Curmudgeon Gamer
03 December 2008
More Words You Are Not Allowed To Use In Your Game
Continued from previously. Again, include all cognates. Again, exceptions as listed.
Infect (if you're referring to bacteria then you get a pass, otherwise....)
Assimilate (in all Borg-ish contexts, so Grand Theft Auto IV is allowed to use this, but you are not)
World (the only exception here is World of Goo)
Light (especially when prefixed by the word "of")
Demonic (Unless you've read all, and I mean every freaking word, of the Divine Comedy. If you're gonna throw this around, you'd better know what it means.)
Angelic (We are equal opportunity snarkers.)
Chosen (Especially if it's unclear who's supposed to be doing the choosing. Pervasive, subtle personification of God/destiny/fate is a disease, and I'm the cure.)
Ninja (Exceptions granted if your ninjas are obviously from the Japanese culture. Of Earth, not Generic Fantasyland.)
Portal (Unless your game is named it.)
Infect (if you're referring to bacteria then you get a pass, otherwise....)
Assimilate (in all Borg-ish contexts, so Grand Theft Auto IV is allowed to use this, but you are not)
World (the only exception here is World of Goo)
Light (especially when prefixed by the word "of")
Demonic (Unless you've read all, and I mean every freaking word, of the Divine Comedy. If you're gonna throw this around, you'd better know what it means.)
Angelic (We are equal opportunity snarkers.)
Chosen (Especially if it's unclear who's supposed to be doing the choosing. Pervasive, subtle personification of God/destiny/fate is a disease, and I'm the cure.)
Ninja (Exceptions granted if your ninjas are obviously from the Japanese culture. Of Earth, not Generic Fantasyland.)
Portal (Unless your game is named it.)
Labels: cliche, curmudgeoning, pretension, snark, writing
--JohnH at 01:34
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[ 0 ]
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 ]
18 April 2008
Words You Are Not Allowed To Use In Your Game
Including all cognates, and especially if it's a fantasy of science fiction game. No exceptions except as given.
Corruption
Tainted
Chaos (RPGs may use "chaotic" to refer to alignment only)
Darkness
Genetic
Evolution
Memory
Absolution
In the title, all pretentious musical terminology, for example:
Rondo
And last, but most especially:
Sephiroth
Corruption
Tainted
Chaos (RPGs may use "chaotic" to refer to alignment only)
Darkness
Genetic
Evolution
Memory
Absolution
In the title, all pretentious musical terminology, for example:
Rondo
And last, but most especially:
Sephiroth
Labels: cliche, curmudgeoning, pretension, writing
--JohnH at 10:35
Comment
[ 3 ]
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