As a gamer, there will always be a part of me that gets excited when I hear about Hollywood’s plan to take a game I love and give it the big screen treatment. My mind instantly goes over the epic moments and I can’t help but imagine the grand spectacle of Link battling a giant Dodongo with a massive special effects budget and an epic score. I think to myself “Wow, those sequences sure would look amazing. I can’t wait”. Then the initial revelation wears off a bit. Rational thought once again takes hold and I come to realize all the potentially negative aspects. “Who on Earth would they get to play Link? Would they be able to do justice to a character that never says a word? How much unnecessary emphasis will be placed on the love story? This is a terrible idea!”
And therein lays the problem. Past the flashy fight scenes and iconic characters getting a glossy Hollywood sheen, the problems with putting a video game on screen go on and on. As with any film adaptation, a host of cuts simply must be made. While it is true that video games have become increasingly like movies over the years, the two mediums don’t quite mesh yet. Of those games that have received the upgrade, only a scant few are even watchable (not everything can be as great as the original Mortal Kombat movie). So here’s the question folks: should we keep turning games into movies? I know the temptation will always be there, but are there any games out there that can be done justice on the big screen? And, even if it is plausible, would a quality product be able to make it through the rigorous movie-making process? I hate to say it, but the outlook isn’t too good.
Right now, Hollywood is buying up any license it can to put out a movie version on an existing property. If you didn’t already know this, you don’t have a head. Now that almost every comic book has been bought up, video games are high on the list of things to exploit. If teenagers are waiting around the block to preorder it, studios want it. However, pause for a quick second. What makes a great movie? An engaging plot. Compelling characters. Skillful acting. On the flip, what makes a great game? Solid mechanics. Enjoyable gameplay. Replayability. While it is certainly true that many games do present impressive stories and wonderful characters, they still aren’t a must for a great game. I don’t care how bland the story is, I will keep rescuing the Princess from Bowser in Mario 3 until I’m no longer in control of my faculties. And then there’s the acting. Getting talented voice actors to handle a game requires getting the planets to align (or a production team that actually cares what a game’s vocals sound like). Admittedly, particularly poor acting can ruin a game, but rarely is a game salvaged on voice work alone (All emotions in Contra are presented only with bullets).
Obviously, the standards the two mediums are set to are vastly different and create numerous issues for cross-pollenization. Furthermore, there is so much that cannot be shipped over intact. Plots, for instance. Most games still have some pretty lose plots. Evil is over there. Kill from points A to B to fix. Given this sums up the plot of most fighting games, I’m still amazed how many have been filmed (and still are, new Street Fighter movie). Others, however, have plots that are far too complex to work within a standard two hour timeframe. It would be impossible to try to fit all of the beats, characters, locations, and plot points of Final Fantasy VII together without having to play the entire film at breakneck speed. No matter how you slice it, most games will either have to lose a lot or be seriously fluffed out to meet our expectations. This brings me to my next point: us.
Movie executives don’t much care what gamers think. Admittedly, I can’t say I blame them. We gamers, as a whole, are a testy bunch. We will cling to the franchise we love for dear life. Mess one thing up and we will decry you for crimes against humanity and threaten your very existence (not unlike the comments I’m sure to generate below). What adds to this problem is that those involved aren’t exactly our ilk. Video games turned movies are often managed by people with a similar mind to those who manage movies turned video games. These folks don’t understand what makes games enjoyable and they rely almost solely on name recognition. They assume we will latch on to a property regardless of its apparent crap level. Hence, your standard producer will have no problem cutting and adding to a script to make it more appealing to the mainstream moviegoers of America. Plots are streamlined. Characters are mismanaged. Love stories are shoe-horned in. Uwe Boll is present. In the end, you’re left with something that has hints of the game from which it draws its name but bears only slight resemblance. The film holds none of the nuances for which the game was touted and is instead filled with generic Hollywood fluff (and love stories) that leave it as an unremarkable mess that game fans will hate and actors will deride years later on a commentary track. Most of America is unimpressed and we, the gaming community, are livid.
This is a process that baffles me. These franchises are willfully gutted to make them unwatchable to the original fans, those that lead to its success and would naturally be the most excited to see its big screen debut. However, the gaming community isn’t considered a large enough base financially to justify gaining our business alone. Given our tendencies and makeup of the total market, this does make sense financially, infuriating though it may be. Their aim is to attract the masses, believing (somewhat correctly) that we will see this movie regardless of its quality. There’s really no point in catering to the will of the fans so studios can do as they like. To me, it renders the whole process somewhat absurd.
Despite all of my previous points of contention, there are some games that may actually be able to make the leap from gaming to film with little adjustment necessary. Some have argued that Halo would make a great movie. Master Chief, despite all of the praise thrown upon him, is little more than a suit with the occasional line of dialogue. A compelling character we can watch for two hours, he is not. Others suggest Metal Gear Solid. As cool as that sounds, so much of the Metal Gear series involves getting inside your head while you experience the game. Few games attempt to engage the player on so many levels as Metal Gear (what they hell would Psycho Mantis tell a theatre audience?). Turning that into a passive media would render it a generic spy flick devoid of what made it so unique. One could also make an argument for survival horror games, but they’re essentially a horror movie turned video game. No need to transfer again (more so than has already been done).
No, after careful consideration and much debate, two games in particular come to mind: Prince of Persia and God of War. Prince of Persia may not have the most compelling story (evil vizier betrays king, save existence), but it is fully manageable for a film. It’s none too long, has decent variety, and plenty of action. More importantly, though, it has interesting characters. The Prince evolves from a pompous ass to a likable hero. Farah, the token female, requires little actual rescuing and serves as an entertaining foil to the prince. There’s even a love story set up, dispelling all need to invent a character for solely that purpose. Similarly, God of War has a workable plot (revenge) allowing for spectacular action and is paced appropriately for film. Also, the character of Kratos is a genuinely interesting, multi-dimensional character. While yes, he is a living death machine spurred constantly to seek revenge, you actually gain some insight into his personality as his story plays out. He is a man willing to kill a god to erase the memory of murderous past. One could possibly make the argument for Kratos as a tragic hero. Add some gods as supporting characters and focus/flashback on the loss of his family and you could probably film that.
Hollywood is apparently aware of these exceptions and as we speak, both films are being heartily worked upon. Unfortunately, despite their potential, I still have little faith in either. Producers these days are aware of the unlikely success of a video game movie and often make efforts to kneecap them accordingly. Little effort is placed in appointing appropriate directors, as evidenced by Brett Ratner helming God of War. Additionally, casting is based more around stunt people than talented actors. Even when a big name is included, like Mila Jolovich or Jake Gyllenhaal, the remainder of the cast generally serves to bring things down. Even the special effects budgets aren’t as impressive as one might hope; leaving those elegant battles we’ve all imagined looking somewhat half-assed. I’m not even going to go into scrip quality (you know that one just isn’t going to be pretty). Most importantly though is the studio’s lack of faith in these projects. Any of these movies would require a lot of work, money, and investment and as long as the company behind it isn’t willing to offer that, nothing great will ever manifest.
So yeah, there are some potential converts, primed and ready to go, and as time goes on, games will probably be presented more as interactive movies, hoping to one day make that leap themselves. But as it stands, none of them will be given a fair shot at achieving what we all might hope for. They’ll come out and crush our dreams. And despite this knowledge, we’ll still see them anyway. Sorry original Mortal Kombat, it looks like you’re going to be very lonely.
