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The next time I see someone complaining about feminists being too sensitive about shit in video games I'm going to think of this and laugh even harder than usual
That other NieR Automata "controversy" mainly reminded me of this:
Realtalk though, my housemate told me 'NieR Automata was released today' the other day and I was in literal shock for about half a minute, at being in a world where a sequel to NieR even exists.
That other NieR Automata "controversy" mainly reminded me of this:
Realtalk though, my housemate told me 'NieR Automata was released today' the other day and I was in literal shock for about half a minute, at being in a world where a sequel to NieR even exists.
Not-Justice
Jun. 22nd, 2012 08:17 pmI created a new Tumblr to reply to someone on Twitter because I was sick of having to explain Deep Feels in 140 or less characters. I'll try using it (and this journal) more often. Thus:
Today, I realised I write all my public blog posts/comments using the same formula!
I've been playing Deathspank this week, and this is an excellent place to start. It's a genre of game I have no interest in, directed by a figure in the games industry I hold no nostalgic allegience to. Thus, for me, right now, it's perfect. No preconceptions, no risk of falling so hard for it I crack the foundations and have my house drop on my twattish head--all I have to do is pay attention to which greeblies are rushing at me, remember which weapon is mapped to which button, and stop drinking all my stealth potions by accident.
While I like a lot of silly meaningless shit, I can't stand the phrase 'leave your brain at the door', and describing Deathspank like this would be unfair to it and the efforts its developers went to. That doesn't mean it's not a Diablo-like $10 game slathered with goofy British accents and so far I've laughed out loud at exactly one line ('It makes 'em cranky!'). Beyond it's indie (so not getting into an argument about this word today) roots, it really wouldn't have interested me even a few months ago. I think the indie-ness was the only reason I bought it in the first place and it languished on my hard drive for more than a year before now.
What changed?
A lot did, most of it bad, most of it nothing to do with games.
I feel myself moving towards that formula I described above, heh...
I'll stop disgressing: After a period in which I seriously considered selling my collection and never touching a game again, something as "simple", "gamey" as Deathspank feels a little like learning how to play games again. It's challenging, but not hard, and when I screw up I don't lose hours of progress. It's a forgiving game without being too patronising or too easy. When I'm particularly drained after work I often run Mr Spank into a cloud of ghosts and spin him around making flrprpr noises until he dies--then I take a breath, concentrate and make progress, and I never have to worry if the plot's going to spit in my face (for any reason other than sardonic British comedy at least), or wonder how many people lost their jobs straight after it went gold. It is a little bit of game history of its own, but mostly, it's just fun, and I--the person who hates on marketing for being lazy and whose favourite games are all messed-up depressing flawed masterpieces--for once, even I appreciate that. And it is pretty funny I guess, I kind of nearly giggled when it said poop.
Today, I realised I write all my public blog posts/comments using the same formula!
[rambling introduction]This is getting on my tit, so in an effort to break this vicious cycle, I'll try writing some things about things that don't make my writing turn on auto-pilot.
[paragraphs full of commas and ellipses] <- repeat as necessary until:
[One-line overly dramatic summarising zinger]
[Conclusion, meander from the point, apologise for having an opinion, slink off]
I've been playing Deathspank this week, and this is an excellent place to start. It's a genre of game I have no interest in, directed by a figure in the games industry I hold no nostalgic allegience to. Thus, for me, right now, it's perfect. No preconceptions, no risk of falling so hard for it I crack the foundations and have my house drop on my twattish head--all I have to do is pay attention to which greeblies are rushing at me, remember which weapon is mapped to which button, and stop drinking all my stealth potions by accident.
While I like a lot of silly meaningless shit, I can't stand the phrase 'leave your brain at the door', and describing Deathspank like this would be unfair to it and the efforts its developers went to. That doesn't mean it's not a Diablo-like $10 game slathered with goofy British accents and so far I've laughed out loud at exactly one line ('It makes 'em cranky!'). Beyond it's indie (so not getting into an argument about this word today) roots, it really wouldn't have interested me even a few months ago. I think the indie-ness was the only reason I bought it in the first place and it languished on my hard drive for more than a year before now.
What changed?
A lot did, most of it bad, most of it nothing to do with games.
I feel myself moving towards that formula I described above, heh...
I'll stop disgressing: After a period in which I seriously considered selling my collection and never touching a game again, something as "simple", "gamey" as Deathspank feels a little like learning how to play games again. It's challenging, but not hard, and when I screw up I don't lose hours of progress. It's a forgiving game without being too patronising or too easy. When I'm particularly drained after work I often run Mr Spank into a cloud of ghosts and spin him around making flrprpr noises until he dies--then I take a breath, concentrate and make progress, and I never have to worry if the plot's going to spit in my face (for any reason other than sardonic British comedy at least), or wonder how many people lost their jobs straight after it went gold. It is a little bit of game history of its own, but mostly, it's just fun, and I--the person who hates on marketing for being lazy and whose favourite games are all messed-up depressing flawed masterpieces--for once, even I appreciate that. And it is pretty funny I guess, I kind of nearly giggled when it said poop.
