Entry Level 9 - "The 3 Rs - Reproduce, Repeat, Recoil"

Howdy y'all!!

It has been a while since my last entry, and for that I apologise. You may just find out what happened in the last two weeks in my next episode.

Now you might remember my last post. Not pleasant I know, but I grew up a little. I realised the error of my ways. So in turn, I thought I would do a little bit about droll, repetitive and unfortunately popular nature of Western games.

If I send you back to my last post again, you would recognise this:

Western Games have the 3 Rs:
Realism (Graphics)
Rockets (Action, explosions, guns)
Rights (Licensing, sports)

When you look at computer games developed here in the West, it is not really far off. It also helps that I am sat here typing this while 2 of my mates play Call of Duty.

I tend to be slightly narrow minded about video games and their cultural backgrounds. I am fully aware of the beauty that comes out of all corners of the earth, but what upsets me is how most of it goes completely unappreciated. The Western World does this the best. We are the masters of regurgitation. It is a good business model to take something that works, and try and make it better, HOWEVER, it can REALLY pay off to give the market the finger and do what YOU think will work. Click Here

Deliberately using a horrible picture to make a point

Medal of Honor strikes me as the first example of an idea that worked at first, but clearly has to meet its' end. So many FPS war games have been released over the years, and it has made me physically sick! I almost rant at the shelves when I stand and see box after box after box of a man, with a gun, sometimes he's wearing a tortoise shell for a helmet, sometimes he just looks like a massive one... and sadly, these are the games that will get the most attention. Innovation has been strangled by the monotonous tone of how World War 2 was won, or didn't happen, or is happening again, or was seen from a different perspective. Jesus, take me now, because I feel like it has been written for me to hate it so much, and for it to continue for so long!

There is more bile that we here in the West like to bring up. Sandbox games. So Rock Star Games set the bar, and continued to raise it. Saints Row did a fine job at taking a semi-serious idea and turning it fully bonkers. Loved it. Then developers lost the plot. Some idiot, in a board room meeting looked at the genre and thought, "You know, gamers don't want gameplay! They don't want a world fully of stuff that happens all the time, and stuff to do all the time! No, they want a HUGE MAP! They want a map that takes 20 minutes to travel across! MAKE IT BIGGER! MAKE IT LARGER!" and they slowly slipped into a part of their life they wished they had forgotten.


Really? No, but... REALLY?

I'm talking about Just Cause. One and two. It was fun, and there was some cool stuff to do, but it did not make up for the mass amount of land you had to trawl across just to do some shit... and yes it did eventually become 'some shit'. Farcry was great at first, and then they went and made Farcry 2. At least in the recent Fallout games there were locations everywhere, and each one had something different to offer, but I played this game for a good couple of hours and OH MY GOD, nothing fucking happened! I just kept getting fucked by some strangers (I was glad that part was in a video game) while on my way to somewhere!

No... no thank you.

So what else to we have to offer? Rockets! YAY! Explosions, boom, boom, boom*, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom... let me know when it gets tired, because I marked where I did. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom... yeah. It just kept happening.

Guns, action, special effects, it looked pretty and it was fun for quite some time. Then it kept going... you know when you masturbate (that's right), and it's awesome. I mean, it's really awesome, you know what you're doing, you're enjoying yourself, by yourself, and everything wrong with the world is forgotten. But you keep going, and you can't stop, your arm (or whatever device you choose) is starting to ache, you're feeling sore, and suddenly you realise, you're not having fun. You're hating every second of it, you wish you could stop, but you can't. Enough about my New Year's party. You should be in tune with me now.

This game kicked ass, no matter what kinda stuff you're into!

Let me ask, how many of you have picked up Flower on the PS3 Network? Or Pixeljunk Eden? Or just a racing game. If you have done, then you probably went to Uni with me, and you don't count!! Come on people, I have said it once and I will say it again, there is a smorgasboard of wonderful games out there, and developers seem to think we just want to kill everyone or kick balls around all day. Maybe with all the money they got maybe they'd even like to think about combining the two somehow. I'll let some of you think about it!

Licensing I struggle to hate too much. It makes sense to me. In games the idea that you can play as some of the best sportsmen in the world, or indeed BEAT some of the best sportsmen in the world is appealing and always will be. Also... I think I got writer's block. Have no idea what to say. Guess that serves me right for trying to watch Hot Tub Time Machine at the same time.

Although there was something interesting I read a little while ago about how a developer was allowing PLAYERS to pay for the development of their games. It was intended to inspire innovation, creativity, and a little freedom from publishers and share holders. Don't know how it turned out, but I just hope those gamers took full responsibility for the power in their hands, otherwise it could actually just be CoD all over again, only worse (See Medal of Honor).

NEXT WEEK: "JOBBY-JOB!"

If you have anything you wish to share with me or indeed the readers, feel free to comment or e-mail me at twentyfiveand0@hotmail.co.uk - Don't forget to check out the What Have I Been Playing pages found on the right! OR Check out my channel at www.youtube.com/ike1luv