The Dark age

[Souplex]

Do you remember a time in a certain form of media where everything needed to be darker and edgier?
Do you remember a time when anything colorful was unpopular?
Do you remember a time when an annoying art style became popular for no apparent reason?
Do you remember a time when instead of creative new interesting characters every single character was just some guy with guns?
Do you remember a time when some of the greatest icons of the industry were killed?

Now some of you might be wondering whether I am referring to the Dark age of comic books or the game industry of today, and the sad part is; I can't really tell.

Are we in the dark age of video games?

(For those of you unfamiliar with the dark age of comics everything you need to know is in this video http://www.thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/7134-youngblood also, they killed of Superman in the dark age)

 

[Radeonx]

Personally, I don't think so. While so many games are centered around violence and gore, I find few of them to be truly dark. In my opinion, the only ones that are dark are the ones trying to be dark.

 

[MajoraPersona]

No, see, I thought you were referring to the period of time between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Rennaisance(sp?). You know, when people threw their babies out their windows and didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition. But that was before I read your post, and realized that you were talking about trends in media instead of people torturing each other.

My mistake.

 

[Souplex]

No, see, I thought you were referring to the period of time between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Rennaisance(sp?). You know, when people threw their babies out their windows and didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition. But that was before I read your post, and realized that you were talking about trends in media instead of people torturing each other.

My mistake.

Sallright', happens all the time and most people don't bother to correct their mistake.

 

[Souplex]

Personally, I don't think so. While so many games are centered around violence and gore, I find few of them to be truly dark. In my opinion, the only ones that are dark are the ones trying to be dark.

The Dark in the Dark age of comics referred to the quality as well as the theme.

 

[Lukeje]

Isn't this the sort of thing that would only be discernible with hindsight?

 

[Souplex]

Isn't this the sort of thing that would only be discernible with hindsight?

Lots of people realized they were in the dark age of comics during the dark age of comics.

 

[Lukeje]

Isn't this the sort of thing that would only be discernible with hindsight?

Lots of people realized they were in the dark age of comics during the dark age of comics.

Yeah, but you can always find loonies to bemoan the lack of quality in anything. It's only after the fact that you can prove them right.

 

[Souplex]

Yeah, but you can always find loonies to bemoan the lack of quality in anything. It's only after the fact that you can prove them right.

That is why we have this thread; to put this idea under the microscope.

 

[MajoraPersona]

No, see, I thought you were referring to the period of time between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Rennaisance(sp?). You know, when people threw their babies out their windows and didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition. But that was before I read your post, and realized that you were talking about trends in media instead of people torturing each other.

My mistake.

Don't you mean the fall of the Roman Empire-age of enlightenment?

Yes, my mistake. I'm not very good with history. I know that stuff happened, just not when.

 

[Crapster]

Yeah. I would argue that we're kind of in a dark age of media in general truth to tell. I explore superhero message boards, and they talk about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie reboot or the possibility of a new Superman movie and they all say "MAKE IT DARK! LIKE THE DARK KNIGHT!" and "HAVE CHRISTOPHER NOLAN AT THE HELM!" This is Superman and the Fantastic Four we're talking about. They're not supposed to be dark characters, and yet people seem to be associating "dark" with "quality."

Hell anyone remember when Wind Waker was first announced? People were PISSED at how the game had a light and cartoony look opposed to a darker, more realistic look. Well we got a darker, more realistic Zelda in Twilight Princess and I am of the opinion that Wind Waker is actually a vastly superior game in many respects (mostly in story telling.)

So yes, I do feel that we are kind of in a gaming dark age.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

and didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.

Oh you bastard, I chuckled after that.

Unfortunately, we're in the dark age of media in general. Every Superhero movie seems to need to go darker to be relevant, and comic books in general, never came out of the dark age. Pick up most of the stuff today, you'll see what I mean.

Do I think we're in the gaming dark age? Yes, I agree with Mr Potter up there. Most of these games are aimed at teenagers with childish themes of male empowerment. But will we have a gaming renaissance? We already are.

Hell anyone remember when Wind Waker was first announced? People were PISSED at how the game had a light and cartoony look opposed to a darker, more realistic look. Well we got a darker, more realistic Zelda in Twilight Princess and I am of the opinion that Wind Waker is actually a vastly superior game in many respects (mostly in story telling.)

To be fair, at the Spaceworld GameCube tech demo, we were shown a realistic looking Link fighting Ganondorf. Afterward, this is what we expected the upcoming title to look like. Here's a trailer:


Do you get quote notifications when they are edited in??

 

[Souplex]

Testing.

Do you get quote notifications when they are edited in??

Testing.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

Do you get quote notifications when they are edited in??

I actually PMed Wilsonscrazybed about that. I was never responded to. I've done some tests myself and it seems to be hit-or-miss with the notification system on edited in quotes.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Not as long as Mario exists.

 

[Souplex]

Not as long as Mario exists.

See this was another theme of the dark age.
Dark age kid: They finally killed off superman, he was so lame! Superman will never hold up to real characters like blood spore and blood axe and other characters with blood in their name... Rob Leifeld; truly you are a god among men!

 

[APPCRASH]

No, see, I thought you were referring to the period of time between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Rennaisance(sp?). You know, when people threw their babies out their windows and didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition. But that was before I read your post, and realized that you were talking about trends in media instead of people torturing each other.

My mistake.

Don't you mean the fall of the Roman Empire-age of enlightenment?

It was totally from end of the Western Roman Empire to what we consider the "Middle Ages," a period where society basically collapsed when they didn't have their glorious Roman role models to look to. Once the church stepped in bought up a bunch of land and grabbed the feudal lords by their knickers and told them to get their shit straight because God was watching, we started to see progress towards rebuilding societies that didn't consist of plagues, and gathering filth.

THEN we saw the light, and decided to name a historical period after it.

 

[APPCRASH]

Snip Snap

I thought the church was hindering progress at first due to the uneducated priests not being able to read the latin Bible.

Also, yeah, end of the Roman Empire generally does refer to the west R.E, since Italy is generally what you think of when you say "Roman Empire". And by "-age of enlightenment" I meant up until the age of enlightenment.

Right after "The Fall," I doubt many people were caring about how smart their local preachers were. Most peasants and serfs at that point just wanted stability and lack of marauding barbarian war bands sacking their...sacks. When the Roman Empire ceased to be, the land was basically split, giving power to the warlords who conquered it and the few nobles who haven't fled to the East. It was the rise of the Catholic Church by acquiring land, which in turn, acquired the serfs tending the fields and their lords over them. It didn't take long before the Church held more land than most kings and they found they could wield their power for their own purposes. Lucky for us, it turned for the better, as the Church provided a critical common culture in most regions that the Romans left open and "re-romanized" the West. After that the Church invested into the Arian people coming in and later that would form the Merovingian dynasty.

From that point I'd call it the Middle Ages. Get it? The middle between the Dark Ages and the age of enLIGHTenment.

 

[Deltron]

No, see, I thought you were referring to the period of time between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Rennaisance(sp?). You know, when people threw their babies out their windows and didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition. But that was before I read your post, and realized that you were talking about trends in media instead of people torturing each other.

My mistake.

Don't you mean the fall of the Roman Empire-age of enlightenment?

Majora is right. The accepted end of the dark ages is the Renaissance, starting sometime in the 14th century.

 

[The_Deleted]

I'm not very good with history. I know that stuff happened, just not when.

Best. Line. Ever. 8)