Today, I impulsively drove down to Nucleus Art Gallery in Alhambra, CA and picked up "Kid Dhalsim." The first time I noticed this Rhode Montijo Dhalsim piece was when the JAB STRONG FIERCE (Street Fighter Tribute Show) was announced. But only when a friend of mine mentioned this very same piece a few days ago did I actually start to think about what this image may represent to me.
First, (old) Dhalsim was the primary character I used during my heyday of placing in Street Fighter World and U.S. championships. So this serves as a cute reminder for all the time I spent trying to perfect my style with (old) Dhalsim.
Second, you can logically infer from this image that 1) Kid Dhalsim is having trouble learning how to control and master his abilities or 2) he's given up on something and went to drown his sorrows in the corner or 3) he's just plain sad, so at this point he's not concerned with focusing on controlling his powers or 4) he's just plain pooped and defeated.
So when I was reminded for this image again, I realized, ok, I think I'm Kid Dhalsim right now.
I've experienced these emotional spikes working on God of War 3. There are days I feel like Kid Dhalsim. But on the other hand, there are days where I feel like (old) Dhalsim: confident, focused, in control.
It's funny how we can find ways to relate to an image of a character. Anyways, this is my first ever purchase of an Art piece. I made sure there was something in or about the image I can relate to before I bought it.
I usually don’t blog about industry topics / news, because 1) I like to focus on game design issues, solutions, experience, etc and 2) well, I’m just a small cog (right now) in our very young game industry. But after reading the “95% of games are juvenile, etc, etc” video rant by Anthony Burch of Destructoid, I felt I had to at the very least give my simple minded perspective on what games have meant and mean to me and also just to simply state that his rant is factually inaccurate.
Just a warning: Yes, I’m going to ramble and be all over the place; I’m not really trying to write an academic paper, although I could, I’m not. I’m just shooting from the hip here.
Games are More than Art or Entertainment
I think those that are lobbying for that one game to “legitimize” video games as an “art” form are missing the entire point of what video games are: they are more than entertainment or art (although they can obviously function as both); they are immersive physical, conscious and subconscious interaction reality replacements. Although I agree with Anthony Burch’s conclusion that games can be about anything, why stop at trying to be a legitimate artistic medium? But if you must place the art label within this medium, I think video games have already established themselves as a legitimate art form. We just don’t know it yet. We’re too busy trying to compare video games to all these other mediums like movies, books, drawings, music, etc. instead of celebrating what video games have already accomplished in comparison to the other mediums. This is where we are being blinded. We are searching for something artistically relevant? But relevant to whom? Games are relevant to many groups of people from 12-year-old boys to housewives to teenagers to Grandma Hardcore. They are relevant because of the investment required to play them. You simply cannot “watch” a videogame. You actually have to put forth all types of effort (physical, psychological, emotional) to experience their…experience.
Games are their Own Relevance
Games have created their own type of relevance. Something that was not possible before with movies. Sure, video games right now may still be niche and carry a sub-culture stigma to it, but nevertheless, video games have created their own sub-cultures. A brand new method of escapism. I for one am not waiting around for our video game equivalent to Citizen Kane; we’ve already got Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, the list goes on and on. This is something movies or any other medium can’t match in terms of immersion and interaction, balance of visual stimulation through color, mood, pacing, dialogue, story, music, etc. Video games have taken all of the elements of the other mediums and created something beyond labels such as art or entertainment.
So you might be asking what is the human relevance to these games? What are they doing for humanity’s advancement? In my best simple minded response: they are making us forget about all of the real life nonsense we have to deal with in the real world. And they did a better job than movies, books, music, drawing, etc., well at least for me. Call it what you want: diversionary, mindless, juvenile…it doesn’t matter. For example, some of us 80s kids, these games were instrumental in guiding us through our childhood. The wonderful worlds we got to INTERACT with was just enough for us at that time. Those games were able to take my mind, body and spirit to that so-called zone and make me forget everything around me that I needed to forget. It wasn’t even an effort on my part to forget my real world troubles, daily routines. I forgot them instantly because these games were firing on all cylinders. These games, and many more that I haven’t listed, in my opinion, pushed the envelope on what the medium can do WITHOUT actually telling you they were making you feel happiness, carefree, lonely, worried, scared, etc. They did this through the careful balance of gameplay, setting, camera, pacing, sound, color, shapes and every other element and technique needed to draw you in into their world. And they didn’t even do this with real world graphics, settings or openly and overtly talking about the real life issues. These games were multi-faceted: they allowed the player to make his own interpretation on what issues are being represented in these games, but they also were just simply fun “games”. Years later you can still come back to these games with a more educated and intellectual mind and break down the psychology and the subconscious lessons being taught through the game. That’s not art or entertainment; it’s something beyond those labels, something that speaks to the player directly and puts you in the zone of immersion. This is the true power of the medium…and it’s been doing this on and off for 20+ years.
And now I’m a grown adult, a professional I guess. And games are still doing for me now what they did for me when I was 4-years-old or a teenager: creating not just a diversion from “real life” stuff, but creating a “real” world for me where I can lose myself and forget the real world stuff I want and sometimes need to forget. Sure, books and movies can somewhat accomplish that, but video games take it to a whole another level.
Inaccuracies and Hyperbole
Anthony Burch is just inaccurate when he states, and I’m paraphrasing, “95% of games are mindless, juvenile, violent, etc…” I mean have you even walked into a GameStop lately? Off the top of my head, I can think of a cornucopia of non-violent mainstream games like Nintendogs, Wii Sports, Madden, Mario Kart, Mirror’s Edge, Broken Sword that evoke a certain type of emotion however shallow. I mean have you played Nintendogs? Nurturing and parental emotion evoking going on there. No violence. Mirror’s Edge? This game gets the adrenaline pumping without directly being related to violence. Broken Sword? This point-and-click fuses the slow and deliberate pacing of a book with interactive bits. Only real life violence represented here. Maybe Anthony Burch is just upset that many derivative games are violent and are commercially successful at the same time and that innovation has taken a back seat to the company’s bottom line. Yeah, that sucks, but there are so many different games out there that try to have different approaches and try to reach different audiences. A lot of mainstream games serve their purpose very well. The proof is in the communities that sprout up and the following they foster. I just don’t understand some of the statistics he’s throwing out there. His rant just seems filled with so many absolutes, hyperbole and a touch of elitism.
Hypocritical?
Anthony Burch talks about how mainstream games right now are “primarily about one thing: mindless violence.” Then he goes on to talk about how, yeah, a lot of crappy movies may get released every year but there’s always like “12 or so really good movies or movies that attempt some kind of artistic statement.” Can’t you say the same thing about video games? There's always a handful of games each year (Braid, Flower, for example) that attempt to bring something new to the table and push the medium in a different direction than what is considering the current trend, like WWII shooter derivative or zombies or whatnot.
Street Fighter Transcended The Medium
I come from the Street Fighter competitive scene. This is pretty much how I came to be introduced to the video game industry. What Street Fighter has contributed to the so-called “art form” that is video games are immense and amazing and probably unexpected…which makes it even more magical. It has created its own sub-culture within a sub culture. This “mindless” violent and silly game had the power to create a competitive “sport” where players from all around the world travel thousands of miles to compete against each other to see who the best is. This mindless and irrelevant game has brought people from all over the world together to celebrate and showcase the talents and abilities of real people, in real world situations. These players have trained and studied to become the best they can be. Street Fighter has given them an outlet to feel good about themselves. Street Fighter has given them a sense of belonging and pride and confidence they were possibly lacking in "real life." Lifelong friendships have been formed…because of Street Fighter. Entire communities have been formed because of Street Fighter. Elements of other video games have been improved because of Street Fighter. See, when I hear Anthony Burch rant about how 95% of games are juvenile and irrelevant, it kind of hits a nerve because it’s an indirect attack on a game like Street Fighter that has actually improved the human spirit of a small chunk of society. Street Fighter has brought together people that probably would have never interacted with each other. Street Fighter transcended video games and the medium along with it, with these group of people. A video game did this. This is more than art or entertainment.
Tip of the Gaming Iceberg
Why stop at trying to legitimize games as an art? Games can be so much more than just art or entertainment. What about Wii Fit? Nintendo is actually trying (directly, indirectly, pseudo, it doesn’t really matter) to save lives (maybe a bit of hyperbole on my part) through video games. I think trying to legitimize games as Art is only the tip of the iceberg in a sea of thousands of icebergs. Games are so much more powerful than that.
Spontaneous ideas led to action (prototyping), not discussion
He trusted his team to come through; didn’t micro or over manage
No such thing as “impossible”; he expected his team member’s to at least try to prototype
He carried a singular vision
Encouraged team member’s to find better solutions not by overly criticizing, but by presenting alternative solutions
He recognized it took a team of specialists to see his vision through fruition; he knew he couldn’t do it by himself
If one of his team member’s had an issue that affected his productivity and efficiency, he made sure to rectify that problem as quickly as possible so the team member could continue to create
The layout of the space was iterated on 100+ times before the final layout was achieved
He brought out the supreme best in his team members; better is the enemy of amazing
Overall, his team trusted his decisions and direction
Curiosity was his driving force
Supremely optimistic
He would recognize team members hidden talents before they even knew of them
He was fascinated with every aspect of development and wanted (and did) learn many different elements in order to assist team members directly
Knew exactly what he wanted
Infectious enthusiasm
These are just some of the daily philosophies and attributes that described...Walt Disney. It's not a stretch to think Walt Disney himself could have been an amazing video game designer. You could read more about this here.
Combat canceling has already been discussed in a very comprehensive and technical length here so I'm not going rehash any of that wisdom. I needed an excuse to mess around with my amateur hour video editing "skills", so I wanted to visually demonstrate (through actual human finger input and the resulting player avatar output) some of the methods of canceling (instant, buffer) Eric Williams talks about in his article. As an example, I chose Kratos' combo. Although at first glance, this appears to be an ultra button mashable combo (it is), there's a deeper layer of responsiveness that gives different types of players the ability to express themselves according to their skill level.
This brief video demonstrates the extremes in the physical input boundaries of the player. The first example is the classic button masher player where attack timing is thrown out the window. The second example shows the extreme case where the player can choose with precision when to advance the combo.
So how it is possible that the same combo can be performed with such drastically different input timings? Here's the non-technical answer via my amateur illustration:
In short, the player has a huge chunk of time to press the appropriate button in order to combo into the next attack. This is only made possible through the beauty of canceling.
NOTE: The goal of this post is to demonstrate through video and illustration the methods for canceling (Instant, Buffer) that Eric talks about in his article .
The Street Fighter franchiseis seemingly enjoying an emergence of sorts with its arcade-first release of Street Fighter IVand its impending console release as well as the better-late-than-never Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remixversion featuring updated graphics and a new mode containing various command and move tweaks. Moreover, Street Fighter IV plays more like a tribute to yesterday's Street Fighter ( with no air blocking, guard meters, parrying or any other advanced and layered mechanics you'd find in more recent iterations of Street Fighter like Third Strikeor Alpha 3. In light of the current SF hype, I'd like to briefly talk about how some game developers have been subconsciously (and consciously) been showing tribute to Street Fighter ever since they first started their first job as a game developer.
Inspirational Assets
And there are a few reasons why Street Fighter is a major influence among some of today’s game designers. On the surface, Street Fighter is all about their iconic characters such as Guile and Chun-Li, memorable moves like Ryu’s fireball to Blanka’s ball projectile as well as the ability to string together attacks more commonly referred to as a “combo.” Sound familiar? Many of today’s action adventure games contain these fighting game elements.
On a deeper level, SF was a revolutionary game that introduced an unmatched level of player control, immersion, game feel, depth and instant gratification via responsive controls, clear and concise actions and reactions and unique special move control inputs.
Some additional inspirational elements: constant risk/reward feedback loop depending on strength or type of attack; different types of normal attacks: jab, strong, fierce, short, middle, roundhouse; blocking; throws. The Catalyst for Inspiration
So it’s hard to imagine what many of today's action adventure video games would be like without the existence of Street Fighter. Without Street Fighter you probably would never have two-in-ones, special moves and super moves. Without Street Fighter you probably wouldn't have Devil May Cryor God of Warin their current and memorable states. Most importantly, you never would have had the arcade explosion that resulted in the U.S. Street Fightercompetitive scene that brought together some of the top Street Fighter players in the country to show off their skills and strategies.
And here's where the Street Fighter DNA was copied and transferred. The genetic makeup of Street Fighter--its essence and feel--was completely dissected, analyzed and permanently mapped onto some of these player's instincts where eventually this DNA will provide inspiration behind many of today's game developers.
Exposure either through local SF gatherings or regional tournaments allowed these future game developers to witness these game systems pushed to their limits. From here, they had the extreme starting point in which to go backwards and breakdown how these strategies are executed and how each system, individual mechanic and their respective properties work together to deliver the maximum feeling and amount of expressiveness to the SF player.
Street Fighter Playing Skill Not Necessary
Now as I mentioned many of the topStreet Fighter players gathered at these national tournaments to show off their skills and compete against new players. Interestingly, many of those players that went on to become game developers weren’t necessarily the “top” SF players. In other words, being a high level game player wasn’t a prerequisite for becoming a game developer that used SF as an inspirational and research tool. Although it didn’t hurt to have the ability to be to able execute these expert strategies, the factors that contributed to becoming instinctively one with Street Fighter had more to do with the amount exposure to the high level strategies, passion for seeking out competition as well as the ability to meticulously breakdown, compare, contrast and analyze the game systems that allowed for the highest level of gameplay skill and flash.
Fighting Game Community Babies
In summary, the creation of Street Fighter would be the first step that would eventually inspire these players to become game designers. The second step was the creation of a more official gathering and showcase of talents: the Evolution Fighting Game Championships. Interestingly, many of today’s game designers have these two characteristics in common. Below is a list of just some of today’s game designers that have been birthed from the Evolution Fighting Game Championships or another portion of the fighting game community:
Derek Daniels - Xmen, Backyard Wrestling, God of War franchise Eric Williams - Xmen, Backyard Wrestling, God of War franchise Mark Acero - Backyard Wrestling, The Incredibles, Golden Axe David Sirlin - Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix Seth killian - Capcom Community Manager/SFIV Influence Jason de heras - God of War 3 Adam Puhl - Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, God of War franchise Ben Cureton - Xmen, Wu-Tang Jason Cole - Backyard Wrestling, TNA Impact! Omar Kendall - Backyard Wrestling, Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, GUN, Tony Hawk
I was asked an interesting question today by an Art Institute of California – San Francisco student: “Do you have a [designer} reel?” The student wanted to get an idea of my involvement in the games I’ve worked on. At first I was a bit taken aback by the question because I never really thought much about having a “reel.” What actual material would I put in this reel? Design documents? Level walkthrough? Emails? Notes? Transcripts of conversations? Of course when you think of traditional game industry reels you think of animation or art reels. In an animation reel, you see, well, animations. In a concept art reel, for example, you obviously see concept art.
But what should be the contents of a game designer reel? Do designers even need to create a reel to remain a competitive commodity? Will future employers, the gaming public or even fellow co-workers know exactly what you had a hand in creating if you don’t have a designer reel? Is it enough to be credited on a game as a “designer?” How does a designer “prove” he spearheaded/owned a certain game mechanic or created and maintained certain game systems?
Unless you are Miyamoto, Molyneux, Jaffe, CliffyB, Kojima, etc, many game designers aren’t a well known commodity outside their current employer, even though many of them are instrumental in executing the vision of these high profile names. So, are designer reels necessary to further establish yourself as a game designer if you haven’t reached a certain level of high profile and reputation?
I’m not sure if they are necessary per se, but I don’t see how they would hurt. It seems logical if other game disciplines have reels, why not design? So, if I was to create a designer reel, I would essentially create a personal post mortem with the following:
List of all of the game elements I was responsible for concepting/brainstorming/designing/testing/implementing/tweaking
Video walkthrough/deconstruction of the final product showing the examples of the elements detailing your design intentions (yes, this will be time consuming)
What went wrong/hurdles
What went right
Details: Did I design and implement?; day-to-day duties
Basically, this reel is a resume on steroids that would hopefully give the person(s) watching a better understanding of your worth to the game you had a hand in developing.
Today, I impulsively drove down to Nucleus Art Gallery in Alhambra, CA and picked up "Kid Dhalsim." The first time I noticed this Rhode Montijo Dhalsim piece was when the JAB STRONG FIERCE (Street Fighter Tribute Show) was announced. But only when a friend of mine mentioned this very same piece a few days ago did I actually start to think about what this image may represent to me.
