Fraser MacInnes - Jack of all tirades

Digital morality: Is it good to be bad in gaming?

Do moral choices in games make them more, or less fun? No really, it’s a serious question. It’s a fairly widespread trend in the games industry just now to offer stories and characters that elicit an emotional response from the player. An emotional response that's intended to make the game more immersive, the characters more believable and the lasting memory of the game, more enduring. All positive consequences, but what about the negative?

Take Grand Theft Auto IV: Liberty City. A high watermark in interactive storytelling and character design. A genuine digital soap opera, as gripping a drama as The Sopranos or The Wire, but with enough action to keep core gamers entertained and enough heart to keep industry proponents naval gazing contentedly.

Choice Cuts - March 09

 OK, so I know the point of maintaining a blog is that you are supposed to update it regularly, but 2009 has been an exceptionally busy year for me so far.

The podcast has been going from strength to strength, commanding ever more of my time, keeping me peering into this little screen into the small hours on many a winter's night. But spring is in the air, signalling a bit of a sea change in my work situation.

Some of my better games concepts are really starting to take shape and as I delve ever deeper into the beguiling mysteries of C-based programming languages, I have one in particular that's really beginning to shine. But all that's for another blog which I will be starting very soon. Not before I get out off this island (Orkney - long story) and go to New York to visit friends and take some time off though.

In the meantime, here is a snippet of work I have actually been paid for over the last few months of this fine year we call 2009. In fact, I have somehow found the time to start turning in written reviews of iPhone games and applications for both Pocket Gamer and Pocket Picks, the very best examples of which are listed below.

Pocket Picks
Review: Papers (iPhone)
Review: Photo fx (iPhone)
Review: AppSniper (iPhone)
Review: Air Mouse Pro (iPhone)

Pocket Gamer
Review: RastaMonkey (iPhone)
Review: Eliss (iPhone)
Review: Ancient Frog (iPhone)
iPhone gaming podcast: Episode 15
iPhone gaming podcast: Episode 16

iRecommend - December 08

Currently listening to:

Glasvegas - Glasvegas
Born Ruffians - Red Yellow and Blue
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Empire of the Sun - Empire of the Sun

Currently watching:

In Bruges - Martin McDonagh
Six Shooter - Martin McDonagh
Kirschblüten - Doris Dörrie

Currently reading:

The End of the Affair - Graham Greene
Liebe Schaut Weg - Line Hoven

Currently playing:

Edge (iPhone) - Mobigame
Crayon Physics Deluxe (iPhone) - Putri Puhro
Silent Hill: The Escape (iPhone) - Konami
Fallout 3 (360) - Betheseda
Wii Sports - Nintendo

Why so original?

What do The Departed, Resistance 2, Michael Clayton and Gears of War 2 all have in common? Guns? Male leads? A certain darkness of tone?

Nope, nope and nope. The thing they all have in common is a lack of innovation, but is that such a bad thing? Something else they all have in common is consistent evidence of master craftsmanship, but when it comes to games, that particular element is often brushed over in favour of endless deconstructions of what a particular title does differently to its peers.

Perhaps that last comment does the gaming press a disservice, after all, both Resistance 2 and Gears of War 2 scored favourably in the majority of reviews. I'm also being a little unfair on the games mentioned, both titles have their share of quiet design epiphanies. The problem lies in how we perceive interactive entertainment as a burgeoning art form (there goes that nauseating sentiment again). Though there is still bountiful room for innovation in the industry (and long may it continue), it could be argued that gaming is now mature enough to afford more in the way of a self-referential perspective.

iRecommend - November 08

Currently listening to:

Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
James Yorkston - Someplace Simple
James Yorkston and the Athletes - Moving Up Country

Currently watching:

Law and Disorder in Philadelphia - Louis Theroux
Law and Disorder in Johannesburg - Louis Theroux

Currently reading:

Dawn of the Dumb: Dispatches from the Idiotic Frontline - Charlie Brooker

Currently playing:

Portal: Still Alive (360) - Valve
Mario Kart Wii - Nintendo

iRecommend - October 08

Currently listening to:

Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
James Yorkston - When the Haar Rolls in
The Postal Service - Give Up

Currently watching:

The Wire Season 2
Burn after reading - The Coen Brothers

Currently reading:

Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut JR.
Alien - Dean Foster

Currently playing:

Super Monkey Ball (iPhone) - SEGA
SPiN (iPhone) - Secret Exit
Aurora Feint (iPhone) - Youweb LLC

iRecommend - September 08

Currently listening to:

Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
James Yorkston - Someplace Simple
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (Luxury Edition)

Currently watching:

Requiem - Hans-Christian Schmid

Currently reading:

Travels with my aunt - Graham Greene

Currently playing:

Spore Origins - EA Mobile
Spore - Maxis
Bioshock - 2K

Choice cuts - August 08

Well, I am sorry to say that I no longer live in beautiful sunny Munich. At the moment I am sitting in my in-laws' living room in their grand house in Uelzen, about 45 mins south of Hamburg. It's only a temporary situation of course, but I have to say, I am really looking forward to my impending move to Bristol (but not before I bugger off to Berlin for a weekend and then maybe Japan, it's a long story that I'll leave for another post for the time being).

Anyway, before Christmas, I should be settled in the bosom of Steel Media's homeland in the South West of the UK, which will be fantastic. So what with the move and the Leipzig GC, this month has been one of serious upheaval, but it yeilded some great bits and pieces which you can read about below.

GC08: Hands on with Chrono Trigger DS
GC08: Hands on with Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood on DS
GC08: Hands on with Unsolved Crimes DS
GC08: Hands on with Spore Creatures DS
GC08: Hands on with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on DS and PSP
GC08: It's shoveltime for the DS
GC 2008: Pocket Gamer vs Konami PES 2009 multiplayer mobile showdown
GC 2008: Sony unveils PSP 3000
Leipzig GC 2008: Pocket Gamer's handheld showreel

iRecommend - August 08

Currently listening to:

Accoustica - Alarm Will Sound
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Roxy Music - Sirens

Currently watching:

The Dark Knight - Christopher Nolan
Iron Man - John Favreau
The Incredible Hulk - Louis Leterrier
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army - Guillermo del Toro
Chaplin - Richard Attenborough

Currently reading:

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold - John Le Carre
Babbit - Sinclair Lewis

Currently playing:

Bioshock - 2K
Spore - Maxis

iRecommend - July 08

This month truly has been a bit of a jackpot in terms of all those little pleasures that keep me quiet.

Currently listening to:

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Bon Iver - For Emma Forever Ago
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
No Age - Nouns
Belong - Colorloss Record EP

Currently watching:

The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Richard O'Brien
La Vie En Rose - Olivier Dahan

Currently reading:

Pussey! - Daniel Clowes
Game Design Perspectives - Edited by Francois Dominic Laramee

Currently playing:

GTA IV - Rockstar
Echochrome Micro - JAPAN Studio