit harder. This was accomplished by encrypting the (already cryptic) text with a non-standard substitution cipher and by adding some noise and effects to the voice message. Along with this we also added four rar files, one of which could be opened by solving a puzzle involving the previously mentioned hieroglyphs and some knowledge of the Cthulhu mythos. The first rar then contained a password to the next rar and so on. Each rar file also contained a text and image that would tease about the soon to come "Justine" add-on story. Unfortunately, pretty much nobody bothered about discussing these bits. Either people were too caught up in solving the puzzle (only seeing the texts and images as means to an end) or they were not that interested into solving the puzzle and did not pay attention to what was uncovered.

One of the hidden pictures that nobody cared about.

As we added these new stuff, especially the hieroglyph-related puzzle (that was written on a wall) and the encrypted note, I think that we might have disturbed the atmosphere a tiny bit too much. The encrypted note uses a cipher that could have been used in the 19th century, but still feels a bit out of place. The (hidden) writing on the wall is even worse as it does not really makes sense in the game's world. I think they did not interfere with many (if any?) people's experience in the end though. Still, it is worth thinking about the impact that this kind of stuff has on the normal game, even if it is just a for a limited time.

A few days later it was time to release update 3, which meant putting "Justine" online. As the ARG hint was unlocked by making a perfect run through the game, some precautions were put in. First of all, the maps and script files where compressed and encrypted, thus not allowing any editing or peeking. This together with some other safe-guards also ensured that the maps could not be chosen individually and needed to be played in the set order. Finally, some important assets like the game config and enemy files were given CRC checks to make sure they were not meddled with. Even so, someone figured out that enemies could be disabled by renaming their folder after the game was booted (when the CRC checks had been made). Tricky bastards...

Bug testing in progress... (you might wanna enlarge it by clicking)

With update 3 out and us having checked that it ran okay (we added some fixes the day after release), we could relax more and did not take as much part in the ARG as we had earlier. A few days later the final crescendo part of the ARG started, where all the games taking part in the ARG needed to be played in order to awaken GLaDOS. It was really fun to see how our game's bar went the slowest. People afraid to play = mission accomplished!

It has been great fun taking part in the Portal 2 ARG. Being on a project together with other indie devs and Valve, trying to figure out tricky riddles, lurking in IRC channels, etc, have all been awesome. Apart from all the jolly good fun, there have also been financial rewards to this. Amnesia sales alone went up a lot during the ARG, and we were on the Steam 20-top for quite a while. The first two days of income pretty much paid for all work put into the "Justine" add-on story. Now as the ARG and sale is over, our daily sales have almost doubled, so not only did we get boost during the event, it also had a lasting effect on people's awareness of Amnesia.

If you are interested in reading more about the puzzles that were part of Amnesia or any other game's updates for that matter, head over to the ARG Wiki.

Also make sure to check out the other postmortems written by some of the developers that took part in the event:

Tripwire (Killing Floor)
Two Tribes (Toki Tori and Rush)
Teotl Studios (The Ball)
Hidden Path (Defense Grid)
Gaijin Games (Bit Trip Beat)
Lazy 8 Studios (Cogs)

Here be indies!
(photo cred: Dan Brainerd)

A final note: For those that do not have Steam, "Justine" is coming... soon...and there will be surprises!

Are Consoles dying?

 
With 50 million monthly active users Zynga's CityVille is making a statement: that a game can find a large consumer base without having to sell a single copy; millions and millions of iphone apps are being sold, not to mention flash and web games that are reaching uncountable numbers. 


This dominance of casual games is making everyone think of this: would casual games consume the market and eventually end console gaming as we know it?


In the past, it was argued that no other platform can match the consoles in terms of graphics power and storage, but with the soon-to-be released NGP, that aspect is about to change, and people are questioning the need for consoles as a result. 


I have discussed in a previous post why casual games are gaining these high figures and this huge market share. In this article I'm attempting to defend the argument that hardcore console games aren't going anywhere. 

