@the_spyder well, Hideo Kojima is the maker of the Metal Gear series, and the fanbase practically follows him like god. He even got listed in the MGS4 credits in the voice actors section for "voice of god". so yeah, people love him for the great games he makes, but maybe a bit too much
Satoru Iwata is the recently deceased president of Nintendo. I've never really played Nintendo, but he seemed like an amazing man. "On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." Seriously... that is an inspiring quote coming from someone in his position when every other company simply goes for profit. He's also been credited with such stuff as cutting his salary to keep a single employee from being fired, and holding off the investors as they pushed for Nintendo to go mobile. The gaming world needs more of such people, not less. These are 2 people that makes games "to be fun. Fun for everyone."
He passed away just three days ago, and it was a very sad day.
Confession: I logged probably 20 hours in planscape: torments, then got pillars of eternity. And to be honest, it was a long slog. I had a really hard time getting over the graphics. The computer generated portraits and art I find insufferable. I would really like beamdog to update the graphics and art.
Confession: I played (am currently playing) heart of winter on story mode because I hate dungeon crawling but I feel like I should play it.
Confession: I didn't know who Satoru Iwata, and while he sounds like an amazing guy, I can't stand jRPGs. Anime, manga, and especially the Mario deal I find super annoying. I had a wii as a kid and I only liked the games with the miis. I played the crap out of wii sports resort. I know, I'm a terrible person.
Confession: I makes Iwd parties With my real life freinds. I like giving them stats and classes and all that, and I think it makes the combat log completely hilarious.
Confession: I only rename characters after RL friends in games where the death of said characters is common, such as the original X-com, that way I can tell them when they died.
I am honestly surprised this topic has not degraded into nerd rage arguments about minor or important gaming opinions. I know I've been tempted too a few times. I'm both impressed and somewhat disappointed in the lack of popcorn eating drama shows.
Just had to correct a statement now. I've continued playing Sonic Adventure 2 for a while now and I did grow to like it more as I got used to it. It takes a bit to learn, but now I think the only level I truly hate is the one with all the gravity switches (forget the name). Heck, I even like final rush after initially complaining about it. I think I put going fast way too front and center and I simply had to put more into the platforming and so now even with slower times I tend to get a lot more A ranks When it comes to the playstyles I'll just say that Tails/Eggman are pretty okay but Knuckles/Rouge are pretty awful mostly for the fact of them making only one item get tracked at a time, something I think most people who played SA1 can agree on.
I'd never played Half-Life before a few days ago. I've now played it for about 3 hours.
I can totally appreciate how it was well made for its time and (apart from the graphics) largely holds up well today. But I can't say I find the story very compelling so far (and that intro train ride was probably one of the most ill-conceived starts to a video game I've ever seen).
Confession: I'm sick of Star Wars, I'm sick of star wars games that never live up to KoTOR2, I'm sick of star wars reboots and I'm especially sick of people telling me star wars is the greatest sci fi universe ever created.
-I loved star wars as a kid, great movies for a kid, the kind of movies you watch repeatedly. Sci Fi done to epic fantasy tropes, now that was smart. I have rewatched them recently and I have to say, the experience tore the rose coloured glasses from my eyes. The 3 originals are ok, just ok, I don't understand why they still get so much hype. There are better Sci Fi movies around today, personally I think Pacific Rim or District 9 are way better movies than star wars.
-No star wars games seem to are all that good besides the KoTOR series and what did they do with the KoTOR series? They turned it into a freaking MMORPGrrr, sigh. I just don't wanna. Now they are releasing a game that looks like some standard COD/CS bollocks and I can not be less interested.
