Quit It, Gaming Edition

[Blind Sight]

So you don't like blank slate characters? Is that why you liked Metroid: Other M? Because you actually got a "official" personality for Samus, even though her personality is that of an obsessive yet submissive woman, over-flamorizing a man who let her nearly get cooked to death and literally shot her in the back?

If that's not the case, then sorry, but it WOULD help explain why you actually defended that game. You know, aside from using it as another opportunity to call out the "trolls", though who exactly these "trolls" you're referring to are, I haven't the foggiest idea.

Trolls to Moviebob's work are usually just people who disagree with him. Like in the Other M review you mentioned, where he claims that everyone who called the game sexist is sexist themselves, despite ignoring a lot of the completely legitimate points some 'trolls' made. Intellectual professionalism isn't exactly Moviebob's strong suit, I usually enjoy his brain-storming videos but he really can't handle conflicting viewpoints on complicated issues.

Pretty decent article, some misinformed characterizations but there are plenty of things on this list I agree with, 'evil Russians' is one of my least favourite cliches in video games (but that's probably because I play a lot of Russian-made PC games).

 

[Neaco]

i have to disagree with you on your bit about Russia. they are still an active fighting force physically and our largest threat digitially. while i agree that a return to the USSR is extremely unlikely, its not absurd to think of a russian backed invasion force today (see Georgia). mostly, i think of russian invasions into america as a less-than-subtle substitution for china (since nobody wants to touch that subject: im looking at you Homefront). so in that respect the cold war isn't over, its just in that friendly arm wrestle stage.

 

[duchaked]

young and very very pissed off = western

young and emotionally distraught (yet fully capable of kicking butt) = japanese

eh if the character development is good and the game plays well then it's all right

 

[KDR_11k]

What needs to die is the stupid ringing noise when you're on the same continent as an explosion. There's a reason Hollywood doesn't do that: It's fucking annoying!

I know Bulletstorm isn't supposed to be taken seriously but it certainly was written like someone didn't get the message. What I didn't get is how Gray could consider the sites where other people murdered each other brutally gross while he himself explodes people before feeding them to giant chopping machines and shit. Complaints like that seemed much more reasonable from the protagonist of Arma 2 who almost threw up upon finding a mass grave (also in that game your character will spend the rest of the mission wincing and cursing if you get wounded by a bullet at all).

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

(Incidentally, this is also why I worry that the people who keep clamoring for the movie version of Spider-Man to "joke around more" like he does in the comics are in for a serious "Monkey's Paw" lesson sooner than later.)

I don't have much hope for this Spider-Man reboot either, but I think whether or not Spidey shuts up or not will be the absolute least of that film's problems. Now yes, I am definitely one of those people who wished the movie Spider-Man had been a bit more snarky. Not to the point where he's expositing entire paragraphs mid-leap, but enough to gain a chuckle out of us now and then. I mean, movie Spidey has had, what, a single one-liner per film? And even those weren't the least bit funny. ("It's you who's out Gobby...out of your mind!")

I'm not saying Spider-Man isn't an endearing character without the wise-cracks, far from it in fact. But for me, the wise cracks have always been a part of the fun. It's more then possible for a protagonist to be cocky and smart-mouthed without it tripping up the character, just look at Iron Man. I think that sort of characterization would be absolutely perfect for Spider-Man. Just, you know, without the egomania.

And let's not forget the excellent Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, either. It did an excellent job conveying the problems of Peter Parker's double life, had excellent writing and characters, great action sequences...everything people would want from a Spider-Man movie. And Spidey was able to wisecrack a crap ton [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX5zwNNuEZs] without it bogging down the series one bit.

 

[MannyDon]

You know what I would like to see the end of? People writing articles that are little more than complaining for the sake of complaining I just find it so repugnant.

Ok so lets get the troll bait out of the way first.... Are you really going recycle your tired old rant about Twilight to attack Halo? I am not usually one for getting dragged into pointless arguments on the internet but fuck man you are really becoming annoying with this shit. yes the Chief has a very understated personality but if you pay even a little bit of attention you will find there is a character with a personality under that mask. But then I recall when Bungie did bring out a group of Spartans with more obvious personality's you rubbished them all then accused Bungie of being Racist.

As for Cortana there are far worse ways to deliver exposition and set up mission objectives and if I do need to have someone saying all that stuff it might as well be with a nice female voice and no Bob I dont want to fuck her and neither would Master Chief I suspect.

