Jimquisition: Videogames Are Not Movies, Get Over It

LiquidGrape

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Woodsey said:
[...] David Cage; that man is such an egotistical twat.
At this year's GDC, Cage held a presentation called "Creating an Emotional Rollercoaster in Heavy Rain". He proceeded to dismiss the entire history of the medium by reducing virtually every game preceeding Heavy Rain to a collection of ten verbs.
Jump, run, shoot, roll and six others he didn't seem interested in specifying.

Yes, Cage is delusional dick.
 

acosn

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Sep 11, 2008
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Nice talk. I was expecting some quip about how there's never been a good movie based off a video game that wasn't already safer than a safe inside a safe and there's been maybe two good video games based on movies. Eh, oh well.

Oh, and "fuck." If you're saying the same word enough times that I lost count in a six minute piece you're saying it too much.
 

Tzekelkan

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Dec 27, 2009
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I liked it. Made me laugh a couple of times and had good, catchy arguments. Will watch more.
 

dfcrackhead

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Wodan said:
Hmmm... Decently put argument... Somewhat interesting and novel orator... I am intrigued to see more of what this series and what Jim can offer.
In my opinion he looks a bit too young for me to take him seriously, he just comes off as an angry 20-something year old in a suit with a mic, but we will see, I usually give shows a month+ to come into their own.

Also, hate the sunglasses, not sure why, but I do
 

Nero Haven

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That was...interesting. I was a bit surprised at the low quality of the video in comparison to other Escapist video series, it wasn't very entertaining to watch Jim just stand there talking. Aside from that, this still comes off as something that would have been better in writing. At some points profanity seemed to be peppered in for no real point, although some of those uses fit in quite well, others stuck out as unnecessary. I may be acting a bit overly sensitive on that part, but it is something that jumped out at me, and I'm no stranger to Yahtzee's videos, in which I find the use of profanity timely and funny.

The brief pop-ins of quick paint drawings didn't seem to contribute to anything either. The quick clips of Heavy Rain in between reading the items on the list were helpful in illustrating the point, and were humorous in the context presented. A half-second flash of penis-man didn't make me laugh or think anything more on the point, but derailed my thoughts and had me asking myself 'why the hell did that get put in there? Was there a point?'

Forgive me if I'm coming off as overly critical, I think I've been spoiled on the well-thought out rantings of Yahtzee and the in-depth analysis of Extra Credits, while this series seems to be an in-between of those two. As with anything on The Escapist, I'll give it at least 3-4 weeks to see if it improves or it grows on me.

Aside from the criticism, I agree with the message he's trying to convey. Video games are different than other mediums, constantly comparing them to film is destructive. It wasn't exactly a controversial issue, but I doubt it's something most gamers think about, and is definitely food for thought.
 

Alfador_VII

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Nov 2, 2009
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Not bad for a first episode.

Lose the mirror shades, they're just distracting and tacky, and a bit less badly drawn cocks next time. Otherwise a good video overall, and I broadly agree with what he's saying this time too.
 

GoGo_Boy

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May 12, 2010
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Hmm dunno, was alright. And his obvious point is obvious.

But I prefer it when people actually focus mostly on their topic and actually give interesting informations or point of views instead of using vulgar speech in order to be funny and separate themselves from other guys who do the same stuff. I'll take Extra Credits over this, Zero Punct. and movie Bob any day.

They don't waste much time AND have the most interesting arguments and presentation on top of that ;P
 

Blueruler182

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May 21, 2010
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I was going make a point about "just because they like one angry brit doesn't mean they're all good," but a lot of you seem to like this guy so...

Honestly, I can go to the local University campus if I want to hear a fat person complain about video games. This guys delivery and the way he's throwing his hands around just irritates me and we already have Extra Credits on board to make a logical commentary on the gaming industry. Getting an angry man to try and do the same job is going to be less effective.
 

i7omahawki

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Does he have to be so right yet so unrepentingly repellent and obnoxious in apperance and delivery as to almost demolish his rightness?

We're really screwed as a medium if the only people talking sense are themselves beyond mad.
 

Ubermetalhed

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Sep 15, 2009
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Erm... no-one is saying Games are films. Everyone knows they are different but that doesn't mean they can't have elements of each other in them though.

