Worth Reading: 06/06/2014

The Jon Bois NBA 2K14 article is one of the best things I've ever read.

These tweets:

• Chris Hecker
• Vice Games
• Aevee Bee

confuse the shit out of me. I can't even parse meaning.

(I would've quoted them if I, you know, could.)

I liked the Saints Row IV thing.

Good to see the links to the framerate video and the standard Ubisoft game review.

Safe travels and I hope to see you on stream at E3, @patrickklepek.

/nods

It is truly magic. I can't even imagine the time commitment.

Jon Bois's NBA Y2K on killing the very concept of basketball is spectacular.

That Kids React video just reminds me that I was part of the last generation to do homework without the internet. Glad I can appreciate how far we've come.

That total biscuit video is idiotic. I don't even know what he's trying to say aside from bitching about developper saying stupid things. Yes, 60fps is better, everyone knows that. But asking every game to run at 60fps on every platforme is just dumb. Developpers make a choice between visuals and frame rate and as much as he tries to argue otherwise visuals are way more sellable than frame rate. That comment about 4K is also stupid. 4K requires way to much power for the improvments you get out of it and it's looking to be the new 3D.

The worst part about Mario Kart 8 and its blue shell and horn: you used to be able, with skill, to dodge the blue shell with snaking. In MK8, the shell hits the ground in front of you, so you cannot dodge it anymore without the horn.

Something something, thanks Obama.

@video_game_king: what he is saying is devs should let the player chose between 60fps with lower graphics, or 30 fps with higher graphics. the ps4 and xbox one are basically computers anyways, give people the choice.

I didn't realize TotalBiscuit was such an ass.

Aevee Bee's is basically talking about the trope where a woman, usually girlfriend or wife, is murdered. It's basically used as motivation for the male protagonist to advance the story. The tweet basically fills Patrick's feminism quota for worth reading.

The comments on that video are stupid and hilarious. "This generation is so terrible, they can't use technology from 1977." is what they boil down too.

"Quota"? Do you really think Patrick sits down and goes "Oh shit, I need to find a feminist article/tweet to staple to this before I can post it"? It's pretty disheartening to see people here assuming that Patrick is trying to fill some kind of quota instead of, you know, actually giving a general crap about this kind of thing and exposing himself to writing/people who discuss it frequently as a result.

It's a joke. Calm down.

Tried to watch that Total Biscuit video. Found my tolerance level for smugness wasn't as high as I thought. There wasn't a lot of logic there. Plenty of scorn, though. That's something.

Is that Vice Games Mag act a fake twitter acount because it's a damn good impersonation if it is.

That UBISOFT GAME review is depressingly accurate.

@gorillamopena: It really is quite amazing. I've read the article twice now and watched both videos at least 10 times now. I'd awe struck by it.

I think of the blue shell as the Mushroom Kingdom equivalent of an ICBM. I'm just waiting for a serious thriller about the Dinosaur Island Shell Crisis.

I love reading articles like the Richard Moss one about emulation. With game sites always being focused on the newest games and systems, it is nice to see writing about the people working at the edges of legality to make sure the games of years past are kept alive.

@spoonman671: Ya. Just briefly looking at this Twitter feed he has started the process of calling console gamers "peasants". I don't care if it is a joke because I think saying something like that immediately makes you a piece of shit I want nothing to do with.

@l1ghtn1n: That seems like an exploit that shouldn't be there and will, probably, be patched out.

@spoonman671 said:

Oh boy have you been missing out.

You were NOT kidding. I would have skipped it if it weren't for this post, so thanks for that. I was laughing so hard I was crying.

Edit: Also want to agree that Totalbiscuit comes off as an asshole in that video.

All is lost.

@video_game_king: The Aevee one has been mentioned, but Vice Games is a parody account of one of the Vice twitter accounts. It's a non-sequitur, so if you're confused it mostly did it's job. Personally, I'm a little sad knowing it's just a spoof headline and not reality. Such a beautiful reality it would be.

The Hecker one means that he feels bad for people who can't program and can only interact with computers in the ways that others design. He's saying that because he can program he can change the way he interacts with computers on his own terms (via programming). It comes off a bit elitist, but I can see what he means by it.

I always liked what Ryan once said on the podcast (I think): "Get it out there, because content!"

I took the TowerFall code in the middle. Thanks a lot.