Consoles will maintain their positions in the gaming industry for most of the following reasons:

Tiny Screens

Casual platforms usually don't support or require large screens; the relatively small screens of portable devices and PC monitors would never match up the HD power of larger tv screens and surround systems; Consoles have always tried to match the feel of the arcade parlor and they've reached a point to even surpass it. Casual game platforms simply cannot match the experience. 

comfort approach 


Fact is, players would always prefer to sit on the couch and play video games. defiantly beats bending forward to stare into hand held devices or at the wheel chair in front of the computer. 

My couch of choice 

games with larger scope

Until then, none-console games are more targeted towards casual audiences; even hardcore games are less focused and lavish compared to their console counterparts. Console games provide the block buster experience, it's like comparing watching Avatar in 3D cinema and on DVD. It's almost the same content, but the experience is totally different. 

better multi-player


With multiple internet connection schemes, lobbies and leader boards, consoles and PCs are far superior in terms of multi-player experience. Same would be said to direct 2-4 player games, console provides you the fun of directly picking up the joystick and play versus having to connect to other players first before starting a match. Nothing could beat watching your defeated opponent face to face after a brawl. 

Seriously, WTF is going on in this picture?

controls

Consoles have flexibility when it comes to controlers; several companies develop different sets and designs to match every need, and they're easy to pick up and install; portable and casual systems are static when it comes to that regard; sure they can provide some innovative controls sometimes - such as touch screens and motion sensors - but consoles can provide same technology to already existing hardware relatively easily and would be directly hooked via USB. 

inventing new technology 

As the case was with the wii and kinect; new technology was invented specifically to introduce new game play experience in support to traditional gaming. This wave is a first of many innovations in controls and gaming experiences in general; the limitations of other platforms would surely withhold the progress in that regard. 

Consoles include the PC

The oldest and probably the only system that would last forever in terms of gaming; PCs offer everything both consoles and portable devices have to offer in terms of games, connections, and preferals. Most importantly, every house hold NEEDS to have a PC; so since the device is there anyway, why not use it for gaming?

Older Gamers

Ok, not that old

Gamers who grew up in the 90's are a large segment of the video game audience. They are boys and girls that grew up playing their SEGA and Nintendo system and wouldn't have it any other way. To them, gaming experiences have a defined context and changing that would not only confuse them but scare them away. Companies are well aware of that fact and that's why they specifically design games that suit that market segment. This scheme would most definitely draw new comers along as well. creating a continuous loop. 


Bottom line, Consoles and their games aren't going anywhere; there might be changes on how we perceive console gaming but it's going to be there still. The massive success of casual games is a bubble that is bound to burst eventually. 

This would be the subject of an upcoming post, however.  

Making Mystery part 1

An Introduction to Mystery

Say you just finished high school. You have an immaculate GPA and have taken a healthy dose of extra curriculars. You can get into any school you want. Which one will you choose?

With any possible school there is Mystery. Will the professors be engaging? Will you get along with your classmates? How many single girls will be in your English class? You don’t know.

A Mystery is something unknown. It’s the classes you haven’t taken. It’s the people you haven’t met. It’s the profile and the relationship status you can‘t see.

What you don’t know could cost you. Your professors might have tenure and not give a shit. Your roommate might only wear polo shirts and listen to Nickleback. The single girls could be in the Nursing Program. A Mystery can bite. It’s like the hot sauce on your burrito.

Yet Mystery could have everything you want. The professors could be personable and passionate. The school might have shows for Ratatat and The Weepies. The girl in English Class could be looking for a study buddy. There’s the potential for joy and surprise.

A Mystery could be anything, from horrible to beautiful. From Nickleback to prophetic professors. From a poisonous mushroom to a 1-up. From evil to hope. You just don’t know. It's the Mystery which make a decision interesting.

What if there wasn’t any Mystery? What if you knew what would happen? Without Mystery there is no decision.

Take Tic Tac Toe as an example. For a child the game is interesting. Their decision of ‘where to put the X?’ has Mystery. They don’t know where their opponent will place an O. They don’t know the strategy. But once they understand the game it’s choices bore them. Every game will be a tie.

Or say you are playing an RPG and are in a dungeon. Should you go down the left path or the right one? Which one’s a dead end? Which one has treasure? If you’ve played the game before, the choice loses meaning. You know the left path leads to the +3 Broadsword of Kobold Crushing. There is nothing left to learn.

