Yeah, another “grand” indie hipster game, another indie hipster game that proves there’s no difference between mainstream and indieland, look at the crap that’s written about this game “it’s the next jesus I tell you”, hype is shit and it’s in every nook and cranny, even on rps I see… stop getting a boner over these misleading endeavors, and just let the indie hipsters *prove* they deserve your little unwanted devotion first… before you go so cockhungry for ‘em
And please, stop presenting these wanna be designers as the next breed of fucking intellectual philosopher kings you have such a retarded third grade lust for. Gamedesigners, we need game-designers, not artfags.
The above poster raises several points in an indictment of the above writer’s excitement of this game. In the interest of being comprehensive, I will address his points one at a time, and cite appropriate sources where necessary. Shall we begin?
Yeah, another “grand” indie hipster game, another indie hipster game that proves there’s no difference between mainstream and indieland…
To start with, the poster opens with a cutting, sarcastic paraphrasing of the article’s content, replete with bequoted adjectives to underscore the depths of his ire. What he fails to note is that no such point had been made in the article itself. In fact, a perusal of the previous articles on the subject (1) (2) (3), reveals that no such point was brought up either. While all of the articles in question clearly convey the writer’s interest with and excitement for this game, none of them even approach the subject of independent games being analogous to those of the mainstream.
It’s possible that the poster is working from the assumption that independently produced games aren’t commercially viable ventures, and are entirely encapsuled by the realm of Flash-based tower defense games and physics puzzles and the like. It’s even possible that he’s forgetting the tremendous commercial success enjoyed by many independent game developers; for instance, Audiosurf, a one-man venture,(4) was the best selling game on Steam in the month of February, 2008,(5) selling more than Valve’s own high-budget and decidedly “mainstream” release of the Orange Box. It’s pretty clear, at least from this evidence, that a sufficiently clever independent game is both commercially viable and critically competitive with mainstream games.
So while the poster may open with a plethora of vitriol, he strikes out as far as all of his facts are concerned. Let us move on.
…look at the crap that’s written about this game “it’s the next jesus I tell you”…
After a strong start the poster begins to lose coherence, disregarding such things as punctuation to drop contextual misquotes in with nary a break in phrasing or pacing. However, his ill-phrased hyperbole aside, he raises a vaguely relevant point: the writers of Rock Paper Shotgun, or at least Jim Rossignol, don’t seem to be tremendously sparing with praise for this game.
Could it be because it looks tremendously pretty in a way nothing else being produced now is? Could it be because the developer is talking about putting together honestly clever ideas in a way that’s not being discussed anywhere else in the game industry? It could. It could also be because of the homosexual tendencies the poster imparts to Mr. Rossignol later in his post. Though I believe I am getting ahead of myself, all reports indicate that Mr. Steenberg as a very attractive man.
However, on this point, the poster is actually correct. RPS does praise the game. We’ll see how the poster misapplies this information next.
hype is shit and it’s in every nook and cranny, even on rps I see…
This segment is even less coherent, following the previous assertion with barely a pause for breath. Disregarding the poster’s misapplication of an ellipsis at the end, there, let us examine his argument itself.
“Hype,” as defined by Dictionary.com, means “To create interest in by flamboyant and or dramatic methods; promote or publicize showily.” Further definitions clarify this, adding a negative connotation by defining the word as “to intensify…by ingenious or questionable claims, methods, etc,” and “to trick.”(6)
Using this definition, the poster is not strictly correct in referring to these articles as “hype.” The application is hardly flamboyant, and only in the mind of an Angry Internet Man is an article expressing praise equivalent with the wide-scale and heavily-funded marketing campaigns conducted by larger companies. On the other hand, spreading praise word-of-mouth is often a desirable marketing strategy for companies,(7) so it’s not entirely out of the question to consider journalists praising an upcoming title as unwitting participants in a word-of-mouth campaign to generate hype through positive press. Yet in a Google search for the terms”love video game,” the only relevant article in the first 100 results is this article itself, at position 11.(8) So there’s no “hype” campaign going on for LOVE.
