Interesting articles

[Thorondor]

 

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VR developer Oliver Kreylos conveys some worries about the expectations of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display...

[Thorondor]

Persson grew up in Edsbyn, a provincial town near Sweden’s eastern coast. “My strongest early memory is of my dad dragging me through very deep snow on a sled,” he said. “I looked up at him and he seemed annoyed at me. Perhaps it was tough work, dragging me, or perhaps I had been crying. And I realized that—hang on—he’s actually a real person, with his own perception of things. It’s not just me looking at things; he is also looking at things.”

 

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An eye-opening read at The New Yorker.

[Thorondor]

No overnight millions, no bedrooms-to-billions - just one man getting a second chance to share something he thought was confined forever to an obscure corner of gaming history.

 

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It's the story of King of Dragon Pass at Eurogamer.

[Thorondor]

https://media.pcgamer.com/files/2013/04/ufo_base-610x457.gif

 

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A certain Mr. Julian Gollop speaks of the state of gaming at PC Gamer.

[Space Voyager]

Kinda chattery lately, isn't he? Considering how quiet he kept for years.

 

A good thing.

[silencer_pl]

Putting gaming industry a side.... does in the science world we have HAL 9000? Please show me a computer that passed Turing Test. I think that Mr. Gollop here isn't seeing clearly in the game AI branch. Even the most obvious chess games don't have advanced AI and chess games aren't about graphics. Today's gaming AI is very complex - not in all games, but currently in RPG games NPC are more than just decoration, they have lives on their own (take Skyrim for example). And why graphics took more priority than AI.

Because better graphics rise the need for more powerful graphics cards and CPU's and that means more money.

[silencer_pl]

:snip:

 

 

[Azrael Strife]

Putting gaming industry a side.... does in the science world we have HAL 9000? Please show me a computer that passed Turing Test. I think that Mr. Gollop here isn't seeing clearly in the game AI branch. Even the most obvious chess games don't have advanced AI and chess games aren't about graphics. Today's gaming AI is very complex - not in all games, but currently in RPG games NPC are more than just decoration, they have lives on their own (take Skyrim for example). And why graphics took more priority than AI.

Because better graphics rise the need for more powerful graphics cards and CPU's and that means more money.

 

Routines != lives of their own. Games like the Ultima series (Ultima V, 1988) introduced this, and hasn't advanced much since then.

 

AI in games is not much to speak of today, we may consider an AI advanced just because NPCs don't blindly charge at you, but that's something that's been there for quite some time too.

[Azrael Strife]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJeX6F-Q63I

That dude seriously has zero arguments to counter the woman's points.

 

Funnily enough, his british accent makes him sound like the has any clue of what he's talking about

 

Horrible counter-argument video.

[silencer_pl]

You don't have to agree, and I don't have to agree. There were two other movies, but this one the most polite. And I say this women is full of bollocks - just like most feminists are.

[FullAuto]

You don't have to agree, and I don't have to agree. There were two other movies, but this one the most polite. And I say this women is full of bollocks - just like most feminists are.

 

Then why doesn't he counter any of her actual arguments? He's either totally stupid (he isn't) or he doesn't have any points to make, and instead settles for straw men.

 

He's either being facetious or he's a retard. And his video is too well-constructed for him to be a retard. His first example, Double Dragon Neon. Yes, the final boss ends up being punched in the balls by a woman...after the boss has been defeated by the male protagonists. It's true that these games aren't made to subjugate women, but they can still spread the idea that women should be subjugated. He accuses Sarkeesian of building a straw man, and then does so himself (e.g. the damsel in distress, he recasts the import as being with the male rescuer, when Sarkeesian's point is about what happens to the woman) and adds ad hominem to the mix.

 

Simply put, if you can't argue the points she made, and you just resort to name calling, you've quite clearly lost the argument already. If he tried to talk to a woman like that in front of me, I'd happily knock his teeth out. Every time you give a woman shit for being a woman, you're effectively making life more difficult as a whole for more than half of the human race. I suppose if you were born in a vat, and don't have any female friends or relatives, fair enough. Otherwise, you're a manchild making YouTube videos about how bad feminism is. I don't know what's so terrifying about treating women as equals, but the Internet is covered in neckbeards terrified of doing so.

[Azrael Strife]

Couldn't have said it bettter.

[silencer_pl]

Because I am not good at arguing specially in English. I will just point few facts.