As Raph Koster argues in “A Theory of Fun,” learning is why people play games. Learning is the fun. Once it's done and the Mystery’s solved, the players stop playing. The kids put away Tic Tac Toe. The +3 broadsword gathers dust in your inventory. You finish school and get the degree. (Could be a fun game: Get the Degree!)

This is where the making of Mystery begins: with learning. How does a player learn? How do they gather clues? How do they solve a mystery?

...continued on Making Mystery part 2: Eating Cake

module 1 photomontage

  Being that my youngest son's little league season is under way I figured it was a great time to do a baseball themed photo montage for this module. The point of my design is the correlation between the kids playing and the video game player.

This is the original background pic that I pulled from google images. I removed the player and cleaned up the lines with the stamp tool.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent gets a free expansion!

Amnesia on Steam now comes with with 20% more horror and 10% less cake. Enjoy this brand new flavor of canned horror - manufactured with license by Aperture Science.


(Might contain traces of potatoes)

UPDATE:
Now with the Portal 2 ARG over, we will release the new content, an add-on story called "Justine", for all non-steam versions of the game aswell. And there might be other surprises too ;)

Interesting Decisions: Introduction

As a kid, I would buy pounds of skittles and then marathon a new game. It strikes me that most games are like junk food. They are made with simples sugars and pre-processed choices. For example: Should I open this treasure chest? Yes, it has treasure. Should I use my most expensive attacks against this boss? Yes, he’s a boss. Should I run my character in circles for hours? Yes, I want dizzying amounts of experience. I learned the hard way that some things aren't good for you. That some games are simple and stupid to a fault. And that eating candy for 30 hours straight will make you vomit.

As a game designer, I want to make good games. Games with intrigue. Games which are difficult to master. Games full of protein and complex choice-o-hydrates. I’m interested in making interesting decisions.

There is a famous quote from Sid Meier: “games are a series of interesting decisions.” He has made some interesting games, most notably the Civilization Series. Yet some people, like Chris Bateman, have objected to this. Others, like Mark Rosewater, use a broader criteria when looking at choice. ‘Interesting decision’ is not the only rubric used to create games. But, it is the one I will be writing on.

In this series I will discuss a few different things: What is a choice? What makes a choice interesting? What separates a difficult choice from and easy one? When should I use simple choices? How do punishment and reward effect choice? What should the cost be? How can choices create stories? This series is about choices, choices, and choices.

As part of the writing process, I will make a game to go with each section. The style will vary from classic games to video games, from simple to complex. I’ll also provide a bit of analysis on each one. Anyways to be continued in Making Mystery Pt 1.

Enchanted Arrows Design Issues Essay Draft

Enchanted Arrows Design Issues Essay Draft

Introduction

In this essay I shall analyse the design issues myself and the other members of the Enchanted Arrows team faced, when creating a game with a KS1 (5-7 years old) target audience. I shall do this by primarily focussing on the ideas of, Marcos Venturelli and xxxx. The authors xx, xx, and xx offer alternative viewpoints when analysing video games but in this review I will mainly discuss Space of Possibility and Pacing (Venturelli), 2009, Page 1) and xx (). (Insert Name), date, page number).

Enchanted Arrows is a 2D educational spelling game, where the player controls the crosshair of an on-screen archer, and tries to shoot at items on the screen. Once an item has been shot, a stream of bubbles containing letters of the alphabet, appear on screen. The player must shoot the correct bubbles to spell the name of the item, thus clearing that item from the screen. They must repeat this process to clear 3 items, whereupon they can move onto the next level. Every item spelt correctly will give the player 100 points. Any items spelt incorrectly will deduct 50 points from their overall score.

I shall begin by using Venturelli's theory of pacing to analyse major design issues in Enchanted Arrows.

Pacing

Marcos Venturelli defines pacing as "...a concept related to the overall rhythm of the game, the relative speed at which the different moving parts of the system are put in motion." (Venturelli, 2009, Page 3). What Venturelli means by this is...

