Stamina Bar

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This bar keeps track of your Stamina. If it's depleted, you need to take a rest.
The Stamina Bar is generally implemented as a secondary or tertiary game mechanic to standard health and mana bars.  It should be noted, however, that some games refer to what is typically considered the "health" or "life" bar, as the stamina bar.  This is either due to poor localization or design choice. The Stamina Bar in the correct sense, however, does not measure a players life power or magic reserves.  Instead, it is a more malleable concept of power or endurance. 

Common Implementations
Sports Games
Sports games commonly use stamina bars to represent fatigue.  This is a natural choice considering the nature of human physical abilities.  Even within this subcategory the use can be broken down again in several ways. 

Some games use a stamina bar to simulate human limits and provide an element of strategy in an otherwise straightforward, twitch based game.  For example, in Track and Field games, the distance running events often have stamina bars.  While sprinting to the front of the pack is effective in shorter races, longer ones require a strong steady pace, with a dedicated push towards the finish.  The player must estimate how much stamina he or she needs to reserve throughout the race, and adjust his or her speed accordingly.  This adds an additionally element to what otherwise might be a single button gameplay mechanic. 

The second major way in which sports games implement stamina bars are implemented in sports games is as a balancing mechanic.  In real life, players in team sports must take a rest during games.  In the Madden Series of Football games, this is used to prevent a single player, such as a star running back, from dominating the game.  After each play an inset graphic appears on the play-calling screen, indicating which offensive players are tired.  If a player carries the ball on several plays in a row, his stamina bar will decrease, indicating a drop in stats.  This forces the player to make strategic decisions on player management, and also prevents a player from repeatedly using one star player to win the game. 

Other common examples are pitchers in baseball games.  As their stamina decreases, so does the speed of their pitches.  Hockey games also have stamina bars for each "line" of players, and as the stamina bar decreases, so does the players, until a line change is made.  

Fighting Games
Fighting games will also use stamina bars in addition to health bars.  The first is, similar to the football example described above, as a way to limit players from "spamming" or repeatedly using, the same move.  Performing attack moves will deplete a fighter's stamina bar, and only by dodging or blocking can the fighter replenish it.  This prevents a player from "turtling" or hiding in the corner spamming an attack move, preventing the opponent from getting close.  Typically, the more realistic a fighting game aims to be, the more likely it will have a stamina bar used in this way.  Boxing games commonly limit a players offensive punches in this way. 

The second way fighting games will use a stamina bar is more complex.  A stamina bar will be used almost as a second health bar.  A player can typically use offensive moves that damage either the health bar or stamina bar.  As the stamina bar decreases, the player does not lose health, but will become more susceptible to health lose or submission.   Each game handles this in a different way, but the following a few illustrative examples.  Wrestling games will allow for win by submission or knock out.  Punches and kicks will typically lower the health bar, but also the stamina bar.  The player may attempt to lower the stamina bar, and then try to pin the opponent.  Final Fantasy Dissida also uses a similar setup.  Attacks damage either the health bar or the stamina bar, however lowering the stamina bar then causes health based attacks to do more damage.   This means a player may find it better to spend time lowering the opponent's stamina, then going for one killing blow.  The trade off is that in lowering the stamina bar, no actual damage is being done. 

Role Playing Games and MMOs
Role Playing Games often use stamina bars.  This is especially common for online games as well.  Stamina bars are used as a way to limit players ability to do repeated actions.  In online based games, this is typically a way to prevent macros, bots, or other assistive devices from completing basic tasks while the user is not controlling the game.  These stamina bars decrease with every action, and require the player to periodically rest.  Resting may simply be kneeling on the ground for a period of time, however when a player's stamina bar empties, no action are possible. 

This is so highly prevalent in online role playing games due to the repetitive grinding nature.  For example, players may need to kill many thousands of mobs to gain a level, so some players may try to take advantage by parking their character in a low level area, and setting them up to simply attack anything.  Since they are strong enough to not worry about dying, the user can leave the game on for many hours without interacting, and return to find their character has gained several levels in the time they were away.  Typically, this comes into play with resource gathering, such as fishing.  A stamina bar means a user will only be able to cast for a period of time before the game requires the user enter a rest command, then restart the process. 

