My Views on Gaming Pt. 3.

Basically, what this amounts to is a somewhat comprehensive overview of my general feelings in regards to specific topics or issues within gaming. You'll agree with some and likely disagree with others, and comments to both ends are encouraged.

Keep in mind, this is all my (likely misinformed) opinion, and so I reserve the right to be completely off base at any given moment, and make no claims to factual accuracies ;)

Now that you know what this is all about, let's begin.

Piracy

It's stealing, period. I swear, everytime I hear people try and defend piracy I want to rip my hair out. I mean, look, I don't think someone who pirates a game is Hitler, but come on, let's not be disingenuous here. Call a spade a spade. It's stealing. Stop getting bogged down in the technicalities of it, and be real. People are spending time and money to create a product under a capitalist system which dictates that they are able to charge money to those who want to use their product. If you're obtaining and using their product without paying them, aka benefiting from someone's labour without compensating them, you're fucking stealing. I have a lot more respect for pirates who say ''Ya, it's stealing'' than those who try to spin it so they don't have to consider themselves thieves.

So, you're in the ''not stealing'' camp? Okay, let me ask you a question:

Is pirating wrong?

If you say yes, okay then, at least you're being honest.

If you say no, then I have a follow up question for you:

Would an economic system built on piracy be viable?

Think of it this way: You've got a dichotomy between a model where people pay for their goods, and the antithetical model, in which people ''not steal'' or make copies of, their goods. Now, which one is viable? Which one will lead to the furtherance of the ability to produce goods, and the sustainability of jobs, and which one will crash and burn?

Exactly. Piracy hurts the business enterprise, and in the end, it hurts us all. Some people want to say it's copying, not stealing, and copying isn't hurting anyone. Well, tell me, what happens if everyone starts copying? Aren't you then left with a person who hasn't sold a single copy of their product, yet everyone in the frigging world is currently enjoying it? They make no money and go out of business, yet everyone is enjoying the product they worked so hard to make. If that's not stealing then I'm not a gamer.

Look, I'm not going to get all preachy and condemn anyone here, nor am I going to say I have never pirated something in my life. What I am going to say is, if you pirate, but you deny that it's stealing, or that it's wrong, stop it. Stop being disingenuous, and, to use an expression I fucking hate, be a fucking man and just admit that it's wrong (ugh, I really do hate that "be a man" shit).

Prices

Prices. Hmmm.....Well, retail (like, actual discs and/or cartridges, not digital download) game prices have remained stable this gen. I recall there being a huge outcry over the fact that games were going up by $10 at the start of this gen, and there were cries of greed. I think I may have been one of them. I do recall not buying into the whole ''higher development costs'' mantra, but now look. Look at Ubisoft. They made something like $650 million in one quarter (Q4, 2009) (mostly due to AC2, I believe) yet still ended up in the hole (about $98 million in the hole IIRC) for the year. What the fuck!! One of the biggest companies in gaming, with a hot release selling like 5 million copies, and they're in the fucking hole?

It's a crazy business.

Overall, I can say that I'm not too concerned with game pricing. And frankly, it's our fault. We keep demanding more, more, more!!! Well, this is what happens. That more more more comes in the form of expensive consoles and games with huge budgets.

As for digital download pricing, from what I gather, the Steam service does it right. Microsoft Games on Demand (Xbox 360) on the other hand.......fucking disgusting. I will never, ever buy a game from them, and they frankly disgust me with their shameless gouging attempts.

One thing regarding pricing, and this might help both gamers and devs/publishers:

What if they reduced their damn advertising budgets? Those things are getting really out of hand now. I've heard of companies spending more on marketing than on the actual game itself!!!!! I don't know how to assess the veracity of such a claim, as I don't recall the details, but I'll put it out there and see if anyone knows something about it. But I digress. If we, the gamers, went to them, as opposed to them coming to us, that would save everyone money in the end. And make money for the person whp figures out a way to do it.....

*Puts on thinking cap and says hhhmmmmm*

Remakes

I take no issue with remakes. They bother me a lot more with movies than they do with games. For example, if tomorrow they announced a remake of SMB1, I would be excited. I wouldn't cry foul and shout out ''leave the masterpiece alone!!!!!!.'' However, if tomorrow I heard they were remaking I dunno......Terminator 2, I would. In fact, I'd be downright pissed. I think gaming is still too much in its infancy as a medium for it to compare to movies, and the thing with movies is, we identify with the characters and the actors who play them. With gaming, Mario can be the same with a 25 year gap, but it's different for real people.

One thing with remakes though, and this is for both mediums, is that the people behind them have their work cut out for them, every single time. ''Why,'' you ask?

Nostalgia

Nostalgia's a bitch. Got to be the bane of every remake artists' existence. Then again, if they're just in it for a quick cash in, as so many remakes seem to be (especially in movies) then good. They deserve every obstacle possible to be thrown at them :)

Review Scores

Review scores are arbitrary, and this becomes more evident the more specific you get. I mean, clearly there’s some objectivity inherent within the scoring system. A 2 is a far cry from a 9. I think we can all agree on that. But what’s the difference between an 8.5 and an 8.8?

Go ahead, try and qualify that for me.

I’ll wait here.

*waits*

Thought so.

That being said, most of us like scores (although I hope you all focus more on the content of the review than you do the numerical score) and I use them myself in my reviews. I think that they are helpful in that they provide a quick, easy idea as to the quality and, perhaps more importantly, viability, of a game as a purchase. They also serve as fuel for fanboy arguments, and we all know what a vital role fanboy arguments play in.......well......oh, ya, absolutely fucking nothing! Well, that's not entirely true. They do help fuel my misanthropic leanings ;)

Note: Keep in mind that this isn't terribly serious, it will differ from person to person, and I didn't put exceptional amounts of thought into it. It's an on the spot, rough outline of how I see it.

