On video gaming
As a writer and editor, I can fully appreciate the need to blow off a little steam now and again. And video gaming is one of my preferred outlets. There's just something cool about getting lost in someone else's virtual creation and button-bashing to my heart's context as I blast and eviscerate my way through hordes of beasties or whatever.
I am a bit of console junky - it's true. I do a bit of PC gaming, too (I like a bit of Dawn of War or Mark of Chaos as much as the next Warhammer fan), but consoles is really where it's at for me. That might change with the advent of DC Universe Online.
Imagine my joy when I heard about this potentially awesome game on IGN. It combines two of my favourite things: video gaming and DC characters (particularly you-know-who...). Casting a look over the formats, it might - should I eschew the PC option - be a good reason to invest in a PS3 (though God of War III appearing on the console could also colour my decision-making on this...). I am seriously anticipating Gears of War II, being a solid fan of the first game (I have a Marcus Fenix staring at me belligerently from my desk as I type), but DC Online - this is something else.
Fighting alongside Batman, Superman and the JLA - yes please.
Battling in downtown Gotham, the heights of Metropolis or visiting the Batcave - sign me up, now.
It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?
Adding to my joy is the fact that artist Jim Lee is one of the creative directors on the project. I'm a huge fan of Jim Lee's - he's done so wonderful work for DC, my favourite of which being the excellent two-part graphic novel, Hush. (He also, notably, worked on Superman: For Tomorrow - but I have yet to read that.) His work is exquisite and it shows in some of the concepts and fully realised assets shown in the various trailers. Let's all hope that DC produce an art of book on the project - I would be very happy to part with a fair few pounds for that!
The cast of characters for the game is absolutely huge, a fact rammed home by the mammoth asset wall of character concepts revealed in the excellent IGN 'making of' video, which I suggest you go watch at once (well, after you've read the rest of the blog, anyway :-)).
Trailers suggest that this game will be action-based but incorporate all the usual missions and RPG elements that are standard in an MMORPG. There are A LOT of powers available, making for an almost infinite variety of customisation for your own heroes (of course, I'll be going for some kind of Batman clone - I was always a fan of the vigilante types with loads of gadgets and fighting skills to offset the fact they aren't superhuman).
The IGN article has lots of detail on the project, which I won't be reiterating here (in case they slap me for it), so I'll just say I am seriously looking forward to this.
In truth, I am a total online gaming virign (I haven't even activated my Xbox 360 Live account). This all looks set to change with DC Universe Online and Warhammer: Age of Reckoning (another heavy weight MMORPG that I'll be getting into - bye, bye all my free time...). I am very intrigued as to how I'll find the experience and whether or not I'll prefer to the usual arcade action stuff I prefer (I am child of the Golden Axe age of gaming - I remember heading out to the gaming arcade next to Cleethorpes beach in my youth, a pound in my pocket that would last all day - head days...).
I do think that this sort of immersive gameplay (or any gaming, really) is inspirational, perhaps not in the direct sense, but it can put you in the right sort of mood, much like a good book or great film can. You leave the experience buzzing and ready to translate that energy onto the page. It sort of unlocks the corners of your mind where the imagination harvests its best ideas, the part that when unfettered unleashes a creative wave that washes over that blank page and fills it with visceral action or gritty description.
I know a lot of authors are wary of the dangers of computer games, fearing that their lives will be effectively sucked away by them and the writing time table will suffer as a result. Be cautious, I say. Sure, I've lost a few afternoons to Indiana Jones Lego (okay, so this one isn't so much about inspiration as steam venting), Mass Effect or Viking: Battle for Asgard when I could/should have been writing but the gaming blow out helps. It not only clears your slate, it reinvents it and fills it up with a load of other stuff. Just be sensible. This is where discipline comes in. If you can say to yourself, 'I can lose this afternoon, without wrecking my chances of hitting my deadline' then go for it; if not, you have been warned...
I am a bit of console junky - it's true. I do a bit of PC gaming, too (I like a bit of Dawn of War or Mark of Chaos as much as the next Warhammer fan), but consoles is really where it's at for me. That might change with the advent of DC Universe Online.
