There are a lot of threads around here focusing on various games, but I've kind of noticed that almost all of them take more of a fan-style approach. I was wondering if there was any interest in the community of sharing game criticism for various games? You know, essays or analysis of games and the gaming industry that take a more critical in-depth look. Personally game criticism has always been a passion and interest of mine and I'm always looking for new pieces. I don't know if anyone else here is interested in it, but if they are maybe this could become a thread where we share pieces that catch our eyes.
Here's a sample of some recent stuff I've read and thought worth reading (not that I necessarily agree with all of them):
ON VIDEOGAME REVIEWS (AND BIOSHOCK INFINITE) by TEVIS THOMPSON
"Let’s recap: a racist, nationalist, religious cult secedes from the Union, and the planet, and proceeds to oppress all people of color, enslave its workers, and stone interracial couples, all while its privileged white citizens bask in an orgy of Americana. So far, so good. This is a videogame, we have a gun, let’s shoot the shit out of this place.
But Infinite has higher things in mind. Halfway through, the people of color who constitute the rebel Vox Populi actually manage to overthrow their oppressors. And lo and behold: the white man’s fear comes to life. The Vox slaughter, they scalp, they paint their faces and play the part of the bloody savage. See what happens when you let these people out of their cages? No better than beasts, Infinite says.
Many reviewers were impressed by this insight:
“Infinite slyly submits that both sides of the coin have their demons, and neither can claim the moral high ground in Columbia.”
“This doesn’t boil down to the typical good guys/bad guys scenario. Due to the nature of the world and the way it changes over time, you’ll also see that Vox Popul’s rebel forces are capable of just as much cruelty as the forces they seek to overthrow.”
Why are the Vox capable of just as much cruelty? Because the legacy of violence is passed on from oppressor to oppressed? Perhaps, but that’s not actually in the game. Is it because history is full of examples of bloody rebellions and reigns of terror? But then that ignores the actual historical context in America that Infinite claims to care about, where the long struggle for civil and political rights was remarkably non-violent (at least on the side of the disenfranchised).
No, the Vox are just as cruel as the Founders because Irrational decided they would be. They wanted to show a city fall, not just the aftermath as in the original BioShock. They wanted a new set of enemies, a literal skin palette-swap, halfway through the game. They wanted to make a point about how any extreme position is dangerous. Even if that position is racial equality, fair wages, or medicine for your daughter dying in Shantytown. Infinite is a game that lets you peck a man to death with crows, but hey, let’s not get too worked up, too extreme, about suffering and social injustice."
[KEEP READING HERE]
THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE (SPOILERS) by ERRANT SIGNAL
THE FRAMERATE DEBATE: WHY VIDEOGAMES NEED TO TAKE A FILM THEORY CLASS by GITA JACKSON
“Game developers want to mimic the Hollywood mode of storytelling and the Hollywood feel of the moving image, but they ignore the fact that almost every movie their consumers have seen has been shot on strips of exposed celluloid, and has all the associations thereof. Film and video—what AAA videogames most closely resemble— have completely different connotations, so much so that Hollywood directors still see shooting a movie on video not only as a completely different process but as more than a little controversial. Video has traditionally has been associated with TV and is seen as faster and cheaper, which suits the format—it’s not necessarily bad, but it’s different. The first time movies shot on video were shown at Sundance, a conversation ensued in the film industry about whether or not it looked right in a 16:9 format, if video is fit for the silver screen. That conversation is not over, and it could be argued that the ongoing development of cinema grade video cameras has been in service of making video look like film, and ergo appropriate for movies. The fear is that even if your end product ends up as bold, sharp, and full of personality as Once Upon A Time In Mexico, it will look like General Hospital.
AAA game developers don’t seem to have paid any attention to these conversations. AAA is going to need to choose which framerate would best suit the story they want to tell, but it doesn’t look like they’ve even thought about that. As long as the consumer demands both a high framerate and Hollywood-style storytelling, game developers will continue to try and fail to deliver both, no matter how nonsensical the final product may appear. In the first person-perspective, when you see a lens flare, is the implication that your head is a camera? The world may never know. I think the only way to move past this without seeming like a luddite is to ask how this phenomenon is going to change the way we read the moving image.”
[KEEP READING HERE]
THE VAST, UNPLAYABLE HISTORY OF VIDEO GAMES by GITA JACKSON
“Our failure to cultivate a full appreciation of history within games extends beyond just the games themselves and into our collective database of knowledge, criticism and practices within our field. “Collectively, we have a short memory, mostly back to the childhoods of whatever generation is currently not yet fed up with games enough to romanticize it,” says author and professor Ian Bogost.
“It makes our belief in our current novelty innocent on the one hand, but it ensures we build on a very limited version of the past on the other,” he continues. “Yes, there’s always some truly new novelty in games. But the bigger trends always seem to start from scratch, unaware of what came before, unable to incorporate and build upon it.”
