By paganpenguin

A dissection of the ever popular list of favourites as seen through the eyes of a 37 year old

According to the “Principia Adultus Ludio” (a set of rules, regulations and otherwise nonsensical musings which bound the more flavoured gamer community together) the BEST GAME EVER^tm is a mythical title given to a game that is so perfect it is worshipped as a deity. Not only is it placed upon a pedestal and bowed before every sunrise, but when the very title is mentioned anywhere all followers of the “One True Game” turn anti-clockwise three times, shout the “Three True Words” while revealing their left nipple.

While many games are mentioned as pretenders to the throne, it is we as gamers who decide the most revered title – and this causes lots of problems.

Currently on the forum there are various topics discussing what is the best game, including competitions akin to a cup knock out based around a free voting system. Yet again, this shows us that deciding upon what makes the BEST GAME EVER^tm throws in so many different points of view that to achieve the very title would be like unlocking a Xbox Achievement worth an infinite number of points as well as an Avatar award of a grass skirt. But again we lower ourselves and argue every single point at why Game X is better than Game Y and totally trumps Game Z. The thing is, everyone is both right and wrong – as deciding the BEST GAME EVER^tm is a personal thing.

Once upon a time, in a place which now feels so far away, a young boy (who we will name Mike for no other reason than that boy was me) spotted a strange beast hiding behind a pool table. Upon this beast were markings that, upon closer inspection, bore a resemblance to written English. Mike slowly read those markings, a “S” followed quickly by a “P” although the next few markings made up “ACE” not a single playing card was in sight (not strictly true but this wouldn’t be a story without some embellishment). The markings below made another word, “INVADERS”, but as the boy had great difficulty reading it even after several trips to his dad (and the loo, after all the boy had yet to reach the ripe age of seven) it was generally ignored and will be for the rest of this story. After a short wait, Mike managed to place himself in front of this beast, and upon being relieved of a shiny ten pence, spent the next thirty seconds in a totally different world (hey, I was only six at the time and had the co-ordination of a wet puppy – so nothing really has changed). This changed everything…

To me Space Invaders was a great game, but not the best, as it was an introduction to video gaming yet ultimately was boring and a waste of ten pence (lots of if I remember correctly). Still, as one of only a few around in the late ‘70s, it gladly burned a place upon my beating heart. Yet things were to change only a few years later.

We could perhaps blame the home computer revolution for the chore of naming the BEST GAME EVER^tm, as it was here that many first discovered the joys of locking ourselves away and staring a the TV screen for hours on end. This would be repeated later in life for a reason totally different than just home computing. Many wasted hours (as my dad would say, normally after we had decided against going out to play) later and the perception of free time had changed. For most of the 1980’s we were chased by badly drawn spiders, through badly designed woods, while badly implement controls meant that the one remaining life was worth more to us than our pocket money. You would think that the one thing that the 8bit revolution taught us was bad control methods equal major frustration, and boy could we get frustrated back in the day! Yet still we look back at those times with very fond memories as it was the birth and childhood of video games.

But not all of the games from that era were outdated quickly. One such game was Elite, originally found on the BBC Micro before being ported to other systems, the open ended game play as well as pseudo 3D graphics helped it remain as a benchmark throughout the 8bit era, and although I’m hesitant to suggest it, well into the 16bit age.

Elite wasn’t the only 8bit era game that managed to make inroads into the next generation, titular names like Final Fantasy, Zelda and even the ancient forever hungry yellow dude, Pac Man made it through the troublesome birth of the gaming industry.

Here is also the problem with the BEST GAME EVER^tm, you cannot seriously compare apples and oranges, so (for example) Elite and bananas make little if any sense at all. Same goes for games from different generations.

Another deciding factor is age – us of the more mature timeline have a rose tinted view of our past, while the younger whipper snappers were brought up with, gasp, 16 or more gaming colours! Gits. Even then not every gamer today had the sad misfortune of wasting away playing gaming iterations, with the launch of the casual gaming market (this is why us proper gamers hate you Facebook and Wii) more people from all ages and backgrounds have descended upon the digitised past time. So again, this throws even more confusion into the title of BEST GAME EVER^tm. Do we include the casual as well as the hardcore (I’m talking about games, what you do when the kids are in bed is up to you) or is there a line that has to be drawn somewhere? Perhaps suggesting numbers of unique people playing the game should be used? This would mean that the casual game based around farming would win hands down, but not only am I loathed to name it -  but to even suggest it as a game brings bile to my throat, never in my years have a seen so many people stop what they are doing just to harvest some virtual fruit.

An entire book could be written about why this game or that from whatever era should be voted as the BEST GAME EVER^tm , but again the core problem remains – somewhere in someone’s twisted imagination even Two Worlds rates as better than sliced bread. We all look for different things in life – why do we have to choose from a list anyway?

In the end, the BEST GAME EVER^tm is whatever you want it to be – so long as it’s Elite.

- Myk

By paganpenguin

Sometimes my daughter Amethyst can surprise me, one minute she is discussing friendships based around school and the next minute a philosophical debate on the One True Meaning of Life. This morning I was told that she was going to make “The Best Game Ever”, a composite between her favourite gaming titles – including such greats as Borderlands, the Fable series and Brink. The list of what the game would entail was long, boring and more or less redundant yet there was an enthusiasm that I had only seen several hundred times before (she is, after all, ten and is always enthusiastic about her pursuits for about ten seconds). So it was with great excitement that I popped the bubble and told her exactly what it takes…

And the words “Lots of Hard Work” were heard several times not long afterwards.

