Oh dammit, The episode on the Other M doesn't look like what I thought it was going to be, meaning I'm going to have to watch it, and I have a feeling that I'll have to start working on an apology letter for my previous criticisms.
See, I only saw Yahtzee's opinion oh The Other M, without looking further into it, and since this is Yahtzee, I took his word completely. As a writer, I find it extremely comforting to know that, if, say, one of my girl characters isn't a total badass and say, struggles, like every other sane human being, to pull the trigger on someone who has surrendered, I won't get accused of being a total misogynist.
So Bob, sorry about the comments in earlier and later episodes accusing you of being close minded and/or biased. Counterarguments are okay. Those are not.
I do a lot of commuting and as such do most of my interneting on my cellphone... a mobile, not a smart phone. This isn't really a problem most of the time because Facebook, Kotaku, Wikipedia, YouTube, and even Blogger all have perfectly fine mobile websites. ScrewAttack (and The Escapist as well, for that matter), however, does not have a mobile website, so I can't access it from my phone.
What does this have to do with you? Well, I often enjoy watching old Game OverThinker episodes on YouTube when I've got more than a little time to kill. But, all of your newer episodes are only on ScrewAttack so they're effectively unavailable to me when I'm out.
So, what're the odds more of the ScrewAttacke episodes will end up on YouTube?
Twinmill, you criticised the Other M episode without watching it? I didn't like that episode either (completely missed the point of the criticisms people were making IMO), but... c'mon, you have to at least watch it.
Oh wow, you actually uploaded something to your YouTube account. Do you by any chance still read the comments on your videos?
BTW, to Twinmill, actually play Metroid: Other M yourself, and see what kind of game it is. Personally, I disagree with Bob in regards of Samus's characterization in that game. Yeah, she's a third-dimensional character, but she's not a particularly GOOD one. Not to mention, the fact that she's a woman is the main focus of the game, whereas the previous games, it was an unimportant trait of her's, and it had no effect on the overall story at all. There's also the fact that everything that actually happens in the game are almost out of Samus's control, or when she's not present, so it's almost like it could of all happened without her... Almost. The part that pissed me off the most is when she freaked out when seeing Ridley, even though she's fought Ridley dozens of times, including a supposedly revived Ridley during the Prime series, but I guess this game goes under the assumption that the Prime games never happened, and that's a huge slap in the face for people who enjoyed the story of those games, and the backstories they provided for the Chozo and the Space Pirates.
....story? The Prime games had no real plot; they had circumstances, a thinly-veiled excuse to get the Mary-Sue known as Samus to blow shit up. That's it, there's no real structure, character, or narrative, just a setting and crap to shoot.
But there's still stuff going on, if you look in the right places. Again, I should probably play for myself and look, but from what I've heard from fans of the series, the games focus on the history of the Chozo and the Space Pirates, and goo in-depth about what's happened to the Chozo, and about the various factions of the Space Pirate organization.
Also, this doesn't really have anything to do with this topic, but I just felt like mentioning it sooner rather than later. Does anyone know about, or care about, this:
Just a suggestion: Next time you do a trailer consisting of clips of overthinking commentary, try laying some music behind it in the background to add some oomph to it. Im sure you know how trailers work and how they are fast paced and need to hold more attention and blah blah blah... I personally didnt find it that exciting, and I have probably watched all of your videos at least twice. I think if you just lay some music behind it that ties all the clips together it would be pretty drastic improvement for little effort.
I can't believe Bob actually went out of his way to defend the game and even claimed that what was in the game was worth the money he paid. I mean, given that he's the Game OverThinker, I can assume that he thought about the game and it's implications a lot, so... He actually AGREED with what went on in the game? That he SUPPORTS this kind of relationship? Geez...
More maybe he doesn't, and he was just taking this opportunity to call out the "trolls" Well who the fuck are these "trolls" he was trying to call out on? The people who disagreed with the game? You mean EVERYONE?!
