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    Braid

    Game » consists of 11 releases. Released Aug 06, 2008

    Manipulate time to complete puzzles in this 2D platform game made by indie developer Jonathan Blow.

    If you thought Braid couldn't get anymore arty and pretentious...

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    LordXavierBritish

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    #1  Edited By LordXavierBritish

    BOY WERE YOU WRONG

      
    The title was a joke by the way. 
     
    The next part isn't. 
     
    So for whatever reason, I ended up on the Braid Blog today. Like, the development blog. There I found something called Braid: A Movement Piece, which from here on we will refer to as What The Fuck in the acronym. WTF is, apparently, a high school alumni (wat?) production of Braid. And when I say production, I mean it is a theatrical performance. Of all the games you could choose to do a play of, they did Braid. They did the game that is by all accounts pretty much already art, but the game that has no dialogue or really that much character interaction at all. I suppose it already being considered art may make the transition to...this easier, but then again I don't really care. That being said, I don't know what this is or why someone would do it. I don't know why it was made or what it means. Perhaps it was meant simply to exist, maybe being is its only truly purpose. 
     
    That being said, what does this mean going forward? Will we see a musical about World of Goo, or an all a cappella group attempting to simulate  the atmosphere of LIMBO using only their voices? The world may never know. There is one thing that is very clear however, and this stands alone as the sole answer beneath a shroud of mystery. That is that I have no idea what the fuck this is, but these high school alumni (really?) managed to make Braid even more incomprehensible. 
     
    For this, I commend them. 
      
    Also the entire thing is on youtube so, you know. 
     

    BUCKLE UP!

      
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    JJWeatherman

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    #2  Edited By JJWeatherman

    This is crazy. It sounds like an interesting idea, but I just watched a few of the videos and it's not as interesting as it seemed.

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    turboman

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    #3  Edited By turboman

    When he walks to the left, the music doesn't play backwards. This isn't a faithful recreation.

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    BraveToaster

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    #4  Edited By BraveToaster

    They should have Soulja Boy's game review audio for this.

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    FunExplosions

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    #5  Edited By FunExplosions

    This is horrible. The limit to something like this should be a high school kid's talent show project. Those are also way more fun to watch.

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    ArbitraryWater

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    #6  Edited By ArbitraryWater

    Y'know, of all the video games to be adapted for a high school drama, Braid is actually an excellent candidate because it's artsy and pretentious, and as someone in high school, I can confirm that Drama kids are wayy into that kind of shit. The runner up? Probably Ico.

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    turboman

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    #7  Edited By turboman
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    LordXavierBritish

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    #8  Edited By LordXavierBritish
    @ArbitraryWater: You could film a teenage girl getting kidnapped by the hand and call that Ico. 
     
    That would be the equivalent of what this shit is.
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    bacongames

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    #9  Edited By bacongames
    @LordXavierBritish said:

    " @ArbitraryWater: You could film a teenage girl getting kidnapped by the hand and call that Ico.  That would be the equivalent of what this shit is. "

    For one reason or another your post has finally solved the mystery for why Braid was in the middle of all those "games as art" debates.  Art is simply creative expression and the end result of that expression is art.  Whether it be video games, movies, etc.  Quality, sophistication, and artsy-ness have no bearing on whether something is art.  Because art can be bad.
     
    HOWEVER the issue got confusing because people tried to upload Braid as not simply an abstract/artistic (non-simulation) video game which happens to be an artistic medium, but art in the literal sense as an object on a wall.  So you had people argue every combination of game is or isn't literally art and game is or isn't figuratively art.  The allure to the idea that it's the video game equivalent to an art "piece" is what brought about the discussion about games as art when it was released.  Also why LIMBO has the same discussion around it as all seemingly artsy, simplistic, elegant indie-games will.
     
    I don't mean to have this thread be about games as art again (believe me I don't) but it finally places a good reason in my head for why Braid gets argued the way it does.  Thanks.  (Not that you intentionally did this of course).
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    animateria

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    #10  Edited By animateria

    Hey I bet someone can do an interpretive dance about Duke Nukem.
     
    Great thing about the term art is that you can still call it absolute garbage.

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    x_XJules

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    #11  Edited By x_XJules

    If you hadn't told me it was an interpretation of Braid, I would have never guessed.

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    LordXavierBritish

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    @Tuffgong said:
    "  (Not that you intentionally did this of course). "
    Or was it?
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    TheGreatGuero

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    #13  Edited By TheGreatGuero
    @TurboMan:  TurboMan, you're my hero.
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    BunkerBuster

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    #14  Edited By BunkerBuster

    So is a play based on a game based on a dream, art?
     j/k   
    The whole idea is ridiculous and the play is that much worse because of that. It exists to show something they love but everyone that sees this can only feel shame. So really, everyone wins.

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    guiseppe

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    #15  Edited By guiseppe

    Why is doing a play of something you love such a wrong or bad idea? If you're into Braid and you're into theatre, acting and what have you, why is it so wrong for someone to combine two of their interests?

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    Ghostiet

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    #16  Edited By Ghostiet

    I bet Roger Ebert is ecstatic, knowing that this piece of shit game has been turned into a work of art!

    Okay, that was a joke, let's move on with that old prick.

    I've watched the whole thing - it requires a lot of polish. It looks at points like they had an idea, used some of the things they've imagined and then stopped at the middle of the road.



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    Hamst3r

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    #17  Edited By Hamst3r

    So which one is the stuffed dinosaur?

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    LordXavierBritish

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    @guiseppe: Because Braid's entire experience is based around gameplay.
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    BeachThunder

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    #19  Edited By BeachThunder

    I think Machinarium would have been way cooler to do as a play.

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    raccoonusdoodus

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    #20  Edited By raccoonusdoodus

    ...wtf? That's incredibly stupid.

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    guiseppe

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    #21  Edited By guiseppe
    @LordXavierBritish said:
    " @guiseppe: Because Braid's entire experience is based around gameplay. "
    So is Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider and every other game turned into a movie. So why can't someone adapt a game into a play?
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    LordXavierBritish

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    @guiseppe said:
    " @LordXavierBritish said:
    " @guiseppe: Because Braid's entire experience is based around gameplay. "
    So is Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider and every other game turned into a movie. So why can't someone adapt a game into a play? "
    I wasn't aware that Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia were completely visual outside of a few lines of text. 
     
    How foolish I have been all these years, am I going mad!? 
     

    SOMEONE RELINQUISH ME FROM THIS MENTAL PRISON OF MY OWN DESIGN

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