After waiting in line for close to 20 minutes, I was only given five minutes with Linger in Shadows at Tokyo Game Show. When I told the girl working the booth what I wanted to play (it was part of their 8-title PlayStation Network area), she looked at me funny, as if I was the first person to ask her all day.
"Not game," she said in forced English. "Just watch?"
I nodded, because based on what I had heard about Linger in Shadows, I knew exactly what she was trying to communicate. By all accounts, it's really not game at all; Sony is calling it "interactive digital art." But with a controller in my hand, I found it difficult to not try to play a game where none existed.
Linger plays out much like a movie, only it's interactive. By tilting the controller, I was able to look around at different areas of the environment as a non-interactive camera followed black smoke throughout a city landscape. At certain points I was able to pause the action, and then shake the controller until the screen crackled with fuzz and faded to black, before revealing a new scene.
If there's a story, five minutes with Linger certainly didn't hint at it or uncover any clues as to what was really going on. It certainly does play out like an experimental film, a unique nightmare that could either leave your scratching your head or thinking about it for days.
And while Linger in Shadows is certainly not a "game," like a game it will (quite confusingly) support trophies when it comes to PlayStation Network this winter. I look forward to reading the vast interprations of just what's lingering in these shadows.
Contest:
2:02 PM on 10.13.2008
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Full thing on Youtube.
Thats the 7 minute long game/demo/whatever. Personally, I like it - the music is incredible. To be honest I think people are looking far too far into it...it's not a game, get over it. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't.
But maybe it's just me.
But it is good mindfuck, and cheap too, not to mention the piss-easy trophies in the game.
I've always liked the Demoscene, and this is a great way to cross barriers from the PC market to the console market. Also, its the easiest 10 trophies anyone will ever get on the PS3.
Go ahead and click R3 and L3 at the menu.... you'll see.
Just buy it. Sure it's only 7 minutes long, but you have to play through it a few times to get all of the trophies. It's worth the $2.99.
Linger in Shadows is great. As well as the 'secret part' you can unlock.
"I hope this does not become a trend for reasons I have no desire to flesh out here. I will just sit quietly and hope..."
This statement alone is more surreal and esoteric than the $3 demo about the flying dog.
TL;DR: lolwut?
What, that the various networks be used for something other than hideous remakes and casual pablum? Sure, it's charging for non-games, but that's ok in some respects. We pay to go to art museums, right? And in this case, it isn't a vague case of "is this game art", it's a case of art being on a platform normally associated solely with games, to which I say, hell yes.
Personally, I have a huge appreciation for the technical merit of demoscene work, and while often the craft can overshadow the art, I found Linger to be an interesting, visually arresting piece. The trophies are just there to give people a bit more incentive to buy it, especially those who wouldn't normally be interested in interactive art.
If you listen to minimalist music for example, it might just sound like a cat walking on a piano to you...but it is infact one of the most complicated genres of music you'll find. Is it not art?
Bottom line: just because it seems unintelligible does not prevent it from being art. If there doesn't appear to have any obvious meaning, often you find the meaning from your own interpretation.
Sweeping generalisations FTL.
I watched the non-interactive vid, then played the interactive version twice and I got all the trophies. Super easy and yes, it's VERY unlikely I'll ever look at the damn thing again.
I don't know whether I'm happy with the purchase or not, though if I was a trophy/achievement whore, 2.99 and 30 minutes for all those trophies is a deal that can't be beat.
You sound like a retard.
and i got a lot of stupid in my eye after beholding your comment.
http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=16351
Or from the seriously awesome Andromeda Software Development:
http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=31571
Or even Kewlers:
http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=25783
But seriously, it was a good time. The music and the abrupt shaking and static creeped my girlfriend out.