Why I'm Not Excited for the Final Fantasy IX Remake

I love Final Fantasy games (in general, of course - XII was just terrible and is my most notable exception), and if pressed, Final Fantasy IX would be somewhere in my top three. It has bucket-loads of charm, a great story, compelling characters, a good sense of humour and is generally what I'm looking for in a JRPG.

The trailer for the remake looks brilliant, too. The art style and direction looks exactly right - faithful to the original while making the mass of pixels readable and playable in the 21st century. (A fun experiment for anyone with the original discs and a PS3 that can play PS1 games - try loading up Final Fantasy IX on a decently sized television. I'll wait. How badly do you need to blur your vision before you can't see the individual pixels? In my latest playthrough, I played it entirely without my glasses just to be able to read the text.)

So, on paper, I love the idea of remaking Final Fantasy IX. It'll bring a much-overlooked gem to a new audience and give people like me a chance and an excuse to revisit their nostalgia.

Except I won't be playing it. The remake will only be for Windows operating systems, iOS and Android, and I only have a Mac. Square Enix release exactly no Final Fantasy games on Mac (with the notable exception of the MMO, Final Fantasy XIV, which was briefly released on Mac before being withdrawn because it was, by all accounts, too buggy).

I could play Final Fantasy IX on my phone, provided that I wanted to: a) accept that my battery life would be non-existent, b) enjoy the game on the smallest screen I own and c) use all my available storage space for it. But, having played and enjoyed the iOS version of the World Ends With You, my main concern is that an iOS update will suddenly render the game unplayable, and I will have to wait upwards of six months for Square Enix to patch it. To me, it's simply not worth the risk and the multiple downsides.

I suppose the obvious answer is to simply buy a Windows computer (and if I lived in a world where I simply had that money, I would be tempted). But I shouldn't have to. I own and play many games on my Mac already, and more and more software developers are realising that Mac computers are viable gaming machines, too.

Independent game developers can somehow manage to find the resources and knowledge to code for both Mac and Windows; I find it somewhat absurd to think that this is inaccessible knowledge for a triple-A game developer. Right now, I could play Undertale, Don't Starve, Minecraft, Amnesia, Bastion, The Binding of Isaac, or Limbo, and that would only be scratching the surface of indie games. If I wanted to go for something a little more mainstream, I could choose virtually anything by Blizzard or Valve.

I know Square Enix aren't the only mainstream publisher doing this, either. Sega, Bethesda, Rockstar Games, Activision and many more also make their games near exclusively for Windows, cutting out a potential market for their games.

The bottom line is that there are a lot of Mac-users out there, and they are playing games on their machines. Just walk into any university campus and see. Or if that isn't enough quantitative data, analyse the steadily rising sales of Mac computers over the last ten years in comparison to Windows computers (which, of course, is flawed data anyway, as it includes the many office PCs running Windows used exclusively for work and not gaming).

In short, there is a sizeable and growing market that many developers are choosing to ignore, that I believe are costing them sales. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a princess to kidnap, yummies to eat and a world to save...in all its pixelated glory.

British Television verses US Television

I've recently been thinking about how British television compares to US television and why these differences come about. It's no real secret that in general, British series (seasons) last for much shorter, often totalling 6 episodes in comparison to longer US seasons, and the episodes themselves are often shorter, too. But the entire culture of what types of programmes get made and continue to multiple series is also vastly different, too.

In part, this is because of the unique way the BBC is funded. To watch live television in the UK, people need to purchase a television license. This is the main way the BBC gets funding. On paper, the BBC is a not for profit organisation that is accountable to the British public. (In practice, there are commercial arms of the BBC, such as BBC America, where they can sell programmes both domestically and internationally) The BBC's primary source of funding is the license fee that British people pay in order to legally watch live television. Because of this, they are held accountable to the public, and do not employ advertising on their channels.

Because there is no space for advertising on the BBC, programmes are often made for shorter slots, approximately half an hour, as opposed to forty-five minute 'tv hours' that would account for commercial breaks.

