Puny Miscellaneous Links for Mortals: 2010

[Dark Holy Elf]

So, I've ranted about Metroid: Other M's terribad plot before.  Others have pointed out how sexist the plot is without really going in depth into it.

http://moonbase.rydia.net/mental/blog/gaming/metroid-other-m-the-elephant/article.html

This essay does an excellent job of highlighting the details of why this game's writing is awful, enunciating quite clearly WHY the game is offensively sexist and why it cannot really be attributed to hackneyed writing.  Great read, and although I was really stoned when I played through it I feel kind of ashamed for not noticing how abusive the Adam/Samus relationship was until reading this.

I have not slept in 40 hours and I approve of everything said here.

Very good read. I'd heard a fair bit about this subject before but not one that broke everything down so thoroughly and made such eloquent arguments about it.

As a big fan of Metroid, what I read about Other M's writing makes me want to string Yoshio Sakamoto up by his ankles.

[superaielman]

Seconded, minus being a huge fan.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Really great read. That's pretty fucked.

[Sierra]

Really great read. That's pretty fucked.

[metroid composite]

...Yeah, that pretty much seals me as never playing Other M.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Well, I guess it goes to show you how you probably shouldn't give an external director a free hand with a long-running series where the main character was never extensively developed, and then approve his idea for a plot-driven game based entirely on his personal conceptions. He's gonna get all up his own ass with his terrible ideas.

Retro Studios knew enough about where to focus the plot and what audiences wanted so as not to step on toes, which is like square one for doing "someone else's series" and they didn't even get THAT far.

e: Also, anyone with unstoppable cutscenes is a pretentious douche.

[Ultradude]

Ugh. As a Metroid fan, this makes me sick - Nintendo would do well to pretend this game never happened as much as possible.

[Shale]

Geez, I was planning to eventually play the game and just ignore METROID PLOT, but unskippable cutscenes? You assholes.

[metroid composite]

Geez, I was planning to eventually play the game and just ignore METROID PLOT, but unskippable cutscenes? You assholes.

Unskippable cutscenes doesn't bother me too much--Metroid Fusion had unskippable text scenes, and during development Other M sounded like Metroid Fusion's bigger brother.

[Captain K.]

Christmas song.  Sing along if you know the words.  (NSFW)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K8bHm_OgzM

[Idun]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKWFvbgkWls


Me: Hey, listen to this song! He's sampling Chrono Trigger. Bet you can't name the song!

X: okay
X: haha

Me: yeah, uuuh I know it's from Chrono Trigger and I don't know the exact song. They play it a fucking lot with Schala!

X: links me to a video which indeed, proves that the sample is called Schala's Theme

Me: I am fucking AWESOME.

[Crystalgate]

The analysis of Metroid Other M is awesome. My theory is that the abusive relationship wasn't intentional, but that sexist ideas from the writer slipped in and he doesn't realize it because his writing skills are crap.

Anyway, for some Zelda analysis: http://garethrees.org/2004/12/01/ocarina-of-time/

Thanks to Max McGee for bringing my attention to that article.

[Shale]

Unskippable cutscenes doesn't bother me too much--Metroid Fusion had unskippable text scenes, and during development Other M sounded like Metroid Fusion's bigger brother.

Yeah, that wasn't such an issue until I heard how terrible the writing was.

[hinode]

Well, I guess it goes to show you how you probably shouldn't give an external director a free hand with a long-running series where the main character was never extensively developed, and then approve his idea for a plot-driven game based entirely on his personal conceptions. He's gonna get all up his own ass with his terrible ideas.

Retro Studios knew enough about where to focus the plot and what audiences wanted so as not to step on toes, which is like square one for doing "someone else's series" and they didn't even get THAT far.

e: Also, anyone with unstoppable cutscenes is a pretentious douche.

In fairness, the director in question here isn't some external guy, but a Nintendo employee who co-created the Metroid series in the first place.

Still, it's hardly surprising that a long-time Nintendo worker sucks horribly at writing, or that a veteran Japanese salaryman has deep-rooted sexism. The end result's still worse than I would've anticipated.

[Luther Lansfeld]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttv-gvOzaPw <-- The trailer for the movie 'The Beaver'. I'm really not sure how I am supposed to respond to this. >_>

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

... Mel Gibson lost it for good.

[Captain K.]

I was totally expecting something else from that title.

...

...

...

What?  I thought it was a "Leave it to Beaver" remake.

[metroid composite]

http://mapofmetal.com/
Map of heavy metal.

http://www.lostgarden.com/2010/12/steambirds-survival-goodbye-handcrafted.html
Interesting game design article--I don't necessarily agree with it, but it's interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXjxHQQxcLw
(video) Epic Meal Time -- Sushi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXbCwq4ewBU
(video, NSFW) Wikileaks rap.  Biased as hell, but oddly entertaining.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7yAWpX1Mc
(video) "Double Dream Hands"

[AndrewRogue]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttv-gvOzaPw <-- The trailer for the movie 'The Beaver'. I'm really not sure how I am supposed to respond to this. >_>

Watching it without volume, it totally looked like a horror movie.

[Grefter]

Interesting game design article--I don't necessarily agree with it, but it's interesting.

Yeah it hits a lot of good notes, especially on Agile software development approach being a Good Thing tm and generally highlighting the effectiveness of procedurally generated content.

Taking it to the extreme is not going to do anyone any favours though, there is definitely a place for a hand made set piece.  There is a reason the industry went that way so often (Procedurally generated content in a plot heavy game errrrrrrrr leads to not great things fairly often).  There is also ways you can hand make a space with amazing room for play space (Deus Ex is THE example of this).  There is some things you can't reasonably leave to procedural generation and have work (RNG stealth game lolno).

Definitely room in the industry for games LIKE that though, the ones that come out using that kind of design have historically done fairly well after all, especially when the market is not at saturation.

[DjinnAndTonic]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118027883
Warner Bros updates Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

You know, normally I'm pretty open to new interpretations of things I like. I like VPDS after all.

But this... I just have this intense feeling of dread that this is the next Star Wars prequel trilogy of nerd-dom.

[Ultradude]

http://www.aidsmap.com/page/1577949/

Some potentially fucking awesome news in regards to AIDs treatments.

[Sierra]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk9oa_PiXAk

Grand Theft Mario.

[superaielman]

I'd so play that.

[Tide]

That link is so awesome. The extra awesome/sad part is that it would actually be related to MARIO PLOT better than the Mario Brothers movies.