By Kieron Gillen on June 28th, 2009 at 1:24 pm.
Sundays are for tea and compiling a list of interesting videogame readings from across the week for the RPS-audience’s delectation, while trying to not break into an improvised tribute to a real titan who passed this week or link to a pop song. Must… try…
- I get to the RPS-Sunday Papers document and I find three – count ‘em! – stories from Gamasutra. That’s a good week, so let’s make ‘em top story. Firstly, the history of the original videogame(tm) Space War. Secondly, on the design of the RPS-lusted-after APB. Thirdly, on them examining the point where accessibility goes too far, specifically around the automatic walkthrough system. Which is worth thinking about. After all, you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. I think that’s the naive argument. Much like quick-save and in-game teleportion, if it’s there, you’re going to use it.
- 2000AD is a British weekly comic which has… well, it’s influence on the British side of development in the eighties is a fascinating one to trace. IGN ran an article this week about its best moments which makes fun reading. Fundamentally, punching straight through people is important. 2000AD always understood this.
- Its site has been static for a while, but Greg Costikyan officially shut down indie-portal Manifesto this week. He wrote a little about the experience here. I suspect he’s right in his diagnosis they were simply too early.
- I mentioned Tom Chick’s interview with Sims 3 producer MJ Chun which I suspect got over-shadowed by the debate about religion. Which is obviously my fault. It’s really worth reading. Chick’s smart and presses in directions that few would, and Chun is smart enough to roll with them as far as she’s able.
- In a week where death has been a regular leitmotif, this real-death-MMO story in LoTR caught my eye. Especially because it’s a fake. That this sort of thing is as common as it is depresses me. I let it depress me, as I’d rather be depressed than retreat into cynicism.
- Aleks Krotsoki takes a quick swing at Sex In Games.
- Jim and I have been in love with these all week. James Barnett’s paintings of videogame landscapes. It’s the sort of thing you could write an essay about, y’know (And thanks to Antony, who brought it to my attention)
- Over at GSW, Phill Cameron interviews the creator of Dear Esther. Which I still haven’t played. Man!
- I’m not going to repost any of the horror-images which resulted from RPS-sims release to you guys. But here’s a short story. I totally kick ass.
- Here’s Slashdot’s link-collection of the Guardian speaking to experts in games-physics. It’s a click-train-follow-orgy.
- Serial Consign on “locked-city syndrome”. While well phrased, I’m not sure I’m down with this one. It strikes me a lot like a “If only you could talk to the monsters – now that would be something special” argument.
- The death of veteran writer Steven Wells (“Swells”) threw Alec and me entirely. We were far from alone. Alec always claimed that he doesn’t really remember actually being influenced or having particular respect for any journalist as a teenager – but it was only with Swells’ passing that he recalled… oh, yeah. Swells. Conversely, yours truly, who read the press so intensely I could probably sing along with reviews, had never forgot Swells. Less a writer, more the proverbial force of nature, he’s taught me that agreeing with the writer is never the point – and I’m pleased I had a brief conversation with him in an elevator once, just to have seen him in the flesh, to know he existed out of CAPS in newsprint. I didn’t admit any of the above, but he could probably sense it by the fact the 22-year old was twitching and trying to not visibly soil himself. Put it like this – the occasional taste for rilllyfuckingextrememetaphors, hyphen-abuse AND ALL FUCKING CAPS is, I suspect, derived entirely from Swells. If you’re not aware of him – and I suspect that most of you aren’t – I strongly recommend you read his final piece for the Philadelphia Enquirer. If you like the cut of its jib, he wrote two earlier much longer pieces about his experiences in the medical system. They’re funny, brutal, human and made me laugh and tear up in equal measures. He’ll be missed, to say the least, and I can only imagine the insult he’d throw at me if he’d read me saying something so sappy.
- Yeah, on Saturday night, when this dropped there wasn’t a single person in the entire club not on the floor.
Failed.
