No Laughing Matter
- Thread starter Reid McCarter
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Nice article. It really is indicative of gaming culture that what devs think we'll laugh at is analogous to an 11 year-old's humor. The article didn't even mention Bulletstorm which I feel wanted to go for the ironic approach but sort of missed the point and fell around Duke's level anyway. But the same could easily be said about the film industry. We still have comedies coming out where the core of the humor presented is immature to the point of absurdity. That's not to depreciate the value of a good poop joke. I love a good poop joke. But to center your humor-based IP on scatological humor does depreciate the poop-joke. I'd say Duke's sense of humor is comparable to, say, Transformers 2's robot scrotum joke.
Though, the article does fail to mention the other strain of humor that is present in games, if more in the Indie and children's titles than anything. That is to say humor in a more absurd and slapstick sense. Twisted Pixel games or Double Fine productions take a different comedic route which, while still lacking drier approach of, say, Portal, still manage to achieve laughs based off of things more complex than a drawing of a dick.
Though, the article does fail to mention the other strain of humor that is present in games, if more in the Indie and children's titles than anything. That is to say humor in a more absurd and slapstick sense. Twisted Pixel games or Double Fine productions take a different comedic route which, while still lacking drier approach of, say, Portal, still manage to achieve laughs based off of things more complex than a drawing of a dick.
What a perfect article to pimp my current obession [link href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/98800"]Dungeons of Dredmor[/link]
It is a roguelike to the core in the tradition of Nethack and Adom with a lot of innovative features.
But one of the main things I noticed was the humor in the game actually works. It plays with and subverts fantasy tropes and draws references from 30 years of roguelike and gaming history. And it actually has a non-eyeroll inducing portal reference. It has both visual gags and textual jokes. One example is if you are idle for too long the hero whips out a PSP and starts playing on it. Another is the monsters saying things like "one more adventurer and I can retire".
The music is particularly good in that it doesn't annoy you after 40 hours of play. The game is only $5 on steam and I would highly recommend it. Not only is it a fun game in itself but it is a great example of exactly an example of what the article is discussing, being clever and subtle with humor in games.
It is a roguelike to the core in the tradition of Nethack and Adom with a lot of innovative features.
But one of the main things I noticed was the humor in the game actually works. It plays with and subverts fantasy tropes and draws references from 30 years of roguelike and gaming history. And it actually has a non-eyeroll inducing portal reference. It has both visual gags and textual jokes. One example is if you are idle for too long the hero whips out a PSP and starts playing on it. Another is the monsters saying things like "one more adventurer and I can retire".
The music is particularly good in that it doesn't annoy you after 40 hours of play. The game is only $5 on steam and I would highly recommend it. Not only is it a fun game in itself but it is a great example of exactly an example of what the article is discussing, being clever and subtle with humor in games.
Eh, this article was kind of restraining, sorry. Hey guys, there is humor in videogames! There is humor like in DNF, which is BAD. There is humor almost but not quite like in DNF, which is GOOD. And there are a lot of other kinds of humor maybe????????
While I don't share the Valve boner many fans have, I'll say they offer some of the best humor in business, but only because of their subdued, weaved narrative style, which potentializes games' narrative potential while respecting their audience - their 'non cutscenes' that are only different from regular cutscenes in which they can't be skipped notwithstanding, of course. When most major games scream all of their plot points at me for fear that I'm completely stupid and won't get it unless it's repeated very slowly - I still hasn't lived down Dead Space for showing me two characters fighting through the whole intro, then having the two characters in turn tell me they kind of don't like each other - Valve knows that if you leave a note, a writing, a logo, an object in the game world, gamers will be able to put the story together. Unless they don't care, in which case, they don't care.
Also to the point, everyone loves GLADoS, but I think everyone forgot how she was introduced. If you didn't know what she was like there were very subtle clues that she wasn't running completely well, until the game started dropping dark humor bricks ('for instance, the floor in the room will kill you... try not to touch it.') If GLADoS had been completely wacko from the get-go she wouldn't be such an effective character. On other Valve game, when Alyx calls a zombie combine a 'zombine', it's a very effective joke... not funny, but effective, because it sounds like something a real person would come up with, it sounds like something that might become organically known in the world as a name for it, and it underscores that Alyx is friendly and creative, but not particularly funny. In the first case setting assists humor, in the second humor assists setting.