Rock Paper Shotgun gets the best comments:
And he’ll sieze you, press-release you,
All the better just to fleece you,
He’s voracious,
And he knows just what it takes to make his shares flush,
Every game monetised, he’s got Bobby Kotick eyes.
And he’ll sieze you, press-release you,
All the better just to fleece you,
He’s voracious,
And he knows just what it takes to make his shares flush,
Every game monetised, he’s got Bobby Kotick eyes.
Trying to be less reclusive.
May. 22nd, 2011 12:07 amI finally got around to hooking my Playstation 2 back up and got in some GOD HAND
My right thumb seized up three stages in and I kicked a civilian in the face by accident. I love this game... and I still howl with laughter at the first Four Devas cutscene. It's even better when Elvis's voice actor played the main character in another game I may have mentioned.
Then I put in Drakengard. Cripes, when they called it a hateful Dynasty Warriors clone, they weren't kidding. I'm glad Caim doesn't talk for most of the game... but I enjoy the flying stages! We'll see how long that lasts.
I started reading the Drakengard 2 LP, but it's 95% whining about how shitty the main character is (kind of true) and I'm not in the mood, I'll go back to it when you-know-who shows up. The Dark Id is a great LPer, but his constant sarcasm and 'I am suffering for your sins' shtick wearies me when there are no remarkable moments in the game itself to balance it out. My pact partner took my sense of schadenfreude.
But I LOVE the character designer for Drakengard 1 and 2. He/she made a creepy little girl villain (one of my least favourite archetypes) look cool! If by some illicit lab experiment gone horribly wrong (or something) The Last Story is released outside Japan, I'm definitely looking into it.
My right thumb seized up three stages in and I kicked a civilian in the face by accident. I love this game... and I still howl with laughter at the first Four Devas cutscene. It's even better when Elvis's voice actor played the main character in another game I may have mentioned.
Then I put in Drakengard. Cripes, when they called it a hateful Dynasty Warriors clone, they weren't kidding. I'm glad Caim doesn't talk for most of the game... but I enjoy the flying stages! We'll see how long that lasts.
I started reading the Drakengard 2 LP, but it's 95% whining about how shitty the main character is (kind of true) and I'm not in the mood, I'll go back to it when you-know-who shows up. The Dark Id is a great LPer, but his constant sarcasm and 'I am suffering for your sins' shtick wearies me when there are no remarkable moments in the game itself to balance it out. My pact partner took my sense of schadenfreude.
But I LOVE the character designer for Drakengard 1 and 2. He/she made a creepy little girl villain (one of my least favourite archetypes) look cool! If by some illicit lab experiment gone horribly wrong (or something) The Last Story is released outside Japan, I'm definitely looking into it.
I quit my job a month ago (I kind of miss it, but it was definitely the right move, it was turning me into a person I don't find very appealing) and I am now staying with my mother in a small country town. I'm taking it easy and watching the pets (AKA free entertainment). There is an advert going out in the local newsletter saying 'computer repairs phone me' basically because I will need the moneys (more on that later). I am spending my last few days of guilt-free slacking... catching up on paperwork. Ugh! Well, I finally know how the hell superannuation works, I guess now is the best time to do it.
Almost by accident, I have planned a trip to Japan! I'll do the nerd runs (including Winter Comiket, oh boy) then after New Year I'll be wandering the country making an ass of myself, and I'll stop off in Kuala Lumpur with some other people on the way back. I'm very excited! But yeah, money. (The trip itself I can afford no problem, it's afterwards that scares me...)
Technically I'm looking around for courses to study, but nothing I've seen yet appeals to me at all (or aren't available externally). It doesn't help that while I am full of big words, I'm wondering if I am completely misled and if I should focus my talents elsewhere (what are my talents even?)
In the meantime, I'm tinkering with a Nier fan project that is overly ambitious as is usual for me, but at least it's a huge pile of fun. I have corpses of fanfics scattered all over the place and I want to concentrate on original stuff, so this is likely the last long-form fanwork I'll ever attempt. Thus, I'm trying my damndest to get a plot out of the thing, and... succeeding? What!? Well, the writing is a bit shite, but that's what draft revisions are for, aren't they?
All the Nier-ing was beginning to do my head in, so I played a bit more of the Undead Nightmare DLC for Red Dead Redemption last night as a palate cleanser. I'm one of those 'what zombies AGAIN?' wowsers, but it warms my heart to revisit the characters, and Professor MacDougal gets eaten by zombies in the first fifteen minutes which is worth 800 points alone 8D
I think I have wasted sufficient time. TTFN.