Newer role playing games have become increasingly sophisticated in this regard.  For example, Final Fantasy XI set some tasks, such as fishing, to deplete stamina since they were prime for abuse, but left other tasks, such as traveling around the world, to not deplete stamina, as this was not prone to abuse and made it easier for the player to travel without interruption.  Also, the stamina bar decreased with a measure of randomness, so it was impossible for a bot to predict how long it would need to rest each period. 

Other Reasons for Use
Stamina Bars have other reasons for use.  A fine example is later Metal Gear Solid games.  In these games, it was noted that killing was not always the best option.  This was at times a moral decision, as the player found himself confronting neutral third parties.  Therefore, it was decided to make an option for knocking out, or non-lethally incapacitating, the enemy.  To this end, bosses have both a health and stamina bar.  Some attacks, such as guns and grenades, cause damage to the boss's health bar. Others, such as tranquilizer darts and stun grenades, cause damage to their stamina bar.  Finally, kicks and punches may damage both bars.  The player is given the choice of doing the "morally correct" action of simply stunning the boss, and preserving her life, or killing the boss, the "morally incorrect" choice.  Typically, using the stunning option is also harder for the player to complete, as opposed to simply shooting and killing the boss. 

Some game use stamina bars as a way to make the game less violent.  For example, the Pokemon series uses stamina bars the same way most games use health bars.  When the stamina bar is depleted, the Pokemon is said to have "fainted", although the effects are the same as death in most other games. 

The poorly localized Monster Rancher for PSX used a type of stamina bar called "guts" or "wills."  As the "Guts" or "will" meter increased, attacks did more damage.  Some monsters had fast "guts" regeneration, enabling them to attack more often (but usually they had poor accuracy and hit less).

Death in Games

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The main line of distinction between victory or failure in video games.


Overview


"Death" in games is based on what happens in the real world when the body stops metabolizing. In other words, Death is the absence of life. Unlike in video games, where it is common to die from blood loss or massive trauma, Death in real life is often caused by less sudden occurrences. For instance, the most common cause of death in most organisms is the gradual shortening of the telomeres that cap off chromosomes after each cell replication. There are also many fatal diseases and maladies that a person in the real world can contract from both internal and external sources. For instance, one common disease that comes in many flavors is cancer. There is also AIDS (non-fatal, but contractors rarely survive), malaria, aneurysms, and heart attacks.


Death In Games


Death occurs in games where the main character in a game runs out health by such means as being stabbed, shot, jumping off of high places, being run over, set on fire, eaten, blown up, smashed, whacked, punched, dropped on, suplexed, decapitated, etc. Virtually every video game has an aspect of death in some way, although how each game handles death varies from extremely similar to radically different. 

Death is generally used to provide a level of difficulty for the player.  The player is encouraged to keep their player character alive in order to progress through the game.  Players are generally allowed to take some damage and carry on, but death forces them to stop. 

Penalties for Death


Penalties for death range from having to restart the entire game, to being revived at the very spot you died. Most games have a save feature though, making death merely a nuisance. 

Some games allow the player only one life, ergo if the player dies they must reload at an earlier point.  This is the most extreme penalty for death, and is rarely used in modern games.  Sometimes, however, it may be used for specific points in the a game, such as the torture segments in Metal Gear Solid.  At this points, if the player dies, he must reload the game. 

More common are games where players have multiple lives.  In these games, the player may be revived.  Where the game chooses to revive the player can vary from game to game.  Some games simply revive the player in the very spot that they died, which is likely the most lenient penalty for death.  Some games make the player restart at the last checkpoint they have reached, which can be a somewhat more stringent penalty.  In many games, the spacing of checkpoints can be a major concern, as checkpoints that are too far away can make a game very difficult, or very frustrating.  Other games force players to revive at a safe point, which may be a save point or a safe house located in a central location.  These are arguably the toughest penalties for death. 

In addition, some games exact additional penalties on the occurrence of death.  Many games will strip the player of any items or experience gained since the last checkpoint or save.  Some games, such as MMOs or RPGs, may exact an additional death penalty, in the form of an EXP loss or a fee for revival.  Games such as Torchlight have expanded on this idea, offering players a choice to either respawn at the very same spot, and incur a monetary and experience penalty, respawn at the entrance to the dungeon and incur only a monetary penalty, or respawn in the town, but incur no penalty.   