While I don't share the Valve boner many fans have, I'll say they offer some of the best humor in business, but only because of their subdued, weaved narrative style, which potentializes games' narrative potential while respecting their audience - their 'non cutscenes' that are only different from regular cutscenes in which they can't be skipped notwithstanding, of course. When most major games scream all of their plot points at me for fear that I'm completely stupid and won't get it unless it's repeated very slowly - I still hasn't lived down Dead Space for showing me two characters fighting through the whole intro, then having the two characters in turn tell me they kind of don't like each other - Valve knows that if you leave a note, a writing, a logo, an object in the game world, gamers will be able to put the story together. Unless they don't care, in which case, they don't care.
Also to the point, everyone loves GLADoS, but I think everyone forgot how she was introduced. If you didn't know what she was like there were very subtle clues that she wasn't running completely well, until the game started dropping dark humor bricks ('for instance, the floor in the room will kill you... try not to touch it.') If GLADoS had been completely wacko from the get-go she wouldn't be such an effective character. On other Valve game, when Alyx calls a zombie combine a 'zombine', it's a very effective joke... not funny, but effective, because it sounds like something a real person would come up with, it sounds like something that might become organically known in the world as a name for it, and it underscores that Alyx is friendly and creative, but not particularly funny. In the first case setting assists humor, in the second humor assists setting.
Sorry, this article does NOT serve gaming culture.
This is single sided propaganda on FOX NEWS level: Pulling out some nasties and totally overlooking the BIG AMOUNT of games featuring the finer shades of humour.
And if one is not mature enough to take a dick joke for what it is then he/she is the REAL immature.
Did it ever occure to some morality preachers writing articles to check the semantics of the verb "gaming"? I guess not.
This is single sided propaganda on FOX NEWS level: Pulling out some nasties and totally overlooking the BIG AMOUNT of games featuring the finer shades of humour.
And if one is not mature enough to take a dick joke for what it is then he/she is the REAL immature.
Did it ever occure to some morality preachers writing articles to check the semantics of the verb "gaming"? I guess not.
Well, I find this a bit stating the obvious to be honest.
Computer games sold to 12 year olds are full of dick jokes. Yes. Years later when those 12 year olds are now 30, computer games that sell are not full of dick jokes. Its not really surprising.
Sure, 12 year olds still play games but now they are obsessed more with being adult and having a gun and having sex and taking drugs than childish dick jokes. Cultures have changed and the key audience has grown up some.
I don't think the change in attitudes of teenagers is for the better, but thats a different argument.
Computer games sold to 12 year olds are full of dick jokes. Yes. Years later when those 12 year olds are now 30, computer games that sell are not full of dick jokes. Its not really surprising.
Sure, 12 year olds still play games but now they are obsessed more with being adult and having a gun and having sex and taking drugs than childish dick jokes. Cultures have changed and the key audience has grown up some.
I don't think the change in attitudes of teenagers is for the better, but thats a different argument.
People read too much into this. When i was a kid i liked bum jokes and farting and all that good stuff...i still do to be honest. My 4 + 5 year old nephews like bum jokes and farting aswell. The cycle continues unbroken. Maybe people have stopped catering for that audience now thats all
The Escapists completely biased hatred of DNF has gone beyond funny and is now just sad. Duke wasn't that bad, Shadows of the Damned... is...
More OT though I didn't buy Bulletstorm because in the demo the main character goes "Hey dick-tits... pre-order this game" (or something like that). "Dick-tits"? That's the best they could do? Watch Full Metal Jacket and come up with something, anything, better than "Dick-tits".
Also more OT, Dragon Age had some awesome mixed in humour really, really, well. I know a lot of people would pay for DLC "banter" packs.
Escapisted, DNF wasn't that bad, just let it go and try to salvage your dignity while there's a chance you still can.
More OT though I didn't buy Bulletstorm because in the demo the main character goes "Hey dick-tits... pre-order this game" (or something like that). "Dick-tits"? That's the best they could do? Watch Full Metal Jacket and come up with something, anything, better than "Dick-tits".
Also more OT, Dragon Age had some awesome mixed in humour really, really, well. I know a lot of people would pay for DLC "banter" packs.
Escapisted, DNF wasn't that bad, just let it go and try to salvage your dignity while there's a chance you still can.
