Hardcore Gaming 101

[icycalm]

I think it also has to do with more of opinionated write-ups and fear of criticism as well. For example take a look at the Breath of Fire series article. The author clearly states he hated 4 and 5 but loved 1-3. While that is just an opinion I personally think his review of 4 and 5 is completely off basis and is terrible.

Now imagine what would happen if someone were to write up an article about Cave, its shooters, their scoring systems, and difficulty curve. While it may be an interesting article, it would be full of that author's opinions and we all know what happens when you post opinions on the Internet. :D

I can't believe I remember this, especially since I don't read hg101 generally, but I did read the BOF (because I stumbled on it and was surprised such a well-known series had a writeup) and the guy says that 5 is a top PS2 RPG and a great game, just not a real BOF game. He didn't hate it. He did hate 4 though, and his hate for it was way over the top. (For the record, I think the first 4 games are decent and 5 is one of the best games ever.) Overall, he came off like a teenager.

I don't know if the writeup got a lot of angry response, but I could imagine it. Although in my experience, BOF fans tend to like 3 more than 4, and non fans tend to like 4 more than 3. I saw a series writeup on toastyfrog (again, don't know how, it's another site I never visit), and the guy didn't like any of the games really besides 5 and kinda 1, and he thought 4 was a lot better than 3. Don't know why you'd write about a series you don't really care about unless you're just desperate to write about games, but I notice this problem a lot on hg101 too. It's like, they'll only want to write about one game in a 5-game series, but fill it out to make the article more substantial. So they'll just give a cursory touch to the other games (ironically, overlooking them) before lavishing the praise on the one game they really care about.

I do think the hg101 articles that stick to the stock formula are fundamentally flawed. The best thing about them by far, is how comprehensive they are. It's funny because Wikipedia is supposed to be strong on facts but weak on analysis, but I find myself looking at hg101 articles when I want real facts about release dates, ports, etc. Wikipedia is way wrong all the fucking time. So the problem is they cloud the good facts they do have with strange, unqualified opinions I usually disagree with. You can sometimes learn what a typical fan thinks, but most of the reviews are by people trying to be unique who don't even do that. By design I imagine, there is an absolute ton of opinion in every article, written in a style as if it's fact. I can't stand this attitude anywhere, but it's a particular problem when I don't feel like the person writing it is qualified to talk that way. More on that later.

The comprehensiveness is even a curse. Instead of writing what they know about, in order to be complete they have to play ports and spinoffs they don't care about. It's just like when you're forced to "complete" a game just to review it, you won't do as good of a job. The strangest thing though, is how little the actual games are talked about though. Game mechanics will usually feel like 5-10%. Instead it's all version differences, all the characters with art, screenshots, music, and opinions on the story or whatever. They always feel like they're being written not by a player, but by a collector, or a fan, or a historian, if that makes any sense. I almost always disagree with any opinions they give, and I rarely feel like I'm reading anything written by someone who actually knows what he's talking about.

To be cynical, this explains the games and series that are covered, and the gaps in the coverage. I know it's a volunteer fan effort, and it only takes one person to write an article, but still, the games that are picked reflect the slant of a new games journalist or a fan who prides himself on liking games he thinks are obscure. I can't really describe it better but just look at the list. Stuff like SMT, Nippon Ichi, Sting. To be even more cynical though, this means a Cave writeup would be perfect and fitting for the site. :o Collectors and historians rejoice! By the way, I haven't read most hg101 articles, only a few, so if someone reading this wrote some great article, I'm probably not talking about you. The Senko article by daijoubu is rather good (although perhaps way too long), but a lot of that is because it's about one game only. The same way their other articles should be, honestly. You know, to avoid the stuff people are bringing up in this thread. :wink:

Anyway, I'm really glad the site exists, even though I only use it for reference. I just think it could be better if the articles weren't based on what I'd say is a flawed template.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 83#p533083

Very nearly spot on.

[JoshF]

Makes some good points I never thought of. Though I've since cooled down from my apoplexy regarding the site (it's mostly innocuous when they're not talking about genres which they don't have either blatant contempt or ignorance about) it still is pretty bothersome when the occasional goon swoops in fresh from his MAME coffee break with a bunch of Wiki facts, Google images and a misinformed opinion, and tries to pass himself off as a gaming historian and legitimate critic from that 20 minutes he spent with the game.

[Pegote]

Before reading it, I had the vague hope that the new feature on Genso Suikoden posted in Hardcore Gaming 101 could, perhaps, say something of enough interest to make me check the series again. Nevermind all that; it's probably one of the worst articles they've had so far. I mean, just look at this paragraph:

The visuals and the interface are somewhat dated, barely looking any better than a typical SNES RPG. The character portraits, provided by Junko Kawano, are quite ugly. The graphics in generaly are quite grainy, and you can see loads of pixels in the larger objects. It's no surprise that the some of the characters you recruit are noticable pallete swaps. You'll see it right away, especially when you meet up with the ninjas and the blacksmiths. The interface is quite cumbersome, and you'll be moving items a lot to other characters just to make room. Characters may have a high magic usage only to realize that they cannot utilize them because you've equipped them with a support rune and it cannot be removed. Occasionally you'll be forced to a specific character for plot reasons, leaving less room for your favorite characters. One of the major aggravations comes with the need to recruit all 108 Stars. During the course of the story, one of the major characters is killed, but returns to life if you've found everyone by the end. Since some characters are only recruitable at certain parts of the game, it's entirely possible to miss them and end up being forced with the crappy ending. The only alternative is either to load an earlier game or start over.

I thought maybe he forgot to put a line jump or two in there, but the entire thing is full of stuff like that.

Beyond that (and the typos, misspellings, grammatical errors, etc.), the article is just painful to read. He initially gives a quick summary of how the "gameplay" generally is throughout the series (actually, it focuses almost exclusively on the combat systems), but as far as the individual games go, it's mostly storyline summaries, anime mugshots, and reminders on doing this or that fetch quest to get "the best ending".

I don't know, I think at this point they're so eager to have more frequent updates, they're just posting stuff from casual contributors without even proof-reading. (They could've at least picked out the typos and shit.)

[icycalm]

The fagot from Softcore Gamer 101 is being laughed at by every one of his readers -- for being a fagot:

http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2009/ ... -cave.html

Read the last 20 posts or so.

[JoshF]

I think your desire to collect games has overwhelmed you. By now you know full well what is in store for you when you buy a Cave game. But regardless of that fact that you do not like nor understand manic shooters you buy Mushihimesama Futari?

You are defending your post saying that you aren't saying the game has no incentive, it only has no incentive for you. But you didn't title this post "My problem with Cave"... you titled it "The Trouble with Cave." The thing is, the audience these games are marketed to have plenty of incentive to play them and wouldn't change a thing. I can sit and play Espgaluda for an hour straight just trying to get better at the first few stages and it is extremely rewarding.

I just don't understand why you would go out and buy this game knowing you basically have zero interest in learning to appreciate this genre.

Nice post. Someone from here?

I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to be compelled to buy games you don't even like because of sexual attraction to the 10-year-old anime girls on the cover.