Ruining the game - November 3rd, 2001 - Drew Cosner
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. Knoh if you're dyslexic. Don't say we didn't warn you.
You know, this topic seems vaguely familiar. In that respect, having written as many columns as I have is sort of a two-edged sword. Sure, I'm more seasoned, but we could have a discussion on the benefits of using analog indentions on sirloin cuts as a gaming storage medium and that would seem vaguely familiar at this point. Actually, for you readers, it's more a lose-lose situation. I'm still a pompous borderline illiterate with a penchant for treating my own viewpoints like absolute fact, only now I'm too jaded to get into certain discussions. It sure sucks to be you guys! | Simpler times | | Drew, Sorry long time no write in. Busy moving. Changing ISPs. Fun. (Ok, not really) Anyway, onto today's topic. It interests me greatly, seeing as PSMplay just came into my life. Great for watching movies of Games Which The Player Has Already Beaten. The players are unhappy. What technology gives them, it also takes away in return. The players wait, breathless, for the next game preview, the next downloadable commercial, MP3, or FMV. They must know that each word, each second of watching the soul-sucking eye candy could ruin the game for them, and yet they can't resist reading... watching... their souls drawn to the computer as is a moth to a flame. When it comes time to actually play, these so-called "hardcore" gamers can't pass up the strategy guide at the store. Even having this demon bible of pretty pictures and alluring tips and hints is no longer enough, however. They are furthur compelled to go on the internet, to read FAQs and to ask questions by the ton on message boards. In short, we ourselves are to blame for our personal gaming habits changing. Sometimes I miss the old days, when I would get phone calls from people I didn't even know asking questions about games because they truly were stuck. Yes, back then we hardly knew when a game would actually be out. Now people quibble over a second's delay in a release date. I'm not saying the past is better, however, just that the present and the future are what we, as gamers, make of it. And then the Enix said "Let there be Dragon Warrior VII", and there was Dragon Warrior VII, and the people rejoiced and feasted on breakfast cereals. ~arc, happy in a world of simpler times |
Ah yes, strategy guides. Quite the condundrum they present. As of late, the secrets in games are so vaguely alluded to in the context of the game itself that you essentially have to own the guide just to find them. It would be nice if this only presented itself as a problem to the most anal of completists. Unfortunately, the lion's share of recent titles, RPGs in particular, make the final dungeon and/or boss exponentially more difficult than everything else up until that point, meaning you'd need the ridiculously powerful secret items to stand a chance without levels of mind-numbing levelling-up. Of course, it's really no surprise this is the case when you consider that publishers get their piece of the guide pie, lining the company pockets all the more. I'm not sure if that's handled in royalty fees or a licensing charge or what, but Square doesn't let Prima pillage company artwork and write up every little nitty-gritty detail out of the kindness of its heart. Of course, you could counter that you stick it to the The Man by getting all of your information off of Internet FAQs, but I sincerely doubt the people who wrote those guides found all of the secrets without purchasing a guide of their own. I guess this expectation of inavoidable loss might explain why guides made of 25 cents worth of paper are 20 dollars, too. | Needs wings. | | The costume doesn't count! It doesn't have the wings! It NEEDS the wings! The loser needs to do it again, but this time he needs to do it right! |
To Andrew's defense, I'll say this of my own experience: a Westerner in Japan already sticks out like a sore thumb wrapped in a flourescent green band-aid that plays marching tunes when you move it around. It's changing, but there are still people who are wary of foreigners clogging up their already crowded country, and would prefer they not be sitting next to one on a fittingly crowded train. In other words, some Japanese don't want to be sitting by a foreigner. Especially one dressed in a fuzzy white robe with a pompom on top. If this hypothetical foreigner is also poking them with giant metal wings, that's just asking to experience rousing cultural exchange by way of getting a Japanese fist in his stupid American face. | Big movies | | Yo Drew (because that's who the email is pointing to), If anyone thinks that downloading the FFX ending movie is one of the biggest sins a gamer can ever commit, they have obviously not seen worse. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean where all the other Asian countries are, the entirety of FFX is sold in two-disk CD sets. I wish I could be kidding, but I'm not. If you happen to be just too lazy to play the game, all you have to do is buy the CD set and watch all the movies in succession (it even subtitled the dialogue!). This isn't the first time; FF8 and FF9 both had the FMV released as a VCD separately. I've also seen the FFX cutscenes played out in a shopping complex near my house. Some good souls chose to avert their eyes to avoid spoilers, though. So, whenever you think that a 5-hour download is going to make you sit in gamer's hell, think of the 1000s of other people who will be there because they sinned faster than you - say, 5 minutes? At least that FMV set is good should the English actors SUCK. -DMJ |
That's an interesting point: at least the prohibitive size of the average movie file keeps all but those with high speed connections from ruining the game for themselves. It's bad enough that people will sit around and wait hours for a spoiler-filled movie to download of their own volition, but I think it says something of a person if he's too impatient to have the game spoiled even to that. What it says of the person, I'm not sure; I just play videogames, I'm not some kind of damned psychiatrist. | Bad priorities | | Drew, The Internet has had an absolutely incredible effect on the games industry and the market, but not for any of the reasons that Brooke suggested. In short, gamers are far more informed now than we've ever been. News about and previews of new Japanese games are easily accessible on a literally up-to-the-minute basis, and ordering said Japanese games is easier, cheaper, and faster than it ever was. The result? Game companies are now far more accountable for their actions. Release dates are precise. Games make it to the US faster and in a reasonably unaltered state. Smaller companies have a much better chance of selling their product (Working Designs). In short, the Golden Age seems like the goddamned Dark Ages compared to today, and we have the Net to thank. But I do have one complaint. I suppose that as a onetime FAQ writer I shouldn't say this, but I think this story relates the dangers of running to the Internet for information the second you're stuck: I had just completed possibly the single best game of 2000 - Majora's Mask. I don't need to tell you how incredible or how innovative MM is. I used a FAQ for three of four hard-to-find masks towards the end of the game, but mostly I played on my own, doing detective work to figure out when and where to be at any given time of day. A little while later, I'm talking to a friend who'd just completed the game. "Yeah, Majora's Mask is shit."
