Curmudgeon Gamer
01 May 2008
Video game canons and flesh colored band-aids
I was obviously asleep when the announcement was made that this stab at a video game canon was announced last year:
Mr. Lowood and the four members of his committee — the game designers Warren Spector and Steve Meretzky; Matteo Bittanti, an academic researcher; and Christopher Grant, a game journalist — announced their list of the 10 most important video games of all time:
Okay, I can pick at the list. Anybody can pick out a list. Did they screw up? Sure. Where's KABOOM!? (kidding on that one -- for now)
What concerns me is that these guys are, well, just that. All white guys. Sure, it's a pretty good crosssection of dark haired white guys. There's a short one. One that's not ashamed of his poor vision. Two -- no, on second glance, three -- major facial hair decisions. Still, as humans go, it's a pretty diversity challenged group on its face, har har.
What else unites the Superfriends of Ludological Canonization? That they all decided not to make their rationalizations for picking these ten easily Googleable [by me].
In any event, even if white guys too largely made the games and white guys too largely play/ed the games, is that really a good reason that white guys should pick the games? I imagine these guys would likely find my dimestore critique here uncontroverstial, but then why not branch out before announcing your list at the Game Developers' Conference and posing for the NY Freakin' Register of the US Times?
Insert smilie.
Labels: classic, culture, ethics, hype, marketing, peer pressure, pretension, retro
--ruffin at 11:46
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[ 6 ]
27 April 2008
Ludicrous Ludology
From Ruffin below:
Without disagreeing with Ruffin on this point (see End of the World predictions in comments to that post), I fear that most people who've heard the word think that ludology is by definition "pseudo-academic tripe".
I solicit your considered opinions: should there be ludology (or, if you think that's too high-falutin' a term, "game studies" or "game analysis" or "game commentary and criticism")? If it isn't tripe, what is it? What makes good ludology? Is it essentially the same as movie criticism for games? Or is it mathematical "game theory" applied to real games?
I'm sure there's commentary about this throughout the web (ludology.org as well as gamasutra spring to mind), but they're a bunch of yahoos. What do the curmudgeons think?
This pseudo-academic tripe gives every ludologist a bad name.
Without disagreeing with Ruffin on this point (see End of the World predictions in comments to that post), I fear that most people who've heard the word think that ludology is by definition "pseudo-academic tripe".
I solicit your considered opinions: should there be ludology (or, if you think that's too high-falutin' a term, "game studies" or "game analysis" or "game commentary and criticism")? If it isn't tripe, what is it? What makes good ludology? Is it essentially the same as movie criticism for games? Or is it mathematical "game theory" applied to real games?
I'm sure there's commentary about this throughout the web (ludology.org as well as gamasutra spring to mind), but they're a bunch of yahoos. What do the curmudgeons think?
--Bob at 09:02
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[ 2 ]
26 March 2008
Down the memory hole
So there are reportedly leaked maps of GTA4's Liberty City. Neat.
I guess it should have been obvious to me, but I'd just assumed they'd build detail into the "existing" Liberty City that we all knew from GTA3 and GTA:LCS. So much for all that.
I know Liberty City about as well as any fictional world I've played, and I am a little disappointed that I won't have that leg-up when GTA4 hits next month. It would have been neat to have some of that memory helping me get out of tight spots on the run...
I'm guessing that this is essentially what happened to Liberty City from the original GTA when GTA3 came out...
I guess it should have been obvious to me, but I'd just assumed they'd build detail into the "existing" Liberty City that we all knew from GTA3 and GTA:LCS. So much for all that.
I know Liberty City about as well as any fictional world I've played, and I am a little disappointed that I won't have that leg-up when GTA4 hits next month. It would have been neat to have some of that memory helping me get out of tight spots on the run...
I'm guessing that this is essentially what happened to Liberty City from the original GTA when GTA3 came out...
--jvm at 16:25
Comment
[ 3 ]
19 June 2007
Ah, EB Games and the reader "reviews"
What the heck is it about EB Games that has "readers" writing "reviews" like they've the IQ of kittens?
First, the obvious question. Why was I looking at this Sims expansion? I get the EB Games' email, pretending some day I'll find a deal, and had no idea what "H&M Fashion Stuff" was. They got me; I had to give it a quick look. H&M is apparently some "European fashion retailer that is taking the US by storm with its trendsetting contemporary fashions". Go figure. Now H&M is a game, of sorts. That's right, there are people willing to purchase advertising for $20. No wonder everyone wants to copy the "success" of The Sims. I just don't get it. (Caveat: I did, at one time, wear a Coca-Cola collared shirt in junior high, and occasionally wear highly commercialized t-shirts to this day. Idiots abound.)
The problem is that, regardless of how inane the expansion being "reviewed" sounds, it doesn't explain the comments above, which I find are pretty representative on ebgames.com as a whole. I particularly like the reviews for games that haven't even been released. "***** This R0x0rz!!! I'm gunna git it fur shur!"
Now here's my only semi-serious point that could possibly take this painful post away from being nothing more than another ill-begotten rant: Could the gaming rag culture of providing overly-positive previews and advocacy-disguised-as-journalism be contributing to the production of this sort of mindless drivel by consumers?
Like cows to the slaughter, I wonder.
