Zero Punctuation: Braid

[Dramus]

He brought up something that ticks me off, and that's the notion that indie games are somehow better just because they are indie. In fact there are probably just as many shit indie games out there as there are shit mainstream. There are a huge amount of copycat indie games that blatantly rip off other game's ideas (I know because I played all the shift knock offs on onemorelevel (and since shift is a portal knock off, it's like doubly unimaginative). The only difference is that indie games are not hyped (at least not usually), and so if one sucks no one cares because no one plays it. The only indie games most people play are the really good ones, so people get the erroneous idea that all indie games are super creative and good.

This is where you might have misunderstood Yahtzee's (and other's) point of view:
I think he meant that indie games should get more attention of the broad audience, not because they are generally better, but because they have more potential of innovation which can cause them to be better. Of course, the word 'better' in this regard is dependent on the subjective notion of quality that everyone defines for oneself.

So this statement holds mainly for people who see innovation as a huge quality feature like Yahtzee and many others including me.
Now the potential of a title created by an independent developer comes from his absolute freedom to build a game that is really different. Actually an indie developer - assuming that one of his goals is the attention and interest of others for his game - is not only more free to create something unique but is also driven to do so, since indie games, as you implicitly stated, don't get any attention if they are unoriginal.

In contrast, innovation gets thinned out in big commercial titles on a broad, average scope. The reasons are manifold. To name only two of them:
1.) The complexity of the decision and communication process in huge productions with a lot of people involved
(Just like in any other project, a large size makes it less flexible and unwieldy.)

2.) The necessity to please a large audience to be able to amortize monetary investments
(This can also be generalized to represent decisions that are driven by monetary ventures and interests of people in control within the media market, for example publishers.)

Of course, even huge productions can set themselves above this causality sometimes but sadly this requires much more effort and bravery. On the other hand indie developers, along with their creative freedom, have the freedom of producing crap and spreading it on the intertubes since there is absolutely no instance of quality control involved.

This whole mechanic is nothing new and can be observed in the entire media culture.

P.S. Sorry if this sounds too smug.

Not at all. I get that, I'm mainly just venting steam that's been building since XPlay previewed that mushroom men game from Gamecock and said how it's so original because it's a platformer where you're small and so everyday objects look big. No shit. Somehow a feature in Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and probably several other titles is unique solely because the developer has a long list of flops (oh wait I meant to say 'is indie').
On somewhat the same point, I think something great happens when indie and mainstream collide, like what happened with Portal. It's a nice, polished game that managed to reach a lot of people, but is mainly based on some college student's final project in game design 402 or something. The biggest problem with a lot of good indie games is their lack of polish, so hopefully more stuff like this starts happening. And then indie will become the norm and we'll long for cookie cutter sequels in what is known as 'torment anyone who takes a few year to learn the new cool' syndrome.

 

[Maingunprimed]

question when did he become the almighty voice of gaming i mean review funny as hell i mean piss myself laughing funny but people saying yes you're right yahtzee i'm shit in exactly 2 mins after they post the newest video pisses me off

 

[PurpleRain]

That was fucking Hilarious.

Great fucking job. Loved that review.

You like that word, don't you.

Reading through this page gave me a headache. This is the reason I stay out of Yahtzee threads.

 

[defcon 1]

Damn you and your nice beaches! (I'm American)

How common is Adrien? I thought he would use a more common name like Ben, Mathew, Paul or something like that.

And finally, way to go on getting a girlfriend

 

[Mythbhavd]

I was gonna post: "Whatever happened to being funny and clever as opposed to being an angry if eloquent misanthrope foaming at the mouth while rabidly calling everyone a moron?"

Um...I think you did post it. Let me check. Yep. Yep, it's posted.

 

[PipChaos]

I can't help but think if games like Fallout 3 weren't required to have a special, Australian version created, removing drug use... perhaps they wouldn't COST so much there.

I don't pretend to understand Australian law, but I'm not real keen on banning games anywhere in any country. If developers have to spend extra money to make sure their game is "Australian Law Proof" then they pretty much have to charge more.

 

[Evan Waters]

I can't help but think if games like Fallout 3 weren't required to have a special, Australian version created, removing drug use... perhaps they wouldn't COST so much there.

