Games Journalism General -

[Herbert West Reanimator]

Surprised this hasn't made it in here yet: https://archive.md/XGHT0

Video Games Are Better Without Gameplay

Untitled Goose Game is fun. The problem is, all games are also work.

www.theatlantic.com

Here are some choice snippets from long-time failure of a human being Ian Bogost's piece on Untitled Goose Game, some of which frankly belong in this thread's OP right next to "all games are stupid, of course":

• Like games, geese are notoriously annoying.
  
  
• That’s the big problem with video games: To enjoy them, you have to play them.
  (this one in particular is Polygon-tier, definitely some "all games are stupid" material)
  
  
• Games are machines, and broken ones at that. The player’s job is to make them work again.
  
  
• Game-play—the work of working a game—is fundamentally irritating
  (yes, I suppose it would be for someone who doesn't enjoy games)
  
  
• As Brexit looms, the seas rise, and private wealth balloons
  (because we can't write about games without mentioning current-year political topics)
  
  
• In game design, one way to ward off the pull of efficiency involves stripping video games of the challenges, goals, and tasks
  (as we all know, one of the ways to fix the problem of that pesky mastery thing is to remove the actual game elements from the game)
  
  
• The walking simulator offers one response to the risk of instrumental reason: Remove as much game-play as possible in order to guard against transforming play into a means for measuring, and maximizing, utility.
  (and here I thought walking simulators could not possibly become more pretentious or substance-free)
  

And this is just from the opening third; the middle is a lengthy diatribe on how not playing a game is actually just as valid a form of entertainment as playing a game, which anyone who's familiar with the concept of streaming could've explained in far less than seven paragraphs, and the closing portion is an additional seven paragraphs of thesaurus soup that muddle on about the supposed meanings of the game (even though the game's official Twitter account has openly mocked the very idea that the game is anything other than a game about an asshole goose being an asshole).

https://archive.md/hC1BH

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“I don't feel bad about messing with the humans in Untitled Goose Game because I know they are all small-town Brexiters https://t.co/sUCGm7T6QH”

twitter.com

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“@house_house_ can you confirm that all the humans in the game are canonically Tories?”

twitter.com

House House on Twitter

“@molleindustria Actually, in our timeline, a goose chased Thatcher out of office, spurring a Bennite revolution and the irreparable decline of the Tory party. The villagers are Marxists.”

twitter.com

ada "sleepy basilisk" basilisk on Twitter

“@house_house_ @HexManiacWingy @molleindustria hi, house house, big fan, given this revelation what are the sociopolitical implications of the two clear homeowners who both seem to have unnecessarily large lawns that at first glance appear to be rather frivolously decorated”

twitter.com

It is immensely amusing to me that a developer was capable of taking such a subtle shot at a request to have official entertainment canon support someone's personal political hatred. Ian Bogost could stand to learn a thing or two about brevity, and how it is the soul of wit, from the developers of the game he vainly attempts to ascribe some great meaning to.

 

[AnOminous]

Surprised this hasn't made it in here yet: https://archive.md/XGHT0

Video Games Are Better Without Gameplay

Untitled Goose Game is fun. The problem is, all games are also work.

www.theatlantic.com

Here are some choice snippets from long-time failure of a human being Ian Bogost's piece on Untitled Goose Game, some of which frankly belong in this thread's OP right next to "all games are stupid, of course":

• Like games, geese are notoriously annoying.
  
  
• That’s the big problem with video games: To enjoy them, you have to play them.
  (this one in particular is Polygon-tier, definitely some "all games are stupid" material)

Games journalists are notoriously annoying. Also Ian Bogost committing suicide would be infinitely more satisfying than Ian Bogost continuing to live.

 

[Secret Asshole]

My first question: Why in the fuck is the Atlantic Reviewing Games?

My second question: Why is it fucking reviewing Untitled Goose Game of All things?

My third question: Why did anyone expect this would be any good?

still it would be pretty cathartic. Just plop them smack dab in the middle of MAGA county and hunt and let everyone loose

Prevent them of ever leaving California and watch as they catch leprosy, typhus and the plague CKII style.

 

[Water-T]

Surprised this hasn't made it in here yet: https://archive.md/XGHT0

Video Games Are Better Without Gameplay

Untitled Goose Game is fun. The problem is, all games are also work.

www.theatlantic.com

Here are some choice snippets from long-time failure of a human being Ian Bogost's piece on Untitled Goose Game, some of which frankly belong in this thread's OP right next to "all games are stupid, of course":

• Like games, geese are notoriously annoying.
  
