There's something pointedly "now" about the idea that FilmCritHulk - the eccentric movie-blogger who pens lengthy, deeply-academic yet immensely readable articles on film and film criticism in the "voice" of The Incredible Hulk - got probably his biggest "boost" in terms of internet publicity for a piece not on films but on video games.
In the wake of said piece, Hulk has scored a (well-deserved) high-profile gig on Devin Faraci's (must-bookmark) site BadassDigest. Now, Hulk once again turns his eyes toward gaming with an AMAZING piece breaking down the (de)evolution of the "Call of Duty" games and, in doing so, making a dozen or so absolutely vital points about problems (but also high-points) of the modern games industry as a whole. It's a MUST READ - and no, NOT (only) because he gives your's truly an extremely gracious shoutout.
15 comments:
I care. Stop trolling.
I doubt the little xenophobe is going to stop that anytime soon, but thankfully it seems everyone has gotten sick of him.
Anyway, very interesting analysis. However, I very much disagree that something "becomes" art. It just is art, so there is no "eventual" for gaming. Either they've been art this entire time or they'll never be art.
His writing is definitely unique, but VERY difficult to maintain I've noticed as far as exposition is concerned. Still, a very creative approach.
@Aiddon
Right I hate foreigners you know this how?
Because I call someone a weeaboo and make fun of his nerdy habits?
Yeah that makes me a xenophobe, fits the description perfectly totally, give this man the million dollar prize or a dictionary.
But hey this is the moviebob fanbase, the fan base of a person who calls himself moviebob, yet can't make good movies...
So, is shadowhikari an alias of Jannie, then?
Just don't pay attention to the troll.
I tried my best to let the narrator in my brain read the entire article in a hulk voice. This is not easy, seeing as the points he is expressing often appear to come from a level of reasoning not becoming to the Incredible Hulk. Nevertheless, I succeded in all but the following sentences"
"LET'S ASSUME THAT GAMES CAN TRANSCEND THIS BARRIER"
"WHILE VIDEO GAME NARRATIVES ARE REALLY IMPROVING, IT SEEMS LIKE MOST OF THE TIME THEY ARE JUST IMITATING THE MOST BASIC MOVIE TROPES WITHOUT REAL GENUINE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW AND WHY THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO WORK."
"THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THIS IS TOTALLY, TOTALLY POSSIBLE."
"BUT THE VACUOUSNESS TAKES A FAR DIFFERENT, FAR WORSE FORM AS WELL. WHILE THE LAST GAME WAS CLOYING AND WAS MEANT TO AT LEAST PLAY AT YOUR BASIC DEFENSIVE OR JINGOISTIC FEARS, THIS NEW ENTRY FEELS LIKE MERE DISASTER PORN."
"EVEN IF THE LAST GAME WAS MISDIRECTED, AT LEAST IT HAD GRAVITAS OR SOMETHING"
"IT'S A DESPERATE ATTEMPT FOR SENTIMENTALISM AND GRAVITY IN A GAME THAT SO DESPERATELY TRIES TO DISTANCE ITSELF FROM THOSE VERY CONCEPTS."
"BUT PERHAPS THE FUNNIEST ELEMENT OF ALL THIS FAUX-SERIOUSNESS IS THE WAY THE GAME SERIES IS MEANT TO BE PLAYED AS SOME SORT OF CHARACTER-BASED PERSONAL VENDETTA, AS IF THEY HAVE BEEN PLAYING THESE GUYS UP WITH SOME SYMPATHY-FOR-MR.VENGEANCE-ESQUE CHARACTERIZATION."
"IT UNDERSTANDS THE CONCEPTS OF MOTIVE AND PRETENSE AND ALL THOSE THINGS ABOUT BALANCING STRATEGY / IMMERSION / REALITY THAT WE NEED TO "UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL OF GAMING.""
"… YIKES."
Seriously: TRY to read these in a hulk voice. It doesn't work! It's impossible to make The Hulk say 'Yikes' in anything but a super sarcastic voice.
That aside, I really liked this article. It raised some great points about games, game criticism, and the Modern Warfare series in general. While I don't agree 100% with his points, the article offered a refreshingly new perspective on the games-as-art debate. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Bob. As usual, Hulk's analysis is quite apt. I felt the same way about the MW series. I'm not generally an FPS guy, but I liked the first MW game. He's right: it had a realism and gravity that worked. I really felt like I was playing for high stakes, trying to stop World War III.
Then MW2 and its completely ludicrous plot came out, and basically undid the characters' accomplishments from the first game. Now MW3 sounds like it doesn't even take place on any Earth I know. This isn't good storytelling or art; this is a dressed up version of some 10-year-olds playing war with plastic toys. Which, like Hulk said in the footnotes, is fine if you know that's what you're doing, like James Bond or GI Joe. But MW plays it straight and serious.
an amusing Cracked article on how modern war games get the "game" part wrong:
http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-video-games-that-just-didnt-get-it-and-6-that-did_p2/
You know I never knew that this Hulk dude actually wrote all his posts in that absurd WALL OF ALLCAPS.
I'm not even kidding when I say I actually think I've gone crosseyed.
Jeez.
