tegan

The E3 Retrospectapalooza

Recommended Posts

I think maybe you're taking the comparison too literally.  I don't want to assume what Danielle's intention was, but I took it as less a literal complaint/comparison, and more of a "let's ridiculously compare two things to point out yet again for the millionth time that gaming conferences do a really shitty job at having diverse representation."  You could probably pick any random game feature (types of hubcaps on cars, varieties of guns, types of attack animations) and write something similar.  This year just happened to have a lot of severed heads.   No E3 has ever been held that you couldn't write a story about problems with on-stage representation.  At some point, people have to get sick and tired of just writing that straight and look for someway to make it more interesting. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There's some prime "voice chat" acted out in that Rainbow Six video. Such a goofy thing.

 

 

I noticed that, it was so wierd and uncomfortable.

 

The Division gameplay stuff got me like that too. At first I thought it was character voice acting, then it became oddly disconnected and mundane for characters in a firefight, then I realised it was meant to be voice chat.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's a silly comparison in the literal sense, but it does make a neat headline that highlight both how violent E3 was this year, as well as how sexist we all know the video game industry is.

 

Personally, what I'd find more useful is an over time graph of "women in E3 pressers," and maybe a comparison of how many women were on stage versus how many women are actually in the industry.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Why are we suddenly calling these things "pressers" this year. THAT'S what we should really be talking about. What a disgusting word!

 

i'm sure they've been called pressers for a while, but this is the first i've ever heard and i'm already SO MAD

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This morning we had banana, peanut butter and chocolate smoothers.  Because breakfast.

 

Also, I only started saying presser because someone in chat said it bugged them (probably Twig).  Sorry. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Presser? I don't even know 'er! (What.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think maybe you're taking the comparison too literally.  I don't want to assume what Danielle's intention was, but I took it as less a literal complaint/comparison, and more of a "let's ridiculously compare two things to point out yet again for the millionth time that gaming conferences do a really shitty job at having diverse representation."  You could probably pick any random game feature (types of hubcaps on cars, varieties of guns, types of attack animations) and write something similar.  This year just happened to have a lot of severed heads.   No E3 has ever been held that you couldn't write a story about problems with on-stage representation.  At some point, people have to get sick and tired of just writing that straight and look for someway to make it more interesting. 

 

That's how I read it too.  There are a lot of problems in the way games and gaming culture represents things (gender diversity, racial diversity, some other form of diversity).  I can't begrudge Danielle for writing about the one she knows and experiences first hand.

 

The media likes to complain about violence in games so what do we do?  Put even MORE violence in games.  Maybe we should start complaining about how there are too many women in games.  Except people already do that and are assholes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man, the one big disappointment this year besides Vib Ribbon was the lack of Metroid. Or rather, the presence of Metroid without an actual Metroid.

 

ilUKXUd.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Similar: Zelda Williams appeared in a celebrity match during the Smash tournament ...carrying Majora's Mask.

 

avkuHJU.png

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think it's worth remembering that the video game industry is bigger than both the movie industry and the music industry at this point. It should be held to mainstream standards because it's a lot, lot, lot bigger and more influential than people give it credit for.

 

For instance, lots of people are making fun of Ubisoft for deciding that Assassin's Creed Unity didn't have any female assassins in the story mode because it'd be double the work, despite all the female assassins in the multiplayer and in Liberation, and Ubisoft apparently finding time to insert like three different kinds of minigames and a spidertank but not a woman.

 

Meanwhile Hyrule Warriors showed off playable Zelda and Impa and Midna, thereby having more playable women in one game than Microsoft had in their entire press conference.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Haha it didn't even occur to me until you said that that Link is the only playable male in Hyrule Warriors. So far revealed anyway. Maybe there'll be some more characters. TINGLE?!

 

(I also really dig Impa's design. She's so cool. Zelda has boob armor, though, which I can do without. Er... I mean which I wish was a more realistic armor.)

 

EDIT: Did they really say they didn't want to make female assassins because it'd be too much work? That's insane. do you have a link? I'm fascinated by this.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man, the one big disappointment this year besides Vib Ribbon was the lack of Metroid. Or rather, the presence of Metroid without an actual Metroid.

 

ilUKXUd.jpg

 

Holy crap, is that the Bayonetta Samus skin?  That's the stuff of nightmares.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bayonetta knows what it is and doesn't care who knows it

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah I gotta appreciate Bayonetta's give-no-fucks attitude. It's endearing. Certain people (person) in IRC know these types of games aren't really my jam, but... I sorta wanna get into this.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's not that I'm offended or anything, it's the structure of the body.  It looks alien, like some horrific monster trying to casually pass itself off as a sexy human long enough to claim its next victim, but failing horribly. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah it's definitely weird and... I like it because it looks so wrong. Am I weird?

 

Yeah I'm definitely weird.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think I'd probably need to see it in motion, but as I recall Bayonetta 1 was similarly weirdly proportioned in that regard. I can see a case being made that it's a parody of sexiness, that it's taking a sexy look and distorting it so far that it loops back around into being creepy, and the Samus suit certainly manages that!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Why would they call a French assassin Arno, instead of 'Arnaux', which is how the name is spelled? Arno sounds like the Dutch version of that name. They didn't have problems with Ezio, but French is apparently a step too far?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Why would they call a French assassin Arno, instead of 'Arnaux', which is how the name is spelled? Arno sounds like the Dutch version of that name. They didn't have problems with Ezio, but French is apparently a step too far?

 

My money is that they focus-tested Arnaux or Arnaud and found that nine out of ten Anglophones pronounced it "Our Knocks" or "Our Nod" and they didn't want to have that lack of control over the brand messaging from the outset.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Has anyone else noticed that the videos on polygon are preceded by an ad that is longer than the video itself? Really disappointed with polygon' e3 coverage just because of that. I don't mind ads, but I do mind ads that take so long I get bored and don't watch the video.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Polygon's Zelda Preview is basically a recap of what Eiji Aonuma said and then some excellent in-depth analysis: "I'm not quite sold on the lasers yet, but I guess we'll see."

 

:shifty:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now