Stuart

HAH. Well, erm, um... Some MGS4 music? Best version of that song.

Don't matter! It's in a game and it's technically a remix of a classical song, so whatevs! (Also, stick to posting up to three vids max, so we can avoid long scrolling plz. Also, dat Nier music...)

Well stated, though I personally argue against the "Bioshock doesn't engage Objectivism" thing, but Infinite surely dropped the ball on its thematic elements, from racial conflict to quantum theory. But that's a conversation for a whole other forum thread. .

I think it's from Gametrailer's Xbone release party or some shit. Friend of mine linked me this on Steam, because misery loves company I guess. tl;dr video games

Well, I think this one is very heavy on the metaphors and symbolism, so perhaps it's hard to dissect? And like I said, I feel this story's, I dunno', "prose" (lack of a better word) can't be translated well into English, no matter what. The effect it had on me when I read its translated version versus the effect I had when I read it in Spanish was greatly different. You might be right on the background thing, maybe? I'm Latino and the story certainly felt tailored specially to me, but I still feel it's a fairly universal story. Probably read it again? You gotta give Garcia another chance. Also: Quite funny to think Vonnegut gave that particular novel a C in one of the Palm Sunday chapters. My personal favorite of his has got to be Slaughterhouse Five though. I wonder if Guillermo del Toro is still working on that adaptation...

Yeah...thinking again, he wasn't that subtle. Now that I remember "The Shadow of Innsmouth". Yeah, it helped elevate his writing into being something fairly pensive and thought-provoking, but still...

Ech sorry. I'm a bit cloudy headed. Damn this cold. Actually, I just remembered something. During Thanksgiving break, I played Gone Home with my mom. It was quite interesting. I was glad she loved it and how it helped changed her perspective on LGBQT people. I mean, she's been fairly tolerant towards them, but always straddling between that line of being tolerant and being a bit unreasonably close minded. But the game made her understand the struggles of LGBQT people, and actually linked them to her own struggles as an Latina immigrant struggling to find respect and fairness by people in this country. All in all, it was an interesting experience, and she was very moved by it. She was quite surprised the game had no violence or combat, which she had associated most games of having, despite me telling her otherwise. Then we played Surgeon Simulator, but that's a whole other story (she liked it though).

I fucking love this game. Probably the best survival horror game I've played in years. I'd go more in-depth with analyzing it's story and mechanics, but I'm kinda worn out. But yeah, fucking awesome game. GG

Actually, my point was more that Bogost ignored the actual game part in his criticism. I'm glad people are trying to hold up game narrative to literary standards. Literature is the base form of all modern narrative art forms, whether it's music, film, TV, or video games. What irks me is that despite all that, he, I say again, leaves out analyzing the importance of Gone Home's ludic narrative. How the mechanics serve the narrative and the mechanics at their own a tool of creating a story. And I said in my post, it bugs me even more that this is coming from one of the many game academics that champion ludology. Admittedly, to allude to Merrit Kopas, the fact that this is a game about young lesbian women falling in love shouldn't be a magnificent feat, but in this medium, it unfortunately is. But that still doesn't deter it from its artistry, as do other games that deal with similar issues or have similar, simplistic narrative formulas. To paraphrase Bob Chipman, formula isn't a bad thing. Formulaic narrative is just structure. What you make out of a set formula is what is most important, and in this game's case, it's the details and what the player does in order to uncover them is what matters most. Sorry for what may seem a scattershot response, but I have a cold and a headache. But yeah. *goes back to shamelessly play Shadow Warrior (2013 version)*

You have to be fucking kidding me.

As much as I love Lovecraft's works, I still am uncomfortable with the subtle racist undertones in his works. Ugh, why did he have to be such a humongous piece of crap of a person? ):

Thanks for making the game that started it! <3

Ech, still. You can't ignore that in a game critique, because, y'know, it's a game! It's like leaving out analysis of the cinematography, visual metaphors, and acting in No Country for Old Men for a book review site. Like, you undermine the whole work by ignoring those essential pieces. I dunno', whole things just bugs me.

Anything really. I'm already eyeing everybody else's recommendations. I heard great things about Asterios Polyp, so I'll try to pick up that one first. And Love and Rockets sounds fucking awesome! I'm happy to see a popular comic book series about Latino/Hispanic people by Latino/Hispanic people. Also, this quote from Wikipedia: That sold me instantly. Also, I don't know any comic book places around in Chicago, so any online recommendations where I can buy comics/graphic novels? Other than Amazon of course.

