Chit-Chat: Back to the Grind(stone)

[pkmin3033]

Seems just a tad counter-productive. Just a tad. Might just be me that thinks that, though. Pretty radical stance to take, even for me.

It's the hype and expectations that have me avoiding spoilers - or even just trailers/previews/anything not an announcement of release - though. Stuff in trailers usually looks better than it does in games. I watch a trailer, I start to get excited, I get impatient, I finally get the game, and it's horribly underwhelming. Whereas if I just go in blind I usually have a good time because I have zero expectations.

Doesn't stop me complaining about things, but it does stop me from feeling like I've wasted my money.

 

[EC]

Halo 4 spoils

Spoiler:

I remember having Cortana "dying" in Halo 4 spoiled for me. Then someone said it was false, and I believed them.

Until it happened, and I was depressed for about a week.

 

[pkmin3033]

I was told before I even got my hands on Tales of Symphonia that

Spoiler:

Kratos was Lloyd's father

and I was NOT happy about it. That turned out to be the least of the twists the plot had to offer, but still, I felt robbed of not having discovered that myself.

 

[Sir Codin]

I'm going to be "that guy" and state that if you throw a hissy-fit about a spoiler, that's just pathetic and you need to re-evaluate your life. If being spoiled about something is that catastrophic to you, how about you buy the game or watch the new episode of that show when it comes out instead of annoying everyone who already does have it/watched it and wish to talk about it with your childish complains of "oh please, don't spoil it for me."

You have plenty of opportunities to play or see something when it comes out spoiler-free:
- Hulu
- Cable television
- Satellite television
- DVR
- Saving up a measly $10 (if you can't do this without having a job, you need serious help) for the theater
- Gamefly
- KickassTorrents
- Having friends and asking them to comp you and you'll repay them later

When the new Star Wars came out, I had friends who complained about me spoiling Han Solo getting killed one full month after the movie was released. I immediately got new friends. Not mention that it's almost impossible for anyone to write a decent review and constructive criticism without spoiling plot points.

9 times out of 10 if you are spoiled about something, it's your own damn fault. And trust me, if spoilers actually mattered that much, no one would ever replay certain video games. No one would ever rewatch a movie they've seen before (in theaters or on home release). No one would ever watch superhero movies (oh, is that the superhero? Yeah, he's gonna win.)

 

[Frequency]

Ehh...

I don't personally mind spoilers, but I'm torn between the sentiment. I feel like it can be avoided if enough effort is put forth, but sometimes it's thrown directly in your face and it's like "uh....come on man".

 

[machomuu]

I'm going to be "that guy" and state that if you throw a hissy-fit about a spoiler, that's just pathetic and you need to re-evaluate your life. If being spoiled about something is that catastrophic to you, how about you buy the game or watch the new episode of that show when it comes out instead of annoying everyone who already does have it/watched it and wish to talk about it with your childish complains of "oh please, don't spoil it for me."

Yeah, I disagree. Talking about games, those cost money. There is a lot of reason to wait and still not want spoilers, this whole notion of having to hurry to get to something because you want to avoid spoilers is just silly.

I see no reason why someone can't want to have the same experience with a game that came out in 1998 that someone in 1998 did. Games aren't like fast food, they are something to take your time with and be explored at your leisure. Hell, if you're rushing to play a game because you're worried about spoilers, you're probably going to have a worse time than if you just happened to pick it up and play it. Plus hype can really kill a game for a lot of people, so some people just wait. I bought VLR almost a year after release- it wasn't spoiled for me and it's one of my favorite games because of how it blindsides you and sparks continuous controversy both throughout and after the game. Had it been spoiled for me? I dunno if I'd even have been motivated to complete it. And Undertale is built up from the moment you start on this idea of surprise, which was mostly spoiled by the very loud nature of its fan and it's kind of a shame that most people who play it won't have the hell of a time with it that I had (having bought it some time after it came out, mind you).

The way I see it, if you don't care about spoilers then you probably didn't care about the narrative all that much to begin with. Different strokes, I suppose, but anticipation and revelation can do a lot for a good story. I care about those things, the writers certainly do as well, so to me spoilers are scum. If you don't, apart from me having to wonder how much you actually enjoy the medium in question, that's great. Good for you.

And trust me, if spoilers actually mattered that much, no one would ever replay certain video games. No one would ever rewatch a movie they've seen before (in theaters or on home release).

If only enjoyment of games and shows/movies really was that singular.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

That's why we created the...uh...the, um...

...The "True Fan Initiative"! Yeah! It goes like this:

You might as well just import it...

On topic of importing. I would if I didn't have to pay twice the price of the localized game because of import charges and customs.
That way the only suitable games are year or more old ones I get from ebay for cheap price and by that time, I already have the localized version.

What you describe isn't localisation at all.

