A School Shooter Sim, Grotesque Art, and Gaming

Yesterday I read a very disturbing interview on The Escapist about a small independant team making a mod of Half Life 2. The game will simulate a school shooting ala the horrible Colombine massacre and the VT massacre as well. It really got me thinking about Grotesque works; most specifically what constitutes Grotesque art and what is just plain disgusting. Take a journey with me if you will.

Dictionary.com offers some definitions for the word Grotesque:

1. Odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; Bizare

2. Fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work combining incongruous human and animal figures with scrolls, foliage, etc.

In any sort of media there exists Grotesque art that moves to make us uncomfortable and attempts to push us to think about the societal norms and taboos we have adopted as our nature. Some of my favorite movies, tv shows, and especially musical theater (yeah I love it, whatever) I would definitely classify as Grotesque. Sin City and Pulp Fiction, Dexter, Sweeny Todd, all some of my favorite artistic works on a screen or a stage that are bizarre distortions of every day existence.

Can a potential school shooting game be considered as Grotesque art?

It's a really tough position to consider. As much as I would never ever download a mod like this it does beg the question about it's merits. As much as I abhor the attitude of the studio and the direction of the game, did I not just post last week about wanting video games to take on tougher and more mature subject matter above the war shooter? This is certainly a mature and difficult subject.

When I first read the interview last night I was pretty horrified that anyone could take the attitude that the developer has adopted. That any interactive media we consume should not provoke, but rather allow our reflexes to take over our minds. I think that attitude with anything is pretty sick. The creator of this mod's objective clearly isn't to create art in the noblest sense. He isn't out to make a point out of any irony, or send a clear message. He is out for laughs and specifically mindless fun. Does this disqualify him as an artist or his work as art?

I think it is his attitude that I find most offensive. To be honest I would really enjoy a thoughtful, mature artist to tackle the idea of a school shooter game. If someone wanted to communicate a message of desperation and isolation so severe that it would cause the protagonist (antagonist) to lash out violently, or to create a social commentary of some sort I would probably support that. I really am a fan of truly Grotesque that serves to push us out of our comfort zones and challenge us. I really wish this was along those lines, but I definitely believe any art is a reflection of the artist's soul and artistic vision (not to be too cheesy, crunchy) and there is clearly no vision behind this work aside from for shits and giggles by the developers own admission. That, I would argue, is the difference between Grotesque and just plain gross.

The Crysis 2 Demo Kicked my Ass (but not my Compy's)

I noticed on Steam last night that the Crysis 2 demo was available so I made the rookie mistake of taking that out for a spin. Before I get in to had badly I got pwned I have to say the game ran really well. Despite my compy being middle of the road at best the game had no graphical hiccups running at full 1920 by 1080 with medium settings. The graphics did look spectacular.

The mp itself plays very much like COD to me. You run around shooting people, raising your sights with the right mouse, getting knifed every 2 seconds. I suppose I can't blame my lack of skill on the developers, but I can say the game (and mp FPS's in general) are very forgiving to new players. I don't think I have, or will have the mental and testicular fortitude to really become average at the genre in general. It really makes me pine for the good ol' days of 1995 playing Quake on the WPI computer labs in my hometown of Worcester. I was actually competitive back then!

Also I am a reasonably strong L4D and TF2 player. I always tend to hold my own and be at least average (spy FTW), but those skills just seem lost in Crysis or COD.

Anyways the game did add the spin of both stealth and armor mode (pretty self explanatory). I can envision a leveled up player jumping around, raining death Crackdown style which would pretty pretty awesome actually. I just don't think I can develop the skills to get there. I'm sick enough as it is consistantly getting rocked in Starcraft 2 these days as it is.

On another note I was staring at my crappy, old XBOX 360, wondering why I could not get any adapter for HDMI for it when a thought came to me; why doesn't Microsoft and Sony sell XBOX and PS emulators? It seems like it would be easy money and a much higher profit margin for us PC master race. You can already use a 360 controller with a PC, why not take control of the market and let people play XBOX or PS discs too? I would definitely prefer that and it seems like it would be easy money.

Many have tried, none have succeeded

If you actually follow my blog (and you should by clicking the button to the right) you may have read that I was a part of the last Rift open beta. I spent probably close to 10 hours in the game over that week (which is more like 10 minutes to MMO players) and, despite their being hundreds if not thousand of hours of content created, I am pretty confident I got a great sense of what the game is all about.

