Spring brings Social Revolution

(Before the reading of this becomes confusing, this is something I wrote from the end of winter beginning of spring so it references the cold. Odd I know, but I had no place to put this before now so this is the article for today.)

I am all for people showing their beliefs (I mean I probably won't listen to you but go ahead and keep talking). Spew your ideals all you want get yourself out in the open try and get all the time you can for 15 minutes. The thing that bothers me is the part timers, the people that only half ass it.

I'm going to lunch in my little dorm cafeteria (enjoying my food while I incur HUGE debt) I go and sit down and what do i see out the window today (just outside an army recruitment office) but a bunch of kids standing around waving signs impeach Bush/Cheney, get out of Iraq, No blood for Oil (more on this later), you know so on and so forth all that garbage that has been bantered in all the wrong situations so many times that it has completely and totally lost meaning(seems everyone at Columbia College thinks alike, so much for individuality, but that’s for a different article). What makes this one worthless in my eyes is the weather today(yes the weather), its damn nice day out out and everyone is in light jackets and/or windbreakers (is there anyone who still owns a windbreaker).

Onto the end to this seemingly non-sequitur. I did not see any one of those assholes standing outside when the temperature dropped below freezing. Not a single one of them thought that "social revolution" was important when the temperature was below about 35 degrees. Again, I want to point out I am all for people spewing their ideals out on the street. So I guess this could be seen as a public message to any who stands outside holding signs, chanting impeach Bush(or anything for that matter), and wearing funny costumes (you can have revolution without a few wardrobe changes, right?). To the people protesting (if you want to call it that): Ya know what? Grow some balls, because your caring about the world should have nothing to do with the the weather. IF you really cared you would have been standing there day in and day out holding those same signs, chanting the same gibberish no matter if it was -40 or 140 degrees out. So if you "protesters" are not brave enough to weather the elements why should you expect anyone to care what you have to say.

On to point number two. You just happen to be wrong and stupid. Yeah we were at war(apparently we are back down to a conflict or something) and as heartless as it seems there are casualties as a result of war. So we have one half of your equation not lets look at the other half...Oil.

Take a gander at this Handy Dandy Chart

HEY! Look at that there is no Blood for Oil there we are spending nearly 4 times what we spent 8 years ago after a relative long period of time with no large gas price increase. So where is my oil for all this bloodshed(and don't think the relative low price in the US makes me think this is alright, the US worked really hard for those business relationships back in the day and now they are biting us in our collective asses). As it turns out you can't just imprison and kill a genocidal nation leader and have gas prices go down (which no one mentions the whole genocidal thing). Who'da thunk it. Now don't get me wrong I am not a Republican but at the same time I am no more Democrat either. I'm just a guy with a soap box who hates out and out Lemmingism (my first made up word here!) and people who think all the worlds problems could be solved by getting one man out of the White House. The solution is never simple and the effect is never quick, so just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Oh yeah! And give up on protesting (no one cares anyways) so write a letter to your Senator instead.

Out of control: Heavy Rain Trailer breaks boundaries by showing us a game...that literally is a movie, but not a very good one.

So way back in the day when I was innocent and video games were made of magic instead of subliminal soft-drink ads, I played a game called Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit for all you Europeans out there). At the time, many critics hailed it for its cinematic approach to game presentation. It seemingly married film and game with little falter bringing the best of both worlds: a stunning aesthetic and engaging action.

Fast forward to ten minutes after you, the consumers, open the box and you realize that all of those critics must have been on drugs or playing a totally different game, because it ended up being a horrible mess of bad controls with a a quarry truck full of quick time events and a story worthy of M. Night Shyamalan (thats an insult) . To top that off it was pretentious enough to make you sit through a monologue by the games director David Cage who makes sure that you are aware that this game is special.


I've now gone off track, but this game is worthy of rant. In an industry starved for something unique, Indigo Prophecy promises a breath of fresh air, but then deliberately passes gas in your face. Crude, I know, but this is going somewhere, trust me. So when I say I want something thats different, something that has a unique flavor, I don't mean that I'm willing accept the sacrifice of everything that makes a game good in the favor of "immersion." What the hell is immersion when you die seventy times in the first twenty minutes of the game because you failed to cover up all of the blood left over in your apartment. That doesn't remind me of the fact that this is a game at all. No I'm still totally engrossed. Now, I suppose all of those hard-core I.P. fans out there would respond with something along the lines of "well you're just bad at the game" which sadly is true, but its not easy to care when there is nothing making me want to grind through to the next scene. Ultimately what I'm trying to say here is that when its dinner time and I'm bored of eating rodeo burgers every day, I don't join my dog in rummaging through garbage for some moldy barf... crap..., I don't know.. whatever dogs eat when they get into the garbage.. fill in the blank. you get the point.