Not to mention, he's done enough calling out trolls, and personally, I thought it was REALLY stretching it with the 2010 E3 presentations, mixing the Xbox's fandom's reaction to the Kinect as nothing more than a bunch of frat boys obsessed over keeping their gaming systems to themselves and that they're just insecure. And doing it again here, with a game like this, it just makes me want to say "dude, cut it out! Stop doing this, we got your message already! Besides, defending this game will only make you look bad, ESPECIALLY when you make the people who have something to say against it a Straw Man!"
Seriously, at this point, I'm starting to consider that you're not the kind of guy I can identify with, like I used to, and that I might stop watching your videos because of it...
Well, I don't know anymore. I was just delighted to hear an opposing opinion on the issue, especially since I have a series of my own that may one day be published and/or integrated into a game.
As a writer, one of my worst fears is being accused of enforcing 1950's gender roles, which is far worse, as far as public reception goes, than being accused of creating another, shallow, 2d female character. So I kind of view it as a daring step on Team Ninja's part to give Samus a backstory and personality, and just take a leap of faith for once, albeit probably not the best one. Sure, they got a large amount of backlash for it, and honestly, I will never know if it's deserved since I neither own a Wii or have the processing power to emulate Wii games, but I know that at least not everyone thinks it was.
If I, and other potential writers know that, maybe more often in the future, they'll start stepping out of their comfort zones of stereotypes and start taking more, and better thought out, risks.
I'd like to see more three dimensional female characters in games, and quite honestly, I view the majority of the backlash Team Ninja got as a large discouragement, a large step backwards, for those potential writers. Sure, it's also a learning experience, but it is one in multiple ways: both in how to flesh out a character, and the potential consequences if they don't do it correctly.
14 comments:
Oh dammit, The episode on the Other M doesn't look like what I thought it was going to be, meaning I'm going to have to watch it, and I have a feeling that I'll have to start working on an apology letter for my previous criticisms.
See, I only saw Yahtzee's opinion oh The Other M, without looking further into it, and since this is Yahtzee, I took his word completely. As a writer, I find it extremely comforting to know that, if, say, one of my girl characters isn't a total badass and say, struggles, like every other sane human being, to pull the trigger on someone who has surrendered, I won't get accused of being a total misogynist.
So Bob, sorry about the comments in earlier and later episodes accusing you of being close minded and/or biased. Counterarguments are okay. Those are not.
So, a small comment/request:
I do a lot of commuting and as such do most of my interneting on my cellphone... a mobile, not a smart phone. This isn't really a problem most of the time because Facebook, Kotaku, Wikipedia, YouTube, and even Blogger all have perfectly fine mobile websites. ScrewAttack (and The Escapist as well, for that matter), however, does not have a mobile website, so I can't access it from my phone.
What does this have to do with you? Well, I often enjoy watching old Game OverThinker episodes on YouTube when I've got more than a little time to kill. But, all of your newer episodes are only on ScrewAttack so they're effectively unavailable to me when I'm out.
So, what're the odds more of the ScrewAttacke episodes will end up on YouTube?
Dear Overthinker, i understand how/what GameStop Pawns games, but tell me one thing:
what about Steam? I buy from steam all the time, i have most of the games i play nowdays on it.
how does Steam effect the gaming world?
@ Echo
Other than a couple troubling monopolistic practices, Steam is a nearly uninhibited force for good.
Twinmill, you criticised the Other M episode without watching it? I didn't like that episode either (completely missed the point of the criticisms people were making IMO), but... c'mon, you have to at least watch it.
I didn't criticize the episode, but I criticized him in later episodes because I didn't see it.
I didn't mention that episode either in any of my comments, maybe with the exception of that one stating the episodes I didn't watch.
Oh wow, you actually uploaded something to your YouTube account. Do you by any chance still read the comments on your videos?