As example of a particularly tough penalty for death is Steel Battalion.  In this game, if you were killed while piloting a mech, you not only died, the game would automatically delete your entire save file, forcing you to start a new game from the very beginning.  This is very rare, although some games are adopting "hardcore" or "challenge" difficulties that incorporate this feature.


Other games, such as Prey, offer very minimal penalties for death, only asking you to kill a few spirits to return to the exact spot in which you died.


Uses of Death


Death has a variety of important uses in videogames. 
   
Increase difficulty
By increasing the penalty for death, or decreasing the number of times a player is allowed to die, death can be used to add difficulty to a game.  Without the fear of dying, a player can plunge through the game without paying attention or effort, since there is no recourse to poor decisions. 

Story Telling 
Death can be used as a story telling mechanic in games.  A common example is in Role Playing Games, especially Final Fantasy VII.  Throughout the game, player characters can frequently enter into a state of "death" by having their hitpoints reduced to 0.  They can be revived with spells, abilities, or items.  This can happen repeatedly, and at times it is important for the player to even induce death on characters to defeat bosses.  However, for the story purposes, the characters do not die, even with 0 hitpoints they appear in cutscenes.  During one part of the game, an important character is killed by the main villain during a cutscene.  During and after this cutscene, items, spells, and abilities to revive this character cannot be used, she is "dead" permanently.  This helps make the story moving and impacting to the player. 

Provide Tension 
Death can be used to provide additional tension or urgency to games.  Since a game is ultimately fake, players often have little fear of actual harm and can experiment freely.  While this is a fun use of virtual space, at times the game wants to encourage players to take the game seriously.  Death can be used to help players enjoy tension the way the game was designed.  For example, in the Metal Gear Solid series, the player is encouraged to work smartly and stealthily.  When this fails and a player is discovered, she is encouraged to work her way out of the situation by finding cover or fleeing.  Once discovered by enemies it is unlikely that the player will be able to avoid death, and this causes the player to work within the game experience.  

Increase Immersion 
Death can also be used to increase a player's immersion into the game world.  This can be done with interesting integration techniques.  For example, the Grand Theft Auto series usually prides itself on creating a fully immersive and believable world.  To enhance this, death is handled in a realistic way.  If the player exhausts their hitpoints, the awaken at a hospital, as though although they did not "die" they were near death, and were revived and treated at  a medical center.  The player does not undergo a countdown timer and "respawn" but instead is treated a  real human would be in such a situation. 

Additionally, Grand Theft Auto tends to deprive the player of collected weapons and money when treated at the hospital, which furthers the immersive aspect, as well as giving greater consequences to poor in game choices.

Provide a Strategic Element 
Games such as Fire Emblem use permanent character death to provide a deeper level of strategy.  When a character is killed off during battle, they are lost forever.  Despite this, it is highly likely that the player will be able to continue to progress through the game with the rest of the party.  Therefore, the player must balance losing a possibly powerful character forever with the prospect of not being able to clear the mission.  Also, decisions made to sacrifice a character to gain an advantage take on a serious, strategic tone when that character will be lost permanently.  

Scoring
Many games use death as a scoring calculation.  Games such as Metal Gear Solid, Madballs, and Resident Evil, all track your number of deaths will playing the game, and use that as a part of the calculation of your rank at the end of the game.  Additionally, players may challenge themselves to "no death" or "flawless" runs through games, especially popular with older sidescrollers such as Mario and Contra.

Problems with Death in Games 


Death in games sometimes causes severe problems in games.  Generally these problems are related to poor game design and frustrate the player. 