Now that I’ve stroked my ego, what’s your take on the situation? Any possibilities I’ve over looked? More inherent difficulties? I am a completely full of shit? Discuss.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
A Salvo From the 360
As in the real world, the Xbox 360 appears to have more fans amongst our writers. So, in true underhanded Microsoft fashion, Jo and Alex have decided to gang up on the other consoles. We were all reticent about agreeing to it until they started threatening us. Something about a chainsaw mounted on a machine gun…
Unlike the PS3’s snooty elitism or the Wii’s grandma-friendly demeanor, the Xbox 360 appeals to me: The Ex-Fratboy. That’s right, I don’t smoke hashish and I don’t read Chaucer. What I do is drink whiskey and kill bad guys, and that’s what the Xbox has been about from the start.
The original Xbox came in to the market with an Ali-style rope-a-dope, and it served its purpose well. It was meant to tire the other systems out by taking away some exclusive titles while throwing a few well-timed punches of its own in the forms of Halo, Ninja Gaiden and KOTOR. With the 360, Microsoft comes off the ropes and really starts to pummel its worn out foes.
And the other consoles know it. While I wasn’t a Fratboy, I do like me my Xbox. I’m a gamer at heart and out of all the next-gen consoles, the Xbox is the only traditional “gamer” console. Nintendo’s Wii admittedly left the gamers out in the cold – creating a toy that was meant to be shared by the family. Meanwhile, Sony overshot the traditional gamers, creating a system that was meant to be elite and sophisticated – which turned into prohibitively expensive. It might have been different if the PS3 had come out with some games to make one fork over the cash for it, but they didn’t.
With console exclusives such as Halo 3, Oblivion, Mass Effect, Ninja Gaiden 2, and the Gears of War series, the Xbox 360 welcomes the traditional gamer to the next generation. All of these titles were revolutionary in their own way, but they also held true to the “Those guys over there are bad so you should kill them,” theory of gaming. I made my bones with the original NES, and I was a die-hard Nintendo fan through the N64. I made the difficult decision to switch to the Xbox when it came out, and now with the 360 I feel that my decision was justified.
I feel the same way, and not just because of the games. The fact of the matter is that Microsoft hasn’t left its gamers wanting, hoping on blind faith that problems with the system will magically get repaired. You see, Xbox fans don’t believe in Big Foot, and we don’t leave cookies out for Santa. We are a people of instant gratification and Xbox provides just that. With the Wii, gamers are still waiting faithfully for a fix to their (half-assed) internet system. And as far as Sony’s financial outlook goes, PS3 owners are just taking on faith that the console is still going to exist in the next few months. FINALLY, after waiting for so long, the games that are going to make its purchasers happy, and perhaps attract some new fans, are emerging (a little late in my humble opinion).
The Xbox has been solid from the start. Sure there were red ring issues – but Microsoft knows how to handle these kinds of problems. They are used to getting a product out and fixing it later – quickly. And they have. The red rings aren’t nearly as prevalent as they were at launch, and Microsoft still offers a 3 year warranty on all 360s for any red ring-o-death issues. Microsoft saw the problem, fixed it, and made their fans happy. While Nintendo and Sony are asking for our faith, Microsoft is gaining our trust.
I would like to elaborate on my earlier “half-assed” comment concerning the Wii’s online capability. Xbox Live has been much maligned for being a singularly offensive and intolerant environment. I can’t argue with that. 10 year old kids have hurled epithets at me that made my eyes roll into my head and blood shoot out my nose. However, this staggering degree of closed-minded bigotry is not common to every game played on Xbox Live, however.
After recovering from the ego-shattering shame spiral I was sent into while playing Halo 3 online, I decided to try my hand at the Gears of War 2 multiplayer system. To my delight, the douchebaggery was much reduced, and the experience of playing AND TALKING with other gamers was quite enjoyable. One of the most fun and important aspects of online gaming is the ability to chat with the fellow players. Often I am teaming up with my fellow beer-swilling frat brothers, and being able to catch up on our various states of unemployment is important to me (while chain-sawing Locust in half!)
So while you can complain about the Xbox’s online play sucking because of the idiot gamers out there, you have to realize that this is something where you take the good, with the bad. And the good parts of Xbox’s online system outweigh the bad parts of the Wii’s. Besides, if you didn’t have annoying, vile-mouthed, pre-pubescent punks pwning n00bs to practice your head shots on, the experience would be a lot less enjoyable!
Now that we beat up the “baby bear” as Kink puts it, we thought it was time to take on “big brother bear.” Everyone who owns a PS3 rationalizes it the same two ways: The graphics are better, and it has a Blu-ray player! First, the graphics issue. On paper the PS3 has more processing power than the 360, but this doesn’t necessarily translate to better graphics. Without going into far too much technical detail, the graphics processing unit on the Xbox is more powerful and easier to take advantage of. Therefore it can perform in ways that the PS3’s graphics unit can’t. When people say that the PS3 is more “powerful” than the 360, the are referring to the 8 dedicated SPU’s in the PS3 versus the 3 general purpose CPU’s found in the 360, neither of which have much to do with graphics. These SPU’s are what make the PS3 so difficult to program for, however, and consequently games that are available on both platforms are almost universally more bug-ridden on the PS3. A more powerful system doesn’t mean a damn thing if it comes at the expense of gameplay.
Next, the Blu-ray player. Sony took a huge risk in backing Blu-ray, and it has paid off since Blu-ray won the format war. However, this lovely little component adds hundreds of dollars of per-unit price to the Playstation, and is the single biggest reason that Sony loses money on every console sold.
That being said, right now Blu-ray is also the biggest reason to actually go out and buy a PS3. And Sony knows it. It’s what they’ve been trumpeting while they’re trying to get their third party support and games in line. “Yeah, you don’t have games to play right now, but LOOK! A Blu-ray player! Oooo!” I’m not interested in shiny things. I want games dammit. The fact that they didn’t strip the Blu-ray out of the system and add a DVD player instead to cut down on costs proves that. They knew they couldn’t sell the gaming component of the system alone, there are not enough games to support it. In the end, Blu-ray capability should be a secondary consideration for a gaming system, and not the reason you purchase it.
So where does that leave us? With the Xbox – which is where we started. In addition to being an ex-fratboy, I’m also a trained engineer. The Xbox has the best hours-of-fun-per-dollar-spent ratio, and that is the single biggest reason to buy one. I have almost 3 times as many games for the Xbox as I do for the Wii, and have spent at least that much more time playing the 360. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the Wii when I fire it up, it just means that the Xbox is my console of choice. You know what you’re getting with a 360. It’s not a retirement home accessory, nor is it an expensive Blu-ray player that happens to play games. It’s a damn fine gaming system that will still play your DVDs for you. What more do you need? Besides, if I’m trying to decide between buying a game for my PS3 and my Xbox, the 360 always wins – I have to build up my gamer score!! Now where’s my hashish? I’ll need it to get through this volume of Chaucer. . .
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
In Defense of the PS3
For my first article I was asked by my cohorts here at the Erudite Gamer to write a piece in defense of the PS III. “Kink!” they said, “You seem like just the kinda man who would own a Playstation III. So go forth, educate the masses on the foibles and follies of this system, while we sit here smoking hashish and discussing Chaucer.” What else could I say? When faced with a proposition like that there’s only one alternative and that’s to take a big puff of hashish and read Chaucer. So I chose to do this. Before we go on though I want to point out that I am in no way an expert on this subject I just happen to be well equipped. That’s right, for those of you playing along at home you may have noticed that they didn’t give me this job because they thought my silver tongue could convert the masses to the cult of Crash Bandicoot. They didn’t give me this job because I am a shrewd fellow who could perhaps see through the murky haze that is the PS III and extract a pearl of wisdom. No they gave me this assignment because I’m the only one on the crew who owns a PS III. Really. So with my jade in full swing let’s talk consoles.