In practise, the main gameplay mechanic of aiming at and shooting bubbles was not as engaging as we hoped. Indeed, the majority of the game consists of waiting for the right letter to fall to correctly spell a word. This problem is compounded by the pattern the bubbles follow when falling onto the screen. Sometimes, bubbles on the left side of the screen, near the archer, will block line of sight to the bubbles on the far right half of the screen. This results in the player having to wait until the bubbles on the left have reached the ground and popped, thus leaving a clear shot to the bubbles on the right.

Space of Possibility

Venturelli defines the space of possibility as "...the collection of all possible actions and outcomes inside the designed space of the game - all actions and outcomes artificially made possible by the system." (Venturelli, 2009, Page 3). By this definition, the space of possibility in Enchanted Arrows is incredibly small, since the player can ultimately only carry out two main actions, spelling a word correctly, or failing to spell that word.

Venturelli links this concept to movement impetus, the "will or desire of a player to move forward through a level". (author, year, Page).

Venturelli says "". (Venturelli, 2009, Page 3). What Venturelli means by this is...

List of Design Issues:

Main gameplay mechanics simply are not engaging in practise. Most of the game involves waiting for the right letter to fall, to correctly spell a word. This gives the game a very slow pace.

Not enough gameplay variety due to time constraints. Both boss levels had to be cut due to time constraints. This is a shame, since they would have spiced up the gameplay, and let the player take a break from the main gameplay mechanic.

Have to Wait for Letters to fall. (Sometimes letters on the left side of the screen, will block off the letter you need to show on the right side, which is frustrating).

Difficult to tell if the game is enjoyable to play, due to the age group we are creating the game for. What bores us to tears, they may love.

Four separate issues, well that' a start I suppose.

 

Bibliography

Venturelli Marcos, "Space of Possibility and Pacing in Casual Game Design - A PopCap Case Study", 2009.

Available online at: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MarkVenturelli/20091107/3497/Space_of_Possibility_and_Pacing_in_Casual_Game_Design__A_PopCap_Case_Study.php

P.S. 

As you can see this is an extremely rough draft. I'm still deciding which sources to use other than Venturelli hence the gaps at the start.

Hopefully my draft is on the right track.

Call for assistance

Note:
The following was all part of the Portal 2 ARG that we participated in and is not really important any longer. Keeping it for historical reasons.

So I just awoke to what can only be described as manic giggling and intense keyboard mashing. First thinking it was hallucinations caused by recent days' fumes I ignored it. But it would not go away and I finally went up to investigate. What I found was that my desk was spattered with fresh blood and mucus, something I spent the last minutes cleaning up with high pressure hose (we installed one after the "Sottoth-incident").

Anyhow, this can only mean that one of the old specimens, subject H, has escaped once again. How he did manage to pick the lock without any fingers boggles the mind. I guess he always did have dexterous feet though. Once we catch him there will no more of that though.

In any case, if anybody spots strange messages on the forum or whatnot, please ignore them and just report back to me or anyone at FG. I assure you anything that subject H says is all just a mad animal's ramblings. Nothing to take any note of. Would be great if you all could help me catch the bugger.

Oh, well time for placing some bear traps I guess!


PS: Good news from Razer, looks like the problems are fixed now. To all those that have reported missing limbs: we are working on finding (somewhat) fresh replacements!


PSS: What in god's name is that in my shoes!!!

Greatest Games of All Time

Here's my compiled list of what I think are the best 10 video games ever made in terms of inovation, fun, and craftsmanship. They were astonishing at their time and they will be still enjoyable to play 20 years from now.

10 - Doom
(Console: PC /Developed by: id software /Released in: 1993 /Genre: FPS /Game Designer: John Romero )

widely considered the pioneer in 3D graphics, game gore and network multiplayer; and was the reason for the popularity of the first person shooter genre in the early 90's causing many games to appear with the same concept and thus being dubbed doom-clones.



