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About Me


A self proclaimed professor of survival horror despite only having a BA (Hons) degree in film. Go figure.

Okay, maybe I should write more here but I once did an interview for Law's blog, which explains everything about me.

In the meantime, I'm just a guy who writes about videogame theory and how the medium can achieve better cinematic emulation (while keeping its own indentity). Though, if that's too boring, you can always find something delightfully fluffy in the following:

Gamer Obscura

Gregory Horror Show
Glass Rose
Michigan: Report From Hell
Hellnight
Steambot Chronicles
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The X Files FMV Game
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G-Police & G-Police: Weapons of Justice
Koudelka
Friday The 13th: The Computer Game
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DENNIS HOPPER featuring Black Dahlia
Harvester
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The Police Quest Collection
It Came From The Desert
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Men in Black: The Game
Famicom Detective Club Part II
Toonstruck
Ham-Ham Heartbreak

Unsung Heroes

Brad Garrison (Dead Rising)
Jenny Romano (The Darkness)
Cass (Fallout: New Vegas)

Hey, check out these inane ramblings:

The Vague History of UK Videogame TV shows

Part 1 (Bad Influence, Gamesmaster & Games World)
Part 2 (BITS & videoGaiden/consoleVania)
Part 3 (the worst and the future)

The Assimilation of Eastern & Western Horror in Videogames

Part 1 (The Eastern/Western Horror Assimilation)
Part 2 (Interaction and Narrative)
Part 3 (Case Study)

Random

Skip To The End: Max Payne 2
The Lost Idea of An Adventures of Pete & Pete Game
My Unpopular Opinion: I Liked Alone in The Dark 5
Hey BBC! Where's My Doctor Who Game?!
Loving Dr. Chakwas
The 'Fun Simulacrum' of Movie/TV License Games
Why Devs Don't Get The Colonial Marines From Aliens
It's Okay To Like B-Movie Games
Endings That Made Me Cry...Like A Man
Who Do You Trust?
Dancing With Myself
My Unpopular Opinion: Silent Hill 4 Deserved Better
Theme Hospital & The Embarrassing Operation of Old
When It Comes To Noir in Videogames, "It's Chinatown"
My Irreverent & Irrelevant Awards Show 2010
Amateur Bedroom Critics
Sydney Briar is Alive
The Big Gumbo
Alan Wake's Hallowiener Special
...And So I Watch You From Afar

Nostaljourney

Some poor sap let me onto their awesome podcast. These are the horrific results...

Deus Ex
Resident Evil 2
Duke Nukem 3D

Secret Moon Base

They sent me into space for this podcast. There were no survivors...

Fiddling Nightbear

Monthly Musings

I Suck At Games: Stretching My RPGs Out into A Year & A Half Ordeal

Improving Gaming Communities: We Need A Gaming Fonzie

The Future: Laughing At The Past

Something About Sex: It's A Conquest, Not A Catalyst

Alternate Reality: "My other car is a Trotmobile!"

Teh Bias: Starting At The Ground Floor

Groundhog Day: One DeSoto, Two Carefree Owners

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Nothing Is Sacred: 'It looks like the lock is broken. I can't open it.'

Love/Hate: Shark Jumping Videogame Writers

E for Effort: The Adventures of Mega & Master (A Cautionary Tale)

The Lament of Solitary Antagonistic Horror

2010 Sucked: Why Cing Will Be Unknowingly Missed

Technical Difficulties: Rainbow Six FUBAR

Cass from New Vegas

Honest Endings for Honest Hearts

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Unsung Heroes: The Rookie from Ghostbusters
Stevil | 3:28 PM on 05.17.2011 19 comments




“Acting” in any given videogame is a horrible experience.

Everybody knows their lines, found their marks and expect you to do the same. Only you didn’t bother showing up for the rehearsals and while you’ll probably suffer from perfect verbal diarrhoea, the scenes are a total mystery. You’re the one screwing up the immersion, not them, improvising like an epileptic having panic attack.