 

First - she puts on tape games form 90's/early 2000 where games mostly were designed to male audience. On counting that "Damsel in distress" plot was very minor. Most of the games she provided where made by Japanese whose culture is different then European people. She provided with only one example of game being changed because of the female character, yet she failed to provide games where females where main characters or were in pair with other: Lara Croft, Jill Valentine, Rayne, April Ryan, Morrigan and many others. There were also games that portrayed women that helped men, who without them wouldn't do a thing.

She also stated, that men being naturally stronger than women is bullcrap, yet he provided solid facts, that there are scientific facts showing other way.

 

And what is this shit about women's being treated like objects? This is one of the oldest feminist bullshit I've ever heard. If they really were treated like this, the male characters would like "Meh, I'll just get another one". Instead they go after, risking their own lives, to RESCUE a person that they hold dear. She asks, why the games don't show what happens to said damsel after she was rescued. Who gives a fuck what happens later. Use your imagination. Why don't we get information - Why has it happened in the first place - you also didn't give a fuck at those times.

 

Simply put, if you can't argue the points she made, and you just resort to name calling, you've quite clearly lost the argument already

 

So yeah calling names at the first place.

 

He's either being facetious or he's a retard. And his video is too well-constructed for him to be a retard.

 

Where in the world did he said bad words about her? His only bollocks, bullcraps and other were about the statements she put. And if you don't like his statements, there also was a video made by WOMAN, that also said that the facts made by Anita were TOTAL HORSECRAP!

[FullAuto]

First - she puts on tape games form 90's/early 2000 where games mostly were designed to male audience.

 

Yet, most games still are. This in a time when surveys are telling us more and more women are gaming. The last one I read said 47%. Games are still aimed at males, and more specifically, male teenagers. This is despite the fact that a lot of us now are 30 or over. I've been gaming 25 years or so, I've managed to grow up. Games have not.

 

On counting that "Damsel in distress" plot was very minor. Most of the games she provided where made by Japanese whose culture is different then European people.

 

Japanese culture is very different, but on this point, there is actually a lot of similarity. The 'damsel in distress' is not unique to Japanese culture, it's found in most cultures where sexism has become deeply ingrained. When I go to work, I can look at a lot of books, and see that same story. The minor details change, but the core is the same: Helpless woman in trouble, saved by man. This can be found in my culture going back hundreds of years.

 

She provided with only one example of game being changed because of the female character, yet she failed to provide games where females where main characters or were in pair with other: Lara Croft, Jill Valentine, Rayne, April Ryan, Morrigan and many others. There were also games that portrayed women that helped men, who without them wouldn't do a thing.

 

Her video was dealing with the damsel in distress trope alone. I understand she's going to go on and cover heroines in a future video. However, strong women are still the minority, female protagonists are even rarer (look at the difficulty Remember Me had recently getting published just because it had a female protagonist). Even the examples you listed aren't free of problems; Jill Valentine is rescued all the time by Barry in RE, by Carlos in RE3, and so on.

 

She also stated, that men being naturally stronger than women is bullcrap, yet he provided solid facts, that there are scientific facts showing other way.

 

If we're talking physical strength, then yes, this is true, men typically have more muscle, but when strength is discussed concerning character roles, it's about strength of character, about being resilient, resourceful, and so on.

 

And what is this shit about women's being treated like objects?

 

Objectification? Look not at what the men do, but what the woman does. Does she fight back, escape, or otherwise resist? No. Imagine you took the woman away, and replaced her with something else, such as a diamond. It makes no difference, because for the purposes of the story, the woman is a thing. She's stolen from the hero (who she belongs to, or will after he rescues her) and held by the bad guy. The hero goes and rescues her. The woman does nothing.

 

She asks, why the games don't show what happens to said damsel after she was rescued. Who gives a fuck what happens later. Use your imagination. Why don't we get information - Why has it happened in the first place - you also didn't give a fuck at those times.

 

So why not have a story where you play as the abducted woman, and you have to escape? Why rely on the damsel in distress trope? Why always shift the focus from the woman to the man? Why is the story about what the man does? Why does the woman always do nothing, making way for the man to do something?

 

Where in the world did he said bad words about her?

 

He insults her personally several times during the video.

 

And if you don't like his statements, there also was a video made by WOMAN, that also said that the facts made by Anita were TOTAL HORSECRAP!