Almost by accident, I have planned a trip to Japan! I'll do the nerd runs (including Winter Comiket, oh boy) then after New Year I'll be wandering the country making an ass of myself, and I'll stop off in Kuala Lumpur with some other people on the way back. I'm very excited! But yeah, money. (The trip itself I can afford no problem, it's afterwards that scares me...)
Technically I'm looking around for courses to study, but nothing I've seen yet appeals to me at all (or aren't available externally). It doesn't help that while I am full of big words, I'm wondering if I am completely misled and if I should focus my talents elsewhere (what are my talents even?)
In the meantime, I'm tinkering with a Nier fan project that is overly ambitious as is usual for me, but at least it's a huge pile of fun. I have corpses of fanfics scattered all over the place and I want to concentrate on original stuff, so this is likely the last long-form fanwork I'll ever attempt. Thus, I'm trying my damndest to get a plot out of the thing, and... succeeding? What!? Well, the writing is a bit shite, but that's what draft revisions are for, aren't they?
All the Nier-ing was beginning to do my head in, so I played a bit more of the Undead Nightmare DLC for Red Dead Redemption last night as a palate cleanser. I'm one of those 'what zombies AGAIN?' wowsers, but it warms my heart to revisit the characters, and Professor MacDougal gets eaten by zombies in the first fifteen minutes which is worth 800 points alone 8D
I think I have wasted sufficient time. TTFN.
GODDAMMIT
I was all having fun mocking this game and then it went and broke my heart! D;
And then punched me in the face with heartwarming straight afterwards. Curse you. CURSE YOU!! I'm sorry I made fun of you, alright? But this is too much!
Is it too late to ask people in Comiket to go looking for doujin for me
I was all having fun mocking this game and then it went and broke my heart! D;
And then punched me in the face with heartwarming straight afterwards. Curse you. CURSE YOU!! I'm sorry I made fun of you, alright? But this is too much!
Is it too late to ask people in Comiket to go looking for doujin for me
Greetings from 2001!
Aug. 13th, 2010 06:49 pmI bought the original Max Payne a few weeks ago (for $3) and I haven't played it yet, but I looked at the instruction manual and I love the note from the developers. It's so earnest about its CUTTING EDGE features, it makes me nostalgic. Ahh, back when slow-mo was a novelty...
Here it is in its entirety:
( THANKS FOR BUYING THE GAME! )
Here it is in its entirety:
( THANKS FOR BUYING THE GAME! )
Zaratustra, the creator of the indie game Eversion and the Eversion HD remake now available for purchase from Steam, complained on Twitter that of all the reviews of the game on the internet, the single negative review was the one that wound up in the Chicago Tribune and LA Times.
I was curious, even though I'd read the review already! So, I went looking for it on the LA Times site.
No clear indication where video games are on the front page.
No clear indication where video game reviews are on the Entertainment page.
I said to myself, 'okay even those this site is run by newspapers, it IS a website' and I tried doing a search for 'eversion'. I got four results, none of which have anything to do with the game.
Brainwave: searched 'video games'. Over two thousand results, although the only result tangentially related to video games (no I am not counting cosplay photos) is an article about Hulu coming to PS3 from yesterday. No Eversion since at least the 10th of July.
No relevant results for 'video game reviews'
And none for that most insidious of catchphrases, 'indie games'
The only way I could wind up seeing the review on the LA Times site was from the reviewer's Tumblr account. I clicked on his Cave Story Wii review on CrispyGamer from this same Tumblr to see how he found this game by comparison, and it was a freaking broken link!
Not really a major stepping stone for games journalism's inclusion into traditional media, I'm afraid.
^ I wrote the above post a few weeks ago. I checked the sites again; it IS appearing on the Chicago Tribune site now when you search for 'eversion', but still no sign of it on the LA Times website.
As for the review itself--not every game needs to be Braid.
Bonus: Oranges or Apples: Which is More Successful!?
Super-extra-bonus: Ebert also winds people up about modern architecture, it seems
I was curious, even though I'd read the review already! So, I went looking for it on the LA Times site.
No clear indication where video games are on the front page.
No clear indication where video game reviews are on the Entertainment page.
I said to myself, 'okay even those this site is run by newspapers, it IS a website' and I tried doing a search for 'eversion'. I got four results, none of which have anything to do with the game.
Brainwave: searched 'video games'. Over two thousand results, although the only result tangentially related to video games (no I am not counting cosplay photos) is an article about Hulu coming to PS3 from yesterday. No Eversion since at least the 10th of July.
