Coursework Survey on Shooters.

[Bara_no_Hime]

1. How do you rate this generations shooters. From 1-5. 1(bad) 2 3 4 5(good)
3ish, I guess.

2. What?s your favourite shooter?
"True" shooter? Time Splitters: Future Perfect (I like Mass Effect 2 better as a gamer overall, but not as a shooter).

3. What platform is better for shooters?
Wii PS3/360 Handhelds PC Other
Actually, I prefer PS3. I know everyone loves PCs, but I just don't like mouse-control as well as I like controllers.

4. Do you prefer shooters in 3rd or 1st person?
3rd 1st
No preference - I like both equally.

5. Do you think game developers should start experimenting with Smartphones as a new market for shooters?
Yes No
... I don't own a smartphone yet. But that's no reason not to experiment, so, sure, why not?

6. Do you think developers should do more to market shooters towards women
Yes No
YES. I'd like some attractive male characters (instead of a bunch of huge, ugly men), and some well written female characters.

7. Do you think any shooters should be marketed towards younger gamers (13 and below)?
Yes No
... well, they kind of already are, but they probably shouldn't be. So - no.

8. Do you think that old shooters such as Quake and Doom have changed the development of shooters today? Yes No
Sure - yes.

9. Do you think destructible environments should play a larger role in shooters?
Yes No Depends.
Sure, yes. Not in all shooters, but some, why not.

10. If you answered ?Depends? on question 9, please explain your reasoning.

11. Do you think political elements should be touched upon by shooters?
Yes No Depends.
Yes, most certainly. Art deals with difficult topics, and if games are going to evolve as art, then they need to be able to deal with political issues.

12. If you answered ?Depends? on question 9, please explain your reasoning.

13. For my own feedback how would you rate this questionnaire? 1 2 3 4 5(good)
Pretty good - a 4.

 

[Weaver]

IF you want a professional opinion, you should email Gabe Newell (co-founder and director of Valve). He may not reply, but he freely gives his email out to the public and claims he at the very least reads every inquiry he recieves.

gaben@valvesoftware.com

 

[Sentient6]

1. 4

2. Right now - Metro 2033

3. PC

4. 1st

5. No.

6. Sure, why not.

7. No.

8. Yes, and why isn't Half-Life one of the examples?!?!

9. Yes.

11. No.

13. 3.14

 

[kane.malakos]

1. 4

2. Team Fortress 2

3. PC, by far.

4. 1st-person. It's much more immersive.

5. No.

6. Yes

7. Yes, but not the extremely violent ones.

8. Yes.

9. Yes, definitely. The destructible environments in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 were one of the best things about the game.

11. Depends

12. If handled well, like in Bioshock, political elements can add a great deal to a game's meaning. If they are heavy-handed or extremely insensitive, they won't add anything to the game beyond meaningless controversy.

13. 4

 

[8bitlove2a03]

1. 3
2. Team Fortress 2
3. PC
4. 1st
5. No
6. No
7. No
8. Yes
9. Depends
10. Shooter maps are designed to create natural chokepoints, open fields of fire, long sight lines, etc. Through these map elements, designers are capable of producing an experience that is exciting and fun. The inclusion of destructible environments, if done properly, can certainly make the gameplay more interesting (I personally have personally enjoyed the Battlefield games for this reason; blowing out a wall, killing a defender behind it, and capturing an objective is quite satisfying). However, games such as Call of Duty or Halo would not benefit from destructible environments because the sheer amount of fire and explosions would leave the maps destroyed halfway through a round. Bungie and Infinity Ward would have to completely rethink their levels and gameplay, which would produce games that are not what their fans know and love.
11. No
12. Do we really need any more hyper-masculine imperialist-American-ego-stroking games than we already have?
13. 3

Make sure you select other forums to ask as well. This forum is known to be PC-oriented and Valve-loving, so if you only look at the Escapist your sample is going to be highly biased.