If we assume that the poster is being less specific in his allegation, and believe that he’s using the word “hype” to mean “any positive or optimistic opinion on a game,” his assertion that “hype is shit” is patently ludicrous. The idea that positive opinions are inaccurate and misleading by nature is, well, it’s silly. If we give him the further benefit of the doubt, and assume that he means “Silly and misleading optimism is shit,” then he’s simply presenting a circular argument. It’s roughly the equivalent of saying “bad movies are bad,” or “Unfounded statements are unfounded.”
stop getting a boner over these misleading endeavors, and just let the indie hipsters *prove* they deserve your little unwanted devotion first…
The poster continues with a colorful allusion comparing Mr. Rossignol’s optimism with sexual arousal. Then he starts getting less coherent. He refers to the praise languished upon Mr. Steenberg’s work as “unwanted devotion,” which is frankly baffling. It’s not a tremendous stretch to imagine that someone who makes a presentation at the Games Developer Conference,(2) and enters into an interview with a games journalist,(3) is looking for positive press. It’s rather unclear how this makes the positive press “unwanted.”
I can only assume that this is an extension of his attempts to disparage Mr. Rossignol as a grasping fanboy at the exclusion of making anything more than a superficial statement of caution.
He also makes the accusation that all of Mr. Steenberg’s talk is, well, just talk, of a man spinning an elaborate fantasy out of nothing. On the other hand, the coverage of LOVE began with him
giving a demonstration at the 2008 GDC,(2) which apparently made enough of an impression on the audience to warrant the praise it was given. While we’ve seen admittedly little coverage and fewer hard details upon the game,
giving a demonstration of something is usually what’s entailed in providing “proof.”
Thus, the poster’s assertion that the praise Mr. Rossignol offers LOVE is completely unfounded is, well, completely unfounded.
Let us move on.
…before you go so cockhungry for ‘em
And please, stop presenting these wanna be designers as the next breed of fucking intellectual philosopher kings you have such a retarded third grade lust for.
There is nothing particularly concrete in this section, other than the previously noted assertion as to Mr. Rossignol’s praise as a function of his homosexual tendencies. Again, I feel that I must mention that all reports note that Mr. Steenberg is a very attractive man.
The poster follows this with the comparison of this praise to the sexual lust of a presexual child. Which is both externally and internally inconsistent.
Between these vaguely coherent and frankly juvenile examples of vitriol is the assertion that independent game designers are being heralded as “intellectual philosopher kings.” This is even less well founded than the poster’s previous statements, and I am force to conclude that it’s a function of the poster’s own insecurity with his own faltering intellect.
Gamedesigners, we need game-designers, not artfags.
I’m going to spare you all a list of all of the game-design positions that derive from the artistic field, and instead present you with an anecdote.
During my high school years, I knew a fellow student who was not the shiniest apple in the tree. He was something of a meathead. I was talking to him one day, during our senior year, and he mentioned his desire to go into game design. I professed a wish to work for a really good game company, like EA.
I expressed bemusement at this. “But EA,” I said, “just churns out shit year after year!
He looked at me like I had grown another head, and replied, “What are you talking about? The graphics on Madden NFL are pretty good.”
- Summer Glau
(1)”Love in the City,” written by Jim Rossignol on June 29, 2008 at
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/06 ... -the-city/(2)”For the Love,” by Jim Rossignol on February 20, 2008 at
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/02 ... -the-love/(3)”A Brief Chat with Eskil Steenberg” by Jim Rossignol on April 27, 2008 at
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/04 ... steenberg/(4)”Audiosurf” at Wikipedia, at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audiosurf(5)”Audiosurf tops February Steam Sales” by Brandon Boyer on March 5, 2008 at
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i ... tory=17735(6)”Hype” at dictionary.com at
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hype(7)”Word of Mouth - Word of Mouth Marketing” at wikipedia.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_mo ... .28WOMM.29PS: I can kill you with my brain.
![[carcajad]](/images/smilies/nuevos/risa_ani2.gif "carcajada")
![[ok]](/images/smilies/nuevos2/okis.gif "ok")