No relevant results for 'video game reviews'
And none for that most insidious of catchphrases, 'indie games'
The only way I could wind up seeing the review on the LA Times site was from the reviewer's Tumblr account. I clicked on his Cave Story Wii review on CrispyGamer from this same Tumblr to see how he found this game by comparison, and it was a freaking broken link!
Not really a major stepping stone for games journalism's inclusion into traditional media, I'm afraid.
^ I wrote the above post a few weeks ago. I checked the sites again; it IS appearing on the Chicago Tribune site now when you search for 'eversion', but still no sign of it on the LA Times website.
As for the review itself--not every game needs to be Braid.
Bonus: Oranges or Apples: Which is More Successful!?
Super-extra-bonus: Ebert also winds people up about modern architecture, it seems
Watching the Chrono Trigger programmer ending for no particular reason. I didn't realise Tetsuya Nomura is the guy who pulls the '3... 2... 1... RESET!' gag!
And Yasunori Mitsuda is the guy who says 'Now I'm going on a journey!' and runs out of the room :')
And Yasunori Mitsuda is the guy who says 'Now I'm going on a journey!' and runs out of the room :')
Journey looks like the video game I've always wanted to play. I'm probably going to buy a PS3 for it. Hot damn.
Why that didn't get more coverage over all that other shit at E3 is beyond me.
Other things from E3 that I like: Rod Humble, asked to introduce the Sims 3 console ports, blowing everybody's minds instead, and, maybe, possibly, the 3DS.
Why that didn't get more coverage over all that other shit at E3 is beyond me.
Other things from E3 that I like: Rod Humble, asked to introduce the Sims 3 console ports, blowing everybody's minds instead, and, maybe, possibly, the 3DS.
Ahahaha! I finally thought of something I can do for the Three Weeks of Dreamwidth!
Finish all the games I've barely started, then write about them!
Gamecube games (that I think actually belong to Bean, I should let him know I still have them, if he wants them back...)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Zelda: The Wind Waker
Metroid Prime
Viewtiful Joe 2, Sylvia playthrough just to make life harder on myself
PS2 (I don't have one! Easy enough to get one.)
Canis Canem Edit (Bully to you.)
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
Kenka Bancho (uhhhh probably too NIGHTMARE MODE. When a major mechanic involves obscure 80s slang kanji... yeah.)
X-Box
Pirates!(!!) (will have to check if it works on my 360)
X-Box 360
Mass Effect
Kane and Lynch
Mirror's Edge (already started)
Brutal Legend (already started can't be bothered with the metal umlaut. When does it turn into a RTS? Hasn't happened yet...)
Nintendo DS
Mario and Luigi: Bower's Inside Story
Heroes of Mana
The World Ends With You (Why haven't I played more of this? Seriously. :| I'll get a certain somebody to bother me about it.)
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
PC games
The Spirit Engine 2
Time, Gentlemen, Please!
The Shivah
More indie games I've downloaded and haven't played yet that I can't think of right now
Oh man, I think I have a copy of Theme Hospital here don't I? Maybe that's too nightmare mode as well...
Focus (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)
I'm thinking I could start a comm with a goofy name (I'm thinking Summer of Games or something, even though it's autumn here hahahah) and invite the very few other video gamers on DW to join in if they want. Bad idea? Terrible idea? Maybe I should go find my shoes and think about it, my lift is due minus ten minutes ago...
Finish all the games I've barely started, then write about them!
Gamecube games (that I think actually belong to Bean, I should let him know I still have them, if he wants them back...)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Zelda: The Wind Waker
Metroid Prime
Viewtiful Joe 2, Sylvia playthrough just to make life harder on myself
PS2 (I don't have one! Easy enough to get one.)
Canis Canem Edit (Bully to you.)
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
Kenka Bancho (uhhhh probably too NIGHTMARE MODE. When a major mechanic involves obscure 80s slang kanji... yeah.)
X-Box
Pirates!(!!) (will have to check if it works on my 360)
X-Box 360
Mass Effect
Kane and Lynch
Mirror's Edge (already started)
Brutal Legend (already started can't be bothered with the metal umlaut. When does it turn into a RTS? Hasn't happened yet...)
Nintendo DS
Mario and Luigi: Bower's Inside Story
Heroes of Mana
The World Ends With You (Why haven't I played more of this? Seriously. :| I'll get a certain somebody to bother me about it.)
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
PC games
The Spirit Engine 2
Time, Gentlemen, Please!
The Shivah
More indie games I've downloaded and haven't played yet that I can't think of right now
Oh man, I think I have a copy of Theme Hospital here don't I? Maybe that's too nightmare mode as well...
Focus (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)
I'm thinking I could start a comm with a goofy name (I'm thinking Summer of Games or something, even though it's autumn here hahahah) and invite the very few other video gamers on DW to join in if they want. Bad idea? Terrible idea? Maybe I should go find my shoes and think about it, my lift is due minus ten minutes ago...