Due to this, the BBC has a responsibility to create programmes that are within the 'public interest'. This means that alongside high-budget fiction such as Doctor Who and Sherlock, they are able to create documentaries and non-fiction programming with an emphasis on quality of content.  In stark contrast, the American rating system for television puts greater emphasis on viewing figures (as the number of people who watch a particular show affects the price of advertising in that timeslot, and thus the revenue of the channel), and so programmes aim to be commercially successful over being high-quality. The BBC's official mission as set out in their charter is: "To enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain." Creating entertaining programmes is only a third of their mission statement, as opposed to many American networks where it is the majority of their content.

British broadcasters almost always have to work with a smaller budget than American shows. This leads to smaller series with tighter writing, and often clever ways of writing around lack of special effects, many locations and large casts. British broadcasters excel at small dramas and comedy shows with fast-paced plots and a tight-knit group of characters, whereas American shows tend to be higher in spectacle yet an overarching plot can last three times as long as a similar British show.

All of this comes some way to explaining why American reboots of popular British television shows have done so poorly. Being Human was a surprise success in Britain (it aired on the young adult oriented BBC Three, often used as a proving ground for shows the BBC don't feel would have a wide enough appeal to put on BBC One), yet the American reboot was critically panned on both sides of the pond. America has attempted to adapt cult classic Red Dwarf twice, and both attempts never made it past the pilot episode.

Of course, there are cultural differences at play, too. A lot of successful British comedy uses a style of self-depreciating humour that simply does not translate to American viewpoints. Part of the comedy of Being Human was that being located in Bristol was part of the tragedy of the characters. The character of Lister on Red Dwarf is a likeable slob who revels in his disgusting ways, but is a preferable character to the uptight coward of Rimmer. Bad Education, The Inbetweeners, Skins, etc. all take a painfully honest look at some of the worst parts of awkward teenage years. This style of humour doesn't fully translate to American audiences, whereas Britons are very quick to utilise self-depreciation. 

Writing Research: Good Characters

For me, the best part of writing is getting into other character's heads and working out what makes them tick. It can be really cathartic to go through someone else's experiences and how they deal (or don't deal) with the problems they encounter. But for some people, creating characters can be a really big hurdle, and there are a few different ways to deal with this.

One that works for many people is planning out their characters backgrounds, details, likes and dislikes, etc. on a character planning sheet. This can be basic details or really in depth. You can use a pre-existing template (easily found with a quick search) or make your own. This can work very well when you have a lot of characters to keep a track of.

I find this doesn't work too well for me, and can often serve as a distraction to actually writing. Now, I tend to do this only for secondary characters, who don't necessarily need a detailed back-story or motivations, but just need to be kept consistent.

My preferred method for developing characters is through writing itself. Some of the early pieces might never make it into the finished piece, but for me, it's the most useful way of getting inside the heads of my characters and working out what makes them tick. Generally I'll be thinking about a character's childhood, or the moment that pushes them to begin their story, or an isolated incident that makes them reflect on or change who they are.

The most frustrating character I have ever had to write was Talli, the protagonist in a project I started for ScriptFrenzy way back in 2011. No matter what I tried, she seemed so boring and lacklustre compared to literally everyone else (including minor characters). While I finished the plot, she still seemed undeveloped and unmotivated, even as she was in the heart of it.

So, what did I do? Essentially, I took a break from her. I developed more of the backstory and followed around the antagonists and worked out what made them and this world tick. I wrote about how and why the events of the story took place, from other people's viewpoints. I worked out some of the more complex entanglements of the plot - information that Talli wasn't privy to. It took me four years to eventually getting back into her head and rewriting the events that she was part of.

But when I finally got there, something clicked for me. Instead of Talli being a character that this 'had to happen to', she became more of a driving force in her own story. Instead of passively reacting to events, she started actively trying to effect and change what was happening to her. By knowing more about why things were happening, and what motivations everyone else had, I had more freedom for her to push against these forces.

Another factor, for me, is that Talli was a character who was meant to be, for lack of a better word, average. The idea meant that she needed to be surrounded by forces that were more powerful than her, and trapped in a seemingly helpless situation that she could eventually triumph over. I strongly believe that back when I started the project, I simply didn't have enough experience to write that in a compelling way, but over time, having experienced similar things and honing my craft, I have learnt how to approach the humanity in 'normal' characters.

