Sundays are for trying to get a collection of interesting mainly-games-related reading from across the week posted before you have to run to the cinema, hoping you don’t – in your haste – find yourself including a link to an edited version of a pop song that you’re sad the full-length version isn’t easily available yet.
- Derek Smart writes a long and seriously-intentioned piece on the media reception to All Aspect Warfare, specifically regarding Gamespot’s coverage of it. It’s long, but worth reading. If it’s too long, it gets to the meat near the conclusion.
- You’ve seen the Champions Online Costume Bingo, yeah?
- Wellspring Foam writes an open letter to the creator of Spirit Engine 2 on why he should get his game on Steam and push it more generally.
- Haven’t linked to anything of Bill Harris’ for a while. Here he is responding to charges that games – being structured play – are actually less worthwhile than structureless play.
- Comrade Quinns’ Console Game Writing “Tight” Watch. Demon Souls? Splendid, but the word Tight is never used. God Hand? Tight.
- You dug Canabalt, yeah? Well, Gaming Daily interviews developer Adam Atomic about it. As a passing aside, I highly approve of developers naming themselves like late 90s-post-bis fanzine writers.
- Also on Gaming Daily, Ben “The B” Borthwick writes about tutorials. He also obeyed Alec’s demand there be a certain game staring Michael Winner from the podcast. Foolish Alec and his yappy mouth has birthed such horrors.
- Indie developers talking directly to the gamers via vidcam? Everyone’s at it. After Dejobaan did it, Cliffski has a crack.
- Yeah, I’m totally not playing Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma.
- Cryptic’s Ben Ziegler followed me on twitter this week, which made me go back and have a read of his blog. I think I may have linked to this post on what he thinks people should take from community feedback in MMOs before, but it’s worth reading again.
- I missed Dave Taurus’ exit letter from Games Journalism, which he published on the Triforce when he fucked off on his new adventures. He actually chooses an unusual target to decry rather than the usual topics people make when attacking videogames writing, and he’s not entirely wrong.
- I also missed comrade John Walker having a good old rant about Derren Brown’s latest antics when he wrote it. John takes magic very seriously, so is seriously disappointed in Derren.
- Editor Daniel Menaker writes… well, about editing and the systemic problems with being a book editor. A methodical look at book publishing from the other side which is well worth digesting.
- It just seems unfair that I can’t hear the full 9-minute version of Fuck Buttons’ Surf Solar yet. Also, it’s unfair that I’m not in a club right now dancing to it. Badly, natch.
Failed.
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I uploaded the demo today actually to match the current retail 1.00.35 build. Thus far only WorthPlaying has the demo update.
Anyway, the previous 1.00.21 was based on an older pre-release version (the released version was 1.00.26). So I figured I’d update the demo to match the current release build so that nobody has an excuse for buying the game without trying the demo first.
Derek, I was just reading your piece. While I agree with your point about America losing its manners (that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far) and game reviewers going for shock value over substance, you should read some book reviews from 100 or even 150 years ago (from America or England). They were often far, far more merciless (and personally insulting) than what you see today. Something to keep in perspective.
Kadayi: I think you may have just proved John’s point.
KG
John, Kieron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentalism
If someone clearly says they are ‘this’, rather than ‘that’ then claiming they are ‘that’ is kind of foolhardy lads. There might be certain commonalities and cross overs, but the manner and approach is quite different.
I actually might go to Fuck Buttons in October, there new album is pretty rad, less noise = more hearable/less earpain
Wait a minute, you featured me in The Sunday Papers? I wasn’t aware anyone actually read my blog. Mr Gillen, I fear you’ve imposed upon me an audience that my level of writing cannot justify… I thank you anyway :-)
Guess I should work on the blog more, make it worth reading, huh? Challenge accepted!
Also, folks, if you’re at all interested in RPGs, at least play the demo of Spirit Engine 2. And then when you like it, if you have any pull with the Steam people go and pester them to put it up.
Whats with the huge ads on the main page ? Now the site doesnt fit in width of browser window…
http://rockpapershotgun.com/rpsforum/topic.php?id=60
So, ODST, made Dave Taurus quit?
If you like to write: write.
Good writing will always find it’s audience regardless of ambition.
If you want to chase hits start a porn blog.
http://www.tittaycitay.com/
Jackflash makes a good point. Game devs get off lightly compared to creators of books, music, and other media that’s been around for, you know, more than thirty years. That said, shifts in the way media is criticised probably has a lot to do with it. (Not saying this is what Derek’s original post was decrying; just as a general comment.)
–
Menaker’s piece on the neurotic business of bringing new books into the world is right on the money.
