The Bechdel Test

The Bechdel Test is really more of a guideline, but it is quite important.    The rules are exactly as stated.  There are some alterations (some rules require the women to be named.  Others refuse men to be mentioned even in the abstract)  but as guidelines they are vital.

Why am I saying guidelines?  Because Lesbian porn automatically qualifies and (keeping with the movie theme) Movies that take place in World War II men's prison camps do not.  For example, Stahlag 17.  A BRILLIANT movie about a captured American soldier who is trying to find the German spy in his bunk area.  While Women appear, it is for a few comedy routines and are seen through a telescope. 

While games are a bit MORE likely to fit in the rules, it is still a bit hard to accomplish.

Final Fantasies?  Generally they accomplish it.  There are traditionally 3 female characters and with the saving of the world being something on the forefront of people's minds, they talk about getting it done. The most obvious examples are Fang and Vanille talking, since they talk a lot.  InFamous 2 has Kuo and Nix, and while they often talk about Cole, the also discuss powers and how to react to situations.  And when Shanoa takes the lead with Castlevania, she talks to all sorts of people about many different things, Dracula and her brother being just two options.


But, that's just three options.  Sly Cooper?  Nothing.  There's only one main Female Character (Carmelita Fox) and she's not playable until this game.  As it stands now, I don't know if she will talk to any of the female characters and - while she is quite devoted to the law- her arc also revolves around Sly Cooper himself. 

Kingdom Hearts 2 does have Selphie and Kairi talk to eachother briefly, but they only talk about Sora and Riku.  All other female characters do not cross paths with eachother, or if they do, they don't talk to eachother.

While Peach has her own Arcs in the Mario RPG series, independent of Mario and the other male characters, she generally does not talk to other female characters. 


This will need more research, but the next time you play, keep an eye out for this.  The standards are low, but how many pass does say a lot. 

Why I am a predominately console gamer

Yesterday, IGN released an article on why the PC version of Bioshock Infinite would probably be better than the console version.  A lot of the talk centered on how the effects would look better and the game would run smoother.

What goes unmentioned is how PC gamers need to pull that off. Namely, they have to invest in higher end PC's or build their own.  While I have no problem with that, I do have a problem with the continual investment.  In order to play games so they look their best, you must always have the top of the line PC.  And this level is constantly increasing.  When I bought Psychonauts off of GOG for my laptop, it was unplayable due to my processor not being up to snuff.  4 years later, my standard House PC can play it fine.  There's no stuttering, the images are smooth, and I can finally enjoy it. 

With a Console, you make a one time investment.  Okay, you could upgrade every six years or so, but at that point things will have improved dramatically. Here is Castlevania on the NES:

Here it is on the SNES:

Here is the N64:

And now, I'm skipping to the PS3/Xbox:

Will the PC version look better?  Probably.  I'm not denying that point.  Do I play PC games?  Yes.  I love GOG.com and when I can bust out steam, I do. 

But, in the end, does the particle effects truly effect the story? No.  Will it effect your ability to play the game?  Nope. 

Someday, I may invest in building my own PC that I can upgrade.  Steam and GOG has quite a few exclusive games I do want to try.  I learned how to play chess thanks to Lego Chess, which has no Console equivalent. The mods for PC games can be fantastic and it's a lot easier to find deleted content with a PC than it is with a console.

But until then, I'll be quite happy with my portables and my consoles.  It gives me exactly what I want to do at a less, overall, cost. 

Musical Monday Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Waterfalls of Agharta)

While I have yet to play "Lords of Shadow"  One thing I found interesting is that at least some of the music are remixes from previous games.

In this case: Super Castlevania IV's "The Waterfalls".

Spriting

First: Happy Super Bowl day!

Second: I was replaying Apollo Justice when I was again struck by one of my favorite parts of the game:  The Sprites.

So, what are sprites?

Sprites are basically pictures.  Each picture is programmed to appear when doing certain things.  They all string together to create something in motion (much like hand drawn animation)

While this is neither better or worse then 3D animation used today, I happen to prefer Sprites.  They seem a bit more impressive to me.  While they may not visually wow, you do have to see how smooth and detailed they have become.  Let's look at the first Castlevania.

This is a sheet of Simon Belmont's movements from the first game:

And here he is in action:

The opening is impressive, especially for an NES.  Look at those backgrounds.

Now, let's look at the most recent sprite based entry:  Order of Ecclesia.
Here is a sheet for Shanoa:

It's much bigger, isn't it?  I want you to look specifically at her hair and her clothes.  The two constantly move when she's in motion... or when she's not.  She also has much more animated abilities.  Simon failing only has him on the floor.  With Shanoa, we get to see her knocked around and get back up.  Okay, let's actually watch her in motion.

See how much smoother she is then Simon?

I'm not denying that 3D has it's place, but there is something really special about Spriting. It just has this really special quality to it, and it's nice to see how far we've gone.  Do you like Spriting?

(I got the sprites from Spriters Resource Here  It's a useful tool, and just interesting to look at if you want to see all the detail that goes into spriting. Check it out!)

Level Design - Castlevania

More Castlevania in general today.  I want to talk about... murderous archtecture.

Castlevania has a beautiful art style... and alot of items that are trying to kill you.  Water when you can't swim, spikes poking out of the walls, and the enemies that pop up JUST when you don't want them too. 

All of which make for a very rewarding experience.  The levels are very tough, but with each death, it is very rarely the AI's fault.  More often, you didn't jump at the right time, or dodge, or attack, or remember to pick up the right subweapon, or put on the right ring and then you died.  Which means, every time you actually beat the level you feel quite accomplished.  You feel even better when you unlock the hidden levels (in the games that have them) 

The plot doesn't really matter.  You beat Dracula with a whip (or, if playing a later game, then swords, arrows, paintings, knuckles, spells, tattoos and whips)  since he is threatening to destroy the world.  Again.  (I will note it is true the later games' plots do get a bit more complicated but as I haven't played Lord's of Shadow I can't really comment) but the true thrill of the game is the level design.

So, enjoy Vampire Killer as you think about how important Level Design is to making a satisfying series.