Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
This is really controversial
Do video games make people violent? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33960075
Tuesday, 14 July 2015
Ujoy Merc Storia Tips: Easy Ways to get Medal for Free
Medal is one of the most useful and crucial items in
Ujoy’s anime-themed mobile RPG Merc
Storia especially for non-paying players as it can be used to trade some
rare characters, pets, Awakening Book and some evolution materials. Today Ujoy
is about to reveal free ways to obtain Medal in game.
1. Magical Fountain
【image1】
Players will have a chance to obtain free items
including a large amount of materials and coins per four hours in the Magical
Fountain. More importantly, medal is also likely to be dropped during the
process!
2. Daily Login
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By clicking the bottle of Merc, in-game events will be
shown, including daily login which allows players to get medals, Diamond,
coins, etc. Once player continuously log in for 30 days, 3-star character will
also be sent to players as a gift!
3. Hero Contract Document
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Using Diamond allows the summoning of characters via
Hero Contract Document and we have previously introduced free ways of getting
Diamond in game. Each contract will reward players 10 medals!
4. Guild War
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As the main method of getting medal in Ujoy’s Merc Storia, players are allowed to
participate in Guild War after joining any guild. Apart from coins, Medal can
be obtained in great quantity from Guild War! So if you are hungry for medal,
you’d better not miss any Guild War.
5. Exchanging by Evolving
Awoken Characters
【image5】
This should be an opportunistic way of collecting medal.
Firstly, players can recruit 2-star characters by the way that uses 2000 or
20000 coins. Each obtain of same characters allows the Awakening of them and
this can be accumulated. Once a character is awakened for 15 times and leveled
to lv40, the evolution of character will return the half of Medal that is used
for the evolution! That’s to say there will be 250 medals returned to players
after each evolution of a lv40 character that is awakened for 15 times! It’s
strongly suggested that player use the “20000 coins” way to recruit characters
as it also offers the chance to get 4-star characters!
【image6】
Besides, medal can also be obtained from finishing
adventurous quests and events. For more information, please visit the official
website and Facebook fan page of Ujoy’s Merc
Storia.
【image7】Download Merc Storia for Free
Ujoy Wechat: Ujoy
Thursday, 2 July 2015
Ujoy Chaos Combat: Reviewing the Latest Patch Update
Ujoy has launched a new
patch for its 3D mobile ARPG Chaos Combat
this week, featuring a series of fresh content. Now let’s take a look at this
patch!
This week Chaos Combat has got Heaven Talisman
released in game, which largely improve players’ combat ability with its
powerful skill that has the effect of ignoring opponent’s armor.
【image1】
Now players can obtain Gem,
Soulstone, Energy Core and Anima easily by playing the new feature Smash Golden
Egg. It’s just one click and there will be chance to get huge rewards.
Players at certain VIP level
will be able to claim more rewards in the VIP benefit page in July.
Rank five and six are now
available in the War of God & Demon for players to take more challenges in
game. Anima would be dropped by clearing new areas.
【image2】
【image3】
For more information, please
visit these websites below:
【image4】QR code for downloading Chaos
Combat on Android and IOS
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Have those Cute Chibis Fighting with You: Review of Merc Storia's Japanese Version
Ujoy's Merc
Storia will come to Southeast Asia in English.
Ujoy has previously proclaimed the plan
of releasing the English version of the popular anime themed mobile RPG Merc Storia in Southeast Asia. Lately,
the pre-registration of this upcoming game was also opened to players awaiting.
For offering more information about the game, let's review Merc Storia's Japanese version in advance!
Worldview of Merc Storia
Ujoy Merc
Storia Anime Episode 1
Ujoy Merc Storia TV Trailer
The world of Merc Storia is a very different one in which human and monsters
live together. Owing to the effort of a young boy "healer", who is
the principal role that players will play in game, the coexistence between
human and monsters is allowed to persist even though there are still cruel
monsters attacking human. The story starts with a conversation between a girl
imprisoned in a bottle, named Merc, and a young boy, the healer and the
character of player. For protecting more people against monsters' attack, both
of them will have a long way to go.