"...w...whwhwHAT?!"
"It's shit. You didn't even get to fight Ganon at the end."
"B... but...the concept, it's so...finding all the masks and..."
"Oh, well I just used a FAQ."
"You used a FAQ?"
"Chris, I only use FAQs for certain things. One of those things is Zelda items. I can't be bothered."
"But the WHOLE GAME is figuring out how to get the various items! If you look up the item locations you're reading all the puzzle solutions!"
"Yeah, whatever. It was shit. They didn't even say if Link found Navi at the end." Play responsibly, kids. Chris Kohler |
I think the point that buying a guide can ruin a game is made perfectly clear by this letter. If I'm going to add anything, I'll just mention how horribly misplaced people's priorities can be. It's like people who decides an excellent movie sucks because one of the supporting actresses "wasn't that hot." Then again, I don't know who's worse: the person who totally misses the point, or the person who gets some kind of egotistical stimulation out of downgrading those sorts of people. I'll go with the former, for the sake of my own ego. | Bad or good | | Yeah well bad or good... They get you totally hooked on the game via preveiw, months and months of slowly trickling info and tantalising info, until finally they release it you spend another half a year, waiting for it to come to europe another 3 months scrimping and saving and finally you get the game , go home put your life on hold for a few more months, get totally stuck on some incredibly obvious and simple thing and no matter how hard you try you can't find anything on all the 100 page multicoloured glorious website walkthroughs refering to the teeny bit your stuck on because... thats life and it sucks , but hey it don't make you any softer than you already are... well as far as my Final fantasy warped brain believes, and believe me I am suffering from serious FF deprivaition, Peace and luv GEm |
I sense a might bit of personal resentment in this letter. I don't suppose this has ever happened to you? At any rate, I agree that getting movies and info on a games is a great way to know what's coming along down the pipe that you'd be willing to spend your hard-earned dough on. Gameplay movies, in particular, can give you an idea of whether or not any given title will be up your alley. Sure, you could read the reviews, but there's a chance that your tastes and the reviewer's tastes might differ, causing you to pick up a highly-rated game that you think sucks. On the flip side of the coin, leaking info to gaming sites is a great way for a company to work up enough a frenzy over a game that even should it suck, people will run right out and buy it before the reviews get a chance to trickle in. Besides, people who download spoilerific movies do it of their own volition. We've gotten beyond the gaming site birthing pains; that most wonderful time when major spoilers were being posted without due warning. Anymore it's not like people aren't keenly aware of when a movie or article will spoil some portion of the game for them. In other words, you do it to yourself. | One big fat spoiler | | I can understand downloading the opening movie. I do it myself; I think of it as a preview of sorts. And it doesn't give away anything, since you see it first thing upon starting the game anyway. But the ending movie? First, it's one big fat spoiler (which I despise). Second, if you've never even played the game, are you even going to know what's going on? (Actually, for many games, you don't understand what's going on at the end even if you HAVE played all the way through, but that's another matter entirely.) Maybe someone gets enjoyment out of seeing the pretty pictures, but as for me, I don't get it. - ChocoMog ZERO |
I'd like to add something, but that would be arrogant since this letter summed up its argument perfectly well. I guess I'm just useless. We should just get rid of hosts altogether. And then make it so people could post letters by themselves and have them be visible on the site instantaneously. Somebody should make something like that. Closing comments: You know, looking at those pictures of Andrew, I'm given an idea for a topic. So here it is: have you ever sacrificed your dignity in the name of gaming? How so? Preach it to me, my brothers. -Drew Cosner | | | |
