Working in the games industry means that there are a lot of things that I want to show the world. Of course, my clients would not be very happy if I revealed some secrets ahead of time. However, there are moments when I am given permission to go live with my projects, today I completed work on my latest trailer for Ski Region Simulator. Check it out below!
I love a good old bit of snow, I’ve been playing Elder scrolls V Skyrim and normally I’m not really a fan of those types of RPG’s but navigating frozen tundra really does peak my interests. EA are releasing a game in February called SSX, you may remember the franchise that made its debut on the PS2, and it’s most popular title in the series was called SSX tricky. Check out the most recent trailer below;
Mission objective.
- Recognise SSX Tricky as one of the most dominant influences.
- Reveal the tricks mechanics.
- Fast paced action editing to fit the music track.
Recognise SSX Tricky as one of the most dominant influences.
I personally spent more time on the mountain of SSX 3, it was great to have a kind of sandbox area that I could explore casually. Any way back on track to what SSX tricky delivered. It was the sequel to a Playstation 2 launch title called SSX; the original was a bit more tame than the most recent outings and delivered a great snowboarding arcade racing game. SSX Tricky introduced celebrities such as David Arquette, Macy Gray and a new trick system that saw your character perform outrageous tricks. This wasn’t really a revolutionary move because titles like Tony Hawks pro skater had already developed games that benefited from ludicrous tricks, however in SSX Tricky it felt right because the characters were flamboyant and would trash talk each other as they raced for first place.
Yeah, I could do that... If I wanted to...
When the new SSX was announced the developers made an announcement stating that they were after a different experience and released some gritty looking artwork. Fans were not too happy with this direction and forums flooded with topics of the fans slagging off the new game before any real details were released. This video is a way that allows the developers to say to the fans that they embrace SSX’s heritage and don’t intend to keep it a more gritty experience. The trailer uses the most dominant track in the SSX tricky game called tricky by Run DMC. However, it is adapted and the message that comes across is that they are enhancing the game play mechanics seen in previous titles to make something different, possibly even better.
Reveal the tricks mechanics.
The Tricks are obviously the most important part of the game and the trailer does a great job of allowing the viewer to catch up with what is happening. Some of the tricks happen so fast that you are unable to follow them, thankfully they have captured the images at a glorious high frame rate and was able to slow them down so that we can see every intricate motion. They have a team of animators working very hard on this stuff and it must make them very pleased that they can show off their handy work, allowing the human eye to catch up with everything that they have created. You have tricks on rails, tricks in the air and even some tricks that allow you to interact with helicopters in mid air.
Helicopter Trickanomics.
Fast paced action editing to fit the music track.
I love the editing on this video, it is fast paced, it fits perfectly with the audio and it is incredibly exciting. I have a fascination in effecting time in video, whether it is in super slow motion or if it is in time-lapse. There are segments of the video that cut between shots with a look as though the camera had been knocked, a very retro look to it and is probably a tribute to older titles
It's a bit like watching crimewatch... Have you seen this man?
Overall.
It’s difficult to point out any wrong doings in this video because essentially, it is a trick montage. It does not reveal any information about the story, it doesn’t highlight tracks and it is essentially a single part in a much larger marketing campaign. It does reveal a little bit of flair with regards to characters acting out towards the camera, but other than that this is a focused trailer on one element of the final game. As it is, you can’t fault it’s delivery but perhaps it would be better to judge how the entire marketing campaign delivers rather than a single trailer.
Extra Play Launch Line Up – Trailer
Posted: November 14, 2011 in Completed Projects, Video Game TrailersA new trailer that I produced for Excalibur publishing’s ‘Extra play’ range is now live. Check out the video below!
I’ve been working in development for a few television programmes but never had an opportunity to be involved in production. Many of the programmes that I have helped create and pitch are currently being handled by a production company and may not even see the light of day on UK Channels. Sometimes it is heart breaking to know that some ideas never get an opportunity to shine and the best way to guarantee that everyone has an opportunity to watch it is to release it for free online.
