Gaming Blog

 Let's see, where was I? Ah yes, a nice stroll down memory lane with my favourite video game. Even talking about it brings me joy. However, while Forza Motorsport 2 persisted as my singular favourite piece of interactive digital media, it is imperative that I talk about my other favourites in the wide world of gaming. After all, we can only play so much of one game without getting bored of it. 

I posit that it is important to have a wider collection of video games as one will learn to contrast their qualities with one another not only to gain more detailed knowledge about the game, but also to enjoy the subtleties of the games. It will also allow you to explore the world of video games a lot more in depth as you have a broader selection of them at your disposal. You will be able to be competent in different video games with different requirements and disparate difficulty levels.

With that in mind, I'd like to enlist my favourite video games from my collection other than the aforementioned 'Forza Motorsport 2'.

Let's start with Burnout 3: Takedown. Burnout 3: Takedown is an arcade-style racing game in which the objective is to participate in races across Asia, Europe, and America wherein you are to crash other cars by taking them down, hence the name "Takedown". It is the third instalment in the franchise, with the first and second games being released in 2001 and 2002 respectively. This game gives you the freedom you blaze through traffic at blistering speeds of over 200 miles an hour on the wrong side of the road, slam other cars into traffic and walls, slam into them at high speeds

 There are so many things executed with perfection that quite frankly, I'm struggling to figure out which part of the game I should talk about first. How about the graphics? Well, to illustrate the magnitude to which how advanced the graphics were for when the game came out (2004), I was playing it on my laptop, I gave my father a go at it and thought it was only ten years old when it was actually released for sixth-generation consoles like the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. 

The game is a flawles

Gaming Blog 2

 In the last blog, we discussed not just the advantages, but also the importance of video games in today's world as a way to discredit unsubstantiated opinions on the supposed dangerousness and harmfulness of video games in young people's lives. I also talked about what video games meant to me. Since this blog is more of a self-expression rather than a general essay on whether video games are a boon or a bane in modern society, I would now like to discuss my personal favourite masterpieces in terms of video games.

The first game I ever had the honour of playing, the game that taught me how to master all racing games, and one that is still my favourite today is undoubtedly, Forza Motorsport 2 for the Xbox 360. Almost every day after pre-school and elementary, I'd spend hours on end perfecting the art of driving in one of the most realistic racing games ever made, especially for its time. This was the closest I could get to driving an actual car as a car enthusiast and it was more than I could ever ask for back then.

Forza Motorsport 2 was released for the Xbox 360 in North America in May 2007. This game is the very root of my entire journey with video games over the span of the last fifteen years. It is one among the most visually appealing and engaging experiences of the 21st century. Receiving overwhelmingly positive critic scores at the time of its release (90/100 Metacritic, 9.2/10 Gamespot, 8.9 IGN), it became an instant hit and boasted sales of over 3.5 million units worldwide.

Once the game starts in career mode on Level 0, it throws you right into the action without any tutorials. You are told to pick a region from which your starter car comes from. For example, picking North America as your region will allow you to choose between cars like the '98 Eagle Talon TSi and the '03 Ford Focus SVT (both American brands), and will give you discounts on cars you buy from North America. 

You then progress as you earn money from races where each level reached will grant you newer and more high value and lucrative rewards like faster cars and higher cash bonuses until you reach Level 50. This means that this game is basically along the lines of most career-based racing games. But don't let its genericness deceive you, as beneath that "average 2000's racing game" exterior, lies an intricate and unique system of racing events, one for each class of cars ranging from everyday city cars to mighty exotic cars and purpose-built racing class cars. There is also a penalty system in which you lose seconds on the timer on account of going off the tarmac or making direct physical contact with opponent vehicles, as well as a limitless and meticulously detailed customization options where you can add vinyls. manufacturer decals, add special types of paint to your car, specialized bodykits for the car's exterior, wheel rim designs and a plethora of endless possibilites to enhance the cosmetics of your car. On Xbox Live, this game also featured an Auction House system where one could buy, sell, and trade cars with other Xbox Live subscribers.

This game will always be the greatest example of interactive digital media to me. It has provided me with years of enjoyment and intriguing information about cars. It is the founding reason behind why video games are an integral part of my life, even today.

To be continued..

Gaming Blog 1

 To many, especially the older generations, they perceive video games to be nothing more than a deviation from productive, career building and education based activites which in their eyes, make them a complete waste of time. They shun advancements in technology, where some judgements contain such extremity to the point which they view it as a cancer which provokes unhealthy addictions and violent behaviour and/or beliefs. 

To be blunt, I don't blame some of them. Technology is something whose proliferation is inevitable. Like a supplementary unit, it prevails as one with mankind. However, to some, it progresses far too quickly. Newer and emergent concepts related to it continue to be opaque and unbenknownst to them. The same types of people gave birth to the generation that witnessed the age of digitalisation, the spread of computerisation like an alcohol-catalysed wildfire, and the metamorphosis of tasks that were once done manually. All of these reasons foster negative perspectives behind the distribution of video games, especially home consoles.

Sure, it has its disadvantages such as addiction and tendency to resort to violent behavior when forced to abstain for it either temporarily or permanently, but doesn't that depend on the person? The way in which they act around the presence or absence of video games is entirely up to them, and the blame cannot be put on the video games themselves. For example, if a person plays shooting and stealth games and indulges in unlawful activities in real life, the problem lies within him and not the game. The game in itself cannot harm people, however if the person playing it understands that it its just a video game and the actions performed in the game need to stay in the game, there's no necessity for any feelings of apprehension as long as you play video games with the correct mindset.

The way in which I see video games, which people who discourage the consumption of video games fail to see, mostly due to ignorance and narrow-mindedness, is that gaming is the door to a voyaging in a world outside ours, through an audiovisual medium, that, in my opinion, no book can take me to. Whether online or offline, we can be who we want to be and escape from reality at times when we need it the most through gaming. It is also a medium through which we can establish human connections from anywhere across the world. Therefore, in a way, it establishes itself as a facilitator of society's advancements in the digital world.

Now that we've asserted the benefactors of video games from my somewhat sociological perspective, we must also acknowledge their scientifically proven benefits. Cognitive benefits include faster reaction times, enhanced memory and increased attention and focus. Emotionally, video games can play a role as a stress reliever which can reduce anxiety and depression, enhanced social skills when participating in online gaming, and increased self esteem when achieving goals in games.

Video games aren't only limited to a leisure activity, they are humanity's most exhilarating, immersive digital space where everything beyond the limits of your imagination is right in front of you to be a part of. Whether you're a racedriver, a World War II soldier, a musician, all these roles are given as golden opportunities to you, and you are called upon to be the person for the role.

To be continued..