That's because I never actually understood this aspect of localizing. Why do you need to change the game to appeal to the region of localization (apart from laws, but we are not talking about censorship this time)? Japanese game is Japanese game, people who buy them know that so why the need to change something?
If we take the reverse situation, AAA localization into Japanese, I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure Japanese localization of CoD does not try to be set in Japan =D Afaik they aren't even adding honorifics, just Engrishing the names (obviously).

Why can Japan omit doing it and the West has to do it? =D

 

[Sir Codin]

The way I see it, if you don't care about spoilers then you probably didn't care about the narrative all that much to begin with.

Untrue. There are a lot of things I came into already knowing about and I still enjoyed it. I came into the new Star Wars already knowing Kylo Ren was Han's son and even though I didn't know Han would die in this film, I knew he was going to die at some point because Harrison Ford is just getting on in years. It also doesn't help that the actual death was so heavily telegraphed, it would've actually been more shocking to me if he had lived. Still loved the film.

Maybe I just simply look at media and narratives in a different way. Or maybe you are right and I'm just simply coloring my opinion on how I'm re-watching and replaying things countless times and still enjoying it, thus getting the impression that perhaps spoilers don't really matter. I don't know for a fact if I would've enjoyed Planescape: Torment as much if plot points were given to me before playing, but who knows. All I know is, when someone throws a hissy-fit for someone spoiling a plot-point of something that's been out for years, decades even, that's kind of when the whole "no spoilers" thing goes a little too far. Someone actually got mad at me for spoiling the plot of "At The Mountains of Madness" by HP Lovecraft, a novella that was written in 1931. At what point do you draw the line? Although, to be fair, my own grandparents don't even know who Lovecraft is.

I'm also more and more gaining an affinity to games that don't focus too much on story. Sure, sometimes video games can write some damn good stories, but sometimes I just wished that a video game would focus primarily on what it is: a game. Not a book. Not a movie. A game.

 

[pkmin3033]

On topic of importing. I would if I didn't have to pay twice the price of the localized game because of import charges and customs.
That way the only suitable games are year or more old ones I get from ebay for cheap price and by that time, I already have the localized version.


That's because I never actually understood this aspect of localizing. Why do you need to change the game to appeal to the region of localization (apart from laws, but we are not talking about censorship this time)? Japanese game is Japanese game, people who buy them know that so why the need to change something?
If we take the reverse situation, AAA localization into Japanese, I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure Japanese localization of CoD does not try to be set in Japan =D Afaik they aren't even adding honorifics, just Engrishing the names (obviously).

Why can Japan omit doing it and the West has to do it? =D

I can see your point regarding importing, although there are sites where you don't have to pay import charges etc. Stuff still costs more, but that's just the price you pay I guess.

As to why localisation is necessary, particularly in the West...two words: cultural dissonance.

 

[Dusk]

I've been able to to still enjoy games in spite of being spoiled. For example, I played the first Danganronpa knowing the identity of the mastermind due to Danganronpa being freaking everywhere on my Tumblr dashboard because of the anime adaptation and just the general popularity it had 2013-2014. Perhaps I was still able to enjoy the rest of the game due to not knowing who would die/who the killers would be. I wonder if part of the reason I can't be bothered to completely finish Undertale is again, because of spoilers being pretty much everywhere. I think it's just laziness and different priorities...

 

[JJ Styles]

Spoilers huh...

Usually I'm not the kind of person to avoid a game because of LELSPOILARZ myself since I'm a mindless maniac anyway who only cares about gameplay and if the game has a good level of blood & gore. I remember Metal Gear Rising. The game was quite the meme back in its day (2013) and I already knew who the final boss was, but I still bought the game because i just wanted to know how the story came to its rather memetic ending. Then i found that MGRR is indeed the memetic game that it is.

Seems like someone has had something on their sleeve to suddenly talk about LELSPOILARZ

and i interrupt your endless banter with some Mirrors Edge Catalyst gameplay courtesy of my favorite channel ever:

 

[Leviathan]

-Strolls away from spoilers for a minute to bring up something else-

I loooove hoverboarding in the new Ratchet game. Like, I'm not even mad when a NPC steals a win from me...twice!

Click here for video

Beautiful, huh, haha.

 

[EC]

Probably going to pick up that R&C game within a week or so.

 

[JJ Styles]

Hmm Ratchet and Clank.. Haven't been into the game since the good ole PS2 days, which i think i still have some of the games.

Seems that our little big friend Destructive Creations did went with their side project really well.



Yep. They went there. Then again, who doesn't want to play a game where you play as a NATO soldier against waves and waves of ISIS soldiers. I'm sure buying this so i can live out my immersive fantasies of killing some nasty ISIS soldiers by shooting their dicks off

btw, if you check watch the video in youtube, look for YandereDev's comment on their video. Its so gold. It makes me want to chop his pea-knees off as well with my murdergun.