  
• That’s the big problem with video games: To enjoy them, you have to play them.
  (this one in particular is Polygon-tier, definitely some "all games are stupid" material)
  
  
• Games are machines, and broken ones at that. The player’s job is to make them work again.
  
  
• Game-play—the work of working a game—is fundamentally irritating
  (yes, I suppose it would be for someone who doesn't enjoy games)
  
  
• As Brexit looms, the seas rise, and private wealth balloons
  (because we can't write about games without mentioning current-year political topics)
  
  
• In game design, one way to ward off the pull of efficiency involves stripping video games of the challenges, goals, and tasks
  (as we all know, one of the ways to fix the problem of that pesky mastery thing is to remove the actual game elements from the game)
  
  
• The walking simulator offers one response to the risk of instrumental reason: Remove as much game-play as possible in order to guard against transforming play into a means for measuring, and maximizing, utility.
  (and here I thought walking simulators could not possibly become more pretentious or substance-free)

And this is just from the opening third; the middle is a lengthy diatribe on how not playing a game is actually just as valid a form of entertainment as playing a game, which anyone who's familiar with the concept of streaming could've explained in far less than seven paragraphs, and the closing portion is an additional seven paragraphs of thesaurus soup that muddle on about the supposed meanings of the game (even though the game's official Twitter account has openly mocked the very idea that the game is anything other than a game about an asshole goose being an asshole).

https://archive.md/hC1BH

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“I don't feel bad about messing with the humans in Untitled Goose Game because I know they are all small-town Brexiters https://t.co/sUCGm7T6QH”

twitter.com

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“@house_house_ can you confirm that all the humans in the game are canonically Tories?”

twitter.com

House House on Twitter

“@molleindustria Actually, in our timeline, a goose chased Thatcher out of office, spurring a Bennite revolution and the irreparable decline of the Tory party. The villagers are Marxists.”

twitter.com

ada "sleepy basilisk" basilisk on Twitter

“@house_house_ @HexManiacWingy @molleindustria hi, house house, big fan, given this revelation what are the sociopolitical implications of the two clear homeowners who both seem to have unnecessarily large lawns that at first glance appear to be rather frivolously decorated”

twitter.com

It is immensely amusing to me that a developer was capable of taking such a subtle shot at a request to have official entertainment canon support someone's personal political hatred. Ian Bogost could stand to learn a thing or two about brevity, and how it is the soul of wit, from the developers of the game he vainly attempts to ascribe some great meaning to.

I have no idea which was more r3tarded: that article or the Tweets exclaiming that a goose from a video game participated in historical events decades before it was created.

I think the Tweets take the edge, because it's like saying that Sonic the Hedgehog overthrew Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs and helped make Cuba the 51st state.

 

[KingofNothing]

Surprised this hasn't made it in here yet: https://archive.md/XGHT0

Video Games Are Better Without Gameplay

Untitled Goose Game is fun. The problem is, all games are also work.

www.theatlantic.com

Here are some choice snippets from long-time failure of a human being Ian Bogost's piece on Untitled Goose Game, some of which frankly belong in this thread's OP right next to "all games are stupid, of course":

• Like games, geese are notoriously annoying.
  
  
• That’s the big problem with video games: To enjoy them, you have to play them.
  (this one in particular is Polygon-tier, definitely some "all games are stupid" material)
  
  
• Games are machines, and broken ones at that. The player’s job is to make them work again.
  
  
• Game-play—the work of working a game—is fundamentally irritating
  (yes, I suppose it would be for someone who doesn't enjoy games)
  
  
• As Brexit looms, the seas rise, and private wealth balloons
  (because we can't write about games without mentioning current-year political topics)
  
  
• In game design, one way to ward off the pull of efficiency involves stripping video games of the challenges, goals, and tasks
  (as we all know, one of the ways to fix the problem of that pesky mastery thing is to remove the actual game elements from the game)
  
  
• The walking simulator offers one response to the risk of instrumental reason: Remove as much game-play as possible in order to guard against transforming play into a means for measuring, and maximizing, utility.
  (and here I thought walking simulators could not possibly become more pretentious or substance-free)