Unfortunately, such generosity from a film maker’s perspective is difficult due to the amount of funds available to sustain the project and to keep the artists working. There is definitely an issue of marketing that comes into play and decisions need to be made regarding exclusivity and revenue sharing. It’s a difficult job and I have a great amount of respect for people who consistently release high quality videos on YouTube such as FreddieW, you should really check out some of his stuff if you have not before.
My current line of work includes developing video game trailers, it’s an interesting experience to use a virtual world to film content and in time when I have access to the tools that developers are able to use the quality will increase dramatically.
Anyway, I’ve gone on for too long, and not revealed anything in this post. The objective is to create a new short film, or even a feature length title (depending on feedback) for something that is currently codenamed ‘Z’. I have no intention of keeping that title but I always found the letter ‘Z’ rather attractive.
When I was younger I always had a great interest in TV series such as power rangers and my favourite moments were when they fought inside the giant mech against aliens. There is something romantic about the sparks and the explosions and I’d love to revisit that style of programming and turn it into something entertaining for people like myself who were raised on the power rangers. I’ve been watching the recent incarnation of the power rangers and it is stunningly awful for me to watch, but I bet the kids love it.
Anyway, the premise is simple for this project; I want to be as open as possible. While I can work on the projects development I may never have the resources or funds to make it a reality. There is a possibility that I’ll be willing to let someone else make it, but I would please ask for you to just get in contact and we’ll see what we can do. I’m not necessarily in it for the money, but I would also be very frustrated if someone openly ripped off my ideas without my permission, as would any creator.
Stay tuned, I’ll be adding more and more info from research, scripts, rough pictures and maybe even some video pieces… If I begin to prepare production I may even ask for some assistance in visual fx, acting and crew.
Ta ta,
Cleveland.
Sometimes a trailers objective is to make you think “what the hell is this? I want to know more about this, it reveals so little information but I’m dying to know more!” Others attempt that trick and just end up creating something that makes no sense and tends to detract interest from the game completely. It’s difficult to talk about the mission objectives of a trailer that reveals so little information about its game to the public. Check out the debut trailer for Dark Eden below
- It’s got vampires in it!
It’s got vampires in it!
That’s right, it does… I don’t now anything else about the game other than the fact it seems to feature vampires. The interesting aspect is that the trailer plays on the fact that perhaps there are things that exist even though we don’t believe in them. Therefore it could possibly be a survival horror game. The thing I love about this trailer is the audio clip of girls screaming, but if you watch the background, everyone is staring at whats going on with a rather bored expression, by no means expressing any sense of terror at all. It could have been emphasised if they didn’t just film this in front of a crowd, the camera shook and then everyone started running and screaming, then the camera gets dropped.
The problem I have is that they tried to give a kind of cameraman feel to the shot with a little bit of hand held camera, yet when the female started biting and the blood splashed onto the screen the camera just stays in place, as if the cameraman is not phased at all by this whole shenanigan. If the camera had jolted about, it would have probably not made the crowd in the background look so static either. They tried to redeem themselves with a camera shake at the end, but it was terribly cut and detracted from the fear. The director clearly had very little time or did not really show a great deal of love in the pre planning stages.
Overall
It is abysmal. A part of me believes they are trying to capitalise on the recent twilight films because they sold well in the US. It seems like a lazy trailer that took a whole single day to plan and shoot. The viewer doesn’t know exactly what the game is about except it is coming out for the pc.
Planet of the apes had an interesting marketing campaign for the new film; it featured a wide range of YouTube videos that told a selection of tales. There is an opportunity to do that with this if it is indeed a horror game, it’s interesting to unravel a good mystery and if they were really adamant on not showing game play footage they could develop a selection of short films telling a dramatic story.