I don't pretend to understand Australian law, but I'm not real keen on banning games anywhere in any country. If developers have to spend extra money to make sure their game is "Australian Law Proof" then they pretty much have to charge more.

I'm not sure it's that. It MIGHT be, but I barely have any information on this subject.

It's something I'm curious about, though. Not because I'm terribly intent on moving to Australia, but because it's interesting. Have video games just not ever been a very big thing in Oz, hence publishers and manufacturers charge more because it's a specialized market? Is it some tariff thing? Price fixing? Is the Australian dollar somehow in more trouble than the US one?

 

[Stelman257]

I can't help but think if games like Fallout 3 weren't required to have a special, Australian version created, removing drug use... perhaps they wouldn't COST so much there.

I don't pretend to understand Australian law, but I'm not real keen on banning games anywhere in any country. If developers have to spend extra money to make sure their game is "Australian Law Proof" then they pretty much have to charge more.

I'm not sure it's that. It MIGHT be, but I barely have any information on this subject.

It's something I'm curious about, though. Not because I'm terribly intent on moving to Australia, but because it's interesting. Have video games just not ever been a very big thing in Oz, hence publishers and manufacturers charge more because it's a specialized market? Is it some tariff thing? Price fixing? Is the Australian dollar somehow in more trouble than the US one?

Actually it could be because video games just don't hit off as much in Australia.
I mean yes they get a fair amount of attention, but no one really cares about them as much as you people in the U.S do. Definetaly not Price fixing and really i don't think our dollar is in much trouble at all....yet.

 

[Alacar Leoricar]

Good to see an underseen gem sparkling. Shine on, Yahtzee.

 

[Sillyiggy]

I feel good knowing that I purchased and played, 'Beyond Good and Evil' and 'Psychonauts'. Makes me feel like I did my duty as a gamer *dons dinner plate sized gamer medals*. Anyway funny review as always.

I only lament that since I refuse to buy any system that is above 300$ I will have to wait for a very long time before I will even touch that game... Okay done lamenting, I <3 Lost Winds for the Wii too much to lament for long over 360 downloadables for the time being.

Oh, and I hate you Adrian. I hate you so much.

 

[DannyDamage]

FF 13 anyone?

I would, but I bought a PS2 simply for the sony exclusive FF games and I got really fed up with the console. What a bag of wank they are.

I feel that one answer to the current gaming problem is the exclusivity of games to consoles. BAN this, ensure all games are available for all formats at the same time and lets see how quickly Microsoft and Sony fuck off out of the console race because everyone has the games on PC or Nintendo or Sega (when they finally get off their arses and make their new console).

I'm all up for allowing new companies to make consoles and crap, but when all they make is generic bollocks that has been made using the engine from Half Life or another game that's been raped to buggery and then plugged like fuck on TV, Mags and stuff, it's a tad pointless.

There's NO need for Microsoft to have released TWO consoles now (not including the 3(?) variations of the XB360). They simply saw the space that Sega had left in the market and forced themselves in there like a paedophile in a playground. Anyone who actually thinks they NEED an xbox and their PC wont suffice is just a muppet. People who have a PC to be able to say they have one, but have ZERO idea on how to use it properly.

Maybe Mac should bring out a console that simplifies the experiance even more. One mouse button could be adapted into a joypad with a control stick and one giant button the size of a fist that's known as the 'masher' because you really don't need that many buttons to jump, shoot, change weapon, shoot, shoot and erm, shoot.

 

[Lord Doom]

A good game needs good story and gameplay. An original idea is always a huge bonus, but as long as the story and gameplay are great you can leave graphics the scraps in the funding and still have a marvelous game. Graphics are small bonus. If a game has the greatest graphics ever to be conceived, but has gameplay from hell and story that is shit that was written by shit with shit on shit then the game is going to suck. How do people believe that graphics are more important than gameplay and story?

 

[parttimeesthete]

Actually it could be because video games just don't hit off as much in Australia.

... because of the nice beaches maybe?

 

[DannyDamage]

........How do people believe that graphics are more important than gameplay and story?

