NoG Blog: The Little Games

Big games get all the chicks. Well, maybe not chicks, but they get all the press, all the accolades, and the lion's share of profit. Little games rarely stand a chance. To be clear, for our purposes a big game is one with a major publisher and an enormous budget. The little games are everything else; shoe-string budget indies, free flash games, ad-supported web time sinks, ninety-nine cent iPhone titles.

Little games are largely ignored by the gaming press. Sure, there are sites that cover them; Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a particularly good record of covering little games, and even Kotaku throws an indie title a bone now and again, but by and large the press is focused on the big games. Partly that's because of access. Big publishers have established relationships with media outlets, making it far easier for them to get exposure. Partly it's resources. Small developers don't have the time and money that the big guys do, let alone dedicated PR teams. Whatever the reason, the end result is that on a site like Kotaku we get an article saying that there's a countdown clock on the Mass Effect 2 website - essentially an announcement that there will be an announcement - but the existence of a truly fun little dungeon crawler, Desktop Dungeon (pictured above) gets no mention at all. I'm not really trying to rag on Kotaku here; they are what they are. Rather, what I'm trying to say is that these games deserve more exposure, and that's something we can do at NoG.

The great thing about little games is that they can try new things. They can evolve unpopular formulas. They can push the envelope in ways that the big games can't. That's not to say that all little games are good, far from it. The ratio of good games to crap is probably about the same for little games as for big games, but since there are so many little games, that still adds up to a lot of good gaming to be explored.

So let's have it; what are your favorite little games? What do you play on the sly while at work or school? What's the one little game that you want to share with the world, that simply not enough people have heard about? This week, the hosts will share our favorite little games, and we hope to have a lot of yours to share as well!

Spencer Williams

NoG Blog: The Respect that Games Deserve

This article was inspired by Video Games and Facing Controversy, a YouTube video made by Daniel Floyd. Daniel Floyd is a twenty-five year old video game animator that “lectures” on topics such as this in a funny and insightful manner while providing some nice animation in the background (similar to Zero Punctuation in style, if not in substance). I strongly recommend you check them out! Here is a link to his YouTube channel where you can browse his videos.

Video games are rarely viewed in the best light by society. They've had more than their share of controversy thrown at them over the years; one example was the recent Mass Effect “SEXBOX" controversy over a brief sex scene in a thirty-plus hour game. People assumed the worst, even going as far as to say it was a "virtual orgasmic rape" simulator. The media often portrays video games as devices designed to corrupt children, and whenever the topics of childhood violence, social ineptitude, or addiction are brought up, fingers point to video games as the cause. As Daniel Floyd says in his video, “When controversy arises, our opposers don’t look at a game studio and see a team of artists, they see a team of toy makers that have gone too far.”

During Daniel’s video he spoke at length about a game that recently came under fire called “Six Days in Fallujah,” a third person shooter from Atomic Games about the second battle of Fallujah. The game was originally to be published by Konami, but when it was revealed, many decried the game as disrespectful to those who died in that battle; the height of bad taste. Konami quickly bailed and Atomic was left without a publisher. However, if Konami thought that this game was in poor taste, why did they give it the green light? They had to know it would stir some controversy, so why did they back off at the first sign of criticism? Daniel's take; “By caving in, you validate all of the accusations. You have legitimized slander founded and ignorance, and you guarantee a larger outcry the next time you consider a project like this."

“These games are not being judged by their content,” Floyd says, “they are judged because they are games.” He points out that other forms of media, such as books and movies, have explored difficult subjects such as war, genocide, sexuality and hatred with great success; these artists dare to show humanity’s dark side. “They venture into uncomfortable territories and find the truth hidden within. This is the stuff art is made of. What is it about games that disqualify them from exploring this harsh territory?” Until games are taken seriously, we will never be able to see their true potential as a respected form of media and art. To achieve this we must stand up for our medium, be open to criticism, and embrace what games have become and what they will be.

So what do you think? Do video games have the potential to be something more than what they are now? Do you think that they should be able to touch on dark subject matter that many other forms of media have touched upon? Do you believe that video games can ever be respected on the same level as movies, plays, or literature?

Charles (CoRn)

NoG Blog: The Perfect DRM?

Ah, Digital Rights Management, you foil of peace-loving gamers everywhere. It's a fact: If not for DRM, gamers would be a harmonious bunch. The petty squabbles dividing platform and franchise devotees would melt away with the delicate trickle of a spring thaw.

Okay, maybe I'm overstating things. Still, you can't deny that DRM, newspeak for copy protection, is a contentious issue. Nearly everyone sits squarely on one side of the issue; either you believe that DRM is the sacred right of every game publisher who are only looking to protect their properties, or you believe that DRM is an ineffective inconvenience that only punishes paying customers and does nothing to quell piracy.

There have been a lot of requests for NoG to cover the DRM debate, but it doesn't feel like there's a lot of new ground to cover. The debate hasn't moved in the last twenty years; the arguments for and against Ubisoft's new restrictive DRM system are essentially the same as the arguments for and against code wheels in the 80s. What new could we bring to the argument?

So instead of the typical point/counterpoint discussions that have typified NoG so far, this week we're trying something different. The four of us are going to lay out our ideal DRM solution, and you're invited to submit yours! It can be serious, it can be wacky, or it can be anything in between. Who knows? Maybe between us, we can come up with the perfect DRM!

Spencer Williams