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Succinct statements pertaining to games
Posted on Friday, February 15 2008 @ 13:04:59 Eastern

A perusal of the GR blogs of late, and usually anywhere video game discourse occurs, will reveal a couple of issues rising to the top of the discourse. And these issues usually get a bad whiff, displayed by gamers pinching their noses at the stench and noisome odor associated with them. Two of these issues are hype and graphics. I will favorably broach these topics with brevity.

HYPE — This is a word formed from the word hyperbole, which is an exaggeration (literally, a "going beyond"), and primarily means "excessive advertising or publicity." Gamers usually feel ill of hype games, but why? I say, hype has its place, as hyperboles do in argumentation. Hyperbolic statements, effectively used in arguments, help drive home the point of arguments like Richard Petty or Jeff Gordon drives home the checkered flag. Ineffectively used, hyperboles drive arguments as well as a drunk Paris Hilton. This said, hype, itself, is not a bad thing. The use of hype is what is either good or bad. With so much fodder in the video game industry (and there truly is a wealth of crap video games, as GR's periodic worst games lists show), hype can even help a game stand out. The Sony PlayStation was one of the most popular video game consoles, and while it had a bevy of quality games, it had even more forgetful games. Without hype, how does the mute (the few good games) shout above the boastful (the wealth of crap games)? Else, he goes silent.

GRAPHICS — Did you know that when you say "video" you are saying "I see" in Latin? Except for the minor fact that the 'v' was pronounced as a 'w' in classic Latin. The English word video is derived from the Latin verb videre ("to see"). So I find it ironic when people denounce the focus on graphics in video games. Video games, inherently, are graphical entertainment. Games, at their base level, consist of a hoard of changing pixels. That is, games cannot be anything but graphical! Like hype, there's nothing bad about graphics themselves, but the effective use of them. People will say interactivity, the gameplay, takes precedence over graphics, and graphics shouldn't be focused on. Again: Graphics are tied to video games and affect how we perceive and interact with the game, how we play the game. If a game has more "believable" graphics, then immersion can be improved. If a game poorly renders a crucial part of the game, then immersion, interactivity, is lost. Do you think someone ever said to Michaelangelo, "Hey, Mike, why spending so much time accentuating David's penis? As long as people understand what it is, isn't that important?" Ballyhoo!

NO PAUSE? — Electronic Arts developers of Dead Space are considering eliminating the PAUSE feature. I say: Do it! Every medium of entertainment (books, music, movies) allow for pausing. Let's try a novel interactive feature and insert more gameplay into a game. If it doesn't work, oh well. But what if?

NEVER ANTI-SOCIAL — Video games have always been a social medium. From the early days where programmers would swap games on floppies to the advent of consoles that always included an option for 1+ players, the video game industry has always focused on socializing. And this socializing has reached new heights with MMO games and the Internet. What other medium can claim this ubiquity of socialization?
Comments
  • thetank
    thetank

    Joined: Jul 2006
    Posted: Feb 16th, 2008 at 7:10 am
    Blast your near limitless vocabulary to purgatory, o great wizard of the synonyms.
  • wildmario
    wildmario

    Joined: Jan 2007
    Posted: Feb 16th, 2008 at 8:10 am
    I don't think an unpausable game would sell. No one could handle it.
  • Hawk_one
    Hawk_one

    Joined: Sep 2006
    Posted: Feb 16th, 2008 at 9:02 am
    I myself have a main principle when it comes to grapics: If a game makes me pay more attention to the design then the technical aspects, that's (usually) good enough for me. Especially if it's a good design. Of course, in many cases, design are meant to be more and more realistic, which is technically more of a challenge. Especially with anything organic, as you'll run into the infamous "uncanney valley" as you'll get it oh-so-close-but-not-quite. (That's one reason Master Chief's covered up in a body suit, to avoid running up against that valley.) However, if the price to pay for extremely good graphics is 1500 dollars for one game (Crysis), -that- is when I say "the hell with it, that's not worth it."
  • Geodole
    Geodole

