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Unread postby Mathis » 20 Nov 2009 16:16

I decided to read Leigh Alexander's blog rather than put in a comedy movie, and I found a link that led to an article by some rube at Variety.com who responded to one of her posts.

Here are a couple of parts that made me laugh:
[...] we don't value innovation or attempts to do something big and new, like make a funny game that's thematically consistent with an all-time great TV show or create psychological impact through artful storytelling integrated with gameplay, because we obsess on the mechanical problems or the length of the cutscenes. Not that those things don't matter. But they don't matter that much, especially for an artistically immature medium in desperate need of innovation and freshness.

Of course there will always be those who just want a rundown of gameplay elements and analyses of how good they are compared to what's come before.

Looks like I've been pigeonholed.

The aforementioned link: http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scen ... below.html
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Unread postby Mathis » 03 Dec 2009 00:01

I found an artfag top-whatever list, a collaboration spearheaded by Leigh Alexander on the fifteen best games of the 2000s. The first two sentences trip over each other before the rest of the article can get in the doorway:
We keep coming back to videogames for the same reasons we always have. Or do we?

I was having a hearty laugh when I found out Katamari Damacy, Fallout 3, and Bioshock rounded out the top three, and that they thought Katamari Damacy was better than Ninja Gaiden, one of my favorite 3-D action games. You can tell Leigh probably typed up most of the article, as even mediocrity has its own recognizable styles.
The quintessential example of style over substance is 2004’s reboot of the arcade and NES-era classic Ninja Gaiden.

Like the artfags they are, they are thinking in terms of story. Ninja Gaiden's substance is in its combat mechanics. If it emphasized style over substance, it would be No More Heroes.

The rest of the article is pretty funny, if you have the time.
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Unread postby Nebula » 04 Dec 2009 11:31

Mathis wrote:The rest of the article is pretty funny, if you have the time.


As are the comments, if you have the masochism.

A particular highlight:

GhaleonQ, esteemed philosophy scholar and all-round dickhead wrote:#01: Final Fantasy IX (RPG)-it's lacking some of the best bits of Lunar, Grandia, et cetera, but few games have such amazing bookends, soundtracks, ability systems, or casts, and it's kind of a complex take on existentialism


"kind of a complex take on existentialism", lol.

I had written out kind of an acerbic take on this phrase, but it was unnecessary. The retardation speaks for itself.
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Unread postby Nybble » 12 Jan 2010 16:33

I had a good lol at this article: "We are World of Goo"

Puzzle games like Tetris are brilliant in their own right but often lack all semblance of a storyline. They lack depth and meaningful themes, but somehow World of Goo transcends the apparent barriers of the genre -- some might even say the medium -- and delivers messages appropriate for the best of films or poetry, and does so with such tact and subtlety that many won’t realize how obvious it really is.


Tetris was great, but what it REALLY needed was a story, then it would have been perfect! This is clearly the perfect Tetris: Magical Tetris Challenge Featuring Mickey

The second bolded statement is great. It is so subtle, it's obvious!
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Unread postby Pegote » 12 Jan 2010 17:33

does so with such tact and subtlety that many won’t realize how obvious it really is.


This confirms it, these people are getting reviews through use of the Postmodernism Generator. (Damn it, I can't find the actual generator itself, only an article that came from it. Bummer...)
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Unread postby JoshF » 12 Jan 2010 19:00

How does World of Goo transcend the medium, or barriers of the medium? Like, it transcends a game when the disc is used as a makeshift hat? New Games Journalism is so proudly retarded now it might as well be called a religion.
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Unread postby icycalm » 12 Jan 2010 21:40

JoshF wrote:Like, it transcends a game when the disc is used as a makeshift hat?


This hypothesis occurred to me too, but then I remembered that the game is DLC-only...
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Unread postby icycalm » 23 Jan 2010 14:49

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Unread postby another Riposte » 25 Feb 2010 18:34

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JasPurew ... n_Laws.php

Oh jeez! Gamasutra finds the stupid for you.
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Unread postby icycalm » 19 Apr 2010 00:30

les meat wrote:worst generation ever, put a racing game in the other day "YOU MUST DOWNLOAD THIS UPDATE BEFORE PLAYING, Time left 45 minutes" FUCK THAT
had to reboot, turn wireless off then put the game in to play the fucker.

Microtransactions, fuck that bullshit stop selling me shit that should be included in the game.

Fucking Xbox360 falls apart if you so much as look at it the wrong way, oh but I can have 13 year old americans swear and call me a fagnigger in the comfort of my own home GREAT SIGN ME UP

fuck next gen


http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopi ... 874#729874
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Unread postby zinger » 03 Jun 2010 00:19

http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/cmps080 ... shmups.pdf

Some paper (by Prof. Jim Whitehead?) on the history of "shmups", lololol. Great read.

