GamerTraits™

Us gamers, we’re a sort of subculture, are we not? Sure, we may not have a distinct style, but after a long day (or if you’re lucky, this is your long day) we all flock to our platform of choice, and that right there is what groups us together. So, as any good anthropologist would tell you, if we are in fact a subculture, well, we should probably be classified further. Please, dear reader, don’t be afraid, it’s going to be much less scientific than it sounds. Hit the jump and take a look at ‘GamerTraits™: A Gamer Classification System.’

Love is in the Virtual Air

February 14th. You know, Valentine’s Day. The one day a year when fighting couples suddenly fall in love again, and all decide there’s no better time to buy candy and flowers, go out to for a romantic dinner, and, erm. . . well, you get the point. And yes, it is in fact a terrible day for gaming. However, since we here at Fragmatica aren’t around to tell you whether or not you should be celebrating a holiday, we’ve decided to keep in the spirit of things and talk a little bit about something not often associated with video games. Yep, that’s right. Today, we’re going to discuss the role love has played in video games.

Industry Progression: Moving Beyond Good Graphics

Ok, I know this here is the interwebz, but let’s put our boycotts, petty complaints, and flamewars aside for a second and talk about something we can all agree on. We live in a completely awesome era for gaming, am I right? In just the last twenty or so years, we’ve seen graphic engines go from spitting out fuzzy 2D images to creating ‘wait-is-that-real-life?’ renderings that are the cause for some major jaw-dropping gaming moments. On top of that, we’ve also watched gameplay evolve immensely and the immersion factor shoot way up. If you’re not convinced these are good things, try wandering around fully realized worlds in games like Fallout 3 and participating in the functioning society of World of Warcraft and get back to me.

Unfortunately, the industry can’t keep up this level of progression forever. In fact, we’re already beginning to see it start to level out. Sure, we’ve still got motion sensing technology like the Wii and Project Natal trying to raise the bar, but these just aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. So what’s next? Will we keep moving forward, or will our favorite industry quickly become stagnant? Luckily, that’s a big no, but instead of seeing major jumps in technology like we’re used to, we’re going to have to rely on smaller, more developer-specific innovations to keep us on our feet. One of these advancements that has already began to catch on is a little thing I like to call ‘inter-game communication.’

The Cerberus Network and the Future of Downloadable Content

With the imminent release of the hugely anticipated Mass Effect 2 and it’s recently announced DLC pipeline ‘The Cerberus Network’, we here at Fragmatica thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take some time to discuss downloadable content. Particularly, we’ll talk about some of the recently emerging trends of DLC, and the path we anticipate it taking in the future. So, read on to see exactly how you’ll be spending your money in the coming years of gaming.

The Sequel Sickness

Now that you have had time, dear reader, to get acquainted with the other bloggers here at Fragmatica, I’d like to personally welcome you! Please, make yourself comfortable, but before you get too settled, humor me for just a second while we conduct a simple experiment. Roll that trusty computer chair over to your undoubtedly expansive game collection and have a quick look. Even better, if you’re forward-thinking and favor digital distribution, you won’t even have to move; just double click that seductive Steam icon (be careful though, or you might end up finding a sale or five that’s  just too good to pass up) and you’re all set.  Now tell me, what exactly do you have there?