Imagine yourself transported back to the year 2006. Gas cost $2.50 a gallon, president Bush was in office, and those groovy kids from Linkin Park were making boys and girls fall in love to the sweet sound of what I call miserableism. Well actually it’s still pretty much the same, except Bush isn’t president any more. Anyway in this far away land of 2005, three little bears were getting ready to put their consoles on the market. The first was Little Baby Bear, who had developed the Nintendo Wii which he hoped everyone would love, so he decided to make it cheap so that even jobless pot smokers could buy one. However, since he was a baby he made it out of Popsicle sticks and glue, so when he turned it on the graphics weren’t very good. Next there was Middle Brother Bear. Now Middle Brother Bear liked cool things like skateboards, ninjas, and guns so he decided to make a console that would be rad and allow people to ride skateboards, fight ninjas, and shoot guns, sometimes all at the same time. He called it the Xbox 360 because the x makes it sound like the nineties and the three sixty reminds him of skateboarding which he still thinks is awesome. Finally there was Big Brother Bear. Now Big Brother Bear had been very successful with his last console selling more than both Baby Bear and Middle Brother Bear combined. So he takes a long sit and thinks and thinks and finally decides to make a console even better than either Baby Bear’s or Middle Brother Bear’s by making it more than just a console, but part of an entertainment system.
So all three brothers go down to the market and to Big Brother Bear’s total surprise everyone starts buying the shit out of the other systems. “Why? Why is this happening?” Asks Big Brother Bear as he bites down on the gun. “How could I possibly mess this up so bad? I had the PS II library, the tech, the blue ray player…How could this happen.” At this point a crow lands on Big Brother Bear’s shoulder and asks: “Did you make any games?” That’s when Big Brother Bear pulls the trigger.
Now, before anyone starts sending me nasty e-mails about how this analogy is all wrong, how Microsoft should be Baby Bear because they were the last into the market, or how Nintendo should be Big Brother Bear because Nintendo’s been making money off racism since the Reagan administration, that’s not the point of the analogy. The point of the analogy is to characterize which niche of the market each company wanted to exploit and what they did to get there. Nintendo as a baby since they wanted to market a feel good family system of cotton candy and fluff, Microsoft as a teen since they wanted to grab that xtreme sports frat boy crowd, and Sony is the older brother since they wanted the uh…people who like to play games on their blue ray player crowd. Which brings me to my first point, that Sony didn’t know who they wanted to buy their goddamn system.
The thing about cramming so much awesome tech into a box is that eventually it gets expensive. Maybe if they paid their workers less they could have made it cheaper but that wasn’t really what they were going for. They wanted to be the Cadillac in a market of Camrys and unfortunately they suffered for it because they weren’t selling a luxury product! Consoles are an entertainment good and as such they are only as good as the entertainment they provide. No one cares how cool a movie theater is if it only shows one movie. Ask any indie movie theater owner and they can tell you that even though they sell beer and Dutch chocolate it’s really hard to make a profit when you only show the same subtitled French movie and everyone wants to see “Big Space Man Kills Aliens Part 4.” And that’s really what gamers want, some form of “Big Space Man Kills Aliens Part 4” and Sony was only more than willing to oblige they just couldn’t get it shoved out the door. Meanwhile Microsoft is having their big space man killing legions of aliens and Nintendo has taken their myriad of racist characters and having them doing things in space, all to the joyful giggles of gamers.
Now I know that I’m supposed to be defending the system I’m just acknowledging its flaws. A high price tag and a limited library of games will always hinder the PS III but there have been some recent developments that make it an outstanding system. First, and I know that I’m going to get in trouble for saying this: The Console War is Over! Or at least the mad rush. The “Who’s Beating Whom” phase is over. We are now in the console marathon where a system must be judged by its overall library rather than its launch titles. Recently we’ve entered the phase in a console’s life where we’re tired of seeing what sort of gimmicky games or sequels are coming out and really start wanting the big ticket innovative games. Now this is also where I’m going to get in trouble, because the word innovative in most cases lacks definition. The Wii has always gotten the praise of being the innovative system but after a short spell of wiggling, gyrating, and twirling, the Wii-mote seems to have forgotten what the hell it was supposed to be doing. We got it, you have a motion tracking system. I can wiggle this thing and enemies will die. Super fun. The promise of a true motion capture system that can make you into a swordsman was long ago lost and the whole system is little more than button mashing. Once more everyone is going to say “But the Wii-mote is a sensitive system, you’re not using it right.” Really? Then tell me what game there is that I can’t be just as good at by wiggling the goddamn Wii-mote faster than the other guy. WarioWare does not count.
Ok. So with that said, I should probably explain what I want in a game: I have always looked for good storytelling, impressive locations, and a move to promote the idea that games can be art. And if you ask if better graphics make a better system, ask anyone who played The Force Unleashed on the Wii, then ask someone who played it on the PS III or Xbox 360. Graphics create ambiance, mood, and an immersive environment which sucks you in and makes you feel like you’re about to get your intestines ripped out by a rampaging hunter. “Oh but it’s not about that it’s about game play!” Wrong again. Ask anyone who played Half life 2 if they didn’t think that game had great game play. Ask anyone who played Gears of War 2 if that game didn’t have great game play. Ask people who played Little Big Planet, or Assasin’s Creed, or Bioshock, or Resistance, or Fallout 3, or Portal. Christ the list goes on and on and on. All of those are remarkable games and I never had to wave my controller around like an idiot to experience any innovation.
So now we get to my final point. Big Brother Bear did do something right and that was looking ahead. Blue rays are finally making a big splash on the market and if you’ve never watched a blue-ray treat yourself sometime because it really is a remarkable experience. Also the power of the PS III is definitely noticeably higher than the Xbox 360 and what you may have noticed about some of the above titles is that they are joint releases. Unfortunately, some of the games that I most enjoy are on the Xbox 360, and because of that it will always have a hold on my heart (deep down I want to be a rad skateboarder from the nineties). But when given the option of picking up a game on the Xbox or PS III, I’m always going to pick the PS III because it’s just that much more powerful. Plus with my HDMI cable hooked up to my blue ray player I don’t have to switch it back and forth to make my games rock. So that’s the thing. The power of the PS III makes it the Cadillac in the land of Camrys. But you know what? I’ve always wanted to drive a Cadillac.
Imagine yourself transported back to the year 2006. Gas cost $2.50 a gallon, president Bush was in office, and those groovy kids from Linkin Park were making boys and girls fall in love to the sweet sound of what I call miserableism. Well actually it’s still pretty much the same, except Bush isn’t president any more. Anyway in this far away land of 2005, three little bears were getting ready to put their consoles on the market. The first was Little Baby Bear, who had developed the Nintendo Wii which he hoped everyone would love, so he decided to make it cheap so that even jobless pot smokers could buy one. However, since he was a baby he made it out of Popsicle sticks and glue, so when he turned it on the graphics weren’t very good. Next there was Middle Brother Bear. Now Middle Brother Bear liked cool things like skateboards, ninjas, and guns so he decided to make a console that would be rad and allow people to ride skateboards, fight ninjas, and shoot guns, sometimes all at the same time. He called it the Xbox 360 because the x makes it sound like the nineties and the three sixty reminds him of skateboarding which he still thinks is awesome. Finally there was Big Brother Bear. Now Big Brother Bear had been very successful with his last console selling more than both Baby Bear and Middle Brother Bear combined. So he takes a long sit and thinks and thinks and finally decides to make a console even better than either Baby Bear’s or Middle Brother Bear’s by making it more than just a console, but part of an entertainment system.
