rolling thread of stuff worth reading on videogames

'how we experience games' is important but again its something that devs tend to have a more interesting, more informed perspective on, one thats totally wrapped up in their development experience. when i want the perspective of people who only play games, i just talk to other gamers.

developers are never going to really xp a game the same way a player would, both have necessary and potentially interesting things to say about how a game works

i mean, you like what you like, im not really interested in convincing you otherwise, but i am interested in staking out space for writers/critics to work their way through the xp of gaming, or their reaction to a game. like that zelda piece is really terrible and ok partly im bitter that they rejected my piece on sakura wars but i dont think its a priori illegitimate

one thing we mb do agree on is that i think the type of writing im defending reaches too quickly for metaphor as a way of explaining/obscuring the actual process stuff that is imo 'important'

zap! clang! bang! video games aren't just for kids anymore!

hmmmmm

bjorksclovetofu

didnt know you did any games writin m8 :0
― https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_qxQztHRI (Princess TamTam), Wednesday, September 14, 2011 3:05 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lamp short for leigh alexander my pseudonym

first of all,

hmmmmm

― Lamp, Wednesday, September 14, 2011 4:39 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/yung-humma-e1312834671395.jpg?w=600

second, w/r/t the actual conversation at hand, people writing about their experiences with games can be incredibly useful when I'm trying to determine whether I want to play a game; I've probably wasted a shitty used car's worth of money in my life on the sheer basis of reading someone describe a really satisfying time they had with a game and gone AW I WANT THAT.

however when that tactic is applied to cultural criticism I would rather inject diarrhea directly into my eyeballs than read it, typically because the writers involved can't imagine any sort of strange paralell universe where experiences/conclusions other than theirs might actually have some sort of value or relevance. they also only ever seem to approach the issue from a self-centered humanist perspective ("let me tell you about how this made me feel") rather than bring any discipline to the table; one reason why I like Sean Malstrom so much despite his shameful Palin-boner is the fact that at least he's looking at the experience of playing games in another context (specifically the business context). people tend to come up with better points when they have to prove they're experts on two things instead of just one, imo.

I feel like I could write a pretty enjoyable "gamer perspective only" piece with agreeable but self-centered, humanist points. Is there any respectable gamer sites that offer freelance writers a chance to make their front page? I'm thinking that I could write a better article than a lot of stuff that ends up in 1up's features section

i also look better than ron jeremy but for some reason no one wants me to film porn

I was going to make a ron jeremy did 9/11 joke but I don't want the cap'n to post a smearogram about that

I just read walkthroughs.

I have no idea if a gamer article of mine would be under appreciated. I never tried submitting one anywhere.

still holding out hope for quality

there are a lot of good blogs out there imo (as we discussed in that link thread)

I think I'll go home and write a feature article for 1up and see what happens. I'm thinking that my topic will be along the lines of "best old school multiplayer games"

http://www.pippinbarr.com/inininoutoutout/?p=2550

(i've lost interest in writing an article. maybe some other time)

http://news.yahoo.com/online-gamers-crack-aids-enzyme-puzzle-175427367.html

this was pretty good, about applying basic film making ruless to cut scenes
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/09/videogame-cutscenes/?pid=1986&viewall=true

i was hoping that would have the kind of insights you actually need to go to film school to get tbh

cut scenes are long and boring

there, now you don't need to read the article

i hate how final fantasy cutscenes always have the camera tilting and swooping around

mordy that is unfairly reductive

point 1 cut scenes are long and boring
point 2 cut scenes are long and boring
point 3 cut scenes are long and boring
point 4 cut scenes are long and boring
point 5 there is a cut scene in mass effect ii that breaks the 180 degree rule

there you go

http://insertcredit.com/2011/09/22/who-killed-videogames-a-ghost-story/

really curious admittedly how accurate the math in this is, since i have no clue

also, since I don't play The Sims Online I didn't know about the gameplay "advance" in that game, so it was interesting to me

I finally got around to watching Codes of Honor - loved it

i was hoping that would have the kind of insights you actually need to go to film school to get tbh

― thomp, Tuesday, September 20, 2011 12:35 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark

hah, those insights dont exist

glad it only took you a week to annotate my joke ade

that looks pissier than i have any justification for being, sorry

pfft i didnt see it until now

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/mf_chainworld/all/1

from :D to ¯\(°_0)/¯ in four easy pages

nutty

what a shit ending to a great story

the av club podcast (lol) has a segment this week abt videogame reviewing that, while not partic groundbreaking, is sort of interesting. the frustration and bitterness in john teti's voice is p heartbreaking, oddly

i keep thinking about how i'd run a videogame publication/site. with, like, a manifesto, and pretty strict firewalling b/w advertisers and contents.

http://www.auntiepixelante.com/?p=1319#comments

Article is good. Comments are pretty good too.

s1ocki we should talk more about that idea at some point.

Has Teti posted on here? I know at least one AV Club game reviewer has been on here.

In Brazilian arcades we used to tape over the lifebars on Street Fighter II, to great effect.

s1ocki we should talk more about that idea at some point.

― Alderaan Duran (Will M.), Thursday, November 17, 2011 3:19 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

yes!

will and i talked about this IRL the other day.

(for those of you following along at home.)

I would contribute fwiw

xpost forks yeah I really want to try a fighting game without visible health bars too. That sounds terrifying and fun.

^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido_Blade_%28video_game%29

buuuuuuushido

god i loved that game

that's like 30% of what made bushido work.
you could still signal visually how damaged the character was.
Or make them less reactive.
Both of which bushido did.

that intellivision post reminded me how awesome Air Fortress is, and now i'm watching youtube videos of some annoying dude going through all of Air Fortress (i think as a kid i used to just play the first three fortresses over and over)

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201202/burning-man-sam-brown-jay-kirk-gq-february-2012?printable=true

good read!

concur

definitely, that was one of the more interesting things i've read in forever

ketamine dreamz