Randomly Mine #2

Depth of Field

I never really thought about this effect until Examined Life of Gaming pointed it out in his video on the game, BLACK. Since that generation of consoles, it’s been a standard. Nearly every mainstream game utilizes Depth of Field in both cutscenes and gameplay. Yet I’d argue, it’s completely useless.

This really struck me when watching Digital Foundry’s video on Rise of the Tomb Raider for the new consoles. 

You have gorgeous high-resolution textures being blurred by depth of field in order to simulate the human eye focusing on Lara in a cutscene.

But if we’re watching a cutscene focusing on Lara rather than inspecting textures, then the game is simulating what is already being done naturally by us.

Only, if we have the audacity to not cooperate with the game’s intentions and look at textures instead of Lara, we see lower quality graphics, because we’re looking at something directly, yet it’s blurred like we’re celebrating 4/20.

I can’t think of an analogy for how nonsensical this is.

Motion blur is similarly overused, but it does have a place in things such as racing or parkour games to heighten your sense of speed. Depth of field is just a waste of time. Thankfully, for me as the consumer, all the time it takes from me is one extra click in the options menu to disable. But for a developer, I imagine it’s far more complex.

A Ghost

Months ago, I made a video on Ghost in the Shell that covered every game attached to the license. The conclusion was that there hasn’t been a true attempt at making a Ghost in the Shell game, nothing that pushes the unique artistic visions of its comics, shows, and films. Now though, I’d like to go a step further.

I’m not sure a Ghost in the Shell game can be done.

At least, not in the way of tradition.

The PS2 game seemed closest to the ideal there’s been so far. When fans discuss a potential Ghost in the Shell game, we think of a first or third person action game, staring the Major in an epic campaign or open world.

However, there’s a big problem.

The 1995 film and Stand Alone Complex TV show will be used for reference as they’re generally regarded as the best in the franchise, but almost every Ghost in the Shell tale stars Major Motoko Kusanagi. The audience is following her, and yet, we know so little about her.

The Major is someone shrouded in mystery. We know next to nothing about her upbringing, personal life, hobbies, or goals. She has multiple versions of herself traveling through the net and even in the real-world. She’s not a character we embody or stand alongside with, but someone we’re consistently pursuing for answers.

That is what makes her such a captivating and charismatic force.

She’s unique and unpredictable. You don’t know what she’s thinking or planning, and that’s the enjoyment.

But this goes directly against what most video-games aim for.

First-person and third-person games often want you to become the character. It wants you to be wrapped up Max Payne’s Noir love story, Joel’s protection of Ellie, or Garret’s sly thievery. They all achieve this in multiple ways, but their goals are the same. Have the player’s emotions be in sync with the character they’re controlling. When Max Payne is angry, you’re angry. When Garret is being sarcastic, you smirk and feel witty.

However, to have a Ghost in the Shell game with Kusanagi as a playable character – by default – conflicts with her character.

You’d either have her and the player be in sync, and thus, erase her mystery and intrigue, or mask her goals during play that’ll make her unrelatable to most.

There is another option, and that’s to take notes from titles like Spec Ops: The Line, Bioshock, or MGS2, where the player and lead character are intentionally disconnected, and use that to tell the story.

It’d be difficult to convince publishers of this method as only one of these games managed to both receive good reception and sell successfully, but there’s still potential here. There could be very interesting ways to use Ghost in the Shell as a way of inspecting game narratives, and toying with concepts.

Once again though, there’s a problem.

This style has become a bit predictable in recent years.

Spec Ops shocked people because no one expecting a generic looking military shooter to have them question the ethics of their actions. Bioshock had been introduced to an audience that never saw System Shock 2. Metal Gear Solid 2 had intentionally altered marketing to set people up for something that didn’t exist.

It’s of certain fact that if a Spec Ops sequel were to be announced, it wouldn’t be looked at as just another military game. People would go into it, expecting a grand-finale twist that’ll splatter their brains.