We’ve all ignored the dread at some point; by climbing up file cabinets, throwing stationary, jumping on the spot and standing in the way of someone, forcing them to moonwalk you out of the way, as they obliviously deliver a serious life or death speech, al a Half Life 2.

You don’t see that kind of nonsense in movies or television.

“You’ve heard the worst, gentlemen. The Harvester Forces are abou---SGT. BRICK LAMBSHANK! What the hell are you doing?!”

In videogames, you’re an important protagonist, with the world revolving around your actions. Though, what if you’re given a character that doesn’t necessarily have an important role to play and allowed to act “uncharacteristically” because a previous cutscene has given you the green light?



The Rookie from Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a brilliant example of being the supporting character and one that allows the player access in an established world. One where there focus and pressure of “acting” has been shifted to everyone else involved.

Licensed videogames tend to put you in the shoes of your favourite movie/TV characters, but ultimately, they’re videogame protagonists second. By playing the role of the voyeur, one that gets to takes part in any given situation, you don’t have to break immersion, unless it’s on purpose.

Ghostbusters is easily the best use of a movie license since Blade Runner and both share similar traits in their enjoyment. Essentially, they’re successful by creating a new malleable character and neatly placing them within a cinematic emulation.

Whereas, Blade Runner’s Ray McCoy is a fully formed character with his own narrative in tandem with the movie, The Rookie is a bare bones protagonist that gives the player enough freedom to inject their own play style, while having enough personality to exist alongside his cinematic peers.



This is where Ghostbusters really shines beyond its mere fan service roots. Throughout the narrative, there is a marriage of cutscenes and real time events. In the FMV, The Rookie is portrayed as the silent clown; one we can relate to because, bless him, it’s his first day.

We’ve all had first days.

Just like The Futureheads once sang about, they’re full of awkward agreements and silences, as you gauge staff members’ awful backfiring attempts at integrating you into the workplace without fuss. In Ghostbusters, it’s exactly the same scenario.

Albeit, involving ghost fishermen, hobo spirits, golems and a giant marshmallow man.

It feeds off your attempts to learn the ropes and the hero worship of characters like Dr. Peter Venkman, a man who treats you like crap at every occasion. As a fan, you look up to these people and love them for their flaws, yet, acting as them wouldn’t do the characters justice. Essentially, they would be avatars that quip without consent, which is exactly what happens in the multiplayer campaign.

As a fan, you’re not meant to be the focus, just the supporting actor.



In the cutscenes, The Rookie ambles around in the background, bemused and being treated like a dogsbody. So, when the time comes to interacting with clients at the Sedgewick Hotel, you’re allowed to wander around, while the others talk business.

It’s subtle in the way it conveys the direction within the opening minutes, before handing over control. To their overlooked credit, Terminal Reality takes that step even further. In a scripted set-piece, where the characters stand around, they always leave a mark for you, be it a gap in the line-up or a team huddle. The developers are giving you the choice to partake in the immersion or bumble around without breaking it.

The Rookie is not the first protagonist in a supporting role, but he’s definitely one of the more successful because of Terminal Reality’s understanding of what it is to “act” in a videogame.

Surely, is it not better to play as a supporting character than one of the main cast?



Ghostbusters proved that can be case. Even the terrible Lost: Via Domus managed to keep some semblance of interest by letting you play a Machiavellian photojournalist on the fringes of each TV season. It was certainly less stressful than performing perfectly as Captain Kirk in Star Trek: 25th Anniversary.

Of course, most licensed videogames do let you play with new inserted characters, but rarely do they give you some kind of subtle motivation, as with the use of direction for The Rookie. For that, we should be thankful that some developers understand their audiences when picking up licenses.

You can cry bias, and yes, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is definitely a personal favourite. It’s licensed videogame made with great care; especially, when it comes to the FX, the visuals, the expansion of ideas, the set-pieces and most important of all, the one-liners. It wasn’t original, but it was a spot-on recreation for people obsessed with the franchise since childhood (ahem); one you could successfully inhabit, with such ease, in the role of The Rookie.

Hope you had a wonderful first day too.