So, for writers in similar situations, I would advise trying to come at the world from a different angle. Work out what compels you about this idea, and what different perspectives you can find on it. But don't worry if things don't magically fall into place. Some stories simply don't want to be written now, or not by the person you currently are. Give it time, work on something new, and it will be waiting when you are ready for it.

A Guide to Going to University in London

As my fiancée is currently looking at coming over to London to study as an overseas student, I wanted to write a little something about what to expect from London as a student, and things new students can do to maximise their time here.

Bear in mind that rent will be high. While you might be staying in halls for the first year of your course, it's unlikely that you will have that for the entire course, and renting in the area can often be a similar or lower price than university run halls. The ideal situation is to find a few friends to rent with and split a larger house/apartment between you, saving money over a one bedroom flat and giving you some support and friendship at home.

Travel is also expensive. For most people, public transport will be the best way to get around, and a prepaid Oyster card will be the cheapest way of using the city's buses, trains and underground network. Depending on how far away from campus you are, consider investing in a pass for your Oyster card - not only will you know you can travel to class every day without wondering if it is topped up or not, but if you want to explore the city or pick up a job, it's a good option to save some money.

Check out all the free things! By which, I mean that there is a vibrant museum culture in the city, and all the larger museums (and some of the smaller ones) are free to enter. If you are studying the arts or history, they're invaluable sources of research, too. They can be lovely places to enjoy the culture, out of the loud and crowded streets. Midweek is a great time to go to avoid lots of tourists (unless you're unlucky enough to encounter a school trip.

Do socialise and check out the nightlife! This one might need no prompting for a lot of people, but you should definitely seek to find friends within your course and the wider university. Not only will it make university more fun and a good support network to have when things get hectic, but this might be the last time in your life that you have to socialise outside of a 'professional' setting. It's so much harder to meet new people after university, so take the opportunity. Don't feel pressured to drink, either - any pub or club will be happy to serve you a soft drink or juice instead of alcohol. There are many valid reasons for not drinking - religion, mental and physical health, not wanting to get drunk outside of a safe area or simply not liking the way alcohol makes you feel. Do what you want to do, and if anyone gives you a hard time over it, they probably aren't the friends you wanted to make.

Consider picking up a part time job. This depends on whether you can handle the workload of your course and still spare the time to work, but if you can, it's a good extra stream of income, gives you experience working and you have a set of colleagues outside of university to socialise with. If you aren't particularly hurting for money, I would suggest finding an internship or work placement scheme in your field of study - in most fields, just being a graduate is not enough to get you a job right away, but experience and knowing people in the industry will help you a lot to get a foot in the door.

Explore London. There is so much to the city beyond the famous sights and tourism-fuelled areas. Try looking up Time Out's suggestions on things to do and places to go. Try tiny little cafés for a drink sometime. Visit the markets. Wander around in one of the many parks.  Remember that the only one accountable for your time is you. You can definitely go out to the 24-hour supermarket for icecream at 3am. Or watch the sunrise from Tower Bridge. Feed the ducks in Regent's Park. You could even catch a train out to the countryside or the sea for a change of pace.

Try taking your essays and studying outside. Chances are, you have a pretty nice setup at your place - Internet on tap, films and games and books galore...pretty much any distraction you want, you can have. Which is why you might want to consider writing essays and studying for exams outside of your place. If it's nice weather, try a park. If not, a cafe or library. The change of pace and the limited access to distractions can be a massive help for actually getting work done. If nothing else, using the promise of a good drink or a treat to motivate you might help!

If you have any advice, comments or questions about going to university (within London or within the UK in general), please leave them below!

Christmas Greetings

It's that time of year again, where frenzied buying and sales become the normal course of affairs in the run up to Christmas. Many people have started early, but in case you are yet to do your Christmas shopping, please bear this in mind: retail workers are people, too.

Everyone, from the person stocking and arranging displays to the till worker selling you your items and the barista serving you your drink after a long day; they are all worthy of your respect. They, like you, are working a job they don't necessarily like in order to pay the bills.