Recently Prey’s story had people guessing its plot before earning their first gun, simply by knowing that the work it’s based on had a big twist.

This doesn’t mean it’d be impossible for Ghost in the Shell to achieve something to this effect, it’s just evident that meta-narratives are in the minds of gamers these days, and to have one in GITS would draw instant comparisons and possibly even make it predictable.

There’s of course other options. Have the player control a character that’s intentionally relatable like Togusa or Batou, have them be a new member of Section 9, etc. All I mean to say is that a decent FPS with the Major is not going to cut it. For there to be something that can be enjoyed by people other than fans of the license, that said property needs to be used to tell a fresh story.

An Acting Theory

There’s only a handful of Anime I’ve gotten around to watching, but anybody that’s been following my feeds for some time, knows one I can never shut up about is Black Lagoon. Rei Hiroe and Madhouse’s ode to Tarantino and John Woo features some of the most compelling characters I’ve seen in fiction. However, it also highlights something I’ve seen in games.

Maryke Hendrikse, Revy’s voice-actress in the English dub has been in the VO business for sometime, and highlights of that catalog are Johnny Test, Barbie in a Mermaid Tale, and My Little Pony.

Looking at that catalog, you wouldn’t expect – based on that work itself, while not knowing the person – that actress to be capable of such a hard-boiled, badass anti-hero spewing gold like “Your breath stinks like you’ve been sucking cock.”

It wasn’t a surprise to hear in an interview Revy is Maryke’s favorite role. Saying that it’s so rare in this business to sink your teeth into a character with her depth.

Video-Games have very close ties with the VO world, so it’s no surprise that we get to see those actors in our games. However, there’s a similar typecasting and overreliance of certain actors for parts that don’t give them flexibility.

Because Revy’s actress is both experienced and craving something new, it results in a performance that is not only phenomenal, but done with enthusiasm and glee from the actress herself.

Nolan North expresses a similar fondness for Spec Ops: The Line, saying that of all the game’s he’d like Uncharted fans to see him in, would be his dark and depressing character of Captain Walker.

Now, that’s not to say that light-hearted or comedic actors should just be given dark characters in order to reach some new height, or that veterans shouldn’t be given similar characters.

My theory is simply that if a role is going to truly standout and be unique, it needs to accomplish this on all levels, not just writing, and voice-over is a part of that. 

When you look to actors like Troy Baker, Nolan North, or Jennifer Hale, their best work often coincides with material that puts themselves in a place they’ve never in been before or since. In that environment, the past can’t be relied upon. They need to explore and confront those new challenges head-on, and that’s where a truly great performance lies.

It stops them being actors, and makes them become characters.

Take From Comics, Not Film

Video Games owe a lot to cinema, especially in recent years. Indiana Jones, Children of Men, or Alien, it’s no secret that many in the gaming industry looked to bring their inspirations from film into a escape. However, when looking at each art-form – apart from Theater or Stand Up – Film has the least in common with games.

Books have a similar density, TV has a similar length, but for me, the closest there is, are Comics.

Film and TV are primarily known for being a visual medium compared to Novels, and while that’s true, I think their unique quality is actually pacing.

In print, the writer doesn’t control pacing, the reader does. 

It’s relatively easy for a director to slow a film down; decrease movement, use longer takes, put in some smooth transitions, and away you go.

It takes a very skilled writer to get inside the readers head, and make them speed up and slow down accordingly. Comics confront this same challenge, combined with being a visual medium, and this is what they share with games.

It requires a style of writing or artwork that allows people to inspect every pixel without error.

Just Stop It!

Hey, COD Devs. Black Ops II, running on your older engine, worked great on PC. Ghosts, running on your brand new engine, didn’t.

Hey, Eidos Montreal. Thief, running on your older engine, worked great on PC. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, running on your brand new engine, didn’t.

Hey, Arkane Studios. Prey, running on the aging Cryengine, worked great on PC. Dishonored 2, running on your brand new engine, didn’t.

Hmm…