9 - FlashBack
(Console: Amega /Developed by: Delphine software international /Released in: 1992 / Genre: Cinematic platformer /Game Designer: Paul Cuisset)

So far, the best selling French game of all time. Originally advertised as a "CD-ROM game on a cartridge", the game features fully hand-drawn backdrops, and the player character All animation is rotoscoped, giving movements a fluidity that's unusual for the time. And though at first glance the platformer look of the game can be quite deceiving, the cinematic experience blows you away immediately, creating an atmosphere and story line that is quite unique for a game in that time and genre.


8 - Tetris
(Console: various /Released in: 1985 /Genre: puzzle /Developed and Designed by: Alexey Pajitnov)

The russian game that took the world by storm. While versions of Tetriswere sold for a range of 1980s home comoputer platforms, it was the hugely successful handheld version for the Game Boy launched in 1989 that established the reputation of the game as one of the most popular ever. The long history of Tetris resulted in a Guinness World Record awarding the franchise nine world records in the Gamer's Edition. These records include, "Most Ported Video Game", "Game With the Most Official and Unofficial Variants", and "Longest Prison Sentence for Playing a Video Game", which is held by Faiz Chopdat, who was jailed for four months for playing Tetris on his cell phone while on a flight to Manchester, England. He refused to stop playing after being repeatedly warned by the cabin staff.

7 - The Sims
(Console: PC /Developed by: Maxis/Released in: 2000/Genre: Simulator /Game Designer: Will Wright)

The Sims had sold more than 6.3 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling PC game in history; 'The Sims' franchise also holds the record for best-selling games franchise of all time, with more than 100 million copies of Sims 1, Sims 2, all expansion and stuff packs being sold worldwide to date. It is a simulation of the daily activities of one or more virtual persons 'Sims' in a suburban household near SimCity. Brilliant addictive open-ended gameplay.


6 - The Curse of Monkey Island 3
(Console: PC /Developed by: LucasArts/Released in: 1997/Genre: Adventure /Game Designer: Jonathan Ackley)

The Curse of Monkey Island is the firstMonkey Island game to include voice acting, and has a more cartoon-ish graphic style than the earlier games. The game's story centers around Guybrush Threepwood, a wannabe pirate who must lift a curse from his love Elaine Marley. As the story progresses, he must deal with a band of mysterious pirates and a French buccaneer, as well as his old archnemesis LeChuck. Additions of detailed graphics and actual spoken dialogue managed to take the already hilarious story to a whole new level.

5 - The legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time

(Console: Nintendo64/Developed by: Nintendo /Released in: 1998 /Genre: Action RPG/Game Designer: Shigeru Miyamoto)

Ocarina of Time is the fifth game in The Legend of Zelda series in terms of release, but is set before the first four games. The player controls the series' trademark protagonist 'Link' in the land of Hyrule. Link sets out on a quest to stop Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo, from obtaining the Triforce, a sacred relic that grants the wishes of its holder. Link travels through time and navigates various dungeons to awaken sages who have the power to seal Ganondorf. Music plays an important role—to progress, the player must learn to play and perform several songs on an ocarina.

Ocarina of Time's gameplay system introduced features such as a target lock system and context-sensitive buttons that became common elements in 3D adventure games. Despite a late November 1998 release, it was the best-selling game of that year, and has sold over 7.6 million copies. The title won the Grand Prize in the Interactive Art division at the Japan Media Arts Festival, won six honors at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and received wide critical acclaim, with several publications awarding a perfect score.


4 - Super Street fighter II turbo
(Console: Arcade /Developed by: Capcom /Released in: 1993/Genre: Fighting /Game Designer: Noritaka Funamizu)

Commonly abbreviated as SF, is a popular series of fighting games in which the players pit competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own special moves, against one another. Street Fighter II was the first one-on-one fighting game to give players a choice from a variety of player characters with different moves, an option which created hitherto unknown levels of depth and replay value for an arcade game. Each player character had a fighting style with approximately 30 or more moves (including previously nonexistent grappling moves such as throws) as well as two or three special attacks per character.

The game provides endless hours of combat fun, and it's still the most popular fighting game of all time; with competitive tournaments held each year around the globe.