    Joined: Oct 2005
    Posted: Feb 16th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
    Patapon, a $20 experience which I guarantee you will regret less than a hooker of the same value, excludes the ability to pause. For a game on a device with the specific capability to be taken 'somewhere else', this is a ballsy move. Sure, you can flick the PSP into sleep to approximate pausing, but revive the device in the middle of miniature combat and your Patapons will go down faster than the aforementioned whore.
  • tom-
    tom-

    Joined: Nov 2005
    Posted: Feb 16th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
    "No pause" sounds like a lot of bunk, to me. What the **** does that even mean? As Geodole said, Patapon has no pause. Patapon, however, is a rhythm strategy action game... thing... purposefully designed for the PSP, so you won't be spending 20 minutes or more on each level, thus, pausing doesn't matter so much. Take that approach to the already cliche ridden genre of "survival horror" and it just sounds like a gimmicky load of ****. Ooh! Ghost zombie monsters IN SPACE! And you CAN'T PAUSE! 4D has finally arrived!
  • axleblaze
    axleblaze

    Joined: Dec 2007
    Posted: Feb 17th, 2008 at 5:56 am
    A few things First, I'm getting really tired of seeing antihype rants. I know hype can be annoying but really, it's what comes with a bussiness getting as big as video games have as of late. If you sunk a few million dollars into a game I guarantee that you would do everything in your power to make sure every man woman and child knew about it. Games without hype behind them tend to not do so well so really what the hell are publishers supposed to do? Also I agree with you on graphics. Sometimes good graphics can add alot to a game. Can someone sersiously tell me that Okami experience without it's jaw dropping visuals? What about Rez? Would Bioshock be the same game on the Quake engine? Graphics help immerse you in the games world. more than most people realize. Now at this point all three systems can pretty much do what they graphically with some exceptions so it doesn't matter as much as it used to but visuals add to a game.
  • axleblaze
    axleblaze

    Joined: Dec 2007
    Posted: Feb 17th, 2008 at 5:58 am
    Also there have been games with no pause feature before. They tend to get forgotten because they're bad games. Choosing between soiling youself and not being killed is never a choice a gamer should have to make. I don't think it really adds much to the gaming experience.
  • Geodole
    Geodole

    Joined: Oct 2005
    Posted: Feb 17th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
    Where a lot of gamers get confused is between technologically 'good' graphics, and good graphic art design. By today's standards, World of Warcraft isn't so great technologically, but the design is still jawdropping. Even to use a modern example that I appear to be obsessed with: Patapon runs on a system that has had technologically brilliant games (Syphon Filter), but is simple in 2D silhouettes, and it looks wonderful. Metal Gear Solid's highly stylized visuals are what sets it apart from the imitators. Sure, Splinter Cell looks a lot better and has a much deeper stealth combat system, but Metal Gear is just so much more fun and engaging, in no small part due to the stylistic choices from Konami.
  • Nitewolf
    Nitewolf

    Joined: Dec 2007
    Posted: Feb 19th, 2008 at 11:51 am
    No offense, but you should consider a career in politics. You made a lot of (certainly well-written) words, but you didn't really say anything that has not been said before. Also you are missing the often mentioned points about those issues and instead favor to make some excurses about where words come from (which I frankly considered common knowledge).
  • Silent_Player
    Silent_Player

    Joined: Oct 2005
    Posted: Feb 19th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
    Of course everything I've said has been said before; I made no claim otherwise. However, some streams of thoughts flow more fully than others; namely, the stances against hype and graphics. So I found it worth restating the validity of hype and graphics when, as I stated outright, they have been getting a bad run of late around the blogs. But because I missed the often mentioned points why don't you point them out instead of using the excuse of pointing out my excuse of etymology? when that was no excuse by me but an informative aside to help lead in and reinforce a point that we can look at language and how it is used to help understand how opinions are formed.
  • StandardStache
    StandardStache

    Joined: Nov 2007
    Posted: Feb 19th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
    I try to focus on the game aspect of the video game rather than the video part. Yes, good graphics are great but without a great game as well you find yourself stuck with nothing but a pretty picture on your TV.

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