28/06/2009 at 13:37 Ian says:
I was thinking the other day how Thriller could be used as some sort of theme for Zangband.
If it only had more mention of inevitable, grisly death.
28/06/2009 at 14:20 MrBejeebus says:
I never know what to say, you always have such a mixture that I can never come out of reading it all with a set mood…
28/06/2009 at 14:22 Tei says:
Poor MJ. I wonder what happends? at one point he crazed. All this thing about becoming white, and the strange thing about childrens. He has been a running joke for years. Poor MJ.
What was wrong? he was after.. what? He was really like lost or something, no more attached to our normal normality and everyday problems, he was lost in who know what different world than our world. note to self:retain always some humanity!.
He was a genius, no doubt. He delivered some good stuff before becomeing that crazy. But not enough!.. not enough… his crazyness stoped him from delivering. Crazyness is a sickness that attack communication.
The only thing that would have helped MJ whould have been a bankrupt. Putting his life again on our plane, so he feel how normal people live again. Too much money killed that guy, and before that, converted him into a monster, one running joke.
And what inmoratility will get that guy? The POP culture is not a good thing. Is a lowering of standards compared to the Jazz, the Metal, or other music. Is way too easy to make POP music. Behind the King of POP is like behind the King of POOOP because most POP music is just a cheap rehash with not quality whatsoever and not heart and not soul.
POP is only good compared with the next thing: GAG. Fortunally enough, we are stuck on the POP culture. Mr. Andy Warhol is still guiding our culture, mass medias creating clones of marylin for mass consumation. Once the POP culture die, the next thing will be the GAG culture, a more braindead one, that I despise.
On the other part, It will be fun to see journalist, artist, politicians and the teocracies to lost all relevance, so the GAG culture will be a good revenge, if anything.
28/06/2009 at 14:28 Arathain says:
Those paintings are lovely. I enjoy the A new way of looking at familiar places is one of the purposes of visual art, exemplified here.
28/06/2009 at 14:43 SirKicksalot says:
In the “locked-city syndrome” article the author is disappointed that In the procedural cities generated by Structure everything just crumbles uniformly.
That’s because it’s version 0.1, made in just six months… It’s not a valid criticism.
28/06/2009 at 14:43 LionsPhil says:
Nintendo have patented that? Oh good. A lovely little minefield slipped under the feet of small developers without the smothering “protective” embrace of a large publisher with its own counterarsenal of frivilous claims.
Shame it’s probably too late to grab one on Quick Time Events then refuse to license it. Although since when has the USPTO cared about prior art?
28/06/2009 at 14:48 EyeMessiah says:
Indeed the world is a far duller place without MJ’s sometimes unpalatable lunatic genius. What was he? An android? An alien? A tortured timetraveller fleeing his own future? Afaik, he was the closest thing to superman the real world has ever had.
28/06/2009 at 15:00 Heliocentric says:
Feel sorry for mj, view him as a legend or hate him as a child abuser. Regardless he produced art from pop and now he is gone.
The real world, even the workings of your mind are the product of procedural generation, and i like your mind, its tasty.
28/06/2009 at 15:05 Dorsch says:
@Tei: You come off like a stoned metalhead in that post.
“most POP music is just a cheap rehash with not quality whatsoever and not heart and not soul.”
This goes for most metal music as well, tbh there’s no reason not to count metal as pop (some more adventerous records like Obscura by Gorguts excluded).
28/06/2009 at 15:18 Pags says:
The death of Swells got severely overlooked, obviously because higer profile deaths dominated headlines and obit pages, which is understandable, but along with John Peel he was pretty instrumental in getting American hardcore and British grindcore into the British public consciousness. So respec’ to him. Those last two articles he wrote are pretty brutal reads.
28/06/2009 at 15:26 Jolson42 says:
@Dorsch: is it just me, or did you just make a random assumption of Tei’s personality, and then argue against it?