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18 comments | showing # 1 to 18
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falsenipple's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 15:43
falsenipple
You eat shit because you're stupid and shallow. I like you because you're stupid and shallow.

+1 fap
manasteel88's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 15:47
manasteel88
He stole your Proton Pack? Not cool.

NOT COOL.

I really do need to check this game out. Since it's an Atari game, it's gotta be like $5 everywhere.
Mr Andy Dixon's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 16:04
Mr Andy Dixon
The first Xbox Live message you ever sent me read (paraphrasing), "HAHAHAHAHA! You played Lost: Via Domus, too? Sucks to be us!"

Good times :)

PS - I think you may have finally sold me on this game, assuming I can find a used copy lying around. Kudos.
AwesomeExMachina's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 16:05
AwesomeExMachina
Truth. The rookie role is the perfect way to integrate tutorial-level stuff without breaking the narrative. It's always so strange to start a game as the ultimate gun-toting badass, only to have the first teammate you meet explain to you how a gun shoots. Or how looking up instead of down is not as hard as you'd think.
Occams electric toothbrush's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 16:35
Occams electric toothbrush
@M. Randall Abernathy Dixon: Find a copy. Well worth your time and it should be super cheap now.

Do so enjoy when they just make me a part of their world (Ariel is MA GURL) rather than try to become the reason for the world existing. I'd much rather play a role in the Ghostbusters world than ever be Egon or Winston. Though I'm still pissed that the Ghostbusters 2 poster left Winston out. That's some bullshit.

This game was a real treat for me and a love letter to fans of the movies. I'm glad it wasn't just another throw away disappoint based on a license.
Nihil's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 16:40
Nihil
Lol, nice. Right on all counts, sir. Woe is he who is not a fan to served by this awesome game.
Alasdair Duncan's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 16:44
Alasdair Duncan
1. You said something about the Blade Runner game?
2. Welcome to your new job/hope you have a wonderful first day.
3. You need to play the C64 Ghostbusters game. That's fucking old school.
Wolfy-Boey's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 18:07
Wolfy-Boey
Confession time: I've never seen the first Ghostbusters. I've only seen the sequel, about a dozen times. No channel ever showed the first one, and when they did, it was a rare occasion that never meshed with my schedule.

Anyway, I played the Wii version, and it was certainly fun. I tried finishing it with my younger sister, but she sucked at it so bad I had to pry the controller from her hands sometimes and do stuff for her.
And the "rookie" was definitely a smart move on their part.
Caitlin Cooke's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 18:32
Caitlin Cooke
I've only gotten around to playing the intro but I do love this game...

Now I want to dance to the Futureheads. Damn you Stevil.
ZombiePlatypus's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 19:09
ZombiePlatypus
They really did pull off damn near everything brilliantly with Ghostbusters. You make good points about the rookie giving us a window into the movies' world without awkwardly forcing us into the roles of the real stars, letting the player do things their own way without breaking the "reality" established in the flicks.

Also:

"Ghostbusters is easily the best use of a movie license since Blade Runner"

The Warriors came out in between those two games, but we've already been over that. :P
Stevil's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 19:11
Stevil
2 things before I start:

1) Sorry that I'm not posting as much. I'm working on something important at the moment, so the blogging will be taking a backseat for a while. I'm still hanging around, though...like a divorced dad or something.

2) I'm not a fan of the new c-blog scroll bar. It takes away the identity of the writer and that's a big no-no in my books, gives less time to everyone's posts, also makes posts look uneven (thus giving all the wrong messages due to picture sizes) and the featured stuff puts up random old front page blogs. I see what you're doing with attracting new people, but I can see it backfiring without refinement too.

Well, now that I've fully blown my chances of landing a job at Destructoid (as if), on with the comments!

@False: "We were dying on the floor/And won't stop talking about it anymore!" I used to know the guys in the band before they were famous with that Hounds of Love cover. So, that's my claim to fame...by vague association.

