Hilarity does not ensue,
apparently - October
18, 2000 - Chris Jones
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed
within this column are those of the participants and the
moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the
GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive
material afoot. I find it EXTREMELY offensive when gnarly EXTREME sports
dudes run around reminding everyone how EXTREME they are. Remind me to
terminate with EXTREME prejudice, as the saying goes.
Don't say we didn't warn you.
Well, I needed something to talk about in intro today, and lo
and behold the gaming news gods have delivered in thirty minutes or
less.
Square and X-Box.... hmm. Well, now that I think about it,
not a lot has changed - things are still in the rumor stage at
this point, although I certainly wouldn't be surprised to hear
something definite sometime soon. I know this is distancing me
further and further from getting a PS2, but I'm probably unique in
that.
Really, the only serious question this brings up is whether
Square will only be bringing Play Online and associated properties
to the X-Box (and multi-platform compatibility for PO was always a
design goal), or if they'll be porting everything to PS2 and
X-Box, or making some games PS2 exclusive and others X-Box
exclusive. And that answer may not be forthcoming for a while, so
don't hold your collective breaths.
Onward.
| English mangled nothing
be to laugh at |
| Hey Chris,
No, videogame humor isn't "funny," IMO. Although it is much appreciated, as
it helps to lighten the mood (although the only people to utilize this in
the best way don't need it... GameArts... so... happy... AAAARGH), I've
never found myself actually laughing at a game, at least when the funny
thing was intentional. The only recent time I've laughed at a game was when
i saw Poshul say "spontaneously combusted" in Chrono Cross... I think there
was another incdent a while back in an older game, but i cant think of one
off the top of my head.
Bad translations aren't funny Chris. THIS IS SERIOUS!!! PEOPLE ARE DYING
HERE!!!!!! OR COMING DAMN CLOSE, ANYWAY!!!!!!!!
Oh, and I don't suppose you'd know whether or not you get experience from
boss fights in FF9, would you?
~Odin, who only laughs at Dave Barry |
I've found myself laughing out loud at a game once or twice at a
game, but it's absolutely true that as a rule game humor tends to
flavor the rest of the plot rather than be a main course itself.
And for a lot of games, that's the way it should be - long epics
probably need a few light interludes, whereas pink cartoon animal
wackiness would be completely out of place in something like Silent
Hill. As a rule, I think game designers have a pretty good feel for
when something's funny and when it's not, and when something's
appropriate and when it's not - even if they don't always follow up on
their instincts.
| Those wacky Working
Designs people... |
| I found myself laughing pretty hard at some points
in Lunar:SSS. When talking to a chicken for the second time, Nall saying
he wants to choke chickens definitely made me laugh. I also found myself
laughing in the "tower of wisdom" or whatever it was called. When molding
clay sculptures at the top of the tower, Kyle makes a reference to a birth
control device--an IUD, specifically--that cracked me up pretty good. A lot
of other humor came from the characters interacting with each other, like
Jessica and Kyle's fights. Having a Square-dominated background, Lunar has
been the best example I've seen of character interaction and a great breath
of fresh air compared to the character development of the Final Fantasies.
When I talk to the townspeople, my characters talk back, and often have humorous
things to say. When they made fun of each other it seemed totally natural, seeing
how their personalities were so well fleshed out.NinjaPirateMan
And I had to let out a laugh at myself when I saw the "male bromide" at the male bathing pool. The developers got me good with that one! |
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of WD, but their translations
are generally quite good - the best in the business, in fact, at least
until Square's recent streak. The humor's generally not laugh out loud
funny for me, but I do appreciate how the whole translation has a
more unified, coherent, natural feel than a lot of Japanese
translations do. SSSC was good enough to put Lunar 2 on my purchase
list, at any rate, and I suspect the same holds true for many of you.
| "Where's the beef?" I
don't get it... |
| Chris,
I find all three branchs of comedy you mentioned equally amusing but
personally, I prefer character driven comedy. Working Design's puns are
amusing but lose much of their humor once the object of reference (i.e.