Games critics seem to have the same arguments, the same discussions every five years or so; maybe we, all of us, think like Konami. What will get us the most hits? What is the freshest, hottest take on the topic du jour? What Op-Ed will get the readers that make sure that these sites stay open? My friend Max asked me why there’s no annual publication of the best games journalism. This is why: none of us care about our history.”
[KEEP READING HERE]
GAME WRITING PITFALLS - LOST OPPORTUNITIES IN GAMES by EXTRA CREDIT
ALL THE WOMEN I KNOW IN VIDEO GAMES ARE TIRED by LEIGH ALEXANDER
“We have no freedom to speak or to move. Our own stories, the narratives of our work, are so often taken gently out of our hands while we watch, mutely; while we watch, hitting block and mute.
Another friend and colleague noticed that I seemed frustrated, that I too appeared to be another throbbing nerve in this living knot of frustration. To comfort me she told me that she’s seriously thinking about what else she might be able to do besides games. “I might be depressed,” I wrote her. “But I really hesitate to write off a culmination of structural concerns and long-running systematic disrespect by both my enemies and my ‘allies’ as an involuntary chemical downer.”
“Totally,” she replied.”
[KEEP READING HERE]
BROFIST INTIMACY by TODD HARPER
“This is a view that Tabata’s comments exacerbate. The idea that FF15 is a “boys will be boys” scenario where we see what “boys” are like without girls around says to me: this is going to be another heteromasculine story that isn’t going to speak to you at all. I look at that, and compare it to the intense feelings of identification and emotional resonance I had with the women protagonists of FF10(-2), FF12, and the FF13 subseries, and am forced to ask: why should I care? I can’t get excited about this. I can’t. Some people can, and that’s fine! But for me, it feels like this huge step backwards.
If I’m gonna care about about the all-male-revue FF15, I need to be promised something of equal value to what I have lost in the process. I need the promise of something as powerful as Yuna’s journey, as affecting as Fang and Vanille’s tragic love and sisterhood. Instead, what I’m being offered is the promise of me having to do a lot of background queering work, a lot of spinning the straw of subtext into the gold of satisfying consumption. To be honest, I kinda don’t want to. If I’m gonna have male intimacy, I don’t want it to be brofists and combat assists. I want to know that these men have complicated relationships that problematize our visions of masculine identity, that suggest there are ways for men to be social with each other that do transcend romance or sex, that are not stuck in this weird binary of “manly men” vs. “feelings-haver fanfic bait.”
What we’ve seen of FF15 is a demo only, and of old content at that. It’s true that we don’t really know what’s coming in the final version. But going solely by what I’ve played, and what I’ve read the creators say about the game? My doubts are many and my comforts, few.”
[KEEP READING HERE]
So yeah! There's a few of the stuff I've found interesting lately. What about you guys? Anyone else here interested in these kinds of pieces? Have any to share?
Here's a sample of some recent stuff I've read and thought worth reading (not that I necessarily agree with all of them):
ON VIDEOGAME REVIEWS (AND BIOSHOCK INFINITE) by TEVIS THOMPSON
"Let’s recap: a racist, nationalist, religious cult secedes from the Union, and the planet, and proceeds to oppress all people of color, enslave its workers, and stone interracial couples, all while its privileged white citizens bask in an orgy of Americana. So far, so good. This is a videogame, we have a gun, let’s shoot the shit out of this place.
But Infinite has higher things in mind. Halfway through, the people of color who constitute the rebel Vox Populi actually manage to overthrow their oppressors. And lo and behold: the white man’s fear comes to life. The Vox slaughter, they scalp, they paint their faces and play the part of the bloody savage. See what happens when you let these people out of their cages? No better than beasts, Infinite says.
Many reviewers were impressed by this insight:
“Infinite slyly submits that both sides of the coin have their demons, and neither can claim the moral high ground in Columbia.”
“This doesn’t boil down to the typical good guys/bad guys scenario. Due to the nature of the world and the way it changes over time, you’ll also see that Vox Popul’s rebel forces are capable of just as much cruelty as the forces they seek to overthrow.”
Why are the Vox capable of just as much cruelty? Because the legacy of violence is passed on from oppressor to oppressed? Perhaps, but that’s not actually in the game. Is it because history is full of examples of bloody rebellions and reigns of terror? But then that ignores the actual historical context in America that Infinite claims to care about, where the long struggle for civil and political rights was remarkably non-violent (at least on the side of the disenfranchised).
No, the Vox are just as cruel as the Founders because Irrational decided they would be. They wanted to show a city fall, not just the aftermath as in the original BioShock. They wanted a new set of enemies, a literal skin palette-swap, halfway through the game. They wanted to make a point about how any extreme position is dangerous. Even if that position is racial equality, fair wages, or medicine for your daughter dying in Shantytown. Infinite is a game that lets you peck a man to death with crows, but hey, let’s not get too worked up, too extreme, about suffering and social injustice."