Surely it would be easier to just pick apart this GAG culture concept? Like so:
Pop culture has no specific features; it literally means popular culture – a catch-all term for everything in the zeitgeist. As such, pop culture can never go away, only change as people do.
But forgetting that, what do you mean by GAG culture? I don’t think I’ve heard this phrase before.
28/06/2009 at 15:29 GreatUncleBaal says:
On locked-city syndrome – I’d only be interested in going into the buildings if there’s something to do in there, not just for the sake of it. Although I would love to see a sandbox game that gave you the option to get from the top of a building to the bottom (or vice-versa) by creating a “dungeon” route Diablo-style, different for each playthrough. It would help you identify with a character who has just charged into a building to escape the cops outside, has no idea how to get to the top, but knows there must be a way.
28/06/2009 at 15:29 oddbob says:
Tei’s rant makes me wish more than ever Swells was still around. He’d have a fucking field day on that.
Oh right, he already did:
Linky
28/06/2009 at 15:43 Ken McKenzie says:
Have to admit that Swells going actually upset me more than Jackson. Jacko might have written Thriller, but Swells would have called it ‘Dementoid MegaZombie ATTACK!’, it would have featured a lengthy section in which a trio of 17 year old disco-obsessed Barnsley shop-assistants karate kicked some Joy Division fans into a volcano and it have been better* as a result.
*for certain values of better
28/06/2009 at 15:54 nabeel says:
Just play Dear Esther already :/
28/06/2009 at 15:54 Kieron Gillen says:
Oddbob: Exactly. Bless him. I was dancing to Daphne and Celeste on friday night, and thinking of Swells.
Ken: Double exactly!
KG
28/06/2009 at 16:13 Sid says:
I always liked Swell’s articles for the guardian sportsblog
28/06/2009 at 16:15 Funky Badger says:
So, why aren’t you mad, Mad Tommy?
28/06/2009 at 16:16 l1ddl3monkey says:
Ah man: Swells died? Always the good ones that go early. And Farah Fawcett (ok – I wasn’t so upset by that but my step dad was gutted) and MJ (while I’m no longer a pop music fan MJ as a child of the 70′s and 80′s MJ music was the soundtrack to a lot of my formative experiences) and Bela Lugosi (the template for portraying Dracula on screen) as well.
You know you’re getting older when all the people you remember fondly from your youth start to die off.
28/06/2009 at 16:22 GreatUncleBaal says:
Christ, I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t come across Mr Wells’ stuff before, but I’m already sorry the guy’s gone from reading some of his stuff today. A man that can make me sympathise with Daphne & Celeste is clearly a fucking talent. RIP.
28/06/2009 at 16:34 Psychopomp says:
The problem with in-game teleportation isn’t so much the feature itself, it’s that it leads to dull and uninspired game worlds.
See Oblivion.
28/06/2009 at 16:37 Anaphiel says:
The Dan Pinchback interview is actually very interesting… very keen to see how Korsakovia turns out.
28/06/2009 at 16:40 Sid says:
The LOTRO death story is really horrible.
28/06/2009 at 17:14 K says:
Jacko didn’t write Thriller, but, anyway…
28/06/2009 at 17:23 Mo says:
Re: Manifesto Games
Too early? To an extent, yeah. But I think Manifesto failed for two bigger reasons:
(1) The site just wasn’t designed very well. Not only is the layout a bit all over the place, but it doesn’t even render correctly in Safari. And aesthetically, it’s just not very pretty. Honestly, that makes a huge difference in customer confidence.
(2) Where the hell was the PR? I followed the making of Manifesto pretty closely up until launch, but after that? Nothing. Never heard a peep out of Costikyan. In fact, when the news broke I was like, “Oh yeah, Manifesto, forgot about that”.
