Videogames

[Faust]

I would say that books are much more numerous than videogames, and while most books are trash, there is no denying that there exists an immense body of literature that is worth reading. These mediums are simply not comparable in that respect.

[Fade to Black]

I get more kicks out of reading biographies of people I'm interested in than any videogame could offer.

[stereophobic]

pretty big couple of months in gaming with plenty of top tier games recently or about to be released. mass effect 2 and bioshock 2 are sitting on my to play list (as is bayonetta although it is a tad more lowbrow than the other 2 )

make sure to get bayonetta for the xbox and not the ps3. I used to play a lot of devil may cry 3 and I'm beasting for bayonetta right now.

[endersgame]

keep playing those video games, kids.
i couldn't live without yt gems like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3Ltik1evQ

[dji]

my 360 broke down (after repairing it myself three times ) and I refuse to buy another one so I bought bayonetta on ps3, I can live with the slight dip in graphic performance now that they've fixed the load times. I don't mind the DMC games however I prefer the combat mechanics and gameplay of the Ninja Gaiden series, finally got around to playing sigma 2 on the summer holidays which was fantastic even though they turned down the brutal difficulty level from the first game a bit.

[Servo2000]

books are not mere entrainment. books contain valuable life lessons and problems. games do not (although i am waiting for servo to come up with some ).

I feel like I made an (longwinded) attempt earlier in this thread, didn't I?

In terms of recent 'mainstream' works I think Bioshock was really fascinating in that it began to really address the concerns that have been mentioned ('coded interactions') in this thread thematically and narratively with having your character literally respond to coded phrases that the player is unaware of - with the 'reveal' exposing the charade of 'free choice' in videogames by also quite literally removing control from the player at a key juncture. The narrative itself is also pretty well done - the players role is somewhat ambiguous and forces you to pick between following 'easy truisms' presented by pretty extreme ideologies (rand) and somewhat more morally complicated ones in a world where the former have failed in a pretty extravagant way.

Not sure about 'philosophical issues' but there's another piece out called Gravity Bone that's free to download and only takes about 30 minutes to play - I REALLY suggest it before you read this:

it's another piece that intentionally plays off of assumptions about what games are and really traps players deeply in 'the videogame' and turning on a certain set of feelings emotions and habits and then subverting them almost completely. By using stereotypes like 'the training section,' 'non playable characters,' 'platforming' and 'mission based' elements you think you have the game 'figured out' until you realize that the environment and world is much more functional than you've been taught and when it violates your assumptions by acting outside of its apparent limitations it makes the failure of your critical relation to 'games' all the more clear. aside from that it's got fantastic design and a really incredible soundtrack and is just a joy to experience.



I think these are good examples of pieces that raise issues to a certain degree because 'videogames about videogames' is a perfectly valid exploration (not to mention the issues that videogames themselves raise so its more like 'entertainment about entertainment' and maybe occasionally 'art about art'). I think that each generation now becomes more and more involved in and 'trained' to a certain degree aesthetically etc... by videogames and so exploring, subverting and abusing its nature becomes increasingly relevant.

[Fade to Black]

i'm not sure how well videogame technology has developed, but one of my biggest beefs was that I'd have much rather played in the settings of those 'in-between' interludes/videos of games rather than in the layout of many actual games themselves. Then again the last video game system I owned was the Sega Dreamcast; my above opinion may very well have been rendered obsolete by time.

[Archaics]

.....

[Fade to Black]

i liked the choose your own adventure books...

[Real Real]

I'd like to create a video game that begins with you watching the first 10 minutes of the fourth season of the Wire. Then, you would play a match of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo against a very easy opponent (maybe change some of the sprites and call it Super Wire Fighter 2 Turbo). If you win, you watch the next 10 minutes of the first episode. After that, you play a slightly harder opponent. Eventually, after many matches, and beating the hardest opponent you've yet faced, you get to watch the last 10 minutes of the season.

It would be the greatest video game with a narrative that has ever been made.

[ProfMonnitoff]

Bioshock would have been an amazing game if they had gotten rid of all enemies/challenges and it would have just been about exploring Rapture.

Also, speaking of Grim Fandango, few movies or books have made me laugh as much as the Monkey Island games. Parts 1 and 2 are the best and funniest, even though the graphics are very basic and there aren't any voice overs.

[Fade to Black]

One of my major hang-ups in life is that I was never very good at 'strategy' board game-type games (i.e. Command & Conquer, Starcraft, etc.) Never won a 1v1 on battle.net, never beat any of those games' single player campaigns.

I was a pretty good Diablo player, though. When D3 comes out I might have to dust off the ol' keyboard and mouse.

[Faust]

The anti-video game stance in this thread is so absurd.

You are right. Videogames are such sewer that they actually should not even warrant a response.

[theetruscan]

You are right. Videogames are such sewer that they actually should not even warrant a response.

I love it.

First you compare video games to books to say videogames are trash. Then, when I try to illustrate some of the novel and interesting aspects of video games, you say they're incomparable because ... there are more books. Now you just throw random insults. Clearly some well-considered opinions here. I'm in awe.

[Faust]

I'm glad I can amuse you.