The mysterious girl Merc woke the young boy
healer up at the start.
Game Starts.
Battle scene in Merc Storia.
At the start, players will be provided a
tutorial in which the control of combat, casting spells and some explanations
of the game are shown step by step. There won't be too much complicated that
player are able to be on their own very soon. It is also enjoyable watching
those cute chibis and characters moving and fighting. There are more than 200
characters in Merc Storia, including
warrior, archer, mage, etc.
Quests
Quests are divided into three types in Merc Storia, with a difficulty setting.
Divided into three types, main quests in
Merc Storia are based on the anime
story of the game. Besides, daily quests are also provided as well as some
unique quests based on events only. Main quests have difficulty setting of
which the hardest rewards most. However, it's necessary to balance your team's
capacity and the difficulty of quest or you would be wiped out by those cruel
monsters.
Guild
Joining a guild would be necessary in Merc Storia.
Guild is one of the most important
systems and features in Merc Storia.
Players can not only make friends with guild members but also have bonus with
the support from guild facilities. As a member of a guild, players are
responsible for helping construct more guild facilities by spending resources
they obtain from each battle. The higher level the guild facilities have the
more bonus rewards players can claim.
Guild facilities would provide significant
support to guild members.
Recruit
Good recruits make it easier to complete
quests.
In Merc
Storia, players fight as a team. Therefore it's important to have good
recruits. There are several ways to recruit in game, of which one is using
diamonds and another is spending gold. In addition, players can also exchange
items or recruits with golden medal that they can get from battles or events.
Conclusion
Merc Storia Japanese gameplay
trailer.
Merc
Storia has stood from the crowd not only with
its detailed and exquisite anime graphic quality but also its original story
background. In terms of gameplay, everything goes smoothly during battles even
under gorgeous effects. Combating as a team but it is never too hard to control
different member's action. Now Ujoy has started the pre-registration for the English
version which is coming to Southeast Asia. It is suggested to visit the
Facebook page of Ujoy's Merc Storia
for more latest information.
Thursday, 29 January 2015
10 Games might be good for Kids
Go Fish
Age: 7+
Number of players: 2+
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: Choose a “dealer” to hand out cards. If there are two or three players, each player is dealt seven cards. If there are more people taking part, each player is dealt five cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in a pile. This is the “fish pond.”
Each player sorts their cards into groups of the same number or suit (i.e. group of threes or group of kings), making sure not to show anyone. The “requester” (person to the left of the dealer) starts the game by asking another player for cards that will match his hand. For example, if the requester has two kings, he will ask the other player for kings. If the other player has these cards, he must hand them over. The requester continues asking the same player for more cards until the player does not have the cards he wants. If the player does not have the right cards, he can tell the requester to “Go fish.” The requester then has to take one card from the “fish pond.” The player who told him to “Go fish” becomes the new requester.
Anyone who collects all four cards of a set (i.e. all four eights or all four Queens) puts them face down in front of him. The winner is the first person to have no single cards left, only complete sets. If two people run out of cards together, the player with the most sets wins the game.
Crazy Eights
Age: 5+
Number of players: 2-4
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: In a two-player game, each player is dealt seven cards. In a game with three or four players, each player is dealt five cards. The rest of the deck goes facedown in a pile, with the top card turned up beside it. This is the discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer discards a card from his hand that matches either the number or suit of the top card in the discard pile. For example, if the card is a five of hearts, he could play any heart or any five. If he does not have a matching card, he continues picking up cards from the deck until he gets one that is playable. Eights are wild and can be put down on any suit. For example, an eight could be played to match a heart. The next player must match their card to the number or suit that the eight was meant to cover. Play continues with players matching the card at the top of the discard pile. The first player to use up all his cards wins. If the deck runs out before the game is over, the discard pile can be used.
Old Maid
Age: 5+
Number of players: 3+
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards is used, but with one queen removed. This leaves a pair of queens in one colour and a single queen (the old maid) in the other colour.
How to play: All cards are dealt face down to players. Some players may have more cards than others, but this is okay. Each player sorts their cards into matching pairs of the same number or suit, keeping them hidden from other players. Players holding pairs of matching cards lay them down on the table face up. If anyone has three matching cards, he only puts down one pair and keeps the spare card. If anyone has four matching cards, he puts down two pairs.
The player to the left of the dealer offers his cards to the player on his left, who cannot see them. That player selects a random card from his hand. If the new card he picks matches any of the cards he already he has, he can put down the pair. If not, he keeps it. He then offers his cards to the player on his left. This continues until all the cards have been put down in pairs, except the Old Maid, which is left alone and cannot be paired. The person left holding this card is the old maid and loses the game.
War
Age: 6+
Number of players: 2
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: All cards are dealt to the two players and kept face down. Neither player must look at their cards. Both players turn over the top card of their piles and put them face up in the centre of the table, beside the other player’s card. Whoever has turned over the highest ranking card takes both cards and adds them to the bottom of his pile. This continues until two cards of the same value (i.e. two sevens) are put down together. The game is now in a state of “war.” To continue, both players take two new cards and put one face down on top of the card they have already placed in the middle and one face up. Whoever puts down the higher ranking face up card wins all six. The game is won by the player who collects all of the cards.
Concentration/Memory
Age: 3+
Number of players: 2+
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: Older children can use the whole deck of 52 cards, but younger children may want to use fewer cards. Make sure the deck you use is made up of pairs.
Shuffle and spread cards face down on a table between the players. Cards can be laid in a random pattern or in a grid. The object of the game is to find matching pairs. Players take turns turning over two cards and letting all the players see them and study them. If they are not a matching pair, try to remember what and where they are, then turn them back over. The next player turns over two cards. If they are a matching pair, that player removes them from the table and keeps them, and then has another turn. When all cards have been removed from the table, each player counts up the number of cards they have collected. The player with the most cards wins.
Snap
Age: 6+
Number of players: 2+
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards. Two decks can be used for more than three players.
How to play: Choose a card dealer. This player deals all the cards around the group until there are no cards left. Some players may have more cards than others, but this is okay. Players do not look at their cards but keep them face down in individual stacks.
To begin, the player to the left of the dealer turns his top card over and places it face up next to his own pile. The next player does the same. (Note: If a player runs out of face down cards, he can shuffle his face up pile and use them.) This continues until a player notices that two cards on top of the face up piles are the same, such as two jacks or two sixes. The first player to notice and shout out “snap!” receives all cards in both of the matched piles and adds them to the bottom of his face down pile. The game continues with a new player turning a card over.
If two players shout “snap!” at the same time, they form a snap pool with the two matched piles of cards placed together in the centre. Play continues until someone turns up a card that matches the top card in the snap pool. Whoever shouts “snap pool!” first takes the whole pool and adds it to the bottom of their face down pile. If a player mistakenly shouts “snap!” he has two options: 1) give every player one card from his face down pile, or 2) his entire face down pile becomes a new snap pool. If a player has no more face up or face down cards he is out of the game. The winner of the game is the player with all of the cards.
Pig
Age: 6+
Number of players: 3-13
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards for up to 13 players
How to play: For each player, take four of a kind (cards of the same number or suit) out of the deck and put aside the remaining cards. For example, if there are three players, take three groups of four matching cards, such as four queens, four sevens and four aces. Shuffle all these cards and deal them so each player has four. Players can look at their cards privately.
