View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
Lestrade Bug Fister
Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 1760 Location: Toronto
|
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
I really hate these lists. They are pointless.
That being said, I really dislike Play as well (though I own four or five issues). I mean, if I have the urge to look at some cel-shaded boobies, its frighteningly pedophelic Play Anime section is good for that, but...
I hope Faithless can smack Mr. Halverson in the head and tell him that not every game he reviews has to be a gushing, gorgeous, eight-out-of-ten right out of the box (Enter the Matrix). |
|
Back to top |
|
|
OtakupunkX .
Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730
|
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
dessgeega wrote: | ballsy top 5 list of best platformers ever:
1. HALO 2
2. STARBLADE
3. HOTEL MARIO
4. THE ABRIDGED VERSION OF ROBINSON CRUSOE |
Fixed. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Shapermc Hot Sake!
Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279
|
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
Dracko wrote: | Ballsy how? This looks pretty standard and predictable. Wavering, even. |
Well there are a lot of games that come out of left field, which I am sure he would defend if confronted. Mainly from the Sega CD. He also makes note to point out Sonic CD as an import when really the only difference is the soundtrack. On top of that Mario 64 is not top of the 3D platformer list which is mildly taboo, but also putting up a game in the number one spot that is a love/hate game by most people, not universally loved. Also Ghosts 'n Goblins as number one on the 8-bit list. _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
|
Back to top |
|
|
OtakupunkX .
Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730
|
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
Personally, I don't think there should've been a seperate 8-bit list. It's pandering to the people who see 8-bit games as some kind of fashionable thing. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Shapermc Hot Sake!
Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279
|
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:04 am Post subject: |
|
|
OtakupunkX wrote: | Personally, I don't think there should've been a seperate 8-bit list. It's pandering to the people who see 8-bit games as some kind of fashionable thing. |
Like I said originally, I think the 8-bit games should have been in there kicking the asses of some of those other "2D" games. _________________ “The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932
"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!" |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Faithless .
Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Posts: 153
|
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 2:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Quote: | ...8 out of the box... |
I turned in my first 6.5 for the next issue. I believe I was hired both for my gender and my very strong opinions; maybe my prescence at the mag will galvanize them. But as I said before, I don't think Dave is exaggerating any of his feelings; he actually loves all games. _________________ www.call-to-adventure.com
Don't Refuse. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Dracko .
Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613
|
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I don't know about you, but the guy who loves all films and books unconditionally is the guy I do my best to avoid, because I know I won't hear a single edifying thing on them no matter what. _________________ "This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!" |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Lockeownzj00 .
Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 214
|
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
that statement is so misguided that i just feel sorry that you revel in the lack of knowledge. sounds to me like youve got an axe to grind! i simply just can not find a logical reason to back up your statement besides, "yeah, when i went to college, these guys on my floor who claimed to be movie buffs were dicks, man."
but it's cool, keep trying to find reasons why you were justified in pre-judging this guy. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Dracko .
Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613
|
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
I didn't call them dicks now, did I? I know dicks. I talk with dicks. Dicks, I can have a conversation with, because they have an opinion and can back it up beyond meaningless adulation. That's beyond happycore.
I'm judging him on the basis of his magazine. It's a horrible one. It's also a very useless one. He shouldn't be writing reviews if he can only rehash the exact same praise for practically every single game that comes along. It gets us nowhere. _________________ "This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!" |
|
Back to top |
|
|
dessgeega loves your favorite videogame
Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 6563 Location: bohan
|
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
i'm inclined to agree with dracko.
it's hard to achieve critical analysis when you experience a blind admiration of every game you play. _________________
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
dhex Breeder
Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 6319 Location: brooklyn, Nev Yiork
|
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:11 am Post subject: |
|
|
well, that and if there's no differentials, then everything is nothing and nothing is everything.
it's the difference between the guy who says "yeah, i listen to a bunch of stuff" and the guy who says "i like all kinds of music" with a really vapid smile cause, like, he was rocking some rusted root and then busted out the bob marley. he's crazy! whoa! _________________
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
OtakupunkX .
Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730
|
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
Dracko wrote: | I'm judging him on the basis of his magazine. It's a horrible one. It's also a very useless one. He shouldn't be writing reviews if he can only rehash the exact same praise for practically every single game that comes along. It gets us nowhere. |
The magazine reminds me of Edge, but not as good. I like their layouts a lot, but then again I haven't looked at an issue of Play in a couple of months. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
SuperWes Updated the banners, but not his title
Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 3725
|
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:40 am Post subject: |
|
|
I think you need to look at both ends of the spectrum then. Gamefan's EICs ended up going in two different directions with their magazines. One the one end there's Play, which is Halverson's praise-all game magazine, and on the other end there's GameGo!, which was ECM (Eric Mylonas)'s thang. GameGo as a magazine was was closer to Hardcore Gamer, but was leaps and bounds better. Unfortunately, it was just so negative that reading it made me want to quit being a gamer whereas Play actually gets me excited for games and happy that this is my chosen hobby.
Halverson's articles are at their best when what he says about a game is cursory to his message about the industry. I know there are a lot of people who feel the exact opposite way, but I think he's got a very good perception of what gets ignored by the general public and why, and goes out of his way to champion smaller games by actually getting into the whys of their significance.
Someone made a good point about how this list might exist primarily to sell a few more copies of Psychonauts, and really is this such a bad thing? The game deserves more than it got and Microsoft hasn't exactly been kind to it by dropping it from their publishing schedule and then leaving it off of the backwards compatability list. If Play wasn't there to push games like Psychonauts, Stranger's Wraith, GunValkyrie, and Billy Hatcher, would anyone else in a mainstream US gaming mag do it? I'm certainly glad that I gave all of these games a chance as they're some of my favorites of this generation.
I hear what you're saying about people who like everything. I get accused of being one of those people a lot, but if everyone in the world only enjoyed the cream of the crop there'd be no reason for niche games to exist at all.
In conclusion, everyone should buy Skydiving Extreme today. It's an ugly-as-sin $10 PS1 game that features gameplay that's like a competitive dancing game in the sky.
-Wes _________________
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
Mr. Mechanical Friendly Stranger
Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1276
|
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
I agree with Dracko's general point about people liking everything not being good conduits for proper criticism. However I don't read videogame magazines for their review sections, I can get that online for free and in a more timely fashion. I typically only read a game magazine anymore these days when there's a feature on the cover for a game that looks interesting to me, and Play has had a few of those in the past.
I don't fault Halverson for really, really, really liking videogames because I don't look to his reviews when making purchasing decisions. Whenever I do read one of his reviews I just get the impression that he really, truly enjoys what he's doing and where he's at in his life so more power to him. I can only hope to reach a point like that in my life someday. His is a magazine run by people who love videogames for people who also love videogames. It's not that hard to figure out. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Tablesaw .
Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 303 Location: LACAUSA
|
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
Faithless wrote: | We all submitted for that list, but it's very much up to Dave how things run in the end. But all the editors sent in favs, and I think the list was compiled from that, with Dave's choices counting as two votes. Maybe. |
I take it, from this, that there was no formal tallying method? Did you score games? Rank games? Did everyone submit the same number of games?
These are the things that I always find interesting about top blank lists. _________________ It's the saw of the table! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
wourme .
Joined: 01 Jul 2005 Posts: 362 Location: Maridia
|
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
I've also found value in Play Magazine in the past without taking its reviews very seriously. What made me drop my subscription a while back was that the art and ads gradually got so obnoxiously racy that I was embarassed to have it around.
I'm still looking out for another magazine equivalent to GMR--that's one that I thought did a lot of things right, and I was very disappointed when it ended. (And the publisher made it even worse by switching my subscription over to one of those stupid "things that men like" magazines.)
Last edited by wourme on Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:32 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
OtakupunkX .
Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730
|
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
I like Edge. It's pretty. For a magazine.
wourme wrote: | What made me drop my subscription a while back was that the art and ads gradually got so obnoxiously racy that I was embarassed to have it around. |
The first issue I bought had ads for H-games. It was amusing. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
SuperWes Updated the banners, but not his title
Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 3725
|
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
wourme wrote: | (And the publisher made it even worse by switching my subscription over to one of those stupid "things that men like" magazines.) |
You'll be happy to know that that magazine ended up folding and replacing everyone's subscription to EGM. I think I'm up to a six year subscription plan with all of the folded Ziff-Davis magzine substitutions!
-Wes _________________
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
ApM Admin Rockstar
Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 1210 Location: Ottawa, ON
|
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:41 am Post subject: |
|
|
OtakupunkX wrote: | The first issue I bought had ads for H-games. It was amusing. |
Somehow, this knowledge makes the Megatech ads I used to see in VG&CE back in the day creepier than they seemed at the time.
I got a free year's subscription to EGM thanks to PAX. I kind of wish I hadn't. It's... agressively bad. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
TheRumblefish .
Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 258 Location: Florida
|
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
wourme wrote: | The art and ads gradually got so obnoxiously racy that I was embarassed to have it around. |
Try carrying around Fangoria and not getting looks from people, it's amusing and all. But seriously, it's quite a challenge. _________________
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
Cycle Mac daddy
Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2767
|
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I think that list is very silly, but oh well!
I liked Psychonauts at first, but the later areas bugged me. Take the Milkman level for instance. Sure, the concept and level design were incredible, but it was one of the most boring levels I've ever played. It was basically just running back and forth finding the items you needed to get past the new guards. Many of the other levels had similar problems, like that board game one. The levels started being made up of a bunch of fetch quests. It's a good thing the writing was so damn good or I probably would have just stopped playing.
I also liked Robot: Rocket on Wheels! I kinda wish it stuck stronger with the theme park theme, though. The first area was so much fun! I played that more than all the other areas in the game put together. Probably on the roller coaster creation kit alone.
Mario 64 remains my favourite 3D platformer. There really hasn't been much out there that has caught my interest, but there are also lots of games I haven't played yet so hey... |
|
Back to top |
|
|
OtakupunkX .
Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 730
|
Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 8:49 am Post subject: |
|
|
TheRumblefish wrote: | Try carrying around Fangoria and not getting looks from people, it's amusing and all. But seriously, it's quite a challenge. |
Where I live, you get treated like some kind of leper if you even touch the magazine. It's depressing. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
dhex Breeder
Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 6319 Location: brooklyn, Nev Yiork
|
Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
i saw a dude reading black tail on the 6 train once. he was not embarassed in the slightest.
i was reading how to win friends and influence people today on the train, but i was embarassed a little. it's a really great paperback copy from the early 80s. _________________
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
ryan .
Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 999
|
Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
Dracko wrote: | I'm judging him on the basis of his magazine. It's a horrible one. It's also a very useless one. He shouldn't be writing reviews if he can only rehash the exact same praise for practically every single game that comes along. It gets us nowhere. |
The features never did much for me, and I pretty much disregarded it after reading reviews so upped on positive adjectives that they bordered on being disingenuous with their complete lack of mentioning real, tangible problems. I remember playing RTX Red Rock and encoutering a good dozen situations in which it was impossible to proceed. Every other review mentioned some of these - the ones they encountered and the only ones I would want them to mention - yet these problems were hinted at as not being a big deal and the game being 'rough around the edges' or somesuch. Great. Because all games with a little gruff require me to repeat hours and hours of play because it decides to close in on itself. Awesome way to spend $49. The same with a Lord of the Rings GBA game - the problem, a glitch that forced a restart far from a previous save - was glossed over as a hiccup.
I've only thumbed through it a few times since, but it didn't seem to have changed any. Go be super excited over there, please; and thank you, the power of choice. _________________ Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|