***** want it soo badly
Reviewed By: simcrazy Date: Monday, June 18, 2007
i really dont care if people say this game is bad because the guys actually have a better bathing suit! i think this is a must have expansion pack.
*** Really not worth it!!!!!
Reviewed By: Susame Date: Thursday, June 07, 2007
I bought this game yesterday and it has about ten new outfits for the girls the men don't really have as many. The game is not bad but it wasn't what I expected I thought you will be able to create your own outfits, but that's not the case. So it's not a must have, but if you jus ... [More]
***** Tested... liked it
Reviewed By: Evelin Date: Wednesday, June 06, 2007
I tested this game for maxis & it rocks!!I love the sims & never get tired of it like some people. This game is new & fun...Like they said this is a must-have for your sims!!I know youll enjoy this
Happy Simming
E.M
First, the obvious question. Why was I looking at this Sims expansion? I get the EB Games' email, pretending some day I'll find a deal, and had no idea what "H&M Fashion Stuff" was. They got me; I had to give it a quick look. H&M is apparently some "European fashion retailer that is taking the US by storm with its trendsetting contemporary fashions". Go figure. Now H&M is a game, of sorts. That's right, there are people willing to purchase advertising for $20. No wonder everyone wants to copy the "success" of The Sims. I just don't get it. (Caveat: I did, at one time, wear a Coca-Cola collared shirt in junior high, and occasionally wear highly commercialized t-shirts to this day. Idiots abound.)
The problem is that, regardless of how inane the expansion being "reviewed" sounds, it doesn't explain the comments above, which I find are pretty representative on ebgames.com as a whole. I particularly like the reviews for games that haven't even been released. "***** This R0x0rz!!! I'm gunna git it fur shur!"
Now here's my only semi-serious point that could possibly take this painful post away from being nothing more than another ill-begotten rant: Could the gaming rag culture of providing overly-positive previews and advocacy-disguised-as-journalism be contributing to the production of this sort of mindless drivel by consumers?
Like cows to the slaughter, I wonder.
Labels: culture, journaltisement, reviews, useless
--ruffin at 09:41
Comment
[ 0 ]
18 January 2007
Death of the Rhino
What bothers me most about the death of Rhino Games is a kind of cultural loss. Not that Rhino was any proponent of videogame culture, necessarily, but the very existence of NES games on the shelves at least acknowledged that videogames go back further than six years. With Rhino gone, the oldest console games for sale in my city will be from the October 2000 launch of the PlayStation 2. Everything before that might as well not exist.
When I moved to my current city I knew of three independent game shops, each of which had many games for older systems for sale somewhere. In a one hour trip around town I could find games for:
Sadly, all of those shops have closed in the last two years. Only empty strip mall husks remain, empty wire shelves and a few stray game promotion posters still attached to the walls.
In the meantime I could deal with the missing Atari stuff as long as I had a Rhino games to visit. From the NES forward, they seemed to stock most everything that interested me. I tried to find what I wanted there before going to the bigger stores, and I know for sure that I bought several new PSP games there at full price.
With Rhino gone, the time horizon for console games has been moved up to the year 2000. It will be as if nothing before the PlayStation 2 ever existed*. A kid walking into a GameStop today wouldn't know about the original Earthworm Jim or happen to see Goldeneye 007 on the shelves and be curious enough to try it out. The store's focus on only the most profitable games, the newest ones, will necessarily limit the consumer's focus on those same games.
To me that's a loss, not just personally but for the whole culture that's grown up around videogames.
* It is worth noting that GameStop/EB Games stores still seem to stock classic Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. So something from before October 2000 is in the stores, but it's limited to a very small corner of the Game Boy/DS used game case.
When I moved to my current city I knew of three independent game shops, each of which had many games for older systems for sale somewhere. In a one hour trip around town I could find games for:
- Atari 2600
- Atari 5200
- Atari 7800
- Atari Lynx
- Atari Jaguar
- Sega Master System
- Sega Genesis
- Sega CD
- Sega 32X
- Sega Saturn
- Sega Dreamcast
- Sega Game Gear
- Sony PlayStation
- NES
- SNES
- N64
- TurboGrafx 16
Sadly, all of those shops have closed in the last two years. Only empty strip mall husks remain, empty wire shelves and a few stray game promotion posters still attached to the walls.
In the meantime I could deal with the missing Atari stuff as long as I had a Rhino games to visit. From the NES forward, they seemed to stock most everything that interested me. I tried to find what I wanted there before going to the bigger stores, and I know for sure that I bought several new PSP games there at full price.
With Rhino gone, the time horizon for console games has been moved up to the year 2000. It will be as if nothing before the PlayStation 2 ever existed*. A kid walking into a GameStop today wouldn't know about the original Earthworm Jim or happen to see Goldeneye 007 on the shelves and be curious enough to try it out. The store's focus on only the most profitable games, the newest ones, will necessarily limit the consumer's focus on those same games.
To me that's a loss, not just personally but for the whole culture that's grown up around videogames.
* It is worth noting that GameStop/EB Games stores still seem to stock classic Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. So something from before October 2000 is in the stores, but it's limited to a very small corner of the Game Boy/DS used game case.
Labels: culture, game stores
--jvm at 09:50
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[ 6 ]
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