Giants: Citizen Kabuto was fantastic. I haven't laughed so much at a game (outside of multiplayer Blur games with friends).sodak said:
I am your father... [http://www.videosurf.com/video/giants-citizen-kabuto-some-funny-scene-2-156548717]
Armed and dangerous was not so good I felt. Giants got it just right.
Like gameplay, sometimes humor suffers because those crafting it don't understand it as an art and science. It sound ridiculous to say, but humor has a sort of "science" behind it. I don't mean like formulas and postulates and laws, of course. I mean that there's more to it than just saying something "funny."Reid McCarter said:
Often, the games with the most superficial humor also have superficial gameplay. The cause is a lack of understanding of why to include something. They're just ape-ing what worked for someone else. If you watch a little kid playing baseball, he'll do his best to imitate his favorite batter's or pitcher's stance, swing, and/or follow-through... but of course, it's unrefined. Why? Because Timmy doesn't know why he's putting his foot here or his arm like that. He just knows this other guy did it, and it worked for him.
And if that's our approach to humor -- superficially imitating what worked for someone else -- odds are we're also not observant enough to catch the deeper types of humor. We're only able to perceive the most basic types (slapstick, gross-out, sophomoric crap). So we're not just stuck imitating, we're stuck imitating the "low-hanging fruit."
Every art suffers from this, and every artist must struggle with it eventually. "Inspiration" is just a starting point. It's craft--the laborious process of study, experimentation, and reflection--that turns that inspiration into something meaningful. The old "10% inspiration, 90% perspiration" idea is forever true.
If we don't go through that process, we're just stuck gluing these little bits of "inspiration" into a disjunct mosaic meant to serve as a finished product. And, let's face it, most of what we call "inspiration" is really just our brain putting its own stamp (and maybe a slight adjustment) on something we've seen someone else do.
Humor is an art, and it requires thoughtful study. Through that study, we expand our collection of available tools, and we increase our understanding of when to use which ones for maximum effect. Without that, we'll be the idiot using a hammer when we should be using a saw--whether because a hammer is all we have, or we just don't know any better.
What? You mention the nineties and not a single reference to Sam%Max, Day of the Tentacle or similar? Lucas Art is only mentioned later, in passing?
For shame, for shame.
For shame, for shame.
TESTIFY! Armed and Dangerous was a bit rough in spots, but the brilliant sense of humor more than made up for it. I mean seriously, the land-shark gun. Has there been a better weapon? I think not.sodak said:
Although I'm glad to see more articles on the Escapist again, this one does itself a disservice by not providing examples of what it's talking about.
The difference between DNF and The Devil's Backbone is...? I mean, the author tells us there's a difference and is sure to name drop the names of the game but doesn't go all the way and explain why the stuff in DNF is bad and the stuff in Backbone is better.
One is satire and one isn't--well then show me the satire. Make the point because otherwise all I've got is your say so, and I've read the reviews (at the Escapist, even!) that say: You'd better like dick jokes, because Backbone as a ton of them.
The difference between DNF and The Devil's Backbone is...? I mean, the author tells us there's a difference and is sure to name drop the names of the game but doesn't go all the way and explain why the stuff in DNF is bad and the stuff in Backbone is better.
One is satire and one isn't--well then show me the satire. Make the point because otherwise all I've got is your say so, and I've read the reviews (at the Escapist, even!) that say: You'd better like dick jokes, because Backbone as a ton of them.
I loved humor of Duke Nukem Forever, every bit of it.
But those loading times and 2 weapon limit...
But those loading times and 2 weapon limit...
Amen brother. That's a large part of what I was hoping to get across. Without looking at humour as what it is (an intricate practice that can be much, much tougher to get across than just "straight" stories) it will almost always fall flat. Like, look at a comic like Louis C.K. who (even though he's demure about his own craftsmanship in interviews) has honed his style so intensely versus a first-time stand-up who apes the form without understanding how to truly take advantage of her/his medium to the utmost. Games will continue to get funnier as people who take the time to exploit their potential for humour work hard at practicing their craft.Dastardly said:
That's, I think, why some of the veteran Valve/Rockstar/Double Fine writers are able to make each of their releases funnier than the last. They're talented at dialogue and character-building but don't rest on their laurels and continue to explore how a game can channel comedy. The reason why Portal 2 is so hilarious has a lot to do with the refinement of style (not to mention having the kind of financial backing that goes into grabbing super-talented voice actors like Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons).