Going to stuff my face, hang with family, play some yahtzee, watch some sports. And maybe even have some time to play any videogame which requires no thought or effort before I crash for the night.
Good times in my opinion. Hope everyone else has a good thanksgiving (where applicable).
So while Crackdown 2 is very much the same style of game that everyone either loved or hated. I just have to mention how great I thought the music was in the demo.
I wont lie that I think Perfect Dark for the N64 had some of the best music ever in a game. The menu music in Crackdown 2 could easily have been placed inside the classic Perfect Dark game and fit right in, it never gets old.
Anyway after blowing some stuff up and calling in some choppers - I jump around until finding a vehicle to drive. I am instantly greeted to a Creedence Clearwater Revival: Bad Moon Rising remix. Its great and I stay in the truck to listen to some more songs. My time limit expires with me sitting in car, I guess I wasn't that concerned about saving mankind.
I can see the fun I'll have carrying my car sized jukebox around with me once I'm strong enough to pick them up, causing chaos at the same time.
I found this good article about the man behind the music, its an good read - http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/14/interview-audio-director-kristofor-mellroth-on-the-sounds-of-cr/
Every once in awhile a particular amazing or surprising moment happens during a game that just floors me. The great part about games is that this could happen in a multitude of ways, since they combine so many different mediums to stimulate.
So here I have been playing Red Dead for a good chunk of time now, fairly engrossed in the characters and the setting. This game is solid and I'm liking it.
I finish up the first zone main quest line and take a ride with Irish down the river to Mexico. I step off the boat and on to my newly stolen horse. I wave goodbye to Irish and trot down the trail when it hits me like a slow wave of amazement. As I come over the ridge and look over the vast new area, a song starts to play. I can't help but slow down and gaze at the beauty of the land while listening to this song.
The song and the surroundings connected so well with me I have not had a moment in gaming related to music in such a way in a long time. I knew half way in the singer sounded familiar, so I search it up afterwards and realized it was Jose Gonzalez. He has done guest vocals with one of my favorite groups ever Zero 7. Did any of you feel this way about this part of the game? I'm interested to see if there are others.
Here is the song from the game.
this song makes me dance, makes me cry, puts chills down my spine - I forget about the world around me, and its build up puts a smile on my face
this song is an embodyment of why I love music
I think all of us are inflicted with a touch of this condition. Our scorn for the big player but more importantly our praise and support for the little guy. Personally speaking some of my negative attitudes towards certain products or companies is simply unjustified hate. Sometimes I think I just want to stick it to the "man". Meanwhile I might use an inferior product simply because the business making it isn't a mega-corp.
There are many examples as to why a lot of us go down this path. Its not a far stretch to see that companies are all about their bottom line and the bigger they get the more they need to keep growing to enlarge their profits. Many times this comes at the cost to the consumer however.
Its funny looking back in Activision's history. They became the first third party developer after Atari paid them terribly for their work on the console. They left to create their own company, and the rest is history. Those humble roots are a long cry from what they have become, many hating their cut throat tactics and business policies.
Smaller start up companies are almost always more community oriented and are interested in providing the best service to gain the trust and loyalty of fans. A lot of it has to do with their independence. Valve's already popular Half Life went through the roof after Counter-strike was created. None of that would have happened without a mod friendly game and support from Valve itself. It has since bought many other mods created by the community while still supporting their games with free updates and patches.
I suppose its an endless cycle, and thus creating a kind of complex of sorts. Developer does great things, people like them, becomes big developer, bullies and turns back on community, people dislike developer. I realize there are always exceptions to the rule, but I think its safe to say this happens more often then not.
I've been trying to come to grips with this condition over the years. Recognizing popular titles for what they excel in and why so many enjoy them instead of focusing on the negative aspects. Sometimes I catch myself hating on a product irrationally. It' s a little bit embarrassing to realize the main reason I dislike a game is that so many others enjoy it.
Still its always refreshing to see a small company make a game like Torchlight which wont sweep the industry off its feet but will have great support and a great community. I mean who wouldn't like to see a game like that succeed?
Phew, I hope this post was at least somewhat readable and coherent. If you made it this far I wonder how you guys think about this. Do you find yourself rooting for the underdogs in the gaming industry, be it console wise, developer or something else.
Could this be even a normal human condition? Maybe it goes deeper than I think.
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