 

1-Broken.The worst a game could ever be. Avoid, even if paid to play it. In fact, burn on sight.

 

2-Dreadful. Not worth it, even for free. Punch the person in the face for even offering it to you.

 

3-Very bad. Maybe play for the lulz, if you can get it free. Maybe. On a dreadfully boring rainy day.

 

4-Pretty bad, but some redeeming qualities. Sort of. Rent if you have no other options.

 

5-Mediocre. Few things done right, but buried amongst much bad. Decent rental, nothing more.

 

6-Decent. The bones of a good game here, but many flaws. A rental or bargain bin purchase.

 

7-Good. A good game that doesn't particularly stand out, and has some flaws, but is worth your time.

 

8-Great. Few flaws, mostly positives. Doesn't quite stand out, perhaps held back by a few little issues.

 

9-Excellent. A game that must be played. Very few discernible flaws. Nothing seriously wrong with it.

 

10-As good as you'll ever get. Does everything right. Seemingly flawless; what devs should aspire to.

Rumours

I don't have too much to say about rumours, really. I think they are a positive thing for the industry. Rumours sell mags, rumours get websites hits, and rumours bring attention to gaming, specific developers, etc etc.

They can of course be negative, however. Negative rumours can destabilize a workplace, so, if there are nasty rumours circulating around the Bethesda offices, they could disrupt the work being done by bringing down morale, focusing attention on other things, leading to firings, etc etc.

Video Game Movies

Lol.

Voice Acting

Anyone who pays a lot of money for a 'name' voice actor is throwing money away for nothing, and those 'name' voice actors are getting paid tons of money for nothing. Yes, I know that 'names' being attached to a project makes it far more likely to succeed, and so the extra costs often pay off, and sometimes in spades, but it's still bullshit. You can find a shitload of random, everyday people who could do the same thing that voice actors do, and if you wanted one that sounded like a particular celebrity, you could definitely find that as well. Even if it was someone doing impressions.

When I think of some Hollywood actress or some Hollywood actor showing up to work for a day in a game studio so they can grab an extra few hundred grand or whatever, it makes me sick. They're not doing anything special.

Women in Gaming

I personally believe that women in gaming are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don't have good role models, and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as in, uh, the 1950's and, uh, the America and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. and such like, should help the women., uh, should help women and should help men and the the vision of women by men, so we will be able to build up our future for our children."

*ahem*

Sorry, I'm back.

I'm going to assume this means the characterization of women in gaming. If so, well, unfortunately, it's a male dominated industry, both in terms of gamers and game developers, and, as such, it's going to cater to the male gamer. And what does the target demographic want? Or at least, what are they perceived to want? The same things they want or are perceived to want in Hollywood:

Tits! Ass! More tits! Hyper sexualized, schoolgirl outfit wearing nymphos who want nothing more than to make your dreams come true.

Personally, that shit doesn't appeal to me. It doesn't work when it comes to movies (unlike people who will literally go see a movie because ''there's hot chick in it!!!'') and it certainly doesn't work when it comes to gaming. I mean, really, polygonal women? Um...no, not for me.

Now, here's the question: is the objectification of women a bad thing? The feminists would have you believe that it is, but on what basis do they make this determination? Bad for who? Women, or men? If they're saying it's bad for the men, well, in what way? The men seem to be enjoying themselves, and we don't seem to be seeing any particularly obvious ramifications permeating throughout society over the last 25 or so years.

If they're saying it's bad for the women, what women are they talking about? The characters are polygons. If they mean for the women gamers, well, for one thing they have to prove that, and before they can prove their assertion, they have to know what it is they are actually asserting. Assuming they do, though, there's still the matter of the little ol' thing called the burden of proof. And they have to remember that women gamers have choice.

Now, if they mean it's bad for all women, again, they're left with a claim that they need to qualify, and then back up, but, apart from that, it sounds like they are being naive. You think we don't already sexualize you in our minds? We're wired that way. Guess what? It's worked for the last 200 000 years or so. And thinking of a woman sexually does not preclude us from thinking of her in any other way. We're capable of separating fact from reality, thank you, and even in real life, I can be consumed by sexual thoughts towards a woman, but that doesn't mean I suddenly cease to see her as a sentient, autonomous being, and instead view her as a cum receptacle.

Frankly, I find their rhetoric insulting. It's like they are insinuating that they need to protect other women from us. And if that's not it, if they just somehow think that it is demeaning to be thought of sexually, in and of itself, well, okay, but applying your human idealism gussied up as morality to human biological imperatives is akin to insisting that your car could be a motorcycle, if people stopped looking at it as though it were a car.

Just shut up and accept reality. We're not demeaning you. It's fucking fantasy. Do you hear us complaining about those shitty ''romance'' novels with Fabio and Fabio wannabees on the cover? No. Aren't those perpetuating the same sort of mythos that the male oreinted media perpetuates?

Ya, exactly. So shut up already.

P.S. Make me a sammich ;)

I kid, I kid.

The End

Alright, that's it for this series. I have now covered all of the following topics:

Achievements/trophies
Censorship (ESRB)/ Video game violence and sex
Console wars
Demos
Downloadable games
DLC/ expansion packs
Gamestop
GOTY expansions
Graphic Comparison
Hardcore vs casual gamer
Magazines
Micro transitions
Mods
Music
Online services
Online/ offline multiplayer
Pick up and play games (iphone, popcaps)
Piracy
Prices
Remakes
Review Scores
Rumors
Video game movies
Voice acting
Women in Gaming

Hope you enjoyed it!!