To begin, each person discards one card from their hand and puts it face down on the table in front of them. When everyone has a card on the table, they will simultaneously pass their card to the player on the left and pick up the new card that has been passed to them. When a player collects four of a kind, he puts his finger on his nose. If another player notices this, they must also place their finger on their nose, regardless of whether they have four of a kind or not. The last player to put a finger on their nose gets a letter – first P, then I, then G. The first player to reach “P-I-G” is the loser.
Rummy
Age: 7+
Number of players: 2-6
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: The object of the game is to get rid of your cards as you group them into “melds.” A meld is a set of three or four of a kind, or a “run” (three or more cards in order of the same suit, such as the three, four and five of hearts).
The “dealer” shuffles the deck and deals the cards one at a time to each player as follows: Two players get 10 cards each; three or four players get seven cards each; five or six players get 6 cards each. The remaining cards are placed face down in the middle of the table and serve as the “stock” pile. The top card of the stock pile is turned face up and set next to the stock pile; this card begins the “discard” pile. Each player then groups all matching cards and runs together in their hand, which makes it easier to see the melds in their hand. Do not show the other players.
The player to the left of the dealer plays first by taking the top card from either the stock pile or the discard pile. If the player has a meld, he will lay it down on the table so all cards in the meld are visible. Then he will discard another card from his hand by placing it face up in the discard pile. Players can also place a card down on any existing meld if they have a card that matches the meld or if they draw a card that matches the meld. For example, a player could lay a queen down onto an existing meld of three queens.
The game continues clockwise around the table with players drawing a card from the stock or discard pile, making melds and laying down a card in the discard pile. The first player to get rid of their cards wins the round. Win the entire game by being the first to win five rounds.
Slapjack
Age: 4+
Number of players: 2-5
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: Choose a “dealer” to deal the cards face down to each player. Players cannot look at their cards, but instead put them into piles. Some players may have more cards than others, which is okay. The player to the left of the dealer begins by turning the card on the top of his pile face up in the centre of the table. The game continues with each player adding a card to the face up pile. When a jack is turned, players try to be the first to “slap” their hand over the face up pile. Whoever slaps their hand on the face up pile first gets the entire stack of cards and adds it to the bottom of their pile. The player to their left starts a new face up pile and play continues. If a player has no more cards, they have one more chance to stay in the game by slapping the next jack that appears. If they miss this opportunity, they are out of the game for good. The last person in the game is the winner.
I Doubt It
Age: 6+
Number of players: 6-12
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: Choose a “dealer” to deal all cards, one at a time, to each player. Some players will have more cards than others, which is okay. Players can organize their hand of cards as they please, but do not show any other players. The player to the left of the dealer begins the game starting with aces. He places the card(s) face down in the centre of the table saying “two aces” or whatever the desired number of cards are. Players can lay up to four cards of the card they are required to discard. The game continues clockwise to the next player, who will discard twos. The following player discards threes, and so on. Players announce their cards as they lay them. Start again with aces after kings have been played. Keep in mind that players don’t have to play the cards they announce. They can be lying. Even if you do not have the required card to discard, you must put down and name a card.
After each turn, allow a moment to let anyone challenge the player by saying “I doubt it.” Remember to challenge a player only if you think he might not be discarding the cards he says he is. When a challenge is voiced, the challenger can look at the discarded cards. If they match what the person who played them said, the challenger picks up all cards in the discard pile and adds them to his personal pile. If the cards are not what the person said they were, the player who discarded them must pick up the entire discard pile. The player to lay down his entire hand of cards first will win the game.
Age: 6+
Number of players: 2
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: All cards are dealt to the two players and kept face down. Neither player must look at their cards. Both players turn over the top card of their piles and put them face up in the centre of the table, beside the other player’s card. Whoever has turned over the highest ranking card takes both cards and adds them to the bottom of his pile. This continues until two cards of the same value (i.e. two sevens) are put down together. The game is now in a state of “war.” To continue, both players take two new cards and put one face down on top of the card they have already placed in the middle and one face up. Whoever puts down the higher ranking face up card wins all six. The game is won by the player who collects all of the cards.