Re: Nintendo’s Auto-walkthrough system
I think this sort of thing is inevitable really. Points about making games more accessible and having more people finish games are completely valid. I approve of “this sort of thing” but not so much of Nintendo’s method of doing it. The problem I have is that the system takes the “play” out of the game. I’d have absolutely no problem with a god-mode to get you through the difficult bits, because at least you’re playing through the game, you know? If the game is just going to do all the playing for you, and you just need to watch, I feel we’re losing something in the process.
Challenge is not an integral part of games. Losing a bit of challenge is fine. But play is an absolutely critical part of games … if we take that away, even temporarily, we’re losing something in the process.
28/06/2009 at 17:30 Kieron Gillen says:
K: What are you? Some kind of rockist?
KG
28/06/2009 at 17:40 Greg J. Smith says:
Hi Kieron, Well who wouldn’t want to talk to the monsters? I mean everybody was so agreeable in the last Fallout game, I was hoping to get led to some kind of exclusive highrise populated by well-to-do hunters. My gripe with Prototype is that there is no contrast! It is a kick ass action game but, well, kind of treadmill-y beyond that. More than anything, I’m trying to wrap my head around the irony that most “open” world city games aren’t that open.
As for the dismissal of my criticism of Structure because it is new. To clarify, I’m all for algorithmic design. I’ve been watching Structure and a few other similar workflows with great interest as they develop. I understand these applications for firing off backgrounds for games and movies. There is kind of a “monkeys banging typewriters” feeling to procedural level design though. Look at the spaces in the Strucutre demo – do you really want to have a deathmatch in a call centre?
28/06/2009 at 17:46 oddbob says:
Mo, what if I don’t want to play that bit because it’s shitting me off something rotten? Does that still count as losing something?
What if it’s say, a boss battle. I personally hate the things as a rule. Total utter gutrage hatred for their mundanity. I find them a terrible chore. Some people, rather obviously, like that sort of thing. We’re all cool if I can skip that and get to the bit I want to play again and those that enjoy that sort of thing can do their thang, yeah?
Think of it more as a fast forward button to avoid the shit bits and it starts to make more sense outside of the accessibility fluff.
28/06/2009 at 18:04 Kieron Gillen says:
Greg: Was using a little bit of UK-journo short-hand. Edge’s review of Doom hit it with a 7/10 and ended something like “Yeah – it’s pretty fun. But imagine if you could *talk* to the monsters. Now, that would be something”.
In other words, shorthand for critics wanting something from a game which was never the point – like turning up to a Ramones gig and expecting a fourth chord.
It’s also a fun one to mention to bait Edge writers with when talking about any game they like. In a “Yeah – Virtua Tennis 4 is pretty fun… but imagine if you could *talk* to the Umpires. Now that would be something”.
It’s totally unfair, because it’s something that was said 15 years ago. But it’s still funny. To me.
Of course, I haven’t played the final Prototype yet, so you’re definitely in a position to argue. I was just getting a vibe.
KG
28/06/2009 at 18:21 Howard says:
To be honest I cannot decide whether of not I agree with Greg J Smith, but he certainly raises an interesting point. Prototype was all kinds of fun in its good bits but it did seem to lack a certain grounding in reality to give its outrageous sections counterpoint. Problem is I am not sure if that is that fault of the game or me. Initially I wanted to agree with Greg and say that yes, they should have shown Manhattan as it was and then its utter decimation would have held more poignancy, but I am not utterly convinced by this. I already *know* what Manhattan is like day to day, do I really need to be shown it? Would, for example, 28 Days Later have been a better horror film had we had an extra half hour at the start showing our hero living the life of a normal Londoner so that when it all came crashing down we would feel his pain?
28/06/2009 at 18:21 Bhazor says:
Reply to KG
I’ve been making that joke for years now and never knew it came from a personal/professional jibe. I feel kind of used.
Off-topic
Why do people sign their emails and comments? I mean I can see your name at the top. Don’t you trust me to remember the name 30 seconds later?
28/06/2009 at 18:50 Kieron Gillen says:
Well, it was a jibe people were using before I was a games journalist.