So all three brothers go down to the market and to Big Brother Bear’s total surprise everyone starts buying the shit out of the other systems. “Why? Why is this happening?” Asks Big Brother Bear as he bites down on the gun. “How could I possibly mess this up so bad? I had the PS II library, the tech, the blue ray player…How could this happen.” At this point a crow lands on Big Brother Bear’s shoulder and asks: “Did you make any games?” That’s when Big Brother Bear pulls the trigger.
Now, before anyone starts sending me nasty e-mails about how this analogy is all wrong, how Microsoft should be Baby Bear because they were the last into the market, or how Nintendo should be Big Brother Bear because Nintendo’s been making money off racism since the Reagan administration, that’s not the point of the analogy. The point of the analogy is to characterize which niche of the market each company wanted to exploit and what they did to get there. Nintendo as a baby since they wanted to market a feel good family system of cotton candy and fluff, Microsoft as a teen since they wanted to grab that xtreme sports frat boy crowd, and Sony is the older brother since they wanted the uh…people who like to play games on their blue ray player crowd. Which brings me to my first point, that Sony didn’t know who they wanted to buy their goddamn system.
The thing about cramming so much awesome tech into a box is that eventually it gets expensive. Maybe if they paid their workers less they could have made it cheaper but that wasn’t really what they were going for. They wanted to be the Cadillac in a market of Camrys and unfortunately they suffered for it because they weren’t selling a luxury product! Consoles are an entertainment good and as such they are only as good as the entertainment they provide. No one cares how cool a movie theater is if it only shows one movie. Ask any indie movie theater owner and they can tell you that even though they sell beer and Dutch chocolate it’s really hard to make a profit when you only show the same subtitled French movie and everyone wants to see “Big Space Man Kills Aliens Part 4.” And that’s really what gamers want, some form of “Big Space Man Kills Aliens Part 4” and Sony was only more than willing to oblige they just couldn’t get it shoved out the door. Meanwhile Microsoft is having their big space man killing legions of aliens and Nintendo has taken their myriad of racist characters and having them doing things in space, all to the joyful giggles of gamers.
Now I know that I’m supposed to be defending the system I’m just acknowledging its flaws. A high price tag and a limited library of games will always hinder the PS III but there have been some recent developments that make it an outstanding system. First, and I know that I’m going to get in trouble for saying this: The Console War is Over! Or at least the mad rush. The “Who’s Beating Whom” phase is over. We are now in the console marathon where a system must be judged by its overall library rather than its launch titles. Recently we’ve entered the phase in a console’s life where we’re tired of seeing what sort of gimmicky games or sequels are coming out and really start wanting the big ticket innovative games. Now this is also where I’m going to get in trouble, because the word innovative in most cases lacks definition. The Wii has always gotten the praise of being the innovative system but after a short spell of wiggling, gyrating, and twirling, the Wii-mote seems to have forgotten what the hell it was supposed to be doing. We got it, you have a motion tracking system. I can wiggle this thing and enemies will die. Super fun. The promise of a true motion capture system that can make you into a swordsman was long ago lost and the whole system is little more than button mashing. Once more everyone is going to say “But the Wii-mote is a sensitive system, you’re not using it right.” Really? Then tell me what game there is that I can’t be just as good at by wiggling the goddamn Wii-mote faster than the other guy. WarioWare does not count.
Ok. So with that said, I should probably explain what I want in a game: I have always looked for good storytelling, impressive locations, and a move to promote the idea that games can be art. And if you ask if better graphics make a better system, ask anyone who played The Force Unleashed on the Wii, then ask someone who played it on the PS III or Xbox 360. Graphics create ambiance, mood, and an immersive environment which sucks you in and makes you feel like you’re about to get your intestines ripped out by a rampaging hunter. “Oh but it’s not about that it’s about game play!” Wrong again. Ask anyone who played Half life 2 if they didn’t think that game had great game play. Ask anyone who played Gears of War 2 if that game didn’t have great game play. Ask people who played Little Big Planet, or Assasin’s Creed, or Bioshock, or Resistance, or Fallout 3, or Portal. Christ the list goes on and on and on. All of those are remarkable games and I never had to wave my controller around like an idiot to experience any innovation.
So now we get to my final point. Big Brother Bear did do something right and that was looking ahead. Blue rays are finally making a big splash on the market and if you’ve never watched a blue-ray treat yourself sometime because it really is a remarkable experience. Also the power of the PS III is definitely noticeably higher than the Xbox 360 and what you may have noticed about some of the above titles is that they are joint releases. Unfortunately, some of the games that I most enjoy are on the Xbox 360, and because of that it will always have a hold on my heart (deep down I want to be a rad skateboarder from the nineties). But when given the option of picking up a game on the Xbox or PS III, I’m always going to pick the PS III because it’s just that much more powerful. Plus with my HDMI cable hooked up to my blue ray player I don’t have to switch it back and forth to make my games rock. So that’s the thing. The power of the PS III makes it the Cadillac in the land of Camrys. But you know what? I’ve always wanted to drive a Cadillac.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Consoles and the Bazaar
Hi. My name is Dev and I’m a PC Gamer. There seem to be a dwindling few of us these days. Consoles are selling in the millions and every time I stop by the PC gaming aisle, the selection of games is depressingly thinner. Writers have been predicting doom (not Doom) for the PC gaming market for a while now, but I don’t think I fully grasped the overwhelming odds PC gamers are up against until I played Halo. Not Halo for the XBox, but Halo for the PC.
History Lesson: In 1999, Bungie Studios showed up at E3 with the first glimmers of a game called Halo that made game journalists crap their pants. It promised fantastic real time 3D rendering and realistic physics. PC fans were officially stoked. A year later, so much had changed. Microsoft dropped a bomb on the gaming community by announcing its own console. And in perfect Microsoft fashion, they went out and bought the shiniest game development asset to install as the crown jewel of their new game “box”. Suddenly, PC gamers lost a fantastic looking game and I admit I was fairly bitter for a long time. The rest is history. In 2001, Halo came out along with the original XBox and wasn’t just a fantastic success for the console but became a cultural event.
Then in 2003, Halo finally arrived on the PC. I picked it up, played it front to back, single and multiplayer, and I was completely surprised that my overall experience was a resounding “meh.” What happened? Where was the transcendent gaming experience that I had heard about for 2 years? The game that both fanboys and non-fanboys alike raised up as a pinnacle of video gaming? The game that helped sell nearly 25 million consoles and established Microsoft as a viable game company? All I knew was that this game did not hold up to the quality first person shooters I have experienced over the years as a PC gamer. To this day I replay the original Half-Life once every couple of years. I’ll still fall back into a quick Counter Strike addiction every once in a while. I’ll even load up some old Call of Duty. But I haven’t touched another Halo since I finished the first one.
It bothered me that I didn’t really like this game, so my brain kept trying to figure out why it was so freakin’ popular. I eventually came to a realization: How many quality first person shooters were on a console before Halo?
* Goldeneye (Which doesn’t really hold up very well anymore.)
* Maybe some early Medal of Honors
* Maybe Perfect Dark (Which was really Goldeneye 2.0.)
That’s it. Count ‘em. That’s all that console players had in one of the most dominant genres in video gaming. Meanwhile, from Doom onward, the PC was the home of the top notch shooter. Then Halo comes along, and in spite of its quality compared with contemporary PC shooters, it completely blows away every other game on the list above.