It’s 2012 and the death knolls of our beloved British Gaming Industry are sounded throughout the world. Soon such legendary gaming studios like Lionshead and Codemasters will no longer be associated with us, but as part of some almost faceless corporation that believe pushing the envelope of gaming involves putting a first class stamp on it. Ol’ Blighty has a perceived skills shortage and couple this with a government so behind in the times that they still believe that fire is a Gift from the Gods, nothing will change. But perhaps things could be so different….

The Conversation between Amethyst and myself brought back some memories of my time as a wannabe games designer. Being a child of seventies, my childhood years just happened to coincide with the “birth” of video gaming and it’s fractious youth. So well into my tenth year on the planet I was walking with my Dad somewhere, which was kind of strange as he had a car and drove most places. Still my memory is a strange beast, sometimes on the ball other times so far off the mark you have to wonder whether I was actually there. We talked about computer games and about my soon to be designed “Best Game Ever” which was a mash up of several 8 bit wonders – Elite was the foremost influence, but a few other titles from the well respected Acornsoft studio made the grade too. Although come to think about it, conversation is the wrong word to describe that time, perhaps monologue would be best. I did all the talking and my Dad dutifully nodded in all the correct places.

Still I remember the outcome…

“Don’t bother with games, Michael, they’ll never lead anywhere!”

Or words to that effect. Kind of. Perhaps.

Well we all know the outcome of that. Just look at the money made through sales of the recent Call of Duty alone, Hollywood  blockbusters rarely make half of that with twice the advertising budget – even if you make the film in 3D. Okay, some will point out the pricing of a game compared to a visit to the cinema if you equate pounds per hour spent watching/playing then we have another article altogether. Hands off though, it’s my article to write!
Whether real or perceived, Britain has lost it’s ranking in the Games Industry and is haemorrhaging skills here, there and everywhere. Where once a proud result rested, we are now almost embarrassed to mention the words British and Games together. But where exactly does the fault lie?

Our schools?

Our Government?

Ourselves?

Amethyst asked what she needed to know to “make a game”. My first answer was a solid idea, followed quickly by programming knowledge. Okay maybe understanding how to program is not the be all and end all of games design but from my point of view it is essential to understanding the core structure within a game. Understanding hit detection through the eyes of a programmer gives a level designer not only major headaches after all the hours poured into that “Perfect Level” but an insight into how difficult it is to balance the different disciplines within the game design umbrella. Conversely allowing a programming to design that big breasted female lead character with the rather too short top and skirt combo gives them a window into a different and just as important part of the design (as well as some material for that special time later). To me though, the core is the code – after all I was a programmer myself.

So lets take programming knowledge as a prerequisite for games design, the question when is the best time to introduce the relevant skills? At university/college level? A Level? GCSE? Key Stage 2? Even earlier? (apologies to all non British readers, but to equate them to age brackets would be beginning at 18 for university, 16 for A levels, 11 for GCSEs, 6 for Key Stage 2) Thing is schools do not teach any form of programming at any level – whether within Computer Science lessons or general ICT, it is once students go and study at colleges and universities that they encounter coding. And often by then it is more difficult to understand the underlying logic of a programming language, after all your average student spends more time in a bar and in pursuit of the opposite sex than in a lecture hall (unless things have changed radically since I was last there).

But back in the home computer revolution days, things weren’t much different with many programmers resorting to magazines and hard to read manuals to learn the BASICs (sorry, had to do that). Yet that didn’t hold them back because, to be honest, we had to understand programming before we could really do anything with our expensive machines! There was no fancy graphical user interface, many applications had to be loaded via cassette decks and generally lacked any usability beyond being able to switch it on and off with ease. We had to adapt and improvise, create our own and share with friends. From this the popular image of a computer nerd arose – the spotty teenager who had trouble making friends and had yet to discover, dare I say it, girls! A need was born for programmers and as a nation we answered, mainly so we could afford Clearasil and perhaps even some deodorant so that would could at least sit within a few years of the fairer sex.

Nowadays any computer related course below degree level has little or no programming content covered, just how to create a spreadsheet using your nose and how bad database design hampers the internet porn industry.

The solution is to bring programming to schools at it’s basic level, if you want your computer to do something you need to understand how it works. This is where a lovely little piece of kit is emerging – step forward RaspberryPi, your time in the spot light is now upon you. In Britain during the ‘80s a nice little home computer was found throughout the land, the BBC Micro. Many a school had one of these monsters, as did a fair few homes (like ours, my first computer was the trusty Beeb). With the BBC behind it and plenty of TV programmes promoting it’s use, this little microcomputer helped launch many a talent designer/programmer, which is what the designers behind the RaspberryPi hope will happen again. Unlike the Beeb, the RaspberryPi has a price point considerably less than anything of it’s type – low enough so that schools and the education market can pick them up for interested pupils. And it plugs into your telly, brilliant! Still, it has yet to be fully released.

Perhaps this might help plug the British skills drain. Fingers crossed.

So Amethyst has asked to learn a programming language, her first steps into a minefield of frustration and despair. How I envy her for the choices in front… perhaps too many, but again another article is forming in my mind. Yet programming is only a part (albeit major) of games design, from story to graphics with a short trip up the sound route, it takes a team effort to come up with a game. Gone are the days when bedroom coding created the triple A titles of the ‘80s, this is replaced with committee meetings and group deadlines which don’t revolve around dinner times. Bedroom coders are now grown ups with families to feed, bills to pay and partners to ignore. It seems that due to the demands of gamers an entire generation of game designers have yet to experience the fun of flying solo.

Yet this too is changing with a shift in gaming tastes.

Who smells another article?

After briefly covering most of the skills required to create a game, Amethyst asked the burning question – “Will I be able to spend all the money I make on the game?”

“Of course you can, after I have taken out my publishers fee that is… 75%, seems fair to me.”

So glad that Amethyst hasn’t fully covered percentages and their usages at school.