Now moving on your thoughts on destiny if its written well enough I really don't see the problem but it is cool when it gets changed up a bit The Witch King was good but I liked how it played out in Macbeth better but what always got me thinking about that story is if they had never run into that witch would any of that "destiny" ever had happened.

Well I had more but writing this has cooled my anger somewhat so I will leave it at that.

 

[WolfEdge]

1. I think/hope Vanquish was joking with the Space Russians. Yes, I know it's Shinji Mikami, but there were so many in-jokes and references that I can't quite take it at face value. The CoD games still play this straight, of course, but that's because they're fucking stupid.

2. This is true. The very worst part of it is that a lot of developers have the weird idea that the "default" protagonist has to be white, straight and male.

Oh, how I hate Nathan Drake in so many ways. Not only is he annoying, but he's also one of the more sadistic and ruthless videogame protagonists you'll find.

I really don't get the hate for Nathan Drake. Okay, I can see how someone could find his quips irritating, but "he's also one of the more sadistic and ruthless videogame protagonists you'll find"?

Have you ever played a game before? Because I'm having a hard time thinking of a character I've played recently that didn't do more cruel things than him.

Name me one videogame protagonist who makes JOKES over dead human enemies? Not even Kane and Lynch are that sociopathic.

I think the Army of Two protagonists were at that level, though it's been so long, and the game itself was so mediocre that I don't really remember...

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Bob, please just stick to movies. It's what you're good at. Every time you put out an article on how games could be improved or make a video on why Halo is racist, it just hammers the point in.

Your movie stuff is fantastic and your non-game Big Picture vids are great, so stick to them.

Also, you continue to miss the point of everything having to do with Halo. The Cortana/Chief relationship has NOTHING to do with sexuality or chastity.

 

[Booze Zombie]

So, your idea of a perfect game has... a happy, genuinely funny and likeable woman who beats people up and has special attacks that aren't highlighted with glowing text exclaiming that a power has just been used?

 

[PurePareidolia]

Yeah, seriously Valve - if you want me to immerse myself in the role of "main character" in Half Life, stop calling me Gordon Freeman every five minutes.

See that's the one thing I never got about people's absolute refusal to characterize Gordon, or let him speak or even interact at the barest level with his environment beyond telekinesis. If they're so adamant that this role be "me" then why does everyone keep referring to me as someone else, and making all my decisions for me. If I'm playing "me" the one thing I'm not going to do is spend upwards of three days in a hellish dystopia without asking a single question. I mean, is the only way they could think of to let players identify with Gordon to simply leave a massive hole in the script centered around him, and never ever let any hint of characterization or choice get anywhere near him just in case players identified less with a character than with a floating pair of arms?

An then five minutes later Alyx tells me we haven't known each other long but I didn't have to do this. See, that's implying intent to my character. I absolutely did have to do this, but now they tell me what Gordon's thinking? See, Valve's so good at manipulating people, it's honestly a mystery why they refuse to go one extra step and let Gordon have some personality. Because it'll be a hell of a lot more immersive than being trapped in an anti-plot bubble I'm sure. I mean, as long as they don't force him into an Alyx romance plot or something stupid like that we should be fine.

 

[Gunner 51]

So, your idea of a perfect game has... a happy, genuinely funny and likeable woman who beats people up and has special attacks that aren't highlighted with glowing text exclaiming that a power has just been used?

I think I have the games and characters in mind...

Leliana from Dragon Age.
Tali from Mass Effect.
Bonnie McFarlane from Red Dead Redemption.

All three of them are upbeat, funny in their own ways and are more than capable of putting a boot up someone's backside if needs be.

 

[Taynas]

Yeah, seriously Valve - if you want me to immerse myself in the role of "main character" in Half Life, stop calling me Gordon Freeman every five minutes.

I agree with you on a lot of your points but I found his silence despite not being a blank slate to be a silly choice but ultimately well done. I'm a woman so being told I'm some dude with a physics degree is not immersive. Talking is something he really should do but without it he has many character traits and is definitely not a blank slate. See my blog for a rant about this exact thing- http://knaccfornerdiness.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/half-life-2/
Also, sorry to tell you but I'm pretty sure a romance between Alyx and Gordon is intended by Valve. (listen to the audio commentary on episode 1 when you ride the elevator down to the core for a solid hint that way)

 

[repeating integers]

An then five minutes later Alyx tells me we haven't known each other long but I didn't have to do this. See, that's implying intent to my character. I absolutely did have to do this, but now they tell me what Gordon's thinking? See, Valve's so good at manipulating people, it's honestly a mystery why they refuse to go one extra step and let Gordon have some personality. Because it'll be a hell of a lot more immersive than being trapped in an anti-plot bubble I'm sure. I mean, as long as they don't force him into an Alyx romance plot or something stupid like that we should be fine.

To be fair, I'm pretty sure there is a vague Alyx/Gordon you romance in the HL2 saga. Or at least, it's implied. Which is best not to think about too much, because all you ever do that could possibly impress her is kill everything you see... well, OK, and go far out of your way to bring her essentially back to life one time. Which I suppose supports your point - that Valve is railroading you down the path of the character they project onto Freeman.

Also: Bobby's right about the Chief being a similar kind of blank slate character to Freeman. The difference is that he actually speaks, in a way that doesn't really define his personality other than "badass". And y'know, considering that "badass" is the exact personality everybody projects onto Gordon Freeman, I don't see any real difference. Also, the fact that he says stuff at least means the exposition scenes aren't as silly - he's not either a) somebody very, very shy around other people or b) rude.

I don't really have a problem with that kind of protagonist. In Halo, Half-Life, Metroid and what have you, the characters just aren't the point (in spite of what the Valve fanboys might say), so they don't bog themselves down by giving the main character a personality that would, by all rights, get in the way of the story. So I guess I disagree with bob - I like Blankface McEveryman. Or at least, I don't think he does any harm.

I have no real opinion on any of your other points except the one about Russians. I wouldn't really have a problem with them if they were one particular series' signature villains (like, say, CoD), but they are so damn common. Why not give us, say, another American civil war? It wouldn't be any less plausible than MWAHAHAH EVIL RUSSIANS INVADE (which is to say, neither of them is likely to happen anytime soon...) and would give a convenient excuse to create a sort of post-apocalypse style America (with much of the infrastructure and cities being destroyed by simple fighting, rather than fancy things like nukes or SCALAR).

 

[Evil Alpaca]

Master Chief and Cortana chaste?
Doesn't he plug her into his head in one mission? If that's not getting busy on the cyber level then I don't know what is.

As for the Russians, I don't think the Russians as villains is because video game developers haven't heard the Cold War is done. Far from it, I think developers know that now Soviets are right up there with Nazis as Large Evil Empire that no one is going to complain about. Imagine if Chinese Communists were the adversaries in CoD. Do you think that China wouldn't raise hell of that portrayal? But today, there are no Soviets, even the Russians aren't going to complain too much about Soviet portrayal.

For the Rubik's Cube- As long as the mini-game is in some way related to what I am doing then I don't mind but yea the stupid mini-game that has nothing to do with the task at hand, those really should go. Who thought playing a Simon Says mini-game in Mass Effect or the scour the planets with probes in Mass Effect 2 were good ideas? Bioware, love the games but you guys really need to stop these.

Hail Mary, Full of Exposition: Does the same apply to Atlas in Bioshock or Navi in Zelda?

 

[Ayjona]

Good stuff. Puts the hurtin' on several of my gaming plot and story peeves.

 

[Ayjona]

Name me one videogame protagonist who makes JOKES over dead human enemies? Not even Kane and Lynch are that sociopathic.

Lilith and Mordecai of Borderlands fame have absolutely NO problems laughing and quipping as they shoot away at humans. This might be true for Brick and Roland as well, but I haven't played them. I was a bit surprised at how absolutely unheroic and batshit insane the protagonists in Borderlands are.

Lo Wang from Shadow Warrior favourite saying was "You're not half the man you used to be" after he had cleft an enemy in twain with his katana.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Bob, please just stick to movies. It's what you're good at. Every time you put out an article on how games could be improved or make a video on why Halo is racist, it just hammers the point in.

Your movie stuff is fantastic and your non-game Big Picture vids are great, so stick to them.

Also, you continue to miss the point of everything having to do with Halo. The Cortana/Chief relationship has NOTHING to do with sexuality or chastity.

While I don't agree with everything in this article, I'd recommend you look up his videos as the GameOverThinker. The Escapist doesn't run them for some reason, but most of those videos are just as thought-provoking as his other stuff.