 

[pkmin3033]

I might pick up Ratchet and Clank when I'm in town next, which will probably be Tuesday. I'm just about done with Dark Souls III, and I've got a long gap between now and my next planned console buy...Atelier Sophie, on the 10th of June. Yeaah.

 

[Frequency]

Atelier Sophie, on the 10th of June. Yeaah.

You've got quite the wait ahead of you.

Speaking of R&C, anyone else mad at how botched the performance of Deadlocked was? For the record, it was a REALLY fun game, but jesus was the framerate bad...

 

[pkmin3033]

You're telling me...every game I'm getting between now and then is on 3DS or Vita, then Sophie kicks off a slew of console games that goes right up to the end of August...mrgrgr. Too much coming out this year ._.

I've never played a Ratchet and Clank title before though, and I've been meaning to try one of these new-age (well, not so new now, but newer than the PS1/N64 platformers I grew up with) anthropomorphic platformer/adventure games for aaaaages. Since I got a PS3 in fact. Now seems like as good a time as any.

 

[JJ Styles]

Sorry Activision. But when your own lines' Pro gaming playerbase is just as toxic as the plebs, there's no more saving you. Not even I would want to risk it.

*****************************

So somebody writes about Ratchet and Clank and about video game nostalgia and how nostalgia doesn't really work especially in this day and age while making references to dark souls 3. Wut? This author is going to have his penis ripped off by my Three Talon Meter Murdershaft

Speaking of my Hatred for some (if not many "VG Journalists") I'm about to do the unthinkable:

Spoiler:

Look at that sweet delicious discount. This is the best that i can do to all these "wisecrank writers" is to simply imagine myself shooting their dicks off with my hate, wrath, anger, and extremely 90's dude infused RAGE.. actually I don't know what the f I'm talking about ;) the reason why I'm getting Hatred is to try out the modding tools that was released last January. Time for me to make that Hatred Gore Mod that the people want so badly.

 

[pkmin3033]

Remakes aren't about redefining the genre, they're about redefining a single game. Whilst the changes might be minimal, systems do get refined and improved upon as the years go by. If you've played any remake (or even some HD remasters) that have had even the smallest amount of effort put into them you can see that the experience is, whilst not completely different, not as painful or awkward as it would be if you got out your old console and played the original. It's about enhancing a title to bring it up to the current standards, to make it a more enjoyable experience, to correct the flaws found in the original title in the gameplay; whatever.

A lot of games don't age well at all, or their gameplay systems get improved upon a lot in a relatively short space of time, making them look extremely dated as a result. Remaking those titles to remove those flaws isn't a bad thing, and it can be extremely beneficial as well, as it allows those who didn't play the titles the first go around to experence them in a more complete, up-to-date fashion. Those who want to play it again can do so without digging up their old consoles, as well. It depends entirely on the age of the title and what gets changed, in my opinion. Something like Ratchet and Clank, released on the PS2 in 2002 - fourteen years ago - more than warrants an updated remake. I've not played either title yet, but I'm willing to bet that the gameplay of the PS4 version is significantly better than the PS2 version. Whether or not the story is altered in any way is irrelevant - if it's a remake, you don't expect huge changes to the story.

This generation is a good example of things done wrong though. The number of "HD collections" we've had of games that haven't really needed them - The Last Of Us, Dishonored God of War III, Tomb Raider, and soon the Batman Arkham and BioShock games - that have in no meaningful way enhanced the experience is pretty awful. These are the kinds of things that should be frowned upon, rather than remakes/HD remasters of games several years old that are now pretty dated and have room for improvement.

The industry has always taken baby steps when it comes to improving gameplay, and that is only partially due to the attitude towards nostalgia. Yes, it's a problem that people only really want more of the same until they get bored of it, and new ideas are generally frowned upon. But it's only really a AAA and Nintendo problem. You can totally ignore it if you so choose and there is plenty out there that will cater to you.

 

[Mark Kamill]

Metroid Zero Mission remains the golden standard of remakes for me. Great new comic book style backgrounds and artstyle, a large new area and epilogue chapter to experience, and the remastered OST puts it into n the top of my list of Metroid OSTs. Squeenix also has done a commendable job on the dragon quest remakes, and 4-6 along with 9 is why I am so invested with the series. I absolutely cannot wait for 7 and especially 8. I stopped the PS2 version as soon as I heard about it coming to the west. After 4 years of trying to get past Doulmagus, I just said screwnit and eventually start over when it comes along. Those load times are torturous, and I feel that the speed up feature will make the grind bearable.

Anyone else excited for E3? NX and Nintendo's next era, alongside the debut of iterative consoles and VR expansion, it's going to be a wild ride. I'm not too invested in anything past PS4 RPGs and Nintendo, but I love it when major power shifts happen.