Worth Reading 04/12/2013

Courtney Stanton's article has probably the weakest grasp on what goes on in Bioshock Infinite of any opinion piece on the game I've ever read. It reads more like someone else read a plot synopsis of the game word for word aloud to them and they feverishly scrawled their stream of consciousness down immediately after.

@patrickklepek Please give Dark Corners of the Earth an honest shot. The game has a few bad spots, but I immensely enjoyed it on the original Xbox. Probably the best horror experience I've ever had. Now, the PC version doesn't run too well on my system.. it crashes a lot.

I just hope the game runs well for you. Otherwise you´d miss a real good one.

I got Primal Carnage on the steam sale and thoroughly enjoyed it! Playing the raptor is dope!

No, I'm not arguing that. By definition if a majority of scores are identical (or similar) that's the majority of scores. I have no moral stance on it. Good on Chick for having it, but him disliking being an outlier doesn't make him less of an outlier, and I didn't get the impression that the Kotaku article was using "aberrant" derogatorily. In fact, they seemed to agree with Chick's stance, pretty much:

Chick’s message is admirable, and his criticism is always sharp, but his scores illustrate one of the biggest problems with how publishers and developers use Metacritic today: inconsistency.

Note how the problem is with "publishers and developers", not Chick.

Also, whatever the preferred lingo is for eccentric data points, it doesn't change that "aberrants" is very much a correct and accurate word to define it.

Wow, you guys really want a straw man to defend the status quo here, huh? Sorry to not fill those shoes, but I'm merely wondering why Chick seems offended by his portrayal on Kotaku when he a) participated in the article willingly and b) the writeup seems to argue that Chick is doing nothing wrong, it's just an issue of application. It seems that Chick (and yourself) go on a tangent about the status of game criticism off of points that are not disagreeing with the diagnosis you want to push.

For the record, I think most people look at this from an incredibly shallow perspective, Chick included. If you ask me how good a movie is on a scale of one to ten and you and I share interests, likes and dislikes, you and I are probably going to be close on the ballpark. I think perhaps the problem is that critics look at videogames all from the same angle, which says more about how consistent and resistant to variety gamers are as a group. Considering the industry-wide discussion about hostility against females, gay people, racial difference, games as art, serious games or just casual gamers, I'm not surprised at all that most reviews on Metacritic tend to agree with each other. When a gamer disagrees with another gamer, they both think only one opinion is valid and only one point of view should dominate the entire industry.

And BOOM, just like that I just linked the Metacritic discussion to the "lack of empathy" discussion. See what I did there? Yes, I am arguing they are both one and the same. Because all gamers are headstrong, exclusionary entitled nerds, all tend to agree and expel outliers through negativity, which makes gaming niche and monolithic, which in turn makes review scores very similar amongst each other.

Keep in mind, Metacritic also does the same thing for movies, TV and music, and results there are far more spread out. I really think I'm onto something here, don't you?

@bennyboy: I'm fairly sure he meant "cis" as in the opposite of "trans" as in what some transgendered people on the internet choose to call "normal" people.

@noelveiga: I think he's (perhaps rightfully) annoyed that there aren't more people who give games more varying scores. He thinks people should give review scores based purely on whether or not they themselves liked the game, and not try to color their scores with technical graphic and sound fidelity (which they may not be qualified to judge in the first place) or base their scores on some theoretical other person who might be a fan of that series or that type of game.

Think about when someone who does not like or watch football tries to review Madden games. They look at the graphics, the audio, and the feature list vs. the previous Madden game. They don't talk about whether they personally liked the game or had fun playing it, just assuming it's something some other theoretical person likes because it sells well, and slap it with something like an 8/10 just because it didn't crash on boot.

Whereas if I were to really score a Madden game purely based on how much fun I have playing it (that is to say, very little), I might give it a 3/10.

A lot of times you see user review scores reflect this attitude. "RPGs are boring, 0/10."