BTW, to Twinmill, actually play Metroid: Other M yourself, and see what kind of game it is. Personally, I disagree with Bob in regards of Samus's characterization in that game. Yeah, she's a third-dimensional character, but she's not a particularly GOOD one. Not to mention, the fact that she's a woman is the main focus of the game, whereas the previous games, it was an unimportant trait of her's, and it had no effect on the overall story at all. There's also the fact that everything that actually happens in the game are almost out of Samus's control, or when she's not present, so it's almost like it could of all happened without her... Almost. The part that pissed me off the most is when she freaked out when seeing Ridley, even though she's fought Ridley dozens of times, including a supposedly revived Ridley during the Prime series, but I guess this game goes under the assumption that the Prime games never happened, and that's a huge slap in the face for people who enjoyed the story of those games, and the backstories they provided for the Chozo and the Space Pirates.
...But that's another topic for another day.
....story? The Prime games had no real plot; they had circumstances, a thinly-veiled excuse to get the Mary-Sue known as Samus to blow shit up. That's it, there's no real structure, character, or narrative, just a setting and crap to shoot.
But there's still stuff going on, if you look in the right places. Again, I should probably play for myself and look, but from what I've heard from fans of the series, the games focus on the history of the Chozo and the Space Pirates, and goo in-depth about what's happened to the Chozo, and about the various factions of the Space Pirate organization.
@ Prime 1 did a bit, but 2 and 3 had hardly anything to do with the Chozo or Space Pirates.
You sure? Because I heard different...
Also, this doesn't really have anything to do with this topic, but I just felt like mentioning it sooner rather than later. Does anyone know about, or care about, this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-i2L7_Jfb0
Just a suggestion: Next time you do a trailer consisting of clips of overthinking commentary, try laying some music behind it in the background to add some oomph to it. Im sure you know how trailers work and how they are fast paced and need to hold more attention and blah blah blah... I personally didnt find it that exciting, and I have probably watched all of your videos at least twice. I think if you just lay some music behind it that ties all the clips together it would be pretty drastic improvement for little effort.
Okay, after reading this:
http://moonbase.rydia.net/mental/blog/gaming/metroid-other-m-the-elephant/article.html
I can't believe Bob actually went out of his way to defend the game and even claimed that what was in the game was worth the money he paid. I mean, given that he's the Game OverThinker, I can assume that he thought about the game and it's implications a lot, so... He actually AGREED with what went on in the game? That he SUPPORTS this kind of relationship? Geez...
More maybe he doesn't, and he was just taking this opportunity to call out the "trolls" Well who the fuck are these "trolls" he was trying to call out on? The people who disagreed with the game? You mean EVERYONE?!
Not to mention, he's done enough calling out trolls, and personally, I thought it was REALLY stretching it with the 2010 E3 presentations, mixing the Xbox's fandom's reaction to the Kinect as nothing more than a bunch of frat boys obsessed over keeping their gaming systems to themselves and that they're just insecure. And doing it again here, with a game like this, it just makes me want to say "dude, cut it out! Stop doing this, we got your message already! Besides, defending this game will only make you look bad, ESPECIALLY when you make the people who have something to say against it a Straw Man!"
Seriously, at this point, I'm starting to consider that you're not the kind of guy I can identify with, like I used to, and that I might stop watching your videos because of it...
Well, I don't know anymore. I was just delighted to hear an opposing opinion on the issue, especially since I have a series of my own that may one day be published and/or integrated into a game.
As a writer, one of my worst fears is being accused of enforcing 1950's gender roles, which is far worse, as far as public reception goes, than being accused of creating another, shallow, 2d female character. So I kind of view it as a daring step on Team Ninja's part to give Samus a backstory and personality, and just take a leap of faith for once, albeit probably not the best one. Sure, they got a large amount of backlash for it, and honestly, I will never know if it's deserved since I neither own a Wii or have the processing power to emulate Wii games, but I know that at least not everyone thinks it was.
If I, and other potential writers know that, maybe more often in the future, they'll start stepping out of their comfort zones of stereotypes and start taking more, and better thought out, risks.
I'd like to see more three dimensional female characters in games, and quite honestly, I view the majority of the backlash Team Ninja got as a large discouragement, a large step backwards, for those potential writers. Sure, it's also a learning experience, but it is one in multiple ways: both in how to flesh out a character, and the potential consequences if they don't do it correctly.
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