Experiences
by Godzprototype, HSM team writer
GTA V. So what is it? It’s definitely the bleeding edge of the future of gaming. After the first thirty minutes of playing it, anticipation kept setting in for what was going to happen next. This story could probably parallel some of our experiences here in Home on more levels than people would ever admit. All of these seamless experiences that keep on being thrown at you.
Civilizations have risen to the highest of heights, then fallen and disappeared into mysteries based on such choices. What an experiment this is!
The single player story is gritty and pretty hardcore. Now having a quick once over on the base line of this game is a “not so fast, buddy” kind of experience. And tons of sphincter moments! Discovering there is a whole lot more to this game, both in story and new fleshed-out experiences, than can even be comprehended is refreshing! And it gives us hope for what’s to come next. And I think Rockstar’s Social Club is planning to offer that, on any terms you prefer.
If you pay any attention to that, it seems the choices are diametrically opposed to each other — a choice that should prove interesting ultimately. Imagine how much money could be made on schizophrenic accounts. In my opinion Rockstar planned to build a community. And watch it destroy itself. Literally.
This is an alternate reality game. It is a place where you and your friends can ride bicycles, trains, planes and autos. Where you can hunt, sky dive, scuba dive, jet ski, and sail around. If that is not enough, there are hints of motherships, secret bases, and an underwater city to find. Make friends, or become a gang member. Enjoy the parallels to life with a friend, or shoot them in the face, take the money and run. GTA V is a pretty good facsimile of Los Angeles, with a whole lot of the humor most people are afraid to push.
Beyond all of that are just fluid onslaughts of what is next. Up to now, video games offered a handful of singular experiences. These sold games in the millions, but this new bar brings the open world MMO to its inevitable next generation. Whether or not any of Home’s developers will have a hand in development for content for this game or any other next-gen game is still pure speculation. But it sure would be nice to have such experienced and talented developers give hands-on input into this next generation of gaming.
There is a lot of heat around the story portion of this game, as it does push some boundaries. Like, all of them! Please hide your children. It is Grand Theft Auto, though. This game was designed to offer you some pretty extreme choices. But the seeder side of any choice is encouraged.
Hitting a woman in the face to steal the car out from under her is not really something I care to experience in real life. I found that type of thing extremely distasteful. Some things really aren’t totally necessary to fill out the experiences this game has to offer.
Condoning violence, towards women in particular, as a selling point for an experience really isn’t cool at all! These are the sorts of things people could do without, period. It would be very interesting to see Rockstar jack the AI up so high for the female drivers in this game, that if someone attempted to steal her car, she would get out and just kick his or her ass all up and down the road. That would be highly entertaining! Oops, wrong car….
There are so many complete and fluid experiences to be had in this game, away from doing any sort of shooting, that it boggles the mind. This game is the pivot point in the gaming industry. Pass through airports and sea ports with no transitions except to switch your character in the single player storyline. I tried skydiving today. It was a phenomenal experience. The incredible offered as a social experience — I wonder how many people will actually be bothered with a bunch of shooting over just taking in such a huge place.
This is what it takes to entertain people.
I read somewhere Rockstar was taking notes on Home while designing this game. GTA V Online is supposed to have lots of add-on content with micro transactions in game as well. For everything I liked about this game and the things I disliked, I am going to stick around awhile and see where this goes. My guess is it has only just begun. And that’s just the single player plot. The rest of it remains to be seen.
PlayStation Home has kept my attention for years now. Because it is a place people call Home. A place people meet to play and pretend. The next generation of gaming experiences are here. It appears that serious attempts on changing how people socialize are happening as well. All of it looks great, and real effort to amaze has been put into this next generation of games. Destiny has my attention as well. Any game that is looking to stick around for ten years has its work cut out for it.
Home has never been a game, though. When Sony realized what it had turned into, they decided to try and turn Home into a series of games. But, because it had already become what it is today, the marketing strategists had already lost their bet on making it into only a game. In PlayStation Home, every person filled out the experience that defined Home for the individual. It’s a tailored experience that has had an impact on the communities now being built, one they cannot ignore.
We have been here since 2008, and, whether you have experienced Home as an experiment or something bigger than any one game could ever provide, Home has helped define the future of social gaming. Yet this new game, GTA V, has already begun the same cycle. Is it a game or a community? How this will turn out, nobody knows. But its diametrically opposed choices already seem a bit Biblical in scope. And I do enjoy a good mystery.
FF XIV and GTA V so far have stepped up to the challenge of redefining how we interact with each other. No matter the choices you make, have fun. And be cool to each other.
October 6th, 2013 by Godzprototype | 11 comments
Godzprototype is learning the art of creating Machinima, and would like to share it with you. Hope you enjoy.
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GTA has never held any interest for me. I like that they have built in some other types of experiences this time, but the random violence against others in this game has always been a turn off to me. That and the sexual innuendo and the way women have been personified in the game are big turn offs for me so I doubt I will play it.
Final Fantasy 14 has none of that. There is some mild adult themed things like drinking and the like but you can’t even hit another player in this game, there is no PVP. It is more my style.
Good review Godz.
Random violence is in most every video game available. GTA Online is offering that without violence until you decide to pull out your gun. The catch is if you run out of money you have to get more. Either real money, or in game jobs. Honest or violent. Where most games don’t give you a choice like that. Usually just violent means to an end. This game offers a passive mode. On top of desirable experiences.
It really is everything people have moaned about for so long. If you play this in passive mode with friends you don’t have to pull out your gun. Just do what you want. But the minute you pull out your gun…who knows. A lot like real life if you ask me.
