So my Co-Editor and myself haven't been posting to the blog for a few reasons.
1. School has started for our senior years which means that we are both busy with class work and also other activities outside of school
2. We have begun to analyze what kind of content we want to make and will be revising our content strategy soon
So, apologies to those who may have been reading every article we have posted (maybe the one person). We will post here again when we decide on what kind of content we want to make and how you can consume that content.
For the time being feel free to re-read one of our posts below, or just go somewhere else online that will have newer content.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Why Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the Worst Game Ever
For the past few nights after getting back to school with my friends I have been playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a game released on the N64 in 1998. After playing about 4 hours worth of game time and only making it to the first adult Link temple I have reached a conclusion about the game.
For those who don't actively play video games, the change in controls, graphics, and story lines between 1998 and now has been immense. These three changes were drastic from playing the remastered version of Halo CE to playing OOT. Ocarina of Time is a game designed so badly that it is near impossible for a casual gamer such as myself to even come close to ever understanding the controls for the game.
The first flaw in the game's design is with the controls, although this is more the fault of the N64 than it is of the game developers. For some reason Nintendo figured that a controller for a game system should look like this:
That's right, a controller with three hand grips, a misplaced joystick, and a poorly implemented secondary D-pad/button arrangement for the C stick.
I don't know how any console developer expected players to use these controls for supposedly next generation (at the time 3-dimensional games were all the rage) games such as Super Mario 64 and OOT.
The game design stems from the poorly designed controller to affect the overall button system for the game, having to use the C buttons to equip weapons is simply too difficult compared to relatively modern weapon switching mechanics present in games such as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and GTA V.
The next huge pain that presents itself in OOT is the camera system, which also happens to plague other games also released on the N64 around the same time. The camera most of the time will follow the player forcing the user to control Link while watching his actions at completely odd angles. There is a fix for the system that requires the player to repeatedly press the Z button to re-focus the camera behind the player. There are however other bugs present in this camera system including the targeting system, and also when entering certain parts of the maps where the camera is static and simply pans to wherever the player is located.
The final gripe that I have for this game is the lack of concrete storyline for the player to follow, this would be understandable if OOT were a completely open world game. However, since the game play revolves around the plot too closely there is no excuse for not providing in depth side-quest information for the player.
Ultimately the only reason I will end up finishing this game is to laugh about these flaws and make jokes along the way with my friends. if you are considering picking up this game and trying to play it I highly suggest that you step back and look into a more modern game that has at least better controls and graphics.
As always feel free to sound off in the comments with your opinions, and make sure to follow us on Twitter @SageDiscussions and like our page on Facebook.
For those who don't actively play video games, the change in controls, graphics, and story lines between 1998 and now has been immense. These three changes were drastic from playing the remastered version of Halo CE to playing OOT. Ocarina of Time is a game designed so badly that it is near impossible for a casual gamer such as myself to even come close to ever understanding the controls for the game.
The video clip above is a recording of me attempting to play the game during my second sit down.
I don't know how any console developer expected players to use these controls for supposedly next generation (at the time 3-dimensional games were all the rage) games such as Super Mario 64 and OOT.
The game design stems from the poorly designed controller to affect the overall button system for the game, having to use the C buttons to equip weapons is simply too difficult compared to relatively modern weapon switching mechanics present in games such as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and GTA V.
The next huge pain that presents itself in OOT is the camera system, which also happens to plague other games also released on the N64 around the same time. The camera most of the time will follow the player forcing the user to control Link while watching his actions at completely odd angles. There is a fix for the system that requires the player to repeatedly press the Z button to re-focus the camera behind the player. There are however other bugs present in this camera system including the targeting system, and also when entering certain parts of the maps where the camera is static and simply pans to wherever the player is located.
The final gripe that I have for this game is the lack of concrete storyline for the player to follow, this would be understandable if OOT were a completely open world game. However, since the game play revolves around the plot too closely there is no excuse for not providing in depth side-quest information for the player.
Ultimately the only reason I will end up finishing this game is to laugh about these flaws and make jokes along the way with my friends. if you are considering picking up this game and trying to play it I highly suggest that you step back and look into a more modern game that has at least better controls and graphics.
As always feel free to sound off in the comments with your opinions, and make sure to follow us on Twitter @SageDiscussions and like our page on Facebook.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
The Problem with Social
Social media is currently broken, and most people don't even notice. Thats right those 5 or more social apps on your phone, tablet, computer etc. are serving a completely different use from what they were intended to do when being developed.
Social media apps mostly share the same goal, to allow people to share their perspective of the world/their day with others. However with the recent launch of the app Beme launched by popular video maker Casey Neistat showcased the exact problem with social networks, that most apps have become a way for people to stylize their life or to filter what they show to other people. Social media is no longer about sharing your true life it has become a way to share a filtered view of yourself.
The problem, highlighted in the Beme video above extends to Beme itself. The fact that the app has to be opened and has to be activated in some fashion automatically means that the content shared will be picked and chosen by the individual. This is a vital flaw of most social media apps.
Apps are designed to work certain ways, mostly for ease of use, which is why apps like Snapchat, Beme, Instagram, Facebook and others don't share every single little part of your life, every one of these apps allows you the user to choose whether or not to share that moment.
These design choices become accepted by the public and then become simply part of the status quo. People use apps like Snapchat because to them it seems like the current best method to share photos and videos that will disappear after a select amount of time.
More and more companies will arrive to the social media market, claiming to fix the issues of all the previous applications in the same space, and most of the time these apps will fall to the same issues that all their predecessors have encountered. A word of advice when developing a social media application, don't claim that it is going to completely change the way people will share their lives.
As always feel free to sound off in the comments if you think these problems don't matter or don't actuall exist, or if you think that there is some interesting insight in the post you agree with. Also make sure to check us out on Twitter @SageDiscussions and on Facebook Sage Discussions.
A quick intro about the current flaws of social media, and why Beme was created.
The problem, highlighted in the Beme video above extends to Beme itself. The fact that the app has to be opened and has to be activated in some fashion automatically means that the content shared will be picked and chosen by the individual. This is a vital flaw of most social media apps.
No matter what app you use to share your life with others, you will be sharing a filtered version of yourself, these problems don't lie in the intent behind the app but rather the designs of the applications.
Apps are designed to work certain ways, mostly for ease of use, which is why apps like Snapchat, Beme, Instagram, Facebook and others don't share every single little part of your life, every one of these apps allows you the user to choose whether or not to share that moment.
These design choices become accepted by the public and then become simply part of the status quo. People use apps like Snapchat because to them it seems like the current best method to share photos and videos that will disappear after a select amount of time.
More and more companies will arrive to the social media market, claiming to fix the issues of all the previous applications in the same space, and most of the time these apps will fall to the same issues that all their predecessors have encountered. A word of advice when developing a social media application, don't claim that it is going to completely change the way people will share their lives.
As always feel free to sound off in the comments if you think these problems don't matter or don't actuall exist, or if you think that there is some interesting insight in the post you agree with. Also make sure to check us out on Twitter @SageDiscussions and on Facebook Sage Discussions.
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