The same way people that goto the cinema and enjoy Steven Spielberg films covered in CGI special effects, pretty people and the writing/directing talent of an autistic turd. *cough* indiana jones *cough*

 

[Mrmandude]

Ha ha the uk pay less than both america and australia 17.33 austalien for this game 15 american and only 8.20 uk woop but we have shit weather so that is probaly compensation

 

[parttimeesthete]

Not at all. I get that, I'm mainly just venting steam that's been building since XPlay previewed that mushroom men game from Gamecock and said how it's so original because it's a platformer where you're small and so everyday objects look big. No shit. Somehow a feature in Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and probably several other titles is unique solely because the developer has a long list of flops (oh wait I meant to say 'is indie').

Ok, I agree. The strange phenomenon of 'hype' works not only on vastly advertised titles, but also on underground games, where people enjoy to brag about playing something that others don't even know.

I have to add here, that I merely tried to describe Yahtzee's train of thoughts which I agree to, but I myself am not a blind defender of independent, homebrew games and also enjoy(ed) big titles like Farcry, Tomb Raider Legend, Battlefield and hell-yeah Quake 3 back in the good old days.

But I think that because my computer is too slow to run most new games properly and I do not own a next-gen-thingy, this longer abstinence of the newest commercial releases has changed my mind a bit. I look for other qualities in games now, not only because I am forced to go along with yesterdays graphics, but also because I'm less affected by the hype-machinery that comes with the big titles nowadays. It made me take a step back and see the big picture I think.

And I'm sure I would still enjoy a few rounds of Crysis if I had the right machine. But I won't be a victim to it for a long time, because I don't have the impression anymore that Crysis (to stick with this example) will be a much better experience than the average of the hundreds of first-person-shooters I've played before. In general I didn't feel the need to play an FPS after Half-Life-2, because the bar for the quality features that I'm looking for now has not been raised much since then.

On somewhat the same point, I think something great happens when indie and mainstream collide, like what happened with Portal. It's a nice, polished game that managed to reach a lot of people, but is mainly based on some college student's final project in game design 402 or something. The biggest problem with a lot of good indie games is their lack of polish, so hopefully more stuff like this starts happening. And then indie will become the norm and we'll long for cookie cutter sequels in what is known as 'torment anyone who takes a few year to learn the new cool' syndrome.

Yeah, that's true. - There is a lot of middleground in between the extremes that I described. And when it is explored by developers, it can lead to great releases that combine the best of both indie and established media.

 

[mark_n_b]

Wow, Yahtzee reviewing an Indie title, whats next reviewing a mod? Yikes! Good review though, as always. Although I really really want Entropy to come out soon, its just not going to happen.

Fact of the matter is Braid is of the class of "Indie" game title that isn't really an indie title. Sure it has a small team and it came from "indie origins" but Go! Go! Break Steady! for XBLA only had a two man team with a limited budget.

It's nice to see indie titles getting mainstream attention, but at this point I am not sure Braid fully counts given the fact that it has received so much main stream attention, it is available on XBLA which is hardly a platform for indie development, it has a shoestring dev budget that is about 180 000 times that of any indie developer, and it is definitely going to lead to a staff of 10 then 50 then 300 then EA acquisition.

I doubt this review of Braid is going to pave the way for a review of any of my indie projects or anyone else's, and I am 100% positive both Yahzee and the escapist get those kinds of review requests all the time.

 

[DannyDamage]

I doubt this review of Braid is going to pave the way for a review of any of my indie projects or anyone else's, and I am 100% positive both Yahzee and the escapist get those kinds of review requests all the time.

What would be the point of reviewing/picking apart a game that no one knows (no offense to you making an indy game btw). If no one knows or loves the game then there'll be no one to piss off. Getting people's backs up is like fuel to ranters (like myself) and I agree that general reviewers SHOULD review more indy games, but that's not really what ZP is for.

 

[ziggy161]

I haven't heard much about Braid, but I'm not sure it'll be my kinda game. This review just strengthens that idea :|

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

I was gonna post: "Whatever happened to being funny and clever as opposed to being an angry if eloquent misanthrope foaming at the mouth while rabidly calling everyone a moron?"

Um...I think you did post it. Let me check. Yep. Yep, it's posted.

I see that you don't understand and are trying to discredit me in any way possible.

Allow me to elaborate, after seeing this video that is the intended post I formed in my head. After seeing five pages of almost nothing but "ur my gawd YAHTZEE!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111" I decided to expand upon that.