What are some design potentials for Shmups?
> Push limits of storytelling
* Inject strong characters into the game
* Plots to motivate actions of player
> Improved choreography
* View game as a form of dance
* Synchronizing movements of player and enemies to achive aesthetic effect
> Use to reinterpret existing media
* Shmup as a way to explore meaning of music, literature?

...


Etc.
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Unread postby NFG » 03 Jun 2010 01:35

The same 'design potential' exists for every genre, doesn't it? It virtually defines the licensed game. Take existing media/license, shoehorn the story, characters & theme into an existing genre game. Very few genres seem less suited to this sort of application though, the space available for such non-game peripheral content seems very minimal.

Some interesting things in the article overall, but I'm not convinced the author has the chops to really pull the whole thing off.
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Unread postby icycalm » 03 Jun 2010 21:37

Didn't read the link but this is actually a good suggestion which I've thought of many times:

* Synchronizing movements of player and enemies to achive [sic] aesthetic effect


Some games sort of do that: danmaku more than anything else -- see for example the Ultra modes of the Mushi games. But it can of course be done better -- though I imagine it would take even more programming genius than what Ikeda has displayed so far.

Of course the rest of the quoted suggestions are ludicrous.
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Unread postby abe » 09 Oct 2010 03:59

http://www.planetxbox360.com/article_11 ... em_Forever

Why I’m Not Betting on Duke Nukem Forever

More or less, Duke is nothing more than a misogynistic pig,

Duke Nukem is like the old college buddy who was in the same frat as you. Except, when you moved on to get a career, have a life and do all the cool things you wanted to do – he still goes back to sit on the couch at the frat house during pledge week.

It’s pretty pathetic than an archaic game character such as Duke Nukem, who is so positively ridiculous that anything other than apathy towards him is immeasurably difficult, can even exist in this day and age. Where other FPS titles, despite being relatively contrived, attempt to have solid narratives – Duke tosses all that out the window for the sake of scraping aliens off his boot and seeing tits. It’s the type of machismo gameplay that makes it all the more difficult to be a gamer

if you’re excited for Duke’s long awaited return, good on you, because you’re braver in having such a significant lack of taste than I could ever possibly dare broach upon. You can have your aliens and tits – in the meantime – I can actually enjoy something thought-provoking like Bioshock or Killzone.
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Unread postby JoshF » 09 Oct 2010 05:13

Machismo gameplay? So were Duke's weapons and maps also misogynistic? Does its strafing mechanism hate women more than Doom's? Would they prefer that Duke not give the strippers ample hundred dollar bills and they and their kids end up living in the welfare map? Is there something wrong with strippers and prostitutes being free to use their abilities to earn a living Mr. Women's Rights?

Also, lol, Killzone.
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Unread postby Worm » 11 Nov 2010 01:06

About that Escapist article icycalm linked in the cutscene thread (emphasis added):
Robert Yang wrote:I'll be the first to tell you that my understanding of philosophy is "imperfect" to put it mildly. Thanks for calling me out on everything.

BUT also understand that:

(a) the main reason for this series is to get YOU to talk about what a philosophy of game design would look like, so all my mistakes are happy mistakes that invite feedback I guess

icycalm wrote:If you only want to do good, you end up only doing bad.

And once again, asking questions is considered more valuable than answering them.
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Unread postby abe » 13 Nov 2010 21:11

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... top-Girl.3
Confessions of a GameStop Girl
Every minute is critical with her, as she deftly navigates from one topic to another without so much as a sentence break. Later, when I transcribe this interview, I will be eternally grateful that we went to lunch, as every pause for breath or food is a tiny opportunity for me to collect my thoughts. At just 21 years old, Rachel is a veteran girl gamer, and her insights into the male-dominated world of video games are something I don't want to miss - even if it means my ramen gets cold.

highlighted hair betray her half Korean, half German genetic ancestry. I try to subtly nudge her into talking about the interesting stuff; namely, her time working at Gamestop (six months in two different locations). She wastes no time.

Being in this line of work shows you really quickly that there are gamers with much harder cores than yourself. What struck me was the organic ease with which she discusses issues of sexism, gender discrimination and Illusion of Gaia without stopping to pick at her noodle plate. It's as if dealing with this crap is just as much a natural part of life as Soulblazer, and that is genuinely a depressing thought.