KG
28/06/2009 at 18:55 Down Rodeo says:
Christian Nutt: Right? Right? Right? Right?
Please tell me I’m not the only one who is really annoyed by that, right?
28/06/2009 at 19:13 Wooly says:
Sex in games, eh? Obviously that guy wasn’t writing about Japan! ;)
28/06/2009 at 19:37 Tom says:
RIP Swells.
28/06/2009 at 19:39 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Oh man, I’d forgotten about some of the stuff in the Thriller video. Awesome :D
28/06/2009 at 19:41 Heliocentric says:
@Wooly alexs is a female, you never watch the channel 4 game show “bits”.
28/06/2009 at 19:41 qrter says:
And to suggest you’d use them because they’re available is just as naive a counter-argument. You’re still using them because you want to use them, because it’s preferable to you to use them, not just because they’re there.
I’ve played whole games where at the end I’d notice I hadn’t used certain weapons or features, simply because they hadn’t appealed to me or I didn’t need them.
28/06/2009 at 19:45 Heliocentric says:
Correction
Watched*
The show is a a relic of the internet now though. Not on telly anymore.
28/06/2009 at 19:53 Kieron Gillen says:
Qrter: There’s a difference between choice and the best choice. Gamers almost always select the best choice to victory, even if it’s less fun.
KG
28/06/2009 at 20:03 Mo says:
@Oddbob:
If you don’t want to play a section of a game, there are two reasons:
1) it’s too difficult
2) it’s too dull/repetitive/mundane/whatever.
The god-mode solution works for (1). Keep in mind I envision this as an all-encompasing “win mode” … unlimited ammo, you can’t fall off ledges, etc, etc. There’s no way to lose, and you still get to experience all of the game.
In the case of (2) though, I’d argue that you’re playing a shit game. :) Boss battles shouldn’t have to be mundane! There shouldn’t have to be “filler” sections to a game. A designer should be able to create a game which is fun throughout, boss battles et al.
Hmm … okay, combining (1) and (2) would be interesting though. The big issue with boss battles in particular is that you get to do this totally-awesome-badass-explody thing … and then you have to do it 3 or 4 more times! What if apart from making you invunerable it also cuts down on the tedium … so you just need to do the section once as opposed to three times? You experience the awesome set-piece and you skip the repetitive tedium of the boss battle.
28/06/2009 at 20:06 Mo says:
Sorry, some more thoughts just as I hit post.
I guess ultimately, you should be able to come up with some instance where fast-forward is really necessary. I’m beginning to come up with some examples in my head right now. And in those instances, I have to reluctantly agree with you. My point though, is that fast-forward should be used as a last resort. A designer can come up with better mechanics to allow the player to play through the difficult bits, and maybe skip through the filler.
28/06/2009 at 20:15 Gassalasca says:
I just wanted to thank Kieron for introducing some of us to Wells.
The last time I discovered a great writer a few days after his passing away was in May 2001.
28/06/2009 at 20:20 K says:
Just sticking up for the invisible man, man.
28/06/2009 at 20:21 Tim says:
Regarding sex in games, head on over to TIGSource to see a compo combining RPS’s two favorite pastimes.
28/06/2009 at 20:38 bhlaab says:
I’ve never agreed with “You don’t have to use it” argument. Similarly, the weak main quests in Oblivion and Fallout 3 are excused away with “You don’t HAVE to play them
To me that just sounds like a lazy excuse on par with “Sure that movie’s special effects look like garbage, but you can close your eyes during them”
28/06/2009 at 20:44 bhlaab says:
I also think it’s true that players are min-maxers by nature, willing to exploit any possibility to get their character that one step further.
In the context of the new Mario game, who has the patience to retry a hard bit over and over again like when they were ten? I don’t doubt that the Wii game will be a cakewalk that veteran players will clear with no problem, but imagine if there are such rough patches– I think anybody would be at least very strongly tempted In emulators it takes every ounce of my being to not hit the rewind or quickload keys whenever I’m set back.