@Mana: I had my own in the end, but I had to wait for ages. It was such a shitty thing to do! Yeah, I'm sure you can pick this up for next nothing nowadays. I actually imported it on release thanks to Atari selling out to Sony for a timed European exclusive. I hate Atari and yet I still buy their products.

@Dixon: Yeah, you're the only guy I know who also has 1000G on that game. Terrible game. Just...terrible. I mean, what was up with the impersonators in that game?! "Me John Locke! ME BIG TRIBAL CHIEF!"

@Awesome: I like how they managed to get around that with "medical tests" in the first Halo or Boot Camp with HL: Opposing Force. I think overall, that's why I like Star Wars games more than the movies. I'm playing fringe characters in fully realised worlds without the rubbish scripts to mess it all up.

@Occams: Poor old Winston. He was rarely in the games either. I'm glad they gave him a bigger part in this one. He had some pretty funny one-liners too. His disgust at Venkman about not giving the undead hobos change was pure comedy gold.

@Nihil: Hell yeah. I can't think of any fan who wasn't disappointed by this game. Except maybe Anthony Burch, but I suspect he was never really into Ghostbusters on a quotable level anyway. Kinda gutted I got into FNF long after this, because I would have loved to have gotten a few sessions out of it.

@Ali: 1) Yes, I did. 2) Decent days and nig--- oops, wrong one! 3) Actually, I owned that one on the Amstrad CPC 464. The Master System version is a bit like an extended/director's cut. It adds 2 new levels at the end, plus, more stuff like cars and ghosts. It's tougher, but great fun. Admit it, I bet you sang along with the karaoke bit at the start.

@Wolfy: Jesus, really?! You need to watch Ghostbusters NOW. Forget all that you know about the sequel, because the first one is pretty smart, darker, needs several sittings to pick up on every joke and is just damn good fun from start to finish.

@Caiters: Who doesn't want to dance to The Futureheads?! Well, other than the casual listeners who gave up on them after that difficult second album. Great band anyway. Only played the intro? It's barely 6 hours long! You'd have finished in one day, easy.
Bibbly's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/17/2011 22:56
Bibbly
I consider myself a super fan of this fun4funsake series/franchise/monster.
LawofThermalDynamics's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2011 01:02
LawofThermalDynamics
If there's something strange! In the neighborhood....Who you gonna call?!??!
Caitlin Cooke's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2011 13:59
Caitlin Cooke
Haha I did hate their second album...well hate is a strong word...it just wasn't as fun as the first I suppose.
Mr Andy Dixon's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2011 15:05
Mr Andy Dixon
@Stevil

Yeah, my brother and I blew through that game in a night, and it was one of the funniest nights of gaming in my life. Some of the stand-ins were passable, but my God, Locke's voice actor was absolutely atrocious, and exactly as you described.

"I'M OVER HERE! IN THE BAAANYAAAN TREEEEESSS!"
ZombiePlatypus's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/18/2011 15:10
ZombiePlatypus
Locke sounded like the classic depiction of an Indian Chief.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Stephen Beirne's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/19/2011 06:44
Stephen Beirne
First of all, this blog is going above my mantlepiece right beside that portrait of Bruce Campbell on a horse.

Secondly, I may need to pick up the Lost video game.
Stevil's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/19/2011 12:18
Stevil
@ZP: One day I will remember The Warriors. I promise. It's sitting my PS2 shelf and yet I can't be bothered to swap the consoles over.

@Bibbly: Damn straight. Unless you like Extreme Ghostbusters. I really dislike that cartoon just for the condescending "wheelchair users can be pro-active too" message.

@Law: Usually, I call the police, because that's what sensible people do.

@Caiters: They got better again after that second album! See? Northern accented new wave indie-punk FTW!

@Dixon & ZP: Okay, after my L.A. Noire blog, I will do something about Lost: Via Domus. We could all do with a laugh.

@Byronic: Considering how much he's let himself go, I'm suprised BC can get on a horse nowadays! Secondly, you can pick up Lost for £4.99 pre-owned, but for that amount you can have more fun on a five minute sex line. Not that I checked.
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