If you've had a long day of frantically buying gifts for everyone in your life, and you feel a bit weary and snappish, please remember that a single day for any of these positions typically lasts eight hours. Eight hours of not being allowed to sit down or rest. Eight hours dealing with the tired and stressed shoppers. Eight hours of the same repetitive phrases and motions. And then they have to do it all over again the following day. For about two months. Then they have to gear up for a month of post-Christmas cleanup and sales.

They are probably only just getting minimum wage, or a little over, to deal with all of this, too. You're likely ringing up more money with one transaction than they will get per day of dealing with this nightmare. They often can't guarantee which days (if any) they'll have free in the run up to Christmas. They might only have a couple of days off over the entire Christmas period. They may not be able to visit family however much they want to.

Trust me, no one hates Christmas more than people working in the retail sector. So before you complain about queues or some tiny imperfection that you wish to rant and rave about in the hopes of some small extra management may be able to give you for the inconvenience, consider just not doing it. It saves you time and effort, it saves people from literally lying to your face in order to placate you, and it just makes things generally more pleasant for workers, other shoppers and ultimately, yourself.

Next time you're out, try saying please and thank you, even when you feel really tired/stressed/hungry/whatever. The gratitude you will get for basic human decency might just be the pick me up you need.

Writing Research: How to Write Fight Scenes

As a writer, I'd consider my biggest weakness to be fight scenes, and I know I'm not the only one. It's one of the reasons I like to write scripts and screenplays, where you can describe the fight itself in a couple of lines, and leave the detailed scuffle up to the storyboard artists, directors and cinematographers as and when it's needed. However, as I write short stories and novels, too, it is a necessary part of what I do. So this post is a bit of a brief how to, for myself and other writers out there who struggle with this.

First of all, the basics of sentence structure. This is vital. Short, sharp sentences give the immediate feel of every impact, whereas longer, bloated sentences will drag out the action. At best, sentence structure will serve to enhance a fight scene, but at worst, it will confuse and disorient the reader.

Research is a must. To make your universe credible, it must follow it's own internal logic. If swords are used, research different types of swords and the styles of combat they are used in. If a character has trained with a specific type of weapon, improvising with a different weapon will put them at a disadvantage. If they have sustained injuries, that will also impact the fight. If magic is a force, what are the rules around it and how easy/difficult is it to wield in a combat situation?

A tavern brawl will be very different to a duel. The brawl will be chaotic, people are unlikely to be seasoned fighters, there will be little to no concept of 'fair' fighting. People might not know the initial cause, but stuck in the middle of the fray, they have no choice to fight back to escape or survive. In a duel, the fight will likely be more organised, with a form of judge ensuring some form of rules. The stakes will be more personal, and more complex than simply 'fighting to survive'.

Every fight should feel unique and different. You wouldn't repeat the same section of dialogue for no reason, so why should you write the same type of fight scene twice? What would be the point?

Different characters will respond differently to battle. The character who is willing to survive at any cost would have no qualms taking the easiest route out of a fight, even if that is to avoid it completely. The character who values personal honour over pragmatism may rush into ridiculous situations without really considering the outcome of their actions.

Do not disorient the reader. Fight scenes can easily become a blur and make it difficult to work out what exactly is going on. Many readers will skip them if they become too challenging to follow. Make sure that the fight is easy to read.

Alternatively, consider deliberately making it disorienting. Battle can be overwhelming, especially if the characters aren't trained for combat. Reflect that in the characters. Make them confused. What are the consequences? Injury? Losing a character or important item behind in the chaos?

Above all, practise. If you are aware that fight scenes are a weakness for you, go out of your way to write a few fight scenes. Writing, like any art, is a craft you hone over time and hours of practise. There's no shame in admitting that this element of your craft needs more work.

A few extra resources for additional reading:

Vary your sentence length to make your writing more interesting: A good primer on how and why to vary sentence length with some specific examples in both text and audio, talking about the musicality of the written word.
Here's how to write a damn good fight scene: More about the specifics of language used in a fight scene and specific techniques to try out.
Writing Fight Scenes: Specifically for fantasy writers, and covers a little bit of everything, including suspense and build-up before the fight has truly begun and how to develop characters through fight scenes.
5 Essential Tips for Writing Killer Fight Scenes: More about the motivations behind specific fight scenes - understanding why they are (or aren't!) necessary for your plot is the first step to tackling them.