This led me to an even greater realization. The number of console gamers so outweighs the number of PC gamers that Halo had no other fate but to become the smash hit that it was. This may not be a great surprise to many, but it hit me like a headcrab to the face. I always saw the PC and consoles on an equal footing, each with their particular strengths, but none of them dominating to such a degree. A rock vs. paper vs. scissors vs. stick(?) type situation. Only now everything beats stick which was never a part of the game anyway. I leave it as extra credit to figure out which console equates to which object.
So what happened? How has the PC fallen so? Really it’s not a question of what the PC lost but what the consoles have gained. First off, computers always used to have in edge graphics-wise on consoles and still do, but graphics and graphics hardware have become so advanced that the difference between the tippy top eye burstingly gorgeous games and the plain ‘ol eye bleedingly purdy games is becoming increasingly negligible. It’s also becoming more of a chore to keep your computer stocked with the necessary hardware to guarantee consistent eye burstage. Furthermore, PCs used to be the sole masters of the internet, but with the most recent generation of hardware, consoles have finally gotten their act together on the online front. Finally, the third addition to consoles also came full force with the most recent generation: hard drives. Consoles have dominated PC gaming by blurring the line between the two. The only difference between them now is that consoles are customized PC platforms with a standardized programming model and hardware specific controllers. This basically guarantees that if a game runs on one XBox it’ll run on every XBox, which isn’t always the case for you every day PC.
So what’s left? Consoles have taken the hard drive, the internet and graphics, so how does the PC gaming market survive? A couple of months ago I urged my friend to get Valve’s Orange Box and play Portal as soon as possible. Anyone who hasn’t played Portal should consider it a Secret Shame of their gaming experience. He said that he’d pick it up for the XBox as soon a he could. Of course I protested, “No, no, no you have to play it on PC if at all possible.” To which he replies, “Why?” The best answer I could muster was “Uhhh....Feng shui?”
However, there’s hope yet. PCs will survive. They still retain a couple of aces that consoles may never be able to steal. Most obviously, the mouse and keyboard. There are just some games that will always work better with a mouse and keyboard. There are numerous high quality first person shooters on consoles now, but you’ll never get that whip fast “should I aim for the head or the nuts” quality precision that a mouse gives. Real time strategy also remains almost exclusively in the pocket of PC gaming. And I would be remiss without a mention of World of Warcraft which is like a small country of 800 pound gorillas. It and other complex MMOs seem to be firmly held by PCs and while each of these genres may eventually find a worthy representative on a console, it’ll take a spectacular feat of user interface design to make them work without a mouse and keyboard.
Keyboard and mouse aside though, here’s the biggest strength of the PC that will keep it gaming for many years to come. The PC is the most open, accessible and adaptable gaming platform there is. There may come a day when it’s simply not good business to release a Triple-A game on the PC. I believe we are currently seeing a shift in the PC gaming market. Big name titles are decreasing but for any new developer looking to make a splash and prove himself, any programming nut strapped for cash and any guy with a brain full of crazy new gameplay ideas will go to the PC first. Big game developers are scared of the new and crazy stuff. They simply can’t afford an expensive and risky concept to bomb. Like big Hollywood movies, the monster developers will go with something that’s worked before rather than take a chance. However, what the big guys can’t afford, the PC independent programmer can. The cost of creating a game on the PC is simply the cost of the computer and then the time, sweat and blood you pour into it. Want to make a game for the XBox, PS3 or Wii? Not so fast. You have to register and be approved as an official developer for those platforms and lay down a large chunk of change just for the necessary hardware and software tools to make a game for them. No game design noob is likely to jump through those hoops and saw blades just to get started. I believe PC gaming will become the bazaar to the console’s cathedral. The Linux to its Windows. A place where short, cheap and innovative games spread through out the internet and give developers a chance to test and implement their crazy new gameplay ideas.
This is the future of the PC. This is what the consoles will never have. So let Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft keep on with the endless hardware arms race. Let them have their Halo. Consoles will come and go but the PC will be hanging around for a long time to come.
-Dev Null
History Lesson: In 1999, Bungie Studios showed up at E3 with the first glimmers of a game called Halo that made game journalists crap their pants. It promised fantastic real time 3D rendering and realistic physics. PC fans were officially stoked. A year later, so much had changed. Microsoft dropped a bomb on the gaming community by announcing its own console. And in perfect Microsoft fashion, they went out and bought the shiniest game development asset to install as the crown jewel of their new game “box”. Suddenly, PC gamers lost a fantastic looking game and I admit I was fairly bitter for a long time. The rest is history. In 2001, Halo came out along with the original XBox and wasn’t just a fantastic success for the console but became a cultural event.
Then in 2003, Halo finally arrived on the PC. I picked it up, played it front to back, single and multiplayer, and I was completely surprised that my overall experience was a resounding “meh.” What happened? Where was the transcendent gaming experience that I had heard about for 2 years? The game that both fanboys and non-fanboys alike raised up as a pinnacle of video gaming? The game that helped sell nearly 25 million consoles and established Microsoft as a viable game company? All I knew was that this game did not hold up to the quality first person shooters I have experienced over the years as a PC gamer. To this day I replay the original Half-Life once every couple of years. I’ll still fall back into a quick Counter Strike addiction every once in a while. I’ll even load up some old Call of Duty. But I haven’t touched another Halo since I finished the first one.
It bothered me that I didn’t really like this game, so my brain kept trying to figure out why it was so freakin’ popular. I eventually came to a realization: How many quality first person shooters were on a console before Halo?
* Goldeneye (Which doesn’t really hold up very well anymore.)
* Maybe some early Medal of Honors
* Maybe Perfect Dark (Which was really Goldeneye 2.0.)
That’s it. Count ‘em. That’s all that console players had in one of the most dominant genres in video gaming. Meanwhile, from Doom onward, the PC was the home of the top notch shooter. Then Halo comes along, and in spite of its quality compared with contemporary PC shooters, it completely blows away every other game on the list above.
This led me to an even greater realization. The number of console gamers so outweighs the number of PC gamers that Halo had no other fate but to become the smash hit that it was. This may not be a great surprise to many, but it hit me like a headcrab to the face. I always saw the PC and consoles on an equal footing, each with their particular strengths, but none of them dominating to such a degree. A rock vs. paper vs. scissors vs. stick(?) type situation. Only now everything beats stick which was never a part of the game anyway. I leave it as extra credit to figure out which console equates to which object.
So what happened? How has the PC fallen so? Really it’s not a question of what the PC lost but what the consoles have gained. First off, computers always used to have in edge graphics-wise on consoles and still do, but graphics and graphics hardware have become so advanced that the difference between the tippy top eye burstingly gorgeous games and the plain ‘ol eye bleedingly purdy games is becoming increasingly negligible. It’s also becoming more of a chore to keep your computer stocked with the necessary hardware to guarantee consistent eye burstage. Furthermore, PCs used to be the sole masters of the internet, but with the most recent generation of hardware, consoles have finally gotten their act together on the online front. Finally, the third addition to consoles also came full force with the most recent generation: hard drives. Consoles have dominated PC gaming by blurring the line between the two. The only difference between them now is that consoles are customized PC platforms with a standardized programming model and hardware specific controllers. This basically guarantees that if a game runs on one XBox it’ll run on every XBox, which isn’t always the case for you every day PC.
So what’s left? Consoles have taken the hard drive, the internet and graphics, so how does the PC gaming market survive? A couple of months ago I urged my friend to get Valve’s Orange Box and play Portal as soon as possible. Anyone who hasn’t played Portal should consider it a Secret Shame of their gaming experience. He said that he’d pick it up for the XBox as soon a he could. Of course I protested, “No, no, no you have to play it on PC if at all possible.” To which he replies, “Why?” The best answer I could muster was “Uhhh....Feng shui?”