And this is just from the opening third; the middle is a lengthy diatribe on how not playing a game is actually just as valid a form of entertainment as playing a game, which anyone who's familiar with the concept of streaming could've explained in far less than seven paragraphs, and the closing portion is an additional seven paragraphs of thesaurus soup that muddle on about the supposed meanings of the game (even though the game's official Twitter account has openly mocked the very idea that the game is anything other than a game about an asshole goose being an asshole).

https://archive.md/hC1BH

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“I don't feel bad about messing with the humans in Untitled Goose Game because I know they are all small-town Brexiters https://t.co/sUCGm7T6QH”

twitter.com

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“@house_house_ can you confirm that all the humans in the game are canonically Tories?”

twitter.com

House House on Twitter

“@molleindustria Actually, in our timeline, a goose chased Thatcher out of office, spurring a Bennite revolution and the irreparable decline of the Tory party. The villagers are Marxists.”

twitter.com

ada "sleepy basilisk" basilisk on Twitter

“@house_house_ @HexManiacWingy @molleindustria hi, house house, big fan, given this revelation what are the sociopolitical implications of the two clear homeowners who both seem to have unnecessarily large lawns that at first glance appear to be rather frivolously decorated”

twitter.com

It is immensely amusing to me that a developer was capable of taking such a subtle shot at a request to have official entertainment canon support someone's personal political hatred. Ian Bogost could stand to learn a thing or two about brevity, and how it is the soul of wit, from the developers of the game he vainly attempts to ascribe some great meaning to.

I didn't think someone could be this pretentious about a game where you're just an asshole goose. Thank you House House for not being up your own asses.

My second question: Why is it fucking reviewing Untitled Goose Game of All things?

To give him a slight bit of credit, Untitled Goose Game has gotten a surprising amount of attention in the media. I even saw an interview with the devs on the local news a week or two ago.

 

[Herbert West Reanimator]

I have no idea which was more r3tarded: that article or the Tweets exclaiming that a goose from a video game participated in historical events decades before it was created.

I think the Tweets take the edge, because it's like saying that Sonic the Hedgehog overthrew Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs and helped make Cuba the 51st state.

It's the article, easily. The dev tweet isn't saying what its literal words would normally mean. (In case this was unclear, the tweet from House House is the dev tweet; House House is the team behind Untitled Goose Game.)

In response to some politically possessed prick asking the devs to canonically allow him to torment his political opponents in-game, the devs appear to have taken the request in mock seriousness and flipped it on its head, so as to imply that said prick is actually attacking his own political allies. It is quite possibly the most tongue-in-cheek reply I've ever seen. They treated an absurd question as an absurd question and gave it all it deserved: an equally absurd answer, reversed so as to take the piss out of the requester. 10/10.

 

[Notgoodwithusernames]

Surprised this hasn't made it in here yet: https://archive.md/XGHT0

Video Games Are Better Without Gameplay

Untitled Goose Game is fun. The problem is, all games are also work.

www.theatlantic.com

Here are some choice snippets from long-time failure of a human being Ian Bogost's piece on Untitled Goose Game, some of which frankly belong in this thread's OP right next to "all games are stupid, of course":

• Like games, geese are notoriously annoying.
  
  
• That’s the big problem with video games: To enjoy them, you have to play them.
  (this one in particular is Polygon-tier, definitely some "all games are stupid" material)
  
  
• Games are machines, and broken ones at that. The player’s job is to make them work again.
  
  
• Game-play—the work of working a game—is fundamentally irritating
  (yes, I suppose it would be for someone who doesn't enjoy games)
  
  
• As Brexit looms, the seas rise, and private wealth balloons
  (because we can't write about games without mentioning current-year political topics)
  
  
• In game design, one way to ward off the pull of efficiency involves stripping video games of the challenges, goals, and tasks
  (as we all know, one of the ways to fix the problem of that pesky mastery thing is to remove the actual game elements from the game)
  
  
• The walking simulator offers one response to the risk of instrumental reason: Remove as much game-play as possible in order to guard against transforming play into a means for measuring, and maximizing, utility.
  (and here I thought walking simulators could not possibly become more pretentious or substance-free)

And this is just from the opening third; the middle is a lengthy diatribe on how not playing a game is actually just as valid a form of entertainment as playing a game, which anyone who's familiar with the concept of streaming could've explained in far less than seven paragraphs, and the closing portion is an additional seven paragraphs of thesaurus soup that muddle on about the supposed meanings of the game (even though the game's official Twitter account has openly mocked the very idea that the game is anything other than a game about an asshole goose being an asshole).