But let me tell you what it is… it’s an MMORPG hack and slash isometric title set in a European country of Eslania and it has vampires in it…. yeah, other than the vampire bit no one is going to get any of those details from that trailer! You might as well have just had a Victorian space prostitute battling a Godzilla over the custody of their love child and I’d have as much knowledge of the game then, as I do from the current trailer.
The problem with this trailer is that the aims were not clear, why did they want to make a trailer? What would this video promote that text could not? And it raises the massive question; why are you not showing me footage of the game? I’m not completely against a title dismissing game play footage entirely (Check out my vet & n00b trailer-man feature here) but when the trailer doesn’t have a valid point it is a waste of money…
I’ve already talked about how much I enjoyed the sonic generations title, and if you have not read that, you can check it out here. However, I wanted to talk about the trailer, you can check out the video below before I start to talk about its mission objectives.
Mission objectives
- Reveal classic sonic the hedgehog.
- Maintain an interest in keeping new sonic.
- Reveal a classic gaming stage reborn.
Content:
Before going any further, it’s always difficult to find out what was recorded by the producers of this video and what was given to them by the developers. For example, the CG sections could have been developed with Segas team of artists while the editing was created by an outside party. Unfortunatly it’s a little bit difficult to say where everything came from in this trailer and I’ve worked on projects where my goal was to use existing footage and deliver it with a new layout and a re-edit. Anyway, lets talk about the mission objectives.
Reveal classic sonic the hedgehog
There is nothing subtle about classic sonics reveal yet the text on screen makes you believe they wanted to unload the knowledge of classic sonics arrival in a triumphant celebration. Perhaps it would have been good to show brief glimpses of the hedgehog, enough for you to do a double take and say “hey, what was that? Is that classic sonic? Oh it is!”. Unfortunately the reveal was not created in the spirit of showmanship which is a shame because this is a pretty big deal…
Maintain an interest in keeping new sonic
Despite what many people think about sonic these days, he’s had more games under his belt as the current sonic than the classic sonic. He still shifts a hell of a lot of copies and kids still get the adults to buy his games. Removing him completely is not an option (However after this, there may be an option for Sega to experiment). The last video clip revealing classic sonic ends really suddenly, and seems as though they had trouble finding an acceptable ending . So then new sonic comes in. Modern sonics stages reveal a faster and more manic version of sonic and when you put both of these versions together you really can see how the franchise has changed. A massive tick in understanding how the genre changed, and maintaining that modern sonic is here to stay.
Reveal a classic gaming stage reborn
The entire trailer takes place in the green hill zone. Quite possibly a great memory from gamers of classic sonic and it really does hit it home when they say they plan on revisiting your favourite levels from Sonics past. They had another alternative that may have increased viewing figures, if there was an opportunity to include tiny bits of several different stages into the trailer fans would enjoy guessing what levels they are. However, this goes into a whole new area of marketing where it may be in their best interest to reveal tiny bits of information frequently enough to maintain interest in the product. I think that the choice of stage is the most logical, showing Sonics beginnings mixed with his new style.
Overall
The trailer features a forced intro with an intention to shock the viewer with amazement, but it fails in delivering that “wow” moment. The ending of the classic clip section makes you feel as though they had trouble planning an ending. The music stops and you just see sonic faffing his arm about for a couple of seconds. However, the trailer does complete its mission objective and reveals enough about the game to know that there are two varied playing styles from classic and new sonic, that the stages are reborn and there is also a release date which is very nice too. It’s good, but it could have done with some more love.
The ever persistent Sega decided that it was time to celebrate the fact that Sonic has been kept alive for so long with a special anniversary game. It looked promising in previews but is it a return to form for the blue hedgehog with attitude?
Are two hedgehogs better than one?