However, there’s hope yet. PCs will survive. They still retain a couple of aces that consoles may never be able to steal. Most obviously, the mouse and keyboard. There are just some games that will always work better with a mouse and keyboard. There are numerous high quality first person shooters on consoles now, but you’ll never get that whip fast “should I aim for the head or the nuts” quality precision that a mouse gives. Real time strategy also remains almost exclusively in the pocket of PC gaming. And I would be remiss without a mention of World of Warcraft which is like a small country of 800 pound gorillas. It and other complex MMOs seem to be firmly held by PCs and while each of these genres may eventually find a worthy representative on a console, it’ll take a spectacular feat of user interface design to make them work without a mouse and keyboard.
Keyboard and mouse aside though, here’s the biggest strength of the PC that will keep it gaming for many years to come. The PC is the most open, accessible and adaptable gaming platform there is. There may come a day when it’s simply not good business to release a Triple-A game on the PC. I believe we are currently seeing a shift in the PC gaming market. Big name titles are decreasing but for any new developer looking to make a splash and prove himself, any programming nut strapped for cash and any guy with a brain full of crazy new gameplay ideas will go to the PC first. Big game developers are scared of the new and crazy stuff. They simply can’t afford an expensive and risky concept to bomb. Like big Hollywood movies, the monster developers will go with something that’s worked before rather than take a chance. However, what the big guys can’t afford, the PC independent programmer can. The cost of creating a game on the PC is simply the cost of the computer and then the time, sweat and blood you pour into it. Want to make a game for the XBox, PS3 or Wii? Not so fast. You have to register and be approved as an official developer for those platforms and lay down a large chunk of change just for the necessary hardware and software tools to make a game for them. No game design noob is likely to jump through those hoops and saw blades just to get started. I believe PC gaming will become the bazaar to the console’s cathedral. The Linux to its Windows. A place where short, cheap and innovative games spread through out the internet and give developers a chance to test and implement their crazy new gameplay ideas.
This is the future of the PC. This is what the consoles will never have. So let Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft keep on with the endless hardware arms race. Let them have their Halo. Consoles will come and go but the PC will be hanging around for a long time to come.
-Dev Null
Waggle On You Crazy Cowboy
I am Evil Stoat and I am a hardcore Wii gamer. Take a second on that one. I am a man who loves gaming and loves his Wii. On weekends, I get together with Santa Claus and Bigfoot and we talk about how irritating it is that no one believes we exist. Amidst the soccer moms and hip geriatrics, we, the hardcore Wii gamers, tend to get overlooked. Occasionally you’ll see us in out of focus shots near Loch Ness or once every hundred years in the highlands of Scotland. Don’t be fooled though. We’re out there.
Nintendo has served me well over my many gaming years. It first brought me into the gaming world and has provided me with countless hours of entertainment ever since. I will admit to being a Nintendo fanboy. Not the kind that is blind to reason and capable of shattering a sane person’s mind with the sheer force of his inconceivable hyperbole, just the kind that really enjoys Nintendo products. What sets Nintendo apart from the rest is that they are a gaming company, pure and simple. Sony has a wide variety of focuses and Microsoft only recently extended their reach into the gaming world. Not Nintendo. They’ve been doing it since the ‘80s and have been all about the gamer that whole time. Who developed the idea of a joystick on a controller? Vibrating feedback? Thank Mr. Miyamoto and his team. How about picking up a product you won’t need to replace? Buy from Nintendo and you can beat it to hell and turn it right on. No red rings of death or any of the various Sony related bugs. The Big N has been good to me. So when they moved into the current generation, I went right along with them.
So on to the Wii. Let’s get a few things out of the way first. The Wii is not the most powerful machine on the market. The graphics aren’t the most awe inspiring. They cater to the “casual” gaming crowd. Waggling your Wiimote is seen as a pointless gimmick. These are the primary arguments against the Wii. To many a gamer, they render this console meaningless. I, however, dare you the reader to consider these points in more detail.
Graphics mean different things to different people. I have never been the kind of person to judge a game based on graphics alone. It’s great to see a game that blows you away with amazing visuals. However, in another year or so, some new game will come along and blow that one away. Then you’re just left with a game that used to have amazing visuals. Graphics are fleeting. Gameplay lasts forever. When I pick up a game, I intend to keep it. I never know when I’ll have an urge to jump back into a long forgotten title and relive the joy I once had with it. Were I one to be so hung up on look alone, I would never even consider busting out my old PS1 for a rousing bout of Chrono Cross out of disgust at its notably dated appearance. And then a sad individual I would be. The Wii may be less impressive graphically, but that doesn’t mean its titles are instantly hideous. Furthermore, developers have used this impediment to create more stylized games that are fascinating to watch for their unique style (take for instance No More Heroes or the upcoming MadWorld). I am in no way advocating that designers get lazy and make no attempt to create something visually stimulating. Laziness in any part of the process detracts from the final product as a whole. However, if given the choice, I would rather have an ugly game I can’t put down over a gorgeous gem that bores me to tears.
Many gamers over the past year or so have decried Nintendo for turning its back on the hardcore gaming crowd in favor of the easily placated casual crowd. There is some truth to this statement. With the Wii and the DS, Nintendo has managed to bring gaming to those who previously never even considered it. And with that came money. Lots of money. We’re in a recession right now and Nintendo executives can pull off a Scrooge McDuck style nosedive into their piles of cash. As such, this has affected them. Nintendo is running a business after all and it would be financial suicide for them not to capitalize on this market. Sadly, the past year didn’t have them churning out that many titles for the hardcore crowd. They started off with their big guns then kind of petered out (not to mention their dismal showing at the equally dismal E3). However, Nintendo knows this. They have heard the cries from the gamers. A whole host games designed specifically for the gaming community are poised and ready to be unleashed during 2009. Nintendo is an ambitious company. They essentially created the casual gaming audience. However, they were the ones who kept gaming afloat and have been about just that for the past twenty-odd years. They have always been about the gamers and they will never just leave us out in the cold.
The Wii is nothing but a gimmick. There are many titles out there that do little to challenge this comment. Many developers see that they’re creating a Wii title and add in unnecessary waggling or imprecise motion controls for little more reasoning than “because”. When implemented poorly, these mechanics come across as gimmicky. They add nothing to the game as a whole and often prove downright irritating. That is not to say that all motion controls are unnecessary. The Wii is an innovative system, particularly in regards to its control. Nintendo decided to try and change the way people thought about and played games and the Wiimote is a direct result of that. However, it’s still new. Having used a standard button press for all controls previously, it’s going to take some time for developers to get a strong grasp on the best way to implement the Wii’s uniqueness. Fortunately, it isn’t impossible. Games such as Wii Sports showcase its attributes phenomenally and produce games that truly can’t be played any other way. Furthermore, the controls scheme of Metroid Prime: Corruption and the Wii version of Resident Evil 4 further demonstrate that in capable hands, motion controls are capable of engaging gamers on new and intuitive levels. Bear well in mind also that the Wii Motion Plus will soon be arriving to bring the 1 to 1 ratio of input to action officially into play. Lastly, the Wii also offers a plethora of options for play controls. In many titles, motion controls are optional, allowing the player to decide their own level of “gimmick”. Whether you’re using the Wii Wheel or standard controls, Mario Kart is still damn fun. And that’s really what it’s all about.
