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In a stupid Russian accent: "On Destructoid Dot Com, Internet looks at YOU!" So, yeah, stop staring at me. I'm just a gamer guy with a bit of typing diarrhea, which caused my short comments on news items to get out of hand.. so I decided I should start a blog to give them the space they needed. But anyway, this is my Dtoid profile, let's get started.
I obtained an original NES when I was five years old and still have it, along with all the Nintendo consoles since, all of which can be hooked up and played within a moment's notice. Oh, and I still have the old Zapper. Whoopee.
I am not a Nintendo fanboy (not completely, anyway) since I did own a Playstation for a while, and now have an Xbox 360 after having the original Xbox for the last year of it's run, and find myself all over it's achievements like a madman. I'm up to 33000 or so as of this writing in July '07. Check my Gamercard if you're from the future to see where I am now!
Favourite games include, but are not limited to: Zelda, Metroid and Mario anything (BEE SUIT). Resident Evil since I got hooked on the GC remake, Halo (don't kill me!), Grim Fandango, pretty much all the N64 Rare made games including Conker's Bad Fur Day, the C&C series, Monkey Island series, YDKJ series (don't know what that is, do you?), Eternal Darkness, Killer7, GTA series, the Myst series, the Worms games before they went to 3D and even though I can't hit the orange note half the time.. Guitar Hero.
Those games were listed in the order I thought of them, I'm not going to re-arrange them in my preferance order. Who knows which I like the most?!
Oh, and for crap I own.. I'm big into soundtracks, so whenever I can, I get the soundtrack to a game. And I mean, the actualy disc, not just downloading it. That's pretty hard where I live, so.. yeah. Hardcore, I guess. Woo.
I obtained an original NES when I was five years old and still have it, along with all the Nintendo consoles since, all of which can be hooked up and played within a moment's notice. Oh, and I still have the old Zapper. Whoopee.
I am not a Nintendo fanboy (not completely, anyway) since I did own a Playstation for a while, and now have an Xbox 360 after having the original Xbox for the last year of it's run, and find myself all over it's achievements like a madman. I'm up to 33000 or so as of this writing in July '07. Check my Gamercard if you're from the future to see where I am now!
Favourite games include, but are not limited to: Zelda, Metroid and Mario anything (BEE SUIT). Resident Evil since I got hooked on the GC remake, Halo (don't kill me!), Grim Fandango, pretty much all the N64 Rare made games including Conker's Bad Fur Day, the C&C series, Monkey Island series, YDKJ series (don't know what that is, do you?), Eternal Darkness, Killer7, GTA series, the Myst series, the Worms games before they went to 3D and even though I can't hit the orange note half the time.. Guitar Hero.
Those games were listed in the order I thought of them, I'm not going to re-arrange them in my preferance order. Who knows which I like the most?!
Oh, and for crap I own.. I'm big into soundtracks, so whenever I can, I get the soundtrack to a game. And I mean, the actualy disc, not just downloading it. That's pretty hard where I live, so.. yeah. Hardcore, I guess. Woo.
Gamer Profile
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Gamertag: Amethystine
Steam:
Battle:
PSN:
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Gamertag: Amethystine
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This is/was something of a responce to this post, but then things got out of hand and I kept writing and writing and then it wouldn't all fit in the comment box and it got all off topic, so I'm throwing it up here!