https://archive.md/hC1BH

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“I don't feel bad about messing with the humans in Untitled Goose Game because I know they are all small-town Brexiters https://t.co/sUCGm7T6QH”

twitter.com

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“@house_house_ can you confirm that all the humans in the game are canonically Tories?”

twitter.com

House House on Twitter

“@molleindustria Actually, in our timeline, a goose chased Thatcher out of office, spurring a Bennite revolution and the irreparable decline of the Tory party. The villagers are Marxists.”

twitter.com

ada "sleepy basilisk" basilisk on Twitter

“@house_house_ @HexManiacWingy @molleindustria hi, house house, big fan, given this revelation what are the sociopolitical implications of the two clear homeowners who both seem to have unnecessarily large lawns that at first glance appear to be rather frivolously decorated”

twitter.com

It is immensely amusing to me that a developer was capable of taking such a subtle shot at a request to have official entertainment canon support someone's personal political hatred. Ian Bogost could stand to learn a thing or two about brevity, and how it is the soul of wit, from the developers of the game he vainly attempts to ascribe some great meaning to.

Rope. Tree. Journalist... that is all

 

[Safir]

In response to some politically possessed prick asking the devs to canonically allow him to torment his political opponents in-game

Molleindustria used to be a developer of meme flash games, like Operation Pedopriest (help priests rape kids) and Faith Fighter (he had Muhammad in it). Now he's got pronouns in bio. Liberalism rots the brain.

 

[Emperor Julian]

You know if he doesnt like Video games he doesnt have to play them or write about them.

 

[Marissa Moira]

You know if he doesnt like Video games he doesnt have to play them or write about them.

Yes well you fucking ignoramuses have decided to opt out of Traditional media like plays, movies, books, and broadway shows, and you created your own little fucking hovel that doesn't align with what society deems ideologically intellectual or good and because you exist you pose a threat to that. So here I am to tell you that you're wrong and awful people and you should be more like me, I am the example to live by.

 

[Megaroad 2012]

He's just trying to pay off his journalism degree debt guys. It's not his fault he's buried under tens of thousands of dollars for a certificate less valuable than toilet paper with no valuable skills.

 

[Coolio55]

Molleindustria used to be a developer of meme flash games, like Operation Pedopriest (help priests rape kids) and Faith Fighter (he had Muhammad in it). Now he's got pronouns in bio. Liberalism rots the brain.

They were one of the originators of the worthless "Games are art" movement.
Remember "Every Day the Same Dream?", that shit was him.

I think this quote from the game DingDong made for thebestgamers before he went weird sums it up pretty well.
"By tying social politics into this game it means people will have to talk about it and treat it like it deserves some respect, despite it being a cheap and effortless game hoping to score some easy attention and potential controversy surrounding it."

THE REAL LEGEND OF ZELDA

 

[AnOminous]

They were one of the originators of the worthless "Games are art" movement.
Remember "Every Day the Same Dream?", that shit was him.

Games can be art but almost nobody that constantly babbles about that shit has ever created a game worthy of being called a game, much less being called art. Much like science fiction, Westerns, romance etc. can be art, but won't be art unless they're first good examples of genre fiction. You're not going to write a genre busting science fiction novel if you absolutely suck at science fiction, and you won't make a game that is worthy of being called art if your game fucking sucks and nobody would play it.

 

[Notgoodwithusernames]

They were one of the originators of the worthless "Games are art" movement.
Remember "Every Day the Same Dream?", that shit was him.

I think this quote from the game DingDong made for thebestgamers before he went weird sums it up pretty well.
"By tying social politics into this game it means people will have to talk about it and treat it like it deserves some respect, despite it being a cheap and effortless game hoping to score some easy attention and potential controversy surrounding it."

THE REAL LEGEND OF ZELDA

what the fuck did I just watch?

 

[AnOminous]

what the fuck did I just watch?

You watched autism.

 

[Notgoodwithusernames]

You watched autism.

Damn it I left my rope, cyanide, and revolver at my parent's

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

You know if he doesnt like Video games he doesnt have to play them or write about them.

That would decimate the tenured vidya writer industry! All that would be left are independents like Civvie, Stop Skeletons, RetroPals*, MattChat - people with a passion focusing on things that they research and already know a lot about. What a dismal world that would be, where would I even get fresh OpEds about Trump and Brexit if Polygon stopped reviewing Pokemon?

