201: Bushido and Beamsabers

[Ollie Barder]

Bushido and Beamsabers

What do medieval Japanese warriors and giant fighting robots have in common? Probably a lot more than you think. Ollie Barder examines the influence of samurai on mecha, and how that influence has led to a particularly unique genre of videogames.

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[John Funk]

We need more articles about giant fighting robots.

Just for the record.

 

[Kojiro ftt]

Why all the reposts?

 

[aww yea]

We need more articles about giant fighting robots.

Just for the record.

i see your a gundam 00 fan

good man

 

[Grand_Marquis]

"They've forgotten that games are actually about rule sets and not about badly copying the medium of film with a cut-and-paste approach to interface design."

Amen, brother.

 

[kastanok]

I want that huge controller. I have no idea what I'd use it for but I want it.

Maybe if some successor to my beloved Starseige were to appear... ah, happy memories.

 

[murphy7801]

i love armoured core even though not very popular in the uk and has massively slow release dates, i total agree most people don't want the mental challenge involved in games like this were as i thrive on this since i find alot of games challenging. also another thing i have notice in the later versions of AC basically 4 and onwards the game play alot faster so missions actually fairly short but so rewarding

 

[vxicepickxv]

"They've forgotten that games are actually about rule sets and not about badly copying the medium of film with a cut-and-paste approach to interface design."

Amen, brother.

I came to say this too.

Actually, a lot of the more complex RTS games seem to follow a similar approach, or at least they used to.

 

[not a zaar]

So, the main point of this article is that Japanese games are influenced by Japanese mythos? Wow, what an eye-opening piece of journalism.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

"They've forgotten that games are actually about rule sets and not about badly copying the medium of film with a cut-and-paste approach to interface design."

Amen, brother.

That can be said about ALL of gaming not just quirky JP based titles...how many games scream for full button mapping because the controls are laid out with such a casual flare that zombies don't have to much trouble with playing a game but anyone with a brain would kill to move acouple buttons around for the sake of enjoyment of playing....

===============

Not that I am one who should be commenting on writing skill or style..or grammar...or....
!!!warning eyes my bleed!!!
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/cotlop-zippybook/what-is-cotlop/
!!!warning eyes my bleed!!!

I can't help but think there's a page to tie all this together better that's missing other than a shout out to a friend whos kneading a project...
We move from Samurai history to "mech'isim" anime to a rant abotu mecha based games(bring back mechwarroir 2 style of games damnit!!) to a shout out to a friend....

WTF?

This sht is as disjointed/unfinished as my own work...well....least this was legible... =0-o=
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edit
I think JP games sometimes have a horrible control set that was just loosely slapped together by hardcore fans/designers with no forethought to individual enjoyment of control(MGS chunky controls,FF11 annoying controls,ect,ect) then again US devs mostly side by caution making cookie cutter layouts that are set in stone that only randomly fulfill the basic control needs for half of all gamers.... full button mapping and control over sound/music/voice volume is a must.... if just to to turn off the bad localized voice.....

 

[aww yea]

also why the hell didnt he mention zone of the enders?

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I made a very insightful post, I felt, on this topic... When it was actually a new article. Not that i'm complaining about more giant robots.

 

[NeutralDrow]

So, the main point of this article is that Japanese games are influenced by Japanese mythos? Wow, what an eye-opening piece of journalism.

You missed the last page, didn't you? Half the point was that mecha games in general (Japanese or not) are influenced by Japanese mythos. The other half was the idea that such games are meant to be learned to be played well.

 

[Ollie Barder]

We need more articles about giant fighting robots.

Just for the record.

I'd be happy to write more pieces like this for the Escapist, but I also have a column that covers the subject too on GameSetWatch [http://www.gamesetwatch.com/column_robotochan/] if you're interested.

So, the main point of this article is that Japanese games are influenced by Japanese mythos? Wow, what an eye-opening piece of journalism.

Not quite, as mecha games globally are very much linked to a bushido inspired ruleset as well (so it's not a Japan exclusive phenomenon). It's also worth pointing out that the article explains that the rulesets for mecha gaming are more about heuristics via new mechanics, which in turn ties into the influence of the samurai myhtos (that becoming a master swordsman takes practice, as the skillset is not implicit).

also why the hell didnt he mention zone of the enders?

I mentioned Virtual On instead, as that's what functionally inspired [http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/06/column_robotochan_zone_of_the_1.php] Zone of the Enders.

 

[Janarius]

Interesting, so do all or most mecha games have different control schemes from each other that one can be an expert in one game and a newbie in another?

 

[Ollie Barder]

Interesting, so do all or most mecha games have different control schemes from each other that one can be an expert in one game and a newbie in another?

Yes, that's exactly the case as a mecha's functionality is very much open to interpretation (within certain cultural parameters admittedly). As a result, the genre is richly varied in this regard.

 

[gadafgadaf]

Gundams suck~! LONG LIVE THE ZAKU, VIVA!

 

[Cheefa_Da_Reefa]

so what gundam model is that pic in the article??

 

[NeoShinGundam]

so what gundam model is that pic in the article??

That would be the Musha Gundam, from the "Dynasty Warriors Gundam" game http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Musha_Gundam