Poor Checkpoint Placement 
Poor checkpoint placement, as well as poor save point placement, are major symptoms of problems with videogame death.  There are several subsections within poor checkpoint placement that each deserve their own mention. 
Infrequent Checkppoints - When checkpoints or savepoints are too infrequent, death may result in players having to repeat long stretches of gameplay.  This can be frustrating to players.
Checkpoints Just After Difficult Sections - Checkpoints that are placed just after difficult sections often do little to help the player.  The player may have to repeat large sections of the game, only to die at the very end, the most difficult part, and then be forced to repeat easy sections over and over.
Checkpoints Just Before Difficult Sections - Seemingly contrary to the previous entry, checkpoints just before difficult sections can be equally troublesome.  In these cases, the player may struggle to clear a very difficult section, and then may be unable to save his progress. Instead, he may die on a relatively easy follow up section, but then be forced to struggle through the difficult section again.  Ideally, checkpoints are placed both before and after difficult sections.
Checkpoints Before Story Sequences - Some games have checkpoints just before lengthy story sequences, often followed by a boss fight.  If the player dies during the boss fight, the player must then watch the cutscene or dialogue again.  This can become incredibly boring and frustrating to the player.  Having skippable cutscenes lessens this slightly. 


Death "Loop" 
Death loop occurs when a player dies in such a way that respawning automatically causes the player to die, and then repeat this process.  This was a problem during the first generation of 3D gaming.  For example, many people reported that games such as Call of Duty 2 would trigger a checkpoint while the player was under heavy enemy fire.  When the player respawned at the checkpoint, they would die within seconds, well before they had time to run to safety.  The only cure was often manually reloading the game from the beginning of the level or an earlier save. 

A similar example is the problem suffered by games in which the player only had one life.  In the first Tomb Raider, players could save with low health and no healthkits, and find themselves unable to complete the next section without dying.  Also, some games would cause players to lose weapons or items when dying, making progress through the rest of the level virtually impossible, requiring a restart. 

Trivia


Steel Battalion is by far the most noted example of permanent death in gaming.  Steel Battalion is a mech game that has a specific eject button.  If the player's mech is destroyed with the player still in the cockpit, the player is killed in the explosion.  The game then automatically deletes the entire save file, forcing the player to begin again at the beginning. 

Developer Glitchless was developing an MMO titled both "Race War Kingdoms" and "Dawn" in which player character death would be permanent.  The idea was to encourage players to form police and other societal protections to preserve life.  This game was never released. 

Final Fantasy VII's use of permanent death of the character Aeris provided a striking story for many gamers.

Tie-In Games

(Welcome to the first in the series "Articles I Have Written for Giantbomb. Please note that I am still working on the formatting. Also, no one said this was perfect. Amazon links will provide me with money if you click them, but they are mostly for illustration purpose/further reading, since unfortunately the GiantBomb wiki links don't copy/paste. Also, click here for the GiantBomb page, where you can view this article in full glory.)

Tie-Ins
Videogames that, for better or for worse, are based on an existing non-videogame franchise. Usually drawn from movies, tie-in games have also been made about TV shows, novels, and even crappy pop bands.

Video games are occasionally based on existing franchises of other media, such as movies or comic books. By combining the two concepts, the game gets increased exposure and name recognition, and allows the user a new experience with an existing background and characters. In practice, however, tie-in games are often hampered by rushed production schedules or constrained design choices.

History
Interestingly, a tie-in game had the distinction of nearly sinking the entire games industry. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600, was considered by Atari to be a guaranteed success. The popular movie license would surely attract buyers. Unfortunately, the final product was hampered by poor design that including unintuitive gameplay and undecipherable graphics (the player character E.T. was green, as was most of the background). Atari printed thousands of cartridges in anticipation of a runaway success, and suffered a huge financial loss. A common myth is that Atari had so many unused cartridges that they eventually buried them in a New Mexico landfill, but many associated with the game's production believe this to be untrue, and that the carts were actually recycled.

Early systems continued a tenuous relationship with movie tie-in games. Superman found his way onto the Intellivision and NES, and Michael Jackson appeared on the Genesis.

It wasn't until the Nintendo 64's GoldenEye: 007 that a well done tie-in game emerged. GoldenEye was noted for outstanding gameplay, including a top multiplayer experience. Additionally, the game play mechanics were highly enjoyable and the level time challenges increased replay value. Finally, GoldenEye was noted for enemy AI that was highly advanced for the time.

On the PS2, Spiderman was regarded as a well done movie tie-in. The game story did not directly follow the movie, but the game was noted for having a new control mechanic that faithfully represented Spiderman as well as slightly non-linear mission structure.