"I was so happy when other women came in. Oh my God, it was great. On the whole, interacting with girls was really exciting. I'd just be like, 'Hi guys, umm...I love you...' But it depended on the girl. Some girls really hated me, they'd assume I didn't know anything, like they were sexist against me the same way the guys were." She stops again for a second to collect her thoughts. "

Something makes her pause again, and her facial expression reveals an internal conflict that her voice, suddenly measured and much more reflective, confirms. "I don't want to be elitist, either, but I kind of feel insulted sometimes when all these girls start gaming now and claim they're old school. Like, 'I played Final Fantasy X, I'm so old school; I play World of WarCraft, I'm so hardcore.' What the hell?"

Another break for reflection. "Is that bad?"

"I should have said something smarter to [the writer and illustrator of popular web comic Penny Arcade] Tycho and Gabe when I saw them at E3. Instead I was just like, 'Thank you for everything,' and I was so overwhelmed, it was ridiculous. I felt like such an idiot. I felt like I should have said something intelligent so they didn't think I was just getting it for my boyfriend or something. That's what I'm always afraid of, you know, that someone's going to be like 'Oh, you're just getting that for your brother, or your boyfriend, or something.'"

And here, I think, something clicks: something from what she said, and something from what I thought. I begin to feel a little bit ashamed. Why is it that I, who spend more time writing about gamers than actually gaming these days, am granted the presumption that I can take games seriously, but Rachel, whose apartment is saturated in Castlevania posters and assorted RPG soundtracks, is forever stuck with Bratz games and buying presents for her brothers or her boyfriends? How many men and women and boys and girls have innocently and unthinkingly passed her up as another know-nothing gaming ditz?

How many times have I done that?

The rest of the evening is fairly uneventful.... She has nothing more to say.

I'm glad she's gotten a chance to tell it like she sees it.
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Unread postby ghost4 » 16 Nov 2010 09:50

I remember reading that when it was originally published. What makes it so funny is the misplaced sense of drama. It's as if she is interviewing a person of considerable stature and importance, instead of a random, average girl who plays video games and works a retail job. Even if the interviewee was someone significant, all that flowery prose is just too much. The entire issue is terrible.

If you want more of the same, stop by at The Border House. There is enough lulz to be had for an entire thread, but here's just some of the cutting-edge game criticism you'll find:

Some of the discussion centered on the game’s protagonist Jack, a white male. Lake Desire pointed out how Jack is a blank slate, and how annoying it is that the designers’ idea of a “blank slate” is male rather than female. Terry Mesnard then summed up what many others have pointed out, that the neutral personality of the protagonist is central to one of the game’s main themes – the illusion of freedom in a game. However, this doesn’t answer why Jack has to be a man. I hope to explain this problem in this post.

With Bioshock, I found a very contentious debate, akin to Shakespeare scholars still arguing to this day over what he was trying to say in a soliloquy.

Moreover, what does the scene say about Jack? He is a tool, a helpless baby, and a reflection of the privileged white male gamer power fantasy. Lake Desire understandably had trouble relating to Jack and becoming immersed in the game, which is a good thing, because this means she is not a privileged white male gamer with a power fantasy.

Jack is like a rat in a maze following cues to the cheese. In the Andrew Ryan scene, I think the developers were trying to say the same about the average male gamer.


p0nd is a little flash game that seems to parody the whole "is games art" debate. The following analysis of the game is priceless:

You know what annoys me about this game? It isn’t that it beat me (last thing I’d care about). It’s not that it sucked me in with the breathing mechanic, and then slapped me in the face when it parodied itself (and thus that design idea) so brutally (and thus mocking me for engaging with it). It was the harm this does to every other person who doesn’t care about art games that plays this and has the same experience. How will they feel? They probably won’t want to engage in another art game again.

Allow me to explain why this game is such a problem.

It’s not the story. A man leaves his house; gets killed by a kraken. I could talk about how uninteresting it was, or that the kraken wasn’t contextually believable in a small pond, but that’d be like squirting a water pistol into the Indian Ocean. And in one way I could argue for the game since it argues a point completely with its ludic elements, which is laudable. It’s just that that argument is hollow, and untenable based on the game as evidence.

To me p0nd is saying the following:

  • Games are meant to be relaxing, yet they put you in stressful situations.
  • Art games with simple mechanics are inane.
  • Art games that are not difficult or violent will never be as popular as hardcore games.
  • Art games with such mechanics should not be made. And you are stupid for playing them.
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Unread postby cephissus » 01 Dec 2010 02:08

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010- ... cle?page=1

Ellie Gibson wrote:"Kutaragi was a visionary," says SCE UK PR boss David Wilson. "Taken on its own it might seem pretentious, but to call it the Emotion Engine was making a bold statement about what we were out to achieve."

According to Harrison there was science behind the concept, too. "The idea Kutaragi and his team of engineers established was that the CPU would be capable not just of number-crunching, but of delivering the kind of mathematical capability required to simulate emotion.