-The star wars universe annoys me, because they never bother to explain much. It's all about the force and the random humans who seem to have colonized like half the galaxy. I really know pretty much jack about, wookies, twi'leks, hunnes or any of the other million alien races out there. All I do know is probably not canon anymore, as since Disney now owns the franchise only the movies and some games and very few books are canon. There are good ways to build a fantasy/sci fi universe, take mass effect for example, that universe has so much story and history on the council and noncouncil races it's insane. I know more about the Volus than I know about Twi'leks. Yes it's easier to build up a sci fi universe in three 80+ hr games than it is to build up a universe in six movies, but star wars has had over 20 yrs to create a universe and most of what was created was just bad fanfiction "lightsaber whips are a thing that exist in one of the books."
-I can't be hyped for the new movies because JJ Abrams is one of the mediocre directors in the business today, he is not bad, but definitely not good either. Star Wars needs somebody with flare, it needs Joss Whedons romanticism, it needs Guillermo del Toro's dark and engaging take on things, hell it could even use Neill Blomkamp's not really hidden message thing he likes to do, but we get JJ Abrams the king of lens flare and that's not the flare we need.
@SmilingSword Star Wars was not an attempt to create a grand fantasy universe, but to create an epic in line with the old "Science Fantasy" serials, which is a much lower bar to hit. I mean George Lucas talked about this at the time, and was quite open that Star Wars was intended to be like such a serial updated for the modern day (Modern day being the late 70's, of course). Serials were thin as wallpaper paste on the wall. It wasn't so much about the background, but the story that was important.
I wouldn't even call it "Sci Fi" so much as Science Fantasy, since Sci Fi has some real science in there. This is all fantasy woo with science trappings and pseudo-science explanations.
I mean, it's not bad if you like it, but I'd hardly call it deep or perfect. It's exciting and thrilling- exactly what it was made to be.
Star Wars did have some influence in my more serious philosophical thinking, because it was my first introduction (during my teen years) to ideas from Eastern religion about goodside-darkside duality within a single whole. It was also my first cinematic experience of Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey". (My first experience of The Hero's Journey was when I read Homer's Odyssey for a book report as a ninth-grader.)
Lucas of course gets no credit for any of those ideas. He merely decided to include references to the ideas in his space opera, by way of his interest in Joseph Campbell.
I think @LadyRhian is absolutely right that the intention of the entire franchise is to be pure entertainment, not to be deep or to send any messages about anything. As such, I think it succeeds spectacularly.
Lucas has said that what he was going for in the first movie, besides the old serials that @LadyRhian mentions, was the feel of an old western, set in space. I think he did well in that, and I think Disney and Abrams have a good chance to pull off the same thing, especially with nostalgia on their side.
Star Wars only seems irritating, badly written, and cheesy when one is expecting too much from it, or expecting the wrong things from it.
Star Wars at its best and most enjoyable never takes itself very seriously, and I enjoy it the most when I'm in the frame of mind of not taking it very seriously. I just sit back, and let it entertain me. It usually does a superlative job doing that.
@SmilingSword If you think Star Wars is science fiction.... Then you've set yourself up for disappointment. It's pushing science fantasy. Science fiction is generally pretty dull, and seldom mainstream. The whole point of science fiction is that it is based in science. Reality. Written by people who know what the rules of reality are, and follow them. Science fiction is consistant, logical, and explains everything with actual, scientific explainations, not just another layer of fantasy (e.i. Lightsabers exist because the use the force to make them) 2001 was science fiction. Firefly was science fiction(or very close to it). Planet of the apes was science fiction. Notice these films don't sell nearly as many plastic toys to 5 year olds. Star wars is not science fiction. Star war is... Essentially an elaborate cartoon. An awesome, exciting, live action cartoon that suck kids in like NO OTHER MOVIE. Seriously. What other movie series is beloved so long by so many? Children are not known for their attention span. In 6 month, "Minions" will be a distant memory, but Star Wars marches on. I guess you could call it science fantasy, but once you start calling it fantasy you've got the same problem, you want story, large, elaborate universes, etc. fantasy stuff.
So for all intents and purposes Star Wars is the greatest cartoon ever made.
