Bitmob - "Fog of War" Homework

Bitmob contributor Michael Rousseau issued a challenge to the Bitmob Community for the month of May to improve the readability of our posts. Using a series of algorithms, we could either write a new article or improve an existing one. I chose to improve upon the first editorial I ever wrote on my blog, which you can find here. The readability results are below and the re-written post with my conclusion, is after the jump.

Readability Results for original post:

Flesch Reading Ease – 54.8

Flesch – Kincaid Grade Level – 11.4

Gunning Fog Index – 14.16

State of the Industry: Video Game Violence

I am a gamer, using this blog to share my opinions on games and other aspects of the industry. Therefore, running a monthly post titled "State of the Industry" is a good focus point for analyzing a hot industry topic of my choosing. For the first post, I chose to forego the frying pan and jump straight into the fire by tackling everyone's favorite subject, ‘Violence in Video Games’.

I suppose it started with an article I read a couple of days ago on Games Radar, here. The article examines video games’ recent obsession with dismemberment, perhaps a reflection of humanities’ sub-conscientious fear of such a fate. As this trend continues to proliferate within the industry, I took his article to heart, but felt it lacked causality. Examples provided examined multiple theaters, from the human psyche, war, and economics, to literature, such as Faust or the Divine Comedy. The article is right; we all subconsciously exert our fears and desires through games at times, as we do most forms of media. Whether we know it or not, there could be an inherent desire (or lack thereof) to dismember something. The issue I take with this article is the other factors that go unmentioned. The article uses some six games as examples, I will deconstruct the two which emphasized the concept of dismemberment the most, in my opinion.

The Rise of the Sequel

Fallout 3 is a sequel of a long-standing series of PC games by the same name. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where you are the wanderer who must make decisions to help save humanity or not. Really, the change from its predecessors is in the combat system. VATS, a turn based targeting system, is based on the original AP system allows you to target someone’s body part in hopes of scoring a critical hit. However, you will not dismember a limb without a “kill” shot. The "Bloody Mess" perk will amplify this, which makes most opponents explode upon death. Part of the reason Fallout 3 is getting so much attention, is because how vivid the graphics are. I mean, it is slightly disturbing by how depressing the Wasteland is. The entire concept of "dismemberment" is a derivative of Bethesda's attempt to replicate the feel of past Fallout games.

Which brings me to my first point: perhaps the reason we see more emphasis on violence to this degree has to do with the “fact”* that we are seeing more sequels to some of our favorite violent games. I count around 15 (depends on the definition of violence) sequels in 2007, but 30 in 2008. It would seem to me that any game that starts out violent would have to find creative ways of being more violent in the coming sequels. Not only to outdo their predecessors, but also to keep up with new IPs who may be creating new ways to be violent. Differentiation is the key to staying competitive.

Shoot the Limbs

Dead Space, being a new IP, is a good example of my previous point of differentiation. Reading over numerous press releases and interviews, Dead Space focuses on dismemberment as the defining combat element in this game. This third person, survival horror game requires you to dismember monster’s appendages to kill them. I personally found it entertaining, but for a game accused of borrowing concepts from so many other games, it does a very good job with its unique combat mechanic. Combined with its intense atmosphere and unique inventory system, Dead Space has a lot going for it as new franchise.

In conclusion, I think it is important to note the volume of games released in this generation. For every violent video game released, we see another wave of simulation, sports, and party games that have almost no violence at all. It may just be that the industry is growing rapidly and like any medium (music, movies, television) we as society will continue to push the envelope of what is acceptable. Conceivably, it is something in our subconscious that's creates a desire for violence. Game design in Fallout 3 has become about choice. You may have to kill your enemy, but how you kill them is up to you. The game is smart enough to recognize your behavior and affect the way the NPC's in the game react to your presence. The impact of these decisions may give us a deeper, more intimate look into human nature.


All images courtesy of Google Image search, and http://www.penny-arcade.com/

*Source: Wikipedia lists for Notable Games in 2007 and 2008.

Readability Results:
Flesch Reading Ease – 53.7
Flesch – Kincaid Grade Level – 10.3
Gunning Fog Index – 11.5


My Observations

I was pretty close to having my article meet Michael's recommended readability results. The improvements though were marginal, despite correcting a number of grammatical errors and passive sentences. I feel like I have come a long way in my ability to write a competent article. One thing I notice is, my business education works against the readability of my posts. The audience I have been trained to write for include executives and clients, who like big words and business jargon (think Synergy, Productize or Preactive). I am learning though and will continue to improve my ability to write and understand who I am writing for.