I don't think the blue shell is a bad thing, and actually, it does strike me as a pretty convincing allegory for real life, albeit in a slightly different way from how Ian sees it.

In Mario Kart, as in real life, the people who are ahead believe they got there through skill, intelligence and hard work. This simple isn't true. If you can pull into first and get even a semi-decent lead, your victory is practically assured- everyone behind you is caught in a vicious blender of red shells and lightning bolts. Anyone who pulls away from the back is likely to get hit by a rogue shell and dragged right back in. Not so for the player in first. The only red shells he has to deal with are the ones from the driver in second, and due to the way the game gives weaker items to those closer to first, the driver in second will very rarely get a red shell (or any item capable of striking down the first player's by-now formidable lead), and even if someone does end up in second with a red shell or two, it's likely that the player in first has managed to get far enough away that the shell will hit some obstacle on the way. This also makes it easier for the first player to get away in the first place- multiple times I've been in second, hotly on the tail of the player in the lead. We'll all go through an item box, me and first will get trash (which is fair), but then third will get a red shell, and, naturally, hit me with it. All I can do is watch as first pulls further away. Then, next item box, now that I'm in third, I'll get a red shell. At this point, I have to decide whether to hit the guy in second to overtake him- essentially securing the win for the guy in first at this point- or go for the 'good of the people', and attempt an item-less overtake of the guy in second to be within striking distance of the first player. This would maybe be possible, but fourth player got a piranha plant, fifth got a star, sixth got a bullet bill, and I'm being rammed by every one.

It's like real life- the rich get richer, and attribute it to their hard work, not the fact they're only getting further ahead because they're already ahead. I applied to a job earlier this year, a job that offers great entry-level experience and could truly turn someones life around. However, they required a whole mess of medical checks and forms before you could even apply. Coupled with the suit I had to buy (and I went for the absolute cheapest), the application process cost me £300. There are people who can't afford this. So, they're stuck in dead-end jobs, whilst those who can afford it (which, I feel fortunate enough to be able to say, includes me) get access to this incredible opportunity, which could easily lead to a fantastic, successful career. The rich get richer. Of course, they attribute it to their 'hard work', and get pissed when people try and take it away, but, as someone who is himself extremely privileged, I recognize the danger of this mode of thought. It's the same in Mario Kart- I don't want to brag, but I'm very often in first place, and I say: bring on the blue shell. I wish it happened more. Sure, it's easy to act like it's 'unfair' and taking away from your skill, but maybe if you try and think about it from someone else's perspective, you'd see that things, actually, were more unfair before the blue shell than after. Mario Kart offers a unique perspective into this- we've all had matches where we've been hit by an item on the first lap and never been able to recover. It's an important educational experience.

The lightning bolt is way more frustrating than the blue shell, also if you're in the lead enough the blue shell won't make a difference.

@pyrodactyl: The point is, on a PC you can chose between high graphical fidelity at the cost of some frames per second and higher framerate at the cost of graphical fidelity. Console games don't offer that choice, but there is no good reason why they shouldn't. He may sound like an arrogant PC master race smug, but his points are valid.

Also some console gamers might not even realize the difference. I've played a lot of TF2 and my framerate is usually above 60 fps. But on a few occasions on larger maps with many player models on the screen my framerate can drop down to something between 25 and 35 fps, and it feels like shit when it happens. If you play a game at 30 fps locked, it isn't that bad and you get used to it. But dropping down from 60 to 30 will give you eye cancer, and you will be less accurate.

Congrats to Tim Colwill for getting featured!

Aw, you forgot the fantastic first tweet from CIA, after they have joined Twitter this week:

We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet.

I love Jon Bois so goddamn much. I also liked the SRIV article, and think Aevee Bee's idea would make for a great indie game.

@sergio: And yet if it was Aiden's nephew that was murdered, someone somewhere would say there's not enough female representation. My money's on Leigh Alexander.

Fantastic read.

Basically how I feel in life on the opposite end. I am resentful that I am stuck in a job I hate without enough money to move to a job I wanted to do. My back-round is so far removed from what I love, that in order to do it I would have to sacrifice any amount of free time in order to achieve it. My parents aren't computer literate and I had to move out at 16.