Today, being a tie-in is considered to be the kiss of death for new video game products. Regular listeners of gaming Podcasts will note the skepticism with which an announced tie-in is greeted. However, games such as The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and X-Men Origins: Wolverine are widely regarded to be superior products to the movies they were based on. Most recently, Batman: Arkham Asylum won several game of the year honors. However, it also must be noted that it was not based directly off the most recent movie.

Why Tie-Ins Happen
With tie-in games widely regarded as being poor choices for most serious gamers, one would wonder why they continue to be made. In theory, basing a game off an existing movie, comic, or other franchise is a smart decision.

Name Recognition
Basing a video game off of a popular intellectual property, such as Superman or Spiderman, helps with name recognition. While many people may be fairly unaware of the game industry, Superman and Spiderman are recognizable names the world over. This helps with marketing and overall sales in the following ways

Confusion

Confusion occurs when someone mistakenly compares a superior product to an inferior one based on the name. For example, the blockbuster movie Jurassic Park was well received. When someone sees the Jurassic Parkname on a game, they mistakenly assume that the hype is for the game as well, and make the purchase. 

Search Engine Confusion 

This occurs when someone searches for a popular character or title, such as Spiderman, and the top search results are for the most recent Spiderman game. 

Goodwill

Many people less informed about the game industry will assume that since Batman is a well establish character with long running popularity, the game will be equally entertaining.

Gifting

This is the well intention Grandmother example. The hope is that when purchasing a gift for someone who likes games, a well meaning but otherwise misinformed purchaser will choose a game based on a recognizable title or character, and not inquire to the merits of the game itself.

Hype

Tie-ins attempt to catch up on the hype of a big movie release. Many popular films become temporary "fads" and spawn tie-ins in many areas, from branded soda cans to cartoon shows. The hope is that someone will like the movie so much that they want to experience more, and therefore turn to the game.

Lore
Tie-in games have a huge advantage over non tie-in games in terms of lore and backstory. Until more recently, outside of RPGs most games were not story telling masterpieces. By using a well established universe, or even the plot of the most recent movie, a tie-in game can save time and money by having the story written for them. Additionally, even if the game's story telling elements are slightly lacking, most users will be able to fill in the missing pieces with their previous knowledge.

Costs
Tie-in games actually have some huge cost saving devices built in. As noted above, the story writing is often already completed. There may be existing art assets already created for the movie. The game can also tie-in to the original products marketing budget, for example movie trailers for How to Train Your Dragon also contain a notice that the game will be released alongside the movie. Previously, tie-in games also benefitted from movie houses huge budgets and cash reserves, however recently the game industry has begun to catch up with an increased user base and sales.

Shared Demographics
Typically, the target demographic for a superhero movie, a comic book and a video game were essentially the same. They tended towards teen to young adult, white, well educated, males. The classic stereotype of a "nerd" including a comic book collection, at least one computer gaming system, and standing in line at midnight dressed up as a superhero for a movie premiere. The attempt to cash in on this "synergy" is obvious. However, as this market fragments with more older adults, and especially more females, entering the game market, user tastes are more varied and more discriminating, and a one size fits all approach is less successful.

Talent
Tie-in games often benefit from having authentic voice acting talent. An actor or actress typically can also do fine voice acting work, and the movie tie-in helps facilitate this.

Why Tie-Ins Fail
While there are many reasons that a tie-in game should be successful, history has generally taught us the opposite is true.

Rushed Development
Tie-In games are generally released at the same time as their movie counterparts. The idea is to have both on the market together to take advantage of shared marketing, popularity, and name recognition. Therefore, tie-in games often are released rushed. This leads to an unfinished feeling when playing them, or may simply result in buggy gameplay.

Poor Translation
Tie-in games start their lives as something other than a video game, and sometimes, the translation does not go well. For example, certain movie story-telling techniques, such as multiple perspectives or narrators, do not translate well to games. Games tend to focus on a single protagonist, and may feel confused or disjointed if more are shoehorned in.

Design Constraints
A tie-in game may be hampered by the source material. The game may be better suited by different story elements or gameplay mechanics, but due to the source material, have to forego these items.

Poor Tie-In
Another problem is when the tie-in game drifts too far from the source material. For example, Superman for the N64 (widely regarded as one of the worst N64 games) has the player complete tasks such as flying through rings within a time limit, and throwing cars. This is not representative of Superman as a movie, television, or comic book character, and this game would be better served without the tie-in.

