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Criticism as Inspiration

post #1 of 17
3/3/07 at 12:52pm
Thread Starter 
My dander is up.

http://chud.com/mastercontrol/9124
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post #2 of 17
3/3/07 at 3:03pm

RE: Criticism as Inspiration

Yay.

I completely agree with your sentiments. Good writing or criticism is dependant upon the author and should not change in quality due to the quality of the work in question.

Such an arugment seems like a silly cop out in the same vein of, "I meant to do that." or "I really wasn't trying anyway."

When William Burroughs wrote a thin little autobiography based upon his interest in cats, the man did not become less articulate or gay.

I despise formulaic boring reviews/critiques (a major reason why I visit CHUD) and refuse to give the author the benefit of the doubt just because he was reviewing, Barbie: Magical Dance Kingdom 5. Give me a hyper link to a monkey drinking his own piss, or simply present a 5 year old's drawing as a supplement to the review, just don't give me a connect the dots review of how boring it is but still give it a 8 out of 10 because you imagined that if you were a little girl in a pink dress named Stacy that you would really dig the fucking title.
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post #3 of 17
3/3/07 at 4:15pm
Great commentary. I read the joystiq article this morning and was hoping you'd write something on it.

The opinion of the article is functionally retarded.
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post #4 of 17
3/3/07 at 6:24pm
That article rocked the house, Ian. Great stuff.

And Joystiq kind of sucks anyway. Go Kotaku!
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post #5 of 17
3/3/07 at 6:57pm
Thread Starter 
Now that you mention it, Matt, what is everybody's favorite gaming news site? I grab a lot from the various blogs, because the big stories float to the top, but where do you guys find the best, reliable gaming writing? Gamespot might be my favorite in quality.
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post #6 of 17
3/3/07 at 6:58pm
Great thoughtful piece. I do wish to quibble with this bit:

Quote:
While my collar is hot, let me finish off by saying that Mr. Snow's focus on story as sole touchstone of maturity is a further insult to gaming criticism. Gameplay elements are on equal footing with story elements in a true critic's regard.
In my opinion, gameplay is far more important than story. I think that part of what's hurting the games industry these days is that it's being overrun with designers who have pretensions of being film directors. A game is not a movie, and I'd like them to stop trying to erase the line. The last thing I want is for the gaming landscape to be overtaken by people who think Final Fantasy is an example of a great game franchise.

When I want to watch a movie, I watch a movie. When I play a game, I want gameplay. Cutscenes are something I skip.
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post #7 of 17
3/3/07 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iandonnell
Now that you mention it, Matt, what is everybody's favorite gaming news site? I grab a lot from the various blogs, because the big stories float to the top, but where do you guys find the best, reliable gaming writing? Gamespot might be my favorite in quality.
Destructoid, Kotaku, and Gamespot, primarily.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
In my opinion, gameplay is far more important than story. I think that part of what's hurting the games industry these days is that it's being overrun with designers who have pretensions of being film directors. A game is not a movie, and I'd like them to stop trying to erase the line. The last thing I want is for the gaming landscape to be overtaken by people who think Final Fantasy is an example of a great game franchise.
Without turning this into yet another "games aren't art" criticism dickfight, there's more than a fair share of games that do both without veering into Hideo Kojima sit-n-watch territory. Fact is, story and high concept have been the fuel for some of the best innovations in gaming these days, and I wouldn't tell developers to deny the impulse to tell great cinematic stories if my life depended on it, especially if God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill, Half Life 2, RE4, Metroid Prime, or Psychonauts is the result. To want such is to call for a muzzle on the creativity of the industry as a whole.
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post #8 of 17
3/3/07 at 8:22pm
No, when the elements are properly balanced, you really do get a great game that offers the best of everything. I just object to game developers who consider story and character above all else, and build game elements that aren't anything special over the top of it. Especially when said developers really have no grasp of storytelling, and those elements wind up being lackluster as well.

There's a trend toward hiring professional writers to handle the story elements, allowing the game designers to focus on game design, which is a step in the right direction.
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post #9 of 17
3/3/07 at 8:31pm
I read Joystiq at work because it's the only game site that isn't blocked. They do have a lot of updates, but the writing is beyond shitty.
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post #10 of 17
3/3/07 at 8:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
There's a trend toward hiring professional writers to handle the story elements, allowing the game designers to focus on game design, which is a step in the right direction.


Mmm...not really.
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post #11 of 17
3/3/07 at 8:38pm
Okay, well no plan is perfect.
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post #12 of 17
3/3/07 at 10:53pm
Good column Ian, and good points, Greg.
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post #13 of 17
3/4/07 at 1:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
When I want to watch a movie, I watch a movie. When I play a game, I want gameplay. Cutscenes are something I skip.
Your quibbles are appreciated, Greg-- I've got a riposte. Unfortunately, it's a weak one: I said story and gameplay elements are on equal footing because it completely depends on the game. I quoted the above because it represents a viable opinion, but there are people who view gaming as a narrative medium, and those that view it as an interactive medium, and then ranges in between. Crow's got a great point in that calling for developers to quell their creativity isn't going to further anyone's agenda.

What fascinates me is that the games that Crow listed as being successful compromises between gameplay and narration are the ones that are most often emulated, or cited as inspiration by future developers. Metal Gear Solid? Well-enough respected, but almost no one bothers to interact with gamers like that.
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post #14 of 17
3/4/07 at 10:20pm
I read the article and agree with what you said. It reminds me of a time when a GBA game came out called Karnaaj Rally. A gem of a racer made as a tribute to the old style RC videogames where the track is viewed from the top down. About half of the reviews for this game panned it and it was clear in those reviews that the reviewer hadn't even bothered to take the game out of the box, because the box design was juvenile and frankly sucked:


This is the first time i remember thinking to myself how bias some game reviewers are. It especially surprised me that the gaming publication I was into the most (EGM) panned this game and openly admitted to never even taking the game out of it's box.
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post #15 of 17
3/4/07 at 10:24pm
It sounds like you were reading Seanbaby's page, which is a humor feature. He doesn't seriously review games, he makes fun of them. That's his job.
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post #16 of 17
3/4/07 at 10:35pm
I know but I still think the game should have gotten a proper review. There were other games in that issue which were far worse than this one and yet they seemed to devote more more time to them than they did to this.
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post #17 of 17
3/7/07 at 12:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Goldberg
That article rocked the house, Ian. Great stuff.

And Joystiq kind of sucks anyway. Go Kotaku!
They both suck big time,i havent seen their blogs in years they are paid by micro$oft anyways, damn corruption.
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