OK so now that thats over with, the newest trailer for quantum dream's Heavy Rain has arrived and, from what I can tell, they've broken the mold again...in the same exact way...but this time EVEN MORE. So the trailer promises game-play footage, but that assertion is more than a little bit disturbing as you'll see that all that gets shown is a massive quick time event. Here it is:



(For all of you that aren't up on the lingo a quick time event is essentially a cut scene who's progress depends on your ability to tap particular buttons in succession when commanded. Its the absolute bane of my existance.)

So the question I would like to pose to quantum dream is this: You consider this to be gameplay? If so then I think we have a problem. Sure...you're occasionally tapping buttons...I suppose that means something, but I can also save myself fifty dollars and go buy an electric simon-says and have virtually the same experience, only this time with the events playing out in my own home and success and failure both concluding with me eating something delicious. Now THAT is what I call immersion. In conclusion I think that this game needs to exist if only to show people that there absolutely has to be a dividing line between games and movies. Blurring the line doesn't make for an engrossing experience. It makes for an essential sacrifice of what makes both media good and unique.

Narrative-focused first person shooters like Half-Life or Bioshock provide a brilliant example of how different movies and games are and always should be. These, being two of the most immersive games, no, experiences in the past decade, take place fully from a single, player controlled, perspective. Meanwhile the 1947 film Lady in the Lake, based on the Ramond Chandler novel of the same name, is widely considered to be a cinematic failure though its story unfolds from the same exact perspective. The observers actual inclusion in the action is a huge component in marking that difference.

So I've been mulling over this post for a few days hoping that some new information would come along dispelling the cold dark facts about this highly anticipated game. Sadly my fears of this game's ultimate failure are continuously affirmed. From what I've heard, the moments where you ACTUALLY control your character are played out in a cinematic style with different angles. What used to be a crutch of primitive game design has now become an aesthetic choice. To the credit of Heavy Rain, there have been some great titles in the past that have been created in a similar manner: Parasite Eve, Resident Evil 1-3, and a whole slew of other ps1 titles. However, these games typically have major faults(directly as a result of this type of camera system) that can only be overlooked due to other outstanding aspects be they bowel failure inducing zombie dogs, zombie horses, zombie polar bears, or truck sized, yet questionably zombified, spiders.

Furthermore, I've always had issues with Quantum Dream's brand of story-telling. They hit hard about the fact that they're delivering a mature game meant for adults yet, contrary to their allegedly grown-up approach, the game plays out in the manner of a children's choose your own adventure book. While on paper that may sound interesting, the branching of events based on the players decisions and actions, it makes me feel like less love went into the core story as a result.

So thats what I've got. As with any game it would be great if this succeeds and is actually good, but I don't quite feel that. Then again, pretty much any game that looks this good graphically is going to sell even if it really is complete rubbish. Just look at Crysis. (Sorry Crytek, but its true. Hey, I'm really looking forward to Far Cry 2 though so wash away those tears...oh yeah...about that...)

Little introduction.

So I was in New York City when Matt proposed to me that he and I should write a blog (note: I will never refer to this as a blog ever again as I am not going to be writing about how much the boys at school are mean to me or how my hair never turns out as hot as I want it to). Point is I was out of town and did not bring a computer so that I could sit down for a set amount of time to write an article about nothing. So Matt has already said that he is going to probably end up mostly covering video games, and I'll probably hit on the random video game story from time to time as well but I want to cover a wider topic range (as will he I'm guessing). Things to look forward to are: cars, electronics, why what you support is a huge waste of time, gaming, building things for no real reason, incredible time wasters (online and off), general ranting about something or another, and the radio industry.

I have been wanting to do this for a long time now and when Matt did all the leg work for me of setting up the blAg and all I had to do was post to it I couldn't really pass up not doing work...

note: I am just going to refer to Matt as Matt. If it is confusing to you the fact that my name is Matt, and his name is Matt just remember that I will not be referring to myself in the third person.

Seriously this time?

So I've tried blogging (jesus that word is heinous) several times in the past and every single time, without failure, I post once promising a shock and awe flash bang sprinkles and fireworks hell of a presentation and then abandon it with not so much of a simple explanation to my many (lie) adoring fans as to why. Even as I write this, the decaying husks of innumerable failed websites and journals lay dormant amongst the vast wasteland of the internet never to be updated again yet forever denied the honor and the privilege of deletion.

Having overcome the delusion of a social life I now stand...er...sit...am binarilly represented before you making a promise that this time will most definitely be different. Or maybe it won't. Either way I'm having a go at it and this time around I'm planning on dragging a friend or two down with me so here it goes.

First of all, mind the title and the layout. I'm just getting this thing going and I'm not exactly an HTML genious (no I don't need help). As for the title...well, in the five minutes I've been dedicated to this idea I've yet to think of anything better. If i do? I'll change it, but for now I've got other things that need work, specifically this box of cheese crackers.

Second of all: Content. What is this garbage going to be all about? Well, I can't say for sure. When I wrote the title description I said it'd be about arts and entertainment, but will it really? Probably, but maybe not. Maybe I'll tell my genetic life story minute for minute starting with my eldest Proterozoic ancestor. Do you care? Maybe, but probably not.