"That was a very wide and lofty goal and I don't think we realised it in quite the way we planned. But it was the start of a process where you changed the way games were developed, inside the code, to be more believable."

Harrison recalls attending a silicon chip conference in San Francisco where Sony's engineers presented the Emotion Engine in the form of an academic paper. "I was fascinated by the reaction because the hardcore silicon chip experts fell into two camps," he says.

"One was, 'I don't believe it. It's all made up.' The other camp was, 'I do believe it, but there's no way we're ever going to be able to manufacture it because it's too complicated.'

"Ken proved everybody wrong. You could build it, and you could build it in volume. That was the moment Sony Computer Entertainment went from being just a games company to becoming a major global player in silicon chip design."


Ellie Gibson wrote:It was the stars of these adverts I was now walking past as I headed for the bar. I was about to make the most exciting discovery yet in an already thrill-packed week - at games industry parties, all the drinks are free.

You know what happened next. Well, perhaps not the thing about the bottles of Bombay Sapphire and the guy from R&D who tried to put his business card down my bra. But those are other stories. This is the story of how PlayStation 2 went on to become the best-selling console of all time.


Image

Image
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Unread postby Evo » 29 Jan 2011 09:41

Richard Clark wrote:In this opinion piece, Gamasutra contributor Richard Clark considers whether People Can Fly and Epic's forthcoming Bulletstorm crosses ethical lines never before crossed, and, if so, what that could mean for the games industry going forward


Richard Clark wrote:From its unveiling at E3, we knew Bulletstorm would be something special. Claiming that the glut of military shooters had gotten to be a bit much, they sought to solve this problem by producing a pulp sci-fi shooter with a crucial gameplay conceit: creative killing.

Using incredibly large guns, an electric leash, a giant boot and the surrounding environment, players would use their creativity to come up with unique new ways of destroying their enemies.

A Good Idea Gone Bad


Here's the thing: that could be fun. We've all experienced the joy of the flying rag doll effect in videogames, and it only makes sense to exploit that effect and the environment for a gameplay style that feels fresh and unique. But they didn't stop there.

They produced an aesthetic that revels in "skillshots" not only by rewarding them, but by giving them names that do little more than cheer on a sort of sociopathic obsession with causing the enemies the most pain and humiliation possible.



Richard Clark wrote:Both the hero and the villain are referred to as dicks, though when it comes to the protagonist, "you love him at the same time." It's not clear in the trailer why, though one can presume it's because he acts as our avatar in a supremely self-indulgent and inhumane fantasy.

The marketing low-point? The infamous Cliff Bleszinsky sarcastically brags, "I made a video game where you can blow out another man's ass-hole."

And yeah, it's possible. That commercial ends with a quick cut to a man's anus being shot with burning bullets, and overflowing as he screams bloody murder and falls face first to the ground. In fact, it's the sexual subtext of much of the dialogue, marketing and in-game text and actions that is most disturbing.

By encouraging players to pull off such skillshots as "Facial", "Gang Bang" and "Bad Touch", Bulletstorm becomes far more than just another violent videogame. Mortal Kombat's spine-removal and explosive blown kisses seem perfectly reasonable (and very well may be) in the face of Bulletstorm's seemingly complete lack of any social responsibility.



Richard Clark wrote:This game very well could provide the impetus for game reviewers and critics to begin reviewing games with values in mind. After all, it would be a shame if this was considered one of our "critically acclaimed" offerings. The ones making this game are doing everything they can to let us know that this is like no other game we've ever seen. Can we please keep it that way?


http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32593/Opinion_Video_Game_Ethics_And_The_Coming_Bulletstorm.php

Some people cannot appreciate good things.
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Unread postby Worm » 29 Jan 2011 18:12

Amidst all the chatter on that page about morals and "meaning," one of the People Can Fly coders has a pretty good response in the comments:

Tomasz Mazurek (aka Tomek Mazurek) wrote:It's meaningful because it managed to push forward the core gaming mechanics of FPS games - the act of shooting at the enemies.


Wonder if he reads Insomnia?
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Unread postby El Chaos » 29 Jan 2011 18:57

Err... welcome to 2009, Richard.
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Unread postby JoshF » 29 Jan 2011 19:35

Or 1998, when Wild 9 came out.
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Unread postby Profanatica » 02 Feb 2011 20:41

I found this on the front page of GameFAQs:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/top10/2231.html

Games, like all works of art, are deeply moral, and one can surely find many didactic games.


The author's next project:

Top 10 Games Which Deal with Important Philosophical Issues


I'm waiting with bated breath.
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Unread postby icycalm » 22 Jul 2011 22:51

This is a three-part series exploring the subgenre of comic book videogames.


http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/BillBogg ... bgenre.php
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