Thursday, November 14, 2013

Gamer Corner: Natassia

Welcome to this week's installment of Gamer Corner, where Fangirl Reviews interviews a gamer and gets her thoughts on the gaming world and learn what she is enjoying at the moment.


1. Tell me a little bit about yourself?

I am a lifelong gamer in my early twenties. When I'm not gaming I am a rocker at heart with a night job in classical music. I am also a huge film & tv buff.

2. What rig do you currently game on?

PC & PS3.

3. What game are you currently playing right now?

GTAV


4. Do you enjoy that game, why? How’s the overall game play?

I'm enjoying it due in part to the craziness of the game. I think the game play is a bit overrated and could have been much better than it is. While not stellar, I think GTAV is still a decent game. I simply wish the developers would have pushed themselves further.

5. Would you recommend it?

I don't really have to. Have you seen the sales records? I would much rather recommend something that hasn't already seeped into popular culture.

6. Are there any games coming out that you are looking forward to?

Quite a few! The ones I am must looking forward to in no particular order are: Watch Dogs, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Infamous: Second Sons, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, The Elder Scrolls Online


7. What kind of gamer do you classify yourself to be? ie. PC, Console, Tabletop, LARP as well as Hardcore, RPG, etc.

I would definitely consider myself a hardcore gamer. I don't limit myself to one platform or genre. Instead, I enjoy everything from Old School RPG to Modern FPS with quite a bit in between.

8. So with the new consoles coming out, which way are you leaning One or 4? (Ignore if you are a PC gamer) 
PS4.

9. What are your thoughts on the gaming industry?

How much time do you have? In all seriousness, the very short version is that there's too much mediocrity. This is across many levels like the often used example of COD where the amount of varied game play is very limited and the most casual gamer can excel. However, I find mediocrity in the lack of true cross platform development. One looks at a developer like Bethesda where games like Fallout New Vegas and Skyrim have game breaking bugs at release on consoles. Both of these forms are unacceptable in my opinion. Very few games really push the boundaries in content and overall experience.

10. If you had the power, what direction would you have the gaming industry go?

This is a tough question because there's a very long fleshed out answer which has been discussed many an odd night. However, I think a part of where I want it to go is already happening. With the recent exposure of crowd sourcing, new games are being created that aren't necessarily conventional. Places like Humble Bundle showcase indie developers and even Steam has their moments of helping the little guys. I do question whether or not this is creating a division which will eventually kill out the medium sized company. I look at companies like Ubisoft and Rockstar. The former bumped themselves into the big time, occasionally sacrificing quality to be part of the annual holiday game onslaught. Rockstar on the other hand, has despite sales, remained fairly medium sized and are to the eyes of many a one trick pony. If I had the power, I would help smaller companies get the resources and status of larger companies. I think those in-betweeners are where innovation has the most potential due to the balance of resources such as advertising with the freedom large companies lack.

11. 10 years from now, where do you see the industry? Are you happy with that direction?

As I said above, I think there will be a larger division. The haves and have nots if you will. There is likely to be a bigger monopoly in games, consoles, and services alike. In addition I think people will start to forget what a great game looks like. Just this year I saw some of the reviews for The Last of Us and GTAV. Both are heralded to be phenomenal and groundbreaking. Honestly, I don't think either are. They are both pretty good but don't hold a candle to countless other games with true innovation and novelties like replay valuable. Unfortunately, I imagine that in 10 years replay will be all but extinct. Both of these directions are the complete opposite of what I think is best for gamers and developers alike.

12. Favorite Game (can include tabletop) of all time and why? 

I am going to go old school for this answer and say Call of Cthulhu. The simple reason for this is that there is a certain amount of skill in the horror genre which is lacking from modern games. Nothing holds a candle to a great Call of Cthulhu game.


13. Would you like to share your gamer tag and the system so others may add you?
Sure. PSN: quip_society


Thank you to Natassia for a fantastic interview. If you would like to be interviewed for Gamer Corner please contact me at FangirlContact@gmail.com.

1 comment:

  1. very mature and reasoned statements! thanks for another great interview... you know +Victoria White... at some point (maybe after a hundred interviews or so) a statistical and/or analysis of all your interviews would be really great and probably even revealing... if you want i would like to offer my help for such an analysis at some point.

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