3 - Starcraft
(Console: PC/Developed by: Blizzard Entertainment /Released in: 1998/Genre: Strategy/Game Designer: Chris Metzen)

With more than nine million copies sold worldwide as of 21 May 2007, it is one of the best-selling games for the personal computer. Set in the 26th century, the game revolves around three species—the Terrans, humans exiled from Earth adept at adapting to any situation; the Zerg, a race of insectoids in pursuit of genetic perfection obsessed with assimilating other races; and the Protoss, a humanoid species with advanced technology and psionic abilities attempting to preserve their civilization and strict philosophical way of living from the Zerg—fighting for dominance in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy. The game has been praised for pioneering the use of unique factions in real-time strategy gameplay and for a compelling story.

Many of the industry's journalists have praised StarCraft as one of the best and most important video games of all time, and for having raised the bar for developing real-time strategy games. StarCraft's multiplayer is particularly popular in South Korea, where professional players and teams participate in matches, earn sponsorships, and compete in televised tournaments.

2 - Super Mario Bros 3
(Console: NES/Developed by: Nintendo /Released in: 1988/Genre: Platform/Game Designer: Shigeru Miyamoto)

As of late 2008, excluding Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console sales, Super Mario Bros. is the second-best-selling video game of all time (selling 40.24 million copies), surpassed only by Wii Sports. It was largely responsible for the initial success of the Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as ending the two year slump of video game sales in the United States after the video game crash of 1983. As one of Shigeru Miyamoto's most influential early successes, it has inspired many clones, sequels and spin-offs. Its theme music by Kōji Kondō is recognized worldwide, even by those who have not played the game, and has been considered a representation for video game music in general.

Super Mario Bros. popularized the side scrolling genre of video games and led to many sequels in the series that built upon the same basic premise. Almost all of the game's aspects have been praised at one time or another, from its large cast of characters to a diverse set of levels. One of the most-praised aspects of the game is the precise controls. The player is able to control how high and far Mario or Luigi jumps, and how fast he can run.

1 - Final Fantasy VII
(Console: PS1/Developed by: Square Soft/Released in: 1997/Genre: RPG/Game Designer: Hironobu Sakaguchi)

Set in a dystopian world, Final Fantasy VII's story centers on mercenary Cloud Strife who joins with several others to stop the megacorporation Shinra, which is draining the life of the planet to use as an energy source. As the story progresses, the situation escalates and Cloud and his allies must battle the game's main antagonist, Sephiroth.

Development of Final Fantasy VII began in 1994 and the game was originally intended for the SNES, but it was later moved to the Nintendo 64. As the system's cartridges lacked space, Square decided to release the game for Sony's PlayStation instead. The music was scored by Final Fantasy veteran Nobuo Uematsu, while the series' long-time character designer, Yoshitaka Amano, was replaced by Tetsuya Nomura.

A major critical and commercial success, the game remains arguably the most popular title in the series. Noted for its graphics, gameplay, music, and story, Final Fantasy VII is recognized as one of the greatest and most influential games of all time. As of December 2005, the game has sold more than 9.8 million copies worldwide, earning it the position of the best-selling Final Fantasy title. The ongoing popularity of the title led Square Enix to produce a series of sequels and prequels under the collective title Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Runner ups:
11 - Chrono Trigger (SNES / Square Soft / 1995 / RPG / Hironobu Sakaguchi & Takashi Tokita)
12 - Sim City 2000 (PC / Maxis / 1993 / Sim / Will Wright)
13 - Pacman (arcade, Atari/ Namco / 1980 / Maze / Toru Iwatani)
14 - Alone in the dark (PC / Infograms/ 1992/ Survival horror/ Frederick Raynal)
15 - Tekken 3 (PS / namco / 1997 / fighting / Katsuhiro Harada)
16 - Civilization II (PC / MicroProse / 1996 / Strategy / Sid Mier)
17 - Metal Gear Solid (PS / Konami / 1998 / Stealth action / Hideo Kojima)
18 - Shenmue II (DreamCast / SEGA / 2001 / Adventure / Yu Suzuki)
19 - Okami (PS2 / Clover / 2007 / Action-RPG / Hideki Kamiya )

20 - Resident Evil (PS/ Capcom / 1996 / Survival Horror / Shinji Mikami)