Anyway, I have yet to finish it completely because it makes my eyes hurt, and I've only gotten to the part about MW1 itself (I'm tempted not to go on because I've yet to play MW3 and I don't want spoilers...) so I'll not comment on that unless and until I do.
I will ask this question, and please, if you could, refraim from answering it with some form of incredulity or insults and just explain this one thing to me:
Why should we want games to be art?
Other than making SOME people feel better about playing with toys, because games are toys, then why would you care? What is to be gained? Are we just making it art because we can? If so then my argument, "fuck art", is just as valid because we can do that too. If there is some utilitarian purpose to it, that is to say it will make the gameplay better or something, then by all means explain it to me. Otherwise what this is, basically, is...
A--masturabtory fantasies about being "respectible" instead of logical.
B--silly, childish and useless. It does nothing, acheives nothing and ends with games becoming nothing.
C--completely irrelevant to the evolution of games as a medium.
Any one of those. Take your pick.
Also, Aidon, get over yourself. Why must you be so defensive and infantile. I'm not a bigot, and I DARE you to present evidence that I am, since you're making those claims. In fact I DARE you to present evidence of Shadow Hikari being a xenophone, sense I doubt you even know what that means.
If you were really so sure of your position you wouldn't be so affraid of someone challenging it. But that's yor problem, you have no possition other than sniping at people from afar. I don't need or have an "alias"--if I feel like saying something to you I'll say it outright. Unlike you, I don't need fifty people in an echo chamber to back me up and make my dick feel bigger (or tits, I guess, lacking a penis I'm not sure of the parlance in this case...) I don't even agree with some of what Shadow Hikari says, but that's not relevant because you're making claims about me and now I'd like if you'd kidly back them up little mister.
So yeah, I dare you to prove I said anything actually bigoted (look up the word first) ever because I'd love to prove you wrong. No really, put up or shut up, you made a claim about me now I want you to prove it or appologize for lying about me.
And before you loose another flurry of defensive insults my way, no saying the Japanese have issues with women's rights is NOT bigoted. If I said I hated the Japanese, that would be bigoted, but saying a country where women have to take separate trains because they're afraid of being sexually assaulted MAY NOT have the best track record with sexual equality is not bigoted--it's called facts, something you are clearly not encombered with an overabundance of.
Also, while we're at it can we stop with this calling everyone ever a "TROLL!!!" nonsense.
Really, the word has almost no meaning anymore, at this point we should have a rule against it like Godwin's Law.
Call someone a troll, you're argument is immediately invalid. Because at this point troll has gone from meaning "a specific kind of person who purposefully bullies people on the internet" to "people we don't like on the internet whether they're bullies or not" to "people we disagree with but can't really argue down" to "just anything...no, fo reals, pick anything" and it's just getting silly.
Film Critic Hulk is really great, I'm glad you reffered me to him Bob. My one problem is that he makes me feel woefully uneducated, but I guess we can all use a little humbling every once in a while.
I'd take your insults more seriously if I knew who you are, spambot, or at least explained what "clearly stupid" arguments you're referring to.
Sniping at people from a distance, how droll. I wasn't even referring to anyone calling ME a troll, so apparently you can't even properly insult people.
Lol, actually come to think of it no one, including Aiddon, has ever called me a troll so far, so not only are you flinging piss poor insults you're doing it wrong. Ouch.
Go back to the kid's table and send in your big brothers. At least when they snipe at me from long range they have the advantage of passable aim.
Or at least call in the "real" Anon.
Oh god Jannie, shut the fuck up. Please shut the fuck up.
Shadowhikari and Aiddon and Jannie and every other self-important nobody etching your anger or malice or fucking boredom into comments boxes across the Internet. Shut up. Just having a screenname doesn't make you any less superficially anonymous in my eyes because all you are are nagging angry hyper-defensive little text-boxes filled with tired arguments and reactionary bullshit.
Back in the 90's I thought the Internet would be cooler than this. I was just a dumb little kid who'd probably seen his taped VHS copy of Tron way too many times but I thought this exposure to the clean crisp digital world would do humanity some good. Instead it's turned out like Tron Legacy. Vaguely disappointing and filled with creepy evil CG clones of Jeff Bridges. Only they keep calling everything "fake" "gay" and "pretentious".
Lol, ok, what?
So YOU insult ME and now it's MY fault for saying something back? Because I'm the asshole for getting angry at you for insulting me, that's a problem? Because, I insulted you first and then...oh wait no, you went out of your way to specifically target me and now you're all butthurt for some reason and yet calling ME "hyper-defensive" whatever the fuck that means. Oh and accusing me of using gay slurs too, apparently, even though neither I nor Shadow Hikari and not Aiddon did anything of the sort.
Also...Tron reference. Wuh? Huh?
Also, first taking THEIR side and then insulting me, but now you're not on their side or whatever...what? Then why did you get on my tits for saying something AT ALL? If you don't give a fuck then why respond? Respond, mind you, to a post not directed at you? In other words, a conversation you fucking instigated genius! Christ, you're like a six year old having an argument with their multiple personalities.
Seriously, are you or are you not schizophrenic? Because now I'm kind of scared I've wondered into an argument with some on-the-edge serial killer ready to snap like Joyride only on the internet and lamer.
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