Heavy Rain is a game with cinematic elements but its still a game. MGS4 has cinematic elements in it but it's still a game. The same goes for films with elements inspired by games. No one is dumb enough to say Films and Games are the same, well except for this Jim guy.

Whether videogames are Art is a completely different question to 'are Games the same as Movies?' And one which Jim clearly wasn't answering despite his Roger Ebert blurt at the end.
 

Woodsey

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LiquidGrape said:
Woodsey said:
[...] David Cage; that man is such an egotistical twat.
At this year's GDC, Cage held a presentation called "Creating an Emotional Rollercoaster in Heavy Rain". He proceeded to dismiss the entire history of the medium by reducing virtually every game preceeding Heavy Rain to a collection of ten verbs.
Jump, run, shoot, roll and six others he didn't seem interested in specifying.

Yes, Cage is delusional dick.
Mind you, people treat Heavy Rain like its the go-to game for wonderful writing, so at least he does get it from somewhere, no matter how retarded that somewhere might be.
 

trymantha

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Oct 26, 2010
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Thank you Capitan Obvious. video game are not movies?

NO WAY, STOP THE PRESSES.

swearing doesn't make you funny nor does it help your case.

not watching again
 

SageRuffin

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Dec 19, 2009
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Yay, another video series about how video games are supposed to have a deeper meaning other than just being fun. I understand that video games can have phenomenal narratives, writing, direction, etc, but must we constantly have this argument about the whole "games as art" thing?

Go ahead, talk about how I have a lack of higher thought process or whatever. I'll be over here getting my kicks with Bulletstorm (pun not intended).
 

Sach

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Nov 22, 2009
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Wow, that was annoying... Add this one to the list of Escapist video series I'm never gonna watch again. The best part of the whole video was the FF9 music.

It's not that I have a problem with his message (though I did enjoy Heavy Rain, I agree that movies and games are 2 very different mediums), it's that this guy is annoying as hell. He's trying WAY too hard to be edgy. I guess maybe he's going for that "I'm an asshole and that makes me cooler than you" thing, but whereas with Yahtzee I wish the videos were several times longer so I could hear more of his rants, the only reason I finished this video was because I was listening to the music.

Destructoid can keep him.
 

webby

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Sep 13, 2010
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Jimothy Sterling said:
Obviousness of subject: Not every episode is going to be something hotly contested. Sometimes it's just stuff that pissed me off and hopefully people can feel cathartic in hearing it voiced by someone else. That said, future episodes will have more debatable and touchy topics to discuss, so it won't just be a fat man stating the obvious.
The thing here is that the obvious subject matter makes interesting discussions difficult but not impossible. I'd say the biggest problem wasn't the obviousness of the subject matter or the lack of contention, it was that it was a superficial look at obvious subject matter with no point of contention. Basically here you had a fairly obvious right or wrong answer and instead of going into more detail you just left it at saying what was right.

That's basically like a maths teacher telling a kid that says that 2+2=5 that they're wrong and not explaining why. You effectively missed the most important part of the debate, and with it being such a comprehensively covered debate that is a big miss.

Even with interesting topics if you only superficially explain your opinion people are not going to be entertained or educated which are the 2 main staples of compelling viewing.
 

tomtom94

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May 11, 2009
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Do we really need another soapbox series? What with all the columns, Extra Credits (it's a very intelligent one, and I love it, but that's all it is), Big Picture, and ZP gradually turning into one as well, I think this is too much.
Especially with the random swearing and general meh tone. Probably won't be watching again.
 

LiquidGrape

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SageRuffin said:
Yay, another video series about how video games are supposed to have a deeper meaning other than just being fun. I understand that video games can have phenomenal narratives, writing, direction, etc, but must we constantly have this argument about the whole games as art" thing?

Go ahead, talk about how I have a lack of higher thought process or whatever. I'll be over here getting my kicks with Bulletstorm (pun not intended).
Actually, I think you'll find Sterling is on your side in that particular question.


Personally, I find his angle depressing and reductive.

"Mindless fun is the most artistic form of expression I can think of."
I honestly do not know how to respond to that.