Rift, like so many other expensive and relatively unsuccessful fantasy RPG MMO's, is a World of Warcraft clone. Let me elaborate before you start writing about how I am a jerk and I need to experience the endgame, or how the graphics are different, or how you have rift's open up and everyone goes and fights creatures that spawn (see what they did there?). The mechanics of Rift are exactly, and I mean exactly like WoW. You attack the same way, the hot keys are the same, the combat flows the same, and even the interface is almost exactly the same as WoW.

The thing that really gets me too is their big marketing tag line has been,
"You're not in Azeroth anymore....."


So you, like many others before you, create a game clearly designed to siphon off as much of WoW's business as you can, and that is your big pitch? In a world where it takes around $50 million dollars to create an MMO, a business needs to make sure they can actually make a profit on that investment. What boggles my mind is that someone would think they can steal Blizzard's golden eggs? If you were or are a WoW player ask yourself; what about that ad would compel you to leave your guild, your loot, and countless hours you put into rolling your characters? Especially seeing as though the game play is the same, even down to the "kill 10 of x to save the world."

That leads me to our my next company that worries me. As a Massachusetts guy ad a huge baseball fan I absolutely adore the Redsox. In 2004 there was a epic pwner who helped my team win the World Series for the first time in several generations and his name is Curt Schilling. Since retiring from baseball Curt, who is very likely hall of fame bound, decided to start his own nerdy RPG/MMO company called 38 Studios. He has spent a lot of money, bought up another studio, and hired some top notch talent and for what? Another game that looks completely and utterly generic.

Curt should know from playing against the Yankees that throwing money at a team doesn't guarantee victory. Did you learn nothing from your own sock in 2004? Heart is what makes a good game, not throwing millions of dollars at something because a behemoth like Blizzard did it. Now of course Kingdoms of Amalur isn't released yet, so it's not very fair of me to say that, but so far I am not hopeful.

Not that it's particularly relevant but I thought this quote from a conversation I had the other night was funny:
"Calling a WoW player a gamer is like calling a heroine addict a rock star. It may be true in some cases, but they are certainly not mutually exclusive labels."

Bring my Girl Back!

I've been trying to actualy play Dead Space 2, which I purchased a couple weeks ago on sale at Amazon and, despite being quite good, I'm only about 2.5 hours in to it. I can't really tell you why except it really just hasn't grabbed me. Don't get me wrong, it really is a well made game. The graphics are fantastic, the pacing and level design are far superior to it's predecessor, I like that Issac (the protagonist and PC)is a person who speaks and has a face, and I really jumped at the morgue thing (you know what I mean if you played the game). It's also technologically functional, which is a lot more than other games released recently can say. Problem is there are, and have been so many good shooters released in the last few years it really takes a great shooter to suck me in (here's hoping!).

With that said I have been succumbing to one-more-term-itis this weekend, but I did think of an ancient franchise that really would make a fantastic, actually mature title and would sell very well on it's own license. That game would be a new, mature "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

Anyone who is around my age (28) spent plenty of time with the game as a child. Developed by long defunct Broderbund Software, I spent hours playing on my Apple IIc as a child. The game was great; it was new every round which added crazy replay, had a compelling and mysterious antagonist, and actually taught me a lot about the world without me even realizing it. The game also challenged you to think; which is a lot more than can be said about most titles these days. Also if you are older that 23 you immediately heard the theme song to the crappy quiz show in your head. You know that just happend (do it Rockapella)!

So how on Earth would a kids game, over 20 years old, be revived as a "mature" title? Well journey with me here. You have a concept based around chasing an arch criminal around the world and dismantling her international crime syndicate. You have just about any exotic setting you could want. You work for Interpol. The main demo for games (males and females 24 to 38) already know and probably have a favorable view of the franchise. There are also so many ways you can go plot wise.

Rat in Interpol? Foiling heists? Tracking associates around the world of course. Crazy action sequences and interrogation sequences, puzzle solving, etc.

There are also a couple different ways you could go gameplay mechanic wise too. I see it mostly as Elder Scrolls meets Uncharted. Definitely a lot of exploration and NPC interaction, but you definitely need the scripted action sequences. You can't have THAT open a world in the traditional GTA/TES tradition, but you have a lot of smaller levels based in 20 or 30 cities around the world.

Would you buy that? I definitely would!

My unabashed love for The Elder Scrolls

Yesterday Bethesda unleashed the first gameplay trailer for TES5 and, like most of geek culture, I had such a nerdgasm that resulted in the necessity for a fresh change of pants. Let's all enjoy the trailer again, shall we?



In case you couldn't tell by my verbal toungbath above I love the Elder Scrolls series. Why you may ask? They have all been really buggy, have had throw away stories, and mediocre mechanics. What is so exciting about them? What really makes them as epic and successful as they have been? I will tell you exactly what; because the games would not work as movies or books.