Concentration/Memory
Age: 3+
Number of players: 2+
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: Older children can use the whole deck of 52 cards, but younger children may want to use fewer cards. Make sure the deck you use is made up of pairs.
Shuffle and spread cards face down on a table between the players. Cards can be laid in a random pattern or in a grid. The object of the game is to find matching pairs. Players take turns turning over two cards and letting all the players see them and study them. If they are not a matching pair, try to remember what and where they are, then turn them back over. The next player turns over two cards. If they are a matching pair, that player removes them from the table and keeps them, and then has another turn. When all cards have been removed from the table, each player counts up the number of cards they have collected. The player with the most cards wins.
Snap
Age: 6+
Number of players: 2+
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards. Two decks can be used for more than three players.
How to play: Choose a card dealer. This player deals all the cards around the group until there are no cards left. Some players may have more cards than others, but this is okay. Players do not look at their cards but keep them face down in individual stacks.
To begin, the player to the left of the dealer turns his top card over and places it face up next to his own pile. The next player does the same. (Note: If a player runs out of face down cards, he can shuffle his face up pile and use them.) This continues until a player notices that two cards on top of the face up piles are the same, such as two jacks or two sixes. The first player to notice and shout out “snap!” receives all cards in both of the matched piles and adds them to the bottom of his face down pile. The game continues with a new player turning a card over.
If two players shout “snap!” at the same time, they form a snap pool with the two matched piles of cards placed together in the centre. Play continues until someone turns up a card that matches the top card in the snap pool. Whoever shouts “snap pool!” first takes the whole pool and adds it to the bottom of their face down pile. If a player mistakenly shouts “snap!” he has two options: 1) give every player one card from his face down pile, or 2) his entire face down pile becomes a new snap pool. If a player has no more face up or face down cards he is out of the game. The winner of the game is the player with all of the cards.
Pig
Age: 6+
Number of players: 3-13
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards for up to 13 players
How to play: For each player, take four of a kind (cards of the same number or suit) out of the deck and put aside the remaining cards. For example, if there are three players, take three groups of four matching cards, such as four queens, four sevens and four aces. Shuffle all these cards and deal them so each player has four. Players can look at their cards privately.
To begin, each person discards one card from their hand and puts it face down on the table in front of them. When everyone has a card on the table, they will simultaneously pass their card to the player on the left and pick up the new card that has been passed to them. When a player collects four of a kind, he puts his finger on his nose. If another player notices this, they must also place their finger on their nose, regardless of whether they have four of a kind or not. The last player to put a finger on their nose gets a letter – first P, then I, then G. The first player to reach “P-I-G” is the loser.
Rummy
Age: 7+
Number of players: 2-6
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: The object of the game is to get rid of your cards as you group them into “melds.” A meld is a set of three or four of a kind, or a “run” (three or more cards in order of the same suit, such as the three, four and five of hearts).
The “dealer” shuffles the deck and deals the cards one at a time to each player as follows: Two players get 10 cards each; three or four players get seven cards each; five or six players get 6 cards each. The remaining cards are placed face down in the middle of the table and serve as the “stock” pile. The top card of the stock pile is turned face up and set next to the stock pile; this card begins the “discard” pile. Each player then groups all matching cards and runs together in their hand, which makes it easier to see the melds in their hand. Do not show the other players.
The player to the left of the dealer plays first by taking the top card from either the stock pile or the discard pile. If the player has a meld, he will lay it down on the table so all cards in the meld are visible. Then he will discard another card from his hand by placing it face up in the discard pile. Players can also place a card down on any existing meld if they have a card that matches the meld or if they draw a card that matches the meld. For example, a player could lay a queen down onto an existing meld of three queens.