Imagine my joy when I heard about this potentially awesome game on IGN. It combines two of my favourite things: video gaming and DC characters (particularly you-know-who...). Casting a look over the formats, it might - should I eschew the PC option - be a good reason to invest in a PS3 (though God of War III appearing on the console could also colour my decision-making on this...). I am seriously anticipating Gears of War II, being a solid fan of the first game (I have a Marcus Fenix staring at me belligerently from my desk as I type), but DC Online - this is something else.
Fighting alongside Batman, Superman and the JLA - yes please.
Battling in downtown Gotham, the heights of Metropolis or visiting the Batcave - sign me up, now.
It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?
Adding to my joy is the fact that artist Jim Lee is one of the creative directors on the project. I'm a huge fan of Jim Lee's - he's done so wonderful work for DC, my favourite of which being the excellent two-part graphic novel, Hush. (He also, notably, worked on Superman: For Tomorrow - but I have yet to read that.) His work is exquisite and it shows in some of the concepts and fully realised assets shown in the various trailers. Let's all hope that DC produce an art of book on the project - I would be very happy to part with a fair few pounds for that!
The cast of characters for the game is absolutely huge, a fact rammed home by the mammoth asset wall of character concepts revealed in the excellent IGN 'making of' video, which I suggest you go watch at once (well, after you've read the rest of the blog, anyway :-)).
Trailers suggest that this game will be action-based but incorporate all the usual missions and RPG elements that are standard in an MMORPG. There are A LOT of powers available, making for an almost infinite variety of customisation for your own heroes (of course, I'll be going for some kind of Batman clone - I was always a fan of the vigilante types with loads of gadgets and fighting skills to offset the fact they aren't superhuman).
The IGN article has lots of detail on the project, which I won't be reiterating here (in case they slap me for it), so I'll just say I am seriously looking forward to this.
In truth, I am a total online gaming virign (I haven't even activated my Xbox 360 Live account). This all looks set to change with DC Universe Online and Warhammer: Age of Reckoning (another heavy weight MMORPG that I'll be getting into - bye, bye all my free time...). I am very intrigued as to how I'll find the experience and whether or not I'll prefer to the usual arcade action stuff I prefer (I am child of the Golden Axe age of gaming - I remember heading out to the gaming arcade next to Cleethorpes beach in my youth, a pound in my pocket that would last all day - head days...).
I do think that this sort of immersive gameplay (or any gaming, really) is inspirational, perhaps not in the direct sense, but it can put you in the right sort of mood, much like a good book or great film can. You leave the experience buzzing and ready to translate that energy onto the page. It sort of unlocks the corners of your mind where the imagination harvests its best ideas, the part that when unfettered unleashes a creative wave that washes over that blank page and fills it with visceral action or gritty description.
I know a lot of authors are wary of the dangers of computer games, fearing that their lives will be effectively sucked away by them and the writing time table will suffer as a result. Be cautious, I say. Sure, I've lost a few afternoons to Indiana Jones Lego (okay, so this one isn't so much about inspiration as steam venting), Mass Effect or Viking: Battle for Asgard when I could/should have been writing but the gaming blow out helps. It not only clears your slate, it reinvents it and fills it up with a load of other stuff. Just be sensible. This is where discipline comes in. If you can say to yourself, 'I can lose this afternoon, without wrecking my chances of hitting my deadline' then go for it; if not, you have been warned...
posted by Nick Kyme at
15:23
1 Comments:
No mention of Lego: Batman? (I think my only problem with that game will be that it's got the wrong Batmobile.)
I don't think I'd heard of DCUO until now, but I doubt I'll bother unless someone suggests it'll be a lot more interesting than City of Heroes. I think my main problem with CoH was the teamwork, and how missions seemed impossible without a team; I prefer the lone hero approach, and I hope DCUO allows Batman (clones) to fly (or grapple) solo rather than needing a JLA.
Then again, I've never really understood the DC universe outside of Gotham. I know who a handful of the heroes are, but outside of Batman's rogues gallery I know fewer and fewer of the villains. I blame an absence of cartoons :)
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