The article asks how the definitions of "art", "fun", and/or "gaming" would have to change to have games be taken as seriously as other mediums like books, movies, music and paintings. I'm going to look at 'fun' and 'entertainment', mostly. I realized when I saw Black Hawk Down, and tried to define its qualities afterwards, that I could not call it 'fun', or even exactly 'entertaining' in my somewhat limited definition of the word, back then. I came to appreciate film critics' use of words like 'gripping' or 'compelling', since movies about war or atrocities like genocide aren't exactly uplifting or highspirited.. but they do make you think. Hense the often used term 'thought-provoking'. So, I realized I could be 'entertained' without something being 'fun' or exciting in the 'f***-yeah!' action movie sort of way. The question is if games can do the same thing, and be compelling enough to keep us playing (or should I say 'participating', as 'play' suggests something 'fun') even if they're simply thought-provoking. I suppose it would come down to what people go to games to receive. Do we, as a culture want anything other than FUN from our games? Some do, but I think the majority use games only for pleasant distractions as opposed to more serious, dramatic fare. (The majority of all the people who play games, at least, not just the cool, art supporting people on Dtoid) Yes, it's always been that games are just distractions for kids, at least, that's the image that's been applied to gaming. Probably because of the name. Just like 'comic books', which for the most part should be called something else since they've evolved past being more than cartoons on paper for kids.. more and more, they're called 'graphic novels'. So too should 'video games' be called something more mature now that we've moved so far past cartoons in pixels. The best I can come up with is 'Electronic Interactive Entertainment' or something of the sort. Maybe a clever acronym? So, my answer to the question above about what would have to change is; Gaming would need a new image, one that's about more than just frivolous fun, and we'd need lots and lots of games that are serious and thought-provoking, whose elements were less about game'play', but more about participation in the entertainment to drive the activities. --Unfortunately, I can't think of any activites in the average game that aren't already inherently fun when performing them vicariously through an electronic avatar. Driving fast cars, shooting stuff, running around places.. it's always been that way, that all the jumping and stuff we do is supposed to be the 'fun' part of a game.. but I'm sure there's a bunch, I just can't think of any, since it's 5:30am now. Help me out, will you? What stuff can we do in a game that's not simple fun, but is engaging? Exploration?--
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Living the dream since March 16, 2006
Living the dream since March 16, 2006
Passive entertainment can allow failure and tragedy, because there is no Player. There is only the characters on the screen or the stage. We as viewers are not a part of the tragedy, thus we can look upon what happens and reflect.
Black Hawk Down, as you noted, is not a tragedy because the main characters win by surviving. But Shakespearean tragedy is defined by the lead characters dying, or failing in some way. A Hamlet game would do poorly, I reckon.
Games are separate. They exist to be won, to be conquered. You cannot have a tragic game because then it ceases to be a game. Even the games in which the hero loses (God of War, Max Payne), the player wins.
So no, you cannot take the fun out of games because then people would not take part in that experience. Games, by definition, are meant to be played and won. Even if a game is made in which the main character is destroyed at the end, the player is satisfied by having completed his goal of finishing the game. In that sense, you can't compare movies to videogames. Tom Hanks can die at the end of Private Ryan, but the player doesn't die at the end of Call of Duty. That would insult the player by saying, "good job getting all the way here, now we shall arbitrarily murder you for the story's sake."
Now a game where the player's job is to murder the main character in every possible way? I can get behind that. So long as it's done right. But until that, videogames are stuck at an impasse.
I believe games can do more than just entertain (Survival horror has been scaring us for years, titles like Ico or Shadow of the Colossus both have bittersweet endings), but the basic mechanics of play have to still be enjoyable.
One thing that I hate in RPGs (although others live for it) is the level grind. Having to hunt down and kill endless series of giant rats in order to be strong enough to take on the next dungeon is anti-fun to me. Pokemon is one of the few exceptions to this, simply because of the collectible aspect. The reason I enjoy that series is because there's always a chance I'll come across a critter I haven't caught yet to add to my stable.
Great post, I enjoy your stuff.
Farktoid, Mxyzptlk: I can think of one example of a game that has the player failing sometimes. It's a game you can ultimately beat, but the path to that victory is filled with the downfall of the protagonists, which I thought was very interesting and satisfying, in the end.
I will make said game the subject of my next blog entry!
Also, Juggernaut: I think you're right, pretty much. The art of video games is in their creation, but we all want a game that can be called art in its finished form!
You could say there's an art in creating all things. The art of making a nice kitchen. Carpentry takes some artistic passion and drive, but in the end, it'll just be a nice looking chair/cubboard. Gamers want more than nice looking counters and tables!