IT Brogging - Comments

JKC comments on Where Do You See Gaming Going? Part 3: Game Writing

JKC — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:48:11 +0000

I think I expect the writing in games to become much more sophisticated in coming years. They've come a long way, and Western companies are really stepping up their game on all levels. With any game story, it's not the broad strokes (you're in space, bad stuff happened, shoot the bad stuff), but the small details that make or break the experience. The dialog, character dynamics, throw away moments that flesh out character personalities; these things make the difference between a classic and a game that's just "a'ight". Braids gameplay by itself was "Prince of Persia: Arts and Crafts Edition" with a little Mario in there. That's fine and good. But people were crapping their pants over it because of the craftsmanship of the writing, which ultimately was just window dressing, but made all the difference in the world for the overall experience.

Honestly, Western developers are really getting their shit together. Writers are actually getting jobs in the game industry, so that's something.

What bothers me is my good friends in Japan. They are seriously behind the times. Even the charm, fun character design, and grace that used to be the hallmarks of Japanese games are falling far behind western efforts in the same areas. They seems to constantly be playing catch up, and the blatant, poorly executed rip-offs of western games that they are cranking out is shameful.

They seem to be stuck in the storytelling styles of 10-15 years ago. Even worse, they try to blend that backwards philosophy with western gameplay ideas and design elements. They just DO NOT MIX. When was the last time a truly effective JRPG came out on a non-handheld console? I don't even remember.

It seems like Square-Enix is run by character designers whose designs are outdated by about 10 years, and who have no concept of compelling storytelling. So what used to be the main strength of Japanese gaming is now their greatest liability.

I know there are some decent Japanese writers out there. Why the game companies over there refuse to hire them is beyond me.

tifaucz comments on For The Four People Who Care: No New Colony Wars Game

tifaucz — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:13:59 +0000

Damn. Saddest news of the year already. Sadest news ever. Dont know what to say... Just hope I never come by a Sony executive.

Isaiah T. Taylor comments on Final Fantasy XIII: Now With Rediculous Looking Black Man

Isaiah T. Taylor — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:47:47 +0000

i'm guessing the same day white people started listening to rap music.

Mo comments on Final Fantasy XIII: Now With Rediculous Looking Black Man

Mo — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:50:15 +0000

When did Black people start playing RPGs?

Lil Lady comments on A Letter To Sony: "You're Doing Great, Now Stop With The Stupidity"

Lil Lady — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:04:12 +0000

That's one hot bar graph

john comments on Stuff I've Been Reading...

john — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:45:29 +0000

if i had the amount of money conan blew on that sketch, i would buy vera farmiga. greatest living thing ever invented.

fifi comments on Avatar: So Big, So Beautiful, So ... Cliche

fifi — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:52:16 +0000

the film was truly awful, as a technical demo it was nice for the first 15 minutes, but the rest was so cliché i had to keep myself from walking away from my theatre seat 2-3 times.
pocahontas,Dune,Dances with wolves,matrix,existenz, even jaws 3d(1984) are just a handful of films that did what avatar is making a fortune out of.
the characters are amazingly one dimensional and don't evolve one bit even though the film lasts almost 3 hours. the 1 hour training/manhood/romance sequence was particularly nauseating(the only thing missing was an 80's pop/rock song for the improvement montage), as well as the "this is our land, and we will fight for it" speeches that can probably inspire people that have low 2 digit IQ's...
the plot holes were so many i wont even try to count them. the "in your face- we paid $ for this CGI and we have to get our moneys worth" was also very tiring.

we cannot afford to be elastic with the reviews of films like this, it cost half a billion to produce and market, its just unacceptable! the 3d gimmick isn't something new, and doesn't really add much to the awful script. . films like this is why Hollywood spends billions of dollars in shitty scripts and poor acting and it has to stop

Truthsayer comments on Avatar: So Big, So Beautiful, So ... Cliche

Truthsayer — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:29:20 +0000

Dances with wolves was a great film! I would surely go see Pocahontas again! I might even take my nieces to see The Last Samurai! Whoever says that Matrix is a horrible movie has no taste!!!

But all seriousness... Avatar was a bloody cliche fest and a half. Rolling eyes hardcore on those cheap one liners. The movie...s-s-s-s-suuuuuuuuuuuuucks story wise. CGI is amazing though.

Isaiah T. Taylor comments on Avatar: So Big, So Beautiful, So ... Cliche

Isaiah T. Taylor — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:55:50 +0000

If you read the review, I do think its a 'good movie'. Not a great movie.

lola comments on Avatar: So Big, So Beautiful, So ... Cliche

lola — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:07:53 +0000

you have no taste at all