The game continues clockwise around the table with players drawing a card from the stock or discard pile, making melds and laying down a card in the discard pile. The first player to get rid of their cards wins the round. Win the entire game by being the first to win five rounds.
Slapjack
Age: 4+
Number of players: 2-5
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: Choose a “dealer” to deal the cards face down to each player. Players cannot look at their cards, but instead put them into piles. Some players may have more cards than others, which is okay. The player to the left of the dealer begins by turning the card on the top of his pile face up in the centre of the table. The game continues with each player adding a card to the face up pile. When a jack is turned, players try to be the first to “slap” their hand over the face up pile. Whoever slaps their hand on the face up pile first gets the entire stack of cards and adds it to the bottom of their pile. The player to their left starts a new face up pile and play continues. If a player has no more cards, they have one more chance to stay in the game by slapping the next jack that appears. If they miss this opportunity, they are out of the game for good. The last person in the game is the winner.
I Doubt It
Age: 6+
Number of players: 6-12
Cards: Standard deck of 52 cards
How to play: Choose a “dealer” to deal all cards, one at a time, to each player. Some players will have more cards than others, which is okay. Players can organize their hand of cards as they please, but do not show any other players. The player to the left of the dealer begins the game starting with aces. He places the card(s) face down in the centre of the table saying “two aces” or whatever the desired number of cards are. Players can lay up to four cards of the card they are required to discard. The game continues clockwise to the next player, who will discard twos. The following player discards threes, and so on. Players announce their cards as they lay them. Start again with aces after kings have been played. Keep in mind that players don’t have to play the cards they announce. They can be lying. Even if you do not have the required card to discard, you must put down and name a card.
After each turn, allow a moment to let anyone challenge the player by saying “I doubt it.” Remember to challenge a player only if you think he might not be discarding the cards he says he is. When a challenge is voiced, the challenger can look at the discarded cards. If they match what the person who played them said, the challenger picks up all cards in the discard pile and adds them to his personal pile. If the cards are not what the person said they were, the player who discarded them must pick up the entire discard pile. The player to lay down his entire hand of cards first will win the game.
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Should We Kick Religion Out of Video Games?
Here’s a moral puzzle for you. Do you believe it is acceptable to use religious figures as characters in video games?
It’s a question that has come up in the past week, one that raises many difficult issues about freedom-of-expression, the responsibility of avoiding giving offense and the diverse nature of faith.
Smite is an online multiplayer combat game from Georgia-based Hi-Rez Studios, best known for shooting-MMO Global Agenda and Tribes: Ascend. Players take on the role of various characters from historic-mythical pantheons such as the ancient Greek, Norse and, more controversially, Hindu traditions. The Hindu deity, Kali, is a playable character, prominent in the game’s pre-release promotions.
Very few people today worship Thor or Aphrodite. But there are one billion Hindus around the world, with an estimated 1.5 million in the United States, according to a2004 State Department report. And many of them care deeply about their revered deities.
Nevada-based Rajan Zed describes himself as a “Hindu leader” and is head of an organization called the Universal Society of Hinduism. He has slammed Smite, saying, “[Hi-Rez] should be more understanding of the hurt feelings of Hindus worldwide over the mishandling of their revered deities like Kali. [The] purpose of online games is to entertain and not to offend a large chunk of world population.” He called for Kali and other Hindu deities to be removed from the game.
Zed today released a new statement including supporting opinions from a Jewish and a Buddhist associate. Rabbi ElizaBeth W. Beyer, described as a “prominent Jewish leader in Western USA” said, “We join the Hindus in requesting the company developing this online video game to avoid trivializing the deeply held beliefs of Hindus by changing the product accordingly”.
In the past, Zed has condemned various entertainment outlets for disrespecting Hindu figures, and has counted on the support of Beyer. In 2011, for example, he criticized a SNL skit featuring Jim Carrey that, he said, mocked the deity Lord Ganesh.