28/06/2009 at 21:21 oddbob says:
Mo, why does it matter? Why can’t the player be allowed to make the choice for himself?
I don’t trust most game designers to be able to not shit themselves in public never mind decide what way of playing a game is best for me.
28/06/2009 at 21:37 qrter says:
Kieron:
I’m afraid you’re right but I don’t think that should be the problem of developers, really. To me that points to a mentality problem prevalent under gamers, that they need to change. Maybe gamers should take some responsibility and/or grow up, not just jump on the first exploit they stumble upon.
I play a game to have fun, and my idea of the most fun almost never is in the quickest way to victory.
I’ve had friends who would play Oblivion and have their character jumping all the time, everywhere, just to rack up the experience. I just don’t understand that mentality. Does that make the game more fun? For me it certainly doesn’t, it just makes it a joyless grind to a screen that says “hey you won!”.
Same goes for using exploits – if you enjoy using an exploit, fine. If it feels like cheating and you don’t want to do that, don’t do it. But that’s your choice – don’t blame the game.
Maybe this makes me sound as a self-righteous, “pious” gamer, but to me it makes sense to try and maximise the amount of fun I’m having.
bhlaab:
This is a different point – the main quests are integral parts of the game. You can avoid them, but they’re supposed to be the main attraction (the clue is in the ‘main’ there ;) ).
The special effects analogy doesn’t make much sense to me – special effects aren’t to a film as the main quests are to Bethesda’s games.
28/06/2009 at 21:40 bhlaab says:
Eh, tell them that
28/06/2009 at 21:43 qrter says:
Heh. Those main quests really are quite shit, aren’t they.
28/06/2009 at 22:11 Lilliput King says:
From the afore-linked article by Steven Wells;
“Do you agree that I Kissed a Girl was one of the top five songs of 2008? …
How did you do?
Yes to all? Damn but you’re smart.”
Am I missing something? This man was an opinionated moron.
28/06/2009 at 22:20 Gap Gen says:
“I’m afraid you’re right but I don’t think that should be the problem of developers, really. To me that points to a mentality problem prevalent under gamers, that they need to change. Maybe gamers should take some responsibility and/or grow up, not just jump on the first exploit they stumble upon.”
I disagree. Game design is about psychology in many ways, as this is part of how games can be art, commenting on the human condition by reflecting it back at the humans playing it. It would be presumptuous of developers to take a problem that is known about and assume it’s the fault of the players.
A similar thing is Bioshock’s wrench. Bioshock does reward repetitiveness, which is a shame for a game with so many interesting toys to play with. Hell, the wrench is, as far as I can remember, the only way to regain health for free in the game.
28/06/2009 at 22:35 Tei says:
Theres a studio somewhere that proff that shorcuts can create trafic problems (there are the same number of cars, in less space).
What you want, maybe is not what you need.
28/06/2009 at 22:37 Dinger says:
So let’s talk to the monsters. It’s shorthand for the cheapest review trick in the bag, hitting them for not doing N, where N is outside the scope. It can often bite back. (although Evil Genius actts of infamy would have been better as X-com style missions)
But on the other hand, as much as I love smashing things up, I have broader interests. A good game should make me forget them. If you’re talking to monsters, you’re either not getting it or there’s something’s horribly discordant.
You know, like going to a club for a Ramones concert, crowding the stage at the start of the act, only to see a skinny dude with an n-sync t-shirt place a boombox on the drumkit and press ‘play’.
28/06/2009 at 22:44 D says:
I’m sorry exactly what is this referring to? Even googling doesn’t help me out here.
28/06/2009 at 22:45 D says:
Haha damn, i messed up the q cite bit.. Above was @Anaphiel
28/06/2009 at 23:03 Tei says:
I have no desire to analize why smart people may like POP. But since theres not quality on most POP the quality has to come from the audience. People see on POP more than there really is in it. Theres not attemp to make something simple, POP is simple because it is. The infantilism of POP is not a trick, or a gesture, or a pose, POP is infantil.