 

Not all women are feminists. Just because one woman disagrees with Sarkeesian does not mean her points are invalid. Women are not a hive mind. Feminism is a movement that is trying to attain equal rights for women. Not all women want this, for various reasons.

 

Here's what puzzles me. If Sarkeesian is wrong, and this is all bullshit, what's the problem? Why don't the neckbeards just laugh it off and go do manly things with men? Why message her death threats constantly through Twitter, YouTube etc? Why does every article on this have to have comments that go on about raping her? If you have good counterpoints to make (and in every discussion you can always argue back) why resort to the bitch/slut/whore stuff? How much of this only comes out because it's cowards on the Internet who feel brave? "Look at me, I can make a YouTube video and take the piss." We can all do that. Look at the comments under every article discussing her. Who would dare threaten to kill or rape her to her face, and if they would, are these really the type of people you want to take a lead from?

[silencer_pl]

I guess this is not the place to make arguments about this, as I said I am not the best at this kind of conversations. I could continue but I am set with my opinion where I am. I can agree that some games are very unfriendly to women, but when it is to humiliating males it is completely normal, while any bad word against a women is not ok? Where is equality on that? A women can say bad things against men, but again the opposite is highly criticized.

 

[Thorondor]

Back on thread topic:

 

https://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2531711/photo_cred_Alexander_Fredriksen_700x400.jpg

 

"It's about really coming into yourself. About growing up and settling down and becoming who you are meant to be and accepting that. It's about turning the page and realizing you're not where you thought you'd be, but be okay with that or to fight against it, make a conscious decision to say, 'This is not where I'm meant to be.' It's about characters who are at a point in their lives where things are changing and they need to change and they need to accept that change."

 

But he could just as well be talking about his own story.

 

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And he did, in this article titled The Longest Journey of Ragnar Tornquist at Polygon.

[Thorondor]

Gollop is definitely in love with the new game – “It’s great. It’s very very good” he says – but he does admit to some frustrations with it. Talking of Jake Solomon’s work on the game, he says “He’s changed so much. I think he was probably worried that I’d come up to him and say “Jake, you’ve been a naughty boy. What have you done to my XCOM?” but no. It wasn’t like that at all.”

 

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Julian Gollop speaketh at PC Gamer. Again, more is promised for this Sunday.

[Thorondor]

Julian: After Dune II… I mean, X-COM was really just at the end of the period where you had this turn-based strategy game as being a mainstream game.

 

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Old and new are the topics of this chat Julian Gollop had with PC Gamer.

[Thorondor]

https://hw1.pa-cdn.com/par/img/editorial/xcom_beforeafter.jpg

 

I should not be this affected by the death of soldiers in a strategy game. They have no personality, constantly spout out that they're "On their way" to what spot on the map I just clicked, and in general are about as memorable as a paper bag blowing in the wind. And yet, I have experienced more drama and tension and worry for my little soldiers in a game of XCOM than any AAA action title or 70 hour long RPG boasting about an emotional, connective story.

 

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The 4 biggest lessons from the year in strategy gaming, a piece by Mr.Mark Slabinski at Gamasutra.

[silencer_pl]

https://www.pcgamer.com/2013/05/10/if-metro-last-light-ranger-mode-is-the-way-it-was-meant-to-be-played-why-isnt-it-included-for-all-players-we-ask-koch/

[Thorondor]

Broken promises have left him with broken hands. An electrical engineer with an incredible work ethic and improbable stamina, he has been idle for months. His savings can't last forever.

 

(...) Unity of Command, is the story of entire nations rising from defeat, and it is also the story of Uzelac getting his life back on course.

 

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Unity of Command: The unlikely origin of a modern wargame, an article by Polygon's Charlie Hall about Mr.Tomislav Uzelac and unexpected outcomes.

[Thorondor]

At the foundation of the modern RTS genre is the wish to recreate, as a computer game, the quintessential boyhood experience of playing with toy soldiers and tanks in a sandbox.

 

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The History and Future of Petroglyph Games with Mike Legg is an interview at RTSGuru that sheds light on the beginnings of famed real-time strategy games, Westwood Studios, and more.

[Thorondor]

[Thorondor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dakmZk2zBZ4

 

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Paradox's CEO Mr.Fredrik Wester speaks about the realities of being a niche publisher at the GameHorizon 2013 conference.

[Thorondor]

 

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Lord British (Richard Garriott) offers a number of insights about Ultima games, industry workings, and more...