Odds ‘n Ends > Subtraction Edition

Is it Tuesday again already? Man, time flies…

ODD: I beat The Simpsons Game over the weekend. Wow, that game is short. I think my total play time was under six hours. And I still got through 60% of the game, meaning I could wander around and find all the other hidden items and so forth and still only spend another four hours on it.

END: I’m reading a great book by Susan Jacoby called The Age of American Unreason, about the history of anti-intellectualism in America. I highly recommend it. It’s great up until the last few chapters, where Jacoby’s discussion goes from history to the present day; her criticism of the “culture of distraction” loses the sense of objectivity found earlier in the book and begins to read like an older person shaking her head at the sad state of the world’s affairs without entirely understanding it (I was particularly miffed by her assessment of videogames, which she seems to think are still based entirely on points and body counts–which, ok, it is for many, but not nearly to the degree it once was). But I’m being unfair by dwelling on these minor criticisms; it’s really a great book. Check it out at your local library.

ODD: One of my OAFE compatriots, Shocka, has referred me on occasion to Walter Chaw, the acerbic and often contrarian film reviewer for Film Freak Central. I find him an enjoyable read; you could chop down a forest with all the axes he has to grind. Anyway, here’s his review of The Incredible Hulk. Guess what? He didn’t like it.

END: Lots of cool news out of Mattel’s recent Q&As; in addition to mine, there’s also one here, here, here, and here. Phew! I think everyone had a question regarding the difficulty of finding DCUC wave two. I just want wave three to arrive…glad to hear we’ll be getting a new DCUC Joker, though.

ODD: In case you missed it, here’s my review of the Helm of Xaanm over on OAFE. In looking over my site stats recently, I was surprised to find how popular my review page is–I don’t really think of PGPoA as a review site.

END: The recent spat of controversies over at DC have me seriously questioning my pull list at my LCS, particularly Final Crisis. I may trim it down to just Batman and Detective Comics. It’s become increasingly clear to me that DC’s Editor-in-Chief, Dan Didio, changes his mind about major plot points and character developments on a daily basis, and that lack of consistency makes reading an exercise in frustration. As I’ve written here before, Alan Moore called it ages ago. It’s this carelessness and improvidence that’s hurting DC’s sales–ironic for a company so obsessively obsessed with continuity. They may maintain a certain continuity of universe(s)–unbelievably convoluted as it is–but their continuity of character consistency and character development is becoming a joke.

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8 Comments

  1. @orionpax636: Ico is great but Colossus (by the same developer) is a masterpiece. Last year when Roger Ebert battled Clive Barker over the subject of videogames as art, Colossus was held up as the great defense against Ebert's inane ramblings. But playing Ico before Colossus deepens the Colossus experience as there are some suprising narrative connections revealed towards the end of Colossus that tie the two games together in surprising ways.

    As for the MGS series, it's been a mind blowing series for sure. I know there are those that love to knock the cutscenes and the extreme emphasis on stories but I marvel at what Kojima has done – make a truly interactive, cinematic experience. It's saying something that I'm this invested in these characters – as much as my favorite flicks or TV shows.

    I played both God of War games and loved them both equally as well.

    I think when it comes down to it, the games I enjoy the most are the ones that tell a great story. I need something meaty to go along with the mindless hack and slash.

    BTW Beyond Good & Evil was a true sleeper and I was happy to see a sequel was just announced.

    Also, have you played any of Tim Shaefer's games – Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts? There's another true artist of the genre. He has a new title coming this Fall – Brutal Legend.

  2. orionpax636

    @Plow: I cannot tell you how many times I stayed up late at night to the 11th hour just to finish a particular MGS game, only to be left with my jaw dropped and saying, "Holy sh!t…"

    I would have liked to buy one of those premium 12" Snake figures from one of the games (especially this newest one), but I won't be able to afford one for quite some time. They typically join the Bruce Lee Enterbay figures on my list of sadness.

    I'd heard of about the Greatness of Ico and Shadow of Colossus, and may check them out to squeeze the last bit of effectiveness out of my PS2. I never even finished Beyond Good and Evil.

  3. @orionpax636 – I'm with you on the MGS series – the entire series has been absolutely fascinating and I am chomping at the bit to play Guns of the Patriots and finally find out just what the hell the La-Lu-Le-Li-Lo is!!! From what I've read, Kojima has done the impossible and supposedly resolved every question he dangled over the course of the last decade. I've even heard he managed to make Raiden cool. I will say that the final 20 minutes of Snake Eater were some of the most emotional I've ever experienced in a video game. Anyone who says games aren't art, need only have a conversation with Hideo Kojima.

    On that front, if you've never played Ico or Shadow of the Colossus, you should pick them up stat. They're kissing cousins, in a way, and are absolute classics!!!

  4. orionpax636

    I might take up your suggestion on the Jacoby book. I do find myself shaking my head at today's media and the youth, and…well, almost everything. People just don't want to be intelligent anymore, and people just don't have to be talented to get acknowledged as an artist. My beloved hip-hop is swiftly diving down the toilet…

    I agree with your point about thought-provoking video games. Anyone that thinks the Metal Gear Solid Series isn't intelligent or thought-provoking is brain dead. And though soaked in violence, God of War if the closest many will ever get to a good Greek tragedy.

  5. OB1

    The game itself is short, but taking the time to talk to lots of characters in Springfield (for the laughs) and to find all the coupons in the city and levels (for the achievements) adds on a lot more time. Enough time that I think it would be more like 15 hours than 10, and that's not so bad. Some of the time trials and challenges were ridiculous, so both Plow and I gave up on those.

    That said, if I bought the game for another system besides the 360, then I'd be disappointed. Without the achievements, it would be way too short.

  6. @Poe – Agreed on The Simpsons Game being short – but it was damn funny. Fortunately, I scored it for real cheap so the dollar to entertainment ratio worked out OK.

    I seem to be on a short game run of late. I've had a number of quickie-movie cash-in's sent to me for review (the good news – I'm not paying for them – nor would I, ever). Kung-Fu Panda (yeah, I know) was completed in 3 hours!!! I've blasted through 1/2 of Iron Man in about 2.5.

    I just picked up NInja Gaiden II with some birthday scratch so I am hoping that will last longer. The 1st one was a good 20 hours. And a great game as well.

  7. @ Paul: I'm sorry, I had Thai takeout.

    Yes, what the fudge is up with DC? Its like the 1950s all over again where continuity was for suckers.

  8. Film Freak's front page looks like the internet vomited.

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