TES is all about exploration and interaction. Like most people, I was 60 hours deep into gameplay in Oblivion before I even really paid any attention to the main quest. I had more fun with the dark brotherhood, getting enveloped by paintings, venturing into caves to find old akaviri artifacts, and just getting lost in a wonderful fantasy world. I have spent 100 hours or more in Morrowind and never finished the story. Didn't need too. Too much fun to just explore and be a part of the world. You can't get that experience with a movie or book. You are always an outsider looking in. You are always a slave to the artist's story and not free to really create your own.

Anyways, SQUEE!!!!

The Dragon Age 2 Grift and Demo

I played the Dragon Age 2 demo on Steam last night (no XBLA gold anymore so they shut me right down) and I have to say I was relieved. Not only did the combat flow a bit better, but it definitely felt more natural and faster paced. I don't think I really had enough time to say for certain, but it didn't seem streamlined like ME2.

My biggest beef so far is the graphics. Seriously! How can you give us this and then not even give us jiggle physics? The graphics aren't quite as bad as the first, but they still look like complete ass compared to other AAA titles; hell compared to BioWare's other AAA title. If I am paying $59.99 for a game, I want it to at least look better than a game that came out almost 7 years ago!

That brings me to the next major issue that is really facing the industry right now. There was a post from BioWare on Facebook last night that really sums it up. Between the pre-order bonus's, day 1 DLC, and everything else it really feels like we can't get a full game for our sixty bucks anymore. I know games are expensive to make, but seriously?! I understand giving codes out for day 1 DLC with new purchases to give incentive to people not to buy your game used, but I just want all the necessary, balanced tools to play the game when I buy it.

Time for our industry to grow up

The buzz right now is all about Bulletstorm and it has really got me thinking. You may or may not have noticed that I have written a lot of thoughts about it in the last week. The game is getting pretty strong reviews and rightly so in my opinion, but still; is it really something to be proud of? Isn't it maybe time to start going out in new directions? Stay with me on this and brace for the epic wall of text!

Videogames, as an artistic medium (yes this again and by me), are still in their infancy. Very smart and creative people are really pushing the boundaries of what a videogame is, how it can be used, how to tell a story, how to get people involved, and how to illicit a reaction. The big thing is though is that no one really has been able to really tackle a hard, sensitive issue or really push the bounds of relationships or human emotion. We have come really close and made strides, but in all, games are still seen as toys for children and ways to enact adolescent fantasies. PG-13 movies constantly feature sexual acts, but Mass Effect adds in a tasteful and mature sex scene and there is a ridiculous outcry. Videogames are and can be very violent, but they always are seen as more psychologically damaging than movies. Hell, film can get away with a lot more than games can, but why is that? Because film, during it's development as an artistic media, had the balls to expand their subject matter and continually push the envelope.

One of my favorite movies both recently and all time would be District 9. The movie works very well because it hits on a lot of fantastic levels. It has some amazing super weapons, some fantastic and suspenseful fights, and great use of limited special effects that really provide a visual spectacle. It also is an allegory for Apartheid South Africa and has a huge focus on racism, oppression, and justification of dehumanization (or desalinization?). The abuse in the film can be very difficult to watch and it touches on a lot of very sensitive subjects. Would this ever be allowed to work as a game?

The last time really edgy, and I mean a relative, sensitive, provocative topic tried to be handled by a videogame people folded to pressure and things feel apart. Extra Credits said it better than I could.

I really would love to see some brave developer really tackle a complex issue or emotion in a videogame. I'm talking racism, relationships, the human condition, difficult decisions, something other than shooting Nazi's, aliens, zombies, or all of the above. I want to see a brilliant story that doesn't have shoehorned adolescent sex appeal. I want to see a mature, sophisticated story written and told in a way where it works best as an interactive medium, and not a book, movie, or serial television show. I really want an experience that causes us to really think and be uncomfortable in a way that only mature and difficult subject matter can.

I have a feeling its an Indie developer who will have the chutzpah to do it because the major publishers just don't want to risk a little PR to advance our medium forward (and prolly make a ton of cash). We need the Pan's Labyrinth's and Up's to balance out the Kill Bill's and Die Hards.

Now I would never say there isn't room for games like Bulletstorm and Duke Nukem. I'm playing through Dead Space 2 right and thoroughly enjoying using future mining equipment to dismember creepy alien, zombie things. Granted it is a ton of fun, and isn't that the point after all? My only problem is I also want more! There is so much more possibility with videogames that hasn't been tapped into yet out of fear of controversy and fear of the unknown.

We need someone to bet on other than Duke. We need to listen and think with skill, not just kill with it. It's time to grow up a little.