The point isn't that I live hard or sleep rough; but that I do not have the knowledge of how to get further than my parameters allow. Something that somebody out in front (in life) already had. Yes, those people work hard, but they still had a strong springboard (like people that get university completely paid for them for example by their parents).

It's like the concept of coming into money. Those in a more privileged state know how to turn money into more money through various deals, savings etc. All I know how to do is leave it in my account which basically accumulates almost no interest.

To bring it back round to your point and MK; Sure, I may get to a little way ahead of the main pack; but never enough to have a true chance at being first.

(On a happier note; in actual Mario Kart I am very good because I spend a lot of my free time gaming; so I can't win in real life but certainly can in games lol).

I kinda want Jon Bois' dystopian NBA future to become reality.

This exchange tells me a lot about the proponents of "politically charged video game journalism".

I haven't played a Mario Kart since the DS version and I completely agree with you.

Looking forward to picking up 8 when I get some disposable income.

@likeassur:

Interpretations of feminism/sexism can vary.

I think those are two different things. One is a trope, somewhat like damsel in distress, where often the only representation is to be kidnapped or killed off. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with using that trope. Each author is entitled to tell the story they want to tell. The other is usually dealing with the protagonists we play as. Again, I have no problem with authors wanting to tell their story from the perspective of a man.

"...Ubisoft Game is the story of Main Character, a gruff or sassy white man who is really good at parkour, killing, and killing while doing parkour. One of the most iconic features of Main Character is the way he dresses — Main Character’s sense of style and flair really comes across in his tailored outfit, which makes him look distinctive and features a number of clear symbols that can be easily used in marketing and merchandising."

"...Nintendo Game is the story of Main Character, a mustachioed sassy white man who is really good at jumping, squishing, and squashing while jumping. One of the most iconic features of Main Character is the way he dresses - which has not changed in 20 years — Main Character’s sense of style and flair really comes across in his tailored outfit, which makes him look distinctive and features a number of clear symbols that can be easily used in marketing and merchandising."

"...Bungie Game is the story of Main Character, a gruff helmeted or face-masked man who is really good at killing aliens, killing, and killing while killing aliens. One of the most iconic features of Main Character is the way he dresses — Main Character’s sense of style and flair really comes across in his tailored outfit, which makes him look distinctive and features a number of clear symbols that can be easily used in marketing and merchandising."

"...Naughty Dog Game is the story of Main Character, a goofy and likeable white man who is really good at parkour, killing, and killing while doing parkour. One of the most iconic features of Main Character is the way he dresses — Main Character’s sense of style and flair really comes across in his half-tucked outfit, which makes him look distinctive and features a number of clear symbols that can be easily used in marketing and merchandising.

Tim Colwill article is pretty boring. It easy to do the "show the meme" or "show the pattern" stories that show that games are games still. But this was really just Fox News level stuff when you think about it...see the flaws, see the flaws...you should feel dumb to like this on any level if you see the flaws.

The blog on Saints Row and heteronormativity made me facepalm quite hard. First of all, it was written by someone who would fail High School writing. Second of all, most of the content was reading way into things that weren't even close to the intentions of the developer. Lastly, it comes off as extremely unhealthy when the author is talking about how great it is you can "romance" whoever you want and nothing matters to the other characters and then implies that's how real life should be. Overall, I struggle to understand why this was highlighted other than the wishful thinking of the title. I can't even sure Patrick read it before linking.

With all that negativity out the way, I really enjoyed the Jon Bois, Tim Colwill, and Richard Moss links.

Composition or grammar?

So?

Why not?

Sonic is the personification of the blue shell. Lifeless. Empty...yet blue with spikes.

A feature like that would require more dev time since the only games that would ''benefit'' would be console exclusives because people who really care about that play multiplatform games on PC where the choice is already there. Also, putting a feature like that would be admiting there is some kind of problem with the core game. Yeah, putting a toggle for 60fps and a graphical downgrade begs the question: ''why can't I have visuals AND frame rate''. This kind of question is a marketing departement's worst nighmare.

And arguing for such a feature totally misses the point of console games and really outs him as an ''arrogant PC master race smug''. People who pay for AAA games, console gamers, inlarge don't want to have to think about what option to choose for the optimal experience. They trust game designers to make the choice between visuals (the order, uncharted, heavy rain, etc) or 60 fps (burnout, COD, etc). If you want a choice, play on PC, end of story.

Except for the part where he can catch up to Mario.