Earlier this year he took aim at the game Asura’s Wrath saying its use of Hindu imagery was guilty of “trivializing and re-imagining of highly revered symbols and concepts of Hinduism”.
Zed declined to be interviewed directly by IGN, instead supplying us with various emailed statements. I spoke to Hi-Rez’s co-founder and COO Todd Harris and to Amit Kumar, a blogger of Hindu culture.
Harris claims that Zed’s opinion is not shared by many Hindus, arguing that Hinduism is “embracing and tolerant” and that Hindu’s ancient stories have often been used for entertainment purposes. , “He [Zed] is certainly entitled to outrage if he personally feels that. To my knowledge there's no word or concept for ‘blasphemy’ in Hinduism, because at least in my understanding of it, all deities are considered to be a manifestation of the essence within Hinduism.”
He adds “These particular deities are seen in pop culture, not just in the west, but within India as well, as icons, in comics, depicting the battles between these gods. Smite is basically a game about battling deities, and so we're looking for inspiration from an authentic tradition that has rich stories about deities battling.”
There is one obvious question here, which is that while the game features Hindu deities, it features no religious iconography or reference to other great religions such as Judaism, Christianity or Islam.
I ask Harris if he simply wouldn’t dare to address these religions, because the reaction from large numbers of followers of those traditions would be extremely negative and possibly even dangerous to the safety of the game's makers.
Choosing his words carefully, he acknowledges that, yes, “the reaction would be much more predictable. And again, from a group of believers that believes perhaps, in one truth, versus a faith that is known for its plurality of ways to get to truth.”
Harris argues that the mythology associated with those religions do not include deities battling with one another and would not be appropriate from a story-telling point-of-view.
Here is an excerpt from a Hindu text, the Devi Mahatmya, that gives some flavor of Hindu story-telling traditions. Kali “decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger's skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering...that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes”.
Very beautiful. And, for those of us raised in Abrahamic traditions, quite different from the religious stories we likely learned from our teachers.
Harris adds, “In the Abrahamic traditions, the main figures are all human. They never overlapped or battled with one another. They're actually positioned as prophets within a monotheistic tradition. There are no stories there of deities battling one another. So it doesn't necessarily provide an inspiration for a game about deities battling one another.”
Put another way, the prophets of Abrahamic traditions make way less interesting video game characters than the deities of the Hindu tradition
Harris says, “There are many stories of gods having dramatic encounters and fights and battles between one another, and what we're doing is trying to take the essence of those deities as we understand it from those stories, give it a unique twist within Smite, and then put them on a battleground with deities from other pantheons as well.”
He rejects Zed’s argument that the depiction of Kali is “pornographic” and a story in The Times of India that pointed out that Kali is “scantily clad”. “I've traveled to India personally three times, and I can tell you that Kali and other goddesses represented on Hindu temples are often much less clothed than the depiction in Smite.”
The Hindu tradition is unfamiliar to me, something exotic and gorgeous and strange. Armed with such ignorance, I wanted to get the perspective of a follower of Hinduism (if that is even the correct phrase). Amit Kumar is a 25-year-old software developer based in Mumbai. He runs a Twitter account devoted to discussing Hindu culture. Talking to IGN, he stresses that he does not speak for Hinduism’s one billion followers.
He says, “It's not right to assume that the Hindus will not be offended if their Gods are portrayed in a video game. The Gods are after all highly revered by the Hindus and are worshiped much like Jesus Christ of Christianity and Allah of Islam. But it's less serious in our case because at the end of the day, we believe that God is within oneself. The life giving force within each one of us is what Hindus refer to as God. This life giving force is what we call Consciousness or Soul or Spirit.”
He does not agree with Harris’ distinction between Hinduism and other religions. “Not fair at all. God is God. Whether it is the God of Islam or Christianity or Judaism or Hinduism...There are stories about the lives of Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ. Why would it be inappropriate to have them as characters in a video game when it's appropriate to trivialize Hindu Gods as video game characters? Beats logic.”
