Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I don’t hate indie games. But just so you understand the true nature of PC Gamer’s most recent Devil’s Advocate, I direct you to look at the title. Devil’s Advocate. It’s the column in which I argued graphics are more important than gameplay, and games should be harder, more boring, and free of violence. You know, I was being a Devil’s Advocate. DO YOU SEE? The latest one is here, and in it I slag off the recent Indie gaming trend:

Nostalgia will end up turning gaming into the Ouroboros worm, the snake that swallowed its own tail: the more we depend on this stuff, the more we backpedal, and the more stunted our gaming world becomes. Retro, you see, can mean ‘retrograde’ as well as ‘retrospective’.

Once you’ve had a read, take a look at the comments thread. JESUS CHRIST HOW STUPID ARE THESE PEOPLE. THE CLUE IS IN THE FRICKEN’ TITLE. HELLO? EARTH TO MOLE PEOPLE?! WHAT TIME IS IT ON YOUR PLANET? HNNGAARGH.

When I was last in the Gamer office, they caught me in a – Dwarf Fortress Mode on – fey mood. Guiding me towards a keyboard, it ended in another rant where I continue the last seven-days theme of asking the entire internet outside, as I think they spilt my pint. It’s about how the current wave of co-op games isn’t exactly the unvarnished joy which its been painted at. I end up saying things like…

There’s nothing wrong with co-op, per se. The problem is when it spreads cancerously in a great singleplayer game, twisting it, perverting it, sickening it, preparing it for death. That’s one thing I won’t co-operate with.

But on the way there, there’s something that may pass for an argument. You tell me.