28/06/2009 at 23:05 Tei says:
Ignore my last post. I was just kidding.
28/06/2009 at 23:07 invisiblejesus says:
@Gap Gen
“I disagree. Game design is about psychology in many ways, as this is part of how games can be art, commenting on the human condition by reflecting it back at the humans playing it. It would be presumptuous of developers to take a problem that is known about and assume it’s the fault of the players.”
I don’t see it as any more presumtuous than assuming the problem, such as it is, is always the fault of the game or the developers. Personally I’d like to have more choice in how I play games, provided that doing so doesn’t compromise the game itself in a meaningful way. You’re point about games as art carries some weight with me, but not every game is art or needs to be treated like art.
Then again, I’m skeptical of Kieron’s assertion that gamers in general will necessarily go for the easiest route to victory, and even if they do I’m not sure why I should care; there are a lot of games out there with cheat codes and there always have been. That doesn’t keep me or anyone else from playing them without using cheats if we don’t want to. I don’t see any convincing reason to think Nintendo’s walkthrough thing will be any different.
29/06/2009 at 00:29 Anaphiel says:
@D, I was referring to the GSW interview with the creator of the Dear Esther mod that Kieron links to above.
And of course I spelled his last name incorrectly. Should be “Pinchbeck”.
29/06/2009 at 01:00 Mad Doc MacRae says:
Those Swells pieces were a punch in the gut, man. And I mean that complimentary like.
29/06/2009 at 01:07 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
@oddjob’s Link, specifically Swells calling out a band I like.
Hey, nothing wrong with Counting Crows. They’re nicely twangy, setting moody aside.
And @nobody-in-particular, because this isn’t even on the radar:
There’s also nothing wrong with getting wild. Absolutely nothing.
29/06/2009 at 01:20 Radiant says:
In regards to MJ and nights out this weekend.
THIS http://open.spotify.com/track/6PZDXTlPfO7nBN1Cd7c3zv
was the absolute winner people cry-dancing god damnit!
29/06/2009 at 02:14 A-Scale says:
From the 2000 AD article:
“The moment when Judge Dredd is face to face with Judge Fear and he takes him out with a punch is a wonderful reductio ad absurdum. ”
Nothing like first year college students throwing around complex terms they don’t really understand. Nothing.
29/06/2009 at 02:58 solipsistnation says:
Lilliput King: Holy crap, an opinionated journalist? Good lord! How dare he! He should present only the blandest possible overview of whatever it is he’s writing about. I mean, you know, music journalist is essentially the same as news reporting, just about records and stuff. There’s no chance that anything like taste or quality or even craftsmanship could enter into the equation.
…in other words, just because you disagree doesn’t make him a moron. (Or you either, for that matter. The important thing is that you think about this stuff and don’t just let it flow through you unexamined.)
29/06/2009 at 03:00 FhnuZoag says:
Has anyone modded Doom so that you *can* talk to the monsters yet?
29/06/2009 at 04:48 bhlaab says:
Yes, it’s called Strife
29/06/2009 at 05:40 sigma83 says:
Re: The paintings. Which game is Michelle’s Place from?
29/06/2009 at 05:43 Saul says:
Gap Gen is absolutely right. Most people are lazy, and will take shortcuts that are put in front of them, even if they regret it later. I have no doubt that the walkthrough feature will be popular; I also have no doubt that it’s not good for games. Like many modern conveniences, it will ultimately make life less interesting.
“The ultimate result of shielding man from the effects of folly is to people the world with fools.” — Herbert Spencer
29/06/2009 at 06:42 sigma83 says:
Nevermind, I just answered my own question.
Grand Theft Auto 4.
29/06/2009 at 06:45 Radiant says:
I want to play a mod of Doom where I get to be the monster.
29/06/2009 at 06:45 Radiant says:
Wait that’s Left 4 Dead.