Perhaps Hinduism’s all-embracing view means that reaction from the faithful is not as hot as it might have been from adherents to other faiths. He explains, “There is no concept of eternal hell or heaven in Hinduism and hence there is no dogma attached to the religion. I'm allowed to question, criticize and reject any of the teachings that don't suit me without having to face any backlash from the community. As a Hindu I can carve my own path for myself which means I'm allowed to revere Jesus Christ and his teachings while still being a Hindu.”
Back with Hi-Rez, I ask Harris if it wouldn’t have been better to simply avoid offending anyone, and to stick to those pantheons that are not active today as a focus of devotion. Did the team sit down to debate leaving aside Hindu deities? “Yes," he says, "we did have that conversation and debate as a development team, because we recognize that certainly deities that have an active following and set of faithful believers is a different categorization. But we decided that, when there's a rich tradition of deities authentically battling, that would be good inspiration for a game about battling deities.”
Finally, I ask if this controversy has been a useful piece of PR, or an unhelpful distraction. He says, “I think it's probably not too much of either. We're pretty comfortable with our position. I honestly don't think that there is an outrage beyond this one particular organization [Zed’s]. I guess it's enabling a conversation around belief systems and tolerance and that’s a good thing.”
Saturday, 27 December 2014
When could we watch video games played in Olympics?
Today a story about "video games and Olympics" was published on the BBC news website. According to the story, the creator of Blizzard's World of Warcraft claimed that competitive video gaming (e-sport) should be included in the Olympic Games as video games are well positioned to be a spectator sport.
With the improving quality and technology of video games, now this has become a huge industry that brings a large amount of income and professional e-sports events are attracting millions of audience. A recent major final held in Seoul, South Korea, filled a stadium of 40,000 people - with many more watching either online or at meet-ups around the world. However, video games are still struggling to win over those who follow more physical sports.
With the improving quality and technology of video games, now this has become a huge industry that brings a large amount of income and professional e-sports events are attracting millions of audience. A recent major final held in Seoul, South Korea, filled a stadium of 40,000 people - with many more watching either online or at meet-ups around the world. However, video games are still struggling to win over those who follow more physical sports.
Before the 2014 Incheon Asian Games in South Korea, the request of adding e-sports as one of the competitions in the Asian Games was rejected. In the comments, some said that the way how e-sports are played does not accord with the feature and culture of "real sport". And the "playing" of video games is regarded as "just a game" by many who support the refusal of introducing e-sports to competitions. When I firstly heard the news report on radio, the commentary indicated "how would games be possibly brought into one of the most important sport event in the world?"
Indeed, the definition of e-sports is still remaining in a controversial situation. The difference between e-sports and physical sports is significantly obvious. However, in this case we need to ask ourselves what is sport? Is it only on a physical level or it also requires the competition of mind? Actually, I would say that if we don't allow competitive gaming to appear on either the Olympic or Asian Games, why would the competition of chess be allowed? It also seems not as physical as football, athletics or swimming. And for many competitive sports, like basketball, football and volleyball, every completion of actions is based on the control of our brain. Therefore, apart from physical training, these sports are also competitions of mind.
But honestly, in terms of the watching of e-sports, this might not be an unfamliar thing for many spectators, especially for those traditional sport viewers. Firstly, they need to understand the game. If you don't know, let's say, Warcraft, you would only be watching several units fighting and there are some effects showing on screen. Video games are not as popularised as as other classic sports and there are indeed people who never play video games.
Not sure whether e-sports would win its chance to show up in worldwide sport competition in the future, for me, I still hope this would come true one day as having been a video gamer for more than 10 years. Maybe one day when video gaming becomes also physical and people would change their comprehension on it, we would see a golden medal obtained by a e-sports player standing on the Olympics awarding stage.
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