While Nintendo has always been a company for the gamers, it has never been about being excessively “hardcore”. You may not find game after game of continuous bloodshed, but I’ll tell you what you will find: Fun. Nintendo is exceptionally skilled at not only creating games that are amazingly entertaining, but transcending so many barriers to do so. Anyone can pick up a Legend of Zelda title and have days’ worth of fun. Truly, when Nintendo puts its mind to making a quality product, you can bet I’ll be interested. They also are interested in handling things their own way. In the modern gaming world, online play is all the rage. True, Nintendo’s system is not the most ideal. However, unlike how everyone else immediately rips them off, Nintendo has taken its time to find the best possible solution for their system. Anxious to avoid the horrendous vulgarity and shamelessness present on XBox Live, for instance, they have refrained from simply using that model. As an important side note, I am far from a prude (you pretentious whoremongers). However, being assaulted by a hideous amalgamation of racial epithets and staggering ignorance is one of the reasons my experiences in online battles have been less than enjoyable. Nintendo may not have the answers yet, but I trust them to consider it thoroughly before throwing out their retort.
So yes, I love my Wii. It’s true that multi-platform titles aren’t best represented here and that developers haven’t quite gotten a full grasp on its potential, but it’s got it where it counts. It’s fun. And to me, that’s the mark of a true success. To the naysayers out there, bash me all you like. It won’t make me enjoy Smash Bros. any less. And to my Wii-centric brethren, hold strong my brothers and sisters. You have found something that touches on that inner part of your being that is full-fledged entertainment. The best is yet to come.
-Evil Stoat
Nintendo has served me well over my many gaming years. It first brought me into the gaming world and has provided me with countless hours of entertainment ever since. I will admit to being a Nintendo fanboy. Not the kind that is blind to reason and capable of shattering a sane person’s mind with the sheer force of his inconceivable hyperbole, just the kind that really enjoys Nintendo products. What sets Nintendo apart from the rest is that they are a gaming company, pure and simple. Sony has a wide variety of focuses and Microsoft only recently extended their reach into the gaming world. Not Nintendo. They’ve been doing it since the ‘80s and have been all about the gamer that whole time. Who developed the idea of a joystick on a controller? Vibrating feedback? Thank Mr. Miyamoto and his team. How about picking up a product you won’t need to replace? Buy from Nintendo and you can beat it to hell and turn it right on. No red rings of death or any of the various Sony related bugs. The Big N has been good to me. So when they moved into the current generation, I went right along with them.
So on to the Wii. Let’s get a few things out of the way first. The Wii is not the most powerful machine on the market. The graphics aren’t the most awe inspiring. They cater to the “casual” gaming crowd. Waggling your Wiimote is seen as a pointless gimmick. These are the primary arguments against the Wii. To many a gamer, they render this console meaningless. I, however, dare you the reader to consider these points in more detail.
Graphics mean different things to different people. I have never been the kind of person to judge a game based on graphics alone. It’s great to see a game that blows you away with amazing visuals. However, in another year or so, some new game will come along and blow that one away. Then you’re just left with a game that used to have amazing visuals. Graphics are fleeting. Gameplay lasts forever. When I pick up a game, I intend to keep it. I never know when I’ll have an urge to jump back into a long forgotten title and relive the joy I once had with it. Were I one to be so hung up on look alone, I would never even consider busting out my old PS1 for a rousing bout of Chrono Cross out of disgust at its notably dated appearance. And then a sad individual I would be. The Wii may be less impressive graphically, but that doesn’t mean its titles are instantly hideous. Furthermore, developers have used this impediment to create more stylized games that are fascinating to watch for their unique style (take for instance No More Heroes or the upcoming MadWorld). I am in no way advocating that designers get lazy and make no attempt to create something visually stimulating. Laziness in any part of the process detracts from the final product as a whole. However, if given the choice, I would rather have an ugly game I can’t put down over a gorgeous gem that bores me to tears.
Many gamers over the past year or so have decried Nintendo for turning its back on the hardcore gaming crowd in favor of the easily placated casual crowd. There is some truth to this statement. With the Wii and the DS, Nintendo has managed to bring gaming to those who previously never even considered it. And with that came money. Lots of money. We’re in a recession right now and Nintendo executives can pull off a Scrooge McDuck style nosedive into their piles of cash. As such, this has affected them. Nintendo is running a business after all and it would be financial suicide for them not to capitalize on this market. Sadly, the past year didn’t have them churning out that many titles for the hardcore crowd. They started off with their big guns then kind of petered out (not to mention their dismal showing at the equally dismal E3). However, Nintendo knows this. They have heard the cries from the gamers. A whole host games designed specifically for the gaming community are poised and ready to be unleashed during 2009. Nintendo is an ambitious company. They essentially created the casual gaming audience. However, they were the ones who kept gaming afloat and have been about just that for the past twenty-odd years. They have always been about the gamers and they will never just leave us out in the cold.
The Wii is nothing but a gimmick. There are many titles out there that do little to challenge this comment. Many developers see that they’re creating a Wii title and add in unnecessary waggling or imprecise motion controls for little more reasoning than “because”. When implemented poorly, these mechanics come across as gimmicky. They add nothing to the game as a whole and often prove downright irritating. That is not to say that all motion controls are unnecessary. The Wii is an innovative system, particularly in regards to its control. Nintendo decided to try and change the way people thought about and played games and the Wiimote is a direct result of that. However, it’s still new. Having used a standard button press for all controls previously, it’s going to take some time for developers to get a strong grasp on the best way to implement the Wii’s uniqueness. Fortunately, it isn’t impossible. Games such as Wii Sports showcase its attributes phenomenally and produce games that truly can’t be played any other way. Furthermore, the controls scheme of Metroid Prime: Corruption and the Wii version of Resident Evil 4 further demonstrate that in capable hands, motion controls are capable of engaging gamers on new and intuitive levels. Bear well in mind also that the Wii Motion Plus will soon be arriving to bring the 1 to 1 ratio of input to action officially into play. Lastly, the Wii also offers a plethora of options for play controls. In many titles, motion controls are optional, allowing the player to decide their own level of “gimmick”. Whether you’re using the Wii Wheel or standard controls, Mario Kart is still damn fun. And that’s really what it’s all about.
While Nintendo has always been a company for the gamers, it has never been about being excessively “hardcore”. You may not find game after game of continuous bloodshed, but I’ll tell you what you will find: Fun. Nintendo is exceptionally skilled at not only creating games that are amazingly entertaining, but transcending so many barriers to do so. Anyone can pick up a Legend of Zelda title and have days’ worth of fun. Truly, when Nintendo puts its mind to making a quality product, you can bet I’ll be interested. They also are interested in handling things their own way. In the modern gaming world, online play is all the rage. True, Nintendo’s system is not the most ideal. However, unlike how everyone else immediately rips them off, Nintendo has taken its time to find the best possible solution for their system. Anxious to avoid the horrendous vulgarity and shamelessness present on XBox Live, for instance, they have refrained from simply using that model. As an important side note, I am far from a prude (you pretentious whoremongers). However, being assaulted by a hideous amalgamation of racial epithets and staggering ignorance is one of the reasons my experiences in online battles have been less than enjoyable. Nintendo may not have the answers yet, but I trust them to consider it thoroughly before throwing out their retort.
So yes, I love my Wii. It’s true that multi-platform titles aren’t best represented here and that developers haven’t quite gotten a full grasp on its potential, but it’s got it where it counts. It’s fun. And to me, that’s the mark of a true success. To the naysayers out there, bash me all you like. It won’t make me enjoy Smash Bros. any less. And to my Wii-centric brethren, hold strong my brothers and sisters. You have found something that touches on that inner part of your being that is full-fledged entertainment. The best is yet to come.