[KEEP READING HERE]
THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE (SPOILERS) by ERRANT SIGNAL
THE FRAMERATE DEBATE: WHY VIDEOGAMES NEED TO TAKE A FILM THEORY CLASS by GITA JACKSON
“Game developers want to mimic the Hollywood mode of storytelling and the Hollywood feel of the moving image, but they ignore the fact that almost every movie their consumers have seen has been shot on strips of exposed celluloid, and has all the associations thereof. Film and video—what AAA videogames most closely resemble— have completely different connotations, so much so that Hollywood directors still see shooting a movie on video not only as a completely different process but as more than a little controversial. Video has traditionally has been associated with TV and is seen as faster and cheaper, which suits the format—it’s not necessarily bad, but it’s different. The first time movies shot on video were shown at Sundance, a conversation ensued in the film industry about whether or not it looked right in a 16:9 format, if video is fit for the silver screen. That conversation is not over, and it could be argued that the ongoing development of cinema grade video cameras has been in service of making video look like film, and ergo appropriate for movies. The fear is that even if your end product ends up as bold, sharp, and full of personality as Once Upon A Time In Mexico, it will look like General Hospital.
AAA game developers don’t seem to have paid any attention to these conversations. AAA is going to need to choose which framerate would best suit the story they want to tell, but it doesn’t look like they’ve even thought about that. As long as the consumer demands both a high framerate and Hollywood-style storytelling, game developers will continue to try and fail to deliver both, no matter how nonsensical the final product may appear. In the first person-perspective, when you see a lens flare, is the implication that your head is a camera? The world may never know. I think the only way to move past this without seeming like a luddite is to ask how this phenomenon is going to change the way we read the moving image.”
[KEEP READING HERE]
THE VAST, UNPLAYABLE HISTORY OF VIDEO GAMES by GITA JACKSON
“Our failure to cultivate a full appreciation of history within games extends beyond just the games themselves and into our collective database of knowledge, criticism and practices within our field. “Collectively, we have a short memory, mostly back to the childhoods of whatever generation is currently not yet fed up with games enough to romanticize it,” says author and professor Ian Bogost.
“It makes our belief in our current novelty innocent on the one hand, but it ensures we build on a very limited version of the past on the other,” he continues. “Yes, there’s always some truly new novelty in games. But the bigger trends always seem to start from scratch, unaware of what came before, unable to incorporate and build upon it.”
Games critics seem to have the same arguments, the same discussions every five years or so; maybe we, all of us, think like Konami. What will get us the most hits? What is the freshest, hottest take on the topic du jour? What Op-Ed will get the readers that make sure that these sites stay open? My friend Max asked me why there’s no annual publication of the best games journalism. This is why: none of us care about our history.”
[KEEP READING HERE]
GAME WRITING PITFALLS - LOST OPPORTUNITIES IN GAMES by EXTRA CREDIT
ALL THE WOMEN I KNOW IN VIDEO GAMES ARE TIRED by LEIGH ALEXANDER
“We have no freedom to speak or to move. Our own stories, the narratives of our work, are so often taken gently out of our hands while we watch, mutely; while we watch, hitting block and mute.
Another friend and colleague noticed that I seemed frustrated, that I too appeared to be another throbbing nerve in this living knot of frustration. To comfort me she told me that she’s seriously thinking about what else she might be able to do besides games. “I might be depressed,” I wrote her. “But I really hesitate to write off a culmination of structural concerns and long-running systematic disrespect by both my enemies and my ‘allies’ as an involuntary chemical downer.”
“Totally,” she replied.”
[KEEP READING HERE]
BROFIST INTIMACY by TODD HARPER
“This is a view that Tabata’s comments exacerbate. The idea that FF15 is a “boys will be boys” scenario where we see what “boys” are like without girls around says to me: this is going to be another heteromasculine story that isn’t going to speak to you at all. I look at that, and compare it to the intense feelings of identification and emotional resonance I had with the women protagonists of FF10(-2), FF12, and the FF13 subseries, and am forced to ask: why should I care? I can’t get excited about this. I can’t. Some people can, and that’s fine! But for me, it feels like this huge step backwards.
If I’m gonna care about about the all-male-revue FF15, I need to be promised something of equal value to what I have lost in the process. I need the promise of something as powerful as Yuna’s journey, as affecting as Fang and Vanille’s tragic love and sisterhood. Instead, what I’m being offered is the promise of me having to do a lot of background queering work, a lot of spinning the straw of subtext into the gold of satisfying consumption. To be honest, I kinda don’t want to. If I’m gonna have male intimacy, I don’t want it to be brofists and combat assists. I want to know that these men have complicated relationships that problematize our visions of masculine identity, that suggest there are ways for men to be social with each other that do transcend romance or sex, that are not stuck in this weird binary of “manly men” vs. “feelings-haver fanfic bait.”
What we’ve seen of FF15 is a demo only, and of old content at that. It’s true that we don’t really know what’s coming in the final version. But going solely by what I’ve played, and what I’ve read the creators say about the game? My doubts are many and my comforts, few.”
[KEEP READING HERE]
So yeah! There's a few of the stuff I've found interesting lately. What about you guys? Anyone else here interested in these kinds of pieces? Have any to share?