There's merit to his argument, but I'm just not sure I agree with it. It would make more sense in a world with more Deadly Premonitions and less Call of Duties. That is to say, games with a lot of heart but low technical merit vs. the video game equivalent of a summer blockbuster movie. When someone is giving Deadly Premonition 10/10 (deservedly so!), you can bet your ass they didn't factor in its graphics, sound, gameplay, or controls (again, deservedly so!).

@patrickklepek Even if already mentioned, I also feel like saying that Call of Cthulhu does have a habit of buggin' out on any PC, moder or old. I really did like it and still have it on Steam, but those constant crashes finally made me give up on it. But well, that was almost two years ago by now, so maybe I'll give it a one last shot sometime soon...

But Clive Barker's Undying I never had any techincal problems with back in the days and seeing how it's out in GOG currently, I definetly recommend playing that!

Other suggestions...don't know, Penumbra Collection? Probably not as smooth experience as Amnesia, but still worth a try, perhaps.

If you go looking for something, you will find it. And start to see it everywhere. Sometimes the one trying to find prejudices is prejudiced themselves.

Hey @patrickklepek, are you going to try EVE now that you have a PC? You know, for science.

That people like you have decided a mysteriously calculated mean creates an objective measure of what a "normal" reaction to a game is, is exactly what he's arguing against. Your own quoted definition basically claims that there's something wrong with his scores. Frankly, considering we're talking about critical reactions to creative works, the entire idea is poisonous. And FYI, in statistics, they talk about "outliers" not "aberrant" data.

@tzarstefan: Pic reveals it's an S2240M. The picture on Dell's site reveal that the bezel is much wider than I thought, otherwise I might've been tempted to get one.

Thank you, this is prety much how i feel about it.

The man gave Journey a 2/5, pay him no mind.

Dear lord that must be the most butchered spelling of "bourgeoise" I have ever seen.

Either that or you really did mean to say sideways urethra penetrating instrument white people. I don't know.

The worst game is one that’s never made, and the worst article is the article that’s never written. So...get to it.

As an amateur artist who loves drawing but is constantly handcuffed by insecurity, this is a mantra I should straight up tattoo on my forearm. I so rarely think consciously that even the worst doodle I draw is still something that I created.

Do you guys get the feeling that Tom Chick is getting all flustered by not really getting what the word "aberrant" means in this context?

ab·er·rant [uh-ber-uhnt, ab-er-]

adjective

1. departing from the right, normal, or usual course.

2. deviating from the ordinary, usual, or normal type; exceptional; abnormal.

I mean, by definition, his scores being different from the norm is aberrant. That doesn't mean they are bad or worse or anything like that, just statistically aberrant. The norm may be the problem, but if you're in the minority, then you're the aberrant one. By definition the majority can't be the aberrant one, even if it is fucked up. Right?

Holy shit, Courtney Stanton's article was terrible. The game's revolution mirrors the French Revolution. That's why the revolutionaries seem like crazy assholes burning everything to the ground. Not because the game's creators are racists who think that any black-led revolution is going to end in anarchy and chaos. Having the leader of the revolution also be a bad person and the revolution turn violent allows them to put the player in positions where they see the two factions fighting and can shoot at either side. It's just a setup for a gameplay situation that players usually find fun. It also let's them set up apparent moral dilemmas to make the characters and the plot more interesting rather than just having a black and white, good vs. evil struggle, which Ken Levine obviously doesn't think is interesting story telling if you look at his other games and listen to his interviews.

And it's established REALLY early on in the game that Irish immigrants are being turned into slave labor just as much as the African Americans and Asians AND Native Americans. The revolution isn't just blacks vs. whites; it's the poor and oppressed joining together to fight the rich and powerful. The movement is called the "Vox Populi" -- "Voice of the People" -- not the NAACP or Black Panthers. It's supposed to represent all of the downtrodden workers that slave away to support the utopian life style the rich WASPs have.

She even says at the start of the article that she didn't play the game but watched her spouse play through the game. Either she was clearly not paying total attention or her spouse did not interact with a lot of NPCs, or look at signs, or listen to a lot of audio logs.

In fact:

The fact that she completely missed or misunderstood this simple part of the story makes me feel like her entire post is completely invalid. She didn't play the game. She didn't pay attention to the game. She didn't understand the game.

