Randomly Crap Out Your Opinions Thread

[afterstasis]

I'll try the others, but Dungeon Defenders was not my thing at all.

I need to buy Natural Selection 2, now that I think about it.

[Dante1847]

random awesome discovery of the day: found a chemist here that sells codeine tablets for the price of a 12 oz can of soda.

[GandWuser]

Random Unpopular Opinion: Although I hate to crap on such a classic band, most of what I've listened to by Pink Floyd is pretty boring.

[afterstasis]

I saw a band cover Earth Crisis last night, so I got high.

[clashcityrocker10]

Earth Crisis was just mentioned, so I got high.

[Runesmith]

Earth Crisis was just mentioned, so I got high.

Makes me want to clean my room all of a sudden.

I recommend reading Anna Anthropy's work. She is a transgendered video game creator (she made Dys4ia) who also writes a lot.

Her Blog. (you'll notice that this is where I found out about Mainchichi)

An exerpt from her amazing book/manifesto.

A great article she wrote in which she mentions sexuality in the ME series.




Yes, that's the initial reaction of many people because these video games don't focus on aspects that define games. The problem with the video game nomenclature is that we say "games", but the word game and the expression video game are completely different concepts. The video game is a medium and just like the comic book is not necessarily comical, the video game is not necessarily a game in the strict sense. Video games do not have to focus on challenge, but rather have to present a set of rules. Look at a game like The Graveyard. It's super simple; it has minimal challenge and you can't win or lose (at least it's not presented that way). It's an experience defined by rules (in this case implicit): walk towards the bench and turn around, wait, walk out of the cemetary. One could argue that you lose if you don't follow these rules; the goal is to experience the narrative and you can't if you don't follow the rules.

Video games don't have to be games, and while many people would not care to experience a video game they would not tend to classify as a game, games like Dear Esther are quite popular and are distributed on video game distribution channels.


(I'm procrastinating my student work but it still feels so academic... I think I'm growing into some kind of student mutant)

Done and done. Reading her blog just makes me hope that bigger game studios pick up on some of those concepts soon.

Hmm. I'm still not sure if I'd consider those video games - but that's not a bad thing. When I think "video game," user interactivity comes to mind first and foremost. Competition, winning, etc. don't even factor into my personal definition of the term "video game"; for instance, The Sims is one of my absolute favorite series. Dear Esther and The Graveyard, while good, just seem more like novels to me. They transcend (and stand apart from) the video game medium.

Welcome to college.

[LegendofRock3021]

Was able to grab the 3rd season of Arrested Development for a little over $10. It has quickly become one of my favorite TV shows, so I was really happy to see it was on sale for so much. The wireless router I was looking to buy also dipped in price, so I'll probably buy that soon as well.

[Insane3]

Makes me want to clean my room all of a sudden.



Done and done. Reading her blog just makes me hope that bigger game studios pick up on some of those concepts soon.

Hmm. I'm still not sure if I'd consider those video games - but that's not a bad thing. When I think "video game," user interactivity comes to mind first and foremost. Competition, winning, etc. don't even factor into my personal definition of the term "video game"; for instance, The Sims is one of my absolute favorite series. Dear Esther and The Graveyard, while good, just seem more like novels to me. They transcend (and stand apart from) the video game medium.

Welcome to college.

Well I think I understand what you mean. Considering video games are the most flexible artistic (I hate this word) medium for interactive storytelling, it seems logical to expect the "best" videogames to be the ones that give the player the most agency in narrative interaction. When I say that, I'm thinking Minecraft, The Sims, Eve Online and even, to a lesser extent, The Elder Scrolls.

However, I don't think that an attribute of a medium implies a critical approach. Films and video art, for example, are the only medium (apart from videogames) that have both sound and visual. Nonetheless, silent films can still be equally "valuable" to the point that some important experimental filmmakers (especially in the 60's) chose to make completely silent films (such as Brakhage with Cat's Craddle or Dog Star Man).

I don't think good videogames have to give agency and freedom to the player. I think this is just one of the many valuable approaches to videogame making. Just like with any art form (again that word), we lose sense of what the medium does (and can do) when we try to define it into a frame (in this case: interactivity).

Furthermore, I think transcending a medium's definition is an amazing thing and, therefore, that this very discussion is a testimony that something amazing is happening with the videogame medium.



In the end, however, whether we agree about a definition of videogames doesn't really matters, what I'd really like to know is whether you appreciate "games" like Dys4ia.

[Runesmith]

Well I think I understand what you mean. Considering video games are the most flexible artistic (I hate this word) medium for interactive storytelling, it seems logical to expect the "best" videogames to be the ones that give the player the most agency in narrative interaction. When I say that, I'm thinking Minecraft, The Sims, Eve Online and even, to a lesser extent, The Elder Scrolls.

However, I don't think that an attribute of a medium implies a critical approach. Films and video art, for example, are the only medium (apart from videogames) that have both sound and visual. Nonetheless, silent films can still be equally "valuable" to the point that some important experimental filmmakers (especially in the 60's) chose to make completely silent films (such as Brakhage with Cat's Craddle or Dog Star Man).

I don't think good videogames have to give agency and freedom to the player. I think this is just one of the many valuable approaches to videogame making. Just like with any art form (again that word), we lose sense of what the medium does (and can do) when we try to define it into a frame (in this case: interactivity).

Furthermore, I think transcending a medium's definition is an amazing thing and, therefore, that this very discussion is a testimony that something amazing is happening with the videogame medium.



In the end, however, whether we agree about a definition of videogames doesn't really matters, what I'd really like to know is whether you appreciate "games" like Dys4ia.

I agree. The definition isn't what's important; it's what we get out of the "game" that is. Personally, playing through Dys4ia was an emotional, touching experience for me - the mark of any great artistic (euugh, right?) work. Whether it's a video game or not is pretty irrelevant. However, the inner RPG nut in me thinks Dys4ia would be an even more impactful experience if refashioned into an open-ended, highly interactive work. Even if it was only a text-based "game." It's a shame that many game studios shy away from topics outside the usual good vs. evil spectrum.

RO: Out of curiosity, would any forum regulars consider The Gathering a progressive metal band?

[killer_roach]

RO: Out of curiosity, would any forum regulars consider The Gathering a progressive metal band?

I think you could make that case... there are progressive underpinnings throughout their career. Anymore I think you'd have the tougher case classifying them as "metal" than "progressive" (Wiki calls them alternative rock anymore).