Calgon commercials) is gone. Unintentional humor found in horrible
translations (i.e. Final Fantasy Tactics) is amusing, but unfortunately
precludes a coherent, meaningful story or interesting characters. Character
driven comedy on the other hand, has no expiration date and can exist
alongside strong characters and a coherent plot, which are also important
elements of an rpg.
- Mark |
Sounds about right. In a lot of ways, character driven humor is so
strong precisely because it isn't really "humor" at all, but rather a
general attitude that the characters have. There's nothing all that
funny about, say, Selphie or Zell, but just their general lighthearted attitude made
the game a little more fun. I think topical puns are still fairly
strong (I remember Calgon, at least) but it definitely doesn't compare
to a good character.
| Funny games? There
ain't no such animal... |
| Hey Chris,
Comedy in games? Is there any? I think that Monty Python's Complete Waste
of Time has been one of the few games to make me laugh. When you're used
to THHGTG's style of offbeat double-take humour, "I got good feeling" gives
a chuckle, and FF9's slapstick anime style humour may get a smile, but I
have yet to get an RPG to really make me laugh. Sad.
I think that what makes me laugh most is joking with my friends, which
doesn't really happen with an RPG. As a result, it's party games that get
the most action . Great ab work out.
Drakonian |
I'm a huge fan of Hitchhiker's dry British wit, but that's
definitely not the only humor I can go for. In a way, I'm glad that
single player games at least occasionally produce a chuckle, because
I'm way too competitive in multiplayer to spend much time laughing But
if multiplayer games crack you up, more power to you.
| You're releasing it
when? Heh, that's a good one... |
| Greetings, Mr. Jones.
You know what? I happen to think the funniest thing in games today is
Working Designs giving a release date. I enjoy their games very much
but I find their "attempts" at releasing a game on time for their own
dates more hilarious than ANY dialogue in their games. The only thing
even funnier is the poor saps who actually BELIEVE their release
dates given. The reasons for delays? Whatever... How come it takes
them over a year to translate and localize a RPG, when other
companies such as Atlus and Enix can do more? Granted, they do not
have the vast resources that the parent companies of Atlus, Enix,
Namco or Square... But, come on people.
Stop offering promotional and packaging and offer the actual GAME. (I
like extra goodies in my games, but not at the expense so that it
interferes with the release of the product that they are intended to
promote...
Okay, my apologies for that mini-rant. Down to business.
Some of the most hilarious moments in gaming for me have been:
Earthbound- Any game where you can fight a big pile of puke is a
winner in my book.
Persona- How many times can a person say "DAMN!!!"? This just proves
that if something is said enough times in repetition, it WILL be
funny.
Threads Of Fate- PINTO, Nothing more needs to be said. ;) Too bad
Mint was not in the presidential race. I'd love to see her vs. Gore
and Bush. ("I'm gonna rule the world!!!")
Resident Evil- Need I mention the voice acting? "Stop... DON'T...
open... THAT... door!" However unintentional, it is so bad that it is
hilarious. (Much like Star Ocean 2, in this aspect.)
If you want real hilarity in games, forget video games and try the
RPG's involving pen & paper. Look into some of the sessions that I
have engaged in D&D with my friends. Just picture a small ogre, about
12 feet tall, sneaking around like Snake in MGS and you will begin to
get the picture. That is the typical day of Carl, The Vegetarian
Stealth Ogre. My charcter, Tristan, is a level 6 Rogue with a
charisma of 8. Yet, he still attempts to play the lute (And take many
rocks to the head in the process...) and stalk women.
Ahem...
On that rather disturbing note, I bid you adieu for now.
-Erdrick (Who still thinks that it is fun to go around in DWIII and
squirt people with the Water Gun.) :) |
Bad dialog just hasn't been getting the praise it deserves to so
far in today's column, so I feel the need to stick up for it. Phrases
like "DAMN!" in Persona often remind me of just how goofy this hobby
of ours is: we're trying to take seriously games with often hideous
translations imported from a culture with some massively different
perspectives, and often those same games are based on their
warped perceptions of our society.