I'm not going to sit here and deny that the game brings up racism at the beginning, then kind of drops that narrative in favor of a more personal story about Booker. I'm not going to deny that that can even be seen as cowardly avoiding the issue, and missing out on an opportunity to have an even more meaningful conversation about racism in a video game. You can even make the argument that it's flippant about it and only using it for shock value.

But to claim that the events in the game make its creators racist is absolutely absurd to me.

You'd think that would be obvious. The feature is called "Worth Reading" not "My Exact Opinions, By Proxy".

YES Undying love that game!

http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/1/22/3880638/far-cry-3-letters

She's actually a fantastic writer (not everything's going to be perfect or even good however), but hey let's all judge her for something she did 3 years ago. something as innocuous as being obnoxiously drunk on a live podcast.

The Leigh Alexander and Tom Chick articles are great. They give me hope for the critical side of the industry

@travan: The game shows you images of white supremacy because white supremacy is a part of Columbia, and Columbia is a part of Infinite's story. If the game was "substantially concerned" with raising awareness of white supremacy, my god, they got a little distracted along the way. You know this isn't true.

The notion that Infinite's story ought to balance this evil, by featuring a good black character who fights the bad guys with you, is condescending to both the writer and the game's audience. You cannot suggest this as a person who takes stories seriously, no matter the medium they live within. Seeing characters and plot points in a story as a constant, frantic balancing act, full of metaphors and race/gender representations, is the weakest and most narcissistic kind of criticism.

you said the game is

while I think that racism is a part of Columbia, it doesn't really have huge tie ins to the overall narrative. It's just one of many factors thrown into the mix.

Ugh, wouldn't be a Friday without some horribly misguided article about racism/sexism/somethingism that does more damage than good by pretending to be anything approaching critical thinking. Ah, Friday.

"In the way, a conversation meant to erase lines is drawing new ones, and creating the exclusionary atmosphere we’re all (I think) trying to avoid."

just this piece alone no matter where you opinion on the "hot button topics" lie patrick,

i think your absolutely one of the best in the biz just for even noticing this and that you are able to step back from your overall opinion and even notice at all that this is happening because you could not be more right!

and its depressing to watch this "cynicism implosion" happen between the 2 parties as its totally creating the exclusionary atmosphere that no one wants.

Man I become more of a Tom Chick fan everyday. Thanks for posting his article.

@ballskin: Then the baseball scene and the segregated bathrooms in Battleship Bay and every other Comstock audio diary were window dressing then? That certainly wouldn't make it better. What are you trying to say?

@patrickklepek: Now that you have a PC, you have to at least take a look at Crusader Kings 2, if you haven't. The game uses it's crazy systems to basically write you a new story with each playthrough, not to mention the Game of Thrones and Elder Scrolls mods.

Absolutely untrue.

Sometimes, I think, the comments here confuse linking to something as tacit approval of the words within. That is not the case. I do not agree or disagree with everything that is linked in Worth Reading. The title of the feature is descriptive of the links within: worth reading/considering/playing/hearing. You might disagree with Leigh or the other folks who are writing about Infinite or sexism or whatever, and you would be right to assume I also disagree with them on some or many points. I leave it purposely ambiguous to let people draw their own conclusions. I only try to link to material that will give people something to talk about.

The superopinionated post raises valid points, the geese that write it off for being a jumble of vague impressions are silly geese. I loved Bioshock Infinite, and I still found Fitzroy's truncated character arc the most troubling thing about its story. In a game substantially concerned with exposing the viciousness of historical US white supremacism, it is highly problematic to have the only person of color with a name and screen presence depicted as a child killing fanatic, and subsequently killed off without any attempt to make her views and actions comprehensible to the audience.

It's something I very much hope gets addressed in DLC at some point.

@patrickklepek: Make sure when you get into STALKER you play Call of Pripyat. It's by far the best of the games. And honestly, it could make a good Spookin' with Scoops game if you play at night on not easy. It's scary. Nights are pitch dark, and they do an awesome job letting you hear some pretty frightening things in the night. From mutant zombie dogs to actual zombies to anomalies to bandits to a crazy storm that will rip the flesh from your bones if you don't find cover.