The piggish bit of the game.. I can understand why people would not play this. But at the same time they made great effort to show how people act in life.
The whole thing is interesting psychology that I have never really seen in a game to this degree. Ever. Makes you wonder really.
Another interesting bit is they give you two character slots at first to play with. I assume that this is for your criminal side and a social side if you never want to play at being a criminal. Fascinating mix of choice that should “hopefully” be interesting enough that people might actually attempt playing this game without being anything like a criminal.
Now if they can just get all that to work……
Very nice read Godz. I love, love, love this game! Those of you that know me know that I am a passive and forgiving soul. That said, I am not playing myself as a character in this game. Unlike home, my avatar in this game does not represent me. Full disclosure, I have not played this game online yet. I am playing. The off-line part of this game to develop a feel for it. I am very anti-violence in real life. I don’t smoke crack, I don’t shoot cops, I don’t jack cars, I don’t cook meth, at worse I do exceed posted speed limits from time to time. As for the violence in this game, I don’t really have a problem with it. I understand why others might take some offense to different aspects of the negative actions and connotations that are baked into this game. But to pick and choose what a things do and what doesn’t is just another choice that is given to you. I know you personally and understand why violence towards women might offend you. But is pulling a woman from her car and throwing her to the ground any more violent than her being collateral damage in a high-speed chase that ventures on the sidewalk from time to time. I understand and respect you for your chivalrous viewpoint, but, should virtual violence be relegated only to virtual characters that have virtual penises? As a female that has been a victim of unprovoked violence I am still not offended by that part of this game. I think it is a misrepresentation to say that the game condones violence towards females as it would be to say it condones the manufacture of illicit drugs, cop killing, prostitution, murder and grand theft. If I or anyone were to look at a game called grand theft auto as my moral compass or a map on how I should behave in real life, I am by far already so damaged that I have no business having a PS3 in my padded cell. I know this is an unusual point of view from such a self-proclaimed goody two shoes, but I am a strong believer that if you cannot separate the difference between gameplay and real-life behavior your future is destined to have extreme complications. I know this sounds vastly different than my preachings about PlayStation Home. But as you pointed out in your article, Home has never been a game. It is a virtual reality but we supplied the storyline. Grand theft auto storyline is basically predetermined.
I agree that this game is not intended for children. But healthy adults that play this should have the capacity to see some of the seedier things that happened in the game and realize that it is only a game. Rockstar, I feel confident, is not encouraging anyone who plays the game to duplicate these illegal actions or to try this at home so to speak.
Love the article, and in no way trying to take away from it. Nor am I trying to say your viewpoint is wrong. If anything, I respect the fact that you are protective of us, the “weaker” sex. You are a true gentleman. But as a member of the weaker sex, I can assure you I am strong enough to hold my 9 mm Smith & Wesson model 59 steady and squeeze the trigger and accurately hit whatever I’m aiming at…lol
Morale compass is exactly what this game offers. You can’t relate this or any game to living. We would all really be miserable if that were the case. Violent video games do not make people violent! That’s a tired old notion.
Putting real cash into a game that your “friends” can take from you…I’d have to say, I hope you know your friends.
I hope chivalry isn’t dead. Is it?
Its not dead but it has no insurance…lol
That was so well put Olivia, I can only sit back and applaud your comment. Well said.
The choices you can make in this game are very polar; right after stealing a sports car I came across a man yelling he’d had his bicycle stolen, so I followed the thief, got out my car at a red light, punched him off said bike and cycled it back to the owner. The man thanked me and left. About a week later (in game-time) I received an email with $10,000 in company stocks and shares as a “proper thank you” from him.
So yeah, even in a world where you can be as nasty as you like, being nice can still pay more than traditional crime.
As for the online part of this; I again made my avatar to look as similar to myself as I could. Because this time, this is MY story in Los Santos. Currently I’ve managed to grab a free, dirty, old garage under a freeway as an abode from the online estate agents and I’m still doing low-life things for money, robbing 24/7’s and stealing then selling cars mostly; but I know it won’t be too long before I get that cliff-hugging mansion up in the Vinewood Hills.
This is gonna be a very interesting journey I feel, hope you’ll join me for some of it soon Godz!
Thank you Mr. Face
I look forward to playing with you both. If Rockstar would just fix the online bit so I could save my avatar I think GTA Online would be really cool. And extremely interesting.
Oh, and I made a million or so on a stock tip from someone I picked up on the highway hitching a ride.
To be honest if you get involved in everything the ps3 has to offer over a wide range of games and apps it’s vast. I’ve been riding horses with friends from home long before Lockwood released them. I’ve been driving cars the same. But rockstar have put it loads of things to do in one game based around a violent story. If this is the future of games the future is very bright. But when you consider it cost more to make and will take more revenue than the last James bond movie it should be great.
I know I’m jumping in late here, but GTA is one of my guilty pleasures. I hate violent video games as a rule and stand on my soap box frequently about them, But the GTA series I adore playing. I know it’s a total contradiction but there is a fun factor in the game that puts it so over the top that it’s not remotely real and therefore with me makes it not even close to violence as as Tomb Raider or Last of Us. Great read Godz!
I hope people didn’t misunderstand me. This game is probably the greatest game ever created outside of chess. What fascinates me the most is this….
When the dust settles and people start relating to it on a personal level. Not that that hasn’t happened already.
How will you treat the people around you? I have to say, having a 9mm and the choice to use it truly is a matter of character. At least for this game.
Beyond that all I can say is, WOW!