“Wait, aren’t we supposed to hate Derek Smart? Or have I read video game sites for too long?”
Very late in responding to this one, but I think we’re supposed to make our own minds up about the guy.
I read approximately one third of the Derek Smart’s post, which I imagine is more than most people. It was badly written, arrogant beyond belief and the arguments were strung together with duct tape. Why Kieron linked to it is beyond me.
It also suffered from angry old man syndrome. Which I generally like, but it has to be tongue in cheek, otherwise it’s just sad.
You might try Bookslut; I’ll admit I don’t read many of their book recommendations, but they’ve got a similarish vibe.
Godhand! YES! That, my friends, is a motherfucking game!
I have a God Hand problem.
I played it through on Easy, and won, and it felt good.
So I played it through on Normal, and won, and it felt very good.
And I played it through on Easy for a Kick Me sign run, and that was pretty fun too.
And then I played it on Easy again just because it’s a hell of a game and a lot of fun.
And then I played it on Hard. And I got about halfway through, and it was ball-bustingly hard every step of the way, and then life intervened and I took a break. A long break.
I feel as though at some point I should complete the trip. Fight to the finish on Hard. But I still remember that last boss fight. More precisely, I remember it on Normal, and that was one of the most evil encounters I’ve had in a videogame. I fear it on Hard. I fear it with a great fear, and I have grown weak in the meantime. (Although, I can still pick it up on Normal and do very well for a few levels until I feel slightly unsure of my footing, by which point I’m stuck on Level Die and evil things happen to me in a swift and uncompromising fashion. Playing through a good chunk of the game on Hard has helped me lose the ability to get beaten up just enough on Normal to keep it from brutalising me.)
So, to those who’ve completed it on Hard: how was that final boss fight? Is it as brutal as I’ve been dreading? Is it ever to be contemplated except as the culmination of a several-week God Hand binge?
While I’m not likely to play All Aspect Warfare, and I do feel that Derek for some reason always comes off as a little irritating in print, I do agree with at least one of his points.
A well written review will tell you if you’d like the game, regardless of whether the reviewer liked it or not. I’ve read several reviews (and not all by KG ;-) ) that were generally negative, but made me want to play them. Or positive reviews that let me know id never like that game.
After reading Gamespot/IGN for a long time, it was quite a shock when i came to RPS (and a few other sites) to discover that there was an entire universe of other games out there that i’d never even SEEN. What?? Where did all these games come from?!?!
Then again, just like every game can’t be perfect, every review can’t be perfect either. Even good reviewers have bad days.
…and now reading Dave Taurus’s exit letter maybe says why… “I emailed several websites and magazines to ask if they’d like an import review of the best/most interesting game this year (Demon’s Souls) and nobody was interested until someone else reviewed it and got a load of hits.”
Cliffski’s video is good, but he doesn’t have Dejobaan’s hypnotic muppet eyebrows.
Tony
@Derek
the blog post was immense, and I have to say I didnt manage it all, but I do have to say that you credit the customer with too much intelligence. i dont know if its because you are too busy trying to vilify the reviews but this statement:
>>>>>>If you write an objective and well written review that conveys a factual and unbiased slant, the reader will obtain enough information to make his/her own decision even if reviews don’t form the basis of their buying decisions. Now more than ever, most – sensible – gamers, buy games based on consensus in which reviews play little or no part because they realize that reviews are based on the opinions of a select group of people who may or may not be professional.
>>>>>
… I do not believe to be true. i wish it was, but almost every comments thread I read is about the score at the end regardless of whats been written before it.
If you take these people out of the buyer base as a ‘vocal minority’, the largest buyer base seems to be the people that buy heavily advertised stuff, regardless of reviews. The big names with huge promotions (see Assassins creed, Need for speed, transformers etc).
Your ‘intelligent review savvy’ buyer who actually reads reviews properly I feel is a very small percentage of the overall buying population. to quote an old colleague ‘you could put shit in a box on the shelf and it’d sell with good marketing’.
this has nothing to do with the quality of reviews that is the main point, I just thought i’d mention my take on buyers. (as a developer of 10 years).
Derek, You are correct about the reviews. I mostly listen to what my friends have to say about games. Since nowadays I tend to enjoy LAN playing, or very organized(tournaments, etc) more then just random MP.
fuck buttons are really great live.
Who is Bill Harris? I’m afraid I don’t know him. It’s just that, reading lines like ‘ I would much rather talk to children’ without any prior context of where the writer is coming from give off a real Michael Jackson vibe.
Oh man, John would bitch slap John Constantine :/
Kadayi: Yeah, but that's bullshit.
KG