My favorite sort of Science Fiction is where a fictional element is introduced and an entire science is built around it. The Universal Century timeline for the Gundam Franchise does this well with Minovsky Particles. http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Gundam_Wiki:Technology
Anywayyyy more confessions -Despite my adoration for Necromancers I've never beaten Diablo II -I've never played a Human Wizard Necromancer in Baldur's Gate because I can't stand playing Humans in fantasy games -I can't get passed the intro of Divinity: Original Sin because I can't decide how to build my characters -I love and hate the Heroes of Might and Magic series. I love the factions and gameplay but often find it too difficult T_T
My favorite sort of Science Fiction is where a fictional element is introduced and an entire science is built around it. The Universal Century timeline for the Gundam Franchise does this well with Minovsky Particles. http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Gundam_Wiki:Technology
Anywayyyy more confessions -Despite my adoration for Necromancers I've never beaten Diablo II -I've never played a Human Wizard Necromancer in Baldur's Gate because I can't stand playing Humans in fantasy games -I can't get passed the intro of Divinity: Original Sin because I can't decide how to build my characters -I love and hate the Heroes of Might and Magic series. I love the factions and gameplay but often find it too difficult T_T
I read your first statement as NeCOmancer and I was just "...Wait, I'm adored?" Then I noticed Diablo 2 and was all "Ohhh. I'm an idiot."
Also I can agree with those last two points. Divinity is also giving me a few other troubles such as hero personalities I want, the rock paper scissors thing, the "Pick the right dialogue option for bonuses to your argument" part of the Rock Paper Scissors thing (I strongly dislike being told who my character should be) and becoming a bush when I stealth.
And yeah, Heroes of Might and Magic can be surprisingly difficult. I'm sure there is a method for not sucking somewhere.
Comments
Confession: I played (am currently playing) heart of winter on story mode because I hate dungeon crawling but I feel like I should play it.
Confession: I didn't know who Satoru Iwata, and while he sounds like an amazing guy, I can't stand jRPGs. Anime, manga, and especially the Mario deal I find super annoying. I had a wii as a kid and I only liked the games with the miis. I played the crap out of wii sports resort. I know, I'm a terrible person.
Confession: I makes Iwd parties With my real life freinds. I like giving them stats and classes and all that, and I think it makes the combat log completely hilarious.
Confession:I might be terrible.
My first system:
(My first real console was a rip-off.)
I can totally appreciate how it was well made for its time and (apart from the graphics) largely holds up well today. But I can't say I find the story very compelling so far (and that intro train ride was probably one of the most ill-conceived starts to a video game I've ever seen).
I'm sick of star wars games that never live up to KoTOR2, I'm sick of star wars reboots and I'm especially sick of people telling me star wars is the greatest sci fi universe ever created.
-I loved star wars as a kid, great movies for a kid, the kind of movies you watch repeatedly. Sci Fi done to epic fantasy tropes, now that was smart. I have rewatched them recently and I have to say, the experience tore the rose coloured glasses from my eyes. The 3 originals are ok, just ok, I don't understand why they still get so much hype. There are better Sci Fi movies around today, personally I think Pacific Rim or District 9 are way better movies than star wars.
-No star wars games seem to are all that good besides the KoTOR series and what did they do with the KoTOR series? They turned it into a freaking MMORPGrrr, sigh. I just don't wanna. Now they are releasing a game that looks like some standard COD/CS bollocks and I can not be less interested.
-The star wars universe annoys me, because they never bother to explain much. It's all about the force and the random humans who seem to have colonized like half the galaxy. I really know pretty much jack about, wookies, twi'leks, hunnes or any of the other million alien races out there. All I do know is probably not canon anymore, as since Disney now owns the franchise only the movies and some games and very few books are canon. There are good ways to build a fantasy/sci fi universe, take mass effect for example, that universe has so much story and history on the council and noncouncil races it's insane. I know more about the Volus than I know about Twi'leks. Yes it's easier to build up a sci fi universe in three 80+ hr games than it is to build up a universe in six movies, but star wars has had over 20 yrs to create a universe and most of what was created was just bad fanfiction "lightsaber whips are a thing that exist in one of the books."