Oh man, I had that Undying trailer on my computer years go, would watch it over and over again. Bink video 4 life.

Also, Ghost of a Tale looks really great, might have to fork out a few bucks and support that one.

That Mega Man FPS sounds absolutely incredible. RIP.

THIS! I completely agree these sort of knee jerk reactions to vernacular that was clearly accurate for the time that it was written into just goes to show the subtle racism inherit in the writer. I knew things like this would come up after finishing the game and I knew I would feel this way about those that wrote about it. If you feel like there was some sort of hateful racism built into a game that really just includes racism as a point of historical accuracy then you have probably got quite a bit of white guilt welling up in there.

I really hope the Soda Drinker Pro guy can contribute anything of worth before his 5 minutes of fame are over.

I remember when I was Patrick's age I was much more enthusiastic about demonstrating to the world how politically correct I was. I just didn't work at a website where I could show it off all the time. Even a video game website. Where it seems out of place and obnoxious.

True Feminism n. Bougie cis white people fret over misandry

Regardless, I hope she finds fulfillment carrying water for MRAs.

I imagine her swilling booze and screaming at her monitor as she bangs words onto her keyboard.

Loved this weeks post. Have to say though, I can't agree with that racism article about BI. Her opening statement about how the black people destroy the white society is wrong, the Vox is made up of multiple races as well as having Irish members, and multiple citizens of Columbia who disagree with the treatment of the other races of people. They're violent and angry because that's what oppression does to people, see any revolution ever. Her defense that Irish people don't make a difference because they're still white is just silly.

I recommend STALKER

@patrickklepek Sins of a Solar Empire is an awesome pc game you may like. not too hard to play for a 4X game and it can be very pretty to zoom in on a huge space battle and just watch the carnage,

Damn you, Patrick Klepek. Damn you.

Now I have to watch the Trespasser LP again. Twice apparently wasn't enough.

That Trespasser Let's Play is amazing. Highly recommend listening to the whole thing.

Also Leigh's critique of Bioshock Infinite is both well-written and incoherent. She had points in there, but they were lost in a stream of consciousness mess. If you don't take time to organize your thoughts, then I'm not going to take time to put them together. She's not Pynchon or Joyce, she's writing a video game critique.

Don't worry about dismissing S.T.A.L.K.E.R as a waste of time after playing some. Metro has enough parts of STALKER in it that you aren't missing out on much.

If you're truly serious about playing STALKER, don't play on a difficulty tier like Master or play Call of Pripyat using the Misery mod. People might try to goad you saying "It's like elective permadeath in fire emblem or save scumming xcom. It tampers the experience." Just ignore them.

For Shadow, stick with the game until you meet Duty and get a scoped rifle and a stalker suit. That's a good 6-7 hour investment like the pre great jaggi grind in MH.

Skip Clear Sky. Too much shooting dudes and too little exploring.

For Pripyat, explore the zones and do some sidequests. It's a much shorter/smaller landmass than Shadow but it's easily the most polished of the three and plays closest to fallout 3.

And for the love of god, play Republic Commando. You mentioned it in passing on this weeks bombcast, but it really is worth the 7-10 hours for a B+ Halo shooter with a squad system that doesn't have a contemporary today.

Wow, Leigh's article was a terrible read. I don't know if this was an overly clever attempt to critique the pacing of Biohsock Infinite, by writing a hyper-paced critique, but man was that all over the place. However, she isn't a bad writer. Her Sander Cohen article that she links is fantastic and I wish she wrote her Bioshock Infinite article to the same kin as her Cohen article.

@patrickklepek just want to put out there that Call of Cthulhu is a great game. Not only for nerds of the Lovecraftian, but also because its narrative is handled very well and its also one of the most atmospherically engrossing games.

Oh hey I have the same monitor!

Patty's really into women's rights issues in video games, isn't he? Sheesh.

I really don't play a lot of games on PC, so the only ones I can recommend are ones I have had a hand in :P