There's an old MST3K line (from the Japanese film, "Prince of
Space") that never fails to amaze me as to how
well it sums up what may be the root of modern gaming. Four middle
aged Japanese men are sitting around a traditional dining area in the
1960's. One of them says to the others (courtesy of Mike and the
'bots): "Ok, how about this: a giant monkey throws mushrooms at these
two plumbers..."
From that starting point, how can we ever take video games all that
seriously?
| Bumbling idiocy: comedy
that never ages |
| Hey Chris,
I'd have to say that the one part of a game that made me laugh the
most were the Laguna flashbacks in Final Fantasy VIII. One of my
favorite videogame quotes of all time was Kiros' remark about Laguna's
"performance" in front of Julia. "I'd say that's about a -3 on the
manliness scale".
And who can forget the escape from the Esthar forces in the Lunatic
Pandora excavation site? The part where Laguna threw Kiros and Ward off
the cliff into the water, commented on how brave they were for jumping
off like that, then slipping and falling while trying to climb down?
That had me and my friend in stitches.
I'd have to say that Laguna has to be the funniest video game
character of them all. Bumbling idiocity cracks me up.
-Perrin |
I also thought Laguna's flashbacks were great stuff, and at the
beginning, I thought that was all they were: comedy. But in a weird
way, the most amusing scene of the game for me wasn't Laguna, but the
"concert" sequence the kids put on for Squall and Rinoa.
Yeah, I know
it was gut-wrenchingly awkward at moments - that's the whole point.
Everybody was so damned earnest in a completely guileless
teenage sitcom way that they could push Squall together with Rinoa
that I couldn't help but cringe... which made it even more interesting
to see Squall cringing along with me. Simpsons fans have coined the
phrase "metahumor" about jokes the show will often make about itself,
and it was fascinating to see FF8 do the same thing, almost as a
comment on every "touching" game moment ever made. Perhaps I'm not
doing a very good job of explaining where I'm coming from, but I can't
help but think that any medium that can pull off a scene like that has
nothing to be ashamed of in the humor department.
| Like one of those TV
clip shows, but with RPGs |
| Chris,
RPG comedy? Hmm, it can be a fun little thing
that makes you laugh and makes the game more endearing
to you...however, it is usually just plain stupid and
only marginally amusing. Some things in RPGs that
seemed funny to me at the time:
1) Breath of Fire 2: The Gold Fly after you finally
take him out. He says either, "Shit!", or "Damn!" (I
can't remember which). Not really funny, but in the
context of the time and all the video game censoring
of Nintendo, it floated my boat.
2) Breath of Fire (I, II, *and* III): All the
references by the characters to the protagonist's
"sword". Juvenile? Yes. Funny when playing by
yourself? No. Funny when cracking comments to your
friend about it? Yep.
3) FF7: The whole thing with the whorehouse was
amusing, and so was the whole "...or I'll cut 'em
off!" etc. thing with the whoremaster dude.
4) Thousand Arms: Just about everything about the
dialog. This is the only RPG I think made good use of
voice acting (the horrible voice acting, cheesy lines,
and quirky translation made up a little for the fact
that the game sucked majorly).
5) Lufia 2: Dekar was just too stupid to not snicker
at, at least once anyway.
What doesn't work at all? Even in some stupid sense?
Just about every dumb "joke" or "amusing incidence" in
a Square RPG. Man! Sometimes it's like reading a
poorly written novel with all sorts of witty repartee
and too much use of adverbs after/before "she/he
said/says" (e.g., "she grinned wryly", "chortled",
etc. ad naseum). Just my opinion anyway.
Abazagaroth
P.S. The funniest thing in a console game I've ever
seen? Gotta be sniping guards in various body parts or
just plain staying in one place with a machine gun
blowing away *hundreds* or guards in Goldeneye. |
Err... your amusement at virtual mass slaughter aside, I can
definitely agree that games can unintentionally become a source of
hilarity when viewed with a group of friends. Case in point, Elly's
"Drive" scene in Xenogears. The first time I played it, solo, I found
it fairly compelling and in keeping with the game's overall mature
tone. The second time I played it with other people in the room, I
started to notice how Vierge spouted out little hearts when it hit
something, and how ludicrous the idea of Elly running down the same
damn hall over and over got. The dialog and "stoned Elly" picture were
just icing on the cake. I still like the game, but, sad to say, I
think nearly all RPGs would be a laugh riot if they were shown in
front of a live studio audience.