What I found somewhat odd about Bogost's piece is that it ignores the ludic side of the game. As in, how the gameplay elevates the game's story and how it's wholly dependent on that it is a game. Why can't gameplay mechanics and what they represent/mean/symbolize be as literary as a novel's prose or a film's mise en scene? I find this odd because Bogost, if I'm correct, champions ludonarrative and how gameplay can convey meaning. In Gone Home's case, it's innocent voyeurism and discovery in a home that somewhat represents the zeitgeist of the era the story takes place in. The game's story does not stop with whatever Sam narrates or what we read. It's embedded in the little details and what the player does him/herself in it. You know what I'm surprised I haven't seen written yet? An essay of any sort detailing how Gone Home is an interesting evolution (or de-evolution) of the Ultima/System Shock method of storytelling through environment and environment interaction. After all, the game wouldn't exist without the existence of those two games and the games that would further carry down their legacy (System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Bioshock, etc.)

I got the cold and I missed my classes yesterday. And I have to pay my college bill. And I have finals next week. And I need to buy train tickets to Chicago. And I FORGOT TO REGISTER FOR NEXT SEMESTER CLASSES, FUUUU- But hey, I'm playing some Shadow Warrior (2013 version) and that's kinda'-sorta' making me feel better. Nothing says "therapeutic" than slicing demons with a katana. Fuck, I just remembered I have some overdue library books. Fuck.

Such awesome stories in this thread! Don't have children (and believe me, it's going to be a very looooong while till I do), but the landlady of my mom's home has a 7 year old grandson who I talk to and kinda babysit. I kinda consider him like a little brother I never had (I do have a big brother though, who introduced me to gaming). Not only do I help the kiddo get into reading and writing, but I also try to teach him game design stuff as well. I've made him watch and play games like Beyond Good & Evil, Braid, Shelter, Psychonauts, Bastion, and the Portal series, which he considers to be his favorite game series ever and taught him some science stuff too! Me and him played Portal 2 co-op and it was fairly interesting. During these play sessions, I'd teach him basic logic stuff and how certain parts of each game was made. It's incredible the wealth of knowledge a game's design can teach a child. Probably the most "mature" games I've let him watch me play have been LIMBO, Arkham City, and Mark of the Ninja. But he seems to take more interest in the more kid friendly stuff I introduce him to, though he's gotten to love Batman due to AC. Oh! And I downloaded Foiled when the Thumbs mentioned it on the podcast, and I've been playing with the kid since then. It's amazing to see him getting used to the game's mechanics over time, to the point where I can actually not go easy on him and let him wreck me up through his own skill. What I see myself doing in the future is basically giving my kids uber-basic game design courses while they play their games. Wonder how THEY'LL respond.

Been reading plenty of Latino/Hispanic books and the one that had most impact (and the best book I've read this year overall) has to be Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I believe is one of the most operatic and beautiful things I've ever read in my life. It bleeds grandeur and scope at every page. I just can't get over how amazing that book is. I read it in Spanish first and then later again in it's translated English version, and reading it in Spanish makes the work become more than just a masterpiece, but an engraved testament of fantastic writing.Seriously, read this goddamn, motherfucking book. And if you know Spanish very well, read it IN SPANISH FIRST! Trust me trust me trust me, you won't be disappointed. Honorable mentions: The Devil's Highway, by Luis Alberto Urrea. It's about the real life story of twenty six immigrants who tried to cross the Mexican-American border into the Arizona desert in 2001. The story is beautifully told and intricately researched by Urrea, who transforms the story into not just a rallying cry for justice, but a humanistic window to the lives of both those who sacrifice their lives to have a better life and those who detain them in the name of a questionable law. Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon was also pretty good. I also read the entirety of Don Quixote. A difficult and often heavy ready, but nonetheless whimsical and interesting. There are a dozen more books I read that I've liked, but I think that's enough gushing for now.

UBER SPOILERS FOR THE STANLEY PARABLE DO NOT WATCH UNLESS YOU PLAYED IT (also HL2 spoilers I guess...) Probably the best analytic dissection of this game I've seen so far. Chris Franklin is the man.

Yo, I wanna get back into comics and graphic novels. What do all of you guys suggest nowadays? I'll take anything, specially if it's like Gaiman's Sandman series, A Contract from God, Watchmen, Maus, and Persepolis.

Alright, let's put some Latino culture up in this! Calle 13 is such a good group. They make me proud to be a Latino/Hispanic person with their socially relevant, humanistic, devilishly clever songs about Latin American life and issues. Here's the song translated into English for anyone interested.

This episode. It is art. Also, for a second there, I legitimately thought your episode got jacked by Jake, Steve. Then I saw no wizard next to Far Cry 2 dude. Jacked by Jake. That has an odd ring to it.

That shit was fucked, dude. Video games. Edit: For some reason, the [media] tags ain't working for me? Weird.

Hah. Anyway, I really love Gone Home. And I'm actually surprised that there aren't that many reviews that go into sexist/homophobic shit (but believe me, that shit is there). But there are a lot that go on about how the game is "cliche" and "sappy" and how the "hipster game critics" are praising this game. Ugh.

omg dis guy only does korn songs. dont hire, your kids wouldn't like.