-Evil Stoat
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Console Wars
Console fan boys are the lowest form of life. They are irritating, noisy, and blind. They have been around since the beginning, in various forms. Even the good-old Sega Master System had, and still has, its obsessives. To me, it stems from insecurity. There’s a fairly common conception that the most virulent homophobes are those who question their own sexuality. Likewise, the obsessive fan boy operates under the constant fear that he may have backed the wrong horse. Perhaps they’re even afraid that they aren’t really enjoying themselves, maybe they’re afraid that if they can’t enjoy the other systems, it’s because something is wrong with them.
Who knows? Looking into the minds of those who may not necessarily have functioning minds to look into is a fruitless exercise.
While the console vs. console arguments are multifaceted, there has not been a console yet with absolutely nothing going for it. Ok, except the Jaguar. Every console has had some kind of redeeming quality. Ok, except the 3DO. Maybe they excelled in a particular genre, or had a couple really good games to redeem an ocean of crap (Saturn). Ok, except the Lynx.
We’ve been lucky. The last two console generations haven’t had any system that really needed to be apologized for. The Playstation 2 may have been the clear winner, most notably because after nearly 10 years it’s still going, rivaling the survival of the original NES which lasted so long and acquired such a large library that at some point in the future it will likely get its own wing in the Library of Congress. The PS2 possessed, and still possesses a ridiculous variety of Triple-A games in nearly every genre that can be named.
Much as I acknowledge the PS2’s dominance, my love has always been for the Gamecube. The lunch box may have had a small number of games, but when they were good, they were good. They were also, frequently, highly inventive games like Pikmin and Eternal Darkness. Rare to mention those two in the same sentence, but both, highly original.
And then there was the Xbox. It had Halo. And Knights of the Old Repulbic. And to be fair, when you have Halo and Knights of the Old Republic you don’t actually need anything else. It also was the only console that was essentially a blunt instrument and could do a lot of damage if used as a weapon.
Today, however, things are more complicated. Far too complicated to cover in a single article. Therefore, for our inaugural week, Erudite Gamer will be running a four article breakdown of the current generation. We have brought out our partisans on every conceivable side to argue their cases. You should be aware now, that there will be no winner to this battle. Next week, we will not crown “Erudite Gamer’s Favorite System.” Our aim is to provoke your thoughts. Perhaps you will see the appeal to a system you never considered. Perhaps you will find your own opinions strengthened and reaffirmed. Perhaps, God forbid, you will think.
Stay tuned.
-Educated Guess
Who knows? Looking into the minds of those who may not necessarily have functioning minds to look into is a fruitless exercise.
While the console vs. console arguments are multifaceted, there has not been a console yet with absolutely nothing going for it. Ok, except the Jaguar. Every console has had some kind of redeeming quality. Ok, except the 3DO. Maybe they excelled in a particular genre, or had a couple really good games to redeem an ocean of crap (Saturn). Ok, except the Lynx.
We’ve been lucky. The last two console generations haven’t had any system that really needed to be apologized for. The Playstation 2 may have been the clear winner, most notably because after nearly 10 years it’s still going, rivaling the survival of the original NES which lasted so long and acquired such a large library that at some point in the future it will likely get its own wing in the Library of Congress. The PS2 possessed, and still possesses a ridiculous variety of Triple-A games in nearly every genre that can be named.
Much as I acknowledge the PS2’s dominance, my love has always been for the Gamecube. The lunch box may have had a small number of games, but when they were good, they were good. They were also, frequently, highly inventive games like Pikmin and Eternal Darkness. Rare to mention those two in the same sentence, but both, highly original.
And then there was the Xbox. It had Halo. And Knights of the Old Repulbic. And to be fair, when you have Halo and Knights of the Old Republic you don’t actually need anything else. It also was the only console that was essentially a blunt instrument and could do a lot of damage if used as a weapon.
Today, however, things are more complicated. Far too complicated to cover in a single article. Therefore, for our inaugural week, Erudite Gamer will be running a four article breakdown of the current generation. We have brought out our partisans on every conceivable side to argue their cases. You should be aware now, that there will be no winner to this battle. Next week, we will not crown “Erudite Gamer’s Favorite System.” Our aim is to provoke your thoughts. Perhaps you will see the appeal to a system you never considered. Perhaps you will find your own opinions strengthened and reaffirmed. Perhaps, God forbid, you will think.
Stay tuned.
-Educated Guess
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Erudite Manifesto
The internet is a cesspool: a raging sea of filth and stupidity, like the Potomac River or the state of Arkansas. Unlike the
Yes, I am aware of how pretentious I sound.
Nowhere is this truer than in the area of video gaming. As the technology and production values surrounding games become more sophisticated, the fanbase seems to become less so. Why?
Is this community truly composed of only the 21st Century’s waste and refuse?
Is there something in video games that destroys the mind, making us incapable of the basic fundamentals of the English language?
Are we so far regressed that we can’t see a question from both sides?
Can we not accept that another person’s opinion may actually be as valid as our own?
If I were to search the web for people writing about games, I would be forced to answer all of those questions with a resounding, and disappointed, “yes.” This community goes on about how it is not taken seriously, how we are not respected, and how the established world of art and literature refuses to accept video games for the unique creative endeavors that they are. Perhaps we have not considered that the blame for this does not lie with the creators of the games themselves, or with the established arts and literature community, but with us, the gamers.
Let me put this another way. If I were to discuss The Great Gatsby, and why I liked it, with another reader, it would involve me pointing out what was so great about the novel, what F. Scott Fitzgerald did as a writer in making one of the finest American novels ever. I would construct an argument of carefully reasoned points, backed with some kind of supporting evidence. I would not begin ranting about how amazing it is, how other books should be burned or ignored, and how anyone who didn’t enjoy the book was so-fucking-retarded-and-you-should-really-just-put-a -bullet-in-your-head-now-because-how-can-you-have-such-a-stupid-idea. Why don’t you just go and read Ethan Frome like the loser you are?
This is not how civilized discourse takes place.
Let’s say, on the other hand, that there was an internet forum discussing the success of the Xbox 360 versus the success of the Playstation 3. Burn down the gates, Romans, and say hello to the Visigoths, because civilization is not long for this world.
To be “erudite” is to be refined and cultured and articulate. I don’t believe that gaming culture is incapable of being erudite, but I think that those who would be inclined that way are choked out in a sea of obscenity, poor grammar, and hyperbole.
Thus, Erudite Gamer is born. We are the vanguard of responsible and intelligent reflection on all aspects of gaming culture. We will keep an open mind, and a ready delete key. We’re not just shoring up the gates against the Visigoths, however. Right now, there’s no
This may seem high minded, and a little pretentious. It is. Come back, though. See what content we begin to create, and then, judge for yourselves. This is not a review site. It is my belief that the multitudes of websites dedicated to that cause are more than adequate to the task. This is not a gossip, or a news site. Again, that base has been covered by those who came before us. Erudite Gamer is here to do something different. Or more, to do something that has been done from the beginning, but never done well. Think of us as the comments page, if it were populated by exceedingly wordy people with liberal arts degrees, and not by idiots who need to turn off the Caps Lock. That’s us. We want to talk about what’s going on and what it means. We want to compare games, look at the trends, speculate about where gaming is going, and generally say what needs to or wants to be said. We want to create a place where people can have intelligent conversations about video games instead of just screaming at each other. Our posts will be opinionated and open to your responses. Your responses will be open to our critique, and possible removal.
I close with one final thought, something to remember when you consider us. There is no such thing as an opinion that is wrong. We encourage people to disagree with and criticize us. But we also encourage you all to be civilized. To those of you unused to the concept, I assure that both are possible.
This is Erudite Gamer, and that’s my opinion till you show me a better one.
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