*RetroPals(on twitch, the name implies the area they cover) is a married couple where one is trans. I'm not too fond of trannies because of their bullshit and forcing their politics on everyone. How often has trans shit been brought up on their streams? Never. It has never happened as far as I'm aware, their streams about games is actually about games. It blows my mind and it is so refreshing. At first I just thought it was an enthusiastic and husky white trash woman that had smoked too many cigarettes, not a trans-man.

 

[Megaroad 2012]

Stop Skeletons

Tbh, not that I find it to be a big deal, but back when that channel was Happy Video Game Nerd (?), that was the first time I ever heard the term male gaze, used sincerely no less, in the Parasite Eve series review.

That and the fat stoner used to really want to stream Depression Quest when they were streaming Clock Tower or Illbleed years ago.

 

[Agent Wet]

Surprised this hasn't made it in here yet: https://archive.md/XGHT0

Video Games Are Better Without Gameplay

Untitled Goose Game is fun. The problem is, all games are also work.

www.theatlantic.com

Here are some choice snippets from long-time failure of a human being Ian Bogost's piece on Untitled Goose Game, some of which frankly belong in this thread's OP right next to "all games are stupid, of course":

• Like games, geese are notoriously annoying.
  
  
• That’s the big problem with video games: To enjoy them, you have to play them.
  (this one in particular is Polygon-tier, definitely some "all games are stupid" material)
  
  
• Games are machines, and broken ones at that. The player’s job is to make them work again.
  
  
• Game-play—the work of working a game—is fundamentally irritating
  (yes, I suppose it would be for someone who doesn't enjoy games)
  
  
• As Brexit looms, the seas rise, and private wealth balloons
  (because we can't write about games without mentioning current-year political topics)
  
  
• In game design, one way to ward off the pull of efficiency involves stripping video games of the challenges, goals, and tasks
  (as we all know, one of the ways to fix the problem of that pesky mastery thing is to remove the actual game elements from the game)
  
  
• The walking simulator offers one response to the risk of instrumental reason: Remove as much game-play as possible in order to guard against transforming play into a means for measuring, and maximizing, utility.
  (and here I thought walking simulators could not possibly become more pretentious or substance-free)

And this is just from the opening third; the middle is a lengthy diatribe on how not playing a game is actually just as valid a form of entertainment as playing a game, which anyone who's familiar with the concept of streaming could've explained in far less than seven paragraphs, and the closing portion is an additional seven paragraphs of thesaurus soup that muddle on about the supposed meanings of the game (even though the game's official Twitter account has openly mocked the very idea that the game is anything other than a game about an asshole goose being an asshole).

https://archive.md/hC1BH

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“I don't feel bad about messing with the humans in Untitled Goose Game because I know they are all small-town Brexiters https://t.co/sUCGm7T6QH”

twitter.com

Paolo Pedercini on Twitter

“@house_house_ can you confirm that all the humans in the game are canonically Tories?”

twitter.com

House House on Twitter

“@molleindustria Actually, in our timeline, a goose chased Thatcher out of office, spurring a Bennite revolution and the irreparable decline of the Tory party. The villagers are Marxists.”

twitter.com

ada "sleepy basilisk" basilisk on Twitter

“@house_house_ @HexManiacWingy @molleindustria hi, house house, big fan, given this revelation what are the sociopolitical implications of the two clear homeowners who both seem to have unnecessarily large lawns that at first glance appear to be rather frivolously decorated”

twitter.com

It is immensely amusing to me that a developer was capable of taking such a subtle shot at a request to have official entertainment canon support someone's personal political hatred. Ian Bogost could stand to learn a thing or two about brevity, and how it is the soul of wit, from the developers of the game he vainly attempts to ascribe some great meaning to.

I think you manage to found a article that encapsulate everything wrong with gaming journalism from the disconnect from the medium for a lack of a better word to shoehorned political talk and trying to hard to find political meaning where there is none I can go on with this shit.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

Tbh, not that I find it to be a big deal, but back when that channel was Happy Video Game Nerd (?), that was the first time I ever heard the term male gaze, used sincerely no less, in the Parasite Eve series review.

Third Birthday actually deserves that.

Molleindustria used to be a developer of meme flash games, like Operation Pedopriest (help priests rape kids) and Faith Fighter (he had Muhammad in it). Now he's got pronouns in bio. Liberalism rots the brain.

There is nothing liberal about what these people believe no matter how hard they want to steal that word.