Tails and a variety of awful sidekicks decide to set up a surprise birthday party, congratulating sonic for his 20th birthday and around 15 years of terror. A few seconds later some purple mechanised clock jerk from another dimension suddenly crashes the party and starts abducting all of the sidekicks for no real reason… Actually, I think I’m siding with the mechanised clock jerk, abduct them all!
So the purpose of the game is to free these people that sonic has wrongfully aligned with for the past 20 years. When you start thinking of that as your main objective it’s quite easy to just let silver the hedgehog stay in purgatory. There’s some nonsense about having sonic from the past and sonic from the present complete stages together to unlock some stuff, but it doesn’t really matter. The plots in sonic games have always been garbage; they’ve been a minor distraction and pails in comparison to what you really want to do, run fast.
Nooooooo! My rings!
The physics of a sonic game are a part of its key to success. For example, the downloadable sonic the hedgehog 4 title was in my opinion a bit of a disaster and it just felt wrong, as if I was playing someone’s cheap imitation. Whenever you ran up hills, sonic would just levitate in place if you didn’t have enough speed, where as in sonic generations you’ll be rolling down the hill to start again if you didn’t have the momentum. So, it’s a tick with regards to classic sonic physics.
What about speed? This is a tricky area as some fans believe sonic has just turned into a hold right on the d-pad and then jump occasionally to avoid obstacles game. To a degree, I believe that statement is true. Sonic has always had certain parts in the megadrive series where you could not really make an impact on how sonic was controlled, as early as the green hill stage when you spin through the first tube. Yes, the most recent outings have removed a higher percentage of control from the player, and I’m afraid the new Sonic’s stages seem to do the same thing. There are jumps that you have no control over but they seem to have implemented a combo system that works by you just moving the analogue stick. It’s used to fill up your boost and there’s no real way of mastering it to the degree that it adds to the game. Sure, you can go faster, but why not just let me collect rings in that time?
The new sonic stages are actually fun as well!
Classic Sonic the hedgehog takes speed slightly differently, returning back its megadrive roots by slowing things down just a tiny bit. What I used to admire about sonic was that the levels had a memorable feel that allowed you to improve each time you played it. You could rush through the classic sonic levels but you may die a little more often. There’s no boost meter and you are equipped with just the spin dash, but it’s this level of speed and slower paced platform stages that made the original sonic games classics. While playing on your first attempt the game will frequently slow down to warn you of a deadly pit up ahead, some may see this as holding the gamers hands, so that they can see the ending. Personally, I see it as good level design. You are given an opportunity to go fast and make the risks to get a fast time, but of course on your first play through the game is going to want you to take things slow.
While the title is a celebration to the titles of old, that doesn’t mean that it’s just repackaged already existing levels and resold them. While the stages to have certain sections that will jolt your memory, it is not too familiar to say that you have done this all before. The stages taken from sonic adventure 2, redesigned to cater to classic sonic game play is absolutely marvellous. There is something romantic about 2D side scrolling and there are plenty of levels to play through again and again.
If you are looking for a title that will suit you for months, it depends exactly what you are after. Sonics main story could be completed in around 3 hours with an odd few challenges completed on the side. But the game isn’t really meant to be a standalone adventure, it feels as though it’s a celebration of Sonics career with a great assortment of unlockable content ranging from artwork, character bios and music. For a true sonic fan, it’s a dream. But these unlockables mean very little to those who are new to the franchise.
Perhaps one of the most memorable Dreamcast stages
The only negativity that needs to be addressed frequently is that any future sonic games should not run any lower than 60 frames per second. There’s an emphasis on speed and running at 30 frames per second just doesn’t seem to keep up. I’m unsure how the 360 and ps3 version compares but I played it on a PC and having a smooth fluid frame rate at 60 frames per second to catch up with Sonics blistering speed looked beautiful.
This may not be the best sonic game ever, but its a few hundred steps in the right direction to anything released in the last ten years. Sonic colours also came pretty close and it’s satisfying to know that the last two major outings have been received so well. Perhaps this is the start of something special.