29/06/2009 at 06:46 invisiblejesus says:
@Saul
“Like many modern conveniences, it will ultimately make life less interesting.”
OK, you can’t possibly not see the irony of you posting that on the internet, on a web site about video games, presumably from a comfortable and secure home of some sort while you enjoy the feeling of having a more or less full stomach.
29/06/2009 at 06:47 Radiant says:
Left 4 Doom
Let’s me this happen people.
29/06/2009 at 06:47 Radiant says:
me= make
29/06/2009 at 07:22 Tei says:
$ ./gtkRadiant make me left4doom
gtkRadiant [-map ] [ -gl ] [ -mesa ]
Make me Left 4 Doom command not recognized.
ERROR.
$
29/06/2009 at 09:43 Scandalon says:
FhnuZoag – Strangely, they did that in the Doom novels…and not very many people liked those.
29/06/2009 at 10:30 Chaz says:
Ah 2000AD, it used to make my Saturday mornings when that came through the door, after having impatiently waited all week for the next installment.
Shame it all started going down the pan when they brought out the Dredd Megazine and started splitting the weekly Dredd story between it. Personally I thought it was a rather cynical ploy to double their sales, and it didn’t help that the quality of the other strips in 2000AD, in terms of both artwork and storyline, seemed to be getting weaker, and I haven’t bought it since.
29/06/2009 at 11:43 Crispy says:
Those paintings… aren’t very good. I guess that makes me DIM (Disappointed Internet Man)
—
The ‘Automated Walkthrough System’ does, however, make me Hulk-shirt-rip into AIM. Accessibility is about making your game easier to play, not easier to not play. I feel like I’m getting more and more hadcore simply by standing still, even though in real terms I’m getting less and less hardcore as I have less time to play games and make less purchases.
29/06/2009 at 12:05 Paul Moloney says:
“Edge’s review of Doom hit it with a 7/10″
Seriously? SERIOUSLY?
Jesus, talk about being the guy who didn’t sign the Beatles.
P.
29/06/2009 at 13:18 Tei says:
Obligatory obscure game reference:
http://www.doomworld.com/10years/doomcomic/
29/06/2009 at 14:28 Lilliput King says:
Hmm. Solipsist, im not suggesting being having an opinion is particularly bad journalism. He is, after all, not reporting.
But theres a peculiar technique you see regularly amongst opinion columnists in which a cogent opinion is never really explained, and all you are left with is a lot of vague, generic non-conformist bullshit. That article being a particularly good example.
Sound and fury, signifying nothing, hmm?
29/06/2009 at 15:16 Kieron Gillen says:
“Less a writer, more the proverbial force of nature, he’s taught me that agreeing with the writer is never the point ”
KG
29/06/2009 at 18:40 Gap Gen says:
Actually, one side-effect of Nintendo patenting the in-game walkthrough is that it drastically reduces its chances of becoming popular, if indeed no other company can emulate it.
Games already have hints for people getting stuck. But these are mostly subtle and only occur if the user obviously isn’t getting it – and this is a completely valid and good thing to do, since it provides a good balance between reducing frustration and giving people a challenge.
29/06/2009 at 19:59 Gassalasca says:
29/06/2009 at 20:01 Gassalasca says:
Drat, that was not meant to be in italics, and Kieron’s quote was supposed to be just above it. I’ll never learn to use this infernal contraption.
29/06/2009 at 22:00 Kieron Gillen says:
The internet will only hurt us.
KG
30/06/2009 at 06:41 vagabond says:
Given the rough description of the Nintendo patent in the article, I’d've thought that the large number of YouTube video walkthroughs, and previous in game hint systems, would demonstrate enough prior art to make it invalid.
I guess it doesn’t help that Nintendo has a large amount of money and lawyers, which really seems to be all that counts for anything when it comes to patent law…
27/07/2009 at 14:17 kr8 says:
“This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by the IFPI”
Now that’s cold.