-I can't be hyped for the new movies because JJ Abrams is one of the mediocre directors in the business today, he is not bad, but definitely not good either. Star Wars needs somebody with flare, it needs Joss Whedons romanticism, it needs Guillermo del Toro's dark and engaging take on things, hell it could even use Neill Blomkamp's not really hidden message thing he likes to do, but we get JJ Abrams the king of lens flare and that's not the flare we need.
I wouldn't even call it "Sci Fi" so much as Science Fantasy, since Sci Fi has some real science in there. This is all fantasy woo with science trappings and pseudo-science explanations.
I mean, it's not bad if you like it, but I'd hardly call it deep or perfect. It's exciting and thrilling- exactly what it was made to be.
Lucas of course gets no credit for any of those ideas. He merely decided to include references to the ideas in his space opera, by way of his interest in Joseph Campbell.
I think @LadyRhian is absolutely right that the intention of the entire franchise is to be pure entertainment, not to be deep or to send any messages about anything. As such, I think it succeeds spectacularly.
Lucas has said that what he was going for in the first movie, besides the old serials that @LadyRhian mentions, was the feel of an old western, set in space. I think he did well in that, and I think Disney and Abrams have a good chance to pull off the same thing, especially with nostalgia on their side.
Star Wars only seems irritating, badly written, and cheesy when one is expecting too much from it, or expecting the wrong things from it.
Star Wars at its best and most enjoyable never takes itself very seriously, and I enjoy it the most when I'm in the frame of mind of not taking it very seriously. I just sit back, and let it entertain me. It usually does a superlative job doing that.
If you think Star Wars is science fiction.... Then you've set yourself up for disappointment. It's pushing science fantasy.
Science fiction is generally pretty dull, and seldom mainstream. The whole point of science fiction is that it is based in science. Reality. Written by people who know what the rules of reality are, and follow them. Science fiction is consistant, logical, and explains everything with actual, scientific explainations, not just another layer of fantasy (e.i. Lightsabers exist because the use the force to make them) 2001 was science fiction. Firefly was science fiction(or very close to it). Planet of the apes was science fiction. Notice these films don't sell nearly as many plastic toys to 5 year olds.
Star wars is not science fiction. Star war is... Essentially an elaborate cartoon. An awesome, exciting, live action cartoon that suck kids in like NO OTHER MOVIE. Seriously. What other movie series is beloved so long by so many? Children are not known for their attention span. In 6 month, "Minions" will be a distant memory, but Star Wars marches on.
I guess you could call it science fantasy, but once you start calling it fantasy you've got the same problem, you want story, large, elaborate universes, etc. fantasy stuff.
So for all intents and purposes Star Wars is the greatest cartoon ever made.
Yeeeaaahhhhh.... That's probably not healthy.
http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Gundam_Wiki:Technology
Anywayyyy more confessions
-Despite my adoration for Necromancers I've never beaten Diablo II
-I've never played a Human Wizard Necromancer in Baldur's Gate because I can't stand playing Humans in fantasy games
-I can't get passed the intro of Divinity: Original Sin because I can't decide how to build my characters
-I love and hate the Heroes of Might and Magic series. I love the factions and gameplay but often find it too difficult T_T
Also I can agree with those last two points. Divinity is also giving me a few other troubles such as hero personalities I want, the rock paper scissors thing, the "Pick the right dialogue option for bonuses to your argument" part of the Rock Paper Scissors thing (I strongly dislike being told who my character should be) and becoming a bush when I stealth.
And yeah, Heroes of Might and Magic can be surprisingly difficult. I'm sure there is a method for not sucking somewhere.