| And finally, nothing
says laughter like the walking undead! |
| I don't think I've ever quite laughed so hard in a game as I did during
the first 10 minutes of Resident Evil. Never before (or again) have I seen
such a contrast of side splitting humour and genuinely creepy and shock
inducing atmosphere. Capcom always stood by their claim that the B-movie
dialog was intended, but somehow I just don't buy it. Here's a few great
examples:
Wesker: (after hearing gunshots): "You two go check that out. I'LL handle
THIS!"
Sure, Wesker. You handle standing there doing nothing and we'll go check
out the gunshots we heard in this creepy mansion. A little later...
Jill: "What is that?"
Barry: "Blood. Jill you go look for clues. I'm going to investigate
this."
(kneels down and stares at the blood.) "Hope this is not Chris's blood!"
Player regains control, presses the action button on Barry and a message
pops up: "He is busy investigating." Ummm...yeah, sure. You "investigate"
the blood and I'll go check out those gunshots on my own. Later
still...
Jill: "WHAT is that?" (seeing a zombie approach her and Barry)
Barry: What is THAT?" (subsequently pumps zombie full of lead)
Jill: (staring at carcus and doing her rendition of my little teapot with
her arms) "What IS that?"
Barry: "A monster."
Well, maybe you had to be there and hear it with voice acting. At any
rate, I see the era of unintentional humour, as you put it, coming to an
end. This year has had an amazing track record of solid translations,
particularly in RPG's where they needed it the most. Other types of games
such as Fear Effect and Dino Crisis 2 have exhibited great voice acting
and sharp dialogue. Sure, a few shoddy localizations will sneak through,
but those games probably aren't worth playing anyways. I'm talking about
the end of this trait in top-of-the line games like Resident Evil and FF
Tactics. Where they spend large budgets producing great graphics,
interesting gameplay, and high-quality music - only to get their summer
exchange intern (with laptop and CD burner in hand) to write up the
translation while sitting in the back of the truck that's delivering the
games to the local video game store. Although it's a little sad to think I
won't enjoy classic lines like "the master of unlocking", it's also a
small price to pay for a comprehensible story. Companies will just have to
use clever wit and cultural references to get laughs.
And you can always depend on WD for toilet humour.
Supreme Guru of Relaxism; currently investigating this column. |
Your ramblings on RE's dialog remind me of some classic Daikatana
dialog, including Superfly's immortal "THIS sucka's MINE!" as it was
used in the unauthorized MP3 remix... but when I start babbling about
such things, it's time to call it a night. All things considered, good
summation of the current state of the humorous art, Guru.
Closing Comments:
Ok, time for the column to get a bit more serious via the topic
below. Also, I'm sure some of you will have comments about the X-Box
story, so send those in as well. Catch you later.
-Chris Jones, the spooniest
Agent of all
| Topic for Thursday,
10/19/2000 |
| Well, with about a week until its release, The Legend
of Zelda: Majora's Mask is shaping up to be a pretty sweet game. I feel,
however, that I'm the only one excited about it. I busted out The Ocarina
of Time last week and made short work of it. Also, I've been drooling
a lot lately over IGN64 's coverage of the upcoming game, particularly the media they've released in their 72 Hours series. I'd suggest that everyone go back and read all of the 72 Hours stories, and for those on high-speed connections, watch the 19MB video of gameplay in the first dungeon. They've made excellent use of that extra 4MB of RAM, as the gameplay is seemless and tops the already-excellent battle engine of Ocarina.
Anyway, what does everyone else think about what they've seen of this
soon-to-be-classic? Any thoughts on the change in feel of the game from a lighthearted
game to a more dark-type plot? How about your views on the series as it's been depicted on the N64? Any nostalgia related to the older games for the NES and SNES? Let your voices be heard! I'd rather have the topic this week, before the PS2 coverage overshadows this incredible-looking game. Thanks a lot!
------
Ed Ruane |
|