Costs
While costs can be saved by a tie-in as noted above, they can also be increased. A short development timetable may make the production more expensive. Also, obtaining the licensing fees for use of the intellectual property or other branding may drastically increase costs before development even begins, requiring cost cutting elsewhere.

Types of Tie-Ins 

Superheroes/Comic Books 
This is probably the most common type of tie-in, although it overlaps with many of the other tie-ins listed. As noted above, previously video games and comic books had nearly the same target demographic, and this was an obvious choice. Additionally, many Superheroes with fantastic rescues, havoc causing villains, and awesome super-powers, could not be fully realized in movies or other media. Tie-in games are often the closest one can come to replicating the experience of actually being a superhero.

While these tie-ins often fail, the greatest potential for success also lies here. Superheroes have well developed back stories and lore, but by not being constrained to one story arc, the developer has some freedom to write something that works for the game. Also, the rushed time table of a simultaneous release is not an issue with general comic book or superhero tie-in games.

Movies 
By far the second most common tie-in game is that based off a movie. This can overlap heavily with the superhero tie-in as well. For example, there are many Superman tie-in games, but there is also a Superman: The Movie game based specifically off the movie of the same name.

Movie tie-ins tend to fare the absolute worst out of any tie-in. Frequently, they are rushed to coincide with the movie's release, and therefore the game is either short, unfinished, buggy, or a all three. The story often feels poorly strung together as well. More so than being a tie-in, being a "movie tie-in" is truly the Kiss of Death for a game.

Books
This is another tie-in example, although much less common. Games may be based on books. This is both a natural progression and a difficult task. On one hand, video games can benefit from a deep, well told story of a book, and then add in the visual element, as well as giving the player a chance to live out the adventure. On the other hand, it is very difficult is capture the subtle nuances of story telling in a game, and sometimes the imaginative mystery is ruined.

Classics
This is emerging as a new type of tie-in game, one based off a Classic of literature. For example, see the recent Dante's Inferno. This is less of a tie-in, however, because it is not done for the usual marketing or name recognition reasons, since no one is making money off of the poem.

Celebrities/Other Properties
Individual celebrities have been getting increasingly involved in the game industry, leading to new types of tie-in games. For example, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and Def Jam: Vendetta are two games based off of rappers. These games are able to benefit from the name recognition (and soundtrack) off the celebrities, but are not constrained by development time tables or past cannon requirements.

New Series: Articles I Have Written for GiantBomb

For the unacquainted, GiantBomb.com is an AMAZING gaming site.  First of all, the editorial coverage provided by a few ex-gamespot editors is top notch.  Second of all, the video work they do on that site is high quality.  Even hugely mainstream sites like CNN and ESPN could improve their own sites by making their video experience more like GiantBomb.  Third, the humor is awesome, without overstepping the boundaries or confusing the reader.  It never gets too sarcastic to where you don't know what is news and what is pun.

The site has some drawbacks.  First of all, the 4 guys are outmanned and outgunned when it comes to wrap around coverage, a lot of games don't get reviewed, and news sometimes gets overlooked.  Secondly, it seems as though the other Whiskey Media sites, like Tested, Screened, Anime Vice, and Comic Vine, are taking serious resources away from GiantBomb.  Third, the sites user base is unbalanced.  There are a few dedicated, hardcore users, but there are also a lot of xbox live 13 year olds as well.

Seriously, each of the site's strengths is also its greatest weakness.  The editors might be the best in the industry, but the 4 can't keep up with the whole gaming world.  They made it a wiki to keep from having to do all the writing themselves, which is smart, but it backfires that most articles are 3-4 lines, total.  The quest system tracks your progress across the site and encourages people to try new things, but it also means most people do asinine stuff just to get points.

Enough with that, though, this isn't my Giantbomb review or promo.  Suffice to say that I get 95% of my gaming news there.  The real reason for this post is that I have been investing pretty heavily in the wiki over there, trying to add some solid content.  In order to feel less like I am wasting my time, I am going to share some articles that I contributed most of the writing too here, just as a way to share my thoughts and writing.  So begins, tomorrow, the new series "Articles I Have Written for GiantBomb."  They are tagged AIWGB.

Feedback always appreciated.