MCM Expo: The Good and the Bad

I've been going to MCM London for about 6 years now. It's a biannual comic, video game and manga/anime convention in the heart of London's docklands. I've worked there as a member of staff on stalls and attended as a regular fan, amateur photographer and cosplayer. It's a couple of bright spots in my year, and one of the few times I really make the effort to get out there and be sociable.

In terms of sheer size, it's the biggest convention in the UK in the number of attendees - and it keeps growing every year! The last con in October 2015 boasted 130,560 con goers, in comparison to May 2015's 122,600. This growth in numbers is fairly typical of MCM, and as the expo expands in terms of contributors, stall holders and guests, it's draw only increases.

 

With such a large community, some of whom have been attending year after year, you are always bound to find someone with similar interests to you. Cosplay has always been an integral part of the event, from amateurs simply displaying their love of a franchise or character to professional cosplayers competing in EuroCosplay. It's common to see people travel to the event in cosplay over the weekend, sometimes leading to very amusing sights on public transport. It's not uncommon to see zombies on the Tube, trolls on the buses and Stormtroopers on the DLR!

 

Of course, the draw of MCM isn't wholly about community, although that is a large part of it. Stalls boast hard to obtain collectors items and geeky goods, signings with celebrities are always available, and panels from television's most popular shows run throughout the weekend. 

However, as MCM has grown larger, a couple of issues have come up, and chief amongst those is one of communication. I understand that running a convention of this size and scale is never easy, however important announcements of guests and attractions are left until the last minute. This is difficult for those who have to travel great distances to attend, and makes buying tickets difficult as when it is so close to the event, online tickets are limited, if they are indeed even still available.

The rising cost of attending is also becoming prohibitive. In May 2014, an early entry/priority entry weekend ticket cost £29.50. In October 2014, that rose to £35. In May 2015 it became £45, and October 2015 is the highest yet, with £50. Over one and a half years, a price increase of 69.49% seems pretty steep. On the one hand, people can obviously still afford it, if the increase in attendees is anything to go by, and the extra money does appear to be going to more floor space inside, more time within the center and more events and signings over the weekends. However, the cost of attending is making me question how frequently I'll be able to attend in the future. I'm sure I'm not the only long-term attendee facing that choice, either. In addition to the event itself, availability and cost of hotel rooms, the cost of travel and food, and a spending fund for any merchandise you might want to buy and MCM expo starts looking very expensive indeed.

There is often an issue with communication within the event itself. Many of the staff working at MCM are volunteers, and the security bought in for the event are an external company. In the past, this has lead to unscrupulous security staff 'confiscating' attendee's personal items, general misinformation over how to enter and renter the venue, where to go for specific events and what tickets you need to access them. In my experience working on a stall, stall holders are given very short set up and take down times in comparison to other similar events, and admin errors regarding staff passes issued aren't uncommon either.



Outside space - a boon for everyone in hot costumes or needing some air - has become increasingly limited over the last couple of expos. In October 2015, this was due to temporary railings to keep only those with wristbands inside and keep people who hadn't bought tickets outside. While there are people every year who do not buy tickets and enjoy the atmosphere from the outside, it seems suspect that this system was implemented the year when ticket prices became £50 for the weekend.

Despite all this, I have a soft spot for MCM Expo. They do try and fix issues, even if not always in effective ways. Every time attending over the past few years has resulted in a different method of obtaining wristbands, a different queueing system each day, a different door to renter by (often using three different doors on the same day). After the fiasco with the security firm, MCM hired a different firm. MCM has diversified and invited more guests over a wide range of fandoms. MCM is certainly improving, and on balance, I will probably wind up attending as long as I am able to afford to. At the end of the day, I've made and kept more friends through the event than any other single source in my life. So, despite all its flaws, I'll keep coming back to MCM for the community.

MCM London Comiccon's tickets and event info can be found here. 
Pictures © Amelia Springett