Gaming Today: 5 things that need to go in videogames
Sexist games; I know I’m going to take a hit from many people for this idea. I’m not saying to completely get rid of the sexy characters in games, but games do need to be developed with a woman’s point of view in mind more often. If we want to get rid of some of the negative stereotypes attached to the gaming industry, this is a good topic to start with.
It’s a short article, go over and read it!
Regarding save points: I don’t mind them so much, but what I do mind is when they’re impossibly far apart. I can see why, for the sake of offering a challenging game, you don’t want people to be able to save in mid-fight in order to scoot their way through an epic battle sequence — but at the same rate, putting a save game a good five minutes away from a boss (and at least one heavy enemy zone) drives me nuts. Similarly, when I have only a couple of minutes to play but still want to open up a new area, I don’t want to double my play time just tracking back to my save point. Etrian Odyssey should allow for instant saves — there isn’t really a reason you can only save in town or at warp points (of which there is only one every five levels). But, at least you can buy Warp Wires to take you back to town instantly, but that means that if you are just doing a quick switch-off, you again have to re-trace your steps to get back to where you were from the warp point or labyrinth entrance.
June 21st, 2007 at 6:58 pm
I’m not gonna hit you for that. I agree that more games need to be from women’s POV and also, dare I say this, the sexy attire needs to be retired.
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:51 am
YES. To everything. I’d even take the loss of the “heals everything and removes all debuffs” save points in Final Fantasy games.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:05 am
mm.. but the heals/takes off status effects save pts.. plus the teleporting… …sorry, I couldn’t do without those. But what I always liked about FF’s is that you can save anytime, anywhere on the world map… just had to find a save place in dungeons and towns. Course there is no world map in FF12… but I really like those save pts anyways. Better than having to use a friggin tent or cottage!
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:07 am
oooh.. I know. Instead of save pts they’d just be heal/remove neg status/teleport pts and you could save anytime, anywhere. That would be better.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:11 am
Or, you know what? Seriously — if it’s that important, give us the Zelda option in games: You can save Whenever. You. Feel. Like. It. But if you hit the reset button and reload, you start out at the beginning of the dungeon, with the option of “warp points” to be unlocked as you progress through the dungeon.
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:39 am
Save Points: Don’t mind them if they’re well placed, but that’s bloody rare. I like Rogue Galaxy’s save point system. They’re all over the place, and they heal (debuffs don’t happen outside of battle).
I actually like the challenge of save points, but they’re impractical if you’ve got any kind of life outside of your video games. You know…like paper-and-dice role-playing…or board games…
June 24th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Heh. Now I’m flashing onto that Tripod “Gamer Love” song.
“…but the save points are so far apart…”
June 26th, 2007 at 8:37 am
I don’t mind paying a monthly fee for MMOs, but it does mean that I can only play one MMO for each 2 month period. I think LOTRO is just genius for having a lifetime subscription plan. What I’d really like is if I spent less time in MMOs waiting to play the game. An hour of gameplay should not, in general, include 20 minutes of transit time to get from one main zone to the next. Guild Wars completely rocks my socks for having instant transit between zones.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Lifetime subscribtion plan? How much?
June 26th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
I definitely agree with the point about MMO fees. To be honest, I think with the success of WoW, MMORPGs have become a bit of a fad in video games. And I think some people seem pretty keen to start up MMO’s for anything they can find now, looking for a quick pay in. I played both Galaxies and WoW until I figured I didnt much like MMO’s. The monthly payments just leave a bitter taste in my mouth now. Unlike the taste of blood when you realise youve just paid money for a virtual horse coat, or Infinite Boredom, not Dungeons.
Also, nothing gets my hands raw from bashing the keyboard more than realising some shit-head decided a good autosave is one from about 2 hours prior to your death. In moderation its okay, but it makes the game too easy if it autosaves every time you enter a door or something. Likewise I will most likely instantly stop playing if I realise I have to trek that same 2 hours all over again.
And for the record, I dont think Fable was just broken promises. I think it WAS that, but also above average marketing for an average game. It turned out to be a lot less Epic than my mind and the marketing had made it up to be.
And since I enjoy visiting this place often, Id have to agree that trying to remove sexism from video games is an alright idea I suppose……..