Roger Ebert Was Addicted to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

[Tom Goldman]

Roger Ebert Was Addicted to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles


Roger Ebert's recent opinions on videogames may have been shaped by a poor experience with reptiles and the power of pizza.

Film critic Roger Ebert recently took a trip into his past by digging up footage of when he and Gene Siskel used to do holiday gift guides. One particular clip may reveal why Ebert has had negative opinions [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100062-Ebert-Re-Emphasizes-That-Games-Will-Never-Be-Art] on the capabilities of videogames as a form of artistic expression.

In Siskel and Ebert's 1989 holiday gift guide, the pair talked up the Nintendo Entertainment System and its attempt to reach into the adult market. After fumbling around in Tecmo Bowl (I'd hate to see their troubles with a controller that has more than two buttons), Ebert divulged that he bought his own NES along with the system's first version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_%281989_video_game%29] back in the day.

You might expect the sometimes fuddy-duddy to have despised the NES from the outset, but according to his comments, he became addicted. Around the 4 minute mark in the accompanying video, Ebert says: "After about a week of this I would find that every time I had a spare moment, or every time I came home, I was in front of the set playing with these mutant turtles, and it got to the point where it was making me quite unhappy because I was so obsessed with it. I finally unplugged the machine and I said 'that's it for Nintendo' because it seems to me that it's so hypnotic, and so repetitive, that it's just not good for my mental health."

Everything has become clear. Ebert doesn't hate games, he just has terrible memories of one of the most challenging titles on the NES. I was never able to beat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, were you? Dealing with those horrifying swimming levels and having to survive in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Party Wagon was enough to drive any man, or kid, insane. If Ebert had played The Legend of Zelda [http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-Sony-PSP/dp/B000NPTOTK/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1293813047&sr=8-10] instead, he may have grown up to have very different opinions on the value of videogames. I wonder if he has flashbacks every time he eats pizza, too?

Source: Kotaku [http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/cest-moi/siskel-ebert-holiday-gift-guid.html]

Permalink

 

[awesomeClaw]

This explains everything! Wonder when Roger Ebert will actually TRY a videogame again before declaring it devoid of art. Perferably Mass effect. Can you honestly say that game isn´t art in some way?

 

[JediMB]

The plot thickens.

 

[D_987]

Perferably Mass effect. Can you honestly say that game isn´t art in some way?

Defiantly, Mass Effect is "art" is the same way any Hollywood blockbuster is art. The usual candidates for "Games are art" are games like Shadow of the Colossus, The Path, Flower and The Void.

 

[Starke]

Perferably Mass effect. Can you honestly say that game isn´t art in some way?

Defiantly, Mass Effect is "art" is the same way any Hollywood blockbuster is art. The usual candidates for "Games are art" are games like Shadow of the Colossus, The Path, Flower and The Void.

I would have picked different titles, but, D_987 is right, Claw.

 

[Lucane]

Gene "...The kids say that they play 2 hours a night or 1 hour a night,that's a hell of a lot of time." Ha ha ha.

Oh if he was only around to see things now.

 

[D_987]

what about Prince of Persia(2008) or Final Fantasy XIII or Metal Gear Solid 4?

No chance...

Prince of Persia had some nice graphics, but what kind of artistic statement in there within the game? None.

I can tell you're just trying to annoy me with the FFXIII comment =P, but like PoP, it has nice presentation, but no substance - what artistic message has been conveyed within that game?

As for MGS4...there's a message there, but it's not an artistic one, there's no interpretation, no subtlety - much like Mass Effect it has all the artistic value of any blockbuster film - which is to say, very little.

 

[Hollock]

He can't eat pizza, or anything else for that matter. ;_;

 

[tkioz]

Oh that TMNT game was evil I had it on the C64 (I think, bit vague memory wise), that god damn water level was as far as I got. I hated that water level, I hated it.

 

[AngelOfBlueRoses]

Everything has become clear. Ebert doesn't hate games, he just has terrible memories of one of the most challenging titles on the NES. I was never able to beat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, were you? Dealing with those horrifying swimming levels and having to survive in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Party Wagon was enough to drive any man, or kid, insane.

Ha! That is exactly what I thought when I first read the headline, Mr. Goldman! Cookie to you!

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I'm not sure where this idea that Roger Ebert HATES games came from. He doesn't understand them, sure, and he applies an unrelated mindset in which he is an expert (movies) in judging them, but he did afterwards apologize and pretty much admit that he doesn't "get" games. I certainly wouldn't lump him in with the Jack Thompson "games have no merits at all and are a danger to everyone" crowd.

Still, if I had my druthers, I'd bring over a handful of atypical games (Shadow of the Colossus, The Path, Amnesia: Dark Descent) to his house and give him a walkthrough of basic gameplay mechanics as he played, so he could concentrate on what the games had to "say". As many moviegoers look to him for wisdom on movies, he should look to someone knowledgable about video games if he really wants to understand this (relatively) new medium.

 

[Salem_Wolf]

Odd, he stated once he never played video games. Now this? Intriguing...

 

[Tom Phoenix]

For those unaware of how bad the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game was, here is the review from AVGN (known as the Angry Nintendo Nerd back then;WARNING! The video includes an abundance of swearing):


I guess I can't really blame Ebert for having a bad first impression. It is a shame he didn't play Super Mario Bros. instead.

 

[Arsen]

The dam level...
*shudders from the memories*

 

[Trogdor1138]

what about Prince of Persia(2008) or Final Fantasy XIII or Metal Gear Solid 4?

No chance...

Prince of Persia had some nice graphics, but what kind of artistic statement in there within the game? None.

I can tell you're just trying to annoy me with the FFXIII comment =P, but like PoP, it has nice presentation, but no substance - what artistic message has been conveyed within that game?

As for MGS4...there's a message there, but it's not an artistic one, there's no interpretation, no subtlety - much like Mass Effect it has all the artistic value of any blockbuster film - which is to say, very little.

*Don't want to start flame wars etc.*

MGS4 not art? You're kidding, yes? I just got done on my second playthrough a couple of days ago (got the game for Christmas) and it was the first title that will come to mind whenever i think of Art+Games in the future.

I have been playing the series for about 12 years, played each game a ridiculous amount of times over, when I finally got to the credits of MGS4 I was just completely shocked by it.

I felt like I grew with the characters, in every game there have been fantastic messages about War, Politics and the human race in general. It's all directly inspired from Kojima's own inspirations. MGS4 in my opinion has absolutely peaked in the series with amazing writing, keeping you on the edge of your seat while it draws you in, emotionally engaged as well as gameplay-wise, with so many small moments that would go unnoticed until multiple playthroughs. He wrapped everything up in such a great way that made me shed tears for one of the only ever times in a game (the other was MGS3's ending). There was a ridiculous amount of subtlety in the game in every element, but it isn't art? (Fair enough, a lot of people wouldn't have the attachments but I feel even a non-fan would have to appreciate it).

Just like every other game I've always considered art, one would have to be stupid to not consider them such. It gives the player an emotional experience and it's why I consider games the ultimate form of art (I'm also a lifelong film maker, with games always inspiring me).

There is more to art than simply looking stunning everybody, it can't even be described, just like every creative medium has something amazing to draw you in, more than just escapism.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Roger Ebert should lay off addicting games.

Still my favourite reviewer though.