Minecraft Effects on the Mind

Hey, everyone. In my last post, I mentioned Minecraft. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly suggest giving the free mode a try. I enjoy playing the Alpha (soon to be Beta) mode, too. While playing the game, I began to notice something.

The game is very addictive. I love breaking block after block. Whether it's for a big structure or just to see what's on the other side, it is always fun. But while playing the Alpha mode, I notice that even simple games like Minecraft can really strike emotions. I like to see the sun and the moon and the trees and grass and when I spend a long period of time inside a really deep mine (in the game, of course) I begin to miss the artificial "outside" on the game. The lighting in the game really helps to produce this feeling because it can get pitch black in the mines and caves if there is no light anywhere. I always make sure to bring lots of torches with me because the warm glow from the small fire seems to provide some hope of actually seeing the "outside" again. Sure...if I wanted to, I could just dig straight up to the surface and completely ignore all of the tunnels I have already worked on...but where is the fun in that?

If anyone has ever played the Alpha version of Minecraft, they will know how easy it is to get lost in the caves. I can get lost in the same cave over and over again without trying. Sometimes I try to take care of one tunnel before I move on to another tunnel in the same mine, but it can be difficult when you can see empty black spaces that need light from your torches. Soon you begin to wander through the tunnels, placing torches to light your way, and forgetting which way leads out of the long maze of stone. At this point, I always try to backtrack so that I know I am not lost. Getting lost in these underground tunnels can be scary.

Minecraft is a great example of how games can give a player different feelings. And it is just one game of many that give these emotions really well. The free version of Minecraft is a bit more care-free than the Alpha version but both are a lot of fun.

As always, keep an eye on Steam for good deals on games. Especially since Christmas is just around the corner. Thanks for reading my blog. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open to ways I can improve my blog. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will try to answer it. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

News Update

Hey, everyone! Lots of new things going on in the world of games and many of which I am pretty excited about. So let's just get to it.

First and foremost...a series I have been waiting to hear about for a few years has finally announced something big. I'm sure most people have heard of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but not everyone realizes that it is actually the fourth game in the series. A few days ago, the fifth game in the series was announced with a name, trailer, and release date!

I do not own anything in the video nor to I claim to own it.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been set to release on November 11th, 2011. That's less than a year away! Let's see if it this date will stay or change. It has also been revealed that it will use a brand new engine!

Another big thing I'm excited about is Minecraft going into Beta. If you have never played Minecraft before, click on the link and play the the classic single-player minecraft for free just to get a taste of what can be done in the game. It is currently in Alpha but will be going into Beta on December 20th! This doesn't mean the game is almost finished. In is actually far from finished. The developer still plans to put a lot more content into the game. If you buy the game while it is in Alpha, you can get it for 50% off and get all future updates for free. But I guess I should answer the question...what is Minecraft?

Minecraft is a simple game in which the player mines, builds, fights, and survives. But there is a lot of depth in this simple game. Players can farm, build, mine, craft, create, fight, and more. This is the amount of things to do currently implemented with more to come. There are some fun physics in the game as well as dynamic lighting. The classic free mode is fun but only gives you a small taste of the things that can be done. Try it for yourself to see exactly what I mean.

It is also getting very close to the release of Dungeon Defenders (I hope). The game was already delayed due to some issues with consoles and their weird policies, but this is not a bad thing. The developers have already promised us even more content because of the delay. Dungeon Defenders is a tower-defense action role-playing game. Think of it as tower-defense meets Diablo. It is played from a third-person point of view in which you control a single person who can place defenses. The Diablo aspect of the game comes with the fighting. You can use your character to fight off the monsters invading your castle so the defenses you place to have to do all the work. With killing monsters comes loot...also much like diablo. And who doesn't like getting better equipment. I'm looking forward to this game very much.

And did I mention that Dungeon Defenders was made in the Unreal Development Kit (UDK)? This makes me even more excited because I know how to use UDK and it shows just how powerful this development tool is.

That's about all the major news that I am currently excited about. As always, keep an eye on Steam for good deals on games. Especially since Christmas is just around the corner. Thanks for reading my blog. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open to ways I can improve my blog. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will try to answer it. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

FPS on Wii...Good or Bad?

Hey, everyone! I've been hooked on the remake of 007 GoldenEye for the Wii. Playing it as much as I have got me thinking about something. Are first-person shooters (FPS) on the Wii a good idea or a bad idea?

Sure, the Wii could be thought of as a more "family friendly" gaming console but it is still a console and deserves to have more mature games for more mature audiences. If we look at the other consoles, the XBox 360 released the Kinect recently in order to get a wider audience for their console. This means that there will also be more "family friendly" games for the console, too. But are developers going to stop releasing games for the 360 that are more for the "gamers" and "mature" audiences? The correct answer is...Nope. These games will still sell. The PS3 is also getting a motion feature to keep up in the console wars. But developers won't change their ways for the Sony's console either. So why should the Wii be treated any different?

GoldenEye 007 on the Wii handles very well. The controls feel smooth and natural. And there are options to adjust the controls to suit your fancy. This shows that FPS games can be developed for the Wii as long as enough effort is put into it. I also find that the controls of a FPS on the Wii can be a bit more real than on other consoles. I still prefer FPS games on the PC but the Wii controls simulated reality better. In reality, we can aim all over our field of view without turning our head. The same goes for the Wii. The motion control on the Wii allows the player to aim their gun all over the screen without moving the entire screen too much. FPS games on other platforms do not do this. Instead, they move the entire screen as though the players head and arms can not move independently of each other. This breaks the immersion a little. It doesn't break it enough to stop people from playing but it does make it feel a little less realistic.

We will have to see if the Kinect and PS3 Move will change FPS games on their consoles, but for now, let us just think about FPS games on the Wii. Are FPS games on the Wii a good idea or a terrible one? My personal opinion...a good idea. I enjoy them very much